Yes, you read it correctly - Life is easy for me. No, it’s not a sarcastic statement!
Life is not easy in itself, but I realized how easy it was for me or rather us (city people) when I recently went for a trek to Harishchandragad. I would like to begin with a brief description of our trek.
Harishchandragad is a hill fort in Ahmednagar district. We took a private vehicle from Mumbai to Paachnai village (which is a journey of approx. 200 to 250 km). Paachnai is the easiest route to trek upto Harishchandragad. Other notable routes are via Nalichi Vaat (the most difficult) and Kothale village.
So how did this realization of life being easy occur? That’s when I saw the locals. Although, I was an avid trekker during the years 2006-2012, I never trekked after that until last month’s trek to Harishchandragad. So we decided to take a local guide along-with us. The guide told us it shouldn’t take more than 1.5 hours for us to reach the top (since the guide’s 85 year old mother covers the entire route in around an hour). It took us 3 hours (with a couple of halts for tea and pictures).
Not just the trek duration, other things praise-worthy of the locals are that they cover the entire distance barefoot or wearing chappals (flip-flops) and the ease with which they climb. Some of them carry a wooden stick in hand. And here we are armed with water bottles and expensive trekking gear.
No doubt it comes with practise since a very young age just like us Mumbaikars being adept at local train travel during peak hours ;)
The locals at Paachnai village rear cattle and work on / own paddy fields. They travel 8-10 km to purchase vegetables and other essentials. They burn wood to cook and sometimes use kerosene.
All in all, it was a soul-stirring experience. It is a very picturesque location and a must visit for trekkers. Sharing a couple of pictures taken by us below:
This is the beautiful view of the mountain:
View obstructed by fog:
Mini waterfall on the way:
Ancient well which was used for water consumption during earlier times, but it is too dirty now even to swim due to pollution caused by tourists:
The famous Konkankada cliff:
View from Konkankada (usually this spot is famous as you can view the entire Konkan region from here; however, owing to monsoon, we couldn't see a thing other than dense fog):
That's all folks!
Life is not easy in itself, but I realized how easy it was for me or rather us (city people) when I recently went for a trek to Harishchandragad. I would like to begin with a brief description of our trek.
Harishchandragad is a hill fort in Ahmednagar district. We took a private vehicle from Mumbai to Paachnai village (which is a journey of approx. 200 to 250 km). Paachnai is the easiest route to trek upto Harishchandragad. Other notable routes are via Nalichi Vaat (the most difficult) and Kothale village.
So how did this realization of life being easy occur? That’s when I saw the locals. Although, I was an avid trekker during the years 2006-2012, I never trekked after that until last month’s trek to Harishchandragad. So we decided to take a local guide along-with us. The guide told us it shouldn’t take more than 1.5 hours for us to reach the top (since the guide’s 85 year old mother covers the entire route in around an hour). It took us 3 hours (with a couple of halts for tea and pictures).
Not just the trek duration, other things praise-worthy of the locals are that they cover the entire distance barefoot or wearing chappals (flip-flops) and the ease with which they climb. Some of them carry a wooden stick in hand. And here we are armed with water bottles and expensive trekking gear.
No doubt it comes with practise since a very young age just like us Mumbaikars being adept at local train travel during peak hours ;)
The locals at Paachnai village rear cattle and work on / own paddy fields. They travel 8-10 km to purchase vegetables and other essentials. They burn wood to cook and sometimes use kerosene.
All in all, it was a soul-stirring experience. It is a very picturesque location and a must visit for trekkers. Sharing a couple of pictures taken by us below:
This is the beautiful view of the mountain:
View obstructed by fog:
Mini waterfall on the way:
Ancient well which was used for water consumption during earlier times, but it is too dirty now even to swim due to pollution caused by tourists:
The famous Konkankada cliff:
View from Konkankada (usually this spot is famous as you can view the entire Konkan region from here; however, owing to monsoon, we couldn't see a thing other than dense fog):
Relax, tension-free mode - ON:
That's all folks!
Superb Nisha.. :)
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