TUNGARESHWAR
The Nature Trail
Date: 28-6-2017
Bored in vacation (planning and finalizing):
Mid-vacation... Done watching movies, TV series; tired of playing and completely bored. What to do at home now?... Let's head out to some other interesting location... surfing... Kalavantin Durg… surfing... Raigad... and what not… after a lot of study of these places at the end, I finalized TUNGARESHWAR WILDLIFE SANCTUARY (Vasai). DHAIRYA, my old friend had been to this place previously. So he was the one from whom I got an idea regarding traveling to that place, the trek time and other locations to visit there. Even DHAIRYA agreed to join us. The train frequency from Kopar to Vasai is quite less. After an early morning train at about 5am, the next train was directly at 10am so we decided to board the train around at 5am. We were in all 8 people ready for the trek but on the trip day our count reduced to 5 members. ANKIT'S mom was not well so he couldn’t make it at end moment. But things were finalized and ANKITA had come to JUILY'S place the previous night so that she could catch the early morning train on time. All of us were excited about this trek; everyone reached the decided place on time.
Vasai autos:
NOTE: Please go in multiples of 4 because the auto drivers may charge you an unreasonable fare and it's convenient to share and travel.
We took auto till Tungar phata which costed us Rs 100/-. The total distance we trekked till Shri Sadnand Maharaj Ashram was 10 km. Its advisable to take auto till Bapa Sitaram mandir. It may cost you Rs 150/- but it covers 1.5 km track for you.
The Trail begins:
Now! Your actual trail starts from here. First, you come across a bridge built over a stream. Later after walking for a while, you have to cross another stream. Then you come across some stalls for your refreshment. From there again walk up to the Tungareshwar temple of Shiva. After paying worship at the temple ask the locals for a way to WATERFALLS. They’ll guide you. Just within 10 minutes of walking side by a stream, you'll reach these waterfalls. The waterfalls are extremely crowded on weekends but you will enjoy the place on weekdays. It’s a small waterfall you can also climb to top of it from the side.
NOTE: Best time to visit is in MONSOON during weekdays.
Snack time (rates):
We headed back to the temple entrance and then sat for some snacks at local shops. Everything was sold there above mrp. Maggie rated Rs 40/-, Tea Rs 20/- and Vada Pav Rs15/-.
Starting the big trail:
After refreshing, we started our trek to BALYOGI ASHRAM. It was 7 km from the temple. Walking through the forest with fog all around was a truly mesmerizing experience. There were slight showers in between. The weather was phenomenal. As we were heading, the fog was getting thicker and the visibility was eventually decreasing.
The cyclist:
Meanwhile, after walking up for an hour, ANKITA started to feel bored. She was bored of walking so we decided to take a break and decide what to do. We were discussing and in the meantime, DHAIRYA asked a cyclist who was descending down the mountain what was there up exactly? How's the view? How much time more would it take? The cyclist replied there's just one shade. And you'll take more 1.5 to 2 hours to reach up. He told us as you would proceed up the fog keeps on increasing and so does the rain. The visibility is negligible. There's nothing that you'll be able to see.
After listening to what he said I still wanted to continue or else it would feel as if the trek was incomplete. Even other boys wanted to go up. ANKITA wanted to head back down and JUILY was OK with either of the things.
The tiger:
While we were deciding ANKITA pointed away and told us to look there. JUILY & I looked towards the road ahead of us. Just within a little distance into the thick fog, we noticed a black shadow of an animal. It resembled the mighty walk of a Tiger. We were terrified to hell and fell white. We were trying to figure out that black shadow and it was only when it turned sideways we could make out that it was none other than a bull. Well, it was an experience which we can't ever forget.
To decide to go up or down:
The girls were insisting that they would wait there and we boys would continue to the top and come back. Also, they said that they would go back, down to the temple and wait till we completed our trek. But splitting was not an option before us. It was wise to stay together because we were already a small group. We all agreed to go down. But there was dead silence while we were descending because we had a lot of time with us and were returning soon without going to the top.
Auto driver:
We decided to take a group pic by keeping our phone on a timer. But DHAIRYA suggested why not ask the auto driver who was there to click our group photo. So we asked him to take a group pic of ours. After that, we enquired him about CHINCHOTI WATERFALLS which was nearby according to Google maps. But he didn’t know anything about it. Then we asked him what time would it take to go up and what was there? He told us it would take 2 hours to reach the top and there is a beautiful Ashram there. The auto driver said all those things so convincingly that we had a feeling to turn back and all the way up. And guess what everyone agreed to it. The driver, accompanied by his wife was catching mountain crabs. He said, “few of you can come with us we are also going to the same place but it would take us time as we would stop at places to catch crabs.”
We agreed and sent JUILY and ANKITA from the auto. OMKAR and I kept our bags in the auto and we started trekking again. Now we were walking without taking any breaks. After walking for every 10-15 minutes we would notice the auto been stopped before us. And the girls enjoying clicking pics when the auto stopped. But we kept on walking.
It seemed like a never-ending road. To be honest, it was simply walking through the thick forest on both sides with fog all around yet it was tiring since the journey was uphill and the slope was gradually increasing. DHAIRYA was feeling hungry since he had an empty stomach since the morning so we decided to stop when we saw our auto stopped at next point. We saw girls enjoying banana chips. There we had a small break I took out some other snacks. Time to keep walking again.
7 in an auto:
We were about to reach, our auto driver asked all of us to accommodate ourselves within the auto. So now we were 7 in an auto.
Our guide:
He told us that there was some very big ground up there. He wanted to take us there. He said that it was even bigger than a cricket ground. But because of the fog, we were hardly able to make out. He was our guide here forth. He was explaining us all about the wild plants over there. He was entertaining us. He even shared few of his childhood stories. He and his wife were having sweet arguments, which were quite funny and we were enjoying it. While sharing his stories and during those arguments with his wife, he was also enjoying his drink. He even offered us. But we refused. His wife was there to look after and control him. He was taking us to all such places up there which we wouldn’t have visited if we were traveling by ourselves. He took us to some water reservoir up there. He was insane and walking on edge of cliffs and asking even asked us to come. But we were in our senses and found no point in risking our lives. Then he drove us to the Ashram.
It was indeed a fabulous place and amusing. We were informed there is food available in the Ashram. We went to the Bhojanalay. It had some rules. We were not supposed to share food. Also, we had to wash our own plates and keep it back in place. We were actually at the right time i.e when the mandir would open. After having our meal there we were ready to leave the ashram.
Getting down:
It was now time to decide again. We were supposed to get down now. We had 2 options.
1. The auto was going to get down from VAJRESHWARI and he asked if we wanted he could drop us by highway and help us catch a bus back to Vasai.
2. Or the other option was to get down on our own from the path we came.
Learning new things:
It was more tiring so we chose the easy way. Even while descending we were catching crabs. I helped him catch 3-4 crabs. He was also teaching us how to hold them but we were afraid to even touch it. Also, we collected some small flowers for garland which his wife would make later. I was sitting beside the driver. He was also teaching me to drive auto.
Driver’s wife:
His wife was also sweet enough. She told us to take his mobile no. and the next time you come call him he will come to take you. She also invited us to her house next time we visited. While sitting in auto she narrated us a scary story about the place and a personal one regarding herself being possessed in past.
Deciding to go to Vajreshwari:
We had train from Vasai to Kopar at around 4pm and after that directly at 7pm, as I mentioned early the less frequency of trains. We knew we were going to miss our train. DHAIRYA was insisting us to come to his house meantime. But OMKAR was too eager and determined to go to VAJRESHWARI HOT WATER SPRINGS. We took a look at the watch, we had time to visit that place so we agreed to go there.
The auto driver wasn’t going to take a penny from us if he would have dropped us by the highway itself. But he told us, ”you guys just pay for the fuel and I'll take you all to VAJRESHWARI”. He seemed a genuine man so we agreed despite knowing how much it would take for fuel.
Hot water springs:
Vajreshwari is 11 km the base of the mountain. As I said our driver was insane and was racing his auto with bikes. I had heard a lot about this place and wanted to visit it since a long time. There were small square holes around which people were sitting with their legs immersed in water. I had a different imagination about hot springs and this was totally different. I immersed my legs in the water and it was so relieving. I was feeling extremely relaxed. And then bathed in the same water. It was raining from the top. Half of our bodies were cold and half hot. Different springs had different temperatures. Some were extremely hot and some were Luke warm. After 10-15 min the driver went into the cold lake nearby and insisted us to come. I went. And the water was feeling even colder because of the rain. I rushed back to the hot springs. We had brought clothes to change but there was no proper changing place for girls. at last, we found one.
Crazy driving:
Now we were heading to Virar station from where we would go to Vasai and then Kopar. The driver told don’t worry I'll make you guys reach on time. He was driving crazy fast so that we could reach the station on time. But what could have got worse we were stuck in traffic. The driver decided to take another route expecting no traffic there. But we found the same scenario over that lane. Now it was nowhere to go ahead. So he got out of the auto, helped the traffic to get clear and drove us to station on time.
How much to pay?
We had decided to give him 250 -350 Rs. Still, it was better to ask once so ANKITA asked him how much should we pay him for the fuel and he told Rs 500/-. Without thinking much everyone contributed Rs 100/- and paid him. We didn’t have time to buy tickets from virar to vasai so decided to go without a ticket. And guess what? Yes got caught by the TC. We showed our return tickets but which we were assuming to be until Vasai only. But they were till virar luckily. So we were safe. Only one of our friend didn’t have a ticket so he took a fine of Rs 100/-.
Final verdict:
Overall, the trip included things more than we planned. And that’s the reason why it was fantastic. Special thanks to our guide (the auto driver).
