One Mile at a Time

 

 

“Unforgettable” is what I can say about my first trekking experience. Beautiful views, mountains, greenery and the trail itself, weather, far away from the crowd and boring routine and probably most important …...traveling with friends made this experience even more memorable. Me and my friends decided to take a trip to Lonavala, Shirota Lake. It stands out for its alluring beauty. It has a huge forest cover and is a secluded spot to camp. We went there for trekking and camping. It was gathered to be a two days and one night trip. Our campsite was 23km absent from Lonavala Railroad Station so it was a 3 hours walk for us .We were strolling by taking a few rest after a mile , the very reason of naming this blog as " One Mile At A Time ".

 

Day 1 

 

 Each of us carried sleeping mats, tent equipment, first aid kit and some snacks for the way. Trekking from Lonavala station to the destination was the finest decision we made, I can say this since of the astounding views we came over. There were numerous individuals who were going by car. I feel awful for those individuals since they lost a few lovely scenes.  The local people were so nice and selfless as they were offering us rides without accepting any kind of payment, but we denied to take any rides.After three or four miles of strolling we came over a tremendous gather of individuals. They were around twenty to twenty-five people and they were carrying all the stuff that's utilized for film shooting. We got so energized that we were indeed making presumptions that a few gigantic star individuals must be here and we should definitely ask them but due to lack of courage and a lot of nervousness we failed to do that. 

 

 

 

On our way we came across a hill with numerous small caves in it. It reminded me of caves in Ajanta and Ellora. After around one or one and a half hours of walking we were all very exhausted .The weather was hot and it affected our speed of walking. GPS was not accurate enough which made us walk on a wrong turn for over half an hour, because of which our destination became distant from us. After a while as we were near our destination, the roads became narrower and through dense forest. It was a sudden change for us since after all the long walk within the warm we were feeling a small bit of cool since of these trees. Believe me when I'm saying this that trees do make a colossal distinction by their existence. Finally after three hours of walking we reached our destination. 

 

Bonfire

To have a taste of local life and food, we went to a local village which is situated just a few distance away from the campsite. They were happy to provide us home cooked food with 150-200 charges. After while we set up our two tents. It was around 8pm and we were already shivering due to the cold.We built a bonfire and the most probable thing to cook on a bonfire was Maggie. For dinner we grilled our frozen chicken which we had brought with us. While grilling this chicken everybody suddenly became a Master-chef !! We were advised by the locals to cover the surface of our tents with stones because of the strong wind at night. 

 

 

I took this picture cause i don't want to ever forget this beautiful view. The moon was looking so big in actuality and we were able to see everything in the moonlight, we did not even feel the need to turn on our torches. There were stars which are not even visible for us in our huge cities due to pollution. Everything was so peaceful and perfect that i could not describe that feeling in words. We slept in our sleeping bags and due to our body heat we were relieved. The occasional cool breeze creates a gentle ripple in the waters blurring the reflection and bringing me back to reality. I feel like bouncing, yelling and running like a child. I sat by the lakeside, calm and composed, letting my expressions stream through the writing. How I wish individuals might witness the same enchantment! But at the same time, I need to accept that such minutes draw me quietly towards them to see the complexities of nature in my own way, turning my dreams into a reality.

 

 Day 2

This is the image that we took in the morning. The open sky and the wilderness around give me an exhilarating feeling of freedom! The cotton-like clouds are spread across the sky and as the sun gradually rises from behind the mountains, it gives the orange tinge to the sky. The sun, the sky, hills, plants, and flowers are clearly reflected in the still waters of the lake.Waking up to bird voices and the whistling wind in your ears instead of the car honks is so refreshing . We all were awake , we were just sitting and looking at this beautiful view  Minutes like this are often no less than a reflection and have eternal impacts on me giving a clear picture in my life, making me more certain and mending me in wondrous ways. We traveled back in the very same way. Well this was my journey from getting away from the city chaos to getting lost in nature . I will not forget this trek , all the fun we had , the people we came across in our journey. According to my opinion we should take a break like this at least once a year. Taking a break from the city life, the daily routine, we should try to escape and should get in touch with nature .