A
Memorable Trek to Karnala Fort.
29th June 2013
For a pleasant change
and beyond our expectation, it was Dev, who gave us wakeup call at around 5:45
am, so that we could get ready for the trek as per the schedule. It was too
early to get up on a weekend, when on our weekdays we are forced to get up so
early. But it was a trek, and we all knew ‘It’s going to be a “Wow” one, and
more than ‘Wow’ it was. Moreover, the late-riser, Deepali also got up on time.
lol
So, three of us, set
out from home at 8:00 am after filling our empty stomachs, and we took the 8:30
am train to Panvel, from Andheri Railway station, and it took us more than two
hours to reach there. From Panvel, we hired Auto Rickshaw for the fort, which
charged us Rs. 170. The drive from Panvel to karnala fort was just ‘Awesome’;
Beautiful, straight as well as winding roads with full of green views on left
and right. And to add to the enchanting beauty, was the beautiful tune of a
beautiful weather; with feathers of clouds, playing mischief with the sun and
the cool air and breezes flirting with our not so beautiful cheeks and tresses,
making my eyes, my mind and my heart follow my dreamy world. Wow!!!!
It was a 14-15 kms
drive, and we reached at the base, from where we got entry tickets worth Rs. 20
each, followed by Rs. 15 to the gram panchayat fund.
The moment we entered
the gate of the karanala Bird sanctuary, its fresh air welcomed us with full
warm embrace. Its’ friendliness and warmth was so touching that we couldn’t
resist to show our excitement and happiness by our crazy fun-filled gestures.
After a whiles’ walk
ahead, we came across the bird sanctuary, which had a variety of birds, like;
pea-hen, Rose ringed parapet, Himalayan parapet, Parrots, Rabbits etc. I saw a
pea hen dancing, for the first time, from such a close distance and my heart
tickled on the sight of such an adorable dance. Hmm. We couldn’t explore the
sanctuary beyond some limits, as soon we saw the board on left, giving
direction to the Fort. So, since the fort was our prime purpose of visit, we
took our path following the signboard. Moreover, there were other trekkers, so
it wasn’t that difficult to find the way.
The start of the trek was
smooth, as it was just a normal path; less steep and bump. Moreover, the
weather was at our guard. We started eating the few slices of bread we got
along on the beginning of the trek itself, along with the only bottle of water
I got, assuming that there would be some hawkers selling tits-bits to eat. And
a big cost for that assumption we all had to bear with later on. Lol
Then soon the real
trek began, when we came in front of a steep rise of land, with strong, black
rocks, blocking our way, through which we had to climb. And also due to rain,
the path had become quite slippery and swampy, so we had to take a good care of
our march, as a sudden slip could lead us to some dump. After climbing a good
distance and crossing a huge rock, we decided to take rest for a while. I was quick to grab the Tiffin box in which
Dev has brought some Chaney and peanuts. Funny incident; while we were resting
on the rocks, a group of 4 boys came trekking up, and one of the guy at front
commented, saying,” Such a hard trek, I wonder if girls can climb it too!”
“See, two of the girls
are already up there.” Another boy in the group commented, on seeing us, and
they all couldn’t control the grin. Lol.
That was quite funny
as well as complimenting. We were all silent after that and our ears were all
on the sounds of cool breezes and the light soothing music by the rustling
leaves. It was heavenly.
After 15 mnts break,
we started our upward movement, which got steeper and more exciting to climb
to. The most interesting thing I noticed there was the roots of the trees,
which had grown long and come out of ground to form a ladder like structure,
which we used as steps, and to hold while climbing, for the support. We took
rest at three more places, before we reached at the top. And, oh wow! The view
from top, it just left me speechless. I mean, I can’t express in words the
beauty I saw from there, but the happiness and contentment I felt from within
speaks a lot for the beauty of some parts of the Western Ghats.
The never ending dark green patches of trees below, the
cloudy sky with different shades of clouds above and the huge cone shaped green
cistern in the front, around which the remains of the forts stood intact,
showing its past glory. I could imagine how Shivaji Maharaj would have stood on
the top of the hill, and how the armies of Aurangzeb and British east India
Company would have crept into the fort. That was quite an imagination; nothing
to do with my interest in history though. Lol
We stayed there for hours together, climbing up and down of the fort,
viewing the beauty of Ghats from every angle and clicking the pictures to carry
along the memories. It was my first trek
after coming to Mumbai, and it turned out to be ‘just awesome’. Thanks to Dev
and Deepali for the great company.
And one important
thing we all learnt here was- ‘ Carry along some eatables and enough water with
you, while going for a trek’, though we could endure our hunger and thirst, the
whole day, and once we climbed down, we grabbed some tea and pakoras, just at
the starting point of the trek.
Overall it was again
an ‘A-Awesome’!!!!
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