Killos : Bandhardhara

Ithe gaadi ubhi kara…me utarto….aata hya rastyane saral ja. Tumhala agoder Panjare gao lagel, nantar Udawane. Udawane nanatar jo dusra phata davya bajula lagel tya fatyla vala. Tithe board lihla asel – Smarad mhanun. Saral ja pohchal

(Stop the vehicle here, I ll get down. Go straight on this road. You ll cross the village of Panjare and Udawane. Once you cross Udawane village, take the 2nd left. You ll see a board – Samrad. Follow that road and you ll reach)

I asked the old man, who had boarded our Tempo traveler at Bhandardara,

“Kiti lamb asel ithun” (How far is it)?

“Ajun 20 ek kilometer asel” (Around 20 odd more kilometers)

I glanced my watch, it was 9 PM.

I could hear Ravi screaming from the last seat “Koni tari mara re Vinayak” (Somebody please kick Vinay). We had started from Pune in the morning around 10 and even after 9 PM, we still had 20 + kms to go. Considering the road condition and heavy fog, we still had one to one and half hour to go before we reach our destination – Samrad!

Welcome Killos to the trekking in Sahyadri’s!

Killos, the group of friends, started on the plateau of Farmagudi some 10 yrs ago. Along the way came in like-minded people and the group grew bigger and stronger. Among the many common things we share, one is travel. In the year 2011, an unplanned trip of mine and Pranav to Bangalore to meet Omu, Padi, Ravi and Bindu gave birth to the Killos trips. Since then we “try” to make atleast one trip a yr.

This was the trip to Sandhan Valley in Samrad village, Maharashtra.

“Arey tu nikla nahi abhi tak, kaaaaaaab niklege” Maddy was on the other side. The plan - meet at Old Goa at 4:00 and start the journey. It was 2:30 in afternoon, 11th Aug, and I was still in office.

Finished the meeting. Sent MOM. Set OOO reply. Switched off the system. Headed to home.

3:30 at home! I am in time, but wait, I hadn't packed my bag. That was something unusual. May be the effect of “susegad” attitude of Goa.

Packed the clothes that I could find around, checked for camera battery and memory card and I was ready, waiting for Ganesh to pick me up.

It was already 4 and we haven't started yet! Yet another delayed start. Well.. that looks like normal now.

“Vinay tu khai ravta? (Vinay, where do you stay) - It was Amar.

Ganesh, Gaynell, Sneha and Amar were on their way from Margao to pick me up. A quick watsapp location details and Ganesh was waiting outside with his Swift. At around 4:30 the Killos Goa was set with two cars at Old Goa and we were on the way.

54 hrs later…

It was 10 PM. And we were still wondering in the jungles of Bandhardhara, which was now covered with thick fog which further slowed us down. The visibility was close to nil.

“Thoda left lena…haan baas baas…aab right, good…abb siddha chalo” Ganesh had offered the role of navigator to driver.

“Yaha dheere chalo, thoda reverse lo, aur fir left mein lo”

“Right…right..right…ok”

While Ganesh thought he was helping the driver, the later had completely different views.

“Aho hyala kuni tari jara gaap kara” (Somebody, please shut this fellow), the driver shouted as he lost his patience… and I could hear everyone screaming from the back.

I smiled and looked outside in the pitched dark night and my thoughts rolled back to the previous nights.

“Phoolon sa chehra tera…” Ganesh was singing the song

“Its Fa and not Pha…yelled Sneha at Ganesh, and Gaynel was quick to join her.

Ganesh tried to defend himself and his song as part of “antakshri” but the female forces were too strong for him to counter and then he gave up.

What was I doing…well enjoying the dominance of female force over Ganesh.

After our dinner halt at Kolhapur, we had resumed our journey and since then antakshari was the only activity that was keeping us awake in the car.

“Mala vatte amhi pochlo” (Looks like we have reached)

The driver woke me up from my thoughts…it was around 10:30 PM and finally…finally we had reached our destination – Samrad.

As we settled down in our huts (well basic huts… just 4 walls and a roof!!), we realized that there was no hot water… no lights in toilet…no water tap as well.

Now, that’s real wilderness trekking I must say.

While I was extremely excited to be back to the ‘basic life’ the look in the face of the rest group told a complexly different story.

Post our quick dinner (the menu too didn’t go well with the group, with Naik commenting “hey chicken utkaan budovn dila mare” (Looks like this chicken is just boiled in water and served), while the rest of the group started our ritual of ‘whiskey and playing cards’ I stepped out in the chilly and foggy night to capture some night shots.

As I returned, Kavita had already called it a day and she had dozed off. This was her first killos trip and I wonder what she must have been thinking of this crazy bunch of guys (and gals…gender equality… please!)

While our favorite killos line – The night is still young – was delivered multiple times by many while playing the cards games, Ravi, Bindu, Bhoma and I decided to called it a day after taking few time-lapse shots.

The freezing temperature and strong winds making ghastly sounds (as if the huts are going to blow away any time) made it difficult for a sound sleep.

Well its more difficult when Bhoma is around with his if’s and but’s – “Ami udon voyta dista” (Looks like we will fly away). “Jite rautale mare ami, falya palouvpak” (Will we be alive to see tomorrow) and so on and on and on…

Meanwhile in other hut, Sneha under the influences of ‘magical spirit’ had reached to her vocal limits with the slogan “Bhoma re bhoma..aai aai”. Our host had to finally switch off the main electricity supply to force the group to go to sleep.

Next day after a quick breakfast, we all left for our main activities of the trip – zipline and rappelling.