Tikona june 2006

Copied from Amol G's mail

Dear raghu,
Here i tried to make down the note of our trek to tikona. plz
go through it and make proper corrections, as i m not gud
enough to make notes.
i jst tried to make some fun out of this.
Trek to tikona:

these are d personal views of the writer so dont take it personaly.
We started our journey frm kalyan staion in Indrayani express. When we got
into the train, we thought raghu and vinay may b holding some seats 4 us.
But then we

find tht ,thy had climbed in a reserved boggie!!! So our journey starts
with standing. Though we r standing , we had lot of fun bcoz while
standing 1) u can enjoy the

surroundings 2) u can walk through whole train, watching all the babes (
main advantage).
whn we reached kamshet, 17 ppl got packed in to a tiny jeep and
fortunately or unfortunately i had been side lined. But the enjoyment
standing at sides of the jeep

was gr8.
Then our journey started. Here are the gr8 personalities who r on the trek
........................
1) VINAY:- A cool & passionate leader. Our respectable senior of course,
a gr8 personality in terms of both size and work. Never got tired in the
trek inspite of his
huge protruding belly. An excellent organiser, always at the end of all
finding out suitable spots for photography.

2) RAGHU:- Our trekking Hero who normally at the forefront was this time
jst amongst us. A person with gr8 zeal, enthu ... his verve always kept
our spirit high,but his PJs with neutralizing effect bringing it
frequently down.

3) Hari:- Our multi lingual Maharashtrian Tamil hero kept on wondering
here & thr speaking in diff languages with diff people. Inhone apani Daya
Kannada suna kar aur PPJ ki maya faila kar kisi ko akele pan ka ehasas
hone nahi diya. He is like , chalata phirata radio mirchi un sunsaan
pahadiyan main bhi Bollywood ki rangeen duniya dikha raha tha. A person
who makes frends very soon, we observed this on trek also.

4) Srujan, vamsi, Karthik, Venu, P.L .S.S.S. Raju, & prasad:- Our true
representives of Indian Institute Of Telgulogy who never got separated
from eachother right frm starting till the end, so here too we keep them
united. Srujan who lead this group and showed his master mind to find the
most difficult path to move forward.While vamsi was busy with his
photography and Venu was finding the appropriate wind to blow his flute
(which he could find no where), Raju and prasad were absorbed in thier
dream world. In AP k surama o ne antakshari ko Tollywood ke suro se
sajaya. Srujan and karthik were gud at singing.

5) Neha :- Despite of being a girl , she was the coolest. The grl having
friendly nature and who never got angry. She is the only girl who showed
guts in singing. while trekking she was slow and steady. Keep it up neha.

6) Priyanka:- The Angry Young Woman. Kabhi bhi inke sath panga mat lena,
warana .... gud at heart and caring too.

7) Meera :- Throughout the trek this girl followed one principle "BOLANA
MANA HAI" Most of us never heard her speaking. But she is the girl with
speaking eyes.

8) Niyati:- The first thing u wil notice about this grl is "her smile".
she wil always smile whenever u look towards her. while trekking most of
the time she lost in her own thoughts. Niyati keep smiling .

i wud like to thanx all d grls for bringing snacks and food for lunch, as
we guys came with empty handed.

9) K.K. & Shalom: - These two guys are together frm start to end.who never
get separated on the trek. Together thy r like "Brokeback mountain "
heros. KK who was the real trekker amogst us in his typical outfit and
hat and he was really gr8 while singing "ye jo des hai tera". everybody
appriciated his singing. Shalom the Rough And Tough , handsome guy.

10) Raj :- The most energetic person on the trek and the only person with
whom i talked in marathi. He was the path finder for this trek. He is the
person who came back all d way to find us whn we lost the way. Thanx raj.

11) Amol: - ..............................

..plz fil in d blanks this part
is needed to b filled by all of u.

So junta as i hav no work to do, i wrote down this. Plz dont take it
seriously i jst tried to make fun.

With regards
Amol

actually written by Ravi Vempati ....

PEB Trek .. my first trek... an exciting experience. It was more
of effort than fun for me, although I love it ( After returning safely to
my room ). After Seeing the Hill from its base I wondered whether I could
make it.. some how I could . The mountains and the greenary around
are worth watching... Some of the places along the path were really tough
for me, thanks micro's for keeping the spirits up, for making the
adventerous trip a sucessful one....

Now about the people....


SHANTANU..most talkative .. The real Head ache .. was calm through out
the trip.. Did u miss any one important in the trip ????Was most of the
time out of my Sight...??? He used his dirty leg to pull the people up
the cliff...Why didn't u use ur hand instead, stupid ??? Any how thanks. U
r a Good trekker..


PAVAN.... Mr natwarlal.. Kept on passing his wicked comments on poor
people like me...Spent most of the time with PDV up the moutain..why ???
... .. For his photographs!!! Observe the Photos, he appears in most of the
pictures.. Down the path PDV didn't take any photos so PAVAN deserted
him?? More about u latter PAVAN... U too are GoooD...

VAMSI..The Jungle boy, Tarzan.. He was ahead of all both up and
down the mountain.. Uses his Legs more !!! He mislead us most of the time
in our Trek. My advice to people is not to follow vamsi in any trek..
Fancies him self as a good Trekker,.. well u are.

Gaurav..Trek financier .. Well this is our financier. U need not pay him.
for trek expences.. Always tried to be Smart in the Trek trying different
things. Well Gaurav U need to respect Ur weigth.. Carried food stuff along
with him through out the trek, could have gained 3 kgs (weigth) in the
trek.. Gaurav U are good trekker, need to be careful.

Raghuram.. The Orator.. Kept on talking , gibberish trekking funda's
all along the path.. I did not catch any of his funda's, as I was
worried about reaching top and returning saftely. Raghuram more funda's
next time.. The only main thing he did in the trip was PUSHING and
PULLING..... well pushing people up the mountain and pulling people down..
Only person always behind all people, Raghu u are good ..

VARMA.... . Used to be well ahead of all in fun loving events, but
was not up to mark in the trek. Re-gained his spirit at the waterfall..
Spent most of the time in the water, Varma U need to bath regularly. Dont
pollute the Nature.. I observed one thing in U ( both at Lonavalla and
PEB), the sight of water enlighten's ur spirits... the reason is obvious.
Well u made a good start, keep it up.

Gagan. The Cheer Boy.. Always kept on saying "WELL DONE, U CAN DO IT, VERY
GOOD VERY GOOD......." to keep the boys up.. WHY ??? So that other can
cheer him up to achieve the most dangerous feat of his life's. Gagan U DID
IT.. Gagan panic's a little bit when no one is around...other wise can
break any barrier in the world.. Gagan, some things in life cannot be done
with people all around.. I THINK U GOT IT..U have achievd most dangerous
feat of ur life, now nothing can stop u. Trekking will be mastered by
experince, dont give up....

Sandeep...... "Appearences are deceptive". Spent time listening to
Raghuram's chatter, playing with PDV's camera.......... His important
achievement in the trek was, winning the BULLSHIT, BORING, DIRTY game once
or twice which people played in the water.. Who was the EDIOT who
proposed the game ??? A Good trekker, the only person who responded to
Raghu's gibberish positively.

Karthik...... Spent most of the time guiding, assisting, soothing PDV to
get acess to PDV'S camera.. Thank God !!! Atleast some of the photo's are
were not BAD !!! Most of the time he was out of my sight.. Must have been
studing the nature carefully and throughly !!! Good trekker, " ALWAYS
WANTS MORE"...

Sunny...... Was very cautious walking up the hill, down the hill he was
Care-free, moving as he liked.. after slipping two or three times down
the hill, became very cautious and was carefull at the waterfall ??? Sunny
U r "QUICK LEARER".. Spend his return journey ( while walking ) talking
about Anisha ramesh's TA's duty with PDV.. U are too GOOD..

Brajesh .... Batteled for his life, just before reaching the top of the
cliff..Shanthanu and Gaurav were guiding were guiding him for the top, he
was guiding himself down.. After PAVAN's entry he reached the top safely.
Has some special attachment with Pavan, which was revealed during the
photo session at the cave.. Brajesh and Pavan carry on IITians dont mind
such small things.. U are also very good when pavan is besides u.

Ghadge...... Was the only person who talked to females during the trek
whatever may be the reason. Gets stimulated on Seeing a Marati's.. Guided
us
properly up the hill and terribly down the hill.. U are a Good marati and
and a trekker.


Last but not the least PDV made the trek sucessful by bringing his camera
made it intresting with his photogarphs and made it terrible with his
presence in the Trek.. Thanks PDV for ur cooperation.. U must be hoping
of PEB to be ur last trek, dont worry we will catch u.

Naneghat -- August 2005

We had been to naneghat on sunday. ten of us had boarded a sumo from iit.
we had packed food from the canteen which was open upto 4:30 am.
we left at around 5: 00 am from here.
this place naneghat is about 800 m above msl . the hills in maharashtra
region are generally very steep and at the top become flat.
we hit the base at about 8: 45 am and we started from there.
the place was quite green. lush green . initially it was flat land . we
could see the destination covered with the clouds. it was a great sight.
we came across quite a few streams , with clear water. the weather
started to clear out. after a couple of km we started the ascent. it was
an easy one compared to the other ones that i had been to. the sight in
front of us grew more and more magnificient. by 11:30 we hit the peak.
there was a cave at the top. there were a few trekkers staying over there.
beyond the cave there was a pass between two hills. it is due to this pass
this place became an important point in geography. we climbed one of the
hills and took lots of snaps. then the clouds came back .we were
enshrouded by the mist. it was a great experience. it started raining . we
then went back to the cave. we had our lunch over there. once our lunch
was finished , the sun came back again. we then decided to go to the other
hill. while descending from that hill the weather deteriorated and there
was a downpour. we were all wearing windcheaters. the path to the cave via
the pass was filled with gushing water. we decided not to venture as it
was quite dangerous out there. once the rain stopped after 30 minutes, did
we go to the cave. we waited in the cave for some time. it was too misty
to make any decision about the rain. we waited for the water in the pass
to subside. we would be walking along that for some time. the forest were
about 200 m below.we took the gamble to go on. it worked. we walked down
carefully and that to me was the best part of the trek. it was like
walking down a mini waterfall. we then reached the base at about 5:00 pm.
we then left for iit.
on the way we came across the bridge on the state highway leading to
aurangabad. that bridge . there is this one river called ullhas, which on
the fateful day , overflowed by about 50 ft. this river broke a part of
the bridge. it uprooted almost all the trees on the banks. that was a gory
sight. the same river flows through kalyan .even there it has flown about
50 ft above its normal level. no wonder there flooding upto the first
floor has taken place.
still the damage in those places is nothing compared to what is there in
mumbai.
you screw with nature , nature will screw you.
we need to respect nature , fear it and enjoy it. then nature will never
ever harm you.

Siddhagad

Siddhagad Trek ....................... Feb 27th 2005 ....................

The success of the previous trek to Bhimashankar, inspired us all to do one more. The time was chosen to be the weekend after the midsems. The sun had started to burn down the remnants on the earth. There was a trek conducted to this place by the institute sometime back. But those guys messed up by going to the wrong place. This time surprisingly, guys like Srujan, Vamsi and Priyanko turned up for the trek. Later I found out that these guys will be ready for treks in general. The batch was nerdier with Sandeep too being present. The entertainer was of course Hari. We left by the usual 5:24 train to Kalyan.

Had breakfast at some useless hotel at kalyan. Hired a taxi to take us to the base of the village, Narivali. The journey was smooth. We stopped at a place to have some breakfast comprising of vada pav. We packed some. We hit the base village by 9 am. The trek started soon. A few snaps were taken here and there. The surroundings were dry. Hari and I were the last two and Manish and Vamsi led the group. This was later a feature in almost all the treks. After an hours trek, we took a break. We came across the famous fourier transform hill. Later we encountered a rock face and the monkey in Vamsi became evident as he did things which was not to be tried.

In some time we hit the entrance to the village. The entrance comprised of Arch made of stones. We climbed atop the arch and took some snaps. The path from here to the village was a simple one. We hit the village. Dogs were barking and running helter skelter. We went to the house of a man. He offered us some water. He also told us that he would prepare lunch for us. We all took a nice break sleeping on the floor made of dried dung. Then after the refreshing break, we set forth to the peak of Siddhagad. We left most of our bags here. We took one bag with vada pavs. On route we encountered the cave of the Sadhu baba. We spoke with him for a while. Then we started our ascent. The climb suddenly became steeper. WE hit a dead end. We took directions from the baba to get to the right path. The climb was much steeper. There was hardly any place to keep your feet. The inclination was about 70-80 degrees. We had a clear view from out here. We also took great care not to fall down. A fall would mean that one would go straight up. As we climbed, it became tougher. Adding to the woes, the soil was loose. The grass along the hill was non existent. There was hardly any vegetation along the hill. The summer heat couple with our timing of venturing here at 1 pm didn't help us. As we were about 50 feet from the top, a couple of guys queried the necessity to carry on. But Manish and Vamsi were determined to go on. By the time we were about 20 feet from the top, the mental condition of certain guys ( u can figure who it is from the snaps J ) got to a point that they refused to carry on. They had broken down. So we all decided to stop. We ate a bit, some photo sessions. We then started the descent. The descent was slow. At places we crawled down. WE were really careful. This probably is my toughest experience till date. To break the monotony, Hari and I threw stones and calculated the time we would be alive if we fell down. Meantime we cursed Vijayanand. Yes his name has to come up. When we had almost reached the sadhu baba's cave, hari stepped on a stone, which gave away. The stone moved, and Hari lost his balance. He used his hand to gain control. His left hand landed on the rock. This resulted in a hairline fracture. As Hari fell down, I was looking at him. I then stepped on the same stone which gave away. This time the stone was pushed sufficiently enough for it to move down the cliff. But I did not lose my balance. The stone weighed a lot. On its route down, it missed Vamsi's head by a few meters. We were lucky, otherwise it was Ram Ram Satya hai. There were franctic calls by us when the stone fell down. We reached the Sadhu baba's cave with no further incident. At the cave, Hari's hand was attended to, while the rest listened to the musings of the baba. Soon we left the place and headed for the village, where a great lunch in the form of Bakhar and sabji awaited us. It was nearly 3 pm and we were all really hungry and ate whatever was given to us. Though the man did not ask or expect any money for the services provided, we paid him a small money for the gesture shown by him. We left the village refreshed. Apart from a few photo sessions, there was nothing special in the downhill route. We were quite quick while descending. On the way back we lost our way for a while, and almost headed off to some other village. But once again a villager came to our rescue. WE were shown the right path by him. We soon hit Narivali. Then couple of jeeps took us to Kalyan. During this journey most of us slept like logs. Then at Kalyan we got off , took a train and then soon hit IIT……

There are some details that I have missed coz I am writing this after 18 months. So the memory has vaned.

Still a great trek nevertheless ……………………

Bhimashankar

Bhimashankar trip is always a cherished trek. This trek is to one of the Jyotirlingas. This trek is also special to me as it kick started my treks in IIT. We decided to go to Bhimashankar on the 21st of Jan. The day when decision was made to go there was full of chaos. There were a lot of people who ditched us at the last moment. Yet we managed to get 8 people for the trek. I am yet to recall as to how Rajesh and Sharath had been convinced to climb this peak. After this trek, they have decided to quit trekking for life. Manish was eveready, somehow Mayur was brought into the frame. Then Yogi was called who called upon a couple of his friends, Devanand and Tiwari. Sharath and I went to the canteens nearby and purchased some items in the last minute panic. \par
WE all got up in time and made it to the Karjat station. We go there in time. We were at the station one minute before the train arrived. Anyways, it was early jan, and as the journey got underway, we felt the cold wind freezing our bodies. In IIT the general practise is to sleep late. We did that, and the effect was seen on the train. We were all sleeping. Anyways, we still dont miss out opportunities of viewing some great views, both natural and of the feminine type. At Karjat, we alighted. We had to go to the base village of Khandas, pronounced as Khaan - dus ,, but we called it Khan - daas . We asked people on the station , the directions to go to Khandas, and people showed us the way to Sandaas. :) \par
After this minor miscommunication, we got a rickshaw who agreed to take us to Khandas. And here we set forth. The morning was quite cold. We halted midway to have breakfast consisting of vada pav and sweet. We also packed some vada pav for lunch. It must be said that the vada pav of Karjat are the best one would get on this planet. We hit the base village at 9 am, right on schedule. On the first sight of Bhimashankar, Rajesh said those memorable words ---- " Hamain pahad chadna hai kya ? Pahad chandna zaroori hai kay ? ham Pahad kyon chad rahe hain ? " -- in his own unimitable style. \par
We carried on, and after losing our way briefly, we got our backings right. We came across a white tree, a huge well. The trek had started. ......\par
We climbed across grasslands, patches of forest. Somewhere in the trek, we lost our way. Then Manish, who never believes in going back, said that we continue.We then started to climb a steep slope, that was quite muddy and slippery. Manish managed to go first. Then I followed. Then at a steep section, the mud underneath, came off. And i slipped and fell . As I fell, i caught hold of the roots of a tree. At this moment I was hanging in mid air. Then I kept my foot on the ground, only to realise that the part I landed my feet, came off. The guys below were looking in disbelief. I had almost resigned and had accepted my fate of falling down and getting injured. Manish who was above me kept egging me on. Then with muscles of magnitude i pulled myself . I used the stick in my left hand and the root which i held with the other hand, to pull myself. Then Manish pulled me out in the final stage. The other guys took a much longer route to climb. All this while we knew we were lost. \par
Then we took notice of Mayur's hand. It was filled with blood. Mayur strangely did not know what had happened. Then we washed his hand, and tried to find where the cut took place. It was a due to a scratch from some thorn . Undeterred, we carried onwards, with the first signs of Rajesh tiring. Soon we hit the rock patch. This was the seedhi ghat. We realised that we now needed to find the ladders that would help us in climbing through the rock patch. I went around in search of the ladders. It didnt take me time to find them. The path to the ladder was narrow, and only one man can walk on that path. The ladder experience had its victims though, Donthi and Yogi were scared when they looked down. ANyway the tough part came before the second ladder. We meanwhile passed the bags through the human chain , a team work that is so necessary in any trek. Then came the section where we had a vertical rock face. This was about 2 metres long. There was harldy any place to keep your feet. There were signs on the rock face, indicating that hands needed to be used to hold the crevice present and move along the rock face. Manish went first and the other guys followed him. I went last and found out that I was too short to keep my leg at the final step . Manish came to my rescue and he kept his palm. I stepped on that and moved onward. We soon saw a cave and took a well deserved break. We then named the nipple hill. Then came the third ladder, which was easy compared to what we had done before. After the third ladder there was one rock section which again tested our climbing skills. ANd within minutes we were out of the seedhi ghat. Then we came across the mango tree, the famous landmark. We took a well deserved break, with chaas and water being served by the villagers. Then we started the ascent again. We were way too slow in the first section. We tried to go fast. But could not do so. \par
Rajesh and Sharath, found the climb a bit too strenuous. They were relieved of their bags. Yet we were slow. In between the views from the climb was great. After a couple of hours of trekking we hit the top. We were there at 3 pm. WE had a good darshan of the temple. Had food in an nondescript hotel. It was now 5 pm. It was too late to go back.\par
Then we had some arguements. Some suggested that we take the bus back. Some said that we stay overnight and take the bus the next day. Some said that we stay overnight and go back trekking. WE thought for the time being we shall wait for the bus. We then went to the spot where we could see the sunset. WE took a few snaps, including the famous jumping jack snap. \par
Then we came back to the bus stop to find out that the bus scheduled to arrive at 6 hadnt come. WE waited and mulled over various openings that we had. The man at the shop asked us to stay. One more thing we had to worry about was money. We were short. We did not have the clothing to fight the biting cold. It was 7 pm. Bus hadnt come. Now it would take 3.5 hours to pune. It would take 4 hours to hit talegaon via chakala. Meanwhile Rajesh who was very dull during the trek , came alive as he knew Marathi. WE also had Manish, but Rajesh suddenly came alive. OK , now even if we had reached Pune, what then. WE would not get any train back. Remember we were all dead tired and didnt want any more complications. The bus then arrived. We spoke about our case with the bus driver. He said that we could take a bus from Pune. There was one every 15 minutes. We then decided to take the bus to Pune. I forgot to mention earlier, we had a class the next day .\par
Then we were travelling to Pune. We were the only passengers in the bus. Bhimashankar is connected by road only to Pune. There was a steep ghat which we had to descent. I was quite surprised at the ease with which the bus driver drove in the ghat. \par
WE hit Pune by 10:30. then we thought of going by train. WE then went to the next station. In between we had suggestions of going by bus, and Sharath saying that we should take the Sumo. We all headed to the railway station, as we got to know that the passenger to Mumbai was due in 30 minutes. WE took tickets in the passenger train. The train arrived. Prior to that we had vada pav, checked our weights etc. The train was jampacked. That was the last thing we had wanted. Worse, we all took different compartments. After hitting Talegaon, we spoke to the conductor if we could get shifted to first class. The conductor agreed to do so. WE then paid him 50 per head. we all got sleeper berths. WE all had a great sleep. Rajesh somehow got up and woke us all at Thane. Soon we were at Kanjurmarg. Then Manish as usual who doesnt believe in walking back, made us walk 1 km to the next bus stop, when the previous one was 20 m behind us. \par
A great sleep, followed. ........... This was my best trek until Harishchandragad....... the group was great. ...... characters all of them ....... the first one in Mumbai. This experience triggered others to start trekking,,, at least I hope. .... \par
}