The summer had passed and we were all so eager for this next
trek to Chavand, Naneghat, Jivdhan. As it always happens with trekking plans;
there were numerous changes. The turnout ratio was low as expected. We were to
be a group of 12 at one point of time and were actually a group of 6 in the
end. Mode of transport too, changed. But it was then, ‘modes’ of transport. And
it was FUN; I’ll come to that later.
So finally, we dropped Chavand; and decided to cover
Naneghat and Jivdhan. We gathered at Thane Railway station for a short train
ride to Kalyan; then a nice bus ride till the starting point of the Naneghat
Trail. Any bus that goes to the Ahmednagar side, will take you to Vaishakhare,
which is at 2 kms from this starting point. But we kind of impressed the bus
driver, who agreed to give us a drop right up to this point.
It was a nice and easy walk for about 15 minutes after which there was a diversion. We took the
road that went to the right initially; walked for a few minutes, but only to
find a steep ridge which looked not at all like the normal path. “Lets try the
other way”, was the call of the clan. We headed back up to the junction, took
the road that went to the left side and walked for quite some time; an hour
almost if I’m not wrong. We climbed 2 steep ridges, reached a plateau from
where we could see Naneghat on our right hand side and a BIG valley in between.
We; umm; were Lost. I went ahead to see if we should continue in the direction
or head back or whatever. There were a couple of phone calls; a couple of quick
responses from some very helpful and reliable people. But what really gave me a
sense of relief, were 2 old ladies who carried wood. I asked them how should we
go to Naneghat and they gave a very vague yet convincing answer, “just this way”
(indicating to the right). ‘Alright!’ was my reply even when I was not very
sure how to proceed. Then I saw 4 men who seemed to be locals by the ease with
which they walked around on the rocky terrain. I requested them to guide us to
the main path that goes to Naneghat. I also gave a hint that we can pay you
some money if you escort us. We later discovered that they were forest
department officials who were there to count species of trees in the jungle.
And then some storytelling, some nice and quick discussions on the move and we
were treading the main and the right path.
We had already climbed and walked for 3 hrs by then. Our
pace had slowed down; especially myself. I was struggling to keep up with the
pace of the group. But somehow, in some way; after 5 hrs of looong trek; we
reached the cave of Naneghat. Rainfall welcomed us when we had covered almost
90% of the distance. It was So.. Damn.. Pleasing.
There are 2 caves atop Naneghat. One cave which is the big
one and which can accommodate 50 people comfortably; is now closed. It is
locked and you are not allowed to stay in there. Then there is a smaller cave
opposite the big cave, which can house 10 people. We moved in for our house for
the night. Jackets off – T shirts off – and now we were in mood to just lie
down; and relax. We had noted down a phone number on the way; which was of a
person who runs a dhaba at Naneghat. We ordered tea and pohe. It was all that
we needed at that time.
Soon did the skies turn orange-pink. We took some pictures
here and there and were now talking and passing time. Pop! Comes a Frog on my
lap and everybody is on their feet ! ‘Okay! I know what is coming!’, I said to
myself. There were hundreds of frogs. They troubled us all through the night. I
need not say more. I slept for just 2.5 hrs; that too in bits and pieces,
because frogs would wake me up every 5 minutes. It was indeed one of the most
terrible nights I have ever spent. Everyone else somehow managed to get their
fair share of sleep in spite of the troubling creatures.
It was the next morning, and Jivdhan was scheduled. But eh,
the plan was cancelled last night itself. It was collectively decided to drop
Jivdhan and head back to Thane as everyone was really tired and not interested
in any further trekking. But thrill was not over yet.
The BUMP:
The ride from Naneghat to Ghatghar:- A red hot Mahindra
Sarpanch 525 DI tractor which made us feel even the smallest pebble on the
road.
And The THUMP:
Ride from Junnar to Bankar Phata – A Mahindra Commander
which is built to carry 9 people, was ‘stuffed’ with 15. The six of us a part of
those 15. We sat in the jeep squeezing and stretching our muscles. But as soon
as the engine roared... the two massive sub-woofers fitted under the middle row
seat brought wide smiles on our faces. In spite of the most cramped condition
that we were in, we couldn’t help singing and even dancing to the superb Bollywood remixes that the guy played.
The thump continued throughout the journey up to Shahad,
where the jeep driver was a big fan of Lord Krishna Bhajans. They were
melodious without a doubt. But the thump that we cherished was during the 14 km
ride from Junnar to Bankar Phata. We had a last cup of tea at Shahad, and reached back to
Thane by a jam packed local train.
The 2nd trek of our group
concluded with a lot of changes in the plans. But that is the beauty of travel in my opinion. It was a great trek. Be it losing the way, be it climbing in rain,
be it the sunset at Naneghat, be it the insane photography, be it the bhakri
and chicken that we had in the cave, or the frogs, or the scary speed of the
wind, or the super rides, or the jokes we cracked or just everything; IT WAS ONE HELL OF A MEMORABLE EXPERIENCE. I already can’t wait to wander with our group on our next trek.
