Its a forest out there !!

The Dang forest exploration motorcycle trip.

After an amazing exploratory motorcycle trip in Kumaon, Uttarakhand, India,last month in April (read https://bit.ly/KumaonBikeTrip) , was feeling uneasy at home.

It took me a bottle of water, my toothbrush, and a 500cc Royal Enfield bullet to explore the Dang forest in Gujarat , India.

First a little about the Dang forest :

Dang also known as The Dangs, is a district in the state of Gujarat in India. In ancient Indian Scriptures Dang is known as Dand Aranyaka, meaning Bamboo Forest.

The ride via the Ahmedabad highway was smooth, with the occasional chai ( tea) pit stops. I kept the ODO at 50km per hour speed. I believe in seeing the place rather than zooming past.

The Dangs district is essentially a mountainous tract covered with dense forest which starts from the rugged chains of the Sahyadris in the east and extends to the edge of plains of Gujarat State. It starts in the east with chain of rugged mountains running up to about 1,100 meters (3500 ft. ) Most of the area in the Dangs lies in elevation between 300 and 700 meters above mean sea level.

Stopped at a local dhabba just besides the road and experienced the local Kathiyawadi cuisine.

It was an experience communicating with the locals as they spoke their native language. Language of people of dang district is basically Konkai or Dangi, although they are familiar with Gujarati and Marathi, As it shares boundary with Maharashtra state.

Kept quiet during a long stretch of teak wood forests,while crossing the Vansad National park. It was surreal. Every moment was breathtaking and peaceful.

The lazy water buffaloes, the sugarcane fields, the cows grazing and the smell of the wild. I was in love.

I just needed a reason to stop. So did I.

Very soon I reached my destination, where i got a room for the night. This was in the middle of the forest, a forest resort or rest house in Dang.

My evening party plan :

As the sun had made its plan to set in the evening, I walked up to the temple of Ma Shabri. Mythology fascinates me.

This serene temple is supposed to have been where Lord Rama met Shabari while searching for his wife Sita and ate the berries she offered him, after tasting each one to make sure it was good. Three stones on which Lord Rama, his brother Lakshman and Shabari are said to have sat are still worshipped.

Spend the evening watching the sun go by and participated in an evening prayer at the temple. It was enriching.

Something interesting happened. As I was watching the sun, the priest of the temple came and asked me “ Kahan Jana Hai beta (where do you want to go Son). And I was expecting he would ask “Kahan se aaye ho beta (where are you from Son).

I replied, by pointing my finger towards setting sun over the Dang Forest.

He smiled and gave me prasad to eat.

The whole night I listened to the orchestra of the singing crickets and the wild.

I seeped in the silence.

Yes I had one more round of chai!!

The chirping birds woke me up at 6 am. In Mumbai, usually the Newspaperman wakes me up.

I decided to take bath in the Pampa lake nearby , instead of the usual bathroom tap water. Pampa lake is about 6 km from Shabari Dham, is a water source associated with a story of Lord Rama's bathing.

The journey back to Mumbai was via Nasik. So it meant crossing a state border, which excites me, the most – crossing the borders.

Another interesting incident happened, while was ascending the Ghats. There were these young boys, around 12 yrs old, selling wild berries on the road.

Carissa spinarum, the conkerberry or bush plum, is a large shrub of the dogbane family (Apocynaceae), widely distributed in tropical regions of Africa, Southern Asia, Australia, and various islands of the Indian Ocean. In India, it is called wild karanda /wild karavanda, referring to the related karanda (C. carandas).

I asked them what do they do with the money earned after selling the berries.

One of them said “We buy books”. Not very convinced, as I moved ahead, as curiosity was killing me, I stopped by a school and asked if these boys ( showed them the selfie pic I had taken with them) attended school, if their parents knew that they are selling these berries for money and what do they actually do with the money. The teacher of the school replied, “Sir, this is Mahesh, Vijay and Suraj. They attend school and during summer vacations they sell berries and collect money. They use it primarily to buy clothes for themselves. The children studying in Govt. schools get books, but those in private schools don’t get books, so some of them buy books. She mentioned that the Govt. is doing a good job in educating the young lads. They do not use the money for chocolates , ice creams, smoking cigarettes or drugs. Their parents knew about this

I was convinced. I was quiet. It wasn’t raining, but my eyes were moist.

I carried on…

The rest of the journey was like sailing in a dream. There were fields on both sides of the road. - Sugarcane, Jowar, Strawberries, grapes…. What more could I ask from life.

Crossed the Gujarat border at Saputara , and as Maharashtra comes , so does its amazing hill forts watching you …

Celebrated crossing the border with the fresh sugarcane juice.

The ride back home was through the amazing National Highway 3.

Well-done NHAI - some fantastic amazing mountain roads throughout my journey.

Who says India hasn’t progressed. It is our duty (travel journalist) to portray, this upcoming India to the world.

Fact file:

Travel route:

Navi Mumbai – Thane – Gorbunder road – Vapi - Valsad– Ahwa – Dang – Ahwa – Saputara – Nasik – Navi Mumbai

Total travel distance kms : 788 kms

Riding days: 2

Crossed 2 state borders: Gujarat & Maharashtra

Motorcycle courtesy: 500 cc Royal Enfield Bullet - Rebel Rides, Mumbai.

Co riders: Solo ride.

History about Dang

Before Independence several wars were fought between the five tribal kings of Dang and the British Raj. According to the history of Dang, the biggest war to took place at Lashkaria Amba, in when the kings of all the five states joined together to protect Dang from British rule. The British were beaten and agreed to a compromise.

As per the treaty signed in 1842 the British were allowed to use the forests and their natural products against which they had to pay around 3,000 silver coins to the five kings. Currently the kings receive a monthly political pension by the Government of India, which is the main source of their income. This payment is continued even though all privy purses for the Princely states of India were stopped in 1970 since the agreement was between then monarchy of Dangs and the British.

At the end of each fiscal year, the kings gather in Ahwa for a traditional royal ceremony, in their richly decorated buggies and bands with tribal dancers, to receive the payment as per the agreement of 1842.

The five kingdoms are Daher, Linga, Gadvi, Vasurna and Pimpri.