Trek to Chanderi

I don’t think any other trek has tested my endurance, patience and fitness as much as this trek.

Base: Chinchavali Village
Distance : 140 Kms approx from Pune(By Road), 80 kms from Mumbai
Route: Chinchavali is accessible by autos from Vangani and Badlapur Railway Stations on Central line, else take the road to Badlapur from Kalyan and then to Chinchavali from Badlapur(E). From Pune take the old-Mumbai Highway till chowk, take a left and follow the Chowk-Karjat-Neral road which further goes to Badlapur, after Vangani, take left from the turn just after Hotel Chanderi

It all began like this :
I was not having anything to do for a couple of weekends and was looking places to explore, on flipping through “ Offbeat Tracks in Maharashtra” figured out that there was a group of caves pretty close to Badlapur. So I called up my best buddies Kapil and Swasti and asked if that could excite them and no surpises like always they joined.

I reached Swasti’s place in Thane on Friday night itself and so did Kapil. We planned to take the fist local to Badlapur/Karjat as none of us knew the timetable, we decided to reach Thane at around 4.30. We planned to sleep early but then you cannot sleep early on a Friday J. Anyways..

We managed to reach Thane @ 5.30 saw a local standing and to our surprise it was a Karjat local. We got down at Vangani and looked for autos. But decided on walking till the base village as well (Someone wrongly thought that Rs.100 was too steep a price).

We started walking and asking the village folks for directions, walked down till Chanderi hotel on the way making some interesting discussions about almost everything in life.

Took the left turn from Chanderi hotel and saw a bunch of kids standing on the slope we asked them too for direction and they replied 10 mins.
We walked a little further and started feeling hungry , Swasti  had prepared some sandwiches for the breakfast which we three hogs finished in no time.
Continuing further we reached a small village and we asked again “How far is Chinchalvali?”  5 mins was the standard answer. I guess our village folk have a different sense of time. Finally after walking for about 2.5 hours we reached Chinchavali (so much for 5 mins).

We asked for a local to guide us till the fort, but since the changes were too steep we decided against it ( A decision I would repent later in the day). We asked for availability of water and threat of animal atop the fort for which we got satisfactory answers.

Day 1:
Timestamp : 10:00 a.m – We started the actual trek to the Chanderi Fort, it was a mild walk in the beginning with gradual descent, we kept following the markers laid out earlier by  the various trekking groups and were pretty happy about not hiring a guide and saving some money. For the next couple of hours we kept walking through the woods and looking for markers. After around two hours we lost track of the markers and also lost ourselves in the jungle, after trying a few jungle trails for the next one hour or so we did figure out the right path. There was one marker which we had missed as it had been turned upside down somehow. We kept trekking further and came across a small rivulet which on going further upstream had a small waterfall created, we replenished our water supply here.

Now began the difficult part of the trek, there were patches which were difficult to climb, ptches which were muddy and slippery et. all  .

Two more hours had passed and we had finished all the water that we had filled at the waterfall. Since it was extremely humid we kept drinking a lot of water, which I did realise is not such a great idea if you have to trek too much. We finally reached a Y fork which showed two paths going two peaks, and none of the smart chaps knew which one was Chanderi,

So there we were trekked for 5 hours, exhausted without water, and not knowing where to go, we needed water badly and that was available only at the top orwe could go to the waterfall two hours away and abandon the trek. Then it started to rain and opened my mouth to drink some of the rain-water, but , since it was our lucky day the rain stopped L.

Suddenly an idea stuck me I did know someone who had quite a bit of knowledge about the trekking spots close to Mumbai- Raj Khatu, thanks to him we reached to the top. It was he who understood our exact location from the gibberish I could muster, we had thought of taking right from the Y fork, which he told was Mhasala, another trekking point but without any water source. Good heavens we didn’t climb it..

He also told that it would be a further 20 mins trek to reach the top of Chanderi which rejoiced us, we decided to make do with whatever glucose we had in absence of water so as to keep ourselves energised. Good Decision Kapil!!!

We finally did manage to reach the top in an hour (as against 20 min) following the Om Namah Shivay signs stuck on the trees. We found that there are only remains of the fort, Chanderi also has a shiva-temple at the top and also a Shivaji Statue inside the cave we decided to stay inside the Cave for the night. We spread our wares inside the cave, gave our bodies some much needed rest, that not before we had splurged on the water spring besides the cave. It was around 5.30 that Swasti lighted the Stove that we were carrying to dish out a meal for us.. a khichdi..( We did have some argument about the spices to be used)

We were also carrying a lot of other stuff Chakli, farsan, Vegetables which we kept gobbling..

The Khichdi was done after some time but we were already full because of the generous amount of junk that we ate.

Once it was dark we were able to see some beautiful city lights. We chatted for a while and then dozed off, apparently there was a Rat which did not allow kapil to sleep peacefully(I wonder why J).

Day 2:
I got up around 6.00 in the morning, with mist hanging over me inside the cave, gave me feeling as if being in heaven, I wondered if God had punished me for some of my Sacrilegious acts like cooking in the temple and not offering to the deity. I looked around and saw two familiar faces, I realised that this cannot be heaven my friends are too good to be there J..

I walked outside the cave and there was no visibility for more than 4 feet, this was pretty risky for our descent, but then who cared we were carrying enough to cook for another 2 days. But I had to go to office, so I decided to call up a colleague later. We manjan-ed our teeth and sat down to a cuppa tea, later-on we took out the camera to click some of our pics. It was about 8 with still no visibility I called up an office colleague and told her that in case I don’t reach office on Monday inform Team Lead that I am stuck at a remote location and will not make it. No sooner I did that the weather cleared up dramatically, I heard some sounds of people speaking to each other and I was right there was a group of around 7-8 college–guys from Mumbai. Whoa.. I was shocked!! How could someone reach so soon.

I asked them and they infact had strted at 4.30 from Badlapur. The guys did Pooja in the temple and we three too joined the chants.

We reheated our Khichdi gulped it (Khichdi was never more tastier) and packed our stuff for descent. On our way down we found a number of people who had got lost in the jungle and shouting “Chanderi” as if Chanderi would reply. Also found a couple from Pune who were visibly tired, they asked if it was possible to return by late evening and we smiled. They decided to join us on our way back. We reached Chinchavali village at around 3.30 in the afternoon. I asked a shop owner if we could get something to go to Badlapur or Vangani to which she gave me a number to call. I call the guy and he said he’d reach there in 30 mins. He did reach there in some time and dropped 5 of us till Badlapur for Rs.60.(I wondered if the saving of the earlier day was actually worth it)

We reached Badlapur and took a train to Thane. On reaching Swasti’s home I kept asking if there was a massage parlour close-by for getting a massage......(So much from a guy who didn’t pay 100 for the rickshaw).

But then had we taken rickshaw and the guide in the trek, it wouldn’t have made it as memorable as it turned out to be.

Thanks to Swasti and Kapil for being sporty enough to join my mis-adventures

Trek to Sandan Valley and Ratangad

Base: Ratanwadi/Samrad Villages
Distance : 220 Kms approx from Pune, 180 kms from Mumbai
Route: Pune-Narayangaon-Sangammer-Akole-Ratanwadi-Samrad

Some of my personal experience from this trek

Day 1:   Scheduled Start 5.00 am- We did good here, everyone was present on time and we managed to leave by 5.15 from Pune. Stopped for a break at Kamat’s  after Alephata.

After a beautiful drive though the ghats Reached Samrad Around 11.30 (not sure if I am correct here).

We met the Mumbai team and all of us proceeded towards exploring the local village, since the lunch was not ready yet. All the guys from Mumbai and Pune team enjoyed a great bit while exploring the countryside, stumptous offering of freshly broken Mangoes, Jambhul and other wild berries ( and the best part Each tree had its unique taste)

After some time we all came back to the village where lunch was almost ready and now it was time for interesting things to unfold..

There was a probably a note shared by the Mumbai asking everyone to get their own eating dishes( We somehow didn’t know about it) so we ended up having lunch at our disposal but no dish to eat it in J

But I manage to borrow some paper plates, other guys borrowed some dishes  and all 12 of us managed to have a shared  lunch. The food was good (Masale Bhat, Pitla and bhakri) and I guess most will agree that this was the best food We left for exploring Sandan Valley shortly after lunch but not before there was a briefing by Kala and other co-ordinators from the Mumbai Team.

For the next 1 and hours we were inside the valley, where I doubt the sun-light ever enters directly, it wasn’t a bit tiring as the entire valley was cool and we were descending downhill. We also had to walk through two water bodies, the first one was slippery and the second one was about 4 feet deep and must admit I was scared a bit since the water was murky, but then the Mumbai co-ordinators guided us through the best possible path. We reached the end of the valley which gives a good view of the picturesque Sahayadris.

After the cut-off we were told to start the return from the valley towards Samrad Village, in the next 10 mins the rains descended, first a light shower which increased its intensity and didn’t stop till about 8.30 in the evening. The rains did make our return a bit difficult but also exciting as the path had become a little slippery. On the return journey we also found an associate from Mumbai falling on the rocks and and getting a cut, but this emergency was handled pretty well. After reaching the village we all shared a bottle of tea(No cups J ). Somehow managed the dinner, as again we were without any plates to eat, it was a simple offering of dal , rice, aloo-baigan curry and bhakri. And surpise!! we also got a tasty kheer for dessert. ( I was impressed).This wasn’t before we lost our voices thanks to the good two hours of Antakshari that all of us had!!

Since it was raining, and we had made the school where we were supposed to sleep wet with our constant walkabouts, elsewhere too the temple the school corridors etc were wet with rains I was a bit sceptical if we will be able to get some sleep. But the Mumbai Team co-orinators made good arrangements for all of us with local villagers. So the entire Pune team got one room to sleep( I was doubly IMPRESSED). Slept like a baby in my sleeping bag, thanks to the daylong activities.

Day 2:   Got-up at 6.30 am courtesy the wake-up call. We were supposed to get up at 4.00, but this   

               was expected considering that rains had messed up quite a few things a day

earlier. I thought I am going to get a bad cold once I got-up, but after a cup of good-old black tea I felt okay.

The entire team left for Ratanwadi in the next hour or so, we had breakfast at Ratanwadi, clicked some photos at the beautiful Amruteshwar Temple.

 We started the ascent for Ratangad at around 9.30, in the next couple of hours we reached Ratangad top, the two ladders to reach the fort enterance always manage to scare me !!

Some of the monkeys there also kept us entertained.

On reaching the top there was the customary briefing by Kala, we were told about the adjoining peaks and other topography.

The best part at Ratangad was standing at the needle hole(nedha as it is called) and I’m sure there will be any disagreement on this bit. At the Nedha I felt as if I was standing in front of an A.C vent. Exhillirating !!

We started the descent after the fort exploration. I had been to Ratangad on two earlier occasions with my friends, but this was the first time I descended from the normal route, on earlier occasions we always took Kalayan Darwaja for the descent. It was bit tricky to reach the ladder landing but every thing went ok, few of the guys also got down using the stairs till the second ladder. On the way back most of the people ate the wild berries in the woods. All of us were back at Ratanwadi by 5 and we left by 5.30 after refreshing ourselves and eating whatever we had remaining in our bags.

Almost everyone dozed off in the tempo traveller and we stopped for dinner close to Narayangaon at a dhaba. After reaching Nasik Phata it was time for everyone to start saying Adios!!