Rajgad To Torana : A Dream Come True

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 6^th  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.