[0-100]

Traffic jams at times leads to impatience and impatience at times leads to finding a shortcut, which at times leads you to a lost zone without network and with leapord's pugmarks.

That's exactly what happened with us while we were trying to find a shortcut on our way to Gurgaon from Faridabad right before the toll plaza. What seemed like a normal offroad patch which might help us avoid the jam (maybe because of some accident), actually took us through a route which reminded us of Core Area of Sariska (kind of).

After 1 km only we understood that this route was not going to take us back to Gurgaon-Faridabad highway but somewhere else only. But since we never expected such a place in Delhi/NCR and out of curiosity, we kept on going. All thanx to the car (Isuzu Vcross) and Google Maps.

Three kilometres inside the jungle and off goes the Data Connection, another kilometre and Network's gone too. Luckily before we were left in flight mode we had seen that this patch after some 18kms ends in Damdama Lake in Sohna, with couple of turns in between. But one wrong turn in jungle and God Bless you then and that's exactly what happened with us. We took a wrong turn thinking it to be the one that would take us to Damdama Lake but were ended up somehow in a small Hanuman Temple.

Luckily a guy from Temple came to our rescue and told us the way till Damdama Lake. He even advised a couple of things. First one, Try not to get down from the car since there are 2-3 Leapords in this jungle and Second, Do not come here in rainy season as all the tyre marks are washed away, so you might get lost here if you are not familiar with jungle. Trust me that guy reminded me of the film Kaal.

Finally after following the route which he told us and seeing couple of skeleton (kill) we reached Sohna Lake and were happy to be back in civilisation. But the excitement of finding this route was up to such an extent that we decided to take this route only and record in dashcam this time.

Excited about this place we explored this from Google Earth and found there was a lake right in the middle of jungle and was called The Lost Lake. A month later we again went there but this time with Navi Maps which works direct from GPS and without network and data connection also. From the name (Lost Lake) what sounded like a haunted place, actually looked a beautiful picnic spot obviously without tourists

Video link of travelogues for Jungle and Lost Lake :
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfD...Xqpriww/videos

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZ0Sdlhsjx0

[Shreyans_Jain]

You seem to have ventured into Manger forest. This entire area used to be a dense forest which was supposed to be thousands of years old, but now has been reduced to random patches of scrub dotted by mined off hills, construction sites and a landfill. Only a matter of time before what little is left will also be claimed by development and urbanization.

[0-100]

Oh I see. I guess there was some village also there by the name of Manger. And a person from a place called Behrampur (from where the jungle starts) told us that this entire area is now under Forest Reserve which cannot be converted into Agricultural Land further leading to Commercial

[Shreyans_Jain]

Originally Posted by 0-100

Oh I see. I guess there was some village also there by the name of Manger. And a person from a place called Behrampur (from where the jungle starts) told us that this entire area is now under Forest Reserve which cannot be converted into Agricultural Land further leading to Commercial

Manger has been a protected forest for as long as I can remember. Unfortunately, such laws mean little to the construction and mining lobbies. Bit by bit, the jungle has vanished. The approval of the landfill and the accompanying garbage plant has had disastrous effects on the ecology of the place. Mining in the Aravalis was banned by the Supreme Court. Little by little, local strongmen have made a mockery of the order. The hilly wild terrain has slowly been turned into a flat land suitable for construction over the past decade. Best example of the apathy is Badkhal lake in Faridabad. What was once a proper water body hasn't seen a drop of water for the past 10-12 years.

[Intelsingh]

Originally Posted by 0-100

Oh I see. I guess there was some village also there by the name of Manger. And a person from a place called Behrampur (from where the jungle starts) told us that this entire area is now under Forest Reserve which cannot be converted into Agricultural Land further leading to Commercial

Thankfully Manger right now is in the Aravali protection act, so there is a stop in construction for now. Yes, there are a few leopards in the area with a lot of Neel Gai, Monitor lizards and snakes of all varieties. Have personally seen cobras and pythons.
Porcupines, foxes and a variety of birds.

[0-100]

Originally Posted by Shreyans_Jain

Manger has been a protected forest for as long as I can remember. Unfortunately, such laws mean little to the construction and mining lobbies. Bit by bit, the jungle has vanished. The approval of the landfill and the accompanying garbage plant has had disastrous effects on the ecology of the place...

Another example of this could be Panikot Lake in the coming years. Again, very close to this jungle

Originally Posted by Intelsingh

Thankfully Manger right now is in the Aravali protection act, so there is a stop in construction for now. Yes, there are a few leopards in the area with a lot of Neel Gai, Monitor lizards and snakes of all varieties. Have personally seen cobras and pythons.
Porcupines, foxes and a variety of birds.

This could have been a small National Park if mantained and promoted well. Though I hope this remains forever atleast the way it is in present state.

PS: Anxious to see a Leapord in wild in NCR. Have only seen its Pugmarks there as of now

[.anshuman]

In these Jungles, more than the Leopards you need to be scared for your tyres, whole of these jungles consist mainly of only Brazilian Kikar bushes. The thorns are not easy on the tyres, I have seen 10+ punctures per car per trip(much more slow ones), and I am talking about AT and MT tyres.

I have spotted Leopards too, they are super rare sighting, that too always from a distance. Golden Jackals are easier to spot.

[0-100]

Originally Posted by .anshuman

In these Jungles, more than the Leopards you need to be scared for your tyres, whole of these jungles consist mainly of only Brazilian Kikar bushes. The thorns are not easy on the tyres, I have seen 10+ punctures per car per trip(much more slow ones), and I am talking about AT and MT tyres.

I have spotted Leopards too, they are super rare sighting, that too always from a distance. Golden Jackals are easier to spot.

Attachment 1721654

Wowww.... Lucky you :o
I am yet to see him from distance also
And yes you are absolutely right about bushes/thorns there. While trying to find Panikot Lake via jungle only, we encountered many such hard bushes which were stuck in the tyres leading to 2 punctures after the trip. Luckily not much of problem while going to Lost Lake.
Tyres in our V-cross were Rexen's AT one's (265mm width) with 29psi

[Omkar]

Originally Posted by 0-100

Traffic jams at times leads to impatience and impatience at times leads to finding a shortcut, which at times leads you to a lost zone without network and with leapord's pugmarks.

Quite a unique travelogue I must say with great pictures . Sometimes interesting routes are explored unexpectedly. And what a vehicle do so in as well! These are the trails which are great even for soft off-roaders. Luckily you people have these awesome spots, unlike people from Bombay where every inch of the city and outskirts as well are infested with people.

Trust me that guy reminded me of the film Kaal.

Excited about this place we explored this from Google Earth and found there was a lake right in the middle of jungle and was called The Lost Lake. A month later we again went there but this time with Navi Maps which works direct from GPS and without network and data connection also. From the name (Lost Lake) what sounded like a haunted place, actually looked a beautiful picnic spot obviously without tourists

Good to hear that the forest is a protected area.

This also reminded me of a similar incident we had, although we were off the road for just a couple of kms, but since it was night, it was damn scary. That was the only visibility we had with my Alto:

[0-100]

Originally Posted by Omkar

Luckily you people have these awesome spots, unlike people from Bombay where every inch of the city and outskirts as well are infested with people.

Thank You Omkar 😊
Yes true upto an extent as I also travel to Mumbai for my Shoots.
But these type of places are usually found where there are no people (almost) or where no one is interested to go.
And good that you didn't take risk of going further with Alto (though it is quite rough and tough and can take you to places where most sedans can't) and that too in the night 😊

[desertfox]

Seems you had a good adventure.
Offroaders from Gurgaon tread these parts regularly.

Your GPS would have guided you to come off from Manger village to a series of off road hair pin bends, then passing through Baliawas village you can come out near Sector 57 in Gurgaon on Golf Course Extension road. No need to travel all the way to Damdama lake area.

GPS and maps are fine. But visual aids are also a useful navigation tool. From Manger itself look for the tall IREO towers and navigate towards it. During mid afternoon look at the skies for para gliders and take their direction. See where they are landing. That position will take you towards the Village of Ullahawas connecting to Rajesh Pilot Marg and Golf course extension road.

On a weekend you will find dozens of 4X4 vehicles in the area. And close by there is the purpose built off road adventure zone too.
Welcome to off roading. Enjoy!

[0-100]

Originally Posted by desertfox

Seems you had a good adventure.
Welcome to off roading. Enjoy!

Thank You.
Honestly when you enter such a type of area that too unexpectedly, the only thing in your mind is to come out of there... specially once you have forgotten the route and on top of that seen Leapord Pugmarks.

But after that when we went there we tried to find Lost Lake and Panikot Lake. Luckily Navi Maps was very helpful this time helping us to reach these two lakes. There are couple of routes till Lost Lake, one starting from toll plaza and taking a right turn after some 7 kms and second starting from a village called Old Behrampur

https://youtu.be/ZZ9wBYiEAg8

Though while trying from the first route we came across a patch which we couldn't cross in V-cross (picture below). Though, we will surely try to find the places which you mentioned in your post.

[.anshuman]

Originally Posted by 0-100

Though while trying from the first route we came across a patch which we couldn't cross in V-cross (picture below). Though, we will surely try to find the places which you mentioned in your post 😊

I guess you are talking about this place

https://youtu.be/snyoJXbnbw8

[0-100]

I think so. Looks like it. If you have seen the video link in above post, this patch starts from 11:40
To be precise, please copy paste this 28.362673,77.132062 in Google Maps for the exact location from where we backed off and tried a different route for Lost Lake

[0-100]

I don't know how old this kill must have been but looks like Nilgae/Sambar. Must be 15-20 days old.
Seems like Leapord made his presence felt 😓