Nalichi Vaat-Kevni-Khadsamble caves-Derya Ghat

Jai Shri Ram

The forest was turning darker by the minute,evening was turning to night rapidly and we were still in Khadsamble caves on the mountain above the  plateau.........Lahu Kadu, our guide for this trek, was refusing to accept that he did not know the route ahead and kept on guiding us deeper into the woods towards Ghondand Ghat,instead of taking us to the lower plains.

Our destination for the day was the small hamlet of Kondi in Konkan and here we were stranded on the plateau about 300 feet above the Konkan plains. Far on the horizon we could see the lights of Nagshet village..but the route to the plains below had been engulfed by the shadows of the dark night.

It was still only 7.30 pm and yet it had become pitch dark.We were facing the daunting prospect of spending the night in the forest and preparing ourselves for the uncomfortable vigil ahead.

Ghatanche Vatsaru..!

Winter of 2017 had brought with it the prospect of embarking on some rarely trodden ghat route treks. Just last week the pune trek group had completed the marathon Mangaon to Mangaon jumbo trek. I had missed out on the same due to office commitments. 

One of the learning from that trek ,that Prashant Kothawade, my trek mate shared with me was that "Ensure that when planning for the trek during winter, the route is selected and timing is scheduled in a manner where one completes the trekking for the day well before night fall".

Thus when Prashant and four of us decided to do the 2 ghat routes around Ghangad, we were careful enough to reach Ekole, the base village of Ghangad by 12.00 noon.  ( Ghangad fort is located about 30 kms from Lonawala and also approachable from Mulshi side).

 

Most of the villagers were busy with farming activities and thus we were finding it difficult to get a guide. Zaru Dhebe, one of the most experienced guide of this region refused to accompany us due to farm work. Finally Lahu Kadu..aspiring Sarpanch of Ekole himself decided to accompany us:-)

 

 We started from Ekole at around 1 pm and reached the lone house on Kevni Plateau in an hour's time. Kevni is a huge plateau connected to the sahyadri main range by a narrow ridge and there is just one house which is inhabited by an old farmer couple on the entire plateau.

The couple stays all alone there and basically subsists on farming. Dhebe Mama as we affectionately called the old man is 70 years old and yet is fighting fit.He reminded us of Machi Varla Budha character penned by G.N.Dandekar AKA GO NI DA. Dhebe Mama and Mami are very warm hearted and promptly offered us water and some butter milk. 

We enquired about wild animals and leopards around the surroundings and Dhebe Mama narrated to us stories of fighting with leopards to save the domestic cattle in his younger days. He advised to ensure reaching the village in konkan before night fall.The couple is the only family left on the plateau and their son stays in Navi Mumbai. The other families have shifted to ekole and the village school just behind the house is now closed.

 

Looking at Dhebe Mama i thought that it is absolutely true that age is just a number..despite staying on his own he seemed to be fearless and yet peaceful. He and his wife were living a life which was in tune with the nature surrounding them and it reflected in their calm and contented demeanor. Dhebe Mama was kind enough to come and guide us till the opening of Nalichi Vaat.  

We started our descent at around 3 pm and were quite confident of reaching Kondi, our night halt for the day by 7 pm before night fall.

Of the 3 ghat routes which connect Kevni and Ekole to Konkan,the Nalichi Vaat route is the most frequented route and regularly used by the villagers from Nenavli and Khadsamble to come up to the deccan plateau.The other 2 routes being Nandand( a much steeper and difficult to descent route) and Ghondand, which is on the left of the Kevni Plateau.

The initial descent of Nalichi Vaat is a bit steep,the route starts from the centre right side of the Kevni Plateau and winds towards the left before descending below.It then enters the gorge or "Nali" and descends rapidly from there into the lower plateau below.

We were making good progress and reached the lower plateau by 5 pm.

However from here Lahu our guide:-) did not know the exact route to Khadsamble caves. We checked the location on GPS and decided to take a left from the lower plateau. As we were unsure about the location of the caves it took us a while before we could figure out the way.This resulted in slackening of our pace. The caves were located on the eastern end of the main mountain of Kevni into the upper reaches. Also as the base of the mountain was covered in thick forest one cannot sight the caves easily from the lower plateau especially from the Nalichi Vaat side approach.

 

Once you enter the forest below the caves, the route is well marked and after a short 10 minute climb we reached the Khadsamble caves.They are also called Nenavali caves, these are a series of about 30 plus chambers and reportedly carved in first century B.C. There is a stupa at the centre. However other than the chambers and some resting platforms inside, there is not much carving or any remnants left inside. Lots of rocks and loose gravel is lying outside on the edge.

We took a short 15 minute break in the caves, had some water and snacks and recharged our batteries. We had been walking since 1 pm and thus were looking forward to reaching our base village in Konkan soon.Night rapidly descended on the plateau below Khadsamble caves..

It was here that we realized that we are lost.Our guide Lahu was unsure about the route and it had already become dark. However my friend and Prashant's elder brother Tushar had just got selected as batch leader for Sahyankan by Chakram Hikers, and he showed us all why....for the next 30 minutes , Tushar expertly guided all 5 of us down the forested slope and we finally reached the plains and a forest path. 

The sight of a lone flickering light meant we were near the Kondi village. We suddenly came across several dark forms with eyes shining in the darkness and before we knew we were surrounded by the village cattle.The dogs started barking..as 5 ghostly figures entered this remote hamlet at 8.30 in the night.

Kondi is a hamlet deep inside the valley surrounded by the Sahyadri main range from 3 sides.A storm like wind was blowing in the valley creating a howling sound of the wind which reverberated across the valley whole night.

We gate crashed into a house which Lahu pointed to us , which was to be our halt for the night. The house was owned by a farmer and his family(Again named Dhebe).They told us that they can only offer us some milk and bhakri at this time of the hour.We politely requested them, that this would not be sumptuous enough as we were famished. Looking at tired faces, Dhebe Dada asked us to wait and silently went to Nagshet(3 kms away) and came back with supplies.Soon a full meal of Dal, Bhaji, bhakri, butter milk and rice was prepared. We gorged on the food and soon dozed off to a sound sleep.

The morning was glorious with clear skies and we were up early and ready for our ascent of Derya Ghat. To the east, the Sun rose from across the Andharban peak, Lahu once again was not aware about the Derya ghat route and we requested Dhebe Dada to accompany us.Though he had work at his farm he magnanimously agreed.

We soon left the hamlet and descended to the river bed also called Kond in Marathi and thus the village got its name from the river bed.There is a small Kondjai Devi temple further upstream, which is frequented by the locals.We made rapid progress as we were fresh after a nights rest.From the river bed the route leads atop the lower plateau and then leads to the actual climb of Derya Ghat.

Derya Ghat is also called the Pach Pahiryancha ghat locally as there are 5 rock cut steps on an exposed face of the rock which ones needs to carefully cross as there is exposure on the left. The route should be avoided during monsoons as the rocks can get slippery and it will be dangerous to negotiate.

We also came across Pavtya or steps carved for better footholds in the rock higher up near the ghat top, which means the route has been in use since ancient times.The ghat route goes from below the protuding rock(Derya in Marathi) which can be seen from the lower plateau.

We waived good buy to Dhebe dada once we were near the top.We offered him money for all he had done for us, but he refused to accept it.We all had tears in our eyes as even in today's day and age we still come across such selfless people regularly in the Sahyadri's.

Once on the top we reached the village of Asanwadi in another 15 minutes. We had climbed the 600 metre tall Derya ghat in 1 hour 30 minutes flat and reached Asanwadi by 9.15 am.

The villagers were surprised to see us and even more taken aback when we told them that we had come from Konkan and climbed the Derya ghat to reach Asanwadi.We took a break and feasted on bhel and butter milk(once again caringly offered by an old lady in the village).

Ekole village was still a good 2 hour walk from here. We were however now in full walking form and covered this distance at a fast clip and reached Ekole by 12 noon. We had lunch at Lahu's house and were back in Pune by 4 pm. 

It had been a very satisfying trek for all of us and gave us a good perspective of the ancient ghat routes, the people living around these areas and the geography around Ghangad and Sudhagad.We all promised each other that we will be back soon to cover the other 2 ghat routes of Kevni.

Valley between Kevni and the Derya ghat side range, konkan below.

Tail Baila.

Our Gang!

Hope all of you enjoyed reading the blog and it encourages you to step out into the ghats!

Trek participants: Chinmay,Tushar,Prashant, Nitin and Amit.

Some important points to be noted:

1). Please ensure that you exercise regularly before you take up this or any other arduous trek.

2). Please do not litter and and carry all your waste back with you after the trek.

3). Stay close with the group and do not wander alone in the forest.

4). At all times carry at least 3 litres of water per day. Very important to stay hydrated.

5). Respect the guides you hire and make them a part of your trekking team, share your food with them and do not give your sacks to them to carry.

6). Try and gather information about the geography and historical importance of the places you visit.

7). Please respect the time given to your fellow trek mates and be on time always.