Kalsubai

Kalsubai is the highest point (1646 meters) of the Sahyadris in Ahmednagar district in Maharashtra. Along-with my friends we decided to go for trekking to this place on 28th July 2012.

It was terraficallyfantabulousdeliciouslyadventurouspectacularamazinglyfuntasticallythrillarrefreshingreviving trip.

Some highlights of our venture into the Sahyadri terrain:-

अभी..तो...आगाज़..है...!

1. Haresh Vaity reached late at Dadar station. 

2. Sanket was skeptical about the trip as it was his first trekking (though he responded well as experienced) J

3. One stranger at Dadar was struggling to get his weight card from weighing machine. After continuously hitting the machine finally! He got his coin at least (not the weight) J He shook hands with Ketan as he was happy to get his coin back. 

4. At 12:30 am in the train; as expected Vaity started his interesting stories; kept people engaged in entertainment.

5. Incidentally, at 3:30 am Ketan opened the door of bogie to see where we had reached by that time and luckily it was Igatpuri.

6. Had tea biscuits at station… (One can’t get such a nice tea for only Rs. 3) 

7. A long wait at Igatpuri bus stand to get the first bus to Bari…

8. Bus driver had shown no mercy towards the passengers driving through zigzag road.

9. Reached Bari and had well cooked and soul soothing Pohe and tea in cold weather.

10. Started trekking at 7:15 am witnessing drizzling and damp breeze.

मनभावन...हरियाली..!

11. Went through farms of paddy and then through the village.

12. Couple of honest and loyal dogs decided to accompany us throughout the trek. 

13. Stones, rocks, hills, mud, trees, grass, rain showers, whispering winds, noisy waterfalls, free-flowing granual clouds …. and numerous scenic views were the refreshing agents for us for next few hours…

14. Breaks after regular interval made it easy for us to restore and revive our energy…

सबके...साथ...एक...फोटू...हो...जाए...

15. Vaity continued his photography along the way… thanks to him 

16. Crossed many dangerous and trembling ladders.

To our surprise there was always a next hilltop to climb-over; whenever we reached a certain remarkable height.  J The nature was playing hide and seek through the notorious clouds.

17. This continuous joke was broken when we reached at the highest peak around 11:30 am.

और...हम...जीत...गए !

18. On the top, there was a small temple of local goddess Kalsubai. It looked as if thunderous cloudy winds were safeguarding the place. We were not even able to keep our shoes in one place wondering if they got blown away!!!  

19. Such places remind us the saying that it’s difficult to reach the top but it’s even more difficult to stay there.

20. However it was amazing to see downhill side. Now we had clouds everywhere up above in the sky, down the hill and around us.

21. After bowing and offering prayers to the Goddess we started cautiously descending at around 12:00 noon.

22. It was again a challenge to go downhill as the brief innings of rain made it slippery everywhere.

छाया..प्रतिछाया...-...अप्रतिम..प्राकृतिक..सौन्दर्य

23. Midway we had tea and kanda-bhajji beating any 5-star serve!!! 

24. Finally ! reached at ground at 3:45 pm. Heard the story of Kalsubai from couple of chai and limboo-pani vendors… Unfortunately missed the bus for Kasara by 5 min. 

25. Caught a bus to Ghoti. From Ghoti again a jeep took us to a toll naka on Nasik-Mumbai highway. Another bus from there and we were at Kasara railway station where a local train was waiting for us. J

26. Finally reached Dadar at 8:30 pm; safe and tired but with a sense of satisfaction that we had conquered the highest peak (5400 feet or 1600 meters ) in Maharashtra… !!! 

J

Sahyadri ko naman !

ये``नज़ारे``कभी ``भूल``नहीं``पाएंगे.........हो``सका``तो``वापस``ज़रूर``आयेंगे !

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