It was a first time camp out for all the six the guys on the trip - Krishna, Jilson, Nixon, Sony, Abde Ali, and Abde Razzak. Avinash was providing the transport in his Tavera, and as we left Vashi at 10:15, the excitement was evident. The guys introduced themselves as we set off for Thakurwadi ... our base village for the trek.
Abde Ali, Abde Razzak, Nixon, and myself are classmates from school. So there was a lot of old times to talk about on the way. Homoeopathy and Ginseng were the flavors of the day, and the Abde brothers taught us the basics of their trade, and enlightened us about the homoeopathic cures for impotency.
Most of the guys had skipped breakfast, so we stopped at Aishwarya hotel on the way to grab some brunch and tea. Aishwarya hotel is about 20 kms before Pali on the Mumbai-Goa highway, and appears on the left side as a rundown, not very popular place. The Misal pavs and Bhurji pavs though were pretty good, so we came out a satisfied lot. Pali came about half an hour later. We stopped to buy water for the trek, and also got ourselves some weird cocktail of Kokum, Awla, and a few other things. Excellent stuff, but it seems to make you thirsty. Jilson though, had a different take on the thirst. His theory was that the dry landscape made you feel thirsty just by looking at it! It's probably true ... the landscape really did look parched!
It was 01:30 pm when we reached Thakurwadi and after some repacking to distribute the load between us, we started off on the trek immediately. Seemed a good idea, because although the heat was on, there was a strong cool breeze blowing from the east. Must have been a dry breeze though, because the water was being consumed in serious haste! Shoe problems too came up soon, and Abde Razzak and Jilson realised that their soles were peeling off! Well, nothing to do but move on ...
Sudhagadh is a straightforward trek. the destination is always in sight, and there's very little scope of getting lost. But the dry landscape and the fallen leaves can camouflage the trails. We found out as soon as we entered the tree covered portion of the path, where we missed the trail going to the right and turned left. Although we were off the trail, it was alright really, because I knew where we had to get to. So after a bit, we cut right through the trees and came out on the path once again, just near the stone stairs that lead you up to the entrance of the fort.
The entrance on the Thakurwadi side is not the main entrance. The main entrance is on the trail from Dhondase, and has a beautiful Maha Darwaja that is a replica of the one in Raigad. The Thakurwadi side has only a small blink-and-you-will-miss-it entrance, really just a gap in the wall. The stairs leading upto the entrance though is a narrow pathway between steep cliffs, where the wind really whips through. We did sit there for a bit to enjoy the cool breeze while munching on dates, apples, and pears.
Past the entrance is a further half hour climb to get upto the top of the fort. Although everyone was already quite sapped, we did manage to do this quite fast simply because the end was in sight! The fort has a lot of plateau on top and crumbling stone walls and enclosures are all around. There is also an old Bhorai Devi temple and a new Shiv Temple, besides the houses for the caretakers. The picture shows an ancient stone pillar in front of the Bhorai temple. The current caretaker is an old lady, nearing 60 I guess, who tends a few cows and buffalos, and hosts any visitors who come to the fort. Another interesting point on the fort is Takmak Tok - a steep cliff which was used to punish the bad guys by pushing them over.
After resting at the house for a bit, we went around exploring and found the pond - the perfect coolant for our bodies after the heat of the day. Rushed back, got our luggage, refilled water in our bottles, and came back to the pond to set up camp. We chose the campsite close to the pond and then went right in to take a dip.
A few notes about the water ... The drinking water on Sudhagadh comes in multiple hues. The first bottle we got was clear water with a minimal number of floating particles, the kind you would get anywhere in the hinterland (this comes from a distant source). The next 3 bottles were a murky green color, and not for the consumption of the weak hearted (This is available closeby). Anyway, it all tasted like water, so we did not complain :)
The water in the pond is also a green color, which we figured could be because of the one foot thick deposit of slimy algae at the bottom, or deposits from the cows that had been in the area. In any case, we needed the dip, and did not stop to think. Post mortem, it couldn't have been bad, because noone complained of any skin irritation afterward.
Abde Ali, Abde Razzak, Nixon, and myself are classmates from school. So there was a lot of old times to talk about on the way. Homoeopathy and Ginseng were the flavors of the day, and the Abde brothers taught us the basics of their trade, and enlightened us about the homoeopathic cures for impotency.
Most of the guys had skipped breakfast, so we stopped at Aishwarya hotel on the way to grab some brunch and tea. Aishwarya hotel is about 20 kms before Pali on the Mumbai-Goa highway, and appears on the left side as a rundown, not very popular place. The Misal pavs and Bhurji pavs though were pretty good, so we came out a satisfied lot. Pali came about half an hour later. We stopped to buy water for the trek, and also got ourselves some weird cocktail of Kokum, Awla, and a few other things. Excellent stuff, but it seems to make you thirsty. Jilson though, had a different take on the thirst. His theory was that the dry landscape made you feel thirsty just by looking at it! It's probably true ... the landscape really did look parched!It was 01:30 pm when we reached Thakurwadi and after some repacking to distribute the load between us, we started off on the trek immediately. Seemed a good idea, because although the heat was on, there was a strong cool breeze blowing from the east. Must have been a dry breeze though, because the water was being consumed in serious haste! Shoe problems too came up soon, and Abde Razzak and Jilson realised that their soles were peeling off! Well, nothing to do but move on ...
Sudhagadh is a straightforward trek. the destination is always in sight, and there's very little scope of getting lost. But the dry landscape and the fallen leaves can camouflage the trails. We found out as soon as we entered the tree covered portion of the path, where we missed the trail going to the right and turned left. Although we were off the trail, it was alright really, because I knew where we had to get to. So after a bit, we cut right through the trees and came out on the path once again, just near the stone stairs that lead you up to the entrance of the fort.
The entrance on the Thakurwadi side is not the main entrance. The main entrance is on the trail from Dhondase, and has a beautiful Maha Darwaja that is a replica of the one in Raigad. The Thakurwadi side has only a small blink-and-you-will-miss-it entrance, really just a gap in the wall. The stairs leading upto the entrance though is a narrow pathway between steep cliffs, where the wind really whips through. We did sit there for a bit to enjoy the cool breeze while munching on dates, apples, and pears.
Past the entrance is a further half hour climb to get upto the top of the fort. Although everyone was already quite sapped, we did manage to do this quite fast simply because the end was in sight! The fort has a lot of plateau on top and crumbling stone walls and enclosures are all around. There is also an old Bhorai Devi temple and a new Shiv Temple, besides the houses for the caretakers. The picture shows an ancient stone pillar in front of the Bhorai temple. The current caretaker is an old lady, nearing 60 I guess, who tends a few cows and buffalos, and hosts any visitors who come to the fort. Another interesting point on the fort is Takmak Tok - a steep cliff which was used to punish the bad guys by pushing them over.
After resting at the house for a bit, we went around exploring and found the pond - the perfect coolant for our bodies after the heat of the day. Rushed back, got our luggage, refilled water in our bottles, and came back to the pond to set up camp. We chose the campsite close to the pond and then went right in to take a dip.
A few notes about the water ... The drinking water on Sudhagadh comes in multiple hues. The first bottle we got was clear water with a minimal number of floating particles, the kind you would get anywhere in the hinterland (this comes from a distant source). The next 3 bottles were a murky green color, and not for the consumption of the weak hearted (This is available closeby). Anyway, it all tasted like water, so we did not complain :)
The water in the pond is also a green color, which we figured could be because of the one foot thick deposit of slimy algae at the bottom, or deposits from the cows that had been in the area. In any case, we needed the dip, and did not stop to think. Post mortem, it couldn't have been bad, because noone complained of any skin irritation afterward.
Soon after, a fire was going and the tents were up. We were all changed into fresh clothes and salivating at the thought of maggi for dinner (A day-long diet of fruits is not something most Indians are cut out for!!!). Soon after, chief cook Jilson and his associates got on with the job and cooked up some really tasty maggi. 
AbdeAli took on the role of chief khajoor roaster ... awesome stuff but a delicate operation if you dont want to be eating a lot of ash. Soon we were all full and happy and ready to crash for the night!
The wind was conspicuously absent, surprising, after the performance it put on the whole afternoon! So we decided to sleep out in the open. We got the mats out and went down in a row. A couple of rounds of changes in position followed (to adjust for the land contours), and most of us were sleeping peacefully. Sony's radio gave us company all the while. We listened to the commentary of the India-Bangladesh match, only till we realised that India was going the familiar way.
There was an interruption in the middle of the night when some guys realised that it was cold enough to move back into the tent, others suddenly realised that they were sleeping very far away from the rest of the gang, and some others realised that there was another group of people across the pond shining torches! Too much activity to continue sleeping, so we got a fire going once again and chilled out for a little while more. By 1 in the night, everyone moved back into the tent and fell asleep once again.
Early morning, we got up, rolled up the tents and prepared ourselves some really awesome tea. Nature's calls answered, we trudged back to the caretaker house after cleaning up our campsite. Filled up a couple of bottles of water there, checked out the temple, and then started on our way back down to Thakurwadi. It was much easier work heading down, and inspite of 3 pairs of destroyed shoes, we got there in one hour flat. Avi was waiting for us at the same spot and it did not take too much time for us to load up our stuff and start on the way back. After a wada pav / cocktail / grocery shopping / tea stop in Pali and a total of two and a half hours on the road, we were back in Vashi.
Here's a tip ... Always end a trip with a hot water bath, a full meal, and a couple of hours sleep. It's a whole different experience! :)
AbdeAli took on the role of chief khajoor roaster ... awesome stuff but a delicate operation if you dont want to be eating a lot of ash. Soon we were all full and happy and ready to crash for the night!The wind was conspicuously absent, surprising, after the performance it put on the whole afternoon! So we decided to sleep out in the open. We got the mats out and went down in a row. A couple of rounds of changes in position followed (to adjust for the land contours), and most of us were sleeping peacefully. Sony's radio gave us company all the while. We listened to the commentary of the India-Bangladesh match, only till we realised that India was going the familiar way.
There was an interruption in the middle of the night when some guys realised that it was cold enough to move back into the tent, others suddenly realised that they were sleeping very far away from the rest of the gang, and some others realised that there was another group of people across the pond shining torches! Too much activity to continue sleeping, so we got a fire going once again and chilled out for a little while more. By 1 in the night, everyone moved back into the tent and fell asleep once again.
Early morning, we got up, rolled up the tents and prepared ourselves some really awesome tea. Nature's calls answered, we trudged back to the caretaker house after cleaning up our campsite. Filled up a couple of bottles of water there, checked out the temple, and then started on our way back down to Thakurwadi. It was much easier work heading down, and inspite of 3 pairs of destroyed shoes, we got there in one hour flat. Avi was waiting for us at the same spot and it did not take too much time for us to load up our stuff and start on the way back. After a wada pav / cocktail / grocery shopping / tea stop in Pali and a total of two and a half hours on the road, we were back in Vashi.Here's a tip ... Always end a trip with a hot water bath, a full meal, and a couple of hours sleep. It's a whole different experience! :)
