Beginning of 2023 with an adventurous trip to Karjat and camping at Pawna Lake !!

First of all, a very happy new year to all those reading this blog. Here, I will share my experience about my recent trip to Pawna Lake and Karjat, situated in Maharashtra at a distance of 114 kms from Pune. This trip was fun and adventurous at the same time, hope I can take you through that journey through this blog and I am sure you will enjoy it as much as we have enjoyed on this trip.

On 31st afternoon, we started off our journey from Pune to our destination, that was campside near Pawna lake. We had booked a camp there and our plan was to spend 31st night there. My friend Fareed had come from Delhi to accompany me on this trip. So we packed our bags and boarded the cab from Pune at around 3.15 PM. At that time, we were expecting to reach by 5.15 and the google map was also showing estimated time of 2 hrs. to reach the destination. But we didn't know our 31st evening was going to be filled with so much unexpected events.

When we were about 7.3 kms away from the destination, our car was stuck in traffic. There was a huge traffic jam on the one way road that would lead us to the destination. The google map was also showing huge congestion on the way ahead but still we were hopeful that the jam will be cleared soon. However, luck was not in our favour. Minutes turned into hours but our car was barely able to move forward. The driver suggested us to leave the cab at this point and go by walking. He anticipated that it would take at least 4 hours for our cab to reach the camps, taking into consideration the condition of the traffic jam. Initially, we refused to leave the cab but when the time kept ticking and it was already 5.30 PM, we accepted the fact that we had no other option. Travelling about 7 kms by walking was not an easy task at all. However, we left the cab and started walking, following the google maps.

We kept walking, taking some halts in between. The sun had already set and it was going dark. The road was also desolate and there were hardly any vehicles on the path where we were walking. The Google map was helping us to proceed towards our destination, but at one point, the network was lost. And to make things worse, we didn't have the exact name of the camp and the name of owner of the camp. We only had his contact number but it was of no use since there was no network. So we were unable to call him and ask him the exact location. At one point, the road split into two directions and we didn't know where to go. Following our instincts, we decided to follow a path and continued walking. But by this time, I was already worried how we would be able to reach our camps.

It was 7.00 PM now and by now, it was completely dark and we two were walking on a road which was completely desolate. The grave silence of the atmosphere was sometimes broken by the barking of dogs from somewhere and it created a haunted atmosphere. Somehow, we managed to reach the main road where again there was a huge traffic. We made our way through the vehicles and took a road that was expected to take us to our destination. In between, we confirmed the location through some of the locals present there. 

But soon, we realized that our problem was not yet solved. There were around hundreds of camps, in different directions and we didn't have the location because the Google map was not working. I had the screenshot of the address which the organizer had shared with me. I showed them to people around asking for help but no one could help us since it was a very generic address and no specific details was mentioned. At this point, I had completely lost hopes whether we would be able to reach our destination. My mind was busy thinking what to do in worst case scenario. What if we could never find our camp? What if we don't find a place to stay at night? All our plans of enjoying the new year eve had taken a backseat. Now the main concern was of somehow finding a place to stay. However, my friend was still optimistic and said that we have to check each and every camp and that was the only way out now.

We saw the first camp and went to a person who seemed to be the organizer. We only had the contact number with us. He saw the number and said this is not the camp we were looking for. When I asked him if we could get a tent here, he told that all the camps have been previously booked and there is no vacant tent now. Disappointed from there, we went to the next camp. And then one camp after another. Our hopes sank with each camp we visited. It was 8.00 PM by now and we had been walking continuously for 3 hrs by now. I was very tired, both physically and mentally. In between, we also kept trying contacting the owner, but there was no network in our mobile phones.

Now we only had the contact no. with us and we tallied this no with the contact number of each camp (which was mentioned on the board at the entrance of the respective camps). After checking around 10-15 different venues, we finally saw a board - 'Pawna Night camping'. With increased heartbeat, I matched the last 4 digits of the contact and to our relief, it was the same no we had in our contacts. Finally, by God's grace, we had reached the correct destination. It was around 8.30 PM and we had been walking continuously for more than 3 hours. We went to the person in charge and confirmed our booking. We were allotted tent no 2 which was a little cozy tent with blankets and pillows provided.

I was completely exhausted but the vibe of the place made me forget all the struggles we had faced for reaching here. All the pain was worth it finally. We were served barbeque chicken and cold drinks. After having snacks and taking rest for half an hour, we were energized and by that time, the DJ had also started. So it was time to hit the dance floor and celebrate this beautiful evening. We danced like crazy till 12.00 AM and enjoyed a lot. Finally when the celebrations ceased, we went inside our camps to sleep as we were very tired. This was how our new year eve turned out to be. No less than a thriller movie. But at the end, we were happy as we were able to celebrate as we had planned to.

The next morning, we woke up to a beautiful view of sunrise above the Pawna lake. While having our breakfast, we admired the view around us. The rays of the sun falling in the crystal clear water of the lake created a sparkling effect which was a treat to watch.

Our next plan was to take the train from Lonavala to go to Karjat, which is a hill station situated near Mumbai. We reached our hotel at around 4 in the evening. Our plan was to visit the Kondana caves on the same day but we realized we had very less time left for the day. So we spent the rest of the day sleeping and watching TV in our hotel room.

The next day i.e. 2nd Jan, we had our train at 6.30 PM from Karjat station to Pune. So we had a full day in our hands. In the morning, we checked out of our hotel at around 10.30 in the morning. The plan was to do a trek to the famous Kondana caves in Karjat and we had already booked a guide for the trek. So we took an auto and reached the base of the Kondane village where our guide was waiting for us. 

We started the trek and initially, it seemed to be an easy trek. But as we went halfway, we were extremely tired and the blazing sun added more to our misery. We took a long halt in between to recover ourselves. After taking rest for a while and drinking some water, we continued our journey. The trek was covered with trees and bushes all around and as the trek continued to become steep, we became more and more tired. Just at the entrance of the caves, I felt dizzy and sat at the stairs of the caves as it was getting difficult to walk even one inch forward now. Taking rest for a while, I somehow climbed the stairs to reach the top of the caves. The guide told us that this place was used by the Buddhist monks to meditate, around 2100 years ago. After roaming around and clicking pictures, we started our descend and this time, it was not as hard as it was climbing up. Finally we reached at the base from where we had started our trek, paid the guide and thanked him for helping us throughout the trek.

 

We still had 4 hours for our train but there was no other place we could visit in such a short duration so we decided to head straight to the railway station. We also had lunch and did some shopping before that. Finally our train arrived at 6.30 in the evening and we reached Pune in two hours. So that brought an end to our trip but the memories of this trip will always remain with us forever. I hope you have also enjoyed reading this blog and if you have any thoughts, please feel free to share in the comments. Once again, a very happy new year to all. May this year 2023 bring happiness and prosperity in each of our lives. 😊