Day 1: Rajgad

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I expected a lot of trekking activity on an extended weekend like this (Gandhi Jayanti, 2nd Oct, on friday).
The best place to find people for trekking is a couple of orkut communities and mumbaihikers.org
(a nice site keeping a track of trekking activities around mumbai). My first choice, Vasota trek (a long
timer on my wish list) didnt work as the group could not obtain the necessary permits (Yes you need permits for this trek !). So I got on to the second choice Torana Rajgad and called Yatin, the organizer. He had called off the plan but gave me Vivek's number who was going with 4 guys and leaving the same day. I wasnt very keen on a three day trek as I was a bit busy in planning my India trip. But the trekking bug prevailed and in 5 hours, I was on a Maharashtra State Transport (ST) Bus Lal dabba (Red box literally) as it is affectionately called. I took a 11.30 pm Mumbai-Bhor bus from Dadarfor Swargate.
I got on to my favourite last row seat where you can maximize your experience of the ensuing intense bumpy ride. The bus driver showed an utter contempt for all the potholes and didnt even acknowledge there existence. He pushed the old beast to its limits as the engine groaned and the tyres, axles and the passengers moaned. I held the cross bar tighter than I had held on any roller coster ride at Cedar point. I survived and reached the Swargate station at around 4.00 am. I tried to get some sleep on the new red-spit stained chairs without much success. Around me there were a couple of guys discussing the fate of Abasaheb pawar (or some similar named guy), a local politician who had changed party on being denied a ticket. A young, well dressed lady, probably from a nearby village, was fussing to herself about the poor state of ST maha mandal in short expressions like 'shit', 'pichik' and 'oh god' and fumbing (!!) over and over on her seat. A number of guys completely oblivious of their surrounding were snoring their lungs out. At around 6.00 am, a police-man wielding a stick made a round and poked all the sleeping souls lying on the benches and got them up sitting. As the police man left, half of them prompty went back to their snoring self.
At around 6 am, I met Vivek, a tall lanky guy along with his cousin Siddharth. We waited for Aditya and Indu who didnt make it to Swargate until 7 am. We took the Bhor bus at got down at Chilladi. We sat down for a plate of watery misal paav and a cup of tea saturated with sugar. As we sat, we talked to a number of groups, mostly on their bikes, all heading to Rajgad. Vivek, a resourceful guy, talked to everyone, took down their contacts in his small pocket diary and kept on negotiating with
the private Jeep wallas for a ride to Gunjavane, a village at the base of Rajgad. Finally we agreed at a price of Rs. 250 for 5 and started on a jeep ride featuring surprisingly safe driving and expected beautiful winding roads. We reached Gunjavane after about an hour and started hiking at about 10.30 am.
The trail for Rajgad starts from a temple and is an easy 2 hour hike to the top. We started the hike with a stiff Korean guy who came in an Innova with an odd number plate (45 CC something,). He just ignored when we talked to him. Vivek asked where he was from to which he replied "Korea". When poked whether North or South, He insisted it was just Korea and walked ahead. I guessed he must be from N.Korea as S.Koreans normally stress that they are from S.Korea. As the sun got over our heads, our pace slowed.
The trail was dotted with all kind of people, but mostly college guys and girls (cant believe I have crossed that age !). On the way, we booked lunches and asked the guy to bring it to the top. The lunch was Bhakri, zunka, thecha and lonache costing Rs 30 per head and an additional 200 bucks to
bring it to the top. We took almost three hours to reach the Padmavati lake at the top. Its a beautiful small lake at 4200 ft. full of small fishes. If it is to be believed, the villagers say it is 100 ft deep. The place was over-crowded. Padmavati temple was occupied by a large group of 40. The small tourist shed was occupied by another group of probably 15 guys in their 40s and 50s, typical guys who let out all inhibitions and pose in the absence of their wives and kids and try to re-live their older days. But they were all good, jolly and decent and we had a good time with them as we settled in the shade. Indu, who was trekking after a gap of two years, was in split minds whether to continue to Torna or return back. Rasal brought the lunch, a little late, as our stomachs started growling. We fixed up our dinner with him too.
Our plan of gavran chicken was foiled by the exorbitant price of Rs. 350/- and we went back to comparatively bland dal-bhaji. At about 3 pm, it started getting cloudy as we started to Nedhe, a needle hole of about 3 metres in dia created by the ferocious winds. Its an easy 40 min hike from Rajgad towards Suvela machi. We climbed up the Nedhe and sat inside it feasting on the amazing views of the valley. The clouds had just started to descent making the picture postcard perfect. Suddenly a lightning flashed followed by a mild roar. Realizing that we are on the top of a mountain, we started our way back as it started pouring. As we reached back, the weather looked real bad and we gave up all hopes on Rasal and started scouring our bags for some food. But surprisingly the guy showed up. We thanked him from our hearts and enjoyed the hot meal that he brought us. By then we realized, with the shed leaking, it was impossible to stay there for the night. The other group had already made plans to shift to the Padmavati temple. We followed them and squeezed ourselves into the already over-crowded Padmavati temple. However this protection from rain did not come cheap. The original temple group shouted their lungs out blurting out some known while mostly unkown Marathi songs and matched it by banging dhols. They bribed us with a piping hot tomato soup which we accepted with wide smiles. I took out my sleeping bag and instantly fell to sleep amongst all that din thanks to the nightout the previous day and the tiring hike and got up next morning at 5 am. I started out for the most dreary part of the day, emptying out the bowels. Somehow I havent exactly perfected the skill of craping in open and then wash it up ! I think toilet paper is much more convenient ! Talking to the group, I came to know no-one of them slept as every now and then someone kept on kicking or stepping over them. I realized what it meant sleeping like log ! I didnt feel a thing ! By then Indu and Aditya had decided to hike back to Gunjavane. They decided to hike with us to Alloo darwaja where we (me, Siddharth and Vivek) would continue and they would return.

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