Weekends are called so, for a particular reason. One cannot explain the joy, the pleasure and the happiness that a fulfilling weekend brings. And so, finally we had a weekend that brought together all of these requisite conditions. We started off on Sunday with the assumption that the so called "Weekend crowd" would be returning home and accommodation wouldn't be a problem. For once, we were right.
So, we met up at Thane. Iwould introduce my friends here. Four of us in all, me, M, S, and J. I caught up with J and we proceeded to Nahur where we caught up with M & S. The time was 7 : 40 am and the trip began. Having a vehicle has its own share of unbelievable advantages. The comfort was nice and the journey was good. The Sun had already risen but we could barely see the sun itself, since it was draped behind some dense dark monsoon clouds. And conversations began as we paid our first toll at the Airoli Bridge.
Now for some weird reason I have been obsessed with the idea of reaching the pinnacle of the Karnala Fort. For starters, the Karnala fort is a thumb-shaped (M still says that it's a middle finger) rock mountain rising above the otherwise normally shaped Sahyadri ranges. It houses a fort and a Bird Sanctuary and is among the relatively cooler places on the highway from Bombay to Goa. One can always question, as to why did I choose to trek this place. Well, the answer is that it's relatively much easier to scale this fort, given the fact that this fort does not require harness or ropes to scale. One can literally walk it up to the top. Or so we thought..... We parked the car at the foot of the hill and proceeded on the march ahead. Guess what? We forgot to carry water atop while climbing. And after an hour long climb we realized the dire need for water. The temperature was very pleasant but somehow the humidity seemed to be getting to us. The slope kept getting steeper and steeper and our informal shoes weren't quite used to the terrain. Especially the slippery mud had already created quite a few blisters in S's feet. And to top it all up, just around the time when we thought we had reached the top and had a flat walk to the summit left, it started raining. And it did rain pretty hard for a while. Now, we chose the less risky option of getting down since we were dying for water and any more higher climbing meant a longer return to the foothills. So we abandoned the trek midway and proceeded downward. Strangely, later on we realized that the easier and faster route to go up was towards the right. An explicit example of the "herd theory" made itself evident. We followed a group who thought that the left path was the shortest. we followed them , they in turn were followed by 3 more groups and the trend continued. Everyone getting drenched in the melee.
Post Karnala, we stopped at a Dhaba (a cleaner version of a Dhaba) and had wada pavs. They never tasted so good before. A nice sumptuous breakfast was then succeeded by an hour long drive to Alibag, where we had another sumptuous Lunch. Food always has sufficient space in our bellies. And when it is Good food. Voila!!!
Alibag rains were so harsh that we couldn't quite move out. Though we did eventually move out to buy a pack of cards, (which we never played !!!) and surprise, surprise, to have PAN or betel leaf, for beginners. M says its the best digestive one can get after lunch. I thoroughly agree. Anyways, so after lunch we checked out Chaul and everyone was amazed to see the waves splash on the walled embankment. The beauty and serenity in the violent ocean was too good to be true. The Greenary and the village houses, washed clean in the rains were a sight to behold. It eventually prompted J to comment, "Hey, this village looks like a real village!!!" Ha Ha Ha, as if we didn't know that. But yeah, probably what was meant was that these days it is indeed difficult to find a village untouched by urban flavours. So we were indeed glad to find a 'pure and rural' village. With Bullock carts, Six seater tam tam vehicles, State transport (oh my god!) ST buses etc, included. The evening was spent in a nice little resort, quite and secluded, yet sea facing. It's actually a really nice place, perched atop a hill. And they serve you some good food as well here. (which is so important, isn't it? ;) Also not to forget, the nice bhurjee and hot cup of chai at the beach just when the sun was settling down in the evening. Carrom victories and table tennis practice games made up the latter part of the night. Waking up in the morning was such a pain, especially considering the fact that we were on holiday. By afternoon, we set to return in the afternoon, unwilling to leave the evergreen monsoon magic behind. On our way back, the sight of S scampering for fruits and bargaining hard with the local vegetable vendors near Panvel was quite a sight. We followed suit. Nevertheless, we struck some good deals. Bah, sometimes we do talk like we are exaggerating stuff. But then, a good Picnic trip is always best experienced. One can only describe it to a limit, isn't it?
All in all, it was a very memorable trip. Something worthwhile and worth cherishing.
So, we met up at Thane. Iwould introduce my friends here. Four of us in all, me, M, S, and J. I caught up with J and we proceeded to Nahur where we caught up with M & S. The time was 7 : 40 am and the trip began. Having a vehicle has its own share of unbelievable advantages. The comfort was nice and the journey was good. The Sun had already risen but we could barely see the sun itself, since it was draped behind some dense dark monsoon clouds. And conversations began as we paid our first toll at the Airoli Bridge.
Now for some weird reason I have been obsessed with the idea of reaching the pinnacle of the Karnala Fort. For starters, the Karnala fort is a thumb-shaped (M still says that it's a middle finger) rock mountain rising above the otherwise normally shaped Sahyadri ranges. It houses a fort and a Bird Sanctuary and is among the relatively cooler places on the highway from Bombay to Goa. One can always question, as to why did I choose to trek this place. Well, the answer is that it's relatively much easier to scale this fort, given the fact that this fort does not require harness or ropes to scale. One can literally walk it up to the top. Or so we thought..... We parked the car at the foot of the hill and proceeded on the march ahead. Guess what? We forgot to carry water atop while climbing. And after an hour long climb we realized the dire need for water. The temperature was very pleasant but somehow the humidity seemed to be getting to us. The slope kept getting steeper and steeper and our informal shoes weren't quite used to the terrain. Especially the slippery mud had already created quite a few blisters in S's feet. And to top it all up, just around the time when we thought we had reached the top and had a flat walk to the summit left, it started raining. And it did rain pretty hard for a while. Now, we chose the less risky option of getting down since we were dying for water and any more higher climbing meant a longer return to the foothills. So we abandoned the trek midway and proceeded downward. Strangely, later on we realized that the easier and faster route to go up was towards the right. An explicit example of the "herd theory" made itself evident. We followed a group who thought that the left path was the shortest. we followed them , they in turn were followed by 3 more groups and the trend continued. Everyone getting drenched in the melee.
Post Karnala, we stopped at a Dhaba (a cleaner version of a Dhaba) and had wada pavs. They never tasted so good before. A nice sumptuous breakfast was then succeeded by an hour long drive to Alibag, where we had another sumptuous Lunch. Food always has sufficient space in our bellies. And when it is Good food. Voila!!!
Alibag rains were so harsh that we couldn't quite move out. Though we did eventually move out to buy a pack of cards, (which we never played !!!) and surprise, surprise, to have PAN or betel leaf, for beginners. M says its the best digestive one can get after lunch. I thoroughly agree. Anyways, so after lunch we checked out Chaul and everyone was amazed to see the waves splash on the walled embankment. The beauty and serenity in the violent ocean was too good to be true. The Greenary and the village houses, washed clean in the rains were a sight to behold. It eventually prompted J to comment, "Hey, this village looks like a real village!!!" Ha Ha Ha, as if we didn't know that. But yeah, probably what was meant was that these days it is indeed difficult to find a village untouched by urban flavours. So we were indeed glad to find a 'pure and rural' village. With Bullock carts, Six seater tam tam vehicles, State transport (oh my god!) ST buses etc, included. The evening was spent in a nice little resort, quite and secluded, yet sea facing. It's actually a really nice place, perched atop a hill. And they serve you some good food as well here. (which is so important, isn't it? ;) Also not to forget, the nice bhurjee and hot cup of chai at the beach just when the sun was settling down in the evening. Carrom victories and table tennis practice games made up the latter part of the night. Waking up in the morning was such a pain, especially considering the fact that we were on holiday. By afternoon, we set to return in the afternoon, unwilling to leave the evergreen monsoon magic behind. On our way back, the sight of S scampering for fruits and bargaining hard with the local vegetable vendors near Panvel was quite a sight. We followed suit. Nevertheless, we struck some good deals. Bah, sometimes we do talk like we are exaggerating stuff. But then, a good Picnic trip is always best experienced. One can only describe it to a limit, isn't it?
All in all, it was a very memorable trip. Something worthwhile and worth cherishing.
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