It had been some time since a 'real' trek, real being defined as having a certain amount of challenge ,mystery and exertion. The recent rock climbing course had only served to heighten this desire.So when Dnyanesh called up asking whether anything was planned for the weekend , Saturday preferably , I jumped at the chance and had Google working overtime.A random search of forts near Vasai-Virar ,threw up names, of some which were already completed and some which seemed too simple .One name stood out with dense forests and substantial rock patches,seeming to be the perfect mix , Kaamandurg it was then .Though it was Kaamandurg, trekkers were quite uncommon there ( sorry , couldn't resist )
With the rest of the T2B gang tied up in work, it was going to be just the two of us .The lack of transportation in the form of cars meant that we either use public transport or take the bike.The Indian Railways won this contract due to the never ending repair job at the Versova bridge at Ghondbundar junction and the horror that is Dahisar toll naka.
Waiting at Dahisar station, it was 05.55 ,the train was at 06.02 ,there was no sign of Dnyanesh and I roundly started cursing him , a sport in which I very freely indulge in, as I have known him since school days ( as if that is an excuse) .He came just in the nick of time and we were deciding which compartment to get in , so that we get space to sit , can de-train easily and other such matters of national importance.We casually checked the indicator on the platform which said that the next train was arriving after 24 minutes, simultaneously the 06.02 pulled nonchalantly away from the other platform .Now both of us cursed the railways and made a dash for the train, albeit very safely by using the underpass and not by crossing the tracks , as drilled in by the constant announcements .But our heroics were in vain and we ended up waving frustrated good byes to the motorman .But as the popular saying goes; in Mumbai you never run after trains and girls, as every 2 minutes another one comes ( feminists please note- it is a popular saying and I have no role in either creating or popularising said sentiment). And true to form , the next train pulled in , an empty Borivali - Vasai ,needless to say , we had ample space to set up camp in it .
Vasai was blanketed in pre dawn fog and had a surreal look to it , we were more concerned with matters gastronomic than artistic and our focussed eyes cut through the haze to try and spot eligible feeding spots .2 were narrowed down, we had no choice actually , these were the only 2 open .Candidate one's poha didn't look too appetising and to our luck , candidate 2 was just removing steaming hot wadas from the kadhai.He went one step ahead and announced that he had fresh idlis too , and to us that was reason enough for beatifying him.We had second and third helpings and thus fully satiated , turned towards organising transport .There were 2 options - an ST bus to Kaaman village or a rick beyond Kaaman, direct to the base village , Devkundi.Since we spotted a rick right in front , we haggled and settled at 200 rs. to Devkundi , 2-3 kms beyond Kaaman.Be forewarned he said , anything beyond 2 kms & I would charge you at least 50 rs more . With a sullen nod of the head , we started off and were 'admiring' the views of Vasai , the development , the buildings , the malls when suddenly our rick guy turned the rick to the side of the road .We thought it was probably a fuel halt , after all we had a long way to go ,didn't we . It turned out that the rick was punctured , hmm a good start .The next minute there was another rick , whose driver seemed much more cheerful and readily agreed to 200 rs to our destination , no terms and conditions .Happy at losing grumpy rick guy , we again started our Vasai darshan pastime. Our driver seemed quite chatty and with the conversation we didn't realise when we reached Kaaman .Here we asked a red Tshirt and jeans clad guy for directions , but he seemed clueless .But … his Chachu , a typical chachu with flowing beard , skull cap et al ,was only too eager to help and pointed us further towards a Jain mandir from where we were to take a left turn , if we wanted to go to the 'pahaad'. We went almost 5 kms and realised that we were in no way connected to Kaaman , in fact the board announced that this was Poman , the next village , yes, it was actually called that. As another gentleman had just finished pointing out the obvious, that we were lost and directing us to the correct path ,who should get down from a rick but Red T and his chachu ! They looked sheepish and apologetic enough and we spared them the verbal lashing.
We reached Kaaman village & were on our way to Devkundi where the road just gave up and in it's place was a beautiful off road track , perfect for cross country racing , stunt jumping and allied activities .Taking pity on the relatively new rick, we decided to walk the final 2 kms.Call me old fashioned but for some reason I am allergic to those wonderful harbingers of progress - the excavators , and their entire guild was represented here in the form of the JCB , the Tata-Hitachi and so on and so forth .Their deep rumbles and high pitched whines reassured one that progress and development had not left this hamlet untouched .If this was a Marathi essay , I would have said 'Aso' and moved on , loosely translated as an expression of resignation and acceptance and frustration.
Devkundi was the picture perfect hamlet , towering mountains in front , a river to the left and paddy fields dotted by tree houses to the right .A kindly soul lead us to the path towards Kaamandurg and we set off , 2 of us, old time friends, excited at prospecting a new trail .The fort itself was on our left , the path led us straight to the top of 1 mountain from whose ridge we would turn left ,climb down and then tackle the rocky slopes of the fort itself, this was internet knowledge , now we would test it for ourselves .Once on the trail , we started chatting , me cursing Dnyanesh for no rhyme or reason save for the fact that it felt good , and he presenting a more dignified outlook , or probably he couldn't find anything in me to curse about.The forest was dense with an early layer of tall evergreens transitioning to dense Karvi ( Strobilanthes callosa for the botanically inclined ) about 10 feet high and continuing for about an hour or so .The gradient was moderate , the path narrow but more or less distinct .Dnyanesh announced that he had an orange which we could have when we reached the end of this particular section .We did reach a clearing where the climbing for this particular stretch was done .There was a panorama composed of hills , forests and the sea. After having drunk in this figurative beauty , we turned towards actual means to quench our thirst and the solitary orange came out .The next round of admonitions were to discover why there was just a single orange , why didn't he get more ,Dnyanesh had a lame answer to that , something to the effect that more would have got crushed .Since the oranges are limited in number , please pass me the orange flavoured electrolyte drink at least .Forgot ?? And what followed was , you guessed it , curse Dnyanesh royally !
From the clearing , the path turned left and entered a sylvan paradise , an alcove with rocks strewn around on which you could sit easily , a stream running through and completely surrounded by trees whose branches formed a canopy, add to this petite flowers of various hues and the dream like scene is complete. The path true to it's nature wouldn't stop and stare but continued onward as this was just the first slope climbed and the woods ahead were indeed dark and deep .The Karvi gave way to dense bamboo of varying heights shielding the valleys on both side. After some time of this bamboo trail the path opened up to reveal the fort proper , and it was an exciting sight , hundreds of metres of rock ,not very sheer and not too pedestrian either , just perfect for unaided climbing, our eyes twinkled at this thrilling prospect. We tried reading the route through the rocks , Dnyanesh mentioned left and me right , final resolution was deferred till the actual location.
After this tantalising glimpse , the path again dove into the before mentioned deep woods only to descend this time. We were truly dismayed , a descent was all very well , but we would have to climb all of it again , that too in the blazing sun. And such are trails , if you don't want such twists , turns and descents , the PS4 dutifully awaits at home .
And finally the rocky mountain was reached , bereft of any trees , a complete contrast to the trail completed so far .The mountain solved our left or right conundrum , it was neither , it was straight up ! We made a flying start, negotiating the first rock patch in less than a minute or so , to be honest it was very simple with step like notches carved in for good effect. This effort put us on top of our first in a series of summits. From here we gazed upon the towering rock of the second summit , again checking whether left or right , again the mountain replying- straight on ! As if to seek blessings before this campaign was undertaken, there was a small stone deity, richly decorated with flowers and buntings .The net had assured us that there were 5 tanks on this particular fort and water wouldn't be a problem till January , at least. 2 of these 5 tanks were behind and to the right of the deity. These were large rectangular ,carved out of the rock, structures. Unlike other mountain reservoirs , they didn't have any live spring but served to harvest rain water .Currently they were in a bad state with styrofoam plates , plastic bottles and beer cans thrown in .There was about half a foot of water in them , but drinking it was out of question , given the less than clean conditions and trash.
We turned our attention to the rock and started clambering over the scree . We passed another smaller tank which was filled in and after about 5 minutes of scree and slope we reached our first big (relatively) rock patch of around 20 feet .We tried 2 different routes simultaneously and were happy with the results .Then there was another patch again around 15 feet in height , again joyfully climbed up. Then there was another patch now about 50 feet high , and there was no route visible , we were not equipped to do technical climbs , a fall here would definitely have nasty consequences. And suddenly we noticed a well concealed path , a notch actually ,shielded by the rock, hence not visible very easily. This route was peppered with large and thick cactii and though not recommended , if you were very careful , you could get good holds in them. The cactus filled notch yielded to the 2nd and the most challenging summit. After that it was just a hop, skip and jump to the next summit , where the customary flag flew .
On this summit we saw 3 boys already chatting , we were very sure that we were the only ones climbing today , so how did they reach before us and from where ? All these and more questions were posed to the boys themselves and they told us that they had come from the other side from the village of Paygaon and were here hunting birds with their catapults. Today was a bad day , they hadn't managed a single kill , I am sure the birds would disagree. They directed us to the only water source on the fort top , a large rectangular tank , dirtier than the earlier tanks by several magnitudes & we politely declined their offer to drink from it .In fact there were disposable plates, remains of killed animals and liquor bottles and cans strewn all over the top .The boys mentioned that this was a popular party destination ,an answer which eluded me was why take so much trouble to reach the top and then party when you could have more inebriated bashes right there at sea level .To each his own , but in that we were losing out through mass degradation of historical as well as environmentally sensitive sites.
We decided to explore the fort some more , there were hardly any remnants worth mentioning. It was a small top with stunning views and scorching heat .We found the last of the 5 promised tanks , this too was small and filled in.The rock climbing in the heat had sapped us and we found a small ,shaded clearing to have our lunch .But it was not food that our bodies craved for but water , and there we realised the true meaning of why water is said to be life giving. We had only 1 litre remaining and about 3-4 hours of descent left .While discussing this Dnyanesh spotted the ridge towards Paygaon and it seemed to be a continuous gradual descent without all the theatrics involved in our current route .Plus there was a railhead nearby which we could tap to reach Vasai.Having all but made up our mind to descend to Paygaon , we set off in search of the boys for more detailed directions .Before that we went to the big tank with the dirty water , filled up a bottle attached it to a membrane filter which promised to keep out anything above 0.1 microns and prayed that it worked .We were so parched that we would have drunk the water straight, even without the filter , quite a turnaround from just an hour ago !
Dnyanesh had a conversation with the boys again and found their descriptions of the route beyond Paygaon contradicting, plus the entire descent was over the ridge , not affording any shade at all .With these factors favouring the original route we bade farewell to the boys who had just jumped into the tank for a quick bath and made our way down at around 1 pm . Though the climb over these patches was equally exciting and exhilarating , the descent was similarly tricky and treacherous. The first slope itself greeted us with scree and we became aware of gravity as a major force in our part of the universe. The forced careful descent set the pace for the rest of the journey and we were looking at descent times which would stretch longer than ascent times .The scree was followed by searing hot rock and invisible holds .We were consuming our last remaining 1 litre of water at an alarmingly fast rate and it did not take even 2 minutes by the watch to have it being sucked dry by the heat .We managed to reach the 1 st 2 tanks and Dnyanesh spying some shade immediately collapsed to recuperate.
Let me describe the 2 tanks , they were large rectangular ,carved out of the rock, structures. Unlike other mountain reservoirs , they didn't have any live spring but served to harvest rain water .Currently they were in an excellent state with just the odd styrofoam plate , 1-2 plastic bottles and beer cans thrown in .There was about half a foot of water in them , and boy did it resemble the Ganga itself descended onto earth. Drinking it was essential , so what if there was a bit of trash and lack of cleanliness.
How people change !
The art of obtaining the water was a matter of gymnastics .One had to carefully navigate to the centre of the tank (as that's where the cleanest water was ) using strategically fallen rocks ,it was imperative that nothing else other than the bottle make contact with the water , else you end up muddying it and getting squelchy shoes in the bargain.
Thus armed with 2 litres of tank water , we filtered 1 litre immediately , itself a time consuming process, and started the ascent back into the deep dark woods. This was accompanied by quite a bit of trepidation but thank God for small mercies , at least it wasn't directly exposed to the sun. Our minds had taken solace from the fact that once this ascent was complete it would be all plain sailing and a quick descent to Devkundi.We crossed the ridge at a surprisingly fast pace and started the descent .But something was wrong , it just kept going on and on and on , had we actually climbed up all this , without complaining even , hmm now that was a feather in our individual caps .How much ever we descended there didn't seem to be any height lost at all .And we discussed the possibility of a 'Chakva' - a paranormal activity where mischievous spirits take you for a ride in the guise of telling you directions and you just keep roaming in circles .Given the time spent and the apparent lack of distance being covered , the discussion was only half in jest .The knees and ankles were being punished over the rocky terrain and both of us vowed to lose weight . Suddenly a nostalgic tune started playing , it was the Nokia tune , Dnyanesh clarified that it was his cell , whew, no paranormal activities there ! Cell range meant that we were nearing civilisation and in some time the idyllic hamlet came into view ,our step quickened and we literally dropped ourselves at the first house which we saw .
The residents were threshing rice and very kindly offered us water .Pure H2O had never felt SO good .They enquired about our expedition and were surprised that it was just two of us. They were even more amazed about the route which we had chosen , mentioning that quite a few people go up by the Paygaon route but this one was difficult and fewer people attempted it .Getting local validation made our day and we were beaming from ear to ear .Then they offered to speak to the truck driver of one of those quarries and he would leave us till Kaaman.This was heaven sent , as 3 kms. on the tar road after all those shenanigans would be punishing, to put it mildly.Dnyanesh got into the truck cabin and it got full , not because of him but because there were already people inside. I was just about to squeeze in when the driver requested if I could stand behind in the carriage space. This was filled to the brim with freshly excavated mud , I climbed up and firmly planted my feet in the mud , holding onto the roof of the cabin for support .From my perch so high up it felt like I was riding a chariot , this changed to a jet ski when the truck started following the contours of the non existent road .I was engrossed in being Lord of the Waves expertly balancing by shifting weight etc when I was snapped out of fantasy by a tree branch scraping against my hand and drawing blood.Now ducking was added to my repertoire of moves and I was Lord of the Waves again .Suddenly I felt the truck veering to the far left of the path and was puzzled by this .While deliberating over the cause, suddenly out of nowhere I saw twin power cables approaching me at an alarming speed. The excellent fight or flight response decided that it was a moment for flight and I dropped instantly onto the mud saving myself from a dramatic decapitation. Later I came to know that the truck driver had deliberately swerved to the left to increase the space between the truck and the wires .Chalk one up for the Guardian Angel , that was literally a close shave !
We reached the warehouse of the truck's firm where the other trucks were parked and ours too slowed down .I made preparations to disembark and to my surprise the trek kept going .The surprise was due to the obvious river flowing in front of the warehouse and our truck was driving straight into it ! Hey Mr.Driver , Lord of the Waves was just a figure of speech ! We actually went into the water and the truck actually rocked like a boat and I actually rode the waves ! We pulled up at the opposite bank and that was where the journey ended .We thanked him profusely and went in search of ricks to take us to Vasai or Naigaon but they were acting pricey & suggested that we take the ST which had just pulled in .And we did just that , they were asking for 300 rs. & the conductor settled for 34 rs. all the way to Vasai .The smug grins on our faces stayed for a long time.
At Vasai we gorged ourselves on all the junk we could find but topped it off with a healthy lassi , thus lessening the guilt .The excessive fun we had made us promise each other that this should be a regular affair and we entered the Borivali local, drawing to a close an exciting, adventurous , tiring , thrilling ,chilling Saturday.
