YES, it was the mountain Echo,

Solitary, clear, profound,

Answering to the shouting Cuckoo,

Giving to her sound for sound! -William Wordsworth

“Kukru” an obscure corner of Satpuda at the border of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra is true reflection of the above words of William Wordsworth. Seventy five Kms from district head quarter of Betul  in MP small forest bungalow stands at a cliff 3500 Ft above sea level, overlooking rampart after rampart of Satpuda mountains,   welcomes you in eternal tranquility and peace.

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I first heard about Binsar, after my dreadful grilling by Club Mahindra marketing team, when I went to their sales office, to collect a free voucher that seemingly I won in a lottery. It required all my Taurean stubbornness to subvert their intentions of selling me Club Mahindra membership. Even today, almost four years after the incident, it is hard to forget those resigned but annoyed faces of their marketing team members who handed us the voucher. It made me resolute to use those vouchers that we earned after spoiling the whole evening. We planned to use them for a trip to Binsar. But even, when I was hell bent on using them, I could not and they lapsed.
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After being awed and intimidated by majestic Himalayas’ expanse and beauty for years, there came a time for me to think again. Can anything really match the lovely green valleys of Himalaya with running brooks and waterfalls and rivers and perfect cool weather? Yes there is ! And nowhere else but just right in my backyard, the Sahyadris, are the most picturesque and the most beautiful place to be in the pouring rains of monsoon.

Sahyadri are part of western ghats, the mountain range that traverses from north to south on the west coast of India. In Maharashtra it separates sea level Konkan from the Deccan plateau called ‘Desh’ Though by and large the range follows to south, there are some off shoots which run east-west. It will not be wrong if one says that Sahyadri has given a distinct character to the cities and towns of Maharashtra. Almost all the towns on the plateau falling in the outstretched branches of Sahyadri have their very own hill or a plain or a river. Several ‘Gad’ – ‘Killa’ – fortified top of a hill strategically placed, dot this landscape of hills and valleys.
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During those recession times, just two days before Obama taking oath as 44th president of USA, I landed into USA in Bellevue, Washington state near Seattle. On very first weekend break, a close friend (Samrat) planned a trip down south in Oregon state to visit waterfalls in Columbia River Gorge. The Gorge is one of the many natural beauty sites which have been declared as National Scenic Area by US govt. I had no involvement in planning of this trip as I hardly researched anything this time before coming. Samrat being his enthusiastic self and shouldering responsibility of taking entourage of 16 folks including his and two other families hired one of the biggest personal passenger vehicle in US, a Ford 16 seater.

Ford 16-seater passenger vehicle