बस पाँच मिनट और !!! Conquering Siddhagad !!

Mumbai Monsoons….The word itself creates a magic in the mind. Mumbai may deal with potholes and water logging but the outskirts flourish with floral delight. Raj & me wanted to have some unsual experience this monsoon. And Aug 15 being a Friday was a boon for us. We made plans with other friends for a trek to Siddhagadh fort, which was organized by an adventures firm.


The plan was to reach Bandra stn by 6am. So we stayed the night before at Ani & Shash‘s house. Adventure had already began. We were meeting post 3 months, so all of us slept around 1 .30am after a lot of gappe-shappe & card games.

“Uth jao yaar…Bandra pahuchna hai.” Sab ne ek dusre ko uthaya. Raj called up Amit who stayed at Santacruz... “ Chal uth ja yaar.. gaadi chali jaayegi warna”
By 6.30 sharp all had assembled. The leader was a dude and had instantly impressed Ani.
Four of us gals had to adjust ourselves at the backseat of the Qualis while the guys conveniently occupied the middle seat ( piche unko jagah nahi hoti waise bhi..hehee) and zoom started our weekend trip.

At Kalyan, Yogita, the other leader was picked up. By this time almost everyone was terribly hungry & desperately wanted to have breakfast. So they stopped at some dhabba. Misal pav & Egg omelet with hot tea was fulfilling for the moment.

Finally we reached the base village, Narivalli, where we put the bags on the backs and got ready for the trek. It was pouring a little so everyone flashed their colorful rain-gears. The organizers gave a Sleeping bag & liner to each of us to carry along. Me & Raj had to manage by carrying 2 extra polythene bags. Small polypacks of a Oatmeal snack and bhujiya aside, there was not much to look forward to as far as the stomach goes.

Around 11.30 to 12, we commenced on our trek. The idea of walking in mud and rains with mosquitoes and worms was creepy to me. But since ours was a big group, it was good fun walking with everyone. We weren’t so regular trekkers so it wasn’t a usual thing for us. After a few mtrs we came across a dirty stream, full of muddy water. At first, we were very careful and tried to avoid the water. Jumped sideways and did all possible things to avoid getting our shoes dirty. But later, a portion of road came where we had no other option but to step into the water. So all of us rolled up our trousers & jumped into that water.. Eeeks.. !!!!Walking in the ankle deep dirty water felt gross.
Shoes, and socks all had united in the march and oozed muddy water energetically while our feet tried to find some respite from the mud.

Sauntering for some half an hour, we reached the lovely paddy fields. The view from there was simply gorgeous. It created a stunning landscape picture. The lush green fields and the lovely blue mountains with sparkling waterfalls was so exhilarating. There we got to know that we had to climb that mountain. Phew!!!. “Abhi tak aadha ghanta hi hua tha.. Abhi toh kitna kuch conquer karna tha..” . We reached a village on the way, from where we picked up some local guides.

Again began our journey walking thru the fields, thru the narrow trails, avoiding the grubby slippery portions, and some small streams. Then came a huge river, which we crossed holding each other’s hands. It was almost knee deep, flowing at a decent speed. Here started the dense green forest. It was a lovely view. On one side was the dazzling waterfall and on other side deep forest. We had already started climbing the mountain range. It was quite tiring, holding a bag on shoulders, carrying the sleeping bag in hands and getting wet in the showers.

Cutting past the tree branches and rocks for abt 1 hour we reached a big stream. All of us were completely exhausted. Most of them went into the water and had a fun time getting wet. The water was chilled. Sat there for some 15 mins and then ascended. When ever we asked Yogita for the time left – She had only one answer “ Bas Paanch minute”. And Paanch minute Paanch minute karke ek ghanta chala deti thi. After abt half an hour climb we reached another waterfall. Few people, who were descending that time, said the top was another half an hour from there. Hearing this we were like.. “Nahiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii aur nahi jaana.. bas hua. “

Ani, her sis and me were the last climbers. All others were quite fast. Mr. Photographer, Amit was busy taking his brilliant snaps. And Raj bichare was also tired holding the bags and climbing. He was constantly behind me so as to save me from any mishap. :) (Yehi mauka tha hero - badla lene ka... hehe)

We were completely wet plus it was raining. This made me freeze. We were literally climbing the rocks of the stream and sometimes it was quite slippery. At one point our guide took us the wrong way and we were aghast at the thought of getting down and climbing again. But there was no other alternative. Finally after some 3 n 1/2 hours, around 3.30, hiking up the dangerous path, we reached the entrance of the fort. Our joy knew no bounds. The clouds went past us making us feel in heaven.

There was a temple at a “bas paach minute” climb.We all were wet and shivering. Our guides took out the lunch pack then. Theplas & Kachoris, with chutney, curd, cheese spread & thessa. Nobody knew the count how many each of them had. The hunger was at its peak at that moment.
Anyways post lunch, all of them planned to go to the village- Siddhagad wadi to look for some arrangement for the night. I wasn’t in mood to go anywhere.So it was decided that four of us stay i.e. Kash, Sanj, Raj and me. The rest of the gang went off on expedition.

I was shivering like anything, with gooseflesh and teeth chuttering. I terribly wanted to have some hot tea. We all then changed to dry clothes and wore our raincoat so as to feel little warm. I didn’t realize when I had fallen asleep on that wet dirty floor. There was no door at the temple to close, so cold breeze blew in unstopped. I literally felt that I was gonna fall sick.
Round abt 6 pm all of them returned. Then we packed our things again and headed towards the village. It was 15 mins walking. Crossed few small streams and reached there. It was still not dark outside, which helped us to see the hut. There I came to know there was no electricity since May in that village. The path was quite a gross with loads of buffalo dung and soft mud. “Pich.. Pich” was the sound coming from our shoes. Yucks!!!.
The guides had managed to arrange a big 1 BHK hut there. (now don’t wonder – villages also have BHK). The village was on a big plateau and hardly had some 5-6 homes with a school. The hut had typical mitti ka choolha which we find in villages and along with it only one small lamp. After getting fresh, our group got inside the sleeping bag and had some hot tea prepared by Yogita, followed by some hot Soup and Maggi noodles, which took approx 2 hours for her to prepare. Bas bhook ke maare sab kuch achha lag raha tha, thou I must say kuch bhi khaane layak nahi bana tha…In between we had our usual humor and ghost stories by the men. The ambience was chilling. A desolate village, with creaky sounds by insects, dogs howling and faraway there was a villager playing his harmonium and singing songs. I prayed for the night to end soon।

The morning was drenched in rains. We woke up with the cock-a-doodle-do from the red rooster. After packing our bags we started off for our down trail. Climbing down the hills seemed as difficult as climbing up to us. The more we went down the more we were surprised at our own courage which pulled ourselves thru this altogether different experience. Through all the body pains and killing aches, what we took home was this invigorating experience of being so close to nature.