Chasing the Monsoon - Day 1

Day - 1

The train journey from Hyderabad ended at Karjat. A 45 minutes auto (tak-tak) ride from there took us to Kondivade, the base village from where the trek actually starts. Just as the group assembled to start the trek, it started pouring; a perfect start to the planned monsoon trek. Since we knew the region was receiving a heavy rainfall in the past 1 week, we were quite prepared for the rains and did not have any good hopes about the trail. The initial trail was more like an unpaved road with puddles of rain water, cutting across few settlements. Soon the trail gave way to grasses with deep slush, ending at a stream. Since the water current was high, the group had to cross the stream by forming a human chain. From there, a gentle climb over a few slippery rocks and a bit of trail exploration led us to an open ground which offered a magnificent panoramic view of the sahyadris, for the first time in the trail. There were countless waterfalls in every possible direction, one would definitely stop counting them!

The trail ascended rapidly from there through the woods. The pouring rain and the fog covered trail were never ending. We hit the top after trekking up for half-an-hour at a steady pace. It was quite surprising to see a chai shop (tea) at the top, selling hot roasted corns. After munching on some roasted corns and a hot cup of chai, the trek continued to Rajmachi village. The trail was pretty flat through the fields and muddy rain water. 15 minutes of steady walking brought us to the camp for the night.

Dumping the backpacks at the camp, we started up to explore the two hill forts that constitute the Rajmachi fortification. The plan was to explore Shrivardhan fort first and if the time permits, the Manaranjan fort as well (both these forts were built by the great Maratha warrior Chatrapati Shivaji, who ruled this region). The trail up from the village was very simple and scenic with lush green grasses covered with a thick layer of fog. Unfortunately we could not get a clear panoramic view of the Sahyadris due to the fog cover. In fact, even the Manaranjan fort was not visible from the top. Since the visibility dropped to a few 100m at that time, an unanimous decision was made to skip Manaranjan fort and head down to the camp safely.

Back at Rajmachi camp, the day ended with some dance performance, sharing ghost stories (in those remote places with no power is quite exciting), fun talk followed by an awesome dinner (Roti made of rice, locally called Bakri) cooked by the villagers. The sound of the pouring rain was audible even inside the tightly zipped sleeping bag. But after a good trek in the mountains, that was no hindrance to catch a good night sleep.

++ Don't miss the part II of this trek.

About this photograph: Clicked this moment while traveling in the train to Karjat. This small kid was our co-passenger in the train and she really enjoyed the monsoon in her own cute way :)