That night in Ganga Devasthan: Part One- Reaching there.

Chances are that no one has ever heard of Ganga Devasthan. Not even the most wandering soul or the one with the most compelling wander lust in the weary eyes. I do not blame them, for that is what this place was meant to be- a serene spot tucked away in a small village hamlet, meant only for the small community that lived there, and kept hidden from the onslaught of tourism as a commercial than a therapeutic activity.

This gem would have kept itself hiding from me, if just for the purpose of traveling on a shoestring and spending the night somewhere somehow, I would not had tried something very different. And when I did, I was rewarded by the most surreal and serene night in my life. One that I still remember in my dreams, one that still beckons me.

Bombay gets its supplies of water from Vihar Lake, close to where I used to stay six years ago, in Indian Institute of Technology campus. The Vihar Lake incidentally gets its water from a lake called Tansa in the north-eastern suburbs of Bombay. This place is surrounded by a wild life sanctuary of the same name.

So one fine day, I decided, after having my lunch, to venture there and see the place… It was almost 2 pm in the evening and I was aware that there would not be any coming back, the same day- given the distance; and therefore decided to stuff my pocket with three hundred rupee notes, for a just in case scenario.

To reach Tansa, one needs to go to Atgaon Railway station on the Central line of the Mumbai suburban railway system. Atgaon is the third last station on the Kalyan- Kasara segment, and most of the local trains end either at Kalyan or further ahead but much before Atgaon, at Titwala. Therefore one needs to wait for almost an hour for taking a train to Kasara and alight two stations before Kasara at Atgaon.

Atgaon, by itself, is a typical rural suburb of Bombay- with hardly anything to write about. Nothing noticeable occured, even during the journey, or if it did , then I have forgotten- time takes toll- it happened 5 years ago. However, I am not able to forget the Khadavali railway station somehow, which falls on the way to Atgaon. Khadavali, again had hardly anything special but was on the banks of a river; and from the train I could see the far 'ghats' of that river that beckoned me and I replied "I will come", smilingly.

Once at Atgaon, one can get Tata-Sumos or Trax for Tansa and beyond. Atgaon, is not all that unknown, actually it is the starting point for Mahuli temple trek, which sits atop a hill and dominates the sky-line of the area. But my destination was even more off beat, for nobody had ever seen a person going towards Tansa for a visit. And how off beat it was, I realized only after reaching the place.

By the time, I reached Tansa, it was already past six and Sun had started setting. And it was getting dark, so when I alighted the Trax, I alighted alone… for no one was heading for Tansa and were actually heading towards villages beyond it… I was standing amidst a jungle without a soul to company. The Trax owner told me to go towards the lake, to the Forest Rest House. He told me, that it is the only place in the vicinity that is inhabited.

After a ten minute walk, I reached the Rest house- it was locked. I shouted for the Rest House keeper and hearing my voice, he came over. He was surprised to see a person who wanted to visit the place. Tansa apparently was out of bounds for everybody, due to security concerns. And to visit it, one required permit from BMC or some such place in Bombay. I felt dejected; all my efforts were going in vain. However to salvage a little, I peeped through the fence and had a glimpse of the lake- huge, serene and calm. And then realized that I have to spend my night somewhere. I asked the Rest House keeper, if I could stay in the Rest House- and realized that I needed permission from DFO's office in Thane, to do that. I knew, if I had greased the palms of the keeper, I could have managed to stay there, but decided against it.

I decided to head back to Atgaon Station and find some lodge or hotel to stay in the night. I could have taken a train back to my Kanjurmarg and head towards my hostel, but that was the last thing I wanted to do. Venturing out, and returning back without any experience- for the lack of courage, is unpardonable in the realms of traveling. But at 7 in the night, it was difficult to find a vehicle heading back to Atgaon. After a while and with some help of the RH keeper, I found a motor cycle owner heading towards Atgaon and willing to take me there.

I struck a conversation with this man, and realized that there was absolutely no hotel and no lodge in Atgaon. He said that he was heading to a place beyond Atgaon, called Shahapur…and there are a few hotels over there. And offered to take me over there.

In Shahapur, it turned out, there was only one hotel. And it was priced more than I could have afforded… I was bargaining for the price, when this Motorcycle man, sensed my predicament and told me about Ganga Devasthan.

Circumnavigating the Western Desert: Part One-About the Western Desert.

Images of White Desert in the heart of Western Desert have always enticed me. The mushroom shaped white rock, and passing references of the places by wanderers as something truly off the beaten track and unique- always gave my imagination a wing and ambition a thirst. For months and months together, I made and remade plans to see it, for once before I leave Egypt. But alas all my plans hit a roadblock, as everybody told me that I need to hire a four wheel drive and go there and it may cost almost 500 US Dollars to do that, quite a money for me. I realized therefore, that any such effort has to be a cooperative effort of at least 5-6 like minded people. But...... where to find those 5-6.

Then I saw some American groups going over there, and quite frankly I tried to gatecrash in them- although half heartedly, but they were dedicated travel groups, almost self sufficient and opaque, and therefore they regretted my pleas (no offence meant, as a traveler who like to travel alone or in a comfortable like minded company, I understand what they meant- any attempt to hitch on to a rag-tag group or form one, always meets a disaster)

And then suddenly last winters, I said to myself- why not do it the way I always travel, alone without a plan and with a measly budget. (I have done it earlier in Konkan, Spiti, West Bengal, Uttaranchal and lately in Sinai….and promise to update my blog with all those travelogues)

Traveling alone and on a low budget has many virtues… Traveling alone means that you draw your own plan and schedule and therefore do not have to waste a lot of time building consensus. Building consensus always involves compromise, and traveling if pursued as a stress buster and a hobby should be kept out of this grueling 'sine qua non'. And then traveling on a low budget involves finding new ways of traveling, off beat methods of surviving and that actually make half the fun and adventure. I have always maintained that trying to arrive at a place is much livelier an exercise than arriving at a place.

So with these thoughts crisscrossing my mind, I consulted the idea with my wife. And as she always is, she was most understanding; I had to travel alone as my son, at that time of one year age wise, could not have taken the roughing of the desert travel. Therefore she needed to stay back to take care of him, quite male chauvinistic- I must say, I am.

Western Desert, called so because of its geographical position, being West of Nile, is one of the least visited and sparsely populated places in Egypt. It is only inhabited in parts, the oasis. And there are 7 oases in the Western Desert- Kharga, Dakhla, Farafra, Baharaiyya, Siwa and little known Qara and Baris (actually named Paris, almost romantically, but Arabs pronounce P as B). Earlier, of course, I had visited Siwa, famous for its distinct culture synthesizing Libyan and Algerian way of life with the Egyptian Bedouin life.

I sat down with a Lonely Planet and a Rough Guide and realized that if I want to do a circumnavigate the Western Desert, the best route will be going to Kharga, Dakhla, Farafra and Baharaiyya in the order, clockwise or counter clockwise- letting go Baris, Siwa and Qara. Baris, for instance is south of Kharga and is rarely visited, and if at all visited, then as a stand alone site than a part of the circuit… and as one person told me in Al Qasr, that magical village in Dakhla, it does not even have a hotel…and I have to depend on the ever welcoming villagers of the place for a night halt. Then Qara is again rarely visited and is close to Siwa, far from the circuit –flunged by a treacherous desert which engulfed an entire army of Cambyses, years ago… and much beyond the scope of the circuit.

The choice of the route then boiled down to choosing the route of my circumnavigation, clockwise or counterclockwise.

I argued, and it proved to be right, that the navigation should build over gradually with a wonderful climax (pardon my innuendo, if at all). The climax being the Shangri-La, I dreamt of – "White Desert". It being tucked somewhere in between Farafra and Baharaiyya meant that I must choose clockwise route so as to delay its arrival almost till the very end. The idea sounded fine. In fact, when I took a Nile Cruise from Luxor to Aswan, one of my friends remarked that I should have had done it other way round… Luxor, being the best Upper Egypt has to show, if done earlier, ruins the awe of other sites, for they largely pale in comparison of Luxor. And therefore, one is not able to relish their stand alone beauty.

However, the climax, was a bit premature- in a way, at Al Qasr, when I saw a village so simple and yet so beautiful, that I would love to visit over and over again. So in a sense, Al Qasr was a bonus and yet much more than that.