Tamhini-Dongarwadi.

6.30 am Sunday 24th June,
Bakery near Anand Nagar bus stand:
It was raining already and I did not have a cap. I did not have my camera. I did not have my cell phone. I did not even have my watch. The jacket was for the wind. Not for rain. Cut off from the world, unreachable, and sleepy. The bus was late. We called the organizer, he did not answer. After a while we were convinced that they had forgotten all about us. But they came. :) And thus began our ‘Monsoon Excursion to Tamhini-Dongarwadi’
We got on and found the last row empty and cramped, then exchanged it with a gang of enthusiastic college girls for one directly under a leaky spot in the roof. So the one at window seat had the added advantage of getting to wear a cap all the time! :D
8.00 am.
Sort-of-hotel ‘Lake view’, Paud.
We stopped to have breakfast (very good breakfast: uppit and a veg pattice) and lots of hot coffee/tea/both (mostly both) :D The air was clean and cool and windy and the lands fresh and green with new grass. And there was indeed the view of the lake. It was a perfect day for an outing and everyone was in good spirit. The place had a few tables and much fewer dry chairs. The roof was (had been) made of steel and was in the immediate danger of flying away. Almost everyone was quite awake, full of energy, and nearly wet, by the time we took off again. :) :)
9ish (no watch, remember?)
Temple near Tamhini village:
The bus dropped us near a small clearing. There was a big tree (actually one smallish tree, one climber and one parasite plant that made the whole affair look rather big) with a ‘par’ under it. There was a brief prep talk... something to do about a spider on the tree trying to eat a grasshopper, and we were off.
On the way, we came across a tree called ‘Makad limbu‘ :D This is an interesting tree that looks a lott like a lemon tree. The fruit looks like a very small lemon (is NOT edible). But the most interesting are the leaves. They have this very fresh fragrance. Just very much like any ‘lemon perfume’ available in market. And it is so refreshing that even after being very tired, one can go on walking much farther just smelling one leaf of that tree. :) There were also ‘karvandancha Jalya’ and most were looted by out gang. :( …They were delicious, tho. ;)

The trail took us to a sacred groove of a deity called ‘Kalsai devi’. Just being there makes one feel close to nature. Reminds us that we are, after all monkeys that have lost our tails and with it, the good sense to live in the jungles, hunt for berries, and lead a simple and meaningful life… anyways.. Everything there was... WILD! Original stuff. Life not affected by the pollution, mutation and not pruned to look ‘pretty and cute’. Things here were pretty much left to themselves to survive and grow, and were doing a very good job about it. Flora and fauna that one wouldn’t find in any city; biting flies, spiders, rare wild trees with fragrant and large flowers, mushrooms, and lots n lots of huge ants. We found one rather interesting spider called the ‘signature spider’, so named because it weaves a signature-like scrawl in its web. There were many frogs, but thankfully no leeches. :)

Then we proceeded to our destination, a waterfall!!!! cold, verrrry cold, and we had the most fun simply trying to stand steady there. Now reaching there was no great feat. It was an easy trail for those who were ready to get wet and not care about the cold. But for this one uncle who had come there wearing a sweater and an umbrella. Now THAT was creditable! So while everyone was soaking wet till their bones might start complaining, sweater uncle was taking everyone’s snaps! :D
Then after everyone had soaked till the percentage of water in their bodies had considerably shot up, the clouds in the valley suddenly cleared giving way to many ‘oooohs’ and weird snaps from all the groups.

On the way back, we had to cross a river with the help of nothing but a rope…… alright, not a river, it was a stream, but it was a big stream, as it had been raining a lot that day, and the current in the middle was strong. The youngest in the group was a rather short kid from 7th grade. And he must have had the toughest time…. of course, sweater uncle’s umbrella wouldn’t have helped him here. ;)
1 pm:
Temple near village:
Lunch was sandwiches, parathas and tea. But thankfully, was synchronised with the Rain-gods’ lunch break ;)
The other places we visited were one overflowing dam/ bund where many tried stunts like water sliding, and retrieving lost shoes; a valley-view ‘point’ where all we could see (or not see) were clouds. Then we went to a place called ‘plus valley’ near dongarwadi. Check it out on google earth. You can actually see a ‘+’ there. Interesting structure.

On the way back, the bus got a tyre punctured, and we spent another hour at the lake view ‘hotel’ discussing hexagonal beehives, and footballs, and kingfishers, and refraction of light in water, and sunbirds. And of course, lots more of tea and coffee. :D
I made many new friends, and having trekked after a very long time, felt very good about it, and decided to go to Rajgad before parting with the gang.

No camera, no snaps.

-Madhura.