Dhinganaaaaaaaaaa at Vihigaon Waterfall.

 everyone!

It's good to be back writing after a hefty schedule.
I was on a verge on completing my M.pharm. So despite the beginning of rains, i couldn't really  cash it on.

But a plan was chalked out. To Vihigaon.
The group contained following people; Me, Amit, Sachin, Hemant, Tatha, Deepali and Swapnali.
Vihigaon is not known to many, in fact, this whole area is so beautiful that it is a well kept secret by many travelers!
It's free of party goer's mayhem and the infamous Sunday rush.

As rain gods appeard, no doubt, it was an unanimous resolution that we should go to a waterfall. So after information collection, since we travel by local transport, finalized vihigaon.

On the D-day (19th Aug' 2012), it was raining hard in the morning. It was more a sort of a no-go due to such a very heavy down-pour. But there was a pattern of rain which was noticeable, i.e Heavy rains with brief sub-dues.

Considering this, we thought of giving it a go. Boarded the early morning kasara fast local train from Thane. Amit and Deepali arrived late, but it was our sheer luck that kasara local was 15 minutes late. Nevertheless, we reached kasara just 5 mins late. It was a new Siemens local train that run at 100kmph even on suburban sections!

As a general rule, whenever we go, we always take pics on the board on the station we alighy.
So we had a brief stopover for photo session and viola!! We missed the bus!!!! 

Reaching Kasara!

And then the "more" bad, the local transport (deemed to be illegal) to Vihigaon (Kodhala) was shut down completely. That's coz a very strict Saheb's transfer to the traffic duty.
I enquired about the next bus, to our surprise, it was at 3:00PM. So there was no chance of getting there by bus.

We bargained hard with the taxi drivers, but 400 was the last they quoted. These days all are on job, so nobody really cared and we booked as taxi for one way drop. It was already 10:45 and we shall move now.

The Jeep!

Reached the base at around 11:10am. Then it's a 15 mins walk through plain but muddy road to the waterfall itself.

This is the perfect map i found on web. Hope it helps : Vihigaon Map

The highlight of this trip are;
1) Of course, Vihigaon waterfall.
2) A small walk from Vihigaon (Towards kodala) up to the picturesque old british bridge
3) Water Rappelling.

First view of Vihigaon waterfall.

The Mighty Waterfall!

Me posing in front of the mighty waterfall

Me @ Waterfall!

Group Posing!

It was raining all the time. And the force of water was increasing!
After a few more poses, we got down to the base of waterfall.
And my god! It was mighty!

Frontal View!

The crowd was very less (It was SUNDAY!) And it is evident from here;

No Crowds!

Look at the strength!

Closeup!

It would've been fun rappelling but the seats were already full. 

I don't have much pics to share coz of my keeda
I attempted to take pics near the waterfall and lens ne "moisture" pakad liya! So it was all foggy foggy in my pics. Meanwhile during walk i transferred some "tan-tap" (read as तन ताप) to my cam and it was ok for taking pics.
After an hour of drenching under the mighty, we decided to call off.
It was around 12:45.
Checked out, had some chips and peanuts and then proceeded to the main road.

As suggested by geeta, on BCMT, we took a long walk around the State Highway towards kodala, up to the old British bridge.

The lovely road, through which a long walk is highly recommended!

Heavenly Roads!

Dark roads, greenery on both sides, Wild turmerics on the edges, waterfall on road, and not the least, the bridge which makes a picturesque scene!

The waterfall is visible en route this road! Look at the mighty beast!

The mighty beast from the road!

After a 15 mins walk, you first glance the old British bridge which would be soon submerged, thanks to the upcoming dam.

Old British Bridge!

Trichodesma indicum En route!!

Flower!

The vaitarna river which would be dammed to ensure smooth flow of water for mumbaikars.

Lovely gorge!

Had Doklas and Paratha's on the old bridge, took a nice look around. 
The clock ticked 3:30pm and it was time to return back to catch the 4:53pm local from kasara.
The problem: No local transport available. There was one odd bus that didn't stop at the bus stop bcoz it was already full! (The bridge itself is an ST stop!) 

Out of frustration, we started to wave to every passing vehicle! One gentleman stopped and his jeep was moderately full. And we were seven. After requests, he agreed on a condition we have to hold on somehow for 2 more km, Most of the people were about to get down at Vihigaon village.

We got lift till the Dharni-mata (?) temple where the two arms of national highway collaborates (towards igatpuri). Why Dharni mata?? Bcoz that is official stop of ST buses and Jeeps coming from Nasik and going towards Kasara.

The scene there was classic, this time it was a dose of white! Full on fog! The visibility was mere 30 meters. Thank god i was not driving 

Foggy NH-3!

As it was foggy, nobody dared to stop at that official stop!
We were waiving hands, but all in vain! Blame on the fog!
We were building a consensus of walking upto Igatpuri, my gps read a distance of 4.4kms. We wasted almost half hour for the pickup. 

Finally a mahindra tempo jeep stopped coz it had  a newly wed "jodi" who opted to take blessings of mata.
We asked, he nodded and then we hopped in. It was a 40 mins drive then.
We had missed the 4:53PM train. And the next train was at 6:13PM.
Disappointed, thinking how to kill time, the pushpak express appeared coming from igatpuri!
It stopped for an engine change and we hopped in second class and got down at Kalyan.
Then took a local train to Vikhroli.

Costs and Fares:
1) Return ticket from Vikhroli to Kasara : 40rs
2) Kasara to Vihigaon jeep hire : 400rs for full jeep. We were seven, so the cost comes to 58rs
3) From Old British bridge to Dharni mata temple : 15rs
4) Dharni mata temple to Kasara : 13rs
Total = 126rs

Tips and Warning:
1) Do not miss the British bridge. It is awesome!
2)Take care of your belongings, Do carry a wind-cheater, coz when in waterfall, rains might wet your belongings in the rucksacks.
3) Do not litter.
4) Do not drink near the waterfalls. Even if you do, pls don't break the glass bottles and throw in water. We have to change from being dirty Indians.
5) Heavy rains might cause moisture deposition in camera's lens. If such happens, transfer some of your body heat to warm  the camera.

YOU LIVE ONLY ONCE,
SO GO OUT AND EXPLORE!!!