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A summit trek to Vazir Pinnacle, Vasind near Mumbai

A summit trek to Vazir Pinnacle, Vasind near Mumbai

Trek:  Vazir Pinnacle Summit trek

Base village: Katbav, Vashind

Height: 200 ft. (2500 ft above seal level)

Grade:  Difficult

Endurance: Tough

Trek coordinator: Ossam

Lead climbers: Jocky Salunke, Vinayak Pol

Dates: 02^th February 2020 (Starting on 1^st February 2020 night)

Trekkers: 15

Katbav Village,Vashind – Map coordinates

Epilogue:
It was on 26th Jan 2020, where I was sceptical on joining a Summit trek to Vajir Pinnacle scheduled on 2th Feb for which I had already enrolled with Ossam Trekkers. Frankly the reason being the unexpected fall and death of Arun sawant Sir, an avid rock climber at Kokankada at Harishchandragad located at Ahmednagar. There i was in dilemma where I decided that it is now or never opportunity for Vazir and continued with my participation.

As decided we were to assemble at Vasind station at 11:30 Saturday night on 1st Feb. But this time central railway played a prank with me. We were to board a slow kasara train scheduled at 9:50 pm at Dadar central railway. When I reached platform 1, it was 9:48and indicator showed 9:54 Kurla train. I thought that may be Kasara train is delayed and hence Kurla train is scheduled earlier. Such thing is common on Central railway. So I left the train awaiting for 9:50 Kasara train.

There we reached Kasara sharp at 11:30 pm and where we assembled at a pimple tree on the platform awaiting our transporter. After 15 mins came the transporter where we 10 of us cramped in a Toyota Qualis. The base village named Katbav was only 4.5 kms from Vasind Railway station on central railway. On reaching the sleeping base village at around 12 Am, we stay put under a shade of the villager. There we rested till around 5:30 am in sleeping bag. So there after completing our morning chores and breakfast we had an introduction round. Actually it was a joint trek organised by both Ossam Trekkers Mumbai and Point Break Adventure Nashik.  We started from base village for the pinnacle base at 6:15 Am.

After a moderate trek of about 2 hours along small hills and the muddy path on the ridge, we reached the base of the pinnacle by around 8:30 AM. The last part of the trek is very steep and one gets drained to make it top the base. 

Myself @ Dawn

That steep climb to the Vazir pinnacle base

For amateur trekkers, the trek to base of pinnacle would be a trek in itself. There at base of pinnacle, the trek leads were busy preparing for the ascent. They have arranged for basic set up one day before.

After some other augmentation in the setup the trek lead reached the top by around 9:15 am. There are 4 stations for the entire climb with 5th being the summit each manned by trek leads. The station here means a place for foothold which has arrangements for bolting where trek leads anchore  themselves and the participants.

The first participant took around 30 mins to summit ascending through all 4 stations. The overhang at 4 stations which is the most critical was manned by Jocky salunkhe (chief trek lead). Few climbers did it smoothly within 15-20 minutes, while some others took 30 mins or more.

Myself - Just about to climb

I started climbing at 1:30 pm. There was a rope ladder fixed between 1 to 2 station and it is the easiest of climb patch. However the climbing between 2  to 3 station , 3 to 4 station is very draining. One has to climb the vertical wall with their  body weight against the gravitational pull. This patches tests each climber of their stamina.

Actually one gets drained after 3 station. Then the patch between 3-4 station takes lot more time and motivation from trek leads.

At Station 3 with Vinayak Pol

I was literally drained at 3 station and on top of that was caught without hydration. I thought it will be roughly 20 mins climb and will have water on summit. But to my utter shock, i was dehydrated after 2 patch. There trek leads spared some of their water for me.
I was unable to lift my body after 3 station. Lifting body every inch was task in itself. The moving every inch further gets tougher when you are at considerable height on mountains and same is true in the corporate life.

Jocky Salunkhe assisting me at station 4

Zoomed version

The climb between 3 to 4 station which has a overhang was assisted by Jocky and was smooth against expected. He assisted the overhang climb very aptly by guiding the footholds. He kept on motivating the already drained climbers.

The climb between 4 to 5 station is basically a  steep scree patch which can be climbed easily. One slipped step could land one some 400 metres below in the valley.

There at around 2:00 pm, i was at summit and  thanked Almighty for his grace. I had no words to describe the arduous efforts to reach there.

At Summit

Jubilant team @ Summit

Zoomed version

It was very toughest rock climb i have done till date. I have completed Lingana, Kalakrai pinnacles in the past. But this one was cut out of rest. Vertical wall with limited footholds makes the ascent very challenging.

Then after resting for around 20 mins on the summit, i rappelled down from backside of the pinnacle. The backside also has some overhang where the rapeller looses his foothold and just hangs to the rope. Rapelling was just easy as I had done rapelling dozen of times before.

Then we rested till other participants compete their climb. The last participant completed the climb by 3:30 Pm. We were hoping to start descend by 4:30 or so after wrapping up the climbing setup.

Vazir Pinnacle - Like snake head @ Evening

The dusk 

Then the team leads had some food and counting and taking stock of the gears and equipments. It was around 6:15 pm that we started our trek back to base village. The sun was about to set and we rushed to cover maximum trek in the day light. There we reached back at base village at 7:50 pm.

There the team refreshed themselves and had some quick dinner (delayed lunch). However I was more interested in reaching home early (within time) than having a early dinner.

Prologue:
Now as it was Sunday, the frequency of trains to  Mumbai  from Vasind railway station were limited. We had to rush too much to board the 8:58 pm train. The next train was almost one and hours later. (Which meant we reach home at past midnight).

Reaching home safely and in time after a trek is very crucial.

Now some of the late trekkers were still having dinner. I kept pushing them to finish dinner quickly.

As Jocky and his team were going to Nashik and were not in hurry.

There our transporter arrived at 7:25 pm and it was around 25 mins drive to railway station.

Within minutes we jumped into the Tavera and pushed our driver to drive quicly. We had almost missed the train. However by Gods grace we were able to just board the already arrived train. Finally i reached home at Vasai by around 11:30 pm.

To sum up it is was a wonderful Sunday exploring some of the ardous rocking climbing at one of the Sahayadris toughest and steepest pinnacle.

Few points of advice to trekkers planning for this trek:

1) It is difficult grade rock climbing trek with tough endurance....so beginners strictly avoid such trek (Rock climbing and trekking are 2 different things altogether).

2) It is advisable to carry at least 3-4 liters of water. 

3) Carry a sleeping bag if possible....

4) The rock patches to the top are tough and risky; hence do not try it without proper guide and climbing equipment's. 

For more of my treks and traveloques you can check my blog. https://irishpereiraonthego.blogspot.in/

Happy Trekking, Keep Exploring!!!!

Ande ka Funda @ Chandan Omlette Centre Surat

Eggy drive to Chandan Omlette Centre Surat

Gastronomic funda:  Eggy Food drive to Chandan Omlet Centre

Address: Kabir House, Udhana - Magdalla Rd, Near Bafna Marble, City Light Town, Surat, Gujarat 395007 (Click for Google map Coordinates)

Menu check : Website: http://www.chandantheomletcenter.com/

Gastronomers: 18

Damages: Rs. 5000+

Epilogue: We all have heard the jingle from NADDC ...

"Sunday ho ya Monday, roj khao Ande...."

However it was Friday to begin with...And our HO cricket team had landed at our plant at Ankleshwar Gujarat for Sports week. After the day of play, it was decided to have dinner at some famous Omlet centre in Surat. 

To begin with we were very skeptic on going there. I mean who would travel 68 kms (1.5 hrs drive) one way to eat just humble eggs. However we gave in as our seniors were all set for it.

So there were we driving from Ankleshwar to Surat in a Xylo. During the drive, our friend Mr. Arun More got furious and quoted in marathi...

Arrey...XX@@2@22@... yevdhya lamb ...ani te pan fakt ande khayla....@@@@&&^^^

(Arrey....So far...and that to eat just eggs....)

To begin with pakka Mumbaikar Arun had a dry throat in that chilly evening and found himself unawares of unavailability of "magical syrup" in Gujarat state. And one of his friend who coming with solvent meant to treat dried throat, was caught up in erratic traffic at Bharuch. And above all leaving this friend of his caught in traffic alone, we were driving towards some imaginary Anda dhaba located some 60 odd kms in Surat wasting 1.5 hrs one way. Wasn't this a valid reason for him to get furious ?

There we had fun seeing him boil and instead of soothing him, we judiciously tried that fire in him never went out. There we quoted many famous quotes to convince him that this drive will be worth.

After landing there our imaginations had some shape. We found a makeshift dhaba typed eatery seating capacity of around 100- 150 all fully occupied. 

Parking area

It had huge parking ground lined with 30 -40 cars including SUV's and innumerable bikes. So it appeared to us as extraordinarily famous eatery.

As all seats under the shade were occupied, we were made seating arrangements on outside.

Our seniors acquainted with the place had already placed orders. There we sat in windy night with empty gizzards all rolling with acids guessing on what the eatery had in offer for us.

First to land on table were 4 boiled eggs plates sprinkled with paprika and salt. Served with it was cut veggies sprinkled with chaat masala. Seeing them still disgruntled Arun looked at me ... Suggesting that we would probably starve today. Ignoring him i had my share of boiled eggs.

Then came first main course dish named "007" ....Bond ...James bond ... Along came buttered bread slices. It was served one plate each for 4 of us.

007 

It was a thick gravy with cheesy boiled minced egg topping at center. The gravy appeared to be thickened by mixing boiled eggs yolk. Dropping in the centre were half boiled eggs  half and  fried omelettes. 

With first bite of bread dipped in the gravy,  i was convinced that the place was really worth the long tiring drive.

Following it was "Egg ghotala" ....Again spicy cheesy gravy with minced boiled eggs. Another awesome dish equally tasty as it's predecessor.

Egg Ghotala

Then to land was "Green Rolls"...Consisted of omelette rolls wrapping boiled egg whites and drapped on green thick milk cream based gravy.

All of these above dishes had cheese used in abundance. Moreover the gravies were mixed with boiled egg yolk to make it thick. These spicy cheesy morsels were washed down our gastric pipes by Sosyo (Gujarat's version thumps up) and Spirite.

Green Rolls

Fourth dish to appear was "Lasun omelette" having 2-3 egg sunshine swimming in garlic based gravy bottomed by regular omlette.

Lasun Omlette

The fifth dish "Red chillies masala" was bit late to appear on the table and hence we could not do fair justice to it. We all were almost full after the earlier dishes.

Red chilies

The cheese and cream had a fulfilling effect on our bellies and could not take any more of it.

After finishing our gastric agenda, we all returned to Ankleshwar all set for cricket match scheduled next day. 

Prologue: To sum up it was a wonderful evening spend with Colleagues enjoying humble Calcites and concluding on "Ande ka Funda".

If anyone happens to be in Surat and wants to get "Eggified", it is the recommended place to be at.

For more of my treks and traveloques you can check my blog. https://irishpereiraonthego.blogspot.in/

Disclaimer: The above restaurant in review was personally visited by Irish Pereira wherein the full bill was paid for & does not believe in featured / sponsored reviews. The reviewer believes in anonymously visiting a hotel to present an honest account of all the factors to you.

Happy Eating, Keep Exploring!!!!

Hotel Bademiya, Colaba, Mumbai

Mumbai Food Diaries- A leisure evening @ Hotel Bademiya,  Colaba, Mumbai

Gastronomic funda:  Non - Veg Food trek to Bademiya

Address: Tulloch Road, Apollo Bunder, Colaba, Mumbai (Click for Google map Coordinates)

Gastronomers: Irish Pereira, Stuti Pereira

Damages: INR 819

Epilogue:

It was regular weekend to begin. We were at KDA hospital  Andheri for a routine medical check up and were free after 5 pm. There we decided to visit South Mumbai towards Gateway of India where my wifey and me had evening boat sailing.

Onboard the boat

View from Boat - Gateway of India with Taj Palace

With Iconic Taj Palace 

After boating we were deciding on restaurant for dinner preferably non veg. There were deciding between 2 restaurants - Bademiya and New Martin's Hotel (A Goan cuisines restaurant.

However finally we zeroed down on Bademiya as it was near by.(In the very next lane behind the Iconic Taj palace opp Gateway)

Now Bademiya is a restaurant cum eatery famous for its "Reshmi chicken kebab" and "Baida Roti". One can find racks of skewers grilled on the red hot barbeques spreading aroma till metres away. The eatery serves it's dishes till 3 Am. 

Hence to begin with we place order for 1 plate of each of them for starters. Additionally for main course we decided to try "Bheja Masala fry".

It is famous eatery with sitting arranged in a old building housing around 50 seats..Also there people prefer eating standing near the barbeques.

I had visited the eatery 10 years before with my college gang and recollected those days in nostalgically.

The steward however served Bheja Masala Fry with wheat Rumali roti earlier than the starters, which we kept aside awaiting starters. Then in next 5 mins was starers served.

To begin with the green spicy Reshmi kebab were show stopper of the day. They were soft and juicy. 

Chicken Reshmi Kabab

Then the Baida Roti was also awesome. Baida roti is Roti just a fatter version of Alu paratha stuffed with minced chicken / mutton wrapped in thick egg stuffing coated with Roti. We had ordered for mutton baida roti. 

Baida Roti - Mutton

Both these starters are washed down our gastric pipes with Thumps up.

Bheja Masala Fry

Rumali Roti

Then after finishing the starters we diverted to the Bheja masala fry. It was spicy fried Bheja sauted with cream based gravy garnished with coriander. The combination of Bheja masala with Rumali roti seamed appropriate. It was however heavy for us after starters.

To sum up it was wonderful evening spent in one of the iconic eatery in SoBo quenching our gastric juices and satiating our food wanderlust.

Prologue:

There to free up our filled bellies, we decided to stroll down the Colaba Causeway and ended spending another hour shopping tops and accessories.

For more of my treks and traveloques you can check my blog. https://irishpereiraonthego.blogspot.in/

Disclaimer: The above restaurant in review was personally visited by Irish Pereira wherein the full bill was paid for & does not believe in featured / sponsored reviews. The reviewer believes in anonymously visiting a hotel to present an honest account of all the factors to you.

Happy Eating, Keep Exploring!!!!

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An Adventurous Bike tour to Himalayan city of Leh

An Adventurous Bike tour to Himalayan city of Leh - Part 1

Base village: Leh City, Ladakh

Height: 3,500 m above sea level

Dates: 15^th September 2019

Bikes: Royal Enfield Himalayan

Bikers: 3 (Irish Pereira, Edward Pereira, Ashish Nikalje)

Day 1 - Arrival in Leh and local sightseeing

Epilogue:

It was cold Sunday early morning 4 Am where we 3 were hogging Hotdogs, cuppycakes at Premiere Lounge at  Delhi airport. Actually we had boarded a Go Air flight from Mumbai at late night with stopover at Delhi. The flight to Leh was scheduled at 6:30 am and we had choose to occupy the window seat to enjoy the view. Additionally to our surprise, the pilot too was travel freak like us, who announced the and pointed us the major landmarks from top. The first amazing view of snow clad mountains was day well begun. It was worth 10 times the pennies we spent for the window seat.

Snow clad mountains - View from Flight 1

Snow clad mountains - View from Flight 2

The Tour
As Leh airport is sensitive zone militarily, one is not allowed to click pics of the areas near the airport. We landed at Leh airport at around 8 Am. It was around 8 degrees temperature when we stepped out of Plane. After checkout we looked for drop cab till Leh town which is at 3 - 4 km from Airport.

As we were travelling backpacking style , we had not booked any hotel and had to search for one. Also our plan was to rest for half day and acclimatize with the cold climate there. It was a cold Sunday morning.

Once we found cab for Leh we asked him to drop us to Changspa road adjoining Leh market. We had decided to settle for hotel there; as it is near to Leh market at just 5-6 minutes walking distance. As we entered Changspa road, our driver named Dorjee volunteered to help us with finding a hotel. We told him to find us a hotel with an apple garden in it and within few minutes we trio found ourselves admiring the  fruitladen Apple trees in Hotel Zanbalee Inn.

Apple tree @ Hotel Zanbalee Inn

It was a beautiful and well maintained property with apple trees in outer courtyard laden with Apples. After negotiating for rates we settled at INR 1800/ day for triple sharing room without food. (The hotel has paid food facility)

Ashish with frontyard @ Hotel Zanbalee Inn

Once checked in we asked hotel owner Mr. Motup to arrange for breakfast. Then after refreshing ourselves, we had a sumptuous breakfast of double omlette coupled with tea sitting besides Apple trees. 

Breakfast in Apple garden @ Hotel Zanbalee Inn

It was very cold and we were experiencing changed breathing patterns. We could feel the heavy breathing for even small walks.

After breakfast we pulled our blankets to rest for couple of hours. Then at 11:30 AM, i volunteered to get our permits stamped at the DC office located at 2.5 kms in downtown Leh. It is near the Leh petrol pump.

We had applied for Inner line permits online and had taken 8 sets of printouts with us. However they must physically stamped at DC office. It is open upto 9 -  12 pm om Sundays. Otherwise it is open upto 5:00 pm on weekdays. I grabbed a bicycle on rent from nearby bicycle shop to go DC office. It took me hardly 10 -15 minutes to get it stamped and Xeroxed at local shop nearby.

Then after returning to hotel, we continued to rest upto 1 :30 pm. Then we walked to Leh market for lunch. We decided to try Punjabi cuisine at Punjabi dhaba and had punjabi thali. The local restaurant run by a young Sindhi is cost effective and food served here is authentic and tasty. I would recommend one to have hot Gulab Jamun which we had for dessert. (The owner of hotel who serves the dishes himself, the young Sindhi guy is very helpful and knows Leh very well)

Lunch @ Punjabi Tadka Restarant - Leh Market

So after lunch at around 2:30 pm we decided to search for bikes on rent. There are many such Bike rental shops in Leh Market. We has decided to rent 2 Himalayan's and checked for few shops only to find most bikes already rented. At last we found a good rental shop named "Planet Himalayan Bikes" on Changspa road. 

It was about 3 pm already. The owner Mr. Phoonsuk (who was Jet airways staffer at Mumbai) was helpful and rented us 2 Royal Enfield Himalayan's for half day at INR 1200/ bike. We choose Himalayan over Classic 350/500 Bullet because of their light weight and sleek frame. Both the bikes we rented were almost in new conditions. One can make it out by seeing at the tyres and overall look of the bike. Here our research online on bikes came handy. 

We had negotiated the rent on condition that if we were satisfied with bikes then we would extend the bike rentals for next 4 days also. In that case he offered us bike at INR 800/per bike /half day. The timings for half day are from 2 pm to 7 pm. However the owner allowed us to keep bikes upto 8 pm. We had to pay half the rent in advance and the only collateral kept for 2 bikes was one Aadhar card. (One of my findings is that the people at Leh are very hospitable and cool people..and they trust more and are less commercial). Helmets were provided free of cost in the package. However we had to pay more for leg and arm guards.

We had planned to visit Hall of Fame - War Memorial, Magnetic hill, confluence of Indus and Zanskar river, Shanti stupa for this evening. And if time permits we wanted to visit Leh palace.

So after refueling our bikes at Leh Petrol pump, we rode towards Hall of Fame - War Memorial. It is at distance of 4.2 kms kms from Leh petrol pump on Srinagar - Leh highway. 

At Hall of Fame War Memorial

Howitzers..

2 Desi Kattas along with Tank

The war Memorial has entry fee of INR / person. It was an informative detailing of all happenings of Kargil war along with information on modern weaponry used in the war. It also had information on Siachen glaciers cold gears. We were acquainted with Pakistani weapons captured during the war. There is a martyrs memorial backyard. We paid tribute to the War Martyrs who laid their lives in the War.

We salute our brave Martyrs

Then after we were done with Memorial we set out towards Magnetic hills located at around 20 kms from there. The roads were well tarred with sparse traffic. Riding was a real fun as we were getting acquainted with our bikes.

We passed the Gurudwara Pathar Sahib on the way, however decided to drop it due to limited time.

Scenic Indus river 

Pic with our saddles en route Magnetic hill

We were riding parallel to Indus river and had scenic views of the valley. Then after half an hour of ride, we reached Magnetic hills. The roads were so straight and well maintained that at some point before Magnetic hills we rode at 100 km/hour. 

Our Team @ Magnetic Hill

It was an great adventurous experience in itself.  At Magnetic hills there is a point that defies gravity. The vehicles parked on neutral gear at that point moves uphill against gravitational force.

Wanderlust - Roads our Destination

Make safe journey

Urge for Adventure - Make it Large

We watched cars experience that anti gravity phenomenon. Then after few clicks we moved 5 kms further towards on Leh - Srinagar highway to River confluence.

The Confluence of Clear River Indus and muddy River Zanskar

When two divergent thoughts meet...

There it is....

It is point where Indus River meets Zanskar River. One can clearly view the clear bluish green waters of Indus mixing with Muddy off white waters of Zanskar River. By now it was about 4:45 pm and there after few clicks we decided to return to leh to visit Shanti stupa. 

After riding back 26 kms we reached Leh around 5:45 pm and accelerated to reach stupa in day light.

Footloose are we ..Milestones our guides

The Shanti Stupa a Buddhist Architecture is located uphill at an considerable height. One can have a bird's eye view of entire Leh city from the stupa's corridors. The view was delight to eyes. There after some time it was dusky and the stupa was illuminated with colorful lights. 

Team @ Shanti Stupa

The view with sunlight beam behind illuminated Shanti stupa was worth the effort to reach the place.

Illuminated Shanti Stupa

There i was experiencing mild headache partly due to dehydration and also due to over exertion. (I had not had water since lunch) It is very necessary to keep one hydrated.

After some time we could also see illuminated Leh city in night time.

Leh City @ Dusk - A view from Shanti Stupa

Then we decided to drop a visit to Leh palace and visit Leh market to have dinner.  We had chicken fried rice coupled with chicken gravy for dinner at Local Restaurant.

Then we visited the bike rental shop at 9 pm only to renew our bike rentals for next 4 days. There we paid the additional rent in advance at rate of INR 1200/ Himalayan bike /day. The mechanic got one bike fitted with luggage carrier to enable us to carry our luggage's effectively. The bikes were serviced once again of all aspects and replaced with fresh engine oils to make for 4 days of arduous journey.

There at the bike rental shop as we were having fun with mechanic, we met an lovely young couple from our hometown Vasai who had also rented a bike for half day. They happened to have same travel itinerary as ours and we decided to join our forces together in a team. After deciding on timings and venue in the morning, we returned to our hotel at around 10 :30 pmto jump in our blankets as it was very cold that night.

Prologue: To sum up it was a wonderful day spend in arrival, acclimatizing and local sightseeing ride in Leh.

For more of my treks and traveloques you can check my blog. https://irishpereiraonthego.blogspot.in/

Happy Riding, Keep Exploring!!!!