Days 21 to 23 Igatpuri to Shirol plus Christmas

Distance walked 425.2 km by Pankaj 359.7km by Mike

Funds raised NZD5596.34 or INR 266492

The plan for an early start did not go well with the restaurant only doing tea and toast before 8am and then taking ages to produce that. It was 8.45am when we hit the road. I didn't check the temperature but it wasn't hot. The walk to Kasara was mostly down hill but there was a steep uphill section in the second stage climbing up from a bridge over a stream.

We were immediately into Kasara Ghat, a large gorge that descends the Western Ghats towards Mumbai. There is an up road, following the route of the old road and a down road which is shorter but we chose to use the up road so we were facing the traffic. The road is winding and steep in places so although there are 2 lanes sometimes both have trucks in and car drivers are tempted to squeeze up the left side if there is room. The trouble was that left no space for us to walk and had to step back into the rought rock at the roadside.. Most pulled back when they saw us but three times a car came on anyway. One was only inches from me. The railway runs through tunnels a lot of the way but from time to time you get spectacular views of it below the road.  Alas a train never came at the time we wanted a photo.

Fog City where we spent the night

The first 10km downhill to the dhaba (tearooms) where the 2 roads meet again was done in under 2 hours. After 15km we reached Kasara turn off – the village is set back from the road – and the end of the gorge.

Lunch was taken at Orange City - a very busy restaurant. Producing a cheese and vege grilled sandwich (what I call a toasted sandwich) took ages – excuse was the grill had to be neated because it hadn't been used today. By now it was hot we agreed to do another 6km however when we rang Sahil with 2km to go he appeared very quickly so we finished up doing 22km and not the planned 24km. Sahil took us to a farm belonging to Satish – Pankaj's uncle. This is a lifestyle block with fairly basic facilities but very pleasant surroundings.

In the evening we went to a hotel where a relative Pankaj was catering awedding. He was emphatic we should eat there (and no doubt having given a fixed price for the food that was his decision) but Daryl and I felt like gate crashers so we ate dinner in the restaurant and then had desert with the wedding.

On Christmas eve we went to the temple at Vash(Parag's wife) ind where the priest gave Daryl and I sweets and coconuts then it was on to the home of Pradnya's parents – where she was staying with Ayush. We had a very pleasant lunch before taking a tuuktuk to the station and then train to Thane. Originally we were going to travelsecond class but Pankaj chnaged his mind when he saw the number of people. It was a slow train stopping at all stations and ending at Thane.

Deepak and Ashu (Pankaj's cousins) met us at Thane station and took us to a mall were we spent the afternoon. First I found a starbucks and got something nearer to real coffee than what you find in most of India. I bought some shirts (3 for not much more that the price of 1 in New Zealand) and books to read for the rest period after the walk.

We had dinner in a chinese restaurant in the mall. Daryl and I enjoyed the food but Pankaj and his cousins cound't find anything they wanted to eat except soup so when I went to churh they went to another restauraunt.

St John the Baptist Church in Thane is over 400 years old and has recently been restored so I wsa looking forward to seeing it but the mass attended by several thousand was held outdoors in the grounds of the school run by the church and adjoining it. The bishop officiated. At the end the parish priest got up to give thanksto everyone and explained he had to take along time doing it so that the sisters had time to distribute Christmas Cake to us all. We then took an uber back to farm and fortunately the traffic was light it now being after midnight.

Christmas morning was spent relaxing and doing washing by hand. Pankaj did a wonderful job of being the agitator by stomping on the clothes with his foot. Sahil arrived late morning and took us in to Washind where we looked at Pundalik's steel works and then off to Burger King for chicken burgers for lunch. It was then off to Dombivli to order science equipment for s schools. We have enough funds to order the basic equipment for all 3 schools that wanted science labs but will need mre to get some of the infrastructure they will require- like granite workbenches (can't do chemisty on a wooden bench) and storage cupboards.

After that we visited Kaylan – more of Pankaj's relatives and got given a tin containing donations. Daryls job tomorrow is to work out how to get the money out. I enjoyed a very nice cup of tea and a samosa. Once back to Vashind (the v is pronounced w) we had an hour to kill before going for dinner. Alex from Bow Wow Boutique be warned I have 5 metres of gorgeous gold braid and Idol and Toby will be wanting leads and collars made from it (for going to church of course).