My friend Rohan is a passionate trekker as well. He couldn't join me on the treks coz of his exams. Once his exams got over, he wanted to go on an adventure.
The Planning
Wednesday 7th October 2009 - Late Evening
It was a hectic day at work for me. In the evening just before winding up, Rohan pinged me on messenger and asked me whether I was game for trekking the coming weekend. I said Yes. We decided to meet. The place was undecided but one thing was sure, that we wanted to Trek. We met at a local coffee joint and were deciding where to go. We were thinking of Kalsubai (The highest peak of Maharashtra) but then none of us had been there earlier. So we decided to do some research once we reach home. Meanwhile, we wanted some more people to come as well. We checked with our old buddy Anand. He joined us at the coffee joint too. He was a bit confused as he'd never been on a trek and we assured him that although we (me and Rohan) were not so experienced, but we can guide him accordingly. Upon hearing this, he agreed.
Once we reached home later at night, we did a bit of research. We searched for places nearby Nashik/Igatpuri. For sometime we even thought of pitching a tent nearby Bhandardara Lake. But that would be too much of a risk, since we never knew how the surroundings are like. We finally shortlisted Ratangad and Kalsubai. I searched for railway timetables, connectivity of trains/buses to Bhandardara etc. Rohan was of the opinion that we should drive down as we could go wherever we want and go around the nearby places if we have time. I too agreed with him and we decided to go by car.
Thursday, 8th October 2009
Since none of us had been camping earlier, we decided to prepare a list of camping essentials. Self and Rohan discussed about it and I sent out an excel sheet the following afternoon after vetting it. We all checked the list simultaneously, bookmarked the very essential items we didn't have and decided to meet later in the evening.
Meanwhile, as mentioned earlier, I'd always trekked with Samir and his group. So I checked with him if he was available for Ratangad/Kalsubai. He gave me some valuable tips and also helped me in checking in some trek reviews online. He suggested us to goto Kalsubai instead of Ratangad as although Kalsubai is the highest peak, it was an easy trek very unlike Ratangad. Me and Samir were checking the reviews online and the difficulty level was Medium to Hard. It was definitely not recommended to take beginners to Ratangad. Whatever discussions we had and whatever reviews we checked I was sharing those with Rohan and Anand accordingly so that we all are well prepared.
Since we were planning to stay overnight, we needed to buy some items which included a stove, some kerosene, some fluids and few packets of ready to eat items. We met late in the evening on Thursday night, bought the required items from a local departmental store and went home.
Friday, 9th October 2009
With just one day to go for the beginning of our trip, we were already very very excited. Furthermore, we had one more confirmation on friday morning Shivanand. Even he was a first timer. We were again in two minds whether to goto Ratangad or Kalsubai. By late afternoon on friday, we finally decided to go to Ratangad. We decided to meet again later in the evening to finalize things. Just before meeting, we realised that we didn't buy kerosene but we had the stove. We checked with few sources and understood that surprisingly kerosene out of stock in most of the ration shops near our area. We were in a fix. We met in the evening and we were checking with almost every source whether kerosene was available. I met Rohan at Borivali station and prior to meeting him I asked a paanwala whether he knew any place where we can get kerosene. He told me that he'd get it for me for a price in black and also that but we would've to shell out extra say around Rs 50/60 per Ltr for the kerosene. I informed Rohan about the deal that guy had offered. We mutually decided to search for same in few shops and if we cudn't find it then we would take it from that guy. Luckily after checking shop-to-shop and walking for about 15-20 mins, we found kerosene at Rs. 22/- per Ltr. WOW!! Finally!! :) That means that paanwala wanted to make a quick buck by purchasing at the same price and selling us at a much higher price. Woah!!
Just between all this, I checked with another friend of mine Shantanu whether he would be available. He was ok with it and confirmed that he'll join. So we were 5 of us. A perfect number for a road trip cum adventure trek.
Now that 5 of us were confirmed, we needed some more food items. We again shopped for the required items and also bought some medicines for emergency. So everything was set and we decided to leave at 4 am on saturday morning.
The 1st Day - The Drive to Ratanwadi (Ratangad)
I set my alarm for 3-30 am and we had decided that the one who wakes up first will call the rest for better co-ordination. To my surprise, Anand was the first one to take an initiative and message everyone much before time, much before my alarm clock rang. :)
I left my place in Borivali and met Anand and Shivanand in Dahisar. Rohan too stays in the same colony however surprisingly he wasn't answering the phone nor did he come down. After trying to call him for a long time, finally he answered the call at 5-10 am and we finally left Dahisar at 5-30 am. Since Shantanu stays in Thane, we had to pick him up on the way. He was ready since 4 am but since we left late we finally picked him up at around 6-30 am. Once he was in we adjusted all our bags in the trunk and finally left for our destination :)
As mentioned earlier we did a lot of research before leaving. I checked out the route on Google Maps. To be honest, I used to trust google maps a lot. In fact, last year I found a place in Nashik just due to Google Maps. Hence, this time I trusted it without any doubt. As per google maps, we were supposed to take a right from Shahapur, on the Mumbai-Nashik highway. We did that and went in. As we proceeded further, the road kept getting narrower and narrower and full of potholes. We kept asking people on the way about Ratangad. They were clueless. We went ahead and after going about 15 kms, we arrived at a village. We stopped and asked them coz we couldn't see any sight of mountains nearby. To our surprise, one person who was a candidate for elections during that period told us that we were on the wrong track. We had to turn back then.
We proceeded to Igatpuri and then deviated to Ghoti from where the road to Bhandardara starts. The town of Ghoti was a cramped up town and reminded us of the movie Billu Barber . Too much crowd, people selling rotten vegetables on the street. It was a complete mess. Since october was the election time, there was a campaign going on. The guy was announcing on the mike and informing the people about the election date and the candidate to vote for. To our bad luck, we got stuck behind that vehicle and worse we had the van with the speaker behind us. It was pathetic. Just to cover a distance of 100 mtrs, we took 45 mins. Finally after some ear torchure, we managed to overtake the vehicle and proceed to Bhandardara. It was about 35 kms from Ghoti. The route was very scenic with mountains all around, windmills etc. We reached the Bhandardara Dam in a while but we did not waste too much time there since we wanted to trek and it was almost noon. After going further, we got a glimpse of the Arthur Lake. It was so tempting that we stopped the car and went towards it. Everyone was keen on taking snaps, posing for the cam. It was just amazing.
After spending almost an hour there, we proceeded to Ratanwadi. The road to Ratanwadi was very bad. It had loads of potholes and it was a tough task to drive through them. Although it was 22 kms from Bhandardara, we felt as if we drove much longer. We reached the base village Ratanwadi around 1-30 pm in the afternoon. Upon reaching there we decided to take help of a local guide who could help us in reaching the top. He helped us park the car next to his house and also offered us some tea and pakodas. After eating some stuff, we unpacked our bags, kept the non-essential items in the car and left for the fort. It was around 2-30pm and being the first time we were trekking at this time, I kept on asking the guide as to how far is the fort. The villagers are used to it. They always use terms such as "arda tass" "don tass" which means "half an hour" "two hours". But this guy assured me that we would reach before sunset. We had 2 first time trekkers Anand and Shivanand. I was behind them and made sure they were comfortable. Kept on motivating them, giving valuable tips etc. Tips which were earlier given to me by Samir. After around 2 hours, we came across a ladder, a metal one. We could not use the side support coz it used to shake. We got hold of the steps by hand and went ahead one by one. After one ladder we noticed another one. After the second ladder, there was a narrow patch and we had to negotiate it properly. The guide and Shantanu were ahead and were guiding all of us through that. With the heavy backpacks it was very difficult for all of us. This patch we had to do a bit of rock climbing. Step by step, one leg to the left one to the right, hand-leg co-ordination, proper balance was the key. Although we took some time, but we did quite well in the end. That was it. We had reached the top. All of us were very happy. As we went ahead, we saw a temple and further we saw a cave. We were excited. It was an awesome one. We could see mountains from both sides and the Arthur Lake just ahead of us. To be honest, I can't describe the view from there. Rohan had carried a tent and he began pitching it, me and Anand were helping him in same. I had got along 2 foam mattresses. So we were decently prepared for spending the night.
We needed some water for cooking purposes and were not keen on using drinking water. So 2 of us, Shantanu and Shivanand went in search of water. Over there they came across a group of amateur trekkers from an IT company in Mumbai. They had been fooled by some guide from Bhandardara. He had promised them to show a nice place to camp overnight and also told them that good water is available. The cave where we camped had some space inside for about 25-30 people and it was very much secure with steel grills. We camped on the outer part of the cave. The inner section was unoccupied.
As mentioned earlier, the ladders were quite steep and risky. We negotiated that patch through good co-ordination. However, we had some fear as to whether we'll be able to negotiate or not. The guide who was with the other group claimed that he knew a easier route down through the other side but that was a much longer route. Unfortunately though they had reached the top but they never got a comfortable place to camp unlike us. Shantanu and Shivanand offered to help them and told them that there is a cave on the inner side and that we had camped on the outer side. The sun had not set till then. That group had some female members who were trekking for the first time and were shit scared after climbing those risky ladders. They were adamant on moving anywhere. After filling up water for our food, both Shaan and Shiva put the ball in their court to decide whether they want to move to a better and a comfortable location near our cave. They exchanged numbers and told us that they will inform us. There was still some time for sunset and so they requested them to decide fast.
Shaan and Shiva came to the cave and we started the stove. The weather was pleasant. We needed something hot. Rohan and Anand started boiling the water for the soup. The soup was awesome. After all that, we rested for a while. We also shared individual experiences of the trek so far. Around 8 pm, we decided to cook dinner and sleep early coz we were all tired. Just as we were about to have dinner, we saw the same group which Shantanu and Shiva had offered help walk into our cave. They went to the inner portion of the cave which had a capacity to seat about 20-25 people. We could realise that some of them were really tired and scared maybe coz it was their first trek and they had negotiated a very difficult patch. One of the female from that group told us that "Humne mauth ko ekdum kareeb se dekha hai"
They had a guide alongwith them too. The guide was supposed to take them via a different route so we thought we could join them the next day. However, we ended up sleeping very late. It was getting colder too. Shiva was our official fireman. :) He made sure that everyone gets proper sleep. Shantanu was shivering and so was Anand. Shiva was up late at night just for this. It was nice on Shiva's part to help them out.
Few of us decided to wake up early in the morning and watch the sunrise. Just before sunrise, the group which was staying in the inner cave left the cave to start the descent. Due to the commotion all of us woke up. The sunrise was truly beautiful. The camera actually doesn't capture the true beauty of it. One should've been there to watch it. It was splendid.
Even though the sun was out, we were still shivering with the cold wind blowing towards our cave. We decided to have some coffee. Few of us started preparing coffee and few were juz cleaning the place, washing utensils, gathering waste materials etc. While we were doing that we saw abt 2-3 monkeys just next to our cave. As mentioned earlier, there was a temple just next to out cave, and few trekkers stayed there overnight coz our cave was occupied. They had thrown waste materials, food etc outside the temple andb there was no sign of them. The monkeys exploited the situation and gathered there one by one. While we were busy cleaning up the place and preparing coffee, one of the monkeys came too close to our cave and started making weird noises. I remember Samir telling me that these monkeys are dangerous. Do not trouble them. Hence I ignored that monkey. We all thought "Saala Kaccha Nimoo Hai, Kuch nahi karega" But it wasn't that way. He kept on coming close to us. On seeing this Anand told me to go two steps ahead towards the monkey and the monkey would go away. I did the same. Unfortunately the monkey too came two steps ahead and started making really loud noises. Well donno about others. But I was scared. And we were having coffee too that time. The monkey was roaming in our cave as if he/she had conquered it. Suddenly someone gave me an idea to come out with a Lion's roar. We never intended to hurt the monkey but then things were out of control. The monkey kept roaming in our cave and also eying on our food items. I started with "Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr Arrrrrrrrhhhh" (That was too stupid..!!) Upon hearing this the monkey started coming close to us at a decent pace. Just in the midst of this, Rohan picked up a stone and acted as if hez gonna hit the monkey. Woah!!! The monkey finally ran away upon seeing this. !! And all the frightened faces seemed alive again. "Yay Yay!! Now we know your weak point" "Hool diya toh bhaag jaayega" After that no monkey dared to enter our cave. Although attempts were made, but we gave them hool and they behaved themselves. :)
It was around 10 am. We started the descent. We were thinking all night about that deadly steep patch and how do we negotiate all that. One of us volunteered to go down and help each one out. That was a relief. We negotiated those tough patches in little over 30 mins. En route, we passed through a stream and few of us decided to freshen up, wash our faces etc. In the midst of this, most of us ended up tasting the stream water. It was so damn sweet. We were thirsty anyways. We decided to fill up two bottles and mix tang. It was so refreshing. We rested there for about 15-20 mins. Meanwhile, Anand had a problem with his shoe. The sole had come off. We tried to use some suthli and managed to attach the sole to the shoe temporarily as we knew that the base village was less than an hour away. Unfortunately, it wasn't working out. He had a pair of slippers and we resumed the journey to the base village. Within around 45 mins, we reached Ratanwadi. There was a mini-dam. All of us decided to go there and have a bath, but the water was not clean enough to have a bath. We just washed our faces and proceeded to the villager's house.
We had told him the previous day that we would prefer non-veg food and so he prepared desi chicken for us. Normally, during treks we eat almost anything and anywhere. We don't care about hygiene. We were served bhakris, desi chicken, rice, rassa and some onions. The desi chicken was not too great. None of us liked it but we had it coz we were hungry. The chicken rassa was awesome though. After about 30 mins around 2 pm, we were done with lunch. We paid him and started our return journey home.
We reached Mumbai by around 8 pm.
WOW!!! What a trip this was. This has to be one of the most memorable ones after Bhimashankar (July 2009). Believe me, we still talk about this place, its beauty and the monkey incident whenever I meet the ones who were part of this trip. :)
