Samrad Village Camping :)

Reason to Smile: I got to lead a bunch of students from IIT Bombay - 92 of them ! Riders On Rolls - a group by IIT students had organised this camping and this response was from the campus itself. Two big buses, all notorious chaps and we were on the move !

The spot we chose was not the same as other groups and riders go for usually - Arthur Lake. We strecthed ourselves a little ahead about 25 kms and were amazed at the beauty of Samrad Village where the most wonderful trek is popular for - Sandhan Valley. The entire Bhandardhara range, for people who dont know, has a marvellous circumference of Ratangad, Sandhan, Alang-Madan-Kulang Forts, Ghatghar and many small trek points covered around us. I was surely up for a surprise when we located this spot right below Alang Trek ! One could just possibly lift our eyes a bit a see that majestic plateau as if I could stretch my hand and touch its base. Obviously it just looked that close :)

The setting up of 35 Tents, distribution of nearly 90 sleeping bags, Awesome typical maharashtrain food for dinner and breakfast, some games, 3 bonfires to warm us up all night, a jump on the clean waters of the lakeside and so much more only made it a perfect weekend for this Monday to pass by :)

We also had intruders BTW! There was a couple rider (two boys though :P) who lost their way to join Tattva Group at the Arthur Lake spot I believe. So when they met me, they asked if they could be a part of us since they had some terrible 6 hrs of riding on those ghats and to add to that the worse roads to ride on, they were surely hungry and were atleast 40 kms away ! Also, it was dark by the time they even thought they could find their way back to the group. So meanwhile I helped them set up their tent, offered them food, they nicely enjoyed their drinks and lit some bon-fire :) The two boys (Akshay and Shawn) were visiting this place for the first time! It was only later I realized they pick up these random spots and get on the roll whenever they feel like ! What luck ! It was about 12.00 AM and I challenged them if they had the guts to ride on those bumpy roads again to search for their team 40 kms away, greet their friends and come back again ! Akshay took a pause, looked at Shawn, the pause went longer, and longer and then they cleverly checked on me.  They put a condition that I should also join. They really did not expect a yes from me at that time but to my utmost surprise all of us were up for this game! We geared up for the most chilliest night ever - must have dropped to 10 degrees - and vrooom we go ! It was pitch dark, the roads looked much worse than it was, the stars almost fell into our laps, and the wind blew harder n harder right on my cheeks for me to remain calm and speechless ! Though we couldn't locate the spot, we returned back with our hands and legs pretty much freezed ! LOL :D What an adventurous ride that was indeed! Thanks to these bulls who were as crazy as me ;) I am glad I made some new buddies on this one !

The night fell, most of them asleep, inviting the mountain glory in the morning. These students not only know how to study hard but also know how to party hard for sure ! Some of them went up for a small hike, some dived into the lake, some got playing football, some just pampered themselves by being sun kissed and the others just enjoyed watching them :)

We got packing up by 11 and made a move back to Mumbai, bid good bye to the short lived 'winters' and reached the gates of IIT by 3.30 PM :)

All in all a good weekend to my kitty after a long time of being jobless :P
Keep Smiling :)