At first glance he would pass off as an uncle next door. Ever smiling, but certainly not the patronizing ones. His nimble body is deceptive of the exceptional feats it has accomplished. Scaling more than 120 peaks in Maharashtra. An unbreakable record of 40 virgin peaks. And 40 odd new routes to some of the known mountains. Meet Pradeep Kelkar, affectionately called as Pradeep Sir by mountaineering lovers in Maharashtra, a winner of many national and state awards including Shiv Chhatrapati Award. If humility can be measured in heights, one has to add up all the mountains he has climbed…
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There is a road – for namesake. It was ok initially, like any other forest path. As we moved deeper into the forest, forget that the path became narrow; it was nothing but ditches as deep as 2 ft and boulders. Not to mention that it was an uphill climb. One moment we were climbing up at somewhat 70 degree, followed by a climb-down at a similar angle. At one place, we couldn’t find any track; instead we were climbing a rock face. Throughout this terrific drive, we were holding on to whatever we could to prevent our heads from…
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A 120-m long elevated walkway touching the treetops in the middle of forest! Take this path interspersed with 109 steps and you could try out some adventure activities – all handled by trained professionals. This is part of Thenmala Ecotourism, a unique programme designed by Kerala Tourism department. A relatively less-known tourist destination, Thenmala is a nature lover’s dream destination. Nestled in the ranges of Western Ghats is the Thenmala Dam and around it is the Shenduruney Wildlife Sanctuary. If you always dreamt of doing something that would give you an adrenaline rush, but could never figure out what to…