Off the beaten path

The thrill of looking down 4670 feet from the edge of a cliff is something totally different.

This is at Kokankada, about 2.5 km from Harishchandragad in the western ghats of Maharashtra.  

We started off from Paachnai village where we set up the tents the previous night. We were 15 of us and each one helped in pitching the tent. When the moon came up, we had dinner by the camp fire.

The next day, after a light breakfast we proceeded with the climb. On the way up, we took the mandatory group photo. Like one of our members said, “its better to click now as all are fresh and eager to pose” 

The climb up was slow as the path was slightly steep 

 Moreover there were short stops in between as the area of interest differed for different people. 

And of course nimbu pani (lime juice) is always available when you want to refresh yourself. 

The 6.5 kms climb was completed in 2.5 hrs and as mentioned the view from Kokankada was breathtaking. 

And one more group photo. 

On the way back from Kokankada we stopped at the Harishchandragad temple. 

Next to the temple is the Saptatirtha Pushkarni pond. 

The Kedareshwar cave is very close to the temple. There is a shivling in the cave which is almost submerged in water. You can see all this in the attached video

What I like about Rivers and Ridges (the guys who conduct the trek) is that they don’t go to the usual crowded places but patronize small villages. We had all our food from the local villagers (for which they were paid) 

Preparing Tea for us

Over and above suitable gifts were distributed to the villagers, keeping in mind of their needs. These villages have no electrical connection. So maybe a torch with sufficient supply of batteries is something helpful for them.  People from the city keep contributing and that in turn ends up in these small villages. Captured some footage on video as the gifts were distributed.   

I got chatting with this lady as she was connecting the batteries to the solar panel. She said that one day’s charge is good enough for a tube light to illuminate the house and the kitchen till its bed time. 

On the way back we spotted some langurs (I am sure they spotted us too)