#2: [21-Sep-04]

14-Oct-2004 -- After a successful attempt on 21N 73°E and an aborted attempt on 20N 73°E, we started off on a long road trip that would take us to Nasik, Shirdi and Aurangabad. There were a few temples that we wanted to visit near Nasik, the mausoleum of Sai Baba at Shirdi and then onward to Aurangabad to visit the world-famous Ellora caves. With more of the family joining us in the last day, we all hired a car and started off at 0530 towards Trimbakeshwar and then onward to Nasik. After visiting the ancient temple at Trimbakeshwar, we stopped for lunch in Nasik. 20N 74E was 22 kilometers from Nasik.

We set off after lunch on the Nasik-Aurangabad highway that seemed to lead to 20N 74E. The GPS rapidly counted down and at about 2 kilometers from the point, we took a right turn towards the town of Saikhede. We again took a turn right when we were 1.6 kilometers from the CP. This road led up to 800 meters from the point. We spotted a small dirt road lead in the direction of the CP and turned on to it. The road led us to within 160 meters from 20N 74E. We had the driver park in the shade and the whole family trekked through a Soya-bean field to reach 20N 74E at 1438 hrs. The altitude recorded was 537 meters. After taking the mandatory photographs and a few of the whole team, we made our way back to the car.

This was the first confluence visit for a majority of the family present. They had all heard about by interest in CP hunting and the stories I had to tell from previous hunts, but this was an unforgettable experience for all of them. More so for Goda, my niece who is learning about latitudes and longitudes in her geography class back in school in Hyderabad. She plans to write a report on this adventure for her school magazine.

We headed back to the highway and continued on our way to Shirdi to visit the mausoleum of the saint Sai Baba. We would get an opportunity to attempt to reach 20N 75E & 20N 76°E in the next couple of days.