Sinhgad - The final destination.

Date : 17-Jun-2006
Time : 2:00 a.m.
Location : Sinhgad, enroute to the fort.

By the time we had found out the right path to take, the moon had risen over the hill. The moonlight provided a surreal feel to the surroundings. Everything, plants, valley, rocks, bathed in the milky white light. We could not see each other' faces but could make out each others' silhouettes.

The group at the base. All are happy to have found the right path.

Our accent was not so troublesome, the path was relatively flat and wide enough. We took intermittent breaks. But very soon, the whole team split into two groups. One which was moving quickly, and the ones who were relying on the breaks to provide them with strength to move on! I was part of the latter. The breaks offered us opportunity to take some snaps too.

Over the hill, we could see a telephone tower with the customary red and orange lights. That was where we had to go. Keeping that as reference, we kept on trudging along the rocky path. Every 15 minutes or so, we would take a break, have a look at the tower. Every time the tower looked only as far as it seemed last time around. Somewhere up there we could hear the "alpha team" (let's call them that way for reference:) ). Every now and then they would shout out, "Aage jaake right lena, phir chourahe pe left lena.", telling us how to go.

Soon we reached a clear, rocky section, which afforded a amazing view of the city from top. We could see low hanging clouds over some parts of the city. Following picture is a shaky version of what I saw from top.

Shaky picture of the city lights.

As we climbed up, we were getting more and more weary. A time came when we could no longer manage to move on. That's when Anup's prompting help. "Its just 20 mins more, with ample rest time in between". He kept on saying. For me things had come to a point where, I sat down for rest, and closed my eyes and dozed off! It was close to 4:00 am now. That's when we could hear the alpha team say "We have reached the top, its not so far off, just 5 minutes away." And this time no one was bluffing. Sure enough, 5 minutes later, I was climbing the last flight of stoney stairs that took me to the main door of the fort. Finally, we had made it. The rest of the folks started pouring in gradually.

Finally, at the top.

The view on the top was outstanding. We all huddled up in a open space and drank chai and pakodas that a native brought for us. Beyond that I don't remember much as I slept like a log. Woke up at 7:15 to an amazing, breathtaking scenery. I will shut myself up now, and let the pictures do the talking. All these pictures are courtesy my friends.

A misty morning.

The lush green valley behind the fort.

beautiful pathway at the back of the fort.

Don't know if his trek is more difficult or ours.

The lush green valley behind the fort.

Misty morning at the fort.

I have very mixed feelings about this trip. On one side I am proud that I completed a trek (made) as difficult as this. On the other hand, I was exhausted, and the week I spent recovering from it was like hell. But all said and done, I can proudly say, "Been there, done that."

The view from top of the mountain we climbed.