ThoseGhar chalo...

Office decided to throw us a treat at Manali resorts on a friday (14th Jul '06) for completion of one of the major releases. I was least bothered, so finally after lots of yes's and no's we (Sheetal,Piyush,Sanjay,Biraja and myself) drove off to Satara at around 12:30 in the afternoon.

It took ages for us to get out of Pune city, considering the heavy traffic! Once out we were stuck at Katraj Ghat. Pune just seemed to tell us "Dont go guyz.. get you a$$'s back to Manalki resorts!". Well eventually we went by the ghat and drove on the smooth road to Satara.

Enroute we halted at our favourite Hotel Natraj for some quick snaks. No one wanted to eat anything much. So idlis,wadas tea was the menu for this halt. Well we also packed ourselves enough food stuffs- chivda, bread-butter and biscuits from office :).

The drive continued stright on, it was an amazing cruise. Straight roads, just blundered here and there a little or by the toll plaza at Khambatki and one for Satara Road. First came Khambatki ghat, here we took quiet a few halts being mesmerised in teh the sroundings and walking along the Ghat paraphet walls, and clicking some idiotic snaps :D.

Soon enough we decided to hit Satara stright with no halts. The drive was straight and smooth. I even touched 140kmph without realizing any of it. Soon we saw the board to Satara city which bifurcated down to the left and turned to teh right under the highway and went through a green cover to the city of Satara.

Post some enquiries we landed up bang in the heart of the city. Satara city is a well developed city I must admit. So we drove on the stright narrow road and went right to the base of "Fort Ajinkyatara" from here we took a right and drove on and left under a tunnel and then right ,as the dive continued with teh valley to our left and the hill faces opening up every now and then to the right.

This was an amzing stretch of dive. Sanjay rightly put it as he went "Arrey yaar .. kya hai yaar... grreen, green green green..." and couldnt find a full-stop haha. Here we took enough halts as we dove past "SajjanGad" to our right. We could easily spot distant forts. The road was in excellent conditions, just a few places, where dirtly landsides which occured in the near past were crudly covered.
In a distance we could spot the "Suslon" windmills from "Chalkewadi" hidden under the lowlying dark clouds. On enquiries we learnt that a very distant waterfall that we could spot was the ThoseGhar waterfall! It seemed to be far far away. But again the drive was so smooth and entertaining we reached there pretty soon. The time was near 4 pm.

The road took a left where it went into an open ground with some parked vehicles and a little hut shop. On enquiries we learnt the path to the falls was stright ahead from behind the shop. So with enthusiasm to get drenched in the thick waterfalls we marched pretty brisk. The path was nothing but just a fleet of steps that went curling down and eventually landed upon a platform at the edge of a valley , which was some 300+ meters from ground below.

There were 4 waterfalls, 3 from the right and one to the left. The left one and one of the right ones were amongst the thickest. But yes we were dejected for the fact that we could not go to the falls. Well post some photographic moments we went up the steps and decided to venture forth to a some trails that led to the left.

Soon post some hiking, we were bang at the start the thick right waterfall. We sprinted to the edge of the gushing water and spent some quality time here! Every pose mandated a photo :). Well after enjying ourselves to the fullest and missing some close calls of being swept away, we ventured on furthur along the path that went over a green plain and hit the road onto a bridge.

So here we spent some time, Piyush and myself ran down to the bank of the gushing river and sat on some rocks and clicked some quick snaps. I loved teh climb to the rock I climed! Soon we decided to head back to the hut shop have some food and retreat, as it was geting late and Biraja was in a hurry.

Non-veg and veg thallis were ordered here, as we discovered that a leech was running on a full stomach off Biraja's ankle. Well a group of people helped cool the tensed Biraja down and kill the leach. Well it was not bad just that some of the "Bad Blood" was off :).

Post lunch/dinner whatever, we decided to leave and head back. The drive went from dusk to dark as we drove through Satara city and eventually hit the highway. Enroute we halted at one of the hotels/"Dhabba" for tea. Something struck us, and we desperately wanted to buy the "Altaf Raja" cassette! But to our bad omen it was not available.

The drive then went via Katraj Ghat me overtaking all slow coaches in the face of high beams and high speed roosters in the opposite direction. No one dared wink an eye inside. It was roughly 9:30 pm by the time we reached office.

It was an awsome day - and awsome private release party ;)

Enjoy the snaps!