Durgawadi is located near Nashik and is a prefect place to trek with friends, especially because of the wonderful waterfall there. We were a bunch of five friends traveling together and went there after our trek to Ratangad a day earlier which was also full of adventures. As we got back to Nashik, we simply wanted to enjoy and not tire ourselves down, and so decided to visit Durgawadi - the land of waterfalls.
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| The superstars of tomorrow :) |
The story of condom
As we were on our way to the Ratangad, one of us declared how he always carried a condom in his wallet. His mantra was to be prepared just in case...
Since we were a group of five straight grown-up men trekking to live in a cave, this precaution seemed highly unnecessary unless the plan was to meet a nubile village belle on the hill top (less than remote possibility), or doing a goat even more remote) or letting the demon out and playing mischief while we were all high and sleeping in the cave.
As it turned out later, the last was the most possible. Wet and tired after a long trek the five of us were forced to share a tent for two and slept in bare minimum clothing (our clothes were completely wet) entwined with each other. It was so cold outside that it was much welcome by everyone though in the morning we did share some embarrassed laughs about the close intimacy shared during the nights.
But I don't think it's that big a deal, when you are with close friends you are quite cool with such things...
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| Hmmm...a good one again by Manoj! |
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| Abhi...is he high? |
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| With our 'other' guide... |
Coming back to the condom, from what I finally understand the packed remained unused, though none of us checked!
A bottle for all purposes
The story of plastic bottle/s we refused to part with during our trek, the bottled went up, was abused and then had to come down as well, only to find its resting place (for a while at least) in a dust bin...
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| The dude of all dudes... |
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| The Abhi giving his best smile :) |
We were a group of sensitive men and were keen on not leaving any ecological footprint no matter how tough to carry the waste. Especially odd was carrying the bottles without crushing them (Tej had ideas he wanted to try in the cave), though these were useful in collecting water before the morning ablutions. However as we wore our wet clothes and went out to provide fodder to the overgrown flora, the excessive showers ensured that no extra water was necessary.
However, continuing our Dediapada tradition, the potty jokes continued through the trip, often fed by Abhishek's own fears and nightmares :)
The walk down the falls at Durgawadi
The last day of the trip was spent doing random and aimless trekking at Dugarwadi, a beautiful weekend getaway near Nashik.
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| This is good! |
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| On the edge! |
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| The jungle instincts are on! |
We often decided to walk away from the trek and went into the forests, and it was awesome out there. We would be out of our clothes in seconds if we saw any water body, especially Manoj who turns into a Mahatma when in water.
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| Hahaha...damn funny! What exactly is Abhi doing here??? |
We walked down to the falls, though unfortunately missed out on going right to the bottom as we had no clue that a trail existed.
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| Ah! The dudes :) |
Manoj and me wandered separately into the meadows, while the rain kept growin steadily. Walking in costant rain had stopped bothering us completely a long time back and so had slippering in the mud. Our paths crossed in a far off field, but by then both of us had lost the trail completely. Much more aimless wandering and we found a couple of drunk guys waving their jackets to us, and we had to head back to the car. A worried Bijoy welcomed us on the trail which was already flooded and looked more like a fast flowing mountain river.
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| Drenched near the falls... |
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| Manoj attaining Nirvana, not exactly reaching too far high up though! |
Fauna of Ratangad
Frankly speaking we failed to meet anyone, including the monkey attack on our cave/ tent in the night. Manoj did, however, manage to find these to showcase to our readers! It seems efforts are being made to conserve these for the future generations of trekkers.
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| An exotic dog |
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| An exotic bovine |
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| An exotic crow |
Meet the family
Actually the Lumium family. It was a perfect tear jerker moment when the two separate groups accidently met at Ratanwadi. Our group had all singles, and the other one had couples and kids.We all hugged, ate omelets, smoked cigarettes, and took numerous group pictures. It was a typical filmy family saga moment.
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All of us in one nicely taken picture :)
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So what next? We have Kalsubai and harishchandragad peaks in sight for our next Sahyadri outing, though it might have to wait till the end of this monsoon season.
Amazing pictures and wonderful write up
ReplyDeleteमस्ती व गाईड दोनों अच्छी है।
ReplyDeleteAwesome post, Sids! Loved all the photos, and reading about the exciting trip you all had together. :)
ReplyDelete*Drenched near the fall* is a show stealer! awesome click...
ReplyDeleteall the pictures are superb...n i was wondering who could be tht wallet guy mentioned at the starting...
ReplyDeletesid would you like to throw some light on it since you are the blogger....;)
Nice write-up and fabulous shots. I suppose you had a great time.
ReplyDeletewww.rajniranjandas.blogspot.com
@Dhiraj: Thank you man!
ReplyDelete@जाट देवता (संदीप पवाँर): बिलकुल :)
@Jules: Thank you so much Jules...we absolutely had an awesome time!
@Chintan: I will surely pass on the compliment to Manoj, who made us all look good with his new camera!
@Vishakha: I don't think I want to throw any more light than what I have already done :) You are certainly a very curious woman!!!
Excellent photos!!! I could practically feel the soggy, muddy and fun journey all throughout this post. I like posts such as this where I feel like partaking the journey myself.
ReplyDeleteSid do u remember the wallet guy asking our guide about the possibility of finding any shops at the hilltop, in case if we ran out of cigarettes.. This explains more about his intentions of carrying a condom in his wallet even on a trek. Everything is most desirable when its least expected.;)
ReplyDeleteeven i want to know who is the wallet guy......!!!!!!
ReplyDeletebut i appreciate the mindset of carrying precaution...!!
Aah. Love the snaps and the narration. I'm in Pune right now, should probably head to Nashik soon.
ReplyDeletelovely photos...and awesome trekking!! cheers!
ReplyDelete@eyeinthesky: I am glad you enjoyed it and could feel the place as well :)
ReplyDeletep.s. I need to know your name now buddy :)
@Bijoy: Hahaha...I remember everything!
@Abhi: I can't reveal that here...lets discuss this over the next party :)
@Peevie Juice: Absolutely, this is the best time to be on the hills there :)
@Shruti: Thank you, though I wish I too had taken a few pictures!
I was asked something similar by a foreign female traveller when I was backpacking in Thailand. She thought being alone, I might need it just like she did! :)
ReplyDeleteAnd awesome pictures, makes us go out again ! :)
@Nisha: :) Maybe that's not something uncommon for travelers...alone or otherwise :)
ReplyDeleteYeah, maybe. It was told to me as a travelling tip ... to keep one handy! But I hadn't thought of it till then.
ReplyDeleteHa Ha...
Great pictures... makes me want to go on a trip myself.
ReplyDeleteBut that dog looks kinda shady though! :-P
@DarkKnight: Thank you, and if feel like taking a trip, you should! Life is just too short and there is so much to do...and when you ultimately have the time, the will might go away! haha...I am being all philosophical here...
ReplyDeletep.s. the dog was quite sweet actually, gave us company for most of our trek :)
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ReplyDeleteAmazing location.. Awesome pictures..
ReplyDelete