Being unperturbed by the cancellation of two previous week’s treks, I was fully enthusiastic and excited when I came to know about the trek to Ratangad. I made my reservation on phone on Friday evening from office and was raring to go. The preparations and packing started on Saturday evening. I have learnt one thing about packing – no matter how much plan, there is always something that is left till the time you leave, which leaves you running behind schedule. I finally left home at half past nine and had to reach Dadar station within 90 minutes.
Buying a torch and medicines on the way, I eventually managed to reach Dadar five minutes before time. We started our journey bus journey from Dadar after 30 minutes and picked up a few people on the way. Being a night journey and a long day ahead, most of us were able to catch up on the much-needed sleep. We had some trouble reaching the destination as it was pitch dark with no road lights and not many signboards. The boards that were there, were not very useful as well. On one board, it was written in Marathi, ‘vachanara murkh aahe’ (The person who is reading this is a fool). Mind you, I was not the one who read it.
Finally, we reached our destination at dawn. The light slowly brightened, giving way for the start of a wonderful day. After resting and exploring the picturesque surrounding and a temple, we stated our trek. We had breakfast in the form of upma, prepared by a local village woman. Not to forget the tea which was very sweet and had very little milk. It was more like sweet water. Anyway, after breakfast and a round of introductions, our uphill climb started.
It was full of slippery paths and waterfalls. The rains added to the awesomeness of the ascend. Trust me, it is an amazing feeling walking in the forests. You have to experience it once in your lifetime. However, it was not a piece of cake. Many of us slipped without getting injured. I was worried about my camera and cell phone getting wet in the rains. Thankfully, both survived the heavy rains and rough weather.
We had a lunch in a sort of a cave and then resumed our journey back. There was another route to get down which was slightly more difficult. Looking at the steepness some preferred to take the same way from which we came. It was a bit challenging, but I along with some other people took the new path and crossed it successfully with some minor hiccups.
The entire group gathered after a while and we were on our track heading back to the village. As it had rained, the water level had increased at the base village.
While returning in the bus, most tired souls including me preferred to sleep. I rediscovered my love for trekking with this trek and met many great like-minded people. It was astonishing to see such a beautiful place in our very own Maharashtra. I was completely in sync with nature, forgetting about my mundane life back in Mumbai. It made me fall in love with life all over again.
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