Ramblings in Uttarkashi District: Part-1: Trek to Nachiketa Taal

My last visit to the Himalayan region was in September 2017 when I along with K. Srinivasan (KS), my co-trekker completed Satopanth Taal trek in the Badrinath region. We had planned the Brahmatal Trek in October 2018. However, just a fortnight before the start of the trek, I was down with dengue and doctor advised me not to undertake strenuous trek for 3 months. The trek was postponed to September 2019. However, a few days before the scheduled start of the trek, KS lost his mother and he had to be away for about a fortnight. Next, we planned Mardi Himal trek in Annapurna region of Nepal in April 2020. However, with the outbreak of Covid-19, we had to cancel the trek. In short, I had not been to the Himalayan region for nearly 5-years though KS did a couple of high-altitude treks in Nepal in 2021-22. 

With a five-year hiatus, considering my age (76), I was not sure as to whether I will be physically fit to undertake even a short duration trek in the Himalayan region. Sometime in May 2022 when the Covid risk had considerably reduced, I suggested to KS that we can plan a trip to Uttarkashi-Harsil-Gangotri route for a week or so and do a couple of day-treks besides walking tours to villages in around Harsil like Bagori, Mukhba, Dharali etc. He agreed but the dates were not fixed. Finally, we found a mutually convenient period during the first fortnight of October 2022. Accordingly, a tentative itinerary was prepared to cover the day-treks and walking tours to villages. Tilak Soni, our Uttarkashi-based friend who runs Eagle's Nest and Cafe TFH, about 4 kms from Uttarkashi near Tekhla bridge became our host in Uttarkashi. Broadly, we had planned our trip as under:

We left our respective residences early morning under heavy rains to catch early morning flights from CSIA-T.2. Our flight took off with a delay of 30 minutes due to bunching of take-offs and landings of the flights at CSIA. We landed Dehradun's Jolly Grant airport at around 09:15 hours. We took a pre-paid taxi from the airport for Uttarkashi drop (Rs.6000/-). By 10 am, we were on the road driving on the Dehradun-Rishikesh highway. The weather was cloudy which turned into foggy between Narendra Nagar and a little short of Chamba. The road up to Chamba was in excellent conditions. After a few kms of drive from Chamba and up to Darasu Bend, the road turned bad as road widening work was going on to make the road to two-lane. Also, there were many land-slide zones on the way. The road condition became once again excellent from Darasu Bend to Uttarkashi except a few bad patches around Chiliyasaur town due to land-slide zones. We reached Eagle's Nest by 15:45 hours. This was to be our abode for the next 2 days as well as for a day on our return from Harsil. (More about Eagle's Nest in my separate Blog). In the evening, we spent some time at the shore of Bhagirathi River.

The steel arch bridge over Tehri Lake connecting the main town, Chiliyasaur with Dichali and Gamari villages. Clicked from the road near Chiliyasaur on the way to Uttarkashi.

The large balcony of Eagle's Nest, Uttarkashi on the banks of Bhagirathi River.

On the shore of Bhagirathi River near Eagle's Nest.

Trek to Nachiketa Taal - 09/10/2022 (3+3+1 kms)

We got up around 06:30 hours to an excellent weather condition with the blue sky. After freshening up, we went for a walk on the Uttarkashi-Kedarnath by-pass road. We had morning tea in a tea stall located on a corner where Tekhla bridge over Bhagirathi River starts. By the time, we returned to Eagle's Nest, Tilak ji was already in the kitchen to prepare Aloo-Parathas and Idlis as breakfast for us as also as part of a packed lunch for the trek. 

After breakfast with coffee, we started at around 09:30 hours for Chaurangi Khal which is about 28 kms from Uttarkashi on Kedarnath Road. Tilak ji had already arranged a Mahindra Maxx (Rs.1800/-) to take us to Chaurangi Khal which will wait to bring us back to Eagle's Nest after the completion of our trek. After about 45 minutes ride, we reached Chaurangi Khal. After paying the entry-fee of Rs,10/- per head, the 3-km trek started through the dense forest. There were 2-3 local groups who were also on this trek. Actually, they had planned to trek Dayara Bugyal from Barsu. However, forest authorities did not allow them to trek following the forecast of heavy rains in this region.

Road to Chaurangi Khal

Naag Devta temple at Chaurangi Khal

Forest check-post from where the trek starts after paying the entry fee.

The trail is of about 3 kms through dense forest. It is an easy path with gradual ascends. The soil is very smooth which may become slippery in the rainy season. There is nothing on the way until one reach Nachiketa Taal. So, the trekkers must carry drinking water with them. After the last climb on the trek, there is a gradual descend of about 500m to reach Nachiketa Taal.

The initial trek path.

The density of forest can be gauged by this picture.

View of two bugyals, one in the middle and another one on the top from the trek.

Wildflowers on the trek route.

On the final phase of the climb before descending to reach Nachiketa Taal

It took us about 1:30 hours to reach Nachiketa Taal in a bright sunshine. Being surrounded by dense forest, large numbers of dead leaves fall into the lake water and settle in the basement of the lake. Hence, the water in the lake looks somewhat muddy. Also, there are a large of fish population in the lake and their movements, especially at the shores, make the water muddy. We took a parikrama (round) of the lake which was about 1 km of circumference. There is a tea stall with some ready to eat dry food. A sadhu also stays in the vicinity of the lake. There is also a temple dedicated to Lord Yama, probably in the cave but entrance was barricaded.

The first view of the Nachiketa Taal once on a descend.

Nachiketa Taal while on parikrama (taking round).

I am on the edge of the Nachiketa Taal while on parikrama.

Fishes in Nachiketa Taal.

Uttarkashi town with Bhagirathi River clicked from Chaurangi Khal-Uttarkashi Road.

After a cup of tea from a stall at Nachiketa Taal, we completed our parikrama and started the return trek which took us about one hour to reach Chaurangi Khal. In between, we had on the way lunch with Aloo-Parathas with Pickles and Mint Chatney which we had carried from Eagle's Nest. We returned to our base at Eagle's Nest by 15:30 hours. I was more than satisfied with by physical fitness while doing Nachiketa Taal trek which gave me confidence to undertake two more day-treks about which I will cover in separate Blogs.

 

Trip to Diveagar-Harihareshwar-Murud-Janjira Fort - November 2021

I have not been able to undertake any trek during the last about 2 years due to Covid-19 protocols. The planned trek to Mardi Himal in Nepal in April 2020 had to be cancelled for the same reason. It was only after some relaxations in Covid-19 guidelines especially for the travel, I could make a short family trip to Panchagani in February 2021.  However, with the emergence of the second wave of Covid-19 sometime in March 2021, once again, our mobility got severally restricted. It was only after September 2021 a gradual relaxation in Covid-19 guidelines made it possible to plan for a short family trip somewhere in coastal Maharashtra after Diwali.

We chose Diveagar in Raigad district as the base for the stay as the place has village atmosphere away from the hustle bustle of tourists. At the same time, this place has almost all the facilities that are expected by the tourists. The trip was meant to be more of a relaxation in a different setting and less of the sight-seeing. So, no detailed itinerary was planned except that we would leave for Diveagar on the morning of November 11th by car and return home by the evening of November 14^th. We pre-booked Betelnut Resort located within the walking distance from Diveagar beach.

Our driving route from Borivali to Diveagar

Sunrise just after Vashi Toll Plaza.

We left home in Borivali at around 6.00 AM and stopped for the breakfast at Hotel Kshanbhar Vishraanti at Chinchvan on Panvel-Goa highway (NH-66) near Karnala Bird Sanctuary. It was, more or less a smooth driving up to Wadkal by-pass. Thereafter, the road condition was average up to Nagothane. From Nagothane there were long patches of bad road condition up to Mangaon. From here, we took Mangaon-Mhasla road (SH-97) which was a wide two-lane concretized road. We reached Betelnut Resort by 12.30 PM. We checked in and ordered for Konkani Thali lunches in the Resort’s restaurant. The food quality was very good. For the next 3 days we had lunch and dinner at the Resort's restaurant only, except for the last day when we had lunch outside in a Khanawal.  

A 'U' turn on Mangaon-Mhasla cemented road.

 Betelnut Resort, Diveagar.

Post-afternoon siesta, a leisurely 15-minute walk took us to the Diveagar beach. Fortunately, the beach was not crowded. The sea-waves were gentle. We spent about an hour at the beach, some of us plunging into sea bath. After the sunset, we returned to the Resort.

Sun is about to set in at Diveagar beach,

The entire Diveagar beach to ourselves.

Day-2: Visit to Harihareshwar

Driving route to Harihareshwar.

After a leisure breakfast, we drove south of Diveagar on a single lane road. The road condition was miserable in most of the journey. Hence, it took more than an hour to reach Harihareshwar temple. There was ample parking space outside the temple complex - of course with a parking fee of Rs.50/- for 4 hours. The temple was not crowded at all. We finished the darshan in 5 minutes and spent about half-an hour in the temple complex to enjoy the view of the sea-shore and for some photo shoots. 

Next, we explored the Harihareshwar temple parikrama route which starts from the back side of the temple with a climb on stone steps to reach the top of the hill. From here, one can have a nice view of Harihareshwar temple as well as the village. After some level walk over the cemented path on the hill, the 75 odd rock-cut steps on the right side goes down to the sea-shore. It is a narrow path between two hills known as Ganesh Gully. It was a challenging one for the senior citizens as railings on the rock stairs had completely collapsed.

Once down to the sea-shore, it is a level walk on rocky surface skirted on one side by Arabian Sea and hills on the other side. We spent about 30 minutes exploring the natural rock carvings on the hillocks and also some photo shoots. We also saw some dolphins swimming close to the shore but they did not oblige us with their skills of jumping out of water.  This parikrama path is dangerous during high tides as tidal waves hit the hillocks. Hence parikrama on this part is not allowed during the high tide periods. We completed the parikrama by 12 noon and started our return journey to the Resort. After lunch at the Resort’s restaurant, it was a relaxation time with some of us taking the afternoon nap.

A few of the pictures taken  in Harihareshwar are uploaded below:

View from Harihareshwar temple complex.

Starting the Harihareshwar temple parikrama from the backside of the temple.

This is 75 odd parikrama step from the hill top to the base of the sea shore.

  

The 'design' on the rocky surface caused by the constant tidal waves of Arabian Sea flowing over it.

Natural rock carvings on Harihareshwar parikrama route due to constant hitting of tidal waves from Arabian Sea. On the rocky surface is one of the many mini ponds seen on the parikrama path

On Harihareshwar Parikrama path which is from this point all along the sea-shore. During high tide, the rocky surface goes under water about 4-5 feet.

Harihareshwar beach seen from the parikrama route.

After the evening tea/coffee, we walked to Diveagar beach, this time for the water-sport activities. Children were interested in Twist boat ride in which senior citizens were not allowed. So, we took family boat ride. After completion of water sport activities, some of us got tempted to go for the sea bath. After the sunset, we walked backed to our Resort.

Walking on the Diveagar beach in the evening.

On the Twist boat ride.

On the family boat ride.

Sun is about to set in at Diveagar beach for the day.

Day-3: Visit to Murud-Janjira Fort

After bed-tea at 7.00 AM, I along with my son went for a morning walk on Diveagar beach to explore the northern side of the beach. We were pleasantly surprised that there were many morning walkers on the beach. We walked for about 30 minutes on the northern side of the beach which ended at a point where a back-water creek separated the beach from the hillock on the other side. The length of Diveagar beach is 4.5 kms. We must have walked at least 2 kms. During the walk, we witnessed the sunrise and watched hundreds of sea-gulls. November-December are the months during which sea-gulls migrate mostly from Siberia to Indian coasts for breeding. We returned to our Resort just in time for a breakfast.

Walking pathway to Diveagar beach from Betelnut Resort

Sunrise through Suru tress over Diveagar beach.

 

After the breakfast, we commenced our journey at 09.30 AM to explore Murud-Janjira Fort. The Fort was opened for the tourists only about a fortnight back after further relaxations in Covid-19 guidelines. Our first part of the journey was to reach Dighi Jetty which was about 14 kms from our Resort. The driving was smooth on the cemented road. We reached Dighi by 10.00 AM. We parked the car near the Jetty.

From Dighi Jetty, there are two options to reach Murud-Janjira Fort. The first route will drop the passengers on Agardanda Jetty on a 20-minutes boat ride. The boat can accommodate about 12 cars and the equal numbers of two-wheelers. From Agardanda jetty, Rajapuri Jetty is about 5-km drive from where another boat ride of about 2-kms takes the passengers at the gate of Murud-Janjira Fort. This option is mainly for those who wish to do Murud sight-seeing or move further north to visit other tourist places like Kashid beach.

The second option is to park the car at Dighi Jetty and take a 30-minute boat ride direct to Murud-Janjira Fort. We opted for this option. The boat departs for Murud-Janjira Fort every 30 minutes. Luckily for us, the boat was already waiting to fill the passengers to its full capacity of 40 passengers. The cost of ferry ticket is Rs.116/- per head inclusive of the return journey. The boat ride was smooth by-passing Dighi Port. After about 15-minute ride, Fort became visible. Just about 200m from the gate of the Fort, passengers were transferred to a small boat which took us up to the stairs of the Fort’s gate.

Driving route from Betelnut Resort to Dighi Jetty.

Boarding the boat at Dighi Jetty for Murud-Janjira Fort.

View of Dighi Port from the boat ride.

First glimpse of Murud-Janjira Fort from the boat ride.

A closer view of Murud-Janjira Fort from the boat ride.

At this point passengers were transferred to small boat.

The main gate of Murud-Janjira Fort.

Murud-Janjira Fort is spread over 22 acres of an island in the Arabian Sea. The word ‘Janjira’ seems to be derived from Arabic word ‘Jajira’ which means island. According to a guide on our small boat, a wooden boundary wall on the island was constructed sometime in 16^th Century by a Koli Chief, Rajaram Patil who himself declared as the King of the Island. The place was captured by a commander of the Ahmednagar Sultanat. Later, Malik Ambar, the prime minister in the Ahmednagar Sultanat who was a Siddi from East Africa started construction of the Fort which took about 22 years to complete. Later, Siddis declared Janjira as an independent State which remained so until 1947 when it joined the Union of India.

The Fort has 19 rounded bastions on which cannons were kept to ward off the attackers. The main gate on the eastern side was constructed in such a manner that it was not visible until one reached about 12 meters away from the gate. Inside the Fort, there are two sweet water ponds which never get dry. There were granaries to store the food grains and other essential items to last for a year. The strong fortification and the availability of drinking water and food grains all through the year inside the Fort made it difficult for Marathas, Portuguese and Britishers to conquer the Fort. Chatrpati Shivaji Maharaj decided to construct another Sea-Fort known as Padmadurg Fort, about 5 kms north of Murud-Janjira Fort. He entrusted this work  to Sambhaji to enable Marathas to launch the counter-attack on Siddis from the Fort. However, the construction remained incomplete after the death of Sambhaji.

Kallal Bangdi, the 3rd largest and 4th heaviest  cannon in India weighing about 22 Tons, situated on the one of the bastions above the main gate of Murud-Janjira Fort. 

The ruined Royal Palace inside the Fort.

The flag-post - the highest point in the Fort.

The largest of two sweet-water ponds inside the Fort.

View from flag-post of the Fort.

We were given only one hour to explore the Fort to catch the return ferry on time. Otherwise, we may have to wait for another hour to take the return ferry for which we have to pay for the ticket. So, we visited the first three bastions over the right side of the main gate followed by a walk to the largest of the two sweet-water ponds. We could also see from the distance the ruined 5-storied Royal Palace and some dwelling places. Lastly, we climbed to the flag-post – the highest point inside the Fort from where we had 360-degree panorama view. We made it to return to the main gate on time to catch the return ferry. We returned to Diveagar and had lunch at Rane Bandhu Khanaval. The food was tasty.

After lunch, we visited Suwarn Ganesh temple which was hardly 2 kms from Rane Bandhu Khanaval. We returned to our Resort by 2.30 PM. The children went for swimming in the swimming pool of the resort while others relaxed in their rooms and verandahs.

I wish we had another hour or so to fully explore the Fort as there was so much to see inside the Fort. I have visited many Forts in Maharashtra. I found Murud-Janjira Fort superior in terms of its architecture and the planning.

Shri Suwarn Ganesh Temple.

Day-4: Departure from Diveagar

Today, we had bigger numbers to give us the company for the morning beach walk which we started at 06:30 AM. As we had done on the previous day morning, we walked on the northern side up to a point where a backwater creek separated the beach from the hill on the other side. Being Sunday, there was moderate week-end crowd on the beach. Sea-gulls were conspicuous by their absence, probably due to crowd. After enjoying a cup of tea on the beach, we returned to our Resort to be in time for our last breakfast of the trip. 

After check-out and some photo shoots, we commenced our returned journey from Diveagar at 10.00 AM. With a tea-break of about 30 minutes on the Mangaon-Kolad stretch and an hour of lunch-break at CBC, Belapur, we reached home at 4.15 PM.

It was 3-days of pure bliss in Diveagar, getting a feel of the freedom from the shackle of the Covid-19 guidelines which confined us in the house most of the time for months.