On 29 May 2015, I returned from Great Himalayan NationalPark and had no plans for the weekend. So, I was half sleepy when Sagar
messaged asking how my Himalayan trek had been. The discussion went on and I
asked him what he was upto that weekend. He said he was planning to go to
Kokandiva overnight.
Kokandiva had been a failed plan for long, I asked him if I
could tag along. He said, “Are you sure? It is not even 24 hours that you have
returned.” I was absolutely sure about visiting Sahyadri right away.
I had to unpack and repack. Got some food and we were on our
way at 5 PM. After a brief tea break near Panshet, we rode towards Ghol. Just
before Ghol, a small dusty path leads us to Garjaiwadi. The condition of that
road was so bad that we parked the bike midway and walked towards Garjaiwadi. It
was dark, the dogs started barking when we entered the village. Sagar went to a
house and handed over our riding gear.
After almost an hour, we were on a plateau. We rested here
for some time and tried to spot the villages in the valley. Now the final
climb! It was steep, real steep. It took another hour for us to reach the top. After
reaching the cave, we made some maggi with eggs and cheese at 0000 and slept
off.
When I woke up, Sagar was already up and was basking in
rising sunlight. I seriously wanted to sleep for more time. Luckily, he was ok
with it.
The Fort doesn’t have many ruins as such. Just some water
cisterns and a cave where we had camped in night. So, after I got up, I made
some coffee and went to the hill top. Seeing Raigad from a height was treat to
the eyes, especially since one could identify the mountain top from with
details on it like Jagadishwar Temple. Beautiful site of Lingana was cherry on
the cake.
At about 10, we returned to the cave and I thought of making
some egg burji only to realize that in the chaos of packing and unpacking I had
forgotten to get oil or butter. So, I mixed some garlic chutney and cheese and
made bhurji sans oil. Meantime, Sagar played some Marathi song on the mobile.
After brunch, it was coffee time and a Marathi song “Yajanmavar, ya jaganyawar shatada prem karave”… (Literally translates to: One
could love this birth, this life hundreds of times) I could give my entire life
for such moments!
We wound the camp and started descending at 1130. The jungle
was now visible. The shrubs were bearing Karawande (wild berries), we ate and
ate, filled all our pockets.
On the way, we came across the temple which we had missed in
the night. The path from here is a plain jungle trail to Garjaiwadi. We picked
up our riding gear and headed back to Pune.
Photo & Content Copyright : theGypsyPrincess.Com (2015)
