Just began my tryst with treks last June(2013) and so have always been a bit apprehensive about joining treks that state medium or difficult.Yet,my urge for challenges has got the better of me on a couple of occasions and I have trekked on the medium treks( mind you,this word medium is according to the regular trekkers so for amateur trekkers like me these are leaning more towards difficult) But I have to admit that these difficult treks have left me invigorated and asking for more, so here I was again,registering myself for the trek to Vikatgad (Peb) fort near Matheran.The name of the fort said it all.For those in the dark,the word vikat means difficult and I was all set for another adventure with my favourites-The Trekmates India group.We went during the last week of December and I made up my mind to go on many more treks and photo walks in the coming year.
What excited me more was that this was the very first over-night trek I was going to and I had taken this decision only because I was going with TMI. So I travelled by train to Neral and we all met at the station.Had not been there since my school years and was waiting to revive memories.Introductions done with, we began our trek in the dark at about 11.45 pm with only the scant moonlight to guide us on our way.before that we cut the cake and sang for the birthday boy and did our mooh meetha.We saw the little bright blue famous Neral-Matheran mini-train standing all alone in the shed after a hard days work.At first it was difficult to see anything ahead of us but soon we got accustomed to the darkness and trundled on.The route was not all easy as there were numerous patches that were rocky and difficult to climb.It was a tedious job to manage keeping the torch in our hands and manage rocky and steep patches.help was on our side in the guise of the TMI leaders who had the head band torches(a la Kala Patthar) .My torch was already breathing its last and I rued the fact that I failed to understand the need for a bright torch at the night treks.(A lesson learnt,get a good torch)One of the leaders was sweet enough to hand over his torch for the rest of the climb up.Some of the paths were really scary and I had my heart in my mouth but the leaders were reassuring and encouraging and we kept going on.Unfortunately,though we had a local guide along,we missed our way once and had to descend and take another route,the right one this time.Finally we reached the Vikatgad (Peb)fort.As it was dark and we were really tired after the strenuous climb we went for our pees and settled down to sweet slumber.I slept inside the cave with two of my friends and I could hear the rest of the gang doing their masti.I awoke to the smell of something burning and it was the tea being made on firewood.dark brown tea made with milk powder was relished by all and then it was time to explore the caves.There were paintings of Swami Samarth on the cave walls and some shlokas too.The view from the top was marvellous so we began our photo sessions which lasted for quite a while.the leaders literally had to push us towards the next step of our trek.
Again,with renewed vigour we began our climb up.Once again , the route was not an easy one.There were about four(or was it five?) metal ladders in dilapidated state that we had to ascend.But none of us gave up and kept moving ahead.Looking back at the route we took in the pictures clicked I cannot believe I completed the difficult trek!So,to cut the story short,We completed the trek and on the last leg of the trek we walked along the Matheran-Neral railway line and also had the good fortune to see the mini-train make its way towards Neral station.We waved excitedly like school kids at the passengers of the train and clicked away.We reached Neral by late afternoon and on the way saw the Kadevarcha Ganpati too.Again after a photo session we bid our goodbyes promising to meet again at another trek.Some of them waited for more masti but I took the local train back along with the rest.What an eventful and thrilling trek it had been!As usual, the group was awesome and again I made some new trekker friends and met some of the old ones again.I am glad I took this step to complete this trek though it was a bit difficult for me,but then, what is life without new challenges?
Kudos to the team leaders who made this trek so memorable for all of us. Manoj Kalwar, Sai Iyer, Arun Kumar Dash,Tintin Kambli, Mahen and all the rest I can't thank you enough for the wonderful trek.I know i am missing out on many names but it was really a big group,nearly 45 of us, so I can be forgiven for this lapse.Special thanks to Manoj Kalwar and Sai for being there for me at difficult patches,goading me on.
Till we meet again ..for making more wonderful memories.
Here are some of the memorable moments of my trek to Vikatgad fort.
Special thanks to some of my trekker friends for some of these pictures.
What excited me more was that this was the very first over-night trek I was going to and I had taken this decision only because I was going with TMI. So I travelled by train to Neral and we all met at the station.Had not been there since my school years and was waiting to revive memories.Introductions done with, we began our trek in the dark at about 11.45 pm with only the scant moonlight to guide us on our way.before that we cut the cake and sang for the birthday boy and did our mooh meetha.We saw the little bright blue famous Neral-Matheran mini-train standing all alone in the shed after a hard days work.At first it was difficult to see anything ahead of us but soon we got accustomed to the darkness and trundled on.The route was not all easy as there were numerous patches that were rocky and difficult to climb.It was a tedious job to manage keeping the torch in our hands and manage rocky and steep patches.help was on our side in the guise of the TMI leaders who had the head band torches(a la Kala Patthar) .My torch was already breathing its last and I rued the fact that I failed to understand the need for a bright torch at the night treks.(A lesson learnt,get a good torch)One of the leaders was sweet enough to hand over his torch for the rest of the climb up.Some of the paths were really scary and I had my heart in my mouth but the leaders were reassuring and encouraging and we kept going on.Unfortunately,though we had a local guide along,we missed our way once and had to descend and take another route,the right one this time.Finally we reached the Vikatgad (Peb)fort.As it was dark and we were really tired after the strenuous climb we went for our pees and settled down to sweet slumber.I slept inside the cave with two of my friends and I could hear the rest of the gang doing their masti.I awoke to the smell of something burning and it was the tea being made on firewood.dark brown tea made with milk powder was relished by all and then it was time to explore the caves.There were paintings of Swami Samarth on the cave walls and some shlokas too.The view from the top was marvellous so we began our photo sessions which lasted for quite a while.the leaders literally had to push us towards the next step of our trek.
Again,with renewed vigour we began our climb up.Once again , the route was not an easy one.There were about four(or was it five?) metal ladders in dilapidated state that we had to ascend.But none of us gave up and kept moving ahead.Looking back at the route we took in the pictures clicked I cannot believe I completed the difficult trek!So,to cut the story short,We completed the trek and on the last leg of the trek we walked along the Matheran-Neral railway line and also had the good fortune to see the mini-train make its way towards Neral station.We waved excitedly like school kids at the passengers of the train and clicked away.We reached Neral by late afternoon and on the way saw the Kadevarcha Ganpati too.Again after a photo session we bid our goodbyes promising to meet again at another trek.Some of them waited for more masti but I took the local train back along with the rest.What an eventful and thrilling trek it had been!As usual, the group was awesome and again I made some new trekker friends and met some of the old ones again.I am glad I took this step to complete this trek though it was a bit difficult for me,but then, what is life without new challenges?
Kudos to the team leaders who made this trek so memorable for all of us. Manoj Kalwar, Sai Iyer, Arun Kumar Dash,Tintin Kambli, Mahen and all the rest I can't thank you enough for the wonderful trek.I know i am missing out on many names but it was really a big group,nearly 45 of us, so I can be forgiven for this lapse.Special thanks to Manoj Kalwar and Sai for being there for me at difficult patches,goading me on.
Till we meet again ..for making more wonderful memories.
Here are some of the memorable moments of my trek to Vikatgad fort.
Special thanks to some of my trekker friends for some of these pictures.
Good post ! enjoyed reading. You have come a long way since your first tough trek to lohagad . :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Moombai Hyker!! I am always inspired after seeing the posts and blog posts of my fellow trekkers.........and the appreciation that comes my way encourages me to keep writing about them.
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