Ever since I first went to Peb fort for my first trek, I always wanted to go back there again. The opportunity came this new year, although it wasn’t actually what i had planned for. Let me tell you the entire story, we have a Whatsapp chat group of trekkers to stay in touch and plan treks/ gatherings together. So, on 30th Dec we were planning of celebrating new year somewhere close to nature, away from the noise of the city and the usual party scene. Suddenly Parin, who also happens to be the trek leader, suggested that why don’t we welcome new year atop Peb fort. At first, people were reluctant to trek on new years eve but then I liked the idea and insisted others to welcome the new year away from the overcrowded clubs, which most of them had planned, and instead let the moon and the stars be our disco lights for the night see the first sunrise of 2015 from top of a mountain. In all 7 of agreed to join for the night trek and camping on top of Peb fort. For those who don’t know Peb fort is located near Neral railway station of the central railways in Maharashtra, India. This trek offers all, which means, it offers ladder, rock patches, caves, dense forests and ridge walking. To reach Peb, one can take a rickshaw to the base village Anandwadi from Neral which takes about 15 minutes. And then from Anandwadi the trek starts.
7 of us gathered at Neral station at about 9:30 in the evening and took a rickshaw to the base village. We started our trek from Anandwadi at around 10:00 in the night. Since it was during winter in Mumbai so the weather was pleasant and the hike became easier. When we were walking in the forest, I heard a rustling sound and my torch followed that sound, what I saw froze my blood on the chilly eve of new year. I saw a green snake looking straight at me about a meter away.I was standing still there unable to move and suddenly , don’t know what happened, but the snake turned and got lost in the bushes. I was relieved then, although Parin later told me that it would be a non venomous snake but come one, what would you expect of a person who saw a snake up close for the first time that too looking straight at him. Anyway, we finally reached the top of Peb fort, where there is a temple dedicated to Swami Samarh. We were setting up our tents suddenly someone shouted happy new year, and yes, we were actually celebrating it under the moonlit night. All of us settled, and felt the calmness inside us which, no amount of partying can beat. Finally, we broke after about an hour to go to our tents. The night was windy and we didn’t have much warm clothes so after about 3 hrs of sleep i was woke up by the chilly wind which was passing through the tent. I looked at my watch which showed 4:30 in the morning.Its still 2 hrs to sunrise. I tried to go back to sleep again but was just changing positions because of cold, and finally gave up all hope and got up at 5:30. I seriously needed something to warm me up, and then it occurred to me that push ups actually do the trick and did around 30 push ups, which did help me getting over the chill. By then my fellow trekkers were also up and were warming themselves in their own ways. By the way, did i mention we had a couple in our group. Lucky them, they were in arms and warming themselves. Anyway, all the photographers got ready by then to capture the first sunrise of 2015. I got some spectacular shots too.And then after satisfying our souls with the shots of sunrise we finally descend to the Matheran, where we had our breakfast and then came back home.
This was a new year celebration totally different from what i had expected it to be and became a spectacular one.Now on, I wish to celebrate every new year on the lap of nature, under the moonlit night, with people who share the same passion and love. That is happiness for me.
wandershoi 