Chasing Sunsets

Its 7:40pm on a Sunday evening i decide to go to a park nearby and cycle. By the the time i reach the park it's 7:50pm. The sunset is at 7:55 so i can ride my bike until dusk.

As i enter the park i see teenagers playing basketball, some playing cricket while the children are busy cycling.

As i ride further i see two ladies chit chatting as their kids are running around in the park.

I ride through the housing area nearby where i see a cat running around the bush. An old woman is sitting in her balcony reading a book and watching the sky change it's colours.

I take a few more rounds listening to relaxing music.

At around 8:25pm it's starts to get dark, i go through the park towards a bench and sit for a while.

Around 8:30ish i head back home and call it a day.

Trek to Irshalgad

Once the monsoon casts it's spell, the entire Karjat region puts up a brilliant show for anyone who has the time to stand and stare. Teeming and bustling with life, it is home to everything from lush trees and waterfalls to an  incredible diversity of flora and fauna. And the best time to visit is right now. 
     It was 4:30 am in the morning, i was busy making sandwiches to relish it during my trek. It was a rather cold and humid Sunday morning and we were all set for our day long adventurous trek. Near my city Mumbai, there are many trekking options, So we decided to choose the one at Irshalgad, Karjat. Irashalwadi is a tiny village in Karjat which is in the Thane District and it's the starting point for most hikers. From Karjat railway station we took a tum-tum (rickshaw which is a 10 seater) and began our journey towards Irshalwadi which is surrounded by lush trees. We met our fellow trekkers from Nomad Hikers and had a brief introductory session. After introduction we had a quick breakfast and started ascend towards the mountain. 

The steep climb knocked the wind out of us, but the scenic view took our breath away. We saw mountains cascading waterfalls and greenery everywhere.

After about 15 mins we started gasping for our breath. Soon we nature lovers started clicking pictures of dramatic skies overlooking a green landscape, but it started raining which was a little disappointing for a photography enthusiast like me. But i love the rains and so we put our windcheaters, kept our phones and cameras safely in our bags and continued our journey. As we made our way up, civilization shrunk away below, and the landscape started transforming rapidly. The air started getting cleaner. The narrow path was treacherous at times, the rocks became slippery with rain water and the drops were sudden. Even with windcheaters on we were completely soaked.

We reached a point on our trail where i thought we had reached the summit but we were only halfway up. After walking for an hour or two, we took a break and plopped ourselves on a rock at the edge overlooking the valley. While having lunch it was raining so heavily that even our food was getting wet and water was filling in our tiffin boxes. 

The clouds were swaying so near us. We could not see anything for sometime. We continued our journey and then there came a vertical climb. This was the most difficult part. But with the help of our trek leader we could achieve this feat. 

We soon reached the summit with an unbridled view of the open skies. Irshalgad looked picture perfect, surrounded by mountains, with clouds often descending on the small hamlet. We were blown away by a strong gust of wind and the picturesque surrounding blew our mind.

 "The wind blows the hardest the closer you are to the top of the mountain". It was exactly it, the wind was so strong that we had to hold on to a rock or the ground. It was a sight to behold. As we sat down to soak in the view, it was hard to believe that beauty this stark and untouched could exist today. 

We started descend and again it started pouring heavily. The rocks were now slippery than ever. Though the steep descent took a toll on our knees, it was a trek to be remembered for a lifetime. It makes us hold on to the memory of sitting at that spot, amid the incredible but transient beauty.

As you are reading this, a natural phenomenon is painting an area into a picture-perfect postcard that you can troll into.


Getting there : Dadar->Karjat-> Irshalwadi 

Best time to visit : June-September

Distance from Mumbai : 49.5 km  

Also Visit : Matheran 
  

Matheran

 

The car journey towards Matheran starts at 6:25 am. It's Saturday morning, the start to an amazing weekend. With soulful music in the background, empty roads and beautiful street lights our journey begins towards the hill station. We come across steep valleys that almost take our breath away. We get lucky to spot the Toy train that runs from Neral to Matheran. The climb to the top to reach Dasturi Naka was the most difficult one with our car trying to reach up an almost vertical slope. Dasturi Naka is a point where all cars and motor vehicles have to be parked. No cars or bikes are allowed in Matheran, it's one of the most eco-friendly places in India, which means no pollution whatsoever.

 
           From here you can take a toy train or simply walk.

If you get tired or don't feel like walking you can take a horse ride.

Say Hi to Horsie ! :)

 

This monkey really wanted to come inside the room. That's our hotel AC by the way.

Spotted a Wild Duck

 

 

We prefered walking and by the time i reached home my shoes were fully red, all thanks to the red soil.


There are many points to visit in this place like Alexander Pt., One Tree Hill Pt, Lords Pt, Charlotte Lake, Echo Pt., Porcupine Pt, Panorama Point and  Madhavji Garden

View from Madhavji Garden

 I visited this hill station in November 2015. But i would suggest you to visit during the monsoons. Months like October and November are really hot to explore this place.

Best time to visit : December-February & June-September
Distance from Mumbai : 82 km by Road

How to Conquer the Flash Sales

Nowadays many mobile brands are selling their cellphone via flash sales. Getting mobile phones from such sales is extremely difficult since there are more than 25,000 other users also trying to buy them at the same time.

New to the Flash Sale Concept?
Flash Sales are nothing but sales though e-commerce websites such as Amazon and Flipkart. These companies tie up with moblie brands and sell those products on a specific date and a specific time slot. For example Amazon sells some mobiles at 2pm sharp on their website. You have to click the 'Add to Cart' button at 2pm exactly or else the product goes out of stock.

Please Note: You need to register for the Flash Sale first and then only you can be eligible for it. You will
                     receive conformation for the same through email.

Tips to Conquer Flash Sales

Tip 1:-

1) Open the e-commerce website on multiple browsers such as Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and  

    Internet Explorer.

2) Sign-in to your account and add the delivery address, phone no. etc. and save it. This helps because you  

    have only 15 minutes to complete payment before the product gets deleted from your cart. 

3) Open the product page at least 15 mins before the given time.

4) Click as fast as you can on the buy button, if the server crashes due to heavy traffic. Try from another   

    browser which you have already kept ready.

5) 90% this trick should work.

Tip 2:-

1) You need Chrome for this trick to work.

2) Download Auto-Buy extension from the web store

3) Click on the icon and select the website and product..

4) This extension adds the product directly to your cart.

5) Your computer should be synchronized with the internet time or else it won't work.

6) You need to update the extension for every sale in case you want to buy another phone. 

Agra Fort

 Agra, the city where the great monument Taj Mahal was built is situated on the banks of Yamuna river. It has sub-tropical climate. Summers here are very hot where temperatures can go upto 45 degree Celsius. Apart from Taj Mahal, you can find other world heritage sites like the Agra fort and Fatehpur sikri.

Diwan-e-Khas

 Akhbar, the mughal Emperor, built the Agra fort with sandstone. His Grandson ShahJahan built the Taj Mahal which can be seen from the fort. The Diwan-e-khas which can be seen in the above picture is the area where public meetings used to be held in the mughal era.

Many monuments in Agra had influence of Mughal rulers like Akhbar, Jahangir and Shahjahan. Parts of the fort are built with white marble which add to the fort's beauty. Its a great place for history enthusiasts. Best time to visit Agra is from November to March.

Distance from:
Kheria Airport: 12 km.
Lucknow: 364 km.
Kanpur 278 km.
Delhi 208 km.

Pratapgad Fort

Pratapgad is a magnificent fort situated in Maharashta, India. It is 1,080 meters above sea level. The fort was built by Moropant Trimbak Pingle on orders by the Maratha King Shivaji Maharaj. The legendary Battle of Pratapgad was fought at the fort in 1956. The hill is surrounded by Ghats and dense forests. The fort is well built and one can easily keep an eye for any enemy soldier trespassing. I've visited this fort twice. Once when i was about 10 years old and the second time recently. The nearest hill station is Mahabaleshwar which is about 23 kms from the fort.

Pratapgad Fort is divided into 2 parts namely the lower fort and upper fort. The upper fort was constructed upon the crest of a hill and is approximately 180 m long on each of its sides. The lower fort is sited at the southeast end of the fort, and is defended by tall towers which are 10-12 metres high

The place where guards watch out for enemy soldiers.

The Pratapgad fort is quite famous, various plays, movies and books have depicted the story of the Battle of Pratapgad and how Shivaji Maharaj killed Afzal Khan. Moreover it has been immortalized by adding chapters of this battle in the textbooks of school children. I had studied about the Maratha Empire in history subject during my school days, so witnessing this fort in person gave me an immense feeling of achievement.   

There are various shops near the entrance of the fort where they sell souvenirs, t-shirts, and books on the life of Shivaji Maharaj.

Sometimes i wonder how it would be like to live in the Shivaji era.



The best time to visit Pratapgad Fort and Mahabaleshwar is from October to June.
Distance from:
Mahabaleshwar : 23 kms
Mumbai: 104 kms

Powai Lake

We went for an industrial visit yesterday at Powai and thereafter we visited Powai Lake which was quite near the IT firm. We reached the lake at around 4:30 pm and all i could see was majestic clouds and huge sky scrappers on the other side of the lake. We got to know about so many new things related to new advances in technology and had our share of fun afterwards. All in all it was a great day. 
Happy Weekend! :)

Sula Vineyards

Sula Vineyards is spread over 160 acres of area in Nashik, Maharashtra. It takes about 30 mins from Nashik city to reach Sula wines. On the way to the vineyard, while reaching the outskirts of Nashik city we came across a local market. We brought fresh veggies from there which were brought straight from the farms. I must say they were the best vegetables i ever tasted because the ones we eat everyday are from the city, which lose their freshness in the transportation process. Okay coming back to the Vineyard, we reached there at around 2pm. All we could see were thousands of grapes being cultivated on the land over there. 

 I also found some beautiful and colorful flowers with busy bee doing her job.

 

 They have a restaurant where you can enjoy your favorite snacks and meals. And also taste some different varieties of wine. 

Distance from: 

Nashik : 14km

Gulmarg

Gulmarg is located in Kashmir, India. Gulmarg means 'meadow of flowers'. It is 2730 meters above sea level. We have to take the gondola (cable car) to reach the top.

 There are two levels. On the first level there's lots of snow and on the next level there is even more snow. We went hiking on this big mountain that was there and climbed and climbed and climbed till there came a point where it was to dangerous to climb more higher without proper equipment. We stopped and sat on a rock which was half covered in snow and the other half was mud. We saw down and got and amazingly beautiful view.

  
 We were literally on top of the world. I took lot of photos there to capture the scenic beauty. 

Then when we had to go down the mountain, there was no other option but to slide. Going down was even more fun. We then decided to go on the next level by taking the gondola. But it started raining and the staff were saying that its snowing on level 2. So due to heavy snowfall they shut down level 2 for the day. I wanted to see level 2. But its okay level 1 was really amazing and we had lots of fun playing in the snow.

I think once in a year we should take breaks like these to the hills. But not the closest, not easiest, not the path most taken... 



Distance from:

Srinagar: 56 km

Pahalgam: 138 km

Sonamarg: 123 km

Pahalgam

Pahalgam is situated in Kashmir, one of the most beautiful places in India. It is famous for its flora and fauna. Pahalgam is surrounded by hills on all sides. It is very cold even during summer. Exotic varieties of plants are found in the mountainous areas.

 We left from Srinagar to reach Pahalgam early morning after having breakfast. Of course we had a light breakfast because we had to take those mountainous roads and didn't want all that food in our stomach make us wanna throw up. The road had a lot of blind curves. It was also too narrow in many places for two cars to pass by simultaneously. The whole journey was magical with cool breeze blowing across our face, and soft music in the background made the trip even more enjoyable.
Finally we reached our hotel at Pahalgam in approximately 3 hours. Pahalgam was the coldest place in our trip at the J&K.    

We then went to explore this hill station after a short nap. On our way we came by a horse stand and from there we went on the horses since trekking by foot would take a very long time to reach the top. The horses wold take steep turns and we would hold our breath thinking they would drop us any moment. The horses knew the way by heart even without their masters, they would keep going. Finally we reached the top and we could see lush meadows stretched across the surface and the far off hills covered by snow. The landscape was breathtaking.

Whenever you go for such trips don't forget to explore beyond the obvious. Don't just see but also experience, feel and remember.