RAJMACHI Trip

My last corporate trip, for the time being, is a monsoon trek to one small village called Rajmachi, having a population of about 200 ppl and located near Lonavala. This fascinating village lies on top of a mountain thus making it a small hillstation yet un-polluted by the throng of tourists.... but the details will come later, as I will describe our progress on daily basis.



2045 hrs, 27th July, 07.Friday.

Our train is supposed to leave Begumpet Rly station on 2045 hrs thus giving ample time to ppl who have yet to pack things up, and to others to finish their aerobics session at office. Of all the ppl in the office, the trekkers were Anand (runner-baba), Atul(kho-baba, later to be named langda-kini), Anil, Ajit, Rumit (yogi-baba), Nidhi (system babi), Srihari (bhai.latest), Shivank and Sagar (me i.e. chhota-baba). The ones to board the train at Begumpet were me, Srihari and Ajit. The rest all were to join us at lingampally. Considering the fact that we didn't get our seats adjoining to each other, we had quite a good time in the train. We started off with having snacks, where Srihari's guavas(:-)) did much to sate our hunger, and then arranging our luggage, etc. After a bit of chatting, all of us got into our berths to sleep.



0630 hrs, 28th July,07.Saturday

Almost everyone woke up at around 0600 and started off with their daily chores... Once settled, we decided to have breakfast from ComeSum on Pune station. And what a variety, vada-pav from pune station, cheese-rolls, kachoris, samosa, idli-sambar, from ComeSum. Was good!!!!
Having eaten to our fill, we started playing DumbCharades, which actually lasted just about 30 minutes. The scenic beauty of the landscape soon worked its magic upon us and the gang started gazing out of the windows, going to the bogie doors to have a better gaze. Soon it was time for us to pack-up and water-proof our luggage. Thus we landed in Karjat, in midst of heavy rains, (literally cats and dogs, and all other animals that can come to one's mind).

Rumit,Anil,Srihari,Anand,Ajit,Me,Shivank, Atul

We took an auto, and rather a big one, to take us to the foot of the mountain which we were to climb. Having had a small photo-shoot over there, we started our climb towards Rajmachi. At the start of the climb, many of us, atleast me, were fully covered against the rain. But during the course till we reached the small waterfall, many had shed their raincoats and were enjoying the rain!!!

The small waterfall had other visitors too!!! Many of them had tied ropes at the top and were sliding down them to the bottom. We were satisfied with bathing in it. One more thing, some of us also did a photoshoot while stripping.!!! Thus having bathed, we had some tea and aloo-vada, we were back on our way to Rajmachi.

The trek was un-eventful, except that we came across many crabs, and stopped a while at one point to have some rest.

1630 hrs, 28th July, 07. Saturday

We reached Rajmachi, and decided to take shelter at one of the farmer's hut, where we were served with delicious tea, kanda-bhaji which was finger-licking good!! There are two forts' ruins at the place, Srivardhan and Manranjan. Except for Shivank all were ready to climb upto one of them, and so we started off for srivardhan. Along the climb, except for one small patch, where I almost felt I was acrophobic, it was easy. Finishing the climb, we decided to have a photoshoot again, with all of us in different poses, and then went on to the hut.

The most surprising thing about this place was that the lights here worked on stored solar power!!! Something which the urban engineers still need to implement.

Having finished our dinner, we started joking, and then gradually drifted into dreamless sleep.

0630 hrs, 29th July, 07. Sunday

I guess most of us woke up at this time and started finishing off with our daily chores. All of us then decided to trek to the second fort, Manranjan. This one was very much un-eventful. The view from the top was breath-taking.
What greenery!!! with waterfalls, fog around us, feeling as if we're walking in the clouds!!! the fresh smell of the morning grass with dew-drops on it!!! All so pleasent!!!

And the most astonishing thing, we came across a cactus growing near a water pool up in the fort!!!

Can someone please tell my elementary school teacher to come and take a look?

Again we had photoshoots in various poses. Coming down to the hut, we had breakfast of al00-poha, and tea, and then having paid the hut-owner, we left towards lonavala.

1015 hrs, 29th July, 07. Sunday

We started off on our way to Lonavala. This one is pretty much a straight road, with a little ascend towards the end. We had 3 stops on our way, one to appreciate a very nice view of the waterfall, second to bathe and enjoy in a small stream, and third to have some tea and biscuits on the way.

1530 hrs, 29th July, 07. Sunday

Reached Lonavala, and searching for some good restaurant to have our lunch and snacks. We all decided to eat in Annapurna. We really ate some meal!!! Sabudana khichdi, thali, puri-bhaji, tea, misal pav, plain dosa, bread-butter, etc, etc, (there are two etc s as the list is quite long).

Having had our meal, 3 of us, namely me, Shivank and Anil were supposed to catch the next train to Hyderabad, Konark express at 1745 hrs from Lonavala. Thus we bade goodbyes to each other at the entrance of A1 chikki shop and we reached station to board our train to Hyderabad.

GOA trip-GCETians

Hi all, this is to tell you about the much planned and awaited-for recent Goa trip attended by a bunch of fun-loving, care-free, corpo-GCETians.


After facing many failed attempts(for planning a trip) during the college-period, and about a month of planning that went into this trip, these 9 dudes were finally able to hit the Goan beaches in the second year of their corporate life. This group consisted of Bhavin, Samar, Sagar (me), Shalin, Mitul, Nehul, Premal, Mayank, Siddharth, Hardik all from different locations in India, namely Pune, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Bangalore.

The dates planned for the trip were 26th-29th April, almost near the off-season period of Goan tourism. The plan was for everyone to reach Panjim by about 26th afternoon, and then searching for some hotels to put-up.

26th April: Considering the bus drivers, who never reach their destinations on the stipulated time, everyone came in at drastically different times to meet at the bus-station. Thus, Pune-Mumbai guys having reached earlier did a good job of finding a nice hotel in Calungute and reserving rooms over there. Thus all of us met at the hotel itself well in mid-afternoon, wherein everyone bathed, having travelled 14--18 hrs in a bus, chatted, and took a nice nap. The evenings were quite pleasent, so the bunch went to the beach for a walk and to have a look-around of the neighbourhood.
The evening trip to the beach was quite satisfying, some having pints of beer, some splashing around in the waves, and some capturing it in their hi-tech gadgets. There were many groups like us who had come over to Goa to relax, and fortunately we found one such group playing volleyball over at some distance. Finally we also joined in and we realized how the time flew by only when it was dark and the floodlights were lit. Paying money to the shack owner, we went to our hotel to clean up and get ready for dinner. Dinner mainly consisted of drinks, with food being taken just to fill up some space left after the drinks. Finding the beach and the food shacks to be satisfactory, it was decided to stay over at the same place for the whole duration of the trip. All had a sound sleep that night.


27th April: Early risers went to the beach for a short bath, whereas the late-latifs woke up quite near the afternoon. Having already told the hotel manager for arranging bikes for us, the proprietor was already present with a couple of bikes, from which 3 pulsars and 2 avengers were selected. This day was reserved for visiting the nearby major areas, Panjim, Mapusa, etc.
All had breakfast cum lunch at a small restaurant nearby, consisting of cheese pavbhaji, approx. 2-3 bottles of colddrinks per head, cheese pakoda, etc. The first destination was the fort shown in Dil Chahta Hai.
The journey was much more exciting and fun-filled than the destination itself. Had quite a race, and lots of shooting on the way. On the way we came across Kingfisher Villa, and some nice and rather expensive resorts. The total stay at the fort was about 1-1.5 hrs wherein we had a photo-session in different poses, made jokes and some leg-pulling, etc. which made the fort-stay quite enjoying and relaxing. After that, all of us went to Panjim, roamed around aimlessly, following any major road which might seem worth travelling. There was an incident in which Siddharth left Hardik behind and left him stranded on the road just like that!!! That was one really funny moment. After that, the trip back was uneventful, except for the fact that me and Nehul were topless for the complete ride back.
On the way back, having spotted Dominoes, we had our dinner over there, consisting of 2-3 cheese burst pizzas. These pizzas were really bursting with cheese, unlike the ones found in the metropolitan cities. Again, drinks followed, and reaching hotel, having had a chat for a while, everyone slept.

28th April: Again the early-risers had a field day, having had a chance to bathe in the sea before the routine trip started. Today's destination: all the beaches lying north of Calungute.