We started out early, can't quite use the word "bright", it was more dull than it was bright! Anyway, we left around 8am in two buses. The trip down to Lonavala took us about 90 minutes, picking some more colleagues on the way. The first photo shown in of us having our breakfast at a restaurant at Lonavala. Lonavala is a hill station in the western state of Maharashtra in India. For most of us in Mumbai or Bombay, it's probably the most common destination for a weekend away from all the hustle & bustle of city life.
After breakfast, we moved on to our first destination, Tiger Point. Usually the view from this point is apparently "breathtaking," but it was pouring to say the least when we got there. Visibility was down to practically 2 meters! People in Bombay love the rains, so most of my colleagues got down from the bus anyway to get drenched in the rain. Very few of us remained who had similar interests to mine and not see the excitement of getting fully drenched!
30 minutes later we moved on to our final destination... Koraigad Fort. This is one of the lesser popular forts till recently. It was one of Shivaji's forts. Of late though, the fort has has been in the news lately primarily because it offers a view of the Sahara Amby Valley. Now we were told that it was a 700-step climb. However, as we started up, we realized there were absolutely no steps in site. Considering the recent rain and the Amby Valley construction, the initial climb was a lot of lush green grass as well as the famous red mud of this stretch of India. After another 45 minutes of climb (especially for those of us like me who have lost all stamina) the steps came in to sight. With all the rainfall we've had this year, there were stretches where there was waterfall cascading down the winding steps. To enlighten you further, these steps were actually sharp, jagged rocks that had been carved to form steps. After another 45 minutes, we reached the summit. This stretches for about 1 km from one end to the other, rocky in some places, green in others and complete with a few ponds in between.
It was incredibly foggy on top, with gushes of wind that would literally topple you (if not your belongings at the least!) In between, the fog would clear away for some time, and you could finally see what the summit truly looked like! Most of my colleagues though were busy playing away in the pond (quite deep at some areas... 7 feet and below). Not sure if "pond" is the correct word, considering it was definitely 15 meters in diameter!
Those of us who had refrained from getting wet in the pond or had had enough of the water, decided to scout around. We soon came upon the stretch where below was the Amby Valley... beautiful sight! I had initially thought, considering the dense fog, we would not be able to get view, but we were fortunate enough to get an amazing view of this locality. Complete with all the amenities possible, (including an air strip!), this is what many would consider to be their "dream home!"
However, the only problem was that there was no railing or any sort of protection at the edge of the cliff. So if you decided to peer down to the valley and a gush of wind passed you by, down you'd go.
Amongst those of us who had gone scouting in my little group was my boss, the MD of the company. I was walking along in front of him, stopping once a while to get a look of the valley below. For those of you who really know me, know that I am extremely clumsy! So to turn the whole situation into an embarrassing one, I slipped on some mossy rocks, and fell right on my face. Of course, he was as courteous as possible (what could he do, except just ask if I was alright!), I got up immediately, blushing bright red (fortunately, no one was in front of me to see my embarrassment!), and tried to act all tough and say I was fine!
Having spent over an hour, up on the fort, we finally headed down. As I started back down, to add to my misery, I found my treasured Nike sneakers had become what we call "air-conditioned!" The rains and water had caused my sneakers' soul to practically dangle off my shoes! I slowly started back to base camp, with aching legs. I never realized walking down steps could be so painful until that day! It completely jolted me back to reality to realize how unfit I had become from my school days!
We ended the trip, with a late lunch at a cozy outdoor diner called "Joshi's." The food was hot and home made, and at that point that was all we wanted! I reached home around 8pm that night. My whole body was aching tremendously but I was very satisfied upon completing a hike that had initially looked impossible!
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