Kundalika Raffting and singhad fort trek

I wanted to go for raffting from a very long time but was not somehow able to make plan. When i saw Kundalika raffting and singhad fort trek event on GHAC then immediately registered for it .
17 september , we reached pune and sytarted for our trek to Singhad fort trek .Sinhagad, is a fortress located roughly 30 kilometres southwest of the city of Pune, India. It is situated on a hill rising 800 metres above the surrounding countryside.Perched on an isolated cliff of the Bhuleswar range of the Sahyadri Mountains, its height above sea-level is 1350 metres. It was quite sunny when we started our trek and i was cursing the sun throughout but halfway through the trek the sun was covered by the clouds and it was much more fun to trek the hill now. Me and 3 other people from the group were much ahead the trek so we had ample of opportunities to explore off trails which added to much more fun. I learnt new tricks of climbing the steep places ( courtesy the experienced trekkers with me) . Finally we reached singhad fort around 5 pm in evening.

The view from top was exhilarating. The hill was covered in fog and mist. We were drenched in rain and fog and shivering from cold. it was a mystic experience and i can say that september is surely the time to go trekking this place.

 After having clicked a few pics on the top and being satisfied with our achievement, we started looking for something hot to eat and nothing can compare to the hot pakodas with chai. We ate like 3 plates of pakodas and 2 cups of chai in this awesome weather .

We returned back to pune by bus . while most of the people were resting, 4 of us in group had awesome fun playing cards whole night. morning 3 am , we all started our journey to kundalika for raffting. Here is a brief description of kundalika :
Kundalika is a small, relatively unknown yet extremely beautiful river of Maharashtra. It is located in Sahyadris in Maharashtra's highest rainfall areas. This along with the fact that the river is fed by excess water from series of hydroelectric projects and dams, most important being, Tata Power's Mulshi Dam Project, makes it ideally suited for White Water Rafting. A river stretch of 10 kms, beginning at village Saje has been found to be exciting yet safe for River Rafting.
So we all excited plunged into the raffting gear as soon as we reached there. After learning the few nuances of raffting , we started our river journey. there were 6 rapids in total of level 3 .

Since it was my first raffting, I enjoyed a lot. Falling in and out of raft, diving in river and floating with water etc. was soo adventurous. enroute to saje village , we enjoyed seeing majestic waterfalls and beautiful scenery. they were just icing on the cake to this wonderful trip .

With lot of memories to cherish and a group of wonderfull new friends , I just bid good bye to this place. hope to be here again to enjoy this naive beauty of nature .

Mallelateertham Trek

It has been a very long time since I had gone out on weekends so decided to join for Mallelateertham trek . here is brief description of the place :

Nallamala forest, We Hyderabadis are gifted with this place just about 180kms away ... a descend of about 500-600ft and this takes you to the spot which seems like a spring burst out of the seams of the heavens. Literally meaning a 'Shower of Jasmines', Mallelateertham is a waterfall showering from a height of about 110ft. A wonderful lush canopy covers the nearby areas.

As described , it stands true to its name.Playing with water is always fun and to top it with the exquisite beauty of nallamalai forest, a really tempting trek . We all started from hyderabad aroung 5 am in morning on one fine sunday and reached nallamalai by 9 pm. After listening to the instructions from the organizer , we started our trek into the forest . Though it was very sunny at that time , but the terrain and excitement of finding our way to last waterfall made us going .

Soon we reached our first waterfall and felt the sense of achievement . There were 6 more waterfalls to be discovered before reaching the final destination.

climbing the rocks and hills while following the water stream , seems like we were back to our childhood days . A little difficult terrain for first timers like me , made it more fun for us.

After 2 and half hours, we reached our final waterfall . we were so happy to have reached the destination after so much of trekking and hiking in sun that we immediately went into the waterfall .

The cool water of falls energised our spirits . We jumped in the last pond.Though it was a muddy pond , but the natural surroundings made us go all wild and natural. After swimming and having fun for 1 hour in the pond , we felt refreshed as if all the tensions of life have been swept away in the water . we took so many dives into the water and splashed it all around .

We were all very hungry so took out our stock of food and started devouring whatever we had. As i sat there , I wished if we can live like this forever amidst these trees, birds and waterfalls. Take bath in pond everyday and admire the wonders of nature.

We started back our journey as it was getting late . We soon retraced the path back in just one and half hour as we were now more familiar with the surroundings and trails.Since we were back soon so we thought of going further to srisailam and see the Dam gates which we heard were opened due to excess water in dam. I would really thank my stars that we decided to visit it. For the mere sight of it was majestic . We just stood there on the corner of roads staring at the flow of water from DAM . we can even feel the water breeze far away from the DAM .

 All the adventure , antakshri games and dance we had in bus took a toll on us and we were super tired . I cam e back home and slept like a baby after a very long time . It was the best sleep i had in ages .
An AWESOME trek , would love to go there again if i get a chance .

First Trek : Hampi on Wheels

There was always a traveller in me wanting to go out and never realized it before I went for my first trek. My first trek made me realize that how much i was missing from life . There is so much around us to learn and feel . So here is the brief desciption of my first trek to hampi.
One of my friend who is a trek organizer invited me to join on hampi trip . I RSVP'ed for it to try out the trek and it turned out to be an awesome experience .

So here is the brief description i read about the place which got me all excited and curious to visit it :

Hampi is the destroyed capital of the Vijayanagara Empire. Located amidst a beautiful setting of small hills such as Matunga and Rishyamuka, the river Tungabhadra flows ferociously through the town. Hampi is glorified by the patronage of its kings to art and architecture. Housing the greatest talents of the time, the city grew extensively to become the capital of South India under the rule of Krishna Deva Raya. The city hosted numerous temples and buildings that spreaded over a radius of over 10km. Although the city is now in ruins, it is wonderful to visualize the wonderful empire located in a unique Deccan setting of hills, boulders, farms, forest and a river.

Well so we started for hospet by bus from MGBS bus station(hyd) and reached there on 23 july EARLY morning around 4 am. After a wonderful ride in auto to Hampi we reached our base and started a quest to Matunga Hills. Cool Early morning breeze and beautiful natural settings made it all the more fun.Seeing the sunrise from Hill top was like a dose to the eyes which are tired of missing it in city life .

After the sunrise , we began our way back to lodge to refresh and get ready for our tryst with the history of hampi. We hired the cycles and refuelled ourselves with heavy brunch .

 Our First stop was the museum in hampi showcasing the tools and statues of vijaynagar times . since all of us were driving bycycles for the first time so didn't know we will make so many stops to reach our first place .

The museum was not that much fun for us who were looking forward to more adventure so we quickly wind up there and headed to the other ruins on our way. After visiting few small ruins of temple and watch towers, we entered the Hazararama Temple in royal zone.The temple is known for its sculpted friezes depicting the Ramayana, in three tiers, running all around the main shrine, and the narrative sculptures of the Lava-Kusha story on the Devi shrine.We moved on to see Zenana Enclosure and Queen's Palace, Band tower, watch tower , queen's bath ,Elephant Stables, Guards Quarters and other small places and was trying to imagine the life of that place during vijayanagara empire. One beauty I can't miss upon is a Lotus Mahal , a  beautiful little two-storey pavilion, situated within the 'Zenana' Enclosure, is one of the finest examples of Indo-Islamic architecture .The Royal Enclosure was indeed majestic . this fortified area is scattered with a number of interesting relics, including the Mahanavami Dibba, the King's Audience Hall and a huge stepped tank.

Finally, On our way back , we visited the krishna and ganesha temple and returned our cycles. all worn out and hungry , we reached Mango tree ( a divine place for diner's at hampi) . Walking through the pathway light up by fireflies and sitting near the banks of tungabhadra , it was a mystic experience. we ordered an insane no of dishes and ate insane amount of food and thanks to the hospitality and rustic feeling you get in mango tree ( a never to miss place in Hampi ).

After sleeping barely for 3 hours , we got up next day at 3 am to visit the remaining places. We started with achyutaraya temple and Vittala temple. We saw the famous stone chariot at vittala temple and ruins of bazaars . We crossed tungabhadra river by a coracle ride , its a small circular boat , to reach anjaneya temple (the birth place of lord hanuman) . Coracle ride was the most fun part of the trip . Still can't help laughing at the scary expressions we had when we sat in it.

Back after climbing 573 steps of temple , we came back to visit Virupaksha temple and shop around in the hampi bazaar. I m glad that i brought a few brass items to cherish and remind me of hampi forever. Finally , the time came to bid adieu to the wonderful trip and return back to hyderabad.

Each stone and wall in hampi has its own history to tell . Make sure you get a glimpse of yourself in 15 century by seeing all the architectural beauty around Hampi . ADIOS HAMPI !!

Pune , Lonavla , malshej ghat And Masti with Friends !!

After much Ado and Fuss...and blackmailing our Friends that we won't talk to them if they don't come for trip :P :P , We have finally decided to meet at Pune . Me and shivam  from hyderabad, Vaibhav and kirti from jaipur reached pune on 24 july at khushboo's home who stays in pune in rented flat. We were meeting after leaving college so all were overwhelmed except vaibhav (who is always the same :P )

Khush and me have planned the whole trip but vab's arrival to pune got delayed so we had to rework the whole plan . We (khush , shivam and me) started for lonavla and decided to meet vab there.Vab and kirti arrived around 3 pm at lonavla. We were so late for that day to go to both lonavla and khandala that we decided to just cover up lonavla (bushi dam and tiger hills) . Bushi DAM as expected turned out to be fun .we were waiting since morning for fun to start so we plunged into water and had maximum fun in it . Dam crossing by holding hands and sitting in splurging , gushing water, hitting our back and we managing to get clicks somehow.

After we got all wet and done with pics, we started for tiger hills . The nature was at peak of its beauty. All the surroundings donned happy green color and soaked in water . it was a natural massage to eyes to stare on those beautiful surroundings.

We reached tiger hills around 6 pm in evening.It was total misty and foggy there with 0 visibility level. we were shivering due to cold and wet clothes. we found one small shop selling pakodas and chai , we immediately ordered plates full of pakodas . Attacked and finished 3 plates of pakodas within 5 min. and had a awesome thadi chai.

On our way back , we had lonavla's famous chocolate chikki and gudd papad . we were very tired so came home and slept . next day , we had a plan to go to malshej ghat.

 We hired a cab and started journey to the mountains and waterfalls of malshej ghat. the place was as mesrising as we have heard. We were welcomed by so many beautiful waterfalls throughout our way. we stopped in between and enjoyed lot of them .

 We were totally drenched in water and shivering. it was damn cold and foggy . it became almost 1 am in night by the time we returned pune and had dinner .

 The last 2 days water dripping was too much for us and so we decided to relax for the day and eat garam pakodas and chai and dedicate rest of the day to buy souvenirs and shopping. it was though getting a little boring in shopping untill we realized that missed our train in evening . it had become a total mockery of the time. we got our bus tickets booked for next day in double price and took a realxed breath at last. we talked till morning about old times. Much of the chilled break we needed from the water sports there. Next day we just visited the malls and roamed around a bit and headed to catch our bus.

This was my first trip with college friends after we have left college so it is very near to my heart and I will never forget the nice time I had with them .

Hope we have such a trip soon !!