My Life.....: 2008

It was a 3 day weekend for Feroz, Rohit, Vijay and Me, and we were so happy. The first thing that came to our mind was "lets go treking". The next question was "where?". The last time we had been to Harishchandragad, we could not see anything from Konkan Kada due to all the fog. So this time we decided Konkan Kada and as it was November, we were pretty sure that there will not be any fog and the view will be clear. We bought Fireworks and all the usual Treking Gear. There was one more addition to our group as Rohit's brother Tinku also joined us.

We were ready by 3am and started off at 4:30am. We drove towards Nasik and from Narayangaon (80Kms from Pune), we took a left drove towards Junnar (20Kms from Narayangaon) and then to Khireshwar (base village). Khireshwar is about 30Kms from Junnar. We missed the diversion to Khireshwar and went to Mudd, a beautiful village and clicked some photos. The Ghats were awesome with very good roads. Finally we found Khireshwar and the road was horrible. The last 5.5Kms was so bad that it took around 50 minutes to drive.

It was already around 1:00pm we had some snacks at Khireshwar and hired 2 Guides as Rohit had hurt his leg very badly and we needed help with the bags. The route from Khireshwar is 18Kms through Tolarkhind. We had to move slowly as Rohit was limping all the way. We reached Tolarkhind by 3:00pm and then climbed the rock patch. This rock patch is a bit risky during rainy season. Once we were up the rock patch, it was greenery all over and there were flowers all around. We reached the cave around 6:00pm and put up our tent. We lit crackers and had fun. All the five of us squeezed into the tent for the night. It was raining and it was very windy all through the night. We were all tired and slept at 10:00pm and woke up at 8:00am next morning. We had planned to trek to Konkan Kada at night and then see sunrise, but it was not possible due to the heavy rain and fog. It was very foggy even at 10:oo in the morning. We treked to Konkan Kada and i just donot have words to explain what the view was like. This cannot be captured on film or tape. This is a 1800m concave cliff. We can see Belpada village from here. You need to be there to understand what i am trying to explain. We spent about an hour here and then started off to our tent. After we packed all our things, we started treking down at around 1:00pm. Rohit was a bit hesitant about taking this route due to the rock patch and the distance. He wanted to go to Pachnai (this is a easier route down - 1:30hrs) and the rest of us to Khireshwar and then drive to Pachnai to pick him. His leg was very bad and he was limping. The rest of us did not want to split the group and tried conviencing him to come to Khireshwar. Finally we borrowed pain killers from another group and gave Rohit. That really made a lot of difference to Rohit and all of us. This was a lesson for us "Always carry Pain Killers during Treks". We treked down and reached Khireshwar by 7:00pm and drove back. We had dinner at a Dhabha and reached Pune by 12:30am. This was the end of another memorable trip. Not everything was perfect and as planned, but still WE DID IT !!!

On route to Khireshwar

Just the 2 shades

Me, Tinku, Feroz and Rohit

Are u gonna run over me??

Ghats !!

This tree has been here for more than 30 years..

From the shore

Malshej Ghat

Empty Roads

This is what "SORRY" looks like..

Ready to Run

The wind blowin thru...

Masaging Rohit's foot

Time for a Break

Carrying a Log

How far can i throw the log?

Resting in the Wild

Enjoying myself all alone..

A group photo

With our Tent

Fireworks with dry grass all around... not advisable !!

All set for the night !!

In the morning..

On the way to Konkan Kada

Konkan Kada

Would you dare???

Beautiful !!

Come over and look..

On the Edge !!

Hard to close my eyes when something more beautiful than i can ever imagine is there in front of me....!!!

The same four of us after four months

Some Wildlife

Harishchandragad from up

With Feroz

Exploring the Jungle

More beautiful than a Garden

Enlighten Me, Oh God !!

Trying to Pose

One of the easiest rock patches that we crossed

Yeah !! WE DID IT....!!!

Thats all Folks !!!

It was the start of Monsoon and the perfect time for a Biking Trip. Me and my Fellow-Bikers decided to ride to Amby Valley near Lonavala as the roads were truly a Biker's Paradise.

We grouped up at Nucleus Mall Pune on Sunday Morning and then started towards Lonavala. The bikers are as follows:

Abhilash - Pulsar 220 (Blue)

Rohit - Unicorn (Red)

Me - Pulsar 180 UG3 (Silver)

Feroz - CBZ (Black)

Backup Riders - Neha, Ritesh and Jose

Our next stop was CCD Lonavala and after having some snacks we left towards Amby Valley.

It was raining heavily as expected and the climate was heavenly. We started Ripping off as usual on the Ghats and we stopped for a few Photographs. Reached Amby Valley at around 2:30pm and did some stunts. Then we left to trek Korigad. Korigad is a small Hill next to Amby Valley. From the top of Korigad, we can have a full Arial View of Amby Valley. It was raining very heavily and it was very windy too. The droplets of rain were hitting is like needles. I just cannot explain what it felt like, you need to experience it. Once we came down from Korigad, we started off towards Lonavala. The visibility was almost Zero due to the fog. We had to ride in a line with our Blinkers and Headlights on. There was a heavy traffic jam at Lonavala as usual and we reached the Bombay - Pune Highway at around 7pm. It was now dark, raining and there was a lot of traffic. We reached Akurdi by 7:40pm and we all left towards our respective homes.