After my plans to go to Torna got scrapped, thanks to  a three letter word called SFM, I decided to head to Mahuli instead. Mahuli is situated near Asangoan, in Thane district. Originally, I had planned to go to some waterfalls in Karjat, but this place seemed quite intresting and so I decided at the last minute to go here instead.

The trip began quite late, as I managed to shut off my alarm and go back to sleep instead of waking up. The end result – left a whole hour later than intended. At the station too we had to wait for almost 45 minutes for a train heading towards Asangaon. However, once I reached Asangoan, all misgivings about the trip vanished and soon the cloud shoruded hills were beckoning.

The trail began at some houses and went onwards to a small stream. After crossing the stream the climb began, weaving its way through the jungle. Along the way we came across a cowherd who was quite startled to see us. Soon we learnt why.

The path had stretches of steep climbs followed by short stretches of flat land. The scenery was beautiful, especially higher up on the climb. However, the entire climb was very exhausting. My clothes were literally drenched with sweat. I guess the fact that there was no breeze, and most of the jungle was very hot and humid and the fact we started a bit late (when the sun was up) must have contributed to it. That and the thousands of hungry mosquitoes waiting to suck blood the moment  you rested, made the climb a very difficult one. (especially for me, having literally had no “real” climbs in the last one month)

The trail seemed never ending, and after about 3 hours of climbing we almost reached the top. I say almost because the last lap of the journey still seemed tantalizingly far.  After much thought, we decided to head back, since we had run out of energy, food and water. ;-). On the way down, saw a huge praying mantis, something that was a high point of the trip as I’m quite the insect fan.

In spite  of this though, the trip was well worth it. I’d brave any number of bloodthirsty mosquitos to just have that amazing view from the top. Besides, there is a certain sense of calm and peace to walk on a narrow trail with steep valleys on both sides. Something I sorely miss in the concrete jungle of the city. So I plan to head back here on September 25 or 26 after my exams. 🙂

PS: We never saw anyone on the trail at all, so that’s possibly why the cowherd was startled to see us. Mahuli is quite remote actually. We actually had to walk halfway back from there towards Asangaon, as there was no transportation. Pictures of the trip are here.