Roadtrip Day 21: one day was not enough to explore Girnar mountain [March 29, 2021]
The day of longest hike & my first curious conversation with Sadhus
I had mentioned in the previous post that I had planned to ascent Girnar mountain on 28th night, which did not happen. I kept waking up every hour & kept pushing the time by an hour. I wa finally up by 7:30 AM. I decided to use the ropeway for going up & walk back while coming down. That way, I would not miss anything on the way.
I was at the ropeway gate by 9 AM. I booked ticket online at udankhatola.com . Post security check, I was pretty impressed with the inside setup of the ropeway. It did not look like I was in a tier 2 city.
I ate samosas at the cafeteria & then walked inside. I was made to go downstairs where a lot of folks were seated. I took some time to realize that the queue is fairly long & it took me around 45 min to board the ropeway. I got a call from Anand in the meantime. Earlier it was planned that Anand will drop by at Junagadh & both of us will leave for Rajkot in the evening. Anand called to inform that he is directly heading to Rajkot.
The ropeway was impressive & it was the fastest one that I have sat in. The way the carriage accelerated once it was out of the docking bay, it was scary. The carriage was tilted by like 30 degrees or more. The ride to the top did not last long. As soon as we were out from the carriage, I saw Ambaji temple. It was 10:30 by then & it was fairly crowded. The day has not been enjoyable so far. The views were nice, but the crowd was not something I was looking forward to.
There is around 2 km path from Ambaji temple to Swami Dattatrey temple. The path first goes down followed by a climb. It is like going down a hill & then climbing another. This was hard & the sun made it double hard. Undoubtedly, the crowd attempting this part has thinned significantly.
I had read about a temple which does not have path & only Sadhus viist it. I asked the pujari at Dattatrey temple about it. He vaguely showed me the path but after realizing that I am serious about going there, quickly avoided my question & asked me to have the prasad (lunch) before leaving.
I figured that I would not be able to do visit that secret temple & all my plans of doing some serious trek has gone for a toss. My guess is that the below peak is the one housing the temple that I wanted to go. But guess that is all I can say.
I walked back to the Ambaji temple, found a stair in shade (finding a place of shade was actually a problem in the large crowd) & slept for half an hour by leaning to the wall next to me. It was post afternoon & I wanted to kill some time before heading down.
By 1 PM, I started descending. I saw a detour from the stairs & saw board that read - Anand Gufa. It piqued my interest & I decided to explore. What I was not aware was - that this choice is going to change my day for good.
I saw a Sadhuji sitting at the entrance of the gufa. I asked him if I can go in & he gestured me to come in. The gufa were ‘amazing’ by all means. I have not walked into anything which is as narrow & long, as this gufa. One gufa lead to another & at some point, I did think, what if I happen to get trapped at some place where neither I will be able to go forward nor back. But the feeling wasnt strong enough to deter me from proceeding.
The caves exited at the roof of the building & I walked back to the entrance where the Sadhuji was sitting. I do not remember how our conversation started but I do remember that he was angry when I called him Panditji & he retored by asking me if I know the difference between Sadhu & Pandit. The good thing was - the ice was broken & we were having conversation. I asked him a few things but his response was not really a straight forward one. At some point, he also ridiculed me by saying that I should be asking questions worth asking. I wasn’t annoyed. At some point, he called his shishya & that is when some deep conversation around Sadhu’s lineage, how one becomes Sadhu & what do they do on the path of being a Sadhu, are the things we started to discuss. It was more like - I was asking & he was answering. Seeing that my questions are not going to end soon - he started telling me about some of the books that I can read. Himalaya ka Samarpan Yog by Swami Shivakrupanand, Meri Guru Parampara by Swami Rajeshshri Muni, Life Divine Mission by Swami Kripalwa were a few books he mentioned & I noted.
At some point, I asked them if I could stay with them, to which the head Sadhu said there are places nearby for me to stay & I am always welcome. I said goodbye to them & started walking away, not sure if I would like to ditch my roadtrip & just stay with the folks. After sometime, the decision was in favor of roadtrip but I still thank the folks for the gyan & the name of the books, which is going to be my next excusion after this roadtrip.
There were some debilitated ashrams that came after Anand Gufa. Apparently these are the ones where I could have stayed as per the head Sadhu’s suggestion. They had a small temple & person incharge. There were a few folks I found there, which seemed like they were staying, but I did not cross check. Overall, it did look like real ashram where someone who wants to experience shanti & distance from the world can stay. The ones including the one where I am staying - seems too close to the world.
One thing I liked about Girnar mountain climb is - there are no rules. There is no time limit, there is nothing like areas out of bound, there is nobody guarding the path anywhere, you can sleep whenever & wherever you like.
Further on the path, I noticed a flatish surface extending from the paved path & I decided I would like to go there.
Once I reached the point, I saw there is another level down & I decided to go there too.
That was also not the end of the road & the path kept going down & it seemed treadable. So I kept treading.
At some point, I was concerned if I have drifted away from the paved path & might not be able to trace my path back. At that time, I saw someone passing my & his head was noticeable. I realized the paved path is nearby. I was surprised how soon I got help from the point my worry came in :).
I reached the end of the treadable path (last picture above). I found a path to go towards the paved path. I saw a debilitated structure which seemed like a place where people can sleep if it becomes night during climb or if people are tired & want to take rest.
Once I reached back at the paved path, I realized that I have bypassed the green patch. I felt like going & exploring it, so I walked back (up). Thankfully I did because there were some important landmarks that I would have missed. Sita Van, Girnar Gufa, Bharat Van were a few that I went to. The hardcore trek that I thought I missed because I could not go to the Kali temple, the experience was compensated here. The trail was super hard but fun. You have to follow the marks. Losing the way seems pretty possible in that terrain.
I had to get back to the main path after covering all these points, which I did. On my way back, I met Mihir bhai who was from Rajkot & I asked him contact of a bullet mechanic which he gladly gave (shop next to his place it seems). I met Palak bhai who is from Gondal (place between Junagadh & Rajkot). Palak bhai told me about palace in Gondal & how the king is a fairly rich person. I decided that I might do a small detour on my way to Rajkot & see Gondal too.
I was down by 6 PM. I headed back to my place after having pav bhaji & tea. Later I tried to have food at Goraknath ashram but the queue was pretty long, so I came back & had food in my own ashram (Bharati Ashram) only.
In the evening, I called up contacts in Rajkot for bullet mechanics. I was doing while sitting the in the open ground & couple of students who study in this place (we are provided accomodation in student hostel), came to me & asked curious questions. They are from Kutch & I took a pic with them.
It was pretty hot the previous night so tonight I decided to put the tent in the open space. Today is going to be my 2nd camping night (first being the one at the petrol pump in Navasari).
Plan for tomorrow is to get up early, reach Rajkot by 8 AM & then head to mechanic by 9 AM. I am not sure if I get to detour at Gondal as the palace would open only at 9 AM. So guess I am going to skip Gondal tour for now.