The feeling that overtakes my body while crossing the last ridge to the top of a hill or mountain and looking down to where you began is one of those amazing feelings. Pure satisfaction for the hours of hiking and hard work to earn a fantastic view.
We finally were able to get out of Pune for a little adventure, to the town of Sinhagad. The town is located around 25km outside of Pune, and the attraction is that it is located on a beautiful hill, with a fort at the top at about 1350m above sea level. The fort has some really neat history for those that love history. It's estimated to be be roughly 2000 years old, and has been the center of many important battles over the years, and has been under the control of many empires during this time, including the Mughals and Marathas. It is a fairly popular area for Indians to come on Sunday for a hike, I met a bunch of students that come almost every week.
To be honest though, the fort was the least impressive attraction of the day. The views of the surrounding valleys, the rugged paths to the top, and climbing up a few off-path routes, including one mini-waterfall were my highlights of the day! To celebrate reaching the top, we cut up a delicious fresh mango while taking in the views below.
The monsoon season is in full force, so much of the trek there was rain, making for a complete white haze at the top. This actually created a pretty neat effect, as it felt we were almost in another universe as we had no way of telling what was in front of us. The rain was probably a blessing, as it was extremely humid, and it was a great way to cool down.
We also managed to make our way to Sinhagad by local bus, which is no easy task here in India. After asking about 10 people, and waiting in 4-5 spots, our bus, which does not include english numbers pulled up, and we joined the intense crowd of locals pushing their way onto the bus. We all made it on, and for 20 rupees each way, enjoyed probably the cheapest one hour bus ride I have ever taken!
Tomorrow is back to reality, another visit to the Police office to hopefully get a stamp for our residence certificates, which we need to complete the wonder A form on Tuesday before my 14 days are up. After that, a walk over to campus to try and sign up for courses which apparently start this week or next. Wish me luck on my continuing adventure through the wonderful Indian bureaucracy!
I hope you all enjoy a few of the pictures below!
A group of locals that asked to take a picture with us (this has been happening quite often around Pune and today on the hike, where people ask to take a picture with us. Specifically Victoria and myself seem to be targets, the blonde hair and my red hair and tallness I guess make us stand out!)
Some really great caves at to top in the fort
Halfway up the hill before the clouds stole the views
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