Camping on Siddhanath Hill

Gentleman ‘A’, a citizen of UK, who thought that he was an outdoors man,

purchased a tent, hoping to enjoy the outdoors and camping. It was

lightweight, easy to set up and provided protection from mild drizzle,

snow and small creatures. The tent slept in the attic and ‘A’ in his bed

for the next four years.

During one spring cleaning, he saw the tent in the attic, wondered about
its presence and being an intelligent individual, soon recollected it and realised
that he is not going to use it. He brought it down and handed the tent over to a
friend ‘B’ who, he thought, was a better hiker and camper.

After enjoying the presence of the tent in his garage for an year, ‘B’ realised
that he is not going to use it either and decided to put it to better use.
He gifted the tent to his cousine ‘C’ in India, who he

knew, liked hiking and cycling.

‘C’ lugged the tent on his back on few of his hiking expeditions but never

erected and slept in it as there were better options everywhere. He did set

it up once but later slept in a nearby building as his companion was too

scared to sleep in a flimsy tent in a forest area.

I was keen to experience some camping but was not so keen as to go buy a tent.

When I heard about the availability of the tent, I offered ‘C’, who

happens to be my friend Triambak, company for camping.  We selected the top of

Siddhanath hill near Ponda as a suitable place and ended up there last

Tuesday by seven in the evening.  Rest of the camping trip, in pictures

and captions.

Care of the stomach comes first, followed by mosquito repellent and lights. It was a fullmoon day, but we had taken enough lighting with us to illuminate the whole hill ! 

My yoga mat, for use as bedding and a bag full of blankets and jackets. Nights are chilly these days and we expected it to be colder on top. It was, but the tent provided enough protection against cold.

It was already dark when we reached the top. But suprisingly there was a light bulb burning on top of the temple.  The moon was yet to rise and it was dark all around.  The lights seen at a distance are the city of Ponda. We sat on the bench in front of the temple waiting for the moon to rise. 

The moon rising behind the temple. It was nearly half past nine by then. We were eating the stuff that we had taken and decided to put up the tent after that. It was absolutely silent and suddenly there was a loud clang like aheavy vessel falling down from a height. It was from a room built next to the temple. We wondered if there were anyone living there. I wanted to suggest that we go and check but was scared to go investigating dark empty rooms on top of an isolated hill. Who knows ? it could be a leopard or a ghost !  We ignored the sound and continued to eat.  We heard the sound again after about an hour and quietly came down the steps and busied ourselves with the tent. 

Triambak unfolds the tent and tries to recollect what goes where. There was moonlight all around but we were in the shadow of trees. We hung a battery operated bulb from the side of the car for light. There is a flat surface where the road ends at the top of the hill and the temple is a climb of about fifty steps from there. We decided to camp on the flat surface. 

The tent is almost ready but there are some un used parts. Later we realised they were some hooks and rods meant to stabilise the tent in case of strong breeze or a storm. 

Got all the buttons in proper loops and all the rods in proper sleeves.  

A satisfied Triambak poses with the tent, sweating a bit inspite of the cold and patting himself on the back for a job well done. 

I tried to make the interior as comfortable as possible and did a reasonably good job. But could not sleep well because I have difficulty going to sleep in a new environment.  I could have sat outside and hoped to see some of the nocturnal creatures like porcupine, jackal, wild boar or even a leopard which I have heard are some of the residents of the hill, but was too scared to get out alone.  Triambak was sleeping sound. 

Siddhanath Temple (taken from the net)

Lord Siddhanath

Our tent photographed the next morning. 

Early morning view from the hill top 

Morning sunlight  seen on the upper half of the eastern part of another hill at a distance and in front of Siddhanath. We were on the western face of Siddhanth hill. 

After the sun rose, we dismantled the tent and decided to go back. Now that it was bright all around, we decided to investigate the source of the last night's noise. We peeped through the window into the room and found that it was full of cooking utensils, probabaly used for preparing food during the annual festival. There mst have been lot of rats running around the un inhabited room, disturbing and pushing down the utensils from the shelves. There were a number of large utensils lying on the floor. 
We solved the mystery and headed back home, promising ourselves that we would go camping again and I hope to sleep better next time.