It was mid of September when
we had trekked last. After a long
deliberation, we finalized Rajgad Torana Trek. With lot of additions and
deletions seven of us confirmed. Anirudh, Chandan, Anant, Ram, Kalyani ,
Sharvari and me were the final seven.
Preparations began with
loads of messages on what’s app. Anirudh
meticulously mentioned the program on the group. We listed out the items to be
taken after getting information from other friends who had completed this trek.
I came up with the idea that each one of us bring one food item for all. And as
soon as the messages started popping up I realized, the idea was a super
flop. There was a great confusion .
Everyone was bringing everything for all.
We gathered at Rajaram
bridge at 6 am in the morning on Saturday the 6th December 2014. Seven of us in three
cars because Chandan had a brilliant idea of logistics. We do not cross Chandan
and Anirudh about logistics, since they are employed by multinational
companies. If multinational companies are able to prosper due to their
expertise, we must utilize their services (they are free of cost also).
We reached Rajgad around 8
am. Anirudh, Chandan and Ram left in three cars to Torana. They were supposed
to park two cars at the foot of Torana and return in one car. The idea was,
when we descend from Torana on the next day, we would be extremely tired. Hence
if we have two cars at the foot of Torana, we can return comfortably and pick up
the car parked at Rajgad Fort on the way.
As three of them left, me
and Anant went on our enquiry mission. We had to fix the arrangements for lunch,
dinner and guide. We were told that there will be no food on Rajgad. Hence we
ordered the food from the foot itself. However as we climbed the top we realized
that there were people who provided the food on the top as well. However the
food quality was excellent hence no regrets. Second part was about the guide
which we were thoroughly misguided. We were told that we do not need a guide in
the first place. Secondly if we insist, we
will find one on the top of Rajgad. We trusted and did not fix the guide. This
proved to be a major mistake later.
Three men returned in one
car at 9.00 am. We waited till they finished the breakfast and we set off to
our expedition at 9.30 am. Climbing Rajgad was the first part of our mission.
The trail was beautiful and pleasure sum. I had been to Rajgad last year too.
It had a different look all together. Nature wears different costumes every
time you visit it. Last year it was in the month of September hence this
handsome fort was draped in yellow flowers. It looked marvelous. This time it
was dry but elegant again. There was greenery all around but that golden attire
had disappeared.
 |
| L to R Anant, Anirudh, Ashwini, Kalyani, Sharvari, Chandan and Ram |
We reached Rajgad around 11.45
am. We were told earlier that we should reserve a place for us to sleep as soon
as we reach. We went to the Temple and found that around 50 trekkers had
already occupied it. Hence we started looking for other places. There was
another shelter, Daru Kothar. As I peeped in, I realized that there were children inside. I was told by the
leader that they are vacating the place in a few minutes. When they vacated it, the place looked dirty. There were
wrappers and left over food all around. I approached the leader and requested
him in as much polite tone as I could ( which is really unlikely of me) that it
will be nice if we cleaned the place together. The leader was smart. He told me
not to worry and instructed the children that they must pick up the garbage and
leave the place in the same condition in which they had taken over. This was
useful. With the help of this group we made this place ultra clean. Swatch Bharat Abhiyaan rocks!
We spread our foam rolls and
relaxed for a while. A person came with the food from the bottom of the fort
which we had ordered in the morning. The
food was excellent and steaming hot. Thanks to Mr. Purohit from Aranya Dhaam.
After the sumptuous meal we
relaxed for some more time. Anant is
always fully charged on the trek. He proposed to go to Suvela Machi. Any place
on Rajgad is a long walk of around 1 hour. Realizing that I need to conserve my
energy for the next day, I opted out. However, since there were backpacks to
look after, I stayed back with the pretext that I am making a huge sacrifice
else who will look after our belongings and the place we had secured with great
care for the night halt. Anirundh also stayed back with me. We took rest for
some more time. It was very cold inside hence we decided to sit in the Sun. The
Sun made us worm. As we chatted for some
time, the team returned from Suvela Machi with the tea vendor. After the tea, all of us set out to the Padmavati Talav which
is just in front of us. We chatted for some time. Ram came up with the series
“Ya Valana Var”. All of us expressed the
feelings. And Kalyani made us spellbound by saying she felt Nishbda ( Short of
words). You rock Kalyani.
 |
| Niddle hole at Suvela Machi I missed it guys |
As the sun was about to set,
we proceeded back to pavilion. After the sunset, Moon appeared slowly. Mother
earth was glittering in the full moon night. The moon looked like a gigantic
lantern. The moonlight was soothing and elevated our spirits. Our food had
already arrived. We finished our dinner at 8.00 pm and started the Antakshari
episode. After a while, everyone decided to go to bed to rise early next day. We
slept for a while and some trekkers started arriving in the night. With lot of disturbance, we could hardly
manage to sleep.
We had originally planned to
wake up at 4.30am and proceed to Torana
at 5.00 am. However, since we overslept, we started our journey only at 6.30
am. There was a young boy who agreed to
show us the way to Sanjeevani Machi. We
did not find any guide to accompany us till Torana.
The boy walked effortlessly
with us. He accompanied us till the end of Sanjivani Machi. You need to take U
turn and reach the other side of the hill which connects the hill ranges in the
direction of Torana. The view was breathtaking.
East has turned red on arrival of the Sun. The west on the opposite side
was pale while bidding farewell to the moon. Viewing Sun and Moon facing each
other was a lifetime experience. At the same time Torna was welcoming us and
Rajgad was bidding good bye.
 |
| Sunrise |
As we started descending
from Rajgad we wanted to be sure that we were on the right track. We did not
see anybody close. There was a elderly woman on the hill across. Anant shouted
at her to ask if we would reach Torana on this path. The woman shouted back
saying yes we were on the right path. We took the rout through bushes and kept
walking. After a walk of about one hour we halted for breakfast. Everybody
opened his own bags and brought out the eatables. Chivda for all, fruits for
all, khakara for all and it went on. My super flop idea was showing the results
now. Ram made it compulsory for us to eat one apple each since he had brought a
dozen apples, of course for “All”.
With stomachs heavy and
slightly lighter bags we continued our walk. Most of the walk had very less
climb. It was more or less flat and shady. It was very pleasant and
comfortable. After a walk of another 30 minutes we reached a tar road. We
crossed this tar road and entered the bushes again. Our next destination was a
small hut as indicated by our young guide. We could see this place from far. We
reached this hut in about 40 minutes. There were some men and women sitting
outside. We confirmed the rout with them. They told us that we should keep
walking on the same route and should locate another hut. We were excited that
we had been able to manage it without the guide so far.
 | |
| A long walk, destination Torana |
As we kept walking and
crossing a few more hillocks the journey turned more interesting. Engrossed in
walking we soon realized, that we had started descending the hill instead of
climbing it. Moreover, Torna was nowhere in site. After much deliberation
everyone was convinced that we were lost. Fortunately we saw a woman grazing
her cattle at a distance. Anant again asked her at the top of his voice if we
were on the rout to Torna. And to our dismay she confirmed that we were on the
wrong path. Hence it was clear that we had to climb the descend we just took,
go back till we find a junction. This proved to be a major mistake. A loss of
energy, a loss of one and half hours and
morale down by 50%. Chandan , Anirudh
and Ram entered the bushes and made their way on the top of one hillock and
they screamed, they could see Torana at a distance. Rest of us followed them.
After a walk of another 30 minutes or so, we met a group of trekkers for the
first time. They were coming from Torana
in pursuit of Rajgad.
We walked for some more
time. The route was enchanting. And here
it was, a junction of dilemmas. There
were three routes. One going straight. But we were not sure if it would start
descending instead of taking us to Torana. Second rout was on our right and
third rout was towards extreme right which would change the direction later.
Since none of us were sure of which route to take, we were not able to reach a
consensus. Hence walked about 5 minutes on each route. This was a loss of
another 20-30 minutes. Finally we decided to walk straight. After a walk of
about 15 minutes we finally reached another hut. This was the second landmark.
We halted at this place and decided to correct our mistake. We urged a villager
living there to come with us till Torana. He agreed for Rs. 450. We started
walking again after satisfying the thirst of water, buttermilk and tea for each
member. We were unaware of the route
hence we were under the impression that we will reach within an hour or so.
Soon we realized that this was not that simple. The rout was turning out to be
more and more complicated and challenging. The sun was blazing on the top of
our heads now. The companion whom we admired at the beginning of our journey in
the morning no more looked adorable to us.
As we gathered our wit,
whatever was left, we started counting our steps. The bags felt heavier and
each one of us started thinking, which items could have been avoided while
packing. I came to the conclusion that I did not need any item inside my
backpack except water bottle.
 |
| Destination far from achieving |
We kept climbing this mighty
fort. We were told that we will enter the fort from Budhala Machi and will then
need to walk all through the Balekilla to descend. The fort really looked
challenging now. We reached the first rock patch. It was difficult. We had to
literally crawl on our arms and feet.
The guide was very helpful he ensured that everyone climbed safely.
Sharvari is the youngest of the group (
14 years) yet I must admit, toughest too. She never complained, never grumbled
or never allowed us to take her backpack.
We climbed again and to my
dismay there was another rock patch. This looked enormous. My legs were
trembling and was not sure if I will be able to climb it. However with great
difficulty I somehow managed to climb. After reaching the top I realized, this
one was easier than the first one.
We carried on for some more
time. It was another hour and we reached at the foot of Budhla Machi. We had to
climb the ladder which was along the wall. As we climbed up there was hardly
any place to land. With great difficulty we managed to reach a place under the
ceiling of Budhalal Machi. This was a great relief.
On climbing another rock
patch, the guide finally declared that we had entered the fort. Though it was a
joyous moment, we had no energy left to rejoice. We were soon met by a vender
selling lemon drink. We drank two glasses each and tried to regain some energy.
We were now told that it was a walk of another hour or so to reach the temple
at the top of the fort. There were some difficult patches however it was better
than what we had already faced. We kept going inch by inch and managed to enter
the fort premises at around 3.00 pm. All of us were totally exhausted. Most of
us rested on the floor deciding not to
get up for at least an hour. Another round of Lemon Juice was extremely
useful. As we rejuvenated, our brains
started working too. We realized that each one of us had brought chivada for
all and one onion each. Anant had saved one lemon too from the previous day’s
meal. It was a great idea to mix everyone’s chivada. Chandan cut onions with
great expertise. We mixed it well and enjoyed this bhel. It was the best meal
we ever had so far.
 |
| Well deserved nap on completion of mission Torana |
We started descending Torana at 4.30 pm. Torana is one fort you must take very
seriously. Some of the parts consist of
extremely dangerous descents. We had to rush now since Sun would set any
time and we would have to complete the final leg of our trek in dark. We rushed
as much we could.
As we made our way though
the fields it was delightful to see our cars parked opposite to the Police
Station. It was 6.30 pm when we finally sat down at a tea stall to celebrate
the accomplishment.
This trek was extremely
educative for me. We kept talking about it for the next two days on whats
app. Ram felt his laptop bag very light
the next day. Kalyani was overwhelmed about all “Vihangam Drushya” (beautiful seanary) she
saw. We did not hear from Sharvari but her mom confirmed, she truly enjoyed the
trek. Anant and Chandan will laugh it
off as usual but I am sure they are still thinking about those moments of
dilemma, exhaustion and accomplishment. I now feel that I can do almost everything
in life. There is no greater challenge I am scared of now. Anirudh as usual has already started planning
the next trek for the group.
 |
| Tired yet feeling accomplished |
Had I known this trek is so difficult,
I would have never gone on it. Yet I am willing to go on the same trek again
and again after completing it. I set out to write this blog so that more people
will go on this route without repeating our mistakes. It is a good idea to
start early in the morning. Or take a night halt in one of those huts on the
way. It is necessary to carry enough water rather that carrying food for all,
bedding and extra pair of clothes. Keep your back pack as much light as you
can. Conserve your energy till the end. And don’t worry about giving up. You
cannot quit it half way through since there is nowhere to go.
The moon lit nights,
horrifying rock patches and first sight of Budhala Machi were the best parts of
the trek. We laughed and giggled all thought the trek. We were carefree in the
lap of these forts. The forts guard you
all through the route. I sincerely feel, every trekker should dream about
taking this challenge at least once. I dreamt and my dream has come true. 
