Old buddies reunited… @ Singhad

My first trip to Singhad could not have been better timed; the Rain Gods have just smiled on Pune after a prolonged dry spell casting fears of water scarcity. We started for Singhad at around 7:30 am and sited a wonderful Rainbow by the side of Khadakwasla dam. I could also notice the change in water levels as I have been at Khadakwasla a fortnight ago.

Our sense of being very early to start the trek was short lived when we reached the Singhad village; people were on their way back after a trek. At this time Ajay shared that he remembers someone helding a record of completing the trek in flat 15 minutes. I wonder we could do that even in 1 hour after several rehearsals ;-). We took our first halt straight away for breakfast at the foothill itself, yes you got it right without starting the trek :-D. It was my not so favorite Poha and hot Chai. The ascend started after this break and it continued uninterrupted for another 15-20 minutes after which the group couldn’t resist the enticing smell of roasted sweet corn with salt and lemon rubbed on it and took one more halt J. Immediately after the break Sandeep and myself, more adventurous amongst other group members started taking not so risky shortcuts to reach the top. There were a couple of more strategic breaks to enjoy the breathtaking beauty of Sahyadri hills and also to capture the view for buddies who missed the trip.

After reaching the top, we stopped once again to enjoy Kairi (Raw Mango), boiled nuts and a few jokes from our little mascot Snigdha and our own Ajay. Everyone chipped in with their ideas to add spice to Ajay’s jokes; had a great time laughing at those jokes. We entered the fort from Pune Darwaza stopping briefly to look at the fort map and Sham explaining me some facts about the fort. Sham choose to wait in a hut while other members went on to explore the fort, Sanjay taking the lead to guide us (specifically me) to various spots and explaining the history associated with those places. We covered Dev Taaka (a fresh water tank, which serves most of the water requirements of the fort), Tanaji Samadhi and the steep cliff which was used by Tanaji to reach the top to fight Udaybhan Rathod and his army. Sanjay also told us about how Tanaji used a ghorpad (also known as monitor lizard) to climb the steep cliff.

From L to R: Sandeep Nemade, Sagar, Ajay Kale, Gurmeet Singh, Sanjay Karadkar , Meghasham Joshi & the little mascot Snighdha in the centre.

Our brief excursion at the hill top came to an end when we reached the hut where Sham was waiting for us. For the lunch we ordered Kanda Bhajia, Pithla Bhakri and Vangyacha Bharit (Baingan Bharta, hope I managed that well in Marathi). We started the descend immediately after the post lunch tea. It was at this point when we regained our sense of achievement of being early for the trek ;-) as there was a huge crowd in the evening for the trek.