Hard Work pays off.
This is a term people understand only after working hard. I’ve learned it the hard way post trekking to Harishchandragad. Yeah, that’s a long name and undoubtedly a longer trek too. But it was all well in the end. That’s what matters right?
Our Journey to Harishchandragad trek (as planned for Day 1):
One of us 4 friends had to book a free OLA ride from our place to Kalyan station at around 8 pm. From there we were to board a bus to Khubhiphata at around 10.30 pm. It was to be a 2.5-hour bus journey. Then around 1 am we had to figure out the way to the start of the trekking point which was anywhere easily around 3-4 hours of walking. Later, when the sun would begin crawling its way to shine on us, we had to climb to the point which is yet another 3.5-4 hours. And finally, we would set up our tent near the point and just be mesmerized with the weather and the location.
Day 1: Our Journey to the Harishchandragad Fort(The truth):
One out of us 4 friends booked an OLA cab that had less fuel and did not travel to Kalyan. We were left stranded in Powai looking for a replacement. Our free code got expired and all of us had already exhausted our free rides. Then we had to actually wait for a bus or a cab which could take us there. A cab guy promptly said 900/- for the ride. We did not even pay heed to him as we wanted our trek to harishchandragad journey to be fun and with less wastage of money.
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Later, we finally found a rickshaw who promised to take us halfway to Thane. From there we managed to board a train which took us to Kalyan. By the time we got there, we could only manage to board the last bus i.e. at 12.30 am. Yeah, after 2.5hours of an amazing journey (which I slept throughout) on that ST bus, we reached our stop i.e Kokan Kada (in some places also known as Konkan Kada) at 2.45 am.
The weather was misty; there was hardly anything that we could spot our eyes on.
With a blind route given to us by a tea vendor, we made way to a place that no one ever knew. We walked, walked, and then walked some more. It was almost 4 am until we were completely drained. The route felt like a never-ending journey and we decided to crash. We actually walked that long as we could not find a good surface for the tent to be set up. When we did find out, we didn’t waste any time. We set up, and after a few minutes of talking, we all went to sleep. The time was 4.45 am.
We decided to wake up early around 6.30. My alarm rang on the fitness band and I woke up to a view which I wish to share it with you. When I woke up, my friend was staring at me. I thought she was awake so I started with wishing her a “good morning”. But there was no response. I spoke for a few more seconds before I realized she was fast asleep with her eyes open!
Yeah, imagine the horror.
Anyways, after that episode, I couldn’t sleep. So I decided to go out and look at the view. The place was amazing. Almost a few feet away, there was a river. There was fog, the wind was chilly and finally, there was silence.
I walked a few meters away from our tent and took some pictures of the place. I managed to capture the tent too. Here are a few snapshots.
In the Day 2 post of Harishchandragad Trek, I’ll share with you maximum pictures with less of prose sharing how our journey to the Harishchandra fort that’s so close to the Malshej Ghat went from amazing to mind-blowing! Stay tuned.
