Ganpati Gadad, Sonavla Village (base)

The Whole Map to the beautiful Kingdom of Ganpati Gadad

Trek planned again by the boys only this time it happened,from over 9 ppl the figure dropped to a measly 4 (since all of them were busy).. however no planning done by me, n hence i dint have to worry much..but still the adrenalin rushing through ma head as usual (like i mentioned in ma prev blog) i cldnt get an ounce of sleep; and here i was awake roaming like a ghost at Prash’s apartment a friend from Chembur where me and my Best-Friend Clive spend the night after an enjoyable, yet humorous dinner that he invited us for with his Uncle (who came from down south for sm work) and his jovial Dad..

I ended up waking them up by 5am and we headed to Kurla Station to catch the Kalyan fast after waiting in line for along time and purchasing a `20 return ticket. Now we reached Kurla station which seemed quick as i had very gud company & clicking sm gud pics out of a running train & dat too early morning,so i was already all charged up & anxious to start clicking the upcoming trek (which i gt sm beautiful photos n video’s of btw,u cn comment bout them later).

We were waiting for our 4th mate, who once arrived we then headed down on the west of Kurla to the nearby restaurant to grab a bite n hv sm tea to get revived and also stock up on water, n other imp stuff to carry..so now with just the 4 of us, we boarded the S.T Bus frm the nearby S.T Depot opp the station itself, to MURBAD costing the total of `96 (dat wrked out to `28 per head)..a long n strenuous bus drive while standing helped me warm up for the walk up-hill..

MURBAD arrived after some 35min odd i think, and we got down on the highway itself, opp the S.T Bus Stand & purchased sm Bananas for the trek (which i think i will stock up for every outing/Trek hence forth, as after eating this i dint feel any fatigue or tiredness of any sort..wonderful and cheap fruit to stock ur bag wit, we carried around 1 Dozen n none survived between the 4 of us)..so now while 2 of us went to inquire about the bus from Murbad to whever we needed to reach..we learnt we could instead hire a Tum-Tum and reach to the next destination which is MHASA for just `12 per head as its a sharing system (again where we were forced to sit and adjust in a vehicle meant for 10 ppl, where almost 16 were seated in now)..we move after awhile in to a scenic road meant for Windows Wallpaper Photography literally (iv got even a video recorded)...all this while enjoying the classic yet awesome ’90 Hindi Hits, dat surprisingly all of us enjoyed to (except for some really slow, boring tracks popping up, making it depressing) and then we arrive at last after a tiresome 30min at destination 3 which is at MHASA another small village and break point for the Tum-Tum..

At MHASA we search n inquire how to reach Ganpati Gadad, nly to be told that we have to take another vehicle to a place called DHASAI n from there we shall be taken to our destination..wow, i was almost going to freak out, iv never changed so many transport vehicles in ma entire life until now, bt we had to do this n there was no option..so we walk ahead to find our next vehicle which would turn out to be a diesel based Jeep (dnt know the name, however i gt a pic of that too just in case)..we talk to the guys there n bargain on smtin, bt he bluntly tells us we have to wait till it fills up (here’s the trick, it was already 11.30 am by then and time was against us, we had to go up n come down before it got dark) so we sheepishly asked him how much wld he take for the 4 of us, as we were ready to pay the rest of the ppl’s amount..he said 300 (20 per head) we bargained n reached `250 under the condition that if he has customers on the way he would pick them up, so he cld get the rest of his money)..so here we go on again, beautiful route, with farms n small villages flying past our windows..While i clicked sm more pics along..so after a good 20min we reached DHASAI, our 4th destination..(damnnn!! I’m so tired keeping track of the number of break-points/ stops we had to make n vehicles we had to change, seriously for such treks/outing having ones transport is way much better)..Now i was thinking why did i leave ma Lovely Betty at home & not take a ride out here on her after looking at all the locales i passed (now wait bfre u get ideas, she’s no gal, she’s ma strong, sexy n purring feline of a Bike; ma CBZ Extreme, hehehehe (caught you there ;-) ,hehehehe..Lol)

..So now after all of this, i tot i reached, it’s all walking now, bt no, another ride was to pursue and now it was SONAVLA Village which will be our destination 5th. So again had to be seated this time on Sanket’s Lap our 4th mate..and in the same cramped up way n now i happen to meet cute, sweet bt masti-khor Kishore, a small 1std kid who was playing on the bench & then had to take stitches for a cut he got by falling..his grandfather besides him was narrating the incident (he reminded me of another RAT, ma small n tiny but notty cuzin ,Shawn) ..so after another 10min drive (thank god this was lesser than the others, anymore longer n i was gonna jump off the vehicle)..we then reached SONVLA Village  and asking the villager for direction we went ahead..however an elder man warned us that if we went alone we would get lost n then roam in circles (now when we asked for help the guys around were asking for ridiculously `200, for what service i was still unaware of, if by just walking up n down with us u cld earn that kind of mullah, i wld stay in the village only instead,hahahaha) never mind we chose to walk alone, wit the Village IDIOT (a mentally unstable guy, who was admant to show us the way for sm cash, while abusing everyone on the way)..we then reached the open fields and one of the farmers was nice enough to show us the route..It was n now around 11.50pm as we started by foot frm the village,so we walked ahead n found a Herdsman or rather Herdsboy who then showed us half of the most confusing route iv ever seen (we did give him sm cash n a little of my wine as well).. oh n from here on i opened my Port-Wine 1000 bottle, wow, the flavour & the taste, just apt for the weather and locale..We passed streams n thick vegetation everywhere, until we reached the 2nd waterfall and that’s wer the real climb or trek began n got a little dangerous, where even at 1 point Prash managed to pull a muscle, after a quick fix he was up in no tym back for sm more action,hehehe.. Some local youngsters also happen to come up;around 5 or 6 of them..and one evem weilding a Koyta (a chopper from the south) ideally to make way for other trekking there i guess. So now we see the Caves, waterfall and me n the Boys are just mesmerized..




So at last we reach the place and then take pics, take videos of the caves n temple n the beautiful view in front of us..all this while it was pouring, and how cld i frgt the rain was coming and goin bt towards the hills it tends to be more..nonetheless i enjoyed it all the way to the top..and

then as we decended, it was alot of slipping down (and i wld advice to go back on all four n slide using ur hands n the sole of the shoes at certain areas)..enroute the 2nd waterfall i mentioned to ull about, we halted there n wanted to have a good time which ull can check out my video for..and
then it was all race against time to get back..So by around 3.50pm we were still struggling to get out as it


so happend we lost our track and were just moving around in circles, until we saw a dam that we crossed and then asked a villager fr some direction (wit the sun falling down on us and no one being aware of where we were was really scary) so please mark tracks with maybe a bright red colour for Pivotal turns/forks or areas which seem confusing for the human mind..
So at last after reaching the village., not even a single vehicle in site n the only one that passed did not want to stop..so we walked all the wat to the main road, waited n chatted with a local who stays some plays on the central line, bt comes for the weekend to meet his family generally..and then ride back cost us a kool `25 per head...then as we reached Dhasai, we waited for a gud 20min for the Tata Ace now to fill up..on reaching which would cost us `20 per head while the boys sipped on sm chilled beer outside the wine shop itself..strait to MURBAD now, and no more MHASA coming into the way..an S.T Bus back to Kalyan n then directly to Dadar..nly to get back home to Malad by 10.30 pm, pretty late i must say but yet a super-awesome trek..:-)





Destination: Kurla>Kalyan>Murabad>Mhasa>Dhasai>Sonavla Village (base)
Time: 06.33am
Level: Medium
Amt Spent Apprx: `300 (travelling n Eating)
Carried: Snacks/Bananas/Port Wine/Water/a T-Shirt/Sony Cybershot/Hand-Towel /First Aid-Kit (U can carry whatever u want, but alwys keep it lite, nothing unnecessary)

Adios Until LOHAGAD/ VISAPUR bike trip coming up..so until then TC all and keep having fun


For videos & pics, pls visit Links

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150284437614758.343643.575369757&type=1
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10150284564309758
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10150284503374758
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10150284475564758
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10150284469544758


P.S - Im open to feedback/Criticism and need guidance for all ma future thoughts, actions n plans that you’re going to read about or what i shall be doing....So feel free to comment on the same.