Fresh mountain air gushing so fast, threatening to blow one away; raindrops pricking one so hard forcing the eyes shut and face into a grimace. Open ones eyes away from the rain and see a world entirely different--the heavenly Sahayadri's, a far cry from the concrete structures and artificial green one is used to all week. With greenery all around, the hills forming a wall all around you with streams and waterfalls dividing one section from the next, the mist forming a canopy over the Torna fort--where we were heading to.
Four of us started early from the city towards the hills and reached the base village Velhe at around 8:30 am. We parked the car, packed our bags and started our 3 hour trek to the fort. We crossed streams, walked through fields and reached the foot of the hills. The climb to the top was tough (as it was evident to others as I was the slowest member of the team) that left me panting and I found myself asking the team to "dhamba" every 10 minutes during the initial rocky section that was a strenuous climb.
We crossed lovely panoramic scenes where we rested to take in the visuals, clear cold water falls where we cleansed ourselves of traces of red earth that stuck to us all over, grappled over rocks before reaching the gate of the fort that welcomed us with a shelter from the mild rain that was on and off all morning.
Mandar, Nutan and I would have been tested further, if not for Hrishi's knowledge of the fort and the route to it. But tested we were, both physically and mentally--by the slippery earth, rocky terrain, steep climb and most of all, by the prospect of staying at the fort longer as ours senses were still left unsatiated.
