Up and Above

A weekend up in the mountains...riding a bicycle in the pouring rains...with the wind blowing against your face...trekking up to some of the most gorgeous waterfalls....drenching yourself in the cool waters from the streams and rivulets....
how cool is that!!
we did all of that, and more!!!
how refreshing is it to go on a hiking trip with three morons for comany???
it is indeed refreshing!!

here's how the trip goes:
we wake up late...jojo waiting for us at the station for an hour.
we reach and find out that the local to lonavla will leave at 10am.
we sit in the local all excited...we couldn't wait to get our asses on the bikes.
we sit by the door with our legs let down...enjoying the scenic beauty and enjoying the drizzle and breeze.
we reach LONAVLA and find out where to hire the cycles from (yes we didn't know a thing).
tada....!!! with some sceptimism we hire the bikes...jojo and aanch get the tall men's cycles....god bless them.
we start our journey to the foot hill...
after several falls involving somu, aanch and jojo...we reach the destination...
park our cycles and head for the dam....
as we make our way to the dam...we see a baord showing the way to a waterfall...
wo we decide to check it out...
we dump the damn dam for better pursuits....up the hill...
after trekking for a while and somu's fall we reach nowhere....but a small rivulet running into the river...
but we decide to explore further and look for our destination: THE WATERFALL!!!
making way through the dirt road we reach a diversion....
aanch...morbid that she is warns us against going further...but somu and jojo's adventure's streak....makes us look beyond the diversion...
that is where we discover a beautiful waterfall...we were so glad we came that extra mile...
just when we slowly and cautiously made our way into the running water...which looked wild...a chaiwala comes in from nowhere....
then he disappears somewhere and comes back with chai after half an hour....
a major turn of events takes place!!!
he offers to take us to more waterfalls....if we wanted to go for the adventure trek...he says....
wo...how could we miss such an opportunity???
then we move from one point on the waterfall to another...
making our way through the weeds and trees....through narrow ways atop the hill...
and scary slippery stones....
the guide was awesome...he took us to some of the most amazing spots...
through some of the most amazing ways....
somu and jojo's near death experiences didn't deter our passion to traverse the hills....
nor did aanch's morbidity!!!
but by now aanch was in love with anil guide and was enjoying her trek more than ever...
after a gruelling trekking experience we reached the highest point of the waterfall one cuold go to....
back down...we were relieved that we took that diversion and went beyond....
way to go girls!!!
we felt like the adventurous four on a mission....
but the only distraction were men who can't let women just be!!!
men trying hit on were shooed away by our ever sharp somu with remarks they'd remember forever.
cycling back was not tough at all now....
we were so satisfied that we just paddled our way down....
wait....somebody had to fall...and this time it was jojo (again???) trying to maro style by holding the gate at the same time as she rode her bike.
now was the time to change back into some dry clothes....after the continues lashing rain drenched us.
OK...i forgot my jeans at home...so what do i do???
wear my red monkey pajyamas....
wo!!! how funny must i be looking..but who cares...!!
all that i can say is that once we were back in mumbai...we slept like the dead!!
only that aanch woke up next morning with fever....
somu found that all her belongings were soaked after the tank overflowed...
and i find my specs broken as somu crushes it under her butt....
i will remember the trip as the great falls of Lonavla...with lots of waterfalls and lots of...
jojo, aanch and somu falls.

phew!!!