Kolad- Where Nature Takes It's Purest Form

A few days ago, my friend and I went back to Pune, India for two weeks to finish some tasks. While spending our time there, we decided we will take a break from our daily routines in this pandemic and go for a budget trip. The main reason was we wanted to breathe in the open air without our masks.

While I was a bit skeptical, she pursued me to arrange for the trip and her persuasion resulted in an amazing one-day trip to Kolad, a small hamlet in Maharashtra, India.

She has never been camping and I have been to loads, so for a change, I wanted her to feel the wildness of nature by staying in a tent. Getset camps have many pocket-friendly deals all over Maharashtra and Ladakh. I have visited their campsites before and I loved their arrangements. They have their camp setups in Kolad too, which was a big advantage for me.

So, one Saturday morning we left for Kolad. There are a few tips I want to share with you when you are traveling during the pandemic,

• Carry a spray sanitizer as well as a hand sanitizer and keep it where you can reach easily.

• Try to avoid public transport.

• Pack your bedding like a bedsheet and your comforter (if you are traveling to someplace cold).

• Always pack emergency medicines.

• Take package drinking water and dry food.

The Road to Kolad-

We booked a private car from Make My Trip and got a very friendly and nice driver which was the cherry on the top for us. The road by the Sahyadri ranges is always very mesmerizing during the monsoons. The rain incubates the trees and the bushes to grow greener, covering the hills with lush greenery, which soothes your eyes the moment you look at them. The sky was grayish-blue with traces of rain clouds slowly covering it up. As you start going uphill, the air becomes cooler and feels like a nice chilly hug. We did not make any stops for breakfast or lunch and in 3 hours we reached Kolad.

Kolad-

The first sight of Kolad won’t give you much hope. Rather than a sleepy hamlet, it was quite a busy one with markets and villagers running errands. After reaching the parking zone we started walking towards the campsite. When we reached there our full view changed, there was a river flowing in front of the campsite and the tents were sheltered properly. There was a very loud silence prevailing over the place. The gurgling of the river and the birds call from the forest around gave the place a mysterious vibe. We were famished and we ordered for lunch there, and in no time there was hot homemade food served in front of us. It will be wrong if I said we ate it, in reality, we gobbled it and rushed towards the river. We sat on a rock and dipped our feet in the cold water which instantly gave us a feeling of relaxation.

The Stay In Kolad-

We did a lot of things in Kolad. Though most of our times we enjoyed seating by the river, we also took part in adventure sports for which Kolad is famous for, which includes-

• Ziplining

• River crossing

• Kayaking

• River Rafting

• Bumper ride

I don’t have any pictures of these, because all these are water sports and I didn’t want to risk losing my phone.

The zip lining was to put you directly in the river water in just a fraction of a second. Now, the thing with me is even though I am a very good swimmer I have a weird phobia, ichthyophobia i.e. fear of fishes. I can see them from a place where I know they won't jump on me, but here I am in their territory. So it was a nerve-wracking experience for me. I was continuously moving my feet so that the fishes won’t come near, but still one did and I froze like a rock. But apart from this, it was fun to swim in the river. After this, we went for kayaking. I have done kayaking before, but this whole pandemic I have just lazed around at my home, so shoulders were not coordinating at first but then slowly everything fell in places. We kayaked in the middle of the river and it started raining so we just sat there, enjoying the rain. It was a very serene experience.

When we came back to the campsite, it was pouring very heavily, and the ambiance was set for some hot brewed tea and fritters. My shoulders were killing me so I had dinner at around 10 pm and went off to sleep, snuggling inside my comforter. The next morning was river rafting for us. And we enjoyed it wholeheartedly.

Coming back-

In the return journey when we again had to wear masks and the city lights hit us, we felt like we woke up after seeing a beautiful dream, a dream which every person in the world is seeing right now. This trip was like an escape for us, where we connected spiritually and understood that life is actually like a river, it never stops till the destination comes.

Special thanks to-

My trip partner and one of my closest friends- Ashi Goyal

Our camp organizers- Getset camps https://www.getsetcamp.com/

Our car organizers- Make my Trip https://www.makemytrip.com/