Dudhsagar Waterfall trek - Rail route 4th Aug

Trekked to Dudhsagar Waterfalls last Sunday after a good 2 months gap with Trekmates India. It was more of a trip than a trek but quite interesting and enjoyable. Since it was a pilot trek for TMI a lot of instructions were passed around and there were some doubts about the train halt and the distance between the stations etc. The trek began with the train journey from Pune to Dudhsagar station on-board the Nizamuddin - Vasco Express singing songs, mashup some gigs etc. I was very excited as I was trekking in my home state for the first time and I had waited for this trek since the past 3 years. Also the fact that I was trekking withManoj Kalwar as the leader after almost a year. We reached Castle Rock station on Goa - Karnataka border and everyone were on their feet as we were told that the train would make an unofficial halt at Dudhsagar station for 30 seconds. With management and co-ordination skills in place a plan was chalked out to jump once the train became slow. It gave me the feeling that we were either fugitives running from the jail or dacoits come to loot a place. After getting down at the station had to wait for an hour for the sun to rise a bit. As it was dark and it was quite risky to walk in the jungle in the dark. Dudhsagar station is a 2km walk from Dudhsagar waterfall. The gigantic waterfall mesmerized me completely when I saw it for the first time. The scene was so engrossing that I could keep watching it for hours together. I wanted to climb to the top of the falls but couldn't as it was not part of the group plan. Still I manged to climb sideways to a certain height through a small flow of water but had to return. After that we had to walk along the railway track for about 12 kms to Kulem station. Some of the trekkers hitched a ride on a goods train for the entire track. I also joined them for about 5 kms which was again a first time experience of travelling in an open air goods train. We got some good rest and lunch at Kulem. I took this opportunity to have a tasty fish curry rice at a restaurant in the village. Perfect timing just before the month of Shravan. And we started journey for Pune in the evening. The return journey began by singing songs, the heavy rush of the nearby Kannadiga people. The best session was the late night intellectual discussion about life with Sai Iyer and a lady by the name Shweta which went on for a good 2 hours. Sai I am already looking forward to another brainstorming session with you and yes Adarsh Hemrajani a champion trekker in his own right. Thanks for the company throughout. My friends at TMI really make me miss the treks which I am not a part of.