Monday, January 24, 2011
Alang-Madan Trek with Trekmates- 15-16 January 2011
Monday, January 17, 2011
TMI Trek to Alang- Madan on 15th- 16th Jan '11.
The event was put up on the net around 18-20 days prior to the main event, and it was decided that two technical ppl (myself and Vikram) will be handling this event... I was at my ease, as Vikram was to accompany and so it would have been easier to manage a group of 25 ppl together... We extended ourselves and agreed to take a response of 30.
But 2 days prior, Vikram got a project and got busy with his job. Now it was me, and me alone for the event... I surely had supporting hands of Apurva, Dilesh, Swapnil, yogesh, Manoj, Zeenat, Ravi, and other new members, but I still was a bit worried about the technical support... every one among these had technical knowledge, as they had already helped conducting waterfall Rappelling at vihi, but still I was a bit tensed.
The registrations were stopped at 30, and a few last moment cancellations took the count to 27.
Starting from home on Friday night, after a good dinner (chicken curry), we went till the station, to meet a few more already waiting there.
My list now showed 27, but the counting said it is 28.... Counted again, still one person extra??? Who is it?? How come?? We were amazed to see 1 more member joining us without registrations. Anyways, he was welcomed for the event.
My bag now weighed about 23-25 kgs, a normal weight for a trekker, in normal situation. But I was trekking after around 2 months, and the two months gap never saw me working out on my stamina. And the bag... I was with my fully loaded trek bag after a year.
3.00 AM: We got down from the local at the last stop, Kasara, where the jeeps were just waiting for us. Got in to the jeeps and started our journey towards Ambewadi, the base village for Alang –Madan -Kulang.
4.30 AM: we reached Ambewadi, the bags were unloaded from the vehicle roof, Introduction
round took place, the instructions were given, the breakfast packets were distributed, and the entries for the trek at the base village were done, and the trek started.
HINT for first timers: start as early as you can. And if the group is 20+, 6 am is a good time.
6.30 AM: Everyone started the move towards the forts. Some enthusiasts found it an easy climb, whereas a few were panting their way up. However 9.30 am saw everyone at the cave. It was a good time according to me to start for our next sessions... the one which I am best at..... EATING. I asked everyone to have a quick brunch as we would get late to return for lunch.
10.00 AM: we started our march towards Madangad from the traverse till the col. And then the tough open traverses of Madangad.
HINT: For any newbie, I would suggest not to attempt this traverse alone, try it only with experienced ppl around. Ropes and equipments are must for a safe climb.
Further we reached the rock patch where our guide had already ascended. I was the next person to climb, and I did so. It took me hardly a minute to do so... now this is an imp part when you are leading a group... make it look as easy as possible. This encourages others to face the challenge easily.
I climbed up the patch, the ropes were set, and the support belay was ready. Now it was time for others to climb... and so they started one by one... some left their shoes, some left down their jackets, and now there was a guy who left down his glasses... “Oh they are so heavy; I can’t climb with that extra weight.” Right Nikhil?
Climb on, explore the fort, and come back for Rappelling... this was the prog... but I saw a few crying faces, for their shoes. “Oh I won’t be able to walk...”and all.... however the shoes were pulled up the patch, where one shoe belonging to Mr Amod Ikhe left the group. I knew this is going to be a problem for me now.
The rappelling session started by 2.30 pm, and continued till 4.00. After rappelling I had to remove the ropes, coil them and move back to Alang. And I did so with only one shoe. Had already gave my shoes to Amod, and now it was time for me to go slowly, looking out for stones, thorns, etc on the way.
I, Ravi, Yogesh and Zeenat were the last to move out from that place... there were a few discussions on what next, few expert comments, and a few expectations. However the expectations failed very badly, when we heard that the other rope that was sent further for the next rock patch was not enough, and so a very few people had now climbed the fort. Now we had to hurry towards the Alang patch for the ropes now.
We reached the alang patch, but took a few spare minutes to full our tummies, as we all were having an idea about what is coming next. Next I reached the patch, climbed it and then others were pulled up one by one... every member of the group played their own expert role at this crucial time, and so the climbing was completed by 10.30.
HINTS:
1. This is a risky technical rock patch and one needs a regular rock climbing practice to ascend this.
2. No wood on the top of the fort, so you need to get along with you, from below the patch itself. Or even a gas cylinder can work for a smaller group.
3. A slippery patch with exposure on one side follows the rock patch. It needs to be climbed very carefully.
Reaching the top we went directly to the cave, and the food preparation started. The best person for the same was Apurva Bhasagare, accompanied by his assistants, Jhanvi and Komal.
No idea about others but I loved the food. Thanks Apu and the assistants for the delicious biriyani. Later it took me hardly 10 mins for the further instructions, and I was fast asleep by 12.30.
Wake up at 9 am, a quick exploration of the fort, Maggie and then the Chai in the morning was enough to freshen up things, and gear up for the forthcoming rappelling session. The first few people to rappel were those who would take time to trek down till the base village. With few good trekkers and our guides they started their descend by 1.30. the others followed them and the last group with experienced ones started at 4.30... it was 16th Jan, and we had our Marathon from Alang till the base village to be the first ones to reach the base village (not to forget my one shoe and one floater condition).
We had to skip our lunch here, as we would have missed our train otherwise, and so we had just some tea and biscuits, and started our journey back... it was full fun to sing Hindi and Marathi songs in the return journey... the drive till Kasara station was so awesome. Thanks to the driver who had put in all his efforts and helped us get the train. Had some snacks in the train, and continued our masti and the journey. Amod Still has some extra snack packets in his bag... Right Amod??
Reached home by 10.45....
(actually this travelogue of mine should end here, but the following sentence is for a few foodies out there, who surely are going to comment very badly on the same. right Adhar?)
Reached home by 10.45, and enjoyed fried lollypops, prawns, and then chicken curry for dinner.
Lastly apologies for the Sunday’s lunch, and other mistakes (if any).
Thanks every member on the event for a great company and support.
Thanks and Regards,
Nilesh Patil
Team TMI.
Monday, December 6, 2010
Bike trek to Rajmachi with Trek Mates India on 5th Dec '10
All this started with a total count of 23 that responded for the event, and 3 ppl who turned out at the last minute (missing the fun).
6.50 am: i was amazed to see a few people already waiting for me at the Kalamboli McD, 10 mins before the scheduled time. Felt nice to see a few faces after a long time. We had to wait here till the others came, and so many of us chose to have some fast food in the McD. I had already started my call centre till then, and was busy on the phone enquiring about the remaining members. We also had our introduction round here so that we could start as soon as the last person arrives.
7.30 am: The last member arrived and we were off the road, just to know a few of us had their bikes empty stomach and had to fill the up at the next petrol pump. A few were already moving. So we had to divide into 2 groups and reach lonavala at the specified spot. The first group reached lonavala at 8.45 am. The second group faced some probs in their way but managed to reach lonavala at 9.30 am. Here we also met the remaining crew and now the group was full. We all had a heavy breakfast here and then moved our way towards the destination.
10.00 am: We had already left the smooth roads of the hill station and were on the rough roads to find that the roads are getting bad to worst with the distance covered. It is now that everyone realised that their and their bike’s performance will be tested enroute.
We had a few photo sessions on the way, some information sessions, discussions, lots of slippery patches, and a lots of dhamaal before reaching the top i.e. Udhewadi village at the base of Manranjangad.
12.30 pm: We reached the village, ordered for the lunch, and were off for our trek to Shrivardhan. I am sure people would have cursed me for not letting them rest even for 10 mins before we starting the ascend.
Some information, some photography, and siteseeing took us 2.45 to get back to udhewadi village for lunch. We had a heavy nonveg meal (except the 7 ghass-pooss eaters.) and then started for the lake and temple visit towards the west of the fort. Back by 3.45 pm, had tea at the same place, and started at 4.00 pm for our back journey.
04.05 pm: Everyone was excited but carefully making their way towards Lonavala, when we a heard some sound from Umesh’s bike, just a perfect sound to know that something has gone wrong. We checked the bike to find that the bike chain had a breakdown and so the bike. A heavy discussion on what is to be done next got us to the conclusion. Soon the bike had its chain and the chain cover packed in a plastic bag, was tied up to another bike with the help of a chunari, and was getting towed. This wasn’t possible wherever it was a steep ascend and in the puddle roads. So there had to be two well built people, who helped the bike push itself.
This process was repeated for 17 long kms, which saw some slippery roads here and there, change of ppl to push, change in the towing bikes, changing riders, a fall where both the bikes and the riders were flat on the road....etc etc. This also included one spectator bike, parked wrongly coming down and meeting the dusty roads, without anyone helping it in doing so.
06.45 pm: We were finally in lonavala... 45 mins behind the schedule, but everyone was at ease with the timing, and happy with all what they had experienced in the whole day. The bike was given to the mechanic followed by two more bikes; one for a punctured tyre, and one more for some checking.
We had some refreshment till then, passed some time and finally started our back journey from lonavala by 8.00 pm.
Friday, October 22, 2010
Bike Trek Part 2:-
Bhojan ke baad sabka pet to bhar gaya tha lekin dil nahi bhara….To Humne Pan khane ka plan kiya.Mai(Sheetal) & Parikshit went to get paan for all of us…we ate the masala paan & started off towards Kashid Beach. The Road ahead was simply ausomn…Beach on one side & Green Mountains on the other side…..I wished the Road never ended……..Bt aisa to hota nahi hai…..Raasta apni manzil tak pahuch hi gaya…..Kashid beach ke 1 kone me jaa kar Pragati ne apni bike park kar di…& like the Herd mentality Ravi & I followed.Then came the rest of the herd members & started to show their dislike for the decision made by the 1st Member to reach.By this time the 1st herd member (Pragati had already rested herself on the Hammock tied near the stalls of Kashid Beach as if she had toiled for the whole day in the hot sun & has got to rest after longggggggggggg time…..She didn’t even bother to react to the displeasure shown by other members & continued to rest her tired body on the not so very strong strings of hammock.
The rest of the group searched for a suitable spot to rest their bums & backs & started swinging on their respective hammocks….By this time it had started to get hotter…the sun was over our head & everyone was feeling the heat….Nilesh then asked everyone for Nariyal paani & everyone started with their vivid orders..I had seen so many different orders for a nariyal paani for the 1st time eg:- Nariyal Paani with Meetha Paani, Nariyal Paani with thin Malai, Nariyal Paani with Thick Malai, Nariyal Paani with no malai….I am glad no one asked for“Nariyal Paani without paani..” .
After all these nawabi farmayish & finishing off with the nariyal paani we had a challenge of getting the malai taken out of the coconut. We went to the nariyal paani vendor…but he was busy entertaining new customers….& there we were standing with an empty coconut in hand waiting for our turn to get the malai
out of the coconut….I pity those who had to return empty handed as their coconuts had no malai….sad…Bt no one was disappointed as we believe in “ Kaddu Katega Sab me Batega” all those who were fortunate to get the bumper price of malai shared it with the less fortunate ones……Then we decided to shift our bases from the netted hammock to the seats of our respective bikes….there on we drove towards Fansad Sanctuary. On the way we came across a beautiful Ganpati Temple. It was so pleasant & relaxing. A divine Experience……..The Idol was dressed in Saffron placed royally in the temple…..After praying for a safe & sound journey ahead we stepped out on the lawns in the temple premises. There we relaxed on the lawn, Posed with local dogs for a few pics, Girls as usual were busy on the water tap washing their tanned faces…& applying some herbal products……(Which was of no use as we still had a ride of abt 15 more kms.). Then we set off towards Fansad & finally reached the gate at around 17.30 hrs just to find it locked. Now was the turn of Shri. Shashikant (Shashi) to get inside ,show his ID card & get the entry approved for all of us (With reference to previous incidence). This time things did not work out as before they turned out to be much simpler than before,Nilesh succeeded in getting the keys of the main gate from the forest officials.
He also managed to get the keys of the officer’s quarters which he liked so much that he carried those keys to his place while coming J ..Nilesh…u should have not done so….any ways he had no even locked the room while leaving so it wont cause any inconvenience to anyone…….There we dumped our luggage in the room allotted & set off on our bikes for the jungle exploration…..Now Ravi started crying..” Mi chalatach yenar..Meri bike nayi hai aur rasta purana hai..Kharab hai…Bla bla……..but this was not accepted by others so we forced him to get his bike along so that the speed of others would not be hampered.
There was the start of our 1st off road experience & a very new experience for my Darling.All the 7 bikes ascended & descended all the possible slopes of Fansad sanctuary.. After a ride of around 3 kms into the forest we reached the 2nd Observatory tower (machan) adjoining a vast grassland…..There we all parked our Bikes in a row for a photography session. Our professional Photographer Ravi wasted no time in executing the job..He clicked 3 to 4 pics but had to hand over the can to Meenakshi (Rangoo- Not so skilled photographer) as he had to pose with his bike. As soon as the can was handed to Meenakshi she shouted “ Atta mi kai karu?..Kuthla button dabu? Are ithe screen war kahi disat nahi…has na..zoom kasa karaicha?” & many more innocent questions….. to our surprise she clicked 2 clear pics & 4 shaky pics……bt that was an achievement in itself cheers Rangoo. While our photography nautanky was in progress Dilesh had crossed the grassland in search of a bird’s nest.I was also eager to see if he had found anything so I headed to the place on my bike where he was standing. The experience of driving through the grasslands was great & wished that the grasslands never ended…bt against my wish the grassland came to an end & I reached a waterhole on the edge of the grassland. There we searched for pugmarks & other traces of any animal,but we managed to get only the footprints of some bulls. Then I turned towards my bike & saw a astonishing sight of my bike standing in the grasses…What an stunning view…I spent 5 mins just admiring the beauty of my bike & was totally lost into it admiring its beauty….in a few moments I was out of the admiration world & started to capture its mesmerizing beauty in my lenses after capturing it in my mind……Then the group decided to return to the spot where we had kept our luggage…Again we rode our bikes through the rugged roads of the jungle….I love my Bike So much…Muuuuuaaaaahhhhhh…… It did not disappoint me at any point …Cleared every obstacle with ease & grace
……..Love you…. J…..
We then decided to take a break at the 1st machan (observation tower) for some time. There we relaxed for some time & also started to pull legs of our colleagues……..We called up several of our friends who were not present just to make them jealous…& we were successful in doing that.
Then we started with a dandiya session as it was Navratri & everyone was in full mood …3-4 over enthusiastic members picked up some twigs & sticks lying around & started with ranti dandiya…..to add to this pitiful sight Ms. Pragati joined the enthu members with 2 strong sticks in her hands…Now the real fun began….Ravi Had a tough time teaching Pragati to dance to the tunes & to the set steps….Even after teaching several times Ms. Pragati would end up going wrong at the last step & then the patented dialogue “ She Bai…timhala tar dhad dandiya pan khelta yet nahi…Amchya Koliwadyat as ach kheltat.” J & then everybody would laugh….in their patented style, which would irritate Pragati even more & she would start hitting some of the targets with those two strong sticks…..
By then it had started to get dark & we decided to do a Jam session…The sidelights of all the bikes were put on & music was started on a Cellphone…..All the party animals danced to the tunes of the vibrant music & flashing disco lights (Sidelichts of our bikes & Some of the headlights.) Closely followed by the JAM session we organized a Rampwalk session…wherein boys had to do the CATwalk & girls had to do the DOG walk. Everyone participated in this event without much hesitation…Shashi was mind-blowing in this…….











