Trek to Rasaalgad - Deccan Hikers

Rasaalgad! - 9th July Night to 11th July 2o10 evening.

Right from the time of deciding when and where to go for a trek to the time when deciding goto Herne or catch ST at the khed st depot :P every moment with deccan Hikers is full of fun, masti and enjoyment.

Once the trek date and place was fixed, as always Amol released the schedule and list of things to carry.

After a series of additions and cancellations, we were finally 13ppl all set for the trek.

After that as always I did last moment preps i.e. packing my sack right in the morning of the day when we had to leave i.e. 9thJul10. At that time I realized that the Toop (vessel) that I to carry for the trek was tooo big and heavy. Sakal Sakal me Amol la call kela and tyala tension dila. but lagechach punha call karun sangitla ki 2kgs sathi nahi tar 1.3/4 kg cha bhaat tya toopat hoil... asha hush and hash madhe finally me don toop ghetle. We were to go by ST to Khed.  ST was going to start from Mumbai Central ST depot at 11.45pm.

The boarding sequence was

Mumbai Central: 11.45pm > Amruta, Sonal, Pravin, DS, Saroja
Kurla: 12.30pm: Amol Vidya Myself
CBD Belapur: 1am: Rahul Kedar Ninad Raju Tushar

This time the ppl who gave TAANG ain veli were: Abhijeet Reena Swati Anand

They together are going sponsor next trek for us. :P

ok so back to my track.Vidya came to my house that day. When we left from my house, we clled up Amol. Amol was having lots of samaan as this time he got all the eating and cooking materials on his own, and later he was going to distribute. So we decided to pick him on our way to Kurla ST depot. Whn we left from my house Vidya gave him a call. he started and we met him at right time at the kurla bridge. When we reached ST depot, bus had left from Mum.Cntrl (Amruta called up Vidya and informed her). As I was paying the fare to Ghone kaka (our autowala. he was from my colony itself), Amol realized that he had misplaced his cell. It ought to be the time when Viyda had called him, that he lost his cell :D hahahha Sorry Amol, my all sympathy with you. but ya he has dropped his cell at that time only. He went back with Ghone kaka to check that same place but no use. So, like this our trek began with the lose of Amol's juna purana mobile. Good start na :D
Soon, the ST entered the Kurla depot. Like Amol, Vidya and I also didnt check the ST board and jumped in just becoz we saw Amruta at the window. (So we trust Amruta that she must have boarded the right ST :D )
ST was not that full. We boarded the st, kept our sacks on the upper racks. And the ST started. As I got in I greeted Saroja. DS ka wife. Saroja had came to mumbai just a few days back from Latur, and had never done treking. As DS was cancelling his trek because of Saroja, so I asked him to get her as well. :) Saroja DS and Pravin were sitting on one seat. I thought she will wear the pants, but she had worn punjabi :( then I saw Sonal Bachav sitting besides Amruta. O! she is Sonal Bachav I had imagined some other gal only...ok anyways. While I called up Kedar to inform that we have stared from kurla and Amol was busy with his own luggage, Vidya madam went to Amruta and Sonal's seat to exercise her tounge :D hahahhaa aray I mean to have a little chat.. which didnt end even after the ST  left the mumbai limits :P

as the ST was reaching CBD, Amruta received a call frm Rahul that kedar was late and had not reached the ST stop yet. I called up Kedar immediately. And as per him he was already there. I informed the same to Rahul. I am sure that Kedar was Late and he had just made it on time.  Lazy fellow :D (no no ha he is a good guy with gr8 will power)
ok  So st reached CBD and all these tapori guys got in with lots of shore sharaba. Like they are getting into a ST for the 1st time. It was past midnight, dark in the ST, but our grp was fully awake and active. Rahul had got his tripod and ppl were making fun of it. Anyways. Our journey in the ST was of 5hrs. ST was to reach Khed by 5am. It was 2am that we realized tath it was too late and we shud have a nap. So we all went to sleep. I was in good sleep. pushing my body below the seat, trying to get some home like comfort on the kadak lal daba ka seat, that suddenly I heard a big bang and we all moved left and right. I opened my eyes, there was panic in the ST. I saw that the ST was out of control of the driver. I was scared. Passengers stared shouting. I could see that driver had lost his grip and ST was going like the essel world dashing car. Main socha, chalo apni aakhri ghadi aagayi. Jo etne treks main kabhi hua nahi aaj ho raha hai. Bhagwan se kuch maang lete hai :D hahahahno jokes apart but seriously that time saglyachi hawa tight jhaleli. But THANK GOD. Suddnly the ST driver got his control back over the steering wheel. and the ST was stopped on the road.
Tab samjha ki one tree had fallen right in the mid of the road. Which was not visible clearly in the night. To escape from it, driver took sudden right and it was almost a mishap.THANKS GOD. TUjhe shatsha aabhar.
So from there again, our journey started, and I prayed to god that ajun pudhe kahi viparit nako ghadu deet and let our trek go smooth.
Post that, Amol started telling some fuunny incidents to make Vidya and me laugh and relax. Thanks Amol :)
Again for some time we took and nap, and it was 5.15am that the st reached Khed.
All of us got down. Some of us emptied our bladder :D, I gave Rahul and Nandi their matts. O ya and Tushar had got that huge colorful umbrella on my demand. Thanks Tushar :D
From KHed we took another ST to Jaitapur village.

On the way in the ST we did lots of fun, jokes and humour. As usual Raju, Kedar, Tushar have a gr8 sense of humour. Nandi lacks in that aspect a bit :P hehehhehe
Rahulchi and majhi photogrpahy suru jhali. I realized that I had got Nikon p80, but its battery I left at home :(

kokanatun gaadi jaat hoti. sagli kade hirve gaar, bhatachi shet, dhaag, dongar.. O man.. it was just heavenly...
Amol ticket kade paryant pudhe basla hota, toh nemka eka malwani kakaan chya tavadit sapadla. Tat man I dont know what he was talking to Amol, but it was malwani bhasha, and giving gyaan to Amol.

Amol la pratyek ST madhe kuni na kuni sapadtach :D hahahha Amhi matra mage khup masti karun hasat hoto. Somehow Amol managed to escape from that kaka's tawadi and came back to join us.

Amhi jaitapur la  utarlo and tithe Aanganwadi hoti. Tithe amhi shida watapla suruvat keli. Amol started dividing all the eatables and cooking material.

Group Pic clicked at Nimichi wadi, after shida watap was over.

After that we started our trek.

While treking up, we were only waking on the tar road.

It was also sunny .. no signs of rain :( ghama chya dhara vahat hotya. angatun wafa nighu lagya. As always, vidya rahul and I were last, as we were busy with our photography.

Me finaly thamble and majha sunguard lavla. Dukes nose madhe aadhich haathanchi vaat lagli hoti.. fulto kaale padle hote. Aray and kay popat..amhi sunguard lavlya barober paus suru jhala... aaadhi mahti asta tar gharunach laun nighale aste :D hehehehe

So though we were only walking on the tar road, road was beautiful. surrounded by green fields and farms. Villagers with bullock carts farming, women washing cloths, school boys passing by etc etc.. over all the path was entertaining and not boring.

soon we reached Nimni.

We entered the village.

All of us wanted tea. We approached a house for tea. He said no. Pravin and Amol said something and managed to pursuade the man to give us tea. Yeeee and we got to drink garam garam tea + khakra.

After having tea, we took a path which was cross country shortcut. We were bored of the tar road and wanted some raaan wata....Majhi tar toh paryant hava tight jhaleli. Thakle hote me. I know majha stamina kaami jhala aahe. I need to do yoga regurlarly.
Majhi and Amol chi photo graphy chalu hoti.

After treking 10mins on this path, were were back on the tar road.

But now closer to our destination. From here we could see the rasaalgad hill, its main stone darwaza.

By now we had split into 2 parts. The ones without camera were leading :D and rest were behind coming slowly, clicking snaps.

The tar road ended at one place and from here we had a proper raatwaat passing thru the hills.

It was beautiful path. thought not difficult one, but nice one.

Atmosphere was nice, waat was passing thru dongarwata, there were little streams in between.

And soon we were on the fort. Up there on the hill was rasaalwadi.

A small village with 7-8 huts.

Bakhi sagle jaun main darwaja chya var basle hote, waiting for us to take their snaps.

<><><><><><><><><> Majha speed khupach slow jhala hota. In the end I was left with kedar, raju, tushar, nandi and rahul. Bakhi sagle pudhe nighun gele hote. Ghaamaane waat lagli hoti. varun I was tired of picking my bag. We all rested at one place inside the fort only, just a few mins away from main destination. There I took out my handly foldable fan. Jisse dekh ke sab hairan reh gayee.. ha ha ha ha...All of them were pleading me... main bhi bahut diladar hu, I gave all of them one one chance to benefit from my fan. EVEN NANDI... see I am so dildar...from there to main temple tushar carried my bag. Thanks Tushar :D SO now on the top. the view was classic. I didnt take pics thinking will come back here and take it later on. BIG MISTAKE. will never think like this again. There  was a proper hut. in good condition.There was tulsi and that pillar of diyas in its aangan. Nice place. Inside was a devghar. 3 god idols were there. properly worshiped and diya was also lit. There is a pond behind the hut. It was potable water. Saglya mulanchi wicket down hoti (except Amol). Ekmekanchya angar padun jhople hote. And amhi muli Amol sobat jevanachya tayarila laglo hoto. Toh paryant Amol was instructing Amruta abt how many LITRES of water he requires :) O one thing to mention. In his hut at rasaalgad, there are utensils already for the use of the trekers :D nice naMy toop were not used. We used the utensils there. fukat main maine wajan carry kiya :( So for lunch Amol had got some mixture prepared by him Mom. He asked me to open it. O MAN.... Yummmyyyy was the aroma.... kay delicious hota te... vasavarunach kalat hota. Amol and Vidya chya arguements madhe bakhi salge matra kevilvanya avasthet jevanachi vaat baghat hote. hehehehhe eka tasa nantar bhat jhala. Me devalachi Ghanta vajavli. Sagle uthle and patkan jevayla taat gheun ready. Jevanat - Bhat with Amol's mom's mixture of spices + loncha + khakra... Amazzzzingggly delicous. THANKS AMOL Jevun parat sagle padle. baher chanach paus padat hota. Toh paryant aatli photography karat hoto amhi. Rahul ne tyacha tripod kadla. mast paiki slow shutter speed madhe tyane andharatlya devancha photo kadla.Toh jhoplela astana me tyacha tripod vaparun ghetla :D hehehe tyala hi khup chalala... Thanks Rahul. bara mag amhi sagle baher firayla nighalo to explore the fort. tevha khup maja aali. Rahul ne tyache macro filters je baher kadlet, tevha susat sutla hota toh phot kadat. ekso ek pics ghetla tyane. I will also soon buy those filter, as they are cheap and give good results. While exploring the fort, khup comedy kelya, khup haslo, khup photo kadle. Chatri gheun udya marun pan khup pics kadle... Thanks to Rahul. I wanted it exactly the same frame hya veli sarwat comedy hota te mhanje panyat dagad takun tyacha photo kadnyacha khel hehehheeh it was funny :) then, paus punha suru jhala. sagle aat palale. tevha kuthe nivant milala. And me chatri gheun baher padle photo kadayla. tevha majhya barober hoti Saroja. O man.. u wont believe it ti mala dakhavat hoti, hyacha kad tyacha kad, asa kad tasa kad. @ DS... tila ek camera gheun de... tila chan aawad aahe :) So then chaha chi vel jhali. Me aata gele. chaha tayar hota. Me cha gheun baher aale, as paus thamblela. Majhya pathopat salge baher aale. Amhi sagle masta garam garam chaha gheet baher kattaya var baslo,. samor suryast hoot hota, dukha daat hou lagla hota, vatavaranat gaarwa vadhat hota....it was pefect time to sip hot tea. @Vidya - the tea was amazing.... When I went out I was instructed not to take the cam. But soon rahul came out with his cam. I wanted someone to go and bring my cam. and Surprizingly ..... my "BEST FRIEND" NANDI got it for me... The moment when nandi threw my chappals such that its not captured in a photo :) SO nice of ur Nandi... maine toh tujhe pehchana hi nahi... tu taoh heera hai re heera.. aaje se tera naam heera ( hahahhahaha)So heera also got my chappals ha... :D he exceed my expectations this time :D After that Amol vidya Amruta, everyone got their cams. We all started our photography again. That time when I finished my photography, sat besides on the fence, listening to songs.O man... it was the best time for me. I love to spend time like this. I wish I had a permanat house on a hill top like this. Later we played Dumb sharades with dumb guys. Gals Vs Boys. That was real fun. Etka haslo amhi... khup comedy jhali. aata kon jinkla hyachya shi kaay karaychay? Khelalo and maja keli hey mahatavacha :D mag ratra jhali.. surya mavalla. jevanchi tayari karayla amhi aata gelo. ratri maggi cha plan hota. Audit madhe kalala ki 2 maggi packets missing aahet. tyacha investigation suru jhala and mag lakshat aala ki te Saroja chya bagat aahet :D Maggi hoyee paryant parat sagli ek mekanchya angavar padun jhoplet... ratri 9pm nantar amhi jevanala suruvt keli.. jevan hoyee paryant I think 10.30 jhale astil. Jevan jhalyavar, bhandi dhunyacha session was too good. Unfortunatly majhya cam chi battery down hoti. So I used Vidya's cam to click those moments. Pravin and DS ne hya veli jhup madat keli.Kedar nusta khaun jhopa kadat hota. And nandi ne torch dharayla madat keli :D heheheheh toh tevdhach karu shakto. Ok mag sagla avaraun jhalyavar... antrun takaychi and kon kuthe kasa jhopnar hyachi arrangement suru jhali. Ratri sagle padlyavarp pan me vidya chya cam madhun photo kadla aahe. :( kash majha cam chalu asta. I was really tired and wanted to sleep finally. But some idiots like Kedar and Rahul torch marun jhopaylach deeet nhavte.. they wanted to play something and I was totally not interestted :D Halu halu sagle zhople. Sakali 5am la uthun, 6.30am la nighaycha hota. me kadhi jhople te kalalach nahi mala. barober sakali mala jaag aali. Vidya pan jaagich hoti. thandi vajat hoti. tevdhya alarm vajal kunacha tari. I thought it was 5am. But Amol uthala and said 5.30 jhalet. saglyanna jaag ali hoti. But kuni antrun sodyala tayar nhavta. Me uthle, mag vidya. amhi baher gelo. Fresh houn yee paryant sagle uthle hote. except Kedar and Rahul. Tyanna mag halavun amhi uthavla. Amhala nighayla usheerach jhalela. Utartana majha ek tooop kuni tari uchalnar asa me Amol la sangitla hota. So I asked Amol to appoint someone. Nemaka tyane Nandi cha naav ghetla. Bichara Nandi :)Pan changla aahe. He choose to exchange sacks. So did we. We also exchanged roles. Tyachi kacharyachi thaili me ghetli. Nightana ek group photo kadla amhi, rahul cha tripod use karun. Deccan Hikers: Just before starting the descend It was 7.30am when we actually started our descend. Utartanan mala aatavla .. ki aray me tar ekadche pics kadlech nhavte, chadtana, as I had kept it for later :( but aata majhi battrich down hoti.... I couldnt take anymore pics. Kedar as usual utarna halu halu utarat hota, as it was damn slippery. While descend we again got split into 2 grps. As I had no cam, I was very quick this time, right in the front. fatafat utarat astana mala pravin ne idea dili, ki mobile cha cam vaparaychi... O MAN... how cud I forget that I have my my n73. me lagech kadla majha mobile and suru jhale. But tyachi pan battery down honychya linivar hoti. fatafat cross country marat this time amhi ek mekanna chase karat hoto. Amhala 9am chi ST pakadychi hoti. aaadhi Amol vidya and grp saral rastyane jaat hote. Nandi showed us one short cut. But the funniest scene was when he went in left of the mandir and rest of us to right of the mandir... I got the right path :Dlambun nandi la devalachi pradakshina marun ektach popat houn parat yetana baghtana me and kedar poot dharun haslo.. heheh O man I still remember Nandi's face. Shetatun cross country marlya var hya lokkanni je chidva chidvi keli... ti competition la suruvatach jhali... Amol took it seriously... and man... kadhich kuthun tyane kay cross country marli .. ki toh khupach pudhe pochun gela yaar... POPAT jhala amcha :( mag amhi dambri ratrya varun palat sutlo......rasta la utaran hoti... steeep.. tya varun palat astan speeed apoaap vadhala.. break lavna mushil hota ... me swatahla savarte ki tevadhya maghun DHUP karun awaj aala... mage valun pahila tar Sonal madam rastya var kosalya hotya... baapre.. kay padli ti...I heard that she had water bottle open in one hand, cam and bottle's top in another and she was running. she cudnt control her speed and she fell off... tichi pant gudgya kadun full fatli yaar.. rakt vahu lagla.. Kedar and Tushar supported her. While Nandi Raju and I proceeded. Amchya pudhe hote Saroja DS and Pravin. and Tyachya khupach pudhe disenase hote Amol Vidya and Amruta. and madhe kuthe tari cam gheun haravlela Rahul. Ekda ghadyala kade laksha gela tar it was 5 less for 9. Me mhatla nahi milnar aata ST. kasey basey amhi 9.08 paryant pochlo tar Amol aavaj deet hota ki ST yetey... baapre... amhi ST la yetana pahila. But Kedar Tushar and Sonal wree far far behind. Kunacha mobile madhe netwrk nhavta. Amol ne ST thambavnyacha vichar kela. I was sure it wil not. But the driver did. Driver ne ST thambavli, and toh khali utarun amhcyat ubha rahila...tevdhyat palat tushar pudhe aala, tyala baghun haay se vatale. dhapa takat magun sonal and kedar pan aale and finally we all boarded the ST. THANK U VERY MUCH to the ST wala driver and conductor. Bus madhe Sonal la Vidya ne first aid kela. Amhi I think 9.30am paryant Khed la pochlo. Tithlya hotel madhe nashtya var aakra man kela... mast pooot bharun khalla and nighalo. Train amchi 3pm chi hoti. and it was only 10.30am now. We had lot of time in hand and we were decding wat to do with it. Few were suggesting to visit Herne, while Raju Kedar and Nandi were leaving for mumbai in ST. As Raju wanted to goto delhi in the night. Actually it was the best. ST nighnar hoti. Kedar Raju and Nandi went and sat inside the ST. Baher rest of us were deciding whether we shud also join them. because 4hrs was a lot of time. and etkya velat amhi kuthchya kuthe pochu rather than waiting here on St stand. Finally we made up our minds. Train booking waste and we got into the ST. Yeee finally we all were together again. ST started at some 10.45am and we reached Panvel by 3.45pm.On the way we again played, laughed and had fun. Vatet ek accident pan jhalela hota. tithe amhala 15mins thambava lagla. tevadhach. Amhi bus madhe masti karat hoto. toh paryant Amol hisob karat hota. Total pratyeki kharcha 620 jhala. Amruta and Sonal got down at Panvel. Then Amol, I,Kedar Raju Rahul and Nandi got down at CBD. Tithe Amol and I took train and I reached home by 5pm. Husshsshhh... here ends the trek. And today its Monday. 1st day of the weeek. I m at home. having ample time and nothing to do. Trek la jatana, ST madhe ratri jo apghat honya pasun vachala tevha me devala bolale hote, ki pls trek changla hou deet, I want to reach home safe and see my self writing this exp of trek. So here is this write up from me. Enjoy!!!! :D