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Kalsubai trek: On top of Maharashtra
“Bye, happy journey. Come back soon,” our hosts shouted out to us when we left for Kalsubai trek. Shades of grey adorned the sky. The storminess of the weather catalysed our willpower to scale Kalsubai. Little boys and girls were going to school. On the two sides of the road, lush greenery extended for miles. It was difficult to separate the grasses from patches of paddy fields. Rain drenched trees populated the slopes of the hill. Dhoti-clad men donning white caps were walking on the village path with us. Bari village is really tiny, abruptly rising around the vicinity of the temple and ending on the bank of a seasonal…
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Bari Village, Maharashtra: Experiencing the three ‘H’- Hut, Hospitality and Homestay
In 2016 the husband went on his life’s first trek. It was Kalsubai, the highest point in Maharashtra, India. When he showed me the humble photos clicked on his cellphone, the first thing I remember asking him was the name of the base village. “Bari village,” he replied. He went on a ‘pre-arranged group trek’ with a gang of around 40 trekkers. The downside of going on group tours is that you miss out on the one-to-one conversations with locals. Locals rarely approach a large group of travellers for casual chat without any self interest. Things are different when you are vulnerable. So on August 2017, me and the husband…