Trekking Experiences!

Vandan Fort

2010-10-19T08:48:00.001-07:00

Fort: Vandan
Height: 3400 feet above MSL
Base Village: Belmachi , Ibrahimpur
Difficulty : Medium

After completing Chandan I went to Vandan fort. The route to Vandan from Chandan is via the col between Chandan and Vandan. One has to traverse Chandan fort keeping the fort to your right and get to the col between Chandan and Vandan and then once at the col we can see a rock face in front of us. The route to the top would be taking a right from the rock face and getting on top of the face and then a route towards the left keeping the fort to your right.

On going ahead one can see the main door of Vandan fort but the approach to the door is no longer present as its destroyed and we climb from the right of the main door. The way is through rocks and bushes so be careful.

Once on top of the fort you get to the lower level of the fort where there is nothing and one has to climb steps to go to the main upper level of the fort. On top there is nothing to see except a dargah and a tomb of some saint. Also a granary on top. Other than that Vandan is covered in tall bushes as not many people go there. There is also a hill in the middle of the fort with nothing on top. Most of the buildings there were destroyed during British rule.
There are a lot of huge water tanks on top but not one of them is potable except one or two of them.

After completing Vandan fort I traversed back the whole route upto Ibrahimpur as I had kept my bike there. This trek was done after a long time and was very good.

History: Vandan fort was constructed as the same time during Chandan fort and there's no specific history about that fort.

Chandan Fort

2010-10-19T08:28:00.000-07:00

Fort: Chandan
Height : 3400 feet above MSL
Difficulty: Medium
Base village: Belmachi, Ibrahimpur
Route : Pune-Katraj-Shirval-Surur-Bhuinj-Rautwadi-Ibrahimpur (90 kms approx)

Had gone to the forts of Chandan and Vandan on 16th October 2010. Initially it was planned with Rahul but due to some problem he dropped out and I went alone. Started at 6am and reached Ibrahimpur around 7.30am. Asked for the route to the fort and started along. The fort of Chandan has a dargah on top hence steps have been constructed at intervals for pilgrims to climb to the top however they are crude.

It takes about 30-40 mins to get to the top of the fort. The main door of the fort is no longer present however one part of it is still present. As soon as you enter the top you can see a shiv temple on the left side. This shiv temple is peculiar with multiple shiv lings on a single stone. A local had also come to the temple and was performing pooja there.

Going ahead there is a big dargah on top. Every year lot of pilgrims throng there during auspicious days (as per the locals). On top there are ruins of a wada with only the foundation remaining and one more ruined ammunition or granary room. There is also a well on top but the water is not potable. The fort is spread over a vast area but no other remains are present. On the other side one can see the looming Vandan fort but the way to the fort Vandan is not from there but one has to come back from the path where one started and traverse Chandan and get to Vandan fort. It takes about 40 mins to roam on top of the fort and come back.

To get to Vandan fort one has to retrace their steps back towards Ibrahimpur and at a certain point (where there is a shed constructed one has to take a right from there and traverse Chandan fort , one more temple is in the way) and get to the col between Chandan and Vandan fort to get to top of Vandan fort.

History of the fort: According to the evidences of copper-inscriptions(Tamralekh) of 1191-1192 B.C., these forts were built-up by king Bhoj II of Shilahar dynasty. Shivaji Maharaj overpowered Chandan-Vandan along with Kalyangad, Sajjangad, Ajinkyatara during the campaign of Satara in 1673. Later, during the regime of Sambhaji, Amanullah Khan attacked the troop of Maratha soldiers on Chandan-Vandan. 25 horses, 20 guns, 2 ensigns, 1 kettle-drum were lost in the hands of Mughals in this battle. Marathas ruled this region up to 1689 B.C. Afterwards Mughals ruled this fort. In 1707, Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj won this region during rainy season. In 1752, Dadopant was accompanied by soldiers by Balaji Vishwanath to keep close watch on Tarabai. Later, British ruled over these forts.

Ausa Fort

2010-08-10T01:30:00.000-07:00

Fort : Ausa
Location : Ausa , Latur district
Type: Land fort
Route(s) :

1. Latur - Ausa (20 kms)
2. Pune - Tembhurni - Kurduwadi - Barshi - Osmanabad - Tuljapur - Ausa (365 kms)
3. Pune - Latur - Ausa (344 kms)
4. Pune - Solapur - Ausa (353 kms)

After Udgir we started for Ausa fort , the last fort of the trek. Ausa is located about 20 kms from Latur on the Latur-Solapur highway. We reached the fort in about 2 hours from Udgir with a lunch break in between.

This fort is also under the control of the ASI and is open from 9am to 5pm. Photos are not allowed , but you can prove to them that this wont make it to some press news , usually the guards allow to take photos.

The fort has some outer walls and entrances. The fort is basically built in a depression (khandak). There are a lot of structures on the fort and cannons on the fort. The inner part of the fort is converted into a garden. There is a huge well in between the fort and has a lot of water and water channels underneath. We could even heard the sound of peacocks inside the shrubs in the fort but couldn't see any of them. The walls and bastions of the fort are crumbling due to tree growth but the ASI is trying to restore them. Most of the structures are crumbling and may fall down soon. There are lot of cannon balls too kept inside one of the entrances.

There is no specific recorded history of the fort.

The main entrance door of Ausa fort

Seal of British Empire on a cannon

A deep well inside the fort , water channels below

Expanse of the Ausa fort

One of the entrances of the Ausa fort

One of the cannons in Ausa fort

Firing line of cannons just ahead of an entrance door

Crumbling bastions and walls of the Ausa Fort

Lots of cannon balls in the fort

Udgir Fort

2010-08-10T01:07:00.001-07:00

Fort: Udgir
Location : Udgir city , Latur District
Type : Land fort
Route (s) :

1. Nanded - Loha - Ahmadpur - Udgir (110 kms)
2. Pune - Latur - Udgir (387 kms)
3. Latur - Udgir (65 kms)

After Kandhar fort we proceeded to Udgir fort. We reached Udgir at about 11am and went inside the fort.

The fort is well maintained and is under ASI control. It is open from 9am to 5pm only for visitors and apparently photos are not allowed to be taken but if you have a small cam you can sneak it in like I did :)

There are lot of entrance doors in the fort with various carvings. Lots of dilapidated halls and structures and mahals in the fort. There are big cannons in the fort and are intact. Most of the walls and bastions are intact in the fort.

This fort also has a network of underground tunnels and caves most of which is hidden now. Udgir fort also houses the temple/ashram of Udaygir Baba. This location is serene with a water tank and is worth seeing.

History of Udgir and the fort : (Source: www.udgir.com)

Udgir has a great historical significance. It has witnessed the war between the Marathas and the Nizam of Hyderabad which took place in 1761. The Marathas led by Sadashivrao Bhau defeated the Nizam and the treaty of Udgir was signed.

The fort of Udgir stands in all its glory speaking volumes about the Indian history and Indian culture. The fort is bounded by a 40 feet deep trench as the fort is built at the ground level. In the fort are several palaces Durbar halls and most importantly the Samadhi of Udaygir Maharaj which is 60 feet under the normal ground level. This is a place of great reverence to the people of the region. The fort has some rare inscriptions written in Arabic and Persian.

Main entrance to Udgir Fort

Dilapidated structures inside the Udgir Fort

Through one of the entrance doors in the fort

The fort expanse

Udaygir Maharaj temple and pond inside the fort

Some hall inside the fort , typical Nizam/Mughal type architecture

Cannon on top of the fort

One more hall

Palaces inside the fort

Kandhar Fort

2010-08-09T06:55:00.000-07:00

Fort: Kandhar
Type: Land fort
District : Nanded
Route: Nanded - Loha - Kandhar (42 kms)

After visiting Nanded fort we started for Kandhar fort located about 42 odd kms from Nanded. We stopped in between at Loha to have "Dahi che Dhapate" which is similar to "Thali Peeth" or Paratha. After a filling breakfast we continued onwards to Kandhar fort.

We came to Kandhar and went to the fort only to know that the fort is closed by ASI and does not open until 10am on Sundays. It was 8.50am and we didnt want to waste time as we had to cover 2 more forts and continue ahead to Pune so we just went upto the entrance door, took some photos. Went round the fort outside and returned back.

There is no recorded history of Kandhar fort but it was ruled by the Nizam of Hyderabad during his rule.

Kandhar fort from outside

Approaching the entrance

Bastions and walls intact, thanks to ASI for maintaining them

The main entrance door of the fort

Masjid or tomb built on a platform on the moat of the fort

Nanded Fort

2010-08-09T06:49:00.000-07:00

Fort : Nanded fort
Location : Nanded city
Type : Land fort
District : Nanded
Route : Nanded City - Arab Galli.

After visiting Mahur we halted for the day in Nanded city. Nanded city is famous for Gurudwara , Guru Gobind Singh a guru of the Sikhs supposedly attained martyrdom in Nanded hence a Gurudwara was built here. Nanded fort is located on the banks of the Godawari river and is located in the old city. The place is known as Arab Galli and is quite filthy with very small roads to go in. The fort is now part of the water pumping station at Nanded and most of it is dilapidated. Inside the fort there are some broken structures , a bastion and a beautiful lake and some cannons.

There is no notable history of the fort or its rulers , however there are references to this fort goes back to 7th Century BC when it was ruled by the Magadh Kingdom. Nanded was under the rule of Nizam of Hyderabad too and was amalgamated into Maharashtra after the Nizams rule ended

Mahur fort

2010-08-09T06:42:00.000-07:00

Fort: Mahur
Location : Mahur , Nanded district.
Type: Hill fort
Route (s) :
Jintur - Aundha Nagnath - Hingoli - Pusad - Mahur (80 kms)
Pune - Latur - Nanded - Mahur (450 kms)

After Jintur fort , we started for Mahur fort. This fort is located in Nanded district and is a hill fort. This fort is located directly opposite the hill where the Renuka Mata temple is located in Mahur. We need to climb about 20 mins to get to the top of the fort. Most of the bastions and walls are intact and the views are good. On top there are no notable structures except the main door , walls and bastion and a Kali temple which is famous and people visit. Apart from that the top of the fort is covered in thick vegetation and its difficult to go around there. There is a water tank supposedly on top but as the weather was so cloudy we could not find it. The views from the top are good and we experienced cloudy weather making the atmosphere more cool.

History ( from : http://www.maharashtratourism.gov.in/MTDC/HTML/MaharashtraTourism/TouristDelight/Forts/Forts.aspx?strpage=MahurFort.html) Being situated on the main route from the north to the Deccan, Mahur has a long history. There is evidence to show that Mahur, ancient Matapur, was an important place at the time of the Satavahanas and the Rashtrakutas. The Renuka temple on an adjoining hill was built by the Yadavas. After remaining with the Gond rulers for sometime, Mahur passed on to the Bahamanis in the 15th century and was made a Suba. In the 16th century, Mahur, being strategically placed at their centre, faced a lot of fire from the infighting between the Nizamshahi, Adilshahi and Imadshahi rulers. Then in the early 17th century, Mahur became a part of the Mughal Empire and came to be ruled by their Subedars. When Shahjahan rebelled against his father Jahangir, he took refuge in the Mahur fort along with his wife and children, including 6 years old Aurangzeb.

Hill of Mahur fort , shrouded in clouds

One of the bastions of the fort

Kali mata temple on top of Mahur fort

Flagstaff (picturesque view)

Donation collection pot near the temple in the fort

Entrance door from inside

Jintur (Nemgiri) Fort

2010-08-09T06:10:00.000-07:00

Fort : Jintur also known as Nemgiri
Town : Jintur
District : Parbhani Type : Hill Fort
Route: Pathri - Valur - Lalthane - Jintur (60 kms)

The next fort was Jintur , we took the route through small villages and at one place the tavera was stuck in mud and water. We had to push it out and then continued to Jintur. Jintur is a small town famous for its Jain caves. The fort of Jintur is also known as Nemgiri is built on a hill known as Nemgiri and infact it protect the Jain caves. Its also a Jain shrine. To get to the fort we need to go via the town center about 1km ahead. We can see the hill of Nemgiri quite clearly and there is a narrow road going all upto the top. The fort is not very huge but the caves are worth seeing. The carvings and sculptures are worth looking at. No photos allowed inside as its a Jain temple.

There is no specific history as to who built the fort but Rashtrakuta kings have ruled in Jintur. Some brief history of the caves (Source : http://www.jainteerth.com/teerth/jintur.asp) In ancient times this area was famous as Jainpur, this was developed in the time of Emperor, Amogh Varsha of Rashtrakut Family. Later in the middle period of Indian History, this was destroyed by invaders, and its name was changed to Jintur, the current name. At that time 300 Jain families & 14 Jain Temples were here. Today two temples out of them only are present. Later in the year 1609 A.D. this Kshetra was reconstructed and developed by Shri Veer Sangavi of Bagherwal Cast. It is said that Samavsharan of Lord Mahaveer came here and the Last Shrut Kevali Acharya Bhadrabahu with his 12000 scholars including Chandragupt Maurya (The great emperor of ancient India) and the famous idol of Lord Parsvanath was also installed by them, this idol is staying in the space 3 inches high from surface without any support, so this is called Antariksha Parsvanath. According to archaeologists idols of this Kshetra are old about 1000 years or more.

Atishaya – At Nemgiri Hill, in Cave No. 5 miraculous idol of Lord Antariksha Parsvanath is very wonderful staying in the space 3 inches high from surface. It is said that desires of pilgrims are materialized after prayers & worships here. King Cobra often comes here and gods of heaven also come here for worships.

Pathri Fort

2010-08-09T04:21:00.000-07:00

Fort: Pathri
Type : Land fort
Base Village : Pathri
District : Parbhani
Route: Ahmednagar - Pathardi - Beed - Majalgaon road - Pathri

Pathri is a small village in the Parbhani district known for its historical importance. Though there is nothing significant there but it was an important part of erstwhile Berar region during the rule of Akbar and later the Mughals. The fort of Pathri is a crumbling non-descript type of fort with almost all the walls and bastions gone and only one entrance remaining intact. There is a masjid in the fort and there is a massive stepwell in the fort which is of interest. History Pathri was supposed to be built in 1524 or some year nearby by Allaudin Imad Shah. Burhan Nizam Shah of the Ahmednagar Kingdom attacked this fort in 1526 and captured it. No other significant history of the fort exists anywhere.

Palshi Fort

2010-08-09T04:12:00.001-07:00

Its time to trek again after a long time and after the Vidharbh Trek in March. An avid trekker friend told me that he was going to cover the forts in the districts of Parbhani , Nanded and Latur as a pilot trek/trip. Basically all of them are land forts but what the heck. We started on Friday, 6th August at 2.30pm from Pune in a hired Tavera. It was decided that we cover one more fort named Palshi located in the Ahmednagar district and on the route.

Fort: Palshi
Type : Land Fort
District : Ahmednagar
Route : Pune - Shirur - Ralegan Siddhi - Parner - Kanhur Pathar - Takli Dhokeshwar - Palshi (150 kms approx)

This fort houses a village inside it and almost all of its bastions are intact. There is an amazing shiv temple inside the fort but there are no other structures inside worth viewing. There is no known history of the fort except that this fort was a transit point of keeping Sambhaji Maharaj when he was captured by the Mughals and taken prisoner.

Entrance door to Palshi fort

Inscription on one of the doors of Palshi fort

Bastions and wall of the fort

Sindkhed Raja (Wada and Fort)

2010-03-02T01:39:00.000-08:00

Base: Sindkhed Raja (Buldhana district)
Route: Rohinkhed - Buldhana - Chikhli - Deulgaon Raja - Sindkhed Raja (100 kms).

Places to see: Wada of Raja Lakhuji Jadhav (Jijabai's father) , Kala Killa , Samadhi of Lakhuji Jadhav and Someshwar Temple

Sindkhed Raja is famous for the birth place of Jijabai (Shivaji Maharaj's mother). This was the place where Raja Lakhuji Jadhav (Jijabai's father) ruled and lived. The place has a lot of places to see.

1. The Jadhav Wada This wada is located inside the city of Sindkhed Raja and is the birthplace of Shivaji Maharaj's mother Jijabai. One has to pay 2Rs to get a ticket to visit the Wada (a govt initiative). The wada contains big bastions and a beautiful entrance door. Inside there are many artifacts , statues, carvings. Also there are underground rooms in the wada where people used to stay.

Entrance to the wada of Raja Lakhuji Jadhav

Old artifacts and cannon kept inside the wada

The underground rooms in the wada, these were built to keep away the heat in the region. The underground rooms are very cool and keep away most of the heat in all seasons

The birthplace of Jijabai (Shivaji Maharaj's mother) in the wada

The darbaari hall inside the wada where proceedings used to take place

2. The Kala Kot or the Kala Killa (Black Fort)

This fort was built by the Jadhav's but not constructed fully. Only the bastions and outer walls are present , nothing inside.

The walls and bastions of the Kala kot

3. Samadhi of Raja Lakhuji Jadhav

Raja Lakhuji Jadhav was killed by treason by the Nizam at Devgiri fort in Aurangabad with 2 of his sons. There is a samadhi built in his memory in Sindkhed Raja. The samadhi is a nice structure of old times.

4. Someshwar Temple

This is an old temple supposed to have been built by Raja Lakhuji Jadhav on his mother's wishes. This is a Shiv temple with a Shiv Linga for worship.

The shiv linga inside the Someshwar Temple at Sindkhed Raja

This was the last place in our trek. The trek finally ended here after which we took a bus back to Pune.

Rohinkhed Fort

2010-03-02T01:30:00.000-08:00

Fort: Rohinkhed Fort
Base: Rohinkhed (Buldhana district)
Type: Land fort
Route: Malkapur-Motala-Rohinkhed (50 kms)

The fort at Rohinkhed is a land fort and a small fort at that. It has only one surviving mosque which was built in older times and one bastion of the fort.

History: Rohinkhed fort supposedly built by Khudavand Khan Madhavi a follower of Jamalkhan in 1582, also the mosque inside was built by the same person.

The sole surviving bastion giving an indication of the Rohinkhed fort

The mosque inside the Rohinkhed fort

From Rohinkhed we proceeded to the last fort of our trek in Sindkhed Raja.

Malkapur fort

2010-03-02T01:20:00.000-08:00

Fort: Malkapur
Fort Base: Malkapur (Buldhana district)

The next fort we went to see was Malkapur which is located within Malkapur city. This place is also known as Baradaari and nothing much exists except dilapidated entrance doors and some inner bastions. Many people now live inside the fort in small shabby houses. This fort had 12 entrances and was a big fort during Mughal times

History of the fort: The fort is believed to be built during the 12th Century and ruled by the Mughals for a long time.

One of the entrance doors of Malkapur Fort

Surviving walls and bastion of the fort

From Malkapur we went to the Rohinkhed fort about 50 odd kms from Malkapur.

Mailgad fort

2010-03-02T01:06:00.000-08:00

Fort: Mailgad or Maelgad
Type: Hill fort
Grade: Medium
Base: Raipur (district Buldhana - taluka Jamora(Jalgaon)

Mailgad or Maelgad is a hill fort located in Buldhana district near Jamora taluka. The route is Malkapur-Nandura-Assalgaon-Vadgaon-Raipur (65kms).

This fort is a hill fort and no recorded history exists of this fort. One has to climb for about 30-40 mins to get to the top. On top there exists an intact bastion , lots of (single pillar) water tanks and a devi temple.

The fort from the base village Raipur

Surviving bastion on top of the fort

Single pillar water tank on top of the fort

Devi idol in Devi temple on top of fort - the idol faces the east direction

From this fort we came back to Malkapur to visit the Malkapur fort.

Khamgaon Fort (Shivaji Ves)

2010-03-02T01:01:00.000-08:00

Fort: Khamgaon (Shivaji Ves)
Base : Khamgaon

After Balapur we moved onto Khamgaon about 25kms from Balapur. We now entered Buldhana district at Khamgaon. At Khamgaon there was earlier a fort but now all that exists is a single door of the fort known as Shivaji Ves and a small wada near it.

The door (shivaji ves) of Khamgaon Fort

No recorded history of this door or fort exists anywhere. From here we moved on to Malkapur for the day's stay. We covered 5 forts today (4 in Akola and 1 in Buldhana district)

Balapur Fort

2010-03-02T00:42:00.000-08:00

Fort: Balapur
Type: Land fort
Base: Balapur (Akola District)
Grade: Easy

The next fort after Akola was Balapur fort. Balapur is on the route to Khamgaon from Akola city on the NH6. The route is Akola-Balapur around 50kms.

History of the fort : The construction was completed in 1757 by Ismail Nawab Khan of Ellichpur(Achalpur) . Balapur was an important military station during the Mughal period. A chhatri or pavilion was built here by Mirza Raje Jaisingh the general of Aurangzeb during the rule of Aurangzeb.

The Balapur fort from the entrance to Balapur

The fort has double walls for protection and most of the doors and bastions are intact even now. It houses the Zilla Parishad offices inside the fort and a primary school in the fort.

The main entrance door of Balapur Fort

A huge bastion (inner level)
Carvings on one of the doors of the fort

The inside of the fort

From Balapur we went on to Khamgaon (Buldhana district) to goto Khamgaon Fort.

Akola (Asadgad) Fort

2010-03-02T00:25:00.000-08:00

Fort: Akola (Asadgad) Fort
Type: Land fort
Base: Akola city
Grade: Easy

The next destination of ours was the fort of Akola in Akola city. A distance of about 70 odd kms from the last fort at Vari , the route we took was Vari - Hivarkhed - Akot - Akola.

The fort at Akola is also known as Asadgad. This fort was primarily fortified during the rule of Aurangzeb by Asad Khan in 1697.Hence the name Asadgad. This fort was dismantled and destroyed by the British during 1870

Not many things remain from the fort , only one of the entrance doors, one broken bastion with windows and 2-3 small bastions remain. The fort and its surrounding areas are in neglect now.

One of the entrance doors of Akola (Asadgad) fort

One of the surviving bastions on the fort

One of the other bastions of the fort

Beautiful carvings on the windows of one bastion on the fort

After seeing Akola fort we started for Balapur fort the next in the list. We had lunch in between and refreshed ourselves.

Bhairavgad(Vari) Fort

2010-03-02T00:17:00.000-08:00

Fort: Bhairavgad (Vari)
Type: Land Fort
Base: Vari (Akola District)
Grade: Easy

The next fort after Narnala in Akola dist was Bhairavgad (Vari). The route we took was Narnala - Shahnur - Akot - Hivarkhed - Vari (60kms).

This fort is a land fort and very small on top of a small hill in the village of Vari. The fort has no recorded history , except that the Village Vari has some history in the times of Rashtrakuta Kings during the existance of the Pandavas.

The only structures on the fort remaining are the entrance door and a bastion , both of which are in bad shape today. A Shiv temple is being constructed inside the fort now.

The fort as seen from the base village

The entrance door of the fort

The expanse of the fort and the Shiv Temple being constructed on top

From Vari our next destination was Akola fort inside Akola city.

Narnala Fort

2010-03-01T23:22:00.000-08:00

Fort: Narnala
Type: Hill fort
Height: 3000 ft (above MSL)
Grade : Easy (motorable road upto top)

Narnala is one of the huge forts in Akola district covering an area of 362 hectares and consists of 3 forts fused together namely Narnala, Jafarabad and Teliagarh. The fort has 360 watchtowers , 6 large gates and 20 small gates. A motorable road leads to the top of the fort giving access easily.

Route is Akot - Popatkhed - Shahnur - Narnala (30 kms) , our route was Dharni - Dhakna - Selu Phata - Khatkali - Popatkhed - Shahnur - Narnala (90 kms).

The Narnala fort from the base

Place where elephants were kept on top of Narnala Fort

Rani Mahal or Queen's place on top of Narnala Fort

Mosque on top of Narnala Fort - nice architecture

The naugazi tof (9m - 27 feet cannon) on top of the fort

This cannon is about 27 feet in length and was commissioned by Aurangzeb during the Mughal rule on this fort. This canon is said to be built by Abu Beg one of the Mughal slaves. The cannon had a range of 20kms and had one more big gun near it known as Kadak Bijli , the gun has now fallen down into the valley. There is an inscription on the canon(pic below) which says

"God is almighty,Emperor Aurangzeb Alamgir commissioned this cannon to establish his rule over Deccan"

Shakar Talav (lake) on top of Narnala (info below the pic)

This is a special lake which has powers which can cure the wound from a dog bite. The water of the lake and the mud has some unique powers.

One of the guardhouses on the fort (below)

History of the fort (from Wikipedia and other sources)

The fort was believed to be built during the reign of the Pandavas in 1400CE. Ahmad Shah Wali fortified this fort from 1422 CE to 1436 CE during construction of the Gawilgad fort.

In 1487 CE Narnala along with Gawilgad came under the rule of Fatehullah Imad Ul Malik the founder of the Imadi Shah dynasty.

In 1572 the fort was captured by the Ahmadnagar King Murtaza Nizam Shah and subsequently in 1587 it was captured by Akbar's officers Saiyid Yusuf Khan Mashhad and Shaikh Abul Fazl, from the officer. In 1701 the Marathas captured this fort under the guidance of Parsoji Bhosale and was at last captured by the British in 1803 CE, in between 16th and 17th Century the fort was also held by the Mughals who had control over the Deccan at that time.

Aamner Fort

2010-03-01T22:42:00.001-08:00

Fort: Aamner
Type: Land fort
Base: Dharni or Bhokarbardi (Amravati district)
Grade: Easy

The fort of Aamner is the last fort we had to cover in Amravati district. This fort is located at the confluence of 2 rivers , Tapi and one another(I don't remember the name). There is no specific recorded history of the fort. The fort is a mud fort and some of its bastions and walls are still intact.

The route we took was Chikhaldhara-Semadoh-Dharni-Dhulghat-Aamner Fort (about ~80 kms). In between we had nice snack of Rabri at Semadoh at a small dhaba type hotel. The rabri is indeed recommended if anyone goes that side. All these places are located on the route to Burhanpur (MP) from Amravati.

To get to the fort one has to cross the river (not much water in dry months).

The fort of Aamner from the base

One of the intact bastions of Aamner Fort now cracked.

The expanse of the fort

The river and the fort, you need to cross a small part to gain access to the fort

This was our last fort for day 1 and Amravati district. We set base in Dharni about 20 kms from this fort for the day and had to cover 4 forts the next day in Akola district. To cross into Akola district we had to goto Akot from here which involved crossing the Melghat jungle (famous for the Melghat tiger project) and the gates are closed by forest department from 6pm to 6am daily so we had to wait until the next day hence we stopped at a guest-house in Dharni and started early morning next day at 5am for the forts in Akola district.

Gawilgad Fort

2010-03-01T22:26:00.000-08:00

Fort: Gawilgad or Gawilghur
Type: Hill fort
Base : Chikhaldhara (Amravati district)
Height : 2950 feet (above MSL)
Grade : Easy

The fort of Gawilgad is about 2 kms from Chikhaldhara a hillstation in Amravati district. It is located about 50 odd kms from Achalpur. This was the 2nd fort in our Vidharbh trek. Gawilgad is supposed to be build by the Gonds who dominated this region in the 12th century AD. It was a mud fort before and then was strenghtened by the Mughals when they captured this fort later and retained it. Gawilgad was also briefly under the rule of Marathas for sometime before the British took over it.

The fort is a huge structure with lots of remnants, entrance doors to it still intact. It would take around 4-5 hrs to see all the parts of the fort fully as the area is large.

Main entrance of Gawilgad Fort

The huge expanse of the fort

Some ruins of structures inside the fort
Gawilgad front view of the fort

History (from Wikipedia)

The fort has several inscriptions in Persian recording the date of building of each of its seven gates. It has two water tanks(Devtalav and Khantalav)which would have been the main water source in case the fort was besieged. Within the fort is the ruins of a mosque are the most conspicuous. It stands on at the highest point in the inner fort and is built in the Pathan style of architecture. The mosque has a square canopy with intricate stone lattice work and a seven arched façade. The mosque originally had two minarets, only one of which is intact today

There are several unrepaired breaches made by British guns, which remain to this day.

Achalpur Fort

2010-03-01T21:37:00.001-08:00

We had done a 12 fort trek in 3 days in the districts of Amravati , Akola and Buldhana from 26-28 Feb 2010 so the information about the forts will be added now in sequence. We started with the fort of Achalpur in Amravati district. Fort: Achalpur Type: Land Fort Base: Achalpur village (Amravati District - Maharashtra)
Grade: Easy

Route : Amravati - Velgaon - Achalpur (~50 kms )

We started from Pune on 25th Feb for the Vidharbh trek and reached Amravati the next day 26th Feb. We had hired a sumo to take us through all these places of the trek. The first fort on the circuit was Achalpur Fort.

It took about 1 hour to get to Achalpur from Amravati via Paratwada. We missed some turns and sometime later we were near the gates of the Achalpur fort. Achalpur also known as Ellichpur (by the British) was an important place and was located in the then Berar district (now Amravati). The fort is a land fort and most of it is gone to the modern civilization but some entrance doors, bastions and walls are still intact.

The gates of Achalpur Fort

Inside the fort now there is a city
The intact walls and bastions of Achalpur Fort

History : Achalpur was ruled by the Muslim Delhi Sultanate from 1294 and that is when the fort must have been constructed. From Achalpur we started for Gawilgad fort near Chikhaldhara and about 50 kms approx from Achalpur.

Dronagiri Fort

2009-09-14T01:27:00.000-07:00

Fort:Dronagiri
Height: 1001 feet above MSL
Base : Uran
Grade: Medium.

Dronagiri is a fort located near Uran in Raigad district. This fort was build in olden days and was captured by the Portuguese during their rule. It also houses a church on top of the fort built by the Portuguese.

We came to the base of Dronagiri after doing the Belapur fort. Uran is around 30km from Panvel by road. Once in Uran we get near the ST stand and then to Dahanu Nagar which is at the base of the mountain. ONGC has its main office in there at the base of Dronagiri. We asked for the route to get to the top of the fort and found that the route is to go ahead inside the nagar and then go up winding on the mountain.We started the trek to Dronagiri to get to the top. The route was very slushy due to the constant heavy rains pounding us continuously.

We got to the top in about 1 hour and there are lot of remnants on top to check out. The main door is a beauty and then there are remains of the church and a beautiful well.

My camera was damaged here due to entry of water inside it.

Belapur Fort

2009-09-13T23:55:00.000-07:00

Fort: Belapur
Type: Land
Location : Belapur - Navi Mumbai

This fort has only 1 of its bastions left and is located in Belapur (Navi Mumbai). This is located near the highway to Uran. This fort was supposed to be built by the Siddis of Janjira during 1560-1570. The British partially destroyed this fort. Nowadays only a bastion remains to be seen of the fort.

Sole bastion of the Belapur fort

Sewree fort

2009-09-13T23:28:00.000-07:00

Fort: Sewree fort
Location : Sewree (E) - Mumbai
Type: Sea fort.

Route: Dadar (TT) -> Khodadad Circle -> Wadala (E) -> Godrej Foods -> Hindustan Petroleum (Sewree) -> turn right in front of Railway Gate -> ask for Colgate Company -> Fort is near a Dargah.

Some type of inscription describing when the fort was built

One of the room type structures inside the fort

The expanse of the Sewree fort
Old entrance to the fort

This fort was built in 1680 by the British to ward off attacks by the Siddhis of Janjira. This was basically used as a watchtower. Structures inside the fort have been renovated recently and hence we can see many intact things.

Worli fort

2009-09-13T23:16:00.001-07:00

Fort: Worli
Type: Sea fort
Location: Worli (south Mumbai)

The Bandra Worli Sea-Link bridge from the Worli fort

The Worli fort
The Worli fort entrance

This fort was built in 1675 by the British to keep a watch over the sea and to ward off enemies and pirates from the sea. It now houses a gym inside the fort. The above pictures seem to be of a facelifted fort done by some NGO and is not the actual fort. The actual fort lies just behind this one and is razed to the ground.

Mahim fort

2009-09-13T23:03:00.000-07:00

Fort: Mahim (Mahim cha Killa)
Type: Sea fort
Location: Mahim (W) - Mumbai.

The Mahim fort located in Mahim Bay

Bastions of the Mahim fort
Ruins inside the fort
One of the doors of the fort opening into the sea

This fort is located on the seashore near Mahim(Mumbai). It is currently in dilapidated condition and slums have made their way into the fort. Most of the walls are in crumbling condition. This fort is supposed to be built as early as 1716 or before when Portuguese tried to capture this fort from the British. The area around this fort is strewn with garbage, excreta and what not making it a bad place. The Archeological Survey of India has done nothing to restore this fort.

Dharavi Fort (Kala Killa)

2009-09-13T22:51:00.000-07:00

Fort: Dharavi (also known as Kala Killa)
Type: Land fort
Location : Sion (E) - Dharavi Slums (Mumbai)

Route: Sion circle (turn right to Sion railway station) - cross to Sion east and ask for Kala Killa (near Hanuman Seva Mandal)

The plaque on the fort describing the details

The walls of the fort

Some remnants of structure on top of the fort
A tunnel on top of the fort - this goes to sion fort as per locals (myth or reality?)

This fort is also known as Riwa fort and was built in 1669-1677. This was built by the British as a watchtower. Not many people know of the existence of the fort inside the slum. Although many of the structures are in good condition.

Sion fort (Shiv cha Killa)

2009-09-13T22:39:00.000-07:00

Fort : Sion (also known as Shiv cha Killa)
Location: Sion (west - Mumbai)
Type: Land fort

It was built by the British Governor of Bombay Gerard Aungier atop a conical hillock. The fort was built between 1669 and 1677 (source : Wikipedia). To get to this fort one has to goto Sion (west) (near Sion Circle - Mumbai) cross Sion circle and go towards Dadar. Turn left after the first signal and ask for Jawaharlal Nehru Park (udyan). The way to the fort goes via this park. It is a small fort in dilapidated condition and nothing much to see on top. However the view of the surrounding areas gives an idea behind the strategy of building this fort.

Thane Fort

2009-09-13T22:36:00.000-07:00

Fort: Thane
Type: Land fort
Location: Thane city (Mumbai)

This fort is located near TalavPaali near Court Naka in Thane city. Locals do not know about this fort and this fort is converted into a Central Jail now and one cannot go inside to have a view. We saw this fort from the outside and got a view of the bastion. Nothing much known about the fort.

Jivdhani Fort

2009-09-13T22:31:00.000-07:00

Fort : Jivdhani (better known as Jivdhani temple)
Grade: Easy
Base village: Virar (Mumbai Western)

Route: Thane->Ahmedabad highway->Virar (50 km)

This fort is located in Virar and is a temple now, a famous one of Jivdhani devi. It takes around 40 mins to get to the top via steps and there's nothing to see on top except the temple of Jivdhani Devi. No fort remains on top as most of it is gone in the reconstruction of the temple. Takes hardly 1 hour to go and come back.

Dativare (Sea fort) visit

2009-09-13T21:58:00.000-07:00

Fort: Dativare
Type: Sea fort
Base village: Dativare

Route:
1. Thane->(Ahmedabad highway) Varai Phata->Tandulwadi->Safale->Dativare(75 km approx)

This was the 4th fort in the trek series and the first one today. As this was a sea fort we had ample time. We started from our base at Kelve in the morning at 6:30am and were on our way to Dativare via Safale.

Dativare is a small village on the west coast with a population of about 1500 odd. The Portugese had built a fort here when they ruled the coast here. However this fort is not known to many people including the locals.

We reached Dativare at around 8am and asked for the fort. First people looked at us like what we were asking as no one knew the fort existed here. Then they directed us to a talav and rocky structures nearby. We went near the talav and it was bliss there with Lotuses in the water and there were queer rocky structures where there was a temple.

After seeing the temple we went on ahead to check out the actual fort , nobody knew of the existance of such a fort here but some local boys told us that there is some fort wall which they can show. We went with them to check out and indeed there was the only sole remaining structure of the fort, a wall.

After seeing this we started back to check out the other fort Jivdhani near Virar.

Tandulwadi fort trek

2009-09-13T21:29:00.000-07:00

Fort: Tandulwadi
Base : Tandulwadi Village (Thane district).
Height: 1900 feet above MSL
Grade: Medium

Route:
1. Thane->Varai phata->Tandulwadi (60 km)
2. Waghoba Khind -> Lalthane -> Tandulwadi (12 km).

We reached Tandulwadi from base of Kaldurg in about 30 mins. It was raining heavily now. Tandulwadi was a small village with the fort behind the village at some distance. We hired two guides to take us up the fort and come down as the route was via forested path and we didnt want to lose our way.

With the rain pelting down we started our trek at 3:30pm and at first it was ascent for 10 mins and then there was a clearing from where we got a good view of the fort on top. Continuing ahead it was continuous climb for around 25 more minutes and we reached one more clearing from where the fort seemed near but it was a very steep climb ahead. This was a supposed short cut to the fort.

Tandulwadi fort from base village

Tandulwadi fort after initial climb

We reached one more clearing ahead after a steep climb and some of us were hungry so we had chivda and water , refreshed ourselves and continued ahead where there was a rock patch which we climbed up without any problem and continued ahead. After some more steep climb we saw the bastion of the fort through which we came on top of the fort. On top we saw a series of water tanks which were full of water. It was raining on top too and nothing could be seen nearby due to the clouds.

After seeing the water tanks we inched ahead to the other way to get down which is supposed to be a long way but easy one. On the route we saw one more water tank with cool, crystal clear water in it and had our fill. We started climbing down from the other route. The route was full of waterfall stones and the rain water over it made life hell for us but it was easier than the route we climbed. We reached Tandulwadi village in about an hour and changed our clothes and got into the vehicle to get to the night halt for the day.

This was a nice trek indeed.

Kaldurg Trek

2009-09-13T21:09:00.001-07:00

Fort: Kaldurg
Base : Waghoba Khind on road to Palghar (from Manor)
Grade : Medium
Height: 1547 feet above MSL.

Route:
1. Thane -> Manor -> Waghoba Khind (stop) route ahead goes to Palghar.
2. Varangade -> Kokner -> Waghoba Khind

This was the second fort of the day after Asawa and we left Varangade by 10.15am. We took the route to Kokner and the road of 10km was bad to worse and in about 45 mins we reached Kokner phata from where we turn right for Waghoba Khind. We could see Kaldurg's rocky structure from far away in fog. The rain too had now stopped and we prayed it shouldnt start for long as we wanted to trek Kaldurg.

Kaldurg in Clouds:

I had done Kaldurg before with friends and given my leg condition I didnt want to do it however I decided I would take a call at the base. We reached Waghoba Khind in about 45 min by 10.45am and there was a shop there where we ordered tea and had breakfast of bread / butter / jam and tea. Once refreshed I took the decision of not going up as I didnt want to get more cramps so I stayed back at the base and as I had done the fort before didnt want to do it again.

The route for Kaldurg goes from behind the Waghoba temple. Its an easy 1 hour walk to the top. On top there are a few steps , a temple of devi, some water tanks.

As I was at the base I decided to explore the temple and surrounding area.The temple had a nice shivling near it. The temple was dedicated to Waghoba. Not sure what exactly does that mean but its an incarnation of God Shiva.

Some distance ahead on the road I chanced across an amazing waterfall which was flowing in full glory. It was nice to see the waterfall and I sat nearby for some time listening to the sound of water and enjoying the nature nearby. Some time later drops of rain started coming down and I walked back to the temple. There were a few police officials there who were talking to me just like that to while away their time. They were talking about their experiences in their jobs and I had a good time chatting with them.

The others who had gone to the top came back in about 2 hours and we started for Tandulwadi fort our 3rd and last for the day. Its coming in the next blog.

Asawagad Trek

2009-09-13T20:40:00.000-07:00

Fort: Asawa
Base Village: Varangade
Height : 1587 feet above MSL
Grade: Easy

Route: Thane->Ahmedabad Highway->Tarapur phata->Chillar->Varangade (75km)

We had gone on a mega trek of 14 forts in 3 days during last weekend of August. The first of them was Asawa fort. We started from Pune on Thursday night and had the plan to reach Varangade the base village of Asawa in the morning by 4am and rest and then on daybreak trek up the fort and come down. However due to the monsoon activity coming up in September , we encountered heavy rains on the way and the rains wont relent at all. We saw huge traffic jams on the NH4 and prayed that NH8 (Ahmedabad highway) shouldn't be like that.

We reached Thane at around 1am and continued ahead. It was raining very heavily , we connected to the Ahmedabad highway and continued. In between after Ghodbunder we had some snacks of Vadapav and Tea to refresh ourselves and continued. The highway roads were bad at some places due to the rain and hence our driver had to continuously check out the roads and keep speeding at bay. Adding to that the rain was relentless and didnt stop at all. We reached Chillar phata from where we take a turn to Varangade the base of Asawa. We turned and asked and found that Varangade is around 10km from here.

We reached Varangade at 4am and stopped. Due to the rain there wasnt an inch of dry land here and also there was no school in here to sleep so we had a problem. There was a factory here (Viraj) and we asked the guard about any place to sleep and he said there isn't any place. So we all slept in the sumo and it was uncomfortable to sleep but we did. Around 6.30 I woke up to find the rain still pouring on but the sun had risen. We looked towards the left side and checked out if we could see Asawa and we could see a hill from here and it resembled Asawa as seen in the photo.

Asawa fort from base village Varangade

We went towards the village and asked a person who told us that there is a temple on top of the hill and he knew that but he didnt know of any fort. Usually people in the village associate a hill to the temple and usually if you ask fort they dont know. So we went inside the village the road to which goes after the company ends to the left. We asked someone for the Mahadev temple and they told us that hill which we saw in the morning which confirmed that it was indeed Asawa. So we asked one villager for the route and by now the rain had stopped. So it was good. We trudged on the path ahead which the villager pointed out and continued. To reach Asawa we had to climb one hill before it and continue to the fort ahead.

We started our trek at 8.15am in the morning and continued. The climb was not hectic so we made good time and continued ahead.We reached the top almost by 9am and I didnt go on top but I could see the bastion of the fort. My legs got some cramps and I stayed some distance below. On top one can see bastion, water tanks and the temple. Nothing much on top.

Others came back in about 15 mins from top and we continued back down. We reached the base village in about 45 mins and by 10 we were near our vehicle. We started for the second fort of the day Kaldurg which was about 15 km from here.

Panhala and Vishalgad Trek

2009-08-18T20:24:00.000-07:00

Fort : Panhala
Base village : Panhala
Height : 3177 feet (above MSL)
Grade : Easy
Region: Kolhapur

Fort: Vishalgad
Base village: Vishalgad / Gajapur
Height : 3630 feet (above MSL)
Grade : Easy
Region: Malkapur

This was a long awaited trek from many years and came true when i was talking to Rohit and he told me that they planned to do it on the weekend of 14-15-16 August 2009. I was interested and got bookings by Sahyadri to Kolhapur and started the journey on 13th August night from Pune.

We reached Kolhapur in the morning at 6am. The trekkers were Rohit , Anu , Parag , Hemant, Pinak , Tanmaya , Sameer and me. Stuff was distributed among all of us to be carried. We walked upto the Kolhapur ST stand which is hardly 5 mins walk from the Railway station. On arriving there post enquiries we found that the first bus to Panhala was scheduled at 7.45am so we decided to get autos to Panhala at 200/- bucks per auto instead of waiting upto 7.45am. We had a quick breakfast at the ST canteen which consisted of pohe, upma and chai.

We boarded the autos and were on the way to Panhala. Panhala is about 20km from Kolhapur city and is located on the road from Kolhapur to Ratnagiri (NH-204). We need to take a diversion from the NH at a village called Waghbil. We reached Panhala without any problem by 8 am. There was a thick mist shrouding Panhala and it was somewhat cold now. We had planned to see the fort in 3 hours upto 11am and then proceed to the route of Vishalgad via the Pusati Buruj of Panhala.

Just to give an idea we were to trek the route from Panhala to Vishalgad a distance of about 65 odd kms. The significance of the route is such that when Siddi's troops laid a siege on Panhala in the 17th Century Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj had escaped from this route to Vishalgad not before losing his able aide Baji Prabhu Deshpande who fought bravely at Pavankhind (a pass in the mountains) so that Maharaj would get safely to Vishalgad. This tale of bravery and the beauty of the route spurs on many enthusiasts to do the route and thus pay obesiance to the warriors of the yesteryears.

Statue of Bajiprabhu Deshpande

Andaarbaav on Panhala

There is a statue of Baji Prabhu Deshpande at Panhala and we paid our tributes to the great warrior here. We started our tour of Panhala post freshening up and filling up our bottles with water. We first saw the Andhaarbaav , a three storeyed well type structure and went ahead. We saw the Parashar cave (guha) where supposedly sage Parashar had meditated in olden times. Going ahead we saw typical temples and bastions on the fort. We also saw the Veer Shiva Kashid samadhi , Shiva Kashid was a lookalike of Maharaj Shivaji raje and he sacrificed his life by letting himself get captured by the Siddi's troops and posing as Shivaji Maharaj so that Maharaj could safely get away.

Parashar cave on Panhala

There are a lot of temples and lakes on top of Panhala , Someshwar Talav is one of them.We could see Pavangad - sort of sister fort to Panhala from Panhala on the other side. We saw the Sajja Kothi (royal palace of the olden times) and then we went to the tabak udyan (garden). This garden is located inside the fort and was part of it from olden times. After visiting tabak udyan we visited the Ambarkhana (granary) and some other structures there. Finally we visited the Teen Darwaza a series of 3 doors through which you enter the fort from the other side. After all this we walked our way to the Pusati Buruz from where the route to Vishalgad starts. It was roughly 11.15am when we reached the route and waited for others to join in.

Pusati Buruj of Panhala from where the route to Vishalgad starts

We started on this route down Panhala with others. The first village on this route is Turukwadi as soon as you get down Panhala. From here the route gradually ascends to Mhalunge village and onto the Mhasai Pathar. Disaster struck me before Mhanlunge. While negotiating a path filled with stones my ankle twisted so badly that I could not walk without pain. I took a decision there that I couldn't walk the whole 60 km ahead without inconveniencing others so i told other to continue and i would return back to Panhala and get to Vishalgad and meet them. This was the saddest moment for me on the trek to come so far and not be able to do the famed route. Such is fate.

I returned back to Panhala limping in about 2 hours to catch a bus and the others continued on the journey. Coming back to Panhala I had lunch and took a bus to Kolhapur for the day and stayed at Kolhapur. Next day morning I decided to goto Vishalgad by bus and then meet the others who come by the trek route.

Vishalgad from Base

Steps to top of Vishalgad

Morning I got the 6.45 bus for Vishalgad from Kolhapur ST stand and it reached Vishalgad via Malkapur at 9.45am. I went to top of Vishalgad by steps. The fort is a huge place and is located in a strategic area. However people live on top of the fort making the fort dirty. There is also a famous dargah on top of the fort where people from far off places come and pay their respects. This fort contains the mahadev temple , amruteshwar temple , ganesh temple and the samadhis of Baji Prabhu Deshpande and Fulaji Prabhu Deshpande brother of Baji. After seeing all these points I came back to the base and waited for the others to join in. However they were not to be seen so I decided to get back to the point where the trek ends at Pandhrepani. I got a bus immediately from here and went to Pandhrepani. By then heavy showers had started.

I waited at Pandhrepani for almost an hour but finding no sight of the others decided to take the bus back to Kolhapur as I wasn't sure when they would reach here as there was no network too to call them up. I reached Kolhapur at 3pm and immediately visited Mahalaxmi temple and came back to the bus stand. I decided to return back to pune now as I wasnt sure when the others would come back. So leaving a message to the others I started for home by Asiad bus and reached home by 11.30pm in the night.

Although the trek didnt happen as it had to but i could do something and the views of both the regions was too good. I will do the route sometime surely.

Padmadurg - Samrajgad

2009-04-26T22:43:00.000-07:00

Fort: Samrajgad
Base village: Ekdara (Murud)
Type : Hill fort

Fort: Padmadurg
Base village: Murud
Type: Sea fort

Had gone on the weekend of 25-26 April 2009 to visit Padmadurg (Kasa killa) with Vinay from Chakram. This was a private sort of trek and Vinay had called me if I would like to join for which I couldn't say No because I wanted to do Padmadurg from a long time and it wouldnt be easy to do it on own.

When I had visited Janjira last time , the guide had shown us Padmadurg from one of the windows of Janjira and had mentioned that this was built by Shivaji Maharaj to wage a campaign against Janjira. The fort of Padmadurg is around 4km inside the sea making it difficult to visit it and boats do not ply to Padmadurg because its too far and only on special request do boats ply there.

I started from Pune on 25th night for Murud on bike. The others would start from Mumbai for Murud. The going was easy with almost no traffic and I covered the distance upto Murud in about 2.5 hours (184km) and reached Murud at 2.30am in the morning of 26th April. The others would still take time as they would reach around 3:45am so I found refuge in a temple "Koteshwari Devi Temple" near Murud.

The others came in around 4am and we directly went to Rajpuri from where we were to get the boat. As it was 4am we slept for about an hour and a half near the temple and then everyone woke up. We had tea at the boatmans place (Kunbi koli) and it was followed by a round of breakfast , sumptous bread / butter / chutney and biscuits. After having our fill we started for Padmadurg fort visit with the boat man and his sons.

One more good thing was we had Sadanand Apte kaka with us , Kaka is learning history of forts and knows a lot about forts and its always good to know the history of forts when we visit. We finally went upto the Rajpuri jetty and the boat came in. It was a dual cylinder fishing boat and we all got inside not before everyone got their share of fright of falling into the water.

We started towards Padmadurg , in between we saw Janjira fort , the stronghold of the Siddhi's for a long time. The history states that the Siddhi's controlled the land from the Kundalika river to the Savitri river near Harihareshwar during their rule and were never defeated. Siddhi's were basically Abyssinians (current Eithopia) and had come here by sea. They built Janjira on the island and made it very strong and controlled the sea and land from here.

One history heard from Apte kaka was that Siddhi's came by sea-route to India on the west coast. However the island on which Janjira stands was occupied by Koli's at that time and it was a stronghold of Koli's. Siddhi's captured that island with treason by asking shelter to the Koli's there and then feeding them wine and then killing them.

Shivaji Maharaj waged a losing battle against the Siddhi's but he could not capture Janjira anytime. Shivaji Maharaj built Padmadurg to keep a check on Siddhi as he could not let Siddhi rule with oppression. Padmadurg was built around 1675 by Daulatkhan (an architect) and was in the control of Marathas until 1698 when Siddhi captured it and ruled it until the end.

The main fort of Padmadurg

The boat was rocking and we were approaching Padmadurg. The fort is divided into 3 parts. The main fort , the padkot (or the supporting fort) and the retaining wall of the fort. We reached Padmadurg and got off , the boat was rocking strongly as high tide was setting in and we got down with difficulty.

The sea door (darya darwaza) of Padmadurg

We came to the door of Padmadurg known as Darya Darwaza (or the door facing the sea). We could see what the sea had made of Padmadurg by lashing its waves on the structure but the cementing material keeps the wall still intact after so many centuries. We went around the fort to the main door and to the padkot where Apte kaka read out a letter from Shivaji Maharaj to Jivaji Vinayak who was responsible for providing logistics for building Padmadurg. The fort of Padmadurg is still in somewhat intact condition.

The padkot of Padmadurg

The main fort of Padmadurg (inside)

The route to top of one of the bastions of Padmadurg

We then saw the retaining wall (the 3rd part of the fort) which has withstood the ravages of the sea and protects against lashing waves. There are some barracks in here constructed by the indian customs dept who had their base here until some years ago. We then went inside the main fort area. The fort area consists of many structures and 3 water tanks and some store rooms.We made a round of the inside of the fort first and then went to the top bastions. There were a lot of cannons lying around the fort, a total of 47 in rusted state. This showed how the protection of the fort was carried out.

After visiting almost all parts of the fort and post some photosessions we started back our return journey. The return journey was uneventful and we came back safely to Rajpuri. We then started off towards Samrajgad , a relatively unknown fort built by Samraj Pant the lieutanent of Shivaji Maharaj. This fort was built to carry out planning of the campaign of the capture of Janjira which was never done. This fort fell to the Siddhi's in 1675 and that was the end of the Janjira campaign.

Part of retaining wall of Samrajgad

There is a small double wall showing that Samrajgad existed sometime at this place. From the top we can clearly see Janjira to the left and Padmadurg to the right. No notable structures exist on the top. After doing Samrajgad we came down to the base village of Ekdara and started to Murud for lunch at Patil's inn. After a sumptous lunch of konkani delicacies we started back. The others planned to do Revdanda fort but I planned to return home fast as I was on bike so started back at 2.30pm and reached back home by 5.30pm.

Nice trip and trek. Great history.

Purandhar - Vajragad Trek

2009-03-15T22:52:00.000-07:00

Fort : Purandhar
Base village : Narayanpur (Saswad)
Height: 4520 feet (above MSL)
Grade : Easy

Fort : Vajragad
Base village : Narayanpur (Saswad)
Height : 4444 feet (above MSL)
Grade : Easy

This weekend (14 March 09) Purvesh was to come to Pune. So we decided on a trek to Purandhar and Vajragad near Narayanpur (Saswad). So we (me,purvesh,sharayu,vikram and chaitanya) decided to go for that. Purvesh and Chaitanya were to come from Dombivali on Saturday morning. Saturday morning as usual was 5.30 am wakeup and then left for Chaitanya's place in Kothrud at 6.45 as Purvesh promised he would be there by 7.15am. Reached Chaitanya's place but no sign of Purvesh and Chaitanya so picked up Chaitanya's home keys from a friend of his and went into his home. Purvesh called up saying they were at lonavala at 7.30 so they would take around an hour to be here. Damn! these guys never follow the time. So waited for them. They arrived around 9am and we started for Purandhar around 9.40am via Chandani Chowk - Katraj - Khed Shivapur - Kapurhol - Ketkawle - Narayanpur.

We could see the fort coming into view from before Narayanpur and then turned to go up the fort from the Narayanpur temple. The road ahead was very bad with stones lined up and steep however we made it and that too pillion. The bike rocks. :), the weather too was cloudy today and the sun was obscured due to this so it was perfect trekking weather.

We first saw the Bini Darwaza on the Purandhar machi and stopped there for photos. Then we parked our bikes near the Purandeshwar temple and went to see Purandhar first. Vajragad was visible from here. The route to the top of Purandhar is easy , we did shortcuts and reached the door quite fast. The first door is known as Dilli Darwaza. There are 2 more doors ahead. We first took the left side of the fort which is a passage to the Khandakada (on the left end). There are huge cacti on the fort due to no maintenance there. The views from the Khandakada are amazing. Coming back we entered the right portion of the fort where many remnants are situated and many water tanks. We visited the Balekilla of the fort which is supposed to be the birthplace of Sambhaji Maharaj. Coming back we went to the Shiv temple which is on the topmost part of the fort, on the way we saw Kalyan Darwaza , another entry into the fort from the Konkan region.

Once near the temple we had a nice lunch of theplas and parathas thanks to Vikram and Chaitanya. Once done we started back to the base for Vajragad. We were at the base in around 10-12 minutes and after having Nimbu sarbat started for Vajragad.

In between we saw the statue of Sambhaji Maharaj. Going ahead we took the route to Vajragad. The route to Vajragad is simple and we reach the main door of the temple in about 20 minutes from the base. Once there we sat for around 5-10 minutes and went inside. Vajragad is small as compared to Purandhar. Once inside on top we saw the Balekilla. In good times it must have been amazing, now there are only huge rocks there and broken. Going ahead we saw the 2nd level of the fort where there are 2-3 potable water tanks full of water and 2 temples one of Vajra Maruti (Hanuman) and the other of Shiva. Going ahead we have the bastion of the fort and at the end another bastion from where the views are awesome around. We can also see the Mastani Talav (Lake) far off.

Coming back we started for the base and came down in about 20 minutes. Again had a glass of Nimbu sarbat and started back for Pune around 4.30pm in the evening. Again post the bad road we hit good roads and with that good speeds came on. We were in Kothrud around 6.10pm. Nice trek and amazing forts.

Some history of the fort

(History)

Vajragad was one of the 23 forts given to Mughals in Purandar treaty in 1665. It was won back in 1670. After Shivaji Maharaj’s death, it was lost to Mughal and they named it as “Ajamgad”. Again in 1695, Shahu Maharaj won it and handed over the control to Peshwas. It is also called “Rudramal”. It’s height from sea level is about 4444 ft (~1355 m). Vajragad and Purandar are sibling forts very near to Pune (about 30-35 Kms). Its mythological name is “Indraneel Parvat”. As per Hindu mythology, when Lord Hanuman attempted to carry “Dronagiri” mountain range, a portion of it slipped off his hands and fell down to form “Indraneel Parvat”. There is a Siva Temple in the base village of these forts, “Narayanpur”, called “Narayaneshwar”. This temple is said to be from the days of “Pandavas”. Purandar and Vajragad always had a demanding place in Maratha Empire as Purandar was Capital of Peshwas for many years.

Ghargad - Bahula Trek

2009-03-09T06:41:00.000-07:00

Fort1 : Ghargad aka Gadgada
Base Village: Ghargad Sankshi
Height: 3180 ft (above MSL)
Grade: Difficult (need technical climbing)

Route:
From Mumbai - take mumbai nashik road - ghodbunder - kalyan - kasara - igatpuri - vadhiware phata - vadhiware - ghargad sankshi (approx 150km)
From Pune - take pune nashik road - sangamner - bhandardara - ghoti - (join mumbai nashik highway) - vadhiware phata - vadhiware - ghargad sankshi (approx 220-240 km).

Fort2: Bahula
Base Village : nearest is Ambe Bahula
Height: 3120 ft (above MSL)
Grade: Easy

Did a trek with Chakram Hikers on 7-8 March 2009. Saurabh and Purvesh had done a trek previously with them and reported good feedback so decided to go for Ghargad and Bahula with them. They are offbeat forts located near Nashik. We (me and Sau) decided to goto Dombivali and join Purvesh and then go for the trek. Plan was to go on bikes from there.

Morning we woke up at 5.15am and post freshening up and calling up Mangesh Deshpande (the leader) that we would meet at the main junction at Kalyan - Nashik road we started at 6.15am only to find Sau's rear tyre punctured. We decided that Sau would take the jeep with the others and me and Purvesh go on the bike. We reached the junction at 6.45am and found the others waiting. Sau then went into the jeep and we went on our bikes. This was NH3 with heavy truck traffic and many diversions as it was being converted into a 4 lane highway.

The going was good as we were on bikes we could easily manuevor between trucks and vehicles fast ahead. It was decided to stop at Latifwadi post Kasara for breakfast. We reached Latifwadi at around 8am and had a nice breakfast of paratha , misal and chai at the same time i got to know the Chakram members.

Post breakfast it was the bad kasara ghat where it was a jam of slow moving trucks and 4 wheelers. But being on the bike has its advantages of going fast bypassing these slow guys. Post kasara ghat the highway was a beauty and I reached igatpuri in no time and further to Ghoti phata. Waited for the jeep to catch up and then trailed the jeep to Vadhiware phata and then to Ghargad Sankshi village. It was 11am now. We parked our bikes at a tree some distance ahead and took water and only pouches and kept the bags in the jeep. The route to the fort was easy and going ahead we reached the first part where there was a well with a shiv temple under the tree. Post some water break we started ahead to climb , Ghargad is a rocky fort and the route to the base is very easy. The sun was shining hard now. Post going to the base we had to traverse to a point from where the rock climb was to begin. Ghargad steps are blown off hence around 125 feet of rock climbing needs to be done to climb to the top. Rope needs to be fixed there for safety.

Reaching the point of the climb we stopped there listening to anecdotes from Vinay, Kiran , Sachin, Uday et all and laughing. Zahir , Anju and Mangesh lead the climb to the top to fix ropes. One by one all of us started for the climb. The climb was not so easy. The first patch is of around 10-12 feet and easy. The 2nd part is a little dicey where you need to get on top through a crack and holds are less, you need to press both ur hands to lift your body up. Here i wasted around 10 mins getting up and realised that I need to reduce my weight if i need to do such climbs easily. Going ahead there is a vertical rock with good hand and foot holds about 20 feet high , climbing that I almost reached the top where Zahir was belaying and Sau,Purvesh, Vinay were there. The top of the fort is almost barren except for some remnants. There are about 6-7 water tanks on top out of which only 4 hold potable water. There are some remnants of structures on top and nothing else. The fort offers a good view of Dangya pinnacle , Pahine pinnacle and some other unknown forts from top.

There is a old entrance below which there are steps ending in mid air. This must have been the actual entrance in old days before the retreating British devastated them. Everyone was on top around 4.30pm and we had our lunch on top comprising of theplas, chapati bhaji, chunda, humus (arabian dish thanks to sachin) and others including sandwich.

We were to rappel down from the entrance. The rappel session was also exciting and we reached the base by 5.45pm. Going down the sun was just setting and we went to our bikes and post everyone coming and getting into the jeep we started for Ambe Bahula village. Reaching Vadhiware phata we had a break of chai/cold-drinks and we needed to go ahead 4-5 towards Nashik to get to Ambe Bahula village. Some 4-5 km ahead there is a right which had a board proclaiming "Ambe Bahula" getting inside around 1-2 km we reached the village and found refuge in the school thanks to a kind villager who offered us water too.

Post settling down we had a nice dinner of khichdi thanks to Mangesh / Anju and Nitin. The night was uneventful and sleep came easily , it became a little cold towards the morning and we all woke up at 6.30am and post freshening up had a nice breakfast of upma/chai and started for the base of Bahula Fort. Some one from the village volunteered to get us to the phata from where we had to turn for the fort. We again go onto the highway and went towards Mumbai and some 3-4 km ahead there was a left turn of kaccha road going in. Some 2-3 km of road was no-road and the bike lurched but carried on. Some distance ahead there was a tar road! we went ahead and post some investigations put the bike into the no-road , off roading was nice and we kept our bikes and the jeep just in front of the fort some distance ahead.

Going up the fort was very easy but there was scree in the middle but there wasnt any problem.There was a water tank just from where the climb path started. We went ahead and the sun was shining now but the going was easy. We had to get into the col and turn right for the fort. Going ahead we had a tricky rock patch which was small. Some distance ahead we could see the massif of Bahula and a cave. Going ahead there were more caves where one can stay. The cave was clean. Some distance ahead there was a crack in the wall which had steep steps going up. There are good handholds to hold while going up. Going up we were on top. The top is very small with 2 dry water tanks. One interesting thing is that this fort is in the firing range of the army at Devlali who practice artillery and gun firing here so army permission is needed but we didnt have any such thing but there wasnt anyone who stopped us. We also found a big artillery shell on top which was unexploded , everyone was posing with the shell and we had group photos and introductions with everyone there.

Post that we started descending down ,the going over the steep steps was slow but we anyway made it , going ahead over the scree was slow and me and purvesh were last climbing down. We were down by 11.20am and had biscuits and jaljira and started back. We had to do Kavnai fort now but I opted to go to Pune skipping it. Took Kiran pillion upto the highway and stopped for 5 mins and then everyone came. Going ahead I took leave after talking to Mangesh I started back to Pune via Ghoti - Bhandardara - Rajur - Kotul - Bhramanwada - Bota - Alephata - Narayangaon - Pune. I took a lunch break before Narayangaon and reached home by 5pm. Nice trek and ride. But missed Kavnai though.

Jivdhan - Naneghat trek

2009-03-01T21:18:00.000-08:00

Fort : Jivdhan
Height : 3754 feet (above MSL)
Base Village: Ghatghar
Grade: Hard

Place: Naneghat (it is a pass)
Height: 2800 feet (above MSL)
Grade : Easy

Route: Pune -> Nashik Phata -> Chakan -> Narayangaon -> Junnar -> Aaptale -> Chavand -> Ghatghar (approx 105-110 km)

This trek was in planning for a long time. Every time someone or the other was not there and hence it was cancelled. This weekend (28Feb-1March 2009) people were enthu for this trek hence we decided to do it. The trekkers were : Me, Sau, Sachin, Chhaya, Amey,Sarang , Abhijit,Som,Sam,Vikram and Sharayu. The plan was to start at 6.30 am from Nashik Phata and I was as usual there by 6.15am. Som had arrived there by bus from Hadapsar and he was my pillion.

Vik and Sharayu arrived at 6.30 exact. Post some time Sac , Chhaya, Amey, Sarang, Abhijit and Sam too arrived at 7am. Started at 7am from Nashik Phata and we zoomed on towards Chakan where Sau was supposed to join from Talegaon.

Chakan was quickly covered. We were there around 7.30am and then post some hi etc started off towards Narayangaon , it was decided to stop at Narayangaon for breakfast. We hit Narayangaon at around 9am. Breakfast was usual fare of poha,upma and chai. Post breakfast we turned off the highway to get to Junnar at 9.30am , the road from Narayangaon to Junnar is also nice and post Junnar we went straight past the statue of Shivaji Maharaj on the road to Aaptale. The roads ahead were somewhat broken and going ahead the last 10 odd km of the roads were pure hell with only stones / mud and like but the bike went ahead effortlessly though.

We arrived at Ghatghar the base village of Jivdhan at around 10.40am and after parking and securing our bikes at a house we started off for the fort. The fort looked formidable from below and we had to traverse some distance ahead to get to the stairs on top. The sun was shining on us and it was becoming hot. The region there is devoid of any green cover hence making the progress difficult. This fort was built in the Satvahan Era and has a quite of a history too.

Going ahead we had to climb a small hillock and get into the small dense forest on a path which takes you to the top to the steps. Going up was a pain in the sun and for the first time I was getting too tired due to the sun. I took a lot of breaks and at some point i couldnt continue ahead. I asked others to go ahead and lay down for 2-3 minutes and then mustering my will power went ahead and reached the steps. Going up was a pain for the first time in my trek experience due to the sun. Going ahead the steps are broken and some distance ahead there is a rock patch of 10ft which needs to be climbed because the steps are blown off here(done by the British in 1818). There are footholds and handholds in the rock for easy climbing to the top but care needs to be taken. The rock patch will be a nightmare in rainy season though. Going ahead we passed all our bags to the top.

I climbed on top of the rock patch quite easily and went ahead to some more steps and finally we reached the entrance of the fort where there is a big water tank inside a cave. Sitting in the shade was like heaven and venturing out in the sun was like hell but we had to get on top of the fort to the granary structure where we had to stay. Painfully trudging along I somehow reached the granary. Inside the granary it was like someone turned on the AC, it was cool and shady. The granary consists of many rooms inside but 2-3 rooms are accessible , the others are too dark to know whats in it and many openings are sealed here. Its unexplored. It was believed that it was a storehouse of grains during old days and the British destroyed this by burning it in 1818 , some inside rooms still contain a lot of ash.

Post some rest , we had a nice lunch of bread-butter, theplas et all and I lay down for sometime inside and slept for around 20-30 mins. It was decided than to take a round of the fort the see stuff. We started off for that. Some of the rock walls are amazing on top and still intact. There are a lot of ruins on top of structures. On the western side of the fort we can see Naneghat standing majestically and looks amazing. The Kalyan Darwaza (door) is on the western side of the fort and is another architectural marvel. I could only stare at these architectures which were built in the olden days when technology was not there.

Going ahead I saw the pinnacle of Vanarlingi (also known as Khada Parshi) , this pinnacle is seperated from the fort and stands at a height of 415 feet. It is an absolute delight for rock climbers and is quite difficult to climb upto the top. At its base there are many caves. This must have been part of the fort before I guess (nothing known though).

After seeing the pinnacle I could see a lot of monkeys near there hence I guess its known as the Vanarlingi. Coming back I saw Vik and Sharayu at the western side sitting on the rocks for the sunset. I too joined them and we sat staring at the amazing sunset , took a few photos. After sunset Vik and Sharayu went back via the hill and I went back round to the Kothi.

Post reaching the kothi we did some timepass and it was decided to have dinner soon as people were getting hungry. Post freshening up we sat on the open ground on top near the Kothi and had a nice time eating dinner and talking about many things. The topic veered towards animals and wild ones and how they come to drink water and they may also come here. People were getting afraid now as it was dark and the wild animal talk was going on :)

After a lot of discussions, singing and debates we finally set off for sleep inside the kothi. Post discussions everyone was in a state of fear thinking what if some animal comes in. We slept albeit that. Sleep was coming to me like anything as I was too tired. Others didnt sleep for sometime but eventually everyone slept.

Some or the other noise would make me get up and check what but it would turn out to be some one turning or some other noise. In the morning at around 5am , Vik who was sleeping by my side started shouting shuk shuk ... I saw someone standing in front and it was Som but he was having a shawl and looked at Vikram why he was shouting. Vikram was dreaming of "Stoneman Murders" before this and when he saw Som he imagined that Som was the character :). Post some laughs we slept again.

Everyone woke up at 6.30am to view the sunrise and fresh themselves. Post sunrise and snaps maggi was prepared hot and everyone gulped breakfast and packed things. Today we were to goto Naneghat and return back home. We started at 9.30am from the top , the sun was shining bright now. We got down to the Kalyan Darwaza and some others went to see the Vanarlingi pinnacle from the top. Post that we came to the Kalyan Darwaza and going ahead we started getting down. There is one small rock patch here about 8-9 feet in height but its ok. Everyone came down in about 20 mins with Sau and Sachin helping out the people. Going ahead there were broken steps and we need to turn left and go ahead on the trail.

The straight trail goes to the base of Vanarlingi pinnacle and there is a trail which goes down into the jungle below and towards Naneghat. Some enthu janta went to vanarlingi and some stopped at the turn including me. Others came in about 25 minutes and we started down via the rocky path and into the jungle below. It was still very hot and humid in the jungle even with a lot of trees. We came out of the clearing and started towards Naneghat , the sun was even brighter now and burning. We trudged towards Naneghat and reached there by 1pm and explored it.

Naneghat was a pass in the olden days where toll was collected and traders used to come into the region from Talkonkan. There is a well defined path which comes up. There are some caves with inscriptions at Naneghat and water tanks.

Post some snacks of bhakarwadi et all and drinking water we started for Ghatghar at 1.45pm , the sun was burning and we had to walk 4-5 km ahead to Ghatghar. I was tired but continued walking in the sun , we walked and walked and walked and reached Ghatghar at around 2.35pm. Post some freshening up at the handpump and collecting our bikes and some rest we started for Pune at around 3.30pm , the going over the bad roads was bad now as we were tired but we did it and when I hit the good road to Junnar it was like heaven. We stopped for 10 mins at Junnar for some cold drinks and started again at good pace for Pune. The highway was having too many vehicles on a sunday evening but we made good pace.

We stopped at Chakan for some chai et all and regrouping and after that bid farewell to all and i zipped off towards Nashik Phata. Reached Nashik Phata at 6.45pm and dropped off Som there who was to take a bus to Hadapsar from here. I reached home at 7.15pm.

This trek was amazing. Nice one but the climate is too hot now.

Chavand - Shivneri Trek

2009-02-22T22:40:00.000-08:00

Fort1: Chavand
Base village: Chavand
Height : 3490 ft (above MSL)
Grade : Easy

Fort2: Shivneri
Base village: Junnar
Height: 3500 ft (above MSL)
Grade: Very Easy

One thing I have learnt - never plan with people. Either they fizzle out or have some reason not to come on trek. This trek was no different. I had planned to go with Vik because Deep was not there. Purvesh and Saurabh were going to Ankai-Tankai and Hadbi chi shendi.

Morning I receive a call from Vik , he's not coming. I was angry for a moment but then realized that he must have a strong reason not to come. So undeterred , I started out all alone for the trek. The initial plan was to do Chavand and Hadsar but when I reached Junnar I realized that they are way away from each other so I decide to do Chavand first.

The bike ride upto Junnar was ok on the 2-lane Nashik Highway and then the turn from Narayangaon to Junnar. Went ahead to the road towards Ghatghar after confirming with sau on which road to go over phone , some distance ahead the road deteriorated. Was broken in many places and was being laid at many. However I chugged on. Some distance ahead I could see a hill to my right but I couldnt figure out if it was a fort , Sau had said the same thing, watch out for a hill to the right.

I went some distance ahead on the road and saw a board Chavand to the right , so entered right and ahead went into the village. Post enquiry I parked my bike at a place near some houses and started on the trek. Initially the trek winds up over a small hill and goes ahead from where I could see the iron railings on the rock cut steps. Reached that place and went up on the steps.

Steps are pretty steep but thanks to the railings we can hold and go up. Once up there is a small cannon on the steps which juts out and going ahead there is a plateau from where I could see the fort walls and more steps going up. Walking up the steps is tiring but once you reach the top the tiredness goes away and the eagerness comes in to explore the unknown ahead on top.

The main door is well hidden and intact. Post some photos entered the fort. There are a lot of ruins on top and steps still surviving. Going ahead I saw two trekkers from Talegaon who initiated a conversation with me and we exchange pleasantaries and went ahead. The views from top are amazing.

Going some distance ahead I saw the coolest sight , 7 water tanks arranged near each other full of water. Nice view. Taking some photos moved towards the other end of the fort. Nothing much , all barren top. Many water tanks. Made a move to goto the top end of the fort where there is a temple. The route to the top is pretty good but dont missed the main trail , the bushes are very pricky on the sides and stick to your clothes and may bruise you.

The temple is a small one with some remnants on its sides and a small idol of devi inside it. Post darshan I climbed down the hillock by a non conventional way and had a bad time in between the bushes but anyhow came down fast. I reached the door side once again. Post some photos and some lunch which my aunty had given and some self timer shots because I was alone started down to the village.

It was around 1pm now and the heat was searing , post some slips on the scree I came down safely into the village and to my bike and started back to Junnar. Gave lift to an old man enroute who had to go to a village around 5 km ahead. Going ahead I saw the Shivneri fort again so I thought why not visit it too so that this part will be done now.

At the Shivaji statue in Junnar I took the right and went ahead on the route to Shivneri. Shivneri is the birthplace of the great Maratha warrior , Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. Post some ghat road I reached the entrance and parked my bike.

The time read 1.30pm and it was very hot now. The initial climb onto the steps was torturous but I anyway made it to the main door and ahead it was flat plain walk for sometime. Going ahead more steps and stuff later reached the top of the fort. Looked like many people had come being a sunday and a weekend.

The top of the fort is renovated now leaving all old structures as it is and new pathways have been reconstructed. There is a new structure for a light and sound show on top. The water tanks Ganga and Jamuna are awesome and have amazing cool water. The heat on top was unbearable thanks to the sun beating down but however i went ahead.

Going ahead I came across the birthplace of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. This place is well known and seen by almost everyone in their history books. This place has a special aura around it. Something mysterious. Entering the building there is a narrow alley to get to the top where there is a small room and a balcony. Coming down just in front of the entrance there is a locked room , supposedly the place where the legend was born. I became emotional at this place. This is the place where the great warrior was born and spent his initial years.

Post that I went to see the kadelot tok where prisoners , thieves , murderers were pushed down the cliff as a punishment. The view from there is indeed heartstopping. Coming back , I came back to the parking took my bike. The heat had taken a toll on me now. Riding the bike and getting hit with some air gave some relief.

Started at around 3pm from there and post joining the highway reached home by 5pm. Nice day and nice trek indeed.

Rohida aka Vichitragad Trek

2009-02-15T22:59:00.000-08:00

Fort: Rohida aka Vichitragad aka Binicha Killa
Height : 3650 ft (above MSL)
Base village : Mankarwadi / Bajarwadi (near Bhor)
Grade : Easy

Deepak and me were deciding on a 1 day trek to some good place and we instantly said "Rohida". Rohida is a fort near Bhor and a nice one day trek. So it was decided we leave at 6am from Pune on 15th Feb 2008 and do the trek.

Started at 5.40am from home and picked up Deepak at IT park near Bopodi and went ahead to his friends room at Swargate. Vikas (Deepak's friend) joined in here and Tushar (old acquaintance from the VOF trek) too joined in. So me and Deep on my bike and Tushar and Vikas on Tushar's bike.

Tushar wanted cash so he was searching for an ATM but we didnt get any until Katraj and there we learnt that the old Katraj ghat was under repairs so we had to take the new bypass and backtrack upto the new bridge and ahead via the new Katraj tunnel. So off we went. The morning was chilly but not very much.

Going ahead and making good time we refueled and stopped at Natraj for breakfast. Breakfast was good with tea and I was full. Starting ahead we reached Kapurhol (the turn to Balaji temple) and turned towards Bhor (leaving the NH4 just after the HP petrol pump) and then we reached Bhor in about 20 mins. Wading through bad roads and narrow bylanes in Bhor we arrived at Shivaji Chowk from where we had to take the road to Mandhardevi enroute Mankarwadi the base village of Rohida.

Going ahead about 6 km there is a turn to the right through an arch clearly specifying Rohida 5km. The roads here are good. In some time we could see Rohida from the back, looked imposing now, post some photos went ahead. We passed Bajarwadi. Going ahead we found a small bus-stop for Mankarwadi and turned left from here , there are signboards here for Rohida fort.

Going in the village we kept our bikes at a villagers place. We also found out that there is ample place to sleep there in the temple if need be and we do a night trek.

We started climbing keeping the fort in the front , there is a clear path to climb up. After some distance we need to climb up a small hillock, do not climb from the side, make it on top of the hillock. We could see the front fortifications and the front door clearly now and the bastions on either side. Continuing ahead over loose stones and scree we reached the main door.

Most of the fort walls are gone but the bastions remain. The Raireshwar trust is rebuilding this fort with donations from many people to restore it to its past glory and also making people knowledgeable by distributing small books (Rs.10 each) about the history and stuff. Going inside the first door we found a second higher door ahead. The 2nd door is intact and has some carvings.

Entering the 2nd door and taking a right we can see the 3rd door and then we enter the fort. There is a flag fluttering bang in front of the door ahead. The 3rd door has some inscriptions on top of it.

Going ahead we have a board giving some information about the fort , on the left there is the Rohideshwar temple. Work is going on here to restore it and also create a garden in front and construct rooms on top to woo tourists. The area on top of the fort is quite small.

There are in total around 6-7 water tanks on the top but none of them is potable. All have green algae moss cover on top of them. On top it takes a max of 30 mins to roam about. Having done that and post some photos we came to the temple had darshan and came back to the 2nd door at about 11am to have some snacks. Post that we started climbing down to the base.

The climb down was uneventful and the sun had started burning but we made it in good time about 30 mins to the base and sat for some time had some more snacks and started for home at about 12.15pm.

Reached home about 3pm after having lunch on the way. Nice ideal 1 day trek!

Alang - Madan adventure

2009-01-29T03:50:00.000-08:00

Fort : Alang
Region : Igatpuri
Height : 4500 ft (above MSL)
Grade : Very Difficult

Fort : Madan
Region : Igatpuri
Base Village: Ambewadi
Height : 4842 ft (above MSL)
Grade : Very Difficult

I wanted to do these dream forts from a long time. Dream because they are the toughest forts in the Sahyadris to climb , involves rock climbing with ropes and they command an amazing view of the surroundings from their top.

We had a week off thanks to the company yearend off policy and trekdi co-incidentally scheduled a trek to Alang-Madan and I immediately jumped on it. Earlier I had thought of going for this trek with Nisarg Bhraman but as the schedule was cancelled by NB had to jump onto trekdi.

We started from Pune on 24th of Dec 2008 in the night at 11pm towards Ambewadi the base village or rather the base camp J, the route read Pune-Nashik Phata-Chakan-Rajgurunagar-Alephata-Narayangaon-Sangamner. We stopped in the night at Sangamner for tea and to relax our stiff limbs as the bus wasn’t so comfortable. Post that we turned towards Ghoti road from Sangamner town via Rajur – Akole - Shendi – Bari and ahead. We stopped at Vasali phata where 2 people from Mumbai had to join in with us as they were coming from Mumbai. The two guys joined in and we road on towards Ambewadi. The road to Ambewadi is narrow and steep at some places and the bus ambled along. We reached Ambewadi at 5.45am in the morning and took our sacks and started. The view of the 3 forts Alang-Madan and Kulang is amazing from here. They look daunting and formidable.

First we decided to get out from Ambewadi onto the track towards Madangad (the climb for the day) and stop at a popular odha for breakfast. I helped the experts to carry the sacks (equipments) some distance. We stopped but wait, there was no water in the odha, Shridhar kaka and Bhau expressed surprise at this as they had always seen the odha full. So we stopped there and collected water from everyone’s bottles into a pateli and Shridhar kaka made tea. Some guys went back into Ambewadi with the empty bottles to refill them. I started some photography there J

After sometime tea was done and prepared and we got our cups filled and drank hot chai and refreshed ourselves, breakfast of bread-butter-jam was out and we enjoyed ourselves. Until then Shridhar kaka along with Datta went to the village to get some porters to carry the luggage for the next 2 days. Villagers from Ambewadi usually volunteer as porters for a fee to carry luggage and show the way to trekkers as the routes to the top are quite confusing sometimes. They also stay on top for 2 days with the trekkers and guide them.

After breakfast we had to get to the route to Madangad and that involved walking for about ½ a km on the tar road, a boring task. Just as we were about the start walking a tractorwala came in and asked us if we wanted a lift , he had a trailer too so in we jumped and the ride was one of the most adventurous one as people were holding on to dear life as the tractor wala merrily drove the tractor like he was driving a sports car. Finally after the roller coaster ride we got down onto the path towards Madangad and waited for Shridhar kaka and Bhau to join us with the porters. They finally came and we started on towards the col of Alang and Madan to climb onto Madan our target for today.

The route was initially via a well trodden path amidst huge bushes and trees in the jungle and then via a water fall route of big rocks, loose scree. I managed to reach the col in good time and everyone else came in soon. The col is a small place from where if you go left you get onto the Alang traverse and if you go right you get onto the Madangad traverse. We had lunch of packed theplas at the col and batches of 4 people were going ahead to the Madan steps ahead. The traverse to Madan included walking round towards the other side from where there was a small rock patch of broken steps, finally going on to good steps and a clearing above where everyone was sitting. I got onto the path along with the last of the participants and reached the clearing. The steps were damn scary and narrow but I got on ahead.

The experts had already gone way ahead and fixed the ropes on the rock patch where rope was needed and people were slowly going on top one by one over the patch and finally over the top of Madangad. We sat at the clearing waiting our turn to go ahead to the rock-patch. The time ambled on, I reached the clearing at 2pm and it was 5pm now and im still at the clearing !! The rock patch was being negotiated slowly by some people and as the batch was huge (35 people) it took a lot of time for everyone to get up. Finally we got into our harnesses and given a go ahead to goto the rock patch. The path from the clearing goes ahead to a scary traverse where the rocks are broken and you need to hug onto the rock to get ahead, but a rope was fixed in here so we could go ahead safely. Ahead there are more narrow steps and then there comes the rock-patch about 30 feet in height. The place where the patch is had steps before which were blown off by the British troops who destroyed many forts and didn’t want people to go up that time. So if they hadn’t blown off the steps we could have easily gone up the fort but then the adrenaline wasn’t coming right ?

My turn came at 6pm and I removed my shoes as I wasn’t sure of my grip. I was clipped onto the rope and started climbing. I tackled the patch gingerly and went up the patch easily. Then stopped and took photos up and went ahead depositing the harness. The traverse ahead was easy but scree laden. The view from the traverse is amazing. Alang stands in front and the whole C shape of alang is visible from the traverse. There was a rope-line attached for help ahead at the end of the traverse because of scree and ahead there are rock cut narrow steps to get on top of Madangad. There are more and more steps until you come to the broken entrance of Madangad and a small cave there.

Climbing more steps ahead we got on the top of Madangad. There are 2 water tanks here out of which one is dry and the other is used for cleaning utensils. There is one more smaller tank which has potable water for drinking. We went ahead to the cave where everyone was sitting our shelter for the night. The cave is a big one which can house 40 people easily. Putting our baggages we sat down with relief. It was already dark and then we had hot tea and biscuits. A chilly wind was blowing and everyone got into their warm wear. I was talking to Aviram on a host of topics ranging from fitness to Everest. Sometime later we went into the cave and took out our sleeping mats and laid on it for some time to get some rest.

Dinner was called for now and we took out our plates and spoons and got hot steaming bhaji rassa thanks to Kadam Kaka and chapattis with that. Everyone formed groups and had their fill after which we immediately came inside and sat in the cave. The temperature in the cave was more hence we weren’t having any problem. After some more timepass almost everyone hit the sacks as everyone was tired. The night passed uneventfully except for occasional cold gusts of wind.

Got up in the morning at 5.30am and went to the top of Madangad to view sunrise. The horizon was aglow in orange and it looked awesome. The sun took its own time in coming up and the views were excellent. Kulang was bathed in golden rays of the sun and looked amazing. Kulang is the third fort in the region and offers the highest climb (6+ hours) in the Sahyadris, we weren’t going to do Kulang. After doing some photography we went over for breakfast of poha and chai and had a nice breakfast. After breakfast I went down to the water tanks to fill the bottles and came back and packed my stuff. In the meantime everybody was packing I took the opportunity and went down with my cam to photograph the Madan stairs and the entrance and get a self timer pic clicked on the Madangad stairs J, came back and saw everyone was ready to leave so took my bags and we started climbing down Madan

Everybody started getting down as we had to rappel down Madangad go over the whole damn steps down and through the col go ahead to the Alang climbing point. The initial rock cut steps were daunting and I climbed down ladder style as getting down normally wasn’t possible due to the sack and the inclination of the steps. Got down upto the scree patch and went ahead holding the small patch of rope and got to the rappelling point where there was a huge crowd of people waiting to rappel down. We sat down there as it was going to take time. Me and Rasika were discussing weird topics and laughing away. Finally my turn came about 1.5 hours later and I rappelled down the patch .Sridhar kaka was taking photos of everyone who were rappelling down and took mine too. I came down without any incident and went down the steps and gingerly tackled the scary traverse and came to the clearing and told everyone to move down as I was among the last of the participants. We went ahead again ladder style over the stairs down and then the final rock patch and to the traverse and the col. We started towards Alang climbing point from the col and went ahead.

In the middle there were amazing rock formation at Alang base , we reached the Alang climbing point in about 30 mins. The alang point has 2 patches, the 1st broken steps patch which is small , there is a iron wire the length of the small patch holding which we can go on top. Climbing to the top with a heavy sack is little dicey and you need to be careful even though it’s a small patch of broken steps. Once on the steps we went ahead to the main alang climbing point. This patch is around 45-50 feet in height and with very small holds , the experts had already fixed the rope upto the top and here as the holds were small the participants would be pulled up on a pulley but not altogether but the participant must also pull up and get holds on the rock to keep their legs so that it can help a person pulling you up because pulling up a person is difficult just like that.

People were slowly climbing this patch. I made the first mistake here of removing my shoes as I thought they won’t grip the small holds and then I volunteered to pull up some participants. During one such thing I hit my right toe hard against the rock ahead and immediately felt a jab of pain. My stars were good that I didn’t break the nail halfway or whatever else it would have been a very painful exercise for me and as I pulled up participants I was slowly losing my energy as pulling up something in weight requires a lot of stamina and strength. When my turn came , I eagerly climbed up to go but in a few seconds felt like my energy was gone and really it was gone. I couldn’t pull myself up on the rocks and couldn’t help the people pulling me as I lay still on the rope hanging. I however brought out my last ounce of my strength and pulled myself up on this patch with the help of the pullers down, mainly the experts Bhushan etc. I reached the top of the patch bruised and tired and sat down there for some time.

The route after the patch is pretty straightforward with steps going on top but the steps are huge and there’s a fall on one side so you need to climb them carefully but there are hand holds cut on each step so you can get up catching those holds, going further up there are a few broken steps and scree which needs to be negotiated carefully. Here ropes were fixed to help the participants. Once you cross the scree portion we get to a small way up and then we are on Alang. I finally got up and found that my toe was throbbing and the nail turning black. Damn!

Once on top I had to get to the caves on top which is around 20 mins walk from here. There are a few water tanks on the way and a shiva-linga. Getting up to the caves was a tedious task for me with the bruised toe and the sun was almost setting down in the west. I came to the cave weary and tired and put down my sack at an available spot and removed my shoes and rested for sometime and drank water. The caves are huge and can house around 40-50 people. There was another set of caves further ahead too. There is a water tank near the cave but it isn’t used for drinking just washing utensils.

The villagers who had come with us started fires on top of Alang saying that there are a lot of snakes on top. The fires raged for sometime and we all were looking at it and they formed rings like in the Lord of the Rings. In sometime the fires were gone and the whole place on top was black soot.

We found a dead snake in the water tank near the cave and then realized that the villagers were correct. Sometime later dinner was served, it was hot khichdi and we had our fill and then washed the plates. Tommorrow morning we were to rappel down Alang and goto Ambewadi and return back to Pune in our bus.

Sometime later I returned back to my place in the cave and put down my bedding for the night and lay down.I was just too tired to think of anything and my toe was still throbbing from the bruise it had got. I had a tablet of nise painkillers to ease my throbbing and fell asleep.

Morning I woke up at 4am and refreshed myself before lying down again till 5am when Sridhar Kaka woke up everyone. Washed my face and waited for tea , had nice garam chai and started to get onto the top of Alang , the part which I had not seen. The route goes from the right of the caves upward , there are some carved steps and some small rock patches before you reach the top. Once on top there are many fortification remnants and stones.

There was a network of huge water tanks (11 or 12 in all) on top , i climbed further to the highest point and saw the sunrise. It was refreshing. Some more people joined me there and we admired the sunrise. The waters of the bhandardara dam were visible from here and was creating a soothing effect. Sometime later the sun came out and more photos later I started climbing down taking snaps of the only wada on Alang and the views of golden Madangad and Kulanggad from the alang top. Reaching the cave below I had a nice breakfast of upma and packed the bags and went down to the other side of Alang to have views of the valley between Madan and Alang and Kulang et all. Reached that point and the view of Madan was cool and we could see the door of Madan from Alang and the nedhe (needle hole) of Madan.

After some photos I started back to the point from where we get down to the stairs and finally to the patch which we had to rappel down. I waited for a long time to get a harness and finally got a harness after 2 hours or so and slowly with the final batch of participants walked down the scary Alang steps.

Reaching the rock patch was an ordeal in itself and then I rappeled down not without my usual fears and stuff, somehow came down the patch and climbed down the remaining steps and then again climbed down on a rope from the broken steps. Once down the broken steps we go some distance ahead before turning right towards a scree laden downhill patch. Going ahead there are a hell lot of steps on the rock which have to be climbed down with more care. Salil , Datta and Atul passed us like they were climbing down stairs of a building !! I trudged down more slowly and soon they were also to be not seen ! To add to the problem my toe was paining making it more difficult to climb down.

The climb down from Alang to Ambewadi was too bad with scree and rocks but somehow I slowly climbed down with Rasika (a volunteer from trek'di) and the others were way ahead. We walked and walked and as it was afternoon around 1.30pm the heat was taking a toll on us , finally we reached level ground and saw Ambewadi at a distance.

Reaching Ambewadi we camped at the temple , I sat down and changed my shoes for floaters , washed my face of the grime and changed my clothes at a nearby house. Lunch was a simple affair of Khichadi again with pickles and bhaji which me and Dushyant (avshya) shared on the same place. I made a hell lot of friends in this trek.

The return journey was uneventful with all of us tired and sleeping like there was no tommorrow. We reached Pune at around 11pm and I came home by 11.30 pm.

The dream trek was done!

Dhak Fort

2009-01-13T01:19:00.000-08:00

Fort : Dhak (the one above the bahiri)
Place : Lonavala
Base Village : Jambhvali (Kamshet)
Height: 3000 ft (above MSL)
Grade: Tough

The week was very busy and we had decided to meet at Avinash's place in Lonavala and carry on to trek Dhangad. Me and Rakesh reached Avi's place and were followed by Deepak M, Deepak R, Sachin,Nitin and others. Had a nice time chatting away and then had some breakfast. We were deciding on lunch after an hour or so when Avi suggested we go to Varsoli phata where there is a nice hotel. Purvesh was coming from Mumbai and Saurabh was coming from Talegaon. So we started from Avinash's home by 1pm to goto a hotel for lunch. The lonavala part of NH-4 was as usual traffic jam as being a weekend people had come there. We found Purvesh standing there trying to call someone of us and asked him to join us and found Saurabh too on the other side of the road in the jam and asked him to take a U turn. We finally reached Varsoli phata and found out that the hotel was veg and many wanted to eat non-veg too so frustation set in and after a lot of expletives we got into Tejas Dhaba and had our fill and our usual tp.

While returning back from the dhaba Purvesh suggested lets do Dhak Fort (not the bahiri) tommorrow by starting tonight and staying at the Kondeshwar Temple and starting the trek in the morning. I was apprehensive at first but said yes later. So me , Saurabh, Purvesh, Avinash and Deepak M were in for the trek.

I came home, packed a few things and started back to Talegaon to Saurabh's home at 9pm. We were to meet Purvesh and Avi at Kamshet station , Deepak M was already at Sau's place. We got a call from Purvesh at 10.30pm that they will be in Kamshet by 11pm. We started from Talegaon, the outside temperature was low and cold , we reached Kamshet station by 10.55pm and stopped outside.

Purvesh and Avi arrived and we set off to Jambhivali where the Kondeshwar Mandir is and from where we would start the trek in the morning. We reached Jambhivali around 12am in the night via bad roads and ghost experiences :)

It was decided that we directly take our bikes to the Kondeshwar Temple and not park it in Jambhivali. I thought ok lets go ahead but going ahead i could see no road just a track that too littered with stones and mud and all.

Going ahead I asked Purvesh to get down as riding pillon was impossible on such a small track and asked him to walk while we go ahead with the bikes. The distance from the road to the temple is around a km of bad , extreme roads where you go via small stones, huge ditches and things and the rear tyre slips all the time. We continued on and on and on and reached the temple in around 15 mins.

Then we realized we left back Avi and Purvesh in the dark and they could get lost, so we backtracked and found Purvesh and Avi coming mouthing the choicest expletives for us as we left them back there and they had lost their way in between :)

We went inside the mandir to find it already full but the caretaker told us that we could sleep in the main sanctum near the shivalinga. It was cosy in there and as soon as we hit the ground we started sleeping.

Morning we woke up at 6am and packed our stuff, freshened up , filled water bottles and started for dhak. The mountain of dhak was visible from here. The route is via a ridge from where we can clearly see Rajmachi and the forts and the view is amazing from there.

We stopped in between to have breakfast of biscuits , chivda and started again. The climate was cool and the sun was emerging. We crossed over to the 2nd mountain on the path and continued ahead and went into a dense jungle part from where we could see the kalakarai pinnacle too. Going ahead we started descending to the base of Dhak. In about 45 mins we were at the base of the Dhak mountain and we started up the steep climb to get to the col from where the routes to the Bahiri and the Fort diverge.

We reached the col in about 20 mins and stopped there for sometime to get the route. It was a rock face and there was a path going ahead. We werent sure so we asked the locals who said it was the right way and asked us to go ahead on a well trodden path. We went ahead searching for the way. The whole path is rocky and made up of rock patches somewhat exposed but not very difficult. The sun had started hitting us now even though it was only 10am. We went ahead carefully searching the path because it wasnt well trodden and we didnt want to lose our way and go somewhere else.

The heat was sapping my energy and on top i was not well , however we continued ahead slowly and steadily and got onto a path which lead on top of the fort. The top of the fort is a huge area with thorny bushes and grass all around from which we could understand that not many trekkers come up to this place. We roamed on top. There isnt much to see on the fort except a huge terrain. We wanted water desperately so we started searching for water and found a few shepherds who were grazing their herds there so we asked them and they led us to the water tanks on top of the fort. The water was amazing and it was like heaven. We rested for sometime near the water tanks took some photos and started back.

We came back to the way and went to the part of the top from where the route to the bahiri would be visible , we could see people going towards the bahiri and amazing views from top. We started getting down now from the fort. The rock patches were heated up and scary now to climb down but we did and came back to the col in about an hour. It was roughly 3pm now and we had some more snacks and water and started back.

Returning back was an ordeal for me as I felt that I had no energy due to the sun and my body was slowing down and slowly I was losing my energy. Purvesh , Deepak M and Sau went ahead and me and Avi trudged slowly towards the Kondeshwar Mandir. I thought as if i would fall down somewhere in between but i anyway kept walking and we reached the temple. I washed my face and lied down for sometime at the temple because I was not feeling well. Ate some biscuits and started back on bike towards Kamshet.

The return journey was as tortourous as the night one riding over the huge stones and ditches we came back to the road and started for Kamshet station. There Purvesh and Avi missed the Lonavala local by a few minutes so we left them at the highway to get a bus to Lonavala / Mumbai and started back home.

This was a really exhausting trek but nevetheless the trek was amazing.

Kavlya Trek

2008-11-09T22:40:00.000-08:00

Fort: Kavlya
Place: Varanda Ghat
Base village: None
Height : ??
Grade : Easy

Me,Sau,Chaitanya,Deepak,Purvesh,Shailesh,Sharayu,Bhavin,Deepak ,Pankaj did this trek on 9th Nov 2008. Kavlya is a virtually unknown fort on top of the Varanda Ghat some 33 km from Mahad and 80km from Bhor. Last time when I did a ride on the ghats I spotted the Bhagwa flag on top of this hill and asked the locals there as to whether this was Kavlya and they said YES, I had known of the existence of the fort but didn't know its location , now that I knew we decided on a trek to the fort and add it to our existing fort list !

The initial planning by me of the timings was like , we would be able to complete the climb (initial) in 20 mins and time to view around would take around 1 hour and back to the base in about 2 hours and back to Pune by 2pm but that was not to be , read on.

We started from Pune at around 7am post meeting everyone at different points and then a fiasco on the road to the new Katraj tunnel with truckies who with double the load trying to overtake another truck at speeds of 20kmph and blocking the fast lane , they never learn.

Post that it was fun riding on NH4 over the smooth tarmac and broad roads. Stopped at Natraj as everyone was showing signs of hunger, had a nice breakfast of upma and tea and post some entertaining photosessions from Chaitu, Saurabh, Deepak and some timepass left ahead.

Reached Kapurhol (from where we turn to Bhor) in no time. Found out that the others stopped just ahead of the turn as they were unsure as to whether this was the turn or not , and I confirmed that this indeed was the turn to Bhor , as there isn't any sign board on the NH to tell this people do get confused. Got onto the 2 laned road to Bhor and went ahead , roads were good. Entered Bhor at around 8.30am and there was road work going on , asked everyone to follow me as we were to pass via the city and one missed turn could cause confusions, and the last thing we wanted was lost bikers trying to find out the way...:)

The city road was empty in the early hours so we managed to get smoothly out of the city and touched the road to Mahad which was to take us to the Varanda ghat. The roads out of the city were also good for about 5-6 km before the bad roads started , bad as in typical country roads with potholes greater than tarmac, this reduced our speeds but it was not so bad. Amidst cool views of the backwaters of the Nira we went ahead and touched the ghat, the ghat ride was uneventful with good roads and nice twisties beckoning.

We made good time and reached the point on top of the ghat at around 10.15am and stopped for the others to come in. In the meantime ordered chai and bhaji from the stalls there. Others came in 10 mins and we waited for Purvesh who was to come in from Mumbai via the NH-17 and Mahad. Everyone had their share of tea and bhajis and vada paav and post enquiries we set for the fort. It was 11am , the schedule already screwed :)

We got onto the path , thankfully the sun was shining from the opposite direction so we had nice shade all the way but the path was very slippery and sloping downward, but not so dangerous. It was a nice payvaat all the way , we reached the top of the fort in about 20mins and then I realized that the fort expanse on top was way too huge to be completed in 1 hours time. Post some photo sessions on a rock at the extreme end. The fort top is covered with knee lenght grass and 6-7 feet tall karvi bushes.

We went to the right side of the fort , climbed via the payvaat via thick bushes and went ahead towards the extreme end of the fort, passing remnants of some old structures and finally reached the extreme end of the fort which had a bastion and a flag. Post some photosessions , I went towards the other end from there to just explore as in what is there but didnt find anything of interest so came back. Had nice lunch of theplas and thaali peeth thanks to Purvesh and Sharayu and we started back. The sun was at its peak and we felt the heat , in the middle me , Chaitanya and Bhavin slided down over a particularly steep stretch of descent , me for the sheer fun of it did it.

Reached back to the place of descent from the fort , Purvesh,Sharayu,Sau and Deepak decided to try the difficult left hill part and we decided to stay put and climb down as we didnt want to try stuff in the sun that is. We started climbing down and got onto the narrow path , slipping and struggling over scree we made it down to the road and to the stall and gorged on glasses and glasses of nimbu sarbat and taak and waited for the others to return. The time read 2.30pm and we needed to start fast for home. The others came in by 2.45pm including the adventurous bunch and then they had their share of nimbu sarbat and taak and bhajis.

We finally started back at 3.15pm parting with Purvesh who had to go via Mahad to Mumbai and we started back for Pune via Bhor. The ride back was uneventful with stops at the back water views of the Nira and photos with Sharayu deciding to let her legs in water at a bridge and enjoy the coolness. We hit the NH-4 via Bhor at 6pm and came home by 7.45pm thoroughly exhausted with the riding. Nice trek!!

Sagargad

2008-09-29T23:23:00.000-07:00

Fort: Sagargad
Height: 1357 feet (above MSL)
Grade : Easy
Base village: Khandale
Region: Raigad

Missed posting this one from a long time. This was done on June 8th 2008. Myself, Vindya, Addy and Anup did this trek. Pune was as usual climate with the rains just set in with an occasional drizzle or two or drizzling throughout the day.

The monsoons just started so we thought we should do some trek and zeroed in on Sagargad a fort near Alibag. We were expecting heavy showers to hit us there so that we would enjoy the trek thoroughly and we got lucky later!

We started in the morning at 7am in a hired Sumo with Vindy, Anup and Addy picking me up at Chinchwad and we sped towards Khopoli. We took the e-way and stopped at a food mall enroute to have breakfast. Done that we started again. The climate was humid with occasional rains here and there but not much.

We turned off at Khopoli towards Pen and Alibag and went ahead. The roads were quite good all the way. Finally we crossed Pen and got onto the road connecting to Alibag and crossed the NH-17 turn at Vadkhal and went ahead.

There is a toll road ahead here and the road is OK-OK. There was no sign of rain here too but the clouds seemed looming , a sign of rain but when!

We finally reached near Khandale village near Alibag from where to the turn to the fort goes in. We went into the village and went ahead via a kutcha road and ahead. We could see a big waterfall there at a distance. This place also houses the Siddheshwar Math.

We finally got off our vehicle and went ahead on the path to find the steps that lead to the Siddeshwar Math and Sagargad Machi (village) and finally Sagargad ahead. The climb was uneventful but the humidity was at its peak and we were profusely sweating and due to that it made the climb tiring. Anup as usual was the ben johnson and sprinted ahead.

We stopped in between to view the nature around and after having some water to drink we went ahead. Some distance ahead we could see Sagargad Machi a small village at the base of the fort.
We could see Anup also waiting for us. We went ahead from here asking the path to a villager and came across a path via slush and mud. It started raining here.

The rain came down in torrents and went away as soon as it had come. We took the steep path ahead and reached some point where there were some stones indicating the fort entrance or something. Stopping here we took photos and followed the path ahead which got us onto some section of the fort maybe the initial part, we followed another path ahead and went ahead via a narrow ledge like path with a steep fall on the right side. Going ahead we came across a plateau and heard sounds of toads and frogs on top. We could see a huge pool of water formed there and toads were creating a racket there!

We could see the walls of the fort clearly from here and one of the doors of the fort. We could also find karwandache jhaad here and took fancy to it as we all liked it , Anup was collecting them for taking them home and we were eating the fruit like they were peanuts. Going some more distance ahead we went into the fort via a beaten down path and got onto the top. We could see a small temple on top and some remnants of the wada on the fort. There was heavy cloud cover on top of the fort with the rain falling in torrents in between. We went to (or rather thought) to most of the parts of the fort and came to a place which had tree cover and had a great lunch brought by us - discussing stuff of interest while having lunch. Finally winding up we started back down , missing one path while coming down but finally coming back to the plateau and then the path down.

We missed one path and went ahead and Anup took another route, realizing something amiss we called out to Anup who said he was on the right path so we went there and followed him down and we finally reached Sagargad machi and washed ourselves in the stream which had formed there and started to go down there. At a distance we could see the sea as the clouds had parted for sometime.

We came down without incident in about 30mins came to our vehicle and after a change of clothes started back home. We stopped at Vadkhal for some snacks and came home by 8pm.

Nice monsoon trek drenched to the skin!

Malhargad aka Sonori

2008-09-28T06:25:00.001-07:00

Fort: Malhargad aka Sonori
Height: 3166 feet (above MSL)
Grade: Easy
Base Village : Sonori (near Saswad)

Thought of going to Malhargad this weekend(27th Sep 2008). Had got the route info from Vindy and thought would visit it anyways. Friday night was as usual fun with a movie at esquare and coming back to a friends home slept in the morning at 2am or so. Had to wake up around 6.30 to start from there!

Morning the alarm sounded but i put it to off and went to sleep again. Some time later I woke up oblivious to the fact that I had to go so saw the time and it read 7.20am. Freshened up and bidding adieu to my friend started towards Saswad.

The route read Baner - Pune Camp - Kondhwa - Bopdev ghat - Saswad. Crossing the Bopdev ghat went down and went on towards Saswad. In the middle I was somewhat confused as to whether the turn for the fort is immediately post Bopdev or what as I didnt see Vindy's mail thoroughly as I could see some hill which resembled a fort :) , so when I was around 2km from Saswad called up Vindy to confirm and he told me that I needed to go into Saswad and get onto the road which goes to Hadapsar and had to turn off right at Dive village and continue thereafter. So there were 2 ways to saswad from Pune , one via the Dive ghat and one via the Bopdev ghat and I had to go to the dive ghat road towards Pune after coming into Saswad.

I reached Saswad around 9.15am and as didnt have anything from the morning had a great breakfast of misal and chai at a hotel in Saswad. Saswad seemed like a small quiet town.

Finally satisfied went out and paid the bill and asked the hotel owner about the road to Dive Ghat and was promptly directed to a left turn ahead at the chowk. Took the bike and turned left from there and went ahead crossing the Saswad ST bus stand and ahead. Around 2-3 km ahead found the board for Dive and the primary school which Vindy had talked about where i had to take a right for the village Sonori. Got onto a bad road and went ahead and asked a local there about Sonori who said it was ahead so I convinced I was on the right road rumbled on ahead.

The road turned from bad to worse but I kept good pace and entered Sonori village and could see the fort at a distance. The fort being small in height isnt visible until you enter the village so I went ahead passing the Sardar Panse wada in between and going ahead on a kutcha road finally could see the fort in front of me. I decided to park my bike at some point and having locked it securely went ahead.

Took out my DSLR and started shooting the fort first. The climb was uneventful and it took all of 15 mins for me to get to the top via a broken part of the wall. Most of the fort walls are intact but majority of them have crumbled and fallen. I traversed the periphery of the fort and saw that the fort had 2 levels , one the outer and the second the inner higher level. I went round and saw the Mahadarwaza and the other door.

I entered the 2nd higher level of the fort and saw there were 2 temples there. One of Lord Shiva with a Shivaling and the other of some God I couldnt identify , maybe Kaalbhairav or something. Not sure. The temple's have been maintained by the locals in good shape. There is nothing much to see on top of the fort other than this and some dry wells :)

The mahadarwaza is a nice piece of architecture like other forts and the view from the top is cool with green everywhere with water bodies in between attributed to the rainfall that was active a few days ago. Now the weather was clear.

Finally done with the fort I started the climb down from the other side of the fort near the door and down going fast and coming down in like 6-7 minutes and got to my bike. The area near the fort is quite barren and occasional small flowers nothing apart from that.

Coming down took my bike and started back. Stopped at the Sardar Panse wada the outer walls of which are intact. Took a look inside, it has a crumbled wada in it and an old temple. There is a small field inside the wada now :)

Getting back was not a problem now as I reached the highway back and came into Pune via the Dive ghat which is a cool ghat with amazing twisties. Finally entered pune and into bad traffic (as usual) and came home by 2pm.

A nice small trek there!

Photos at : http://picasaweb.google.co.in/jayaramk1983/Malhargad?authkey=r2D8QsNibwE

Prabalgad and Kalavantin Trek

2008-09-14T22:52:00.000-07:00

Fort : Prabalgad and Kalavantin (extension of Prabalgad)
Height : 2300 ft (above MSL)
Base Village : Prabalmachi and Thakurwadi
Grade : Prabalgad (Medium) , Kalavantin (Hard during rains , medium in other season)

We decided on a 2 day trek to Prabalgad and Kalavantin Durg near Panvel (13/14 september 2008). This was a long pending trek so me , purvesh, deepak, tushar, sau , sachin, chhaya and neha decided to do it.

Morning 6am I started on my bike towards Talegaon phata where Deepak and Sau were to meet. Sachin , Tushar, Chhaya and Neha came in at 6.50am at the phata and then Sau and Deepak came in. We started going in at a sedate 60-70kmph because of the wet roads. It was drizzling but continuously.

Sau filled petrol near Wadgaon and we went ahead and crossed Lonavala in no-time. We came across the Rajmachi point and decided to stop there for a dekko at the views there. The nature was amazing there and the view of the waterfall was refreshing. Starting from there we descended the ghat towards Khopoli in thick fog which was persistent all through there.

Once at Khopoli it was the boring NH-4 towards Panvel. Purvesh was to meet us at the toll naka before Panvel (5km before Panvel) as he was to come from Dombivali. We met at a hotel just after the toll naka. Had a great breakfast and started for Shedung from where the route to Thakurwadi goes ahead.

We finally reached Thakurwadi at parked our bikes at a safe location and then started on the trek towards Prabalmachi. The initial route is via a narrow tar road which goes ahead and climbs up from where the tar road vanishes and there is a kuccha path which climbs up.

The views from here are amazing with waterfalls et. all but as it was humid we were getting tired , the path goes via thick bushes and ahead. We could see the wall of Prabalmachi. Finally after 1 hour of climbing we reached the Prabal machi entrance where there are some remnants of the fort walls and as we go ahead there are steps which house a temple of Ganeshji and Maruti raya. Going ahead we got the first look of Kalavantin Durg. It was massive and inviting :)

We went ahead via green patches and into Prabalmachi village where Purvesh already had asked a villager about staying in at his place for the day as we were to do Prabalgad today and then Kalavantin the next day. The atmosphere was cloudy and rainy and rain was falling intermittently all throughout.

We then kept our bags in the house and took small sacks and pouches with some food and water and started towards Prabalgad. The whole area is covered with thick bushes and trees and one can always loose his way if he doesnt get the right path and so we did. We went ahead passing the actual path and then we were lost , Sau and Purvesh went ahead to look at the way to go up and finally found the way so they called us up and we went ahead. The initial path is all mud and stones so it isnt a problem. Once we reach the col like place its huge slippery rocks through which water was flowing because of the rains and it was a slow progress up towards prabalgad. The region witnesses tremendous landslides during rains and it was evident from the loose rocks all around. Once in the col we climbed up on and on when we reach a supposed wall of the fort which is broken and we enter. Again there is a steep kutccha path from here to go above and when we reached the top it was a jungle , a thick one at that.

If one gets lost on top of Prabalgad then the person will never find the way out , the jungle is that thick. We stuck to a path and went ahead and ahead. We found some sculptures on rocks and went ahead. The whole top of Prabalgad is void of any fort remnant just a whole plateau. We finally reached the Kalavantin side of Prabalgad but the clouds were so thick we couldnt get a glimpse of Kalavantin which everyone said was amazing and a must look, but we couldnt see that because the clouds never parted. We had biscuits , chiwada there and did some tp in there before starting back. We were disappointed firstly to see nothing on top and secondly we no view of Kalavantin but then we did Prabalgad. We climbed down via the same path through the slippery rocks and mud. Climbing down was an ordeal just as going up and the rains made it even more difficult. We finally touched the path down in around 50 mins and started towards Prabalmachi.

Kalavantin was looking imposing and like it was calling us to scale it, we could see the steps on it and it was covered in green. Cool view.

We finally reached the village by 4.45pm and they had tea made by the house owner. Tushar,Sachin , Chhaya and Neha were going back home today coz they didnt plan on the 2 day trek , they just wanted to do Prabalgad and went back at around 5.30pm. Me , Purvesh, Sau and Deepak stayed back to do Kalavantin the next day.

Finally dusk arrived and we had our dinner which we had brought from home. After a full dinner and timepass we went to sleep praying that it shouldnt rain the next day and we should be able to do Kalavantin easily. But nature has its own ways !

We woke up early in the morning and after refreshing ourselves and taking water bottles and some snacks we went ahead towards Kalavantin , the route was via the col between Kalavantin and Prabalgad and was a steep route again via slippery rock patches and we lost our way yet again and finally Purvesh and Deepak found the way and me and Saurabh followed them. We reached the col in about 55mins and there was a rock patch to be done after which the steps started.

The rock patch was least inviting and the wind in the col was too much along with the clouds. Visibility was at its lowest. I decided I wouldnt go any further ahead but only upto the steps because I am wary of rock patches and that too wet ones and the rain wouldnt stop, it became intense so I said to purvesh and saurabh that they go ahead with Deepak and I stop here.

I just sat down on the rock for sometime and enjoyed the silence and the sound of the wind and the rain and then climbed down the col with effort (remember it was slippery rock :))

After an hour Saurabh , Deepak and Purvesh came down sucessful from their ascent of Kalavantin , i felt dejected but then thats fine, I could always do Kalavantin afterwards. :)
We had some biscuits at the col and started climbing down. The rain became torrential and everything was flowing down along with the rocks which became loose. The path down was slippery but we anyways made it down. On the way down we met a group going up and we wished them the best :)

We finally came down to the machi and got ready. The rain was in no mood to relent and it was already flooding the surrounding places in there. We wanted to get down as fast as possible so we started after packing our stuff in the bags in the rain. We finally got down the path where huge waterfalls were full and we crossed them and then finally got to the door of Prabalmachi and went down. The view of the waterfalls from the machi were amazing and we went down to Thakurwadi in around an hour.

Finally getting down to Thakurwadi we got our bikes and then started back home bidding goodbyes to Purvesh at the Shedung phata we started at around 2.30pm. I was home by 5pm after a boring ride on NH4 highway :)

So a trek accomplished but Kalavantin evaded me , but ill anyway do it soon. :)

Photo links:
My photos
Photos from other cam

Sarasgad

2008-09-01T04:57:00.000-07:00

Fort: Sarasgad
Region: Pali
Height : 1433 feet above MSL
Base Village: Pali
Grade: Medium

We visited fort Sarasgad on Feb 25th 2008. Me,Saurabh, Purvesh , Deepak , Tushar and Avinash. I started early morning 6am and went to get Avinash from Chapekar chowk and found him and we continued ahead to Talegaon our meeting point with Saurabh and Deepak.

Reached Talegaon early and waited for the guys to come. As usual Deepak and Tushar turned up late and we left Talegaon for Khopoli where we had to pick up Purvesh who was coming from Dombivali.

We reached Lonavala in 30 mins and went to a hotel for breakfast , the time reading 8.45am. We were done by 9.30am and called up Purvesh to confirm his location and he was already nearing Khopoli!

We started fast and covered the distance to Khopoli in about 30mins , in between Deepak riding Tushar's bike went into the expressway instead of the Khopoli exit and we had to wait for them to come back to the proper exit.

Purvesh was waiting for us at the designated place where we turn off for Pen from Khopoli. We went ahead and were cruising and took the left from the bridge for Pali that is famous for the Ashtavinayak Temple and also the base village for Sarasgad. The weather was getting hotter now and the roads were bad.

We reached Pali by 10.30am and parked our bikes in the parking. We came towards the main road and asked the way to the fort.We had to go behind the Ganpati Temple and follow a path and go ahead. The way was simple but the weather was too humid.

We decided we would take Ganpati darshan while coming back and went ahead. The path was via a narrow strip of mud which goes ahead where we climb to the first plateau and come to a huge mango tree. We missed the obvious path and ended up climbing the first plateau via thorny shrubs and rock patches. We finally came to the first plateau and went ahead.

The road ahead seemed simple and we took a well trodden part. The front side of the fort was now visible and looked amazing. We went ahead to a point and sat down to rest, we were getting tired because of the hot climate but we continued ahead with the fort coming closer. The path gets steeper and we were getting tired because the sun had come out in full force now.

We finally reached the rock patch to be climbed to get to the steps of the fort. The fort is built from a rocky outcrop infact the whole of the front and the back of the fort is rock , solid rock. We went ahead and found a tunnel where we spent some time seeing what was inside.

We went ahead into a narrow gully which has the steps. From far the steps arent visible , you need to go near to see them. The steps are perfect and we went ahead. There is a huge bastion ahead and then the main door is at the left. Inside the main door as we go ahead there is a huge cave where one can sleep if coming for an overnight trek.

Most of the portions of the door and the caves are of solid rock so they still stand. As we go in we encountered a water tank but it had all algae infested water we went ahead and found a cave - tank which had the coolest and the cleanest water. We drank our fill and went ahead to the back side of the fort.

The fort is made up of 3 levels , the balekilla, the middle portion where we were and the lower portion. The view from here was breathtaking and we could see the twin walls of Telbaila and also Sudhagad fort from here.

The balekilla is one huge rock which stands on top like a crown and at the base of the rock there are many chambers cut which must have housed granaries and ammunition dumps. Most of which are still intact. We had our lunch here and lazed around.

We then went to the side where we came from and climbed up the balekilla, the climb is easy with some scree laden part and we come on top which is bare except a huge water body and trees on top. We have a tomb on top and a shiv temple on top. The view from the top of the surroundings and Pali village is amazing. We stopped for sometime on top discussing things and then climbed down again to the 2nd level and came back to the entrance , had some photo sessions and climbed down the steps and the rock patch.

The climate was still hot but we came down and slowly came to the base village. It was around 4pm and we went for the Ganpati Darshan after getting fresh. After Ganpati Darshan we came out and filled our stomachs with snacks and tea and started back. We reached Khopoli at around 6.45pm and it was dark now, we left Purvesh at the station for the 8pm local back and left for Pune from there and reached home at around 8.45pm. All in all a nice trek.

Photos

Ratangad

2008-04-24T04:17:00.000-07:00

Fort: Ratangad
Region : Igatpuri
Height : 4255 feet above MSL
Base village: Ratanwadi
Grade : Medium

We visited Ratangad during February 9-10 2008. I did this trek again with trek-di. Seems like I have a special bond with trek-di now, having done almost 10 treks with them.The reporting time to FC gate was 6.00am, i started from home at 4.45am and came to Yogesh's (a friend) home by 5am and kept my bike there and started for FC on his bike. We reached FC by 5.30am and went to the GoodLuck chowk to have some tea and came back. Coming back we found participants already waiting there along with Shridhar kaka (from trek-di) and Hemant and Dhyanesh (both volunteers for trek-di). We joined them and engaged in some conversation.The bus they had hired came by 6.25am and we were on-board soon and started our journey.

The journey was via Nashik Phata - Chakan - Narayangaon - Sangamner - Akole - Rajur - Ratanwadi. Total 220km one side. We stopped at a road side hotel near narayangaon for breakfast and again went ahead , the roads upto sangamner are excellent and after that are somewat ok , we reached Ratanwadi by 2pm with adequate breaks in between. Had lunch which we had brought. Ratanwadi is a small village but with a rich heritage , old era carvings and statues are present there. Also the famous Amruteshwar temple of Satvahan era is located there.

After lunch we started towards Ratangad picking our sacks.The route is via forest and the trail is not clear so we had hired local guides to lead us upto the fort and also carry provisions up because we were to stay for the night there. The sun was shining bright but the route being via thick forest did not feel the heat or tiredness. Some people who had come from Bangalore for the trek, however got tired and were slow. I was with Hemant in the middle and we went chatting and laughing.

After about 1.5 hours of climb / walk we reached a clearing where there are two paths , one which goes up straight is the path to Ratangad and the other towards the left goes to Harishchandragad via the Katrabai Mountain. Possibility of taking the wrong path here is high because of these diversions if someone who does not know the route comes here. We could see the Khutta Pinnacle at a distance.Khutta is actually a pinnacle near Ratangad and offer good technical climbing (maybe will try one day).

The last part of the climb to Ratangad was easy and we came to the ladders. To climb up the fort at the last part ladders are kept there because the steps which were originally there were blown off and some have fallen down due to erosion so the villagers have put up iron ladders to climb up. Climbed the first ladder and stood at the base of the 2nd helping people to go up and then went up. The fort door is amazing and offers good views. Once on top through the door , one has to again climb a fleet of rock cut steps to gain access to 1 more level up. This level contains the temple of goddess ratanai and a huge cave , where one can stay, and where we had to stay for the night. We put our bags in the cave and started on to explore the fort... From the cave we turn right to come back to the rock cut steps we climbed and pass it towards another door leading to 1 more upper level of the fort.

The views from here are breathtaking and cool. There is a bastion on the top level which offers great views around. Immediately straight we can see the Katrabai mountain and the Ajoba mountain in front. We went towards the west side , passing water tanks (4-5) which contain potable water for drinking. The sunset was awesome from this point , its always awesome :). After sunset we came back to the cave because it was getting dark and cold.After coming back we saw that Shridhar kaka / Hemant and Dhyanesh were preparing dinner. We tried to help them in some way and finally dinner was prepared around 8.30pm after which everyone sat down for dinner and had a nice dinner. Then we had some talk and people were preparing for sleep. I opted to sleep out for 2 reasons i.e I found that the cave could not fit all of us and the second reason being hemant and dhyanesh were sleeping outside. Yogesh too joined me in sometime because he found the snores of some participant disturbing.

The night was cold..brrrr...it was around 4-5 degrees but i had my jacket ON and slept for sometime. I usually dont get sleep properly at such places...:) Morning woke up to find dark clouds towards the east which had arrived mysteriously from somewhere. The sunrise again was awesome and after breakfast of poha and tea we left for visiting the fort. After some group snaps we went around. Ratangad has a vast expanse which we traverse from side to side. First we saw the Kokan darwaza (door) along with the bastions. Little ahead we could see water tanks (8-9) , these also held potable water. Futher ahead we had to climb up to reach the nedhe (needle hole in rock) which is a natural wonder there. The gusts of wind blowing at the nedhe was something I cannot explain, it was pure heaven. Getting down from the nedhe towards the other side was an experience in itself :) for others because of the scree patch there. On this side we could see the forts of Alang , Kulang and Madan and the peak of Kalsubai (the highest in Maharashtra) clearly. We went down to the Trayambak darwaza which offers a cool view and steep steps below..we went down the steps to see the Baan pinnacle , a arrow shaped pinnacle which is famous for climbing.

We came back up via the steps. (Actually there is a route to climb down from this door down but its a long traverse and takes more time than the other one). We then circumnavigated via the other side towards the place from where we started, here we saw a water tank which is supposed to be the origin of the pravara river. The water was crystal clear and tasted sweet. Finally after some more walk we came to the place where we had climbed in. Myself and Hemant climbed down quickly to prepare lunch for others because we knew other would take a lot of time to come down the ladders and also we were short of time. We reached Ratanwadi in 1 hour and started preparing soup and lunch. All the group members were down by 3pm and we had a nice lunch and started for Pune. We reached Pune by 10pm and finally had dinner at GoodLuck before starting for home from there and reached home by 11pm. A great trek I must say.

Telbaila

2008-01-31T04:02:00.000-08:00

Telbaila
Region : Mulshi
Height : 3322 ft (above MSL)
Base Village : Telbaila

Telbaila is basically a watch tower built to guard over the Sahwashni ghat near Pali. It consists of two rock walls , the left and the right clearly differentiated by the col in between. Though not of much historic importance - the rock walls of Telbaila offer great rock climbing opportunities of technical grade.

I climbed the left inner wall on 19-20 Jan 2008 , with trek-di (an organization which organizes treks). This was my first technical rock climb and I was very excited.

We started on saturday from FC at 3pm towards telbaila in a sumo. We were around 7 participants + the trek leader (Shridhar) from trek-di. Rock climbing experts were to join us at Telbaila village in the evening. We reached Lonavala at 4pm and started towards Telbaila via Amby valley , had some tea at Peth Shahpur and proceeded. The road after Sahara city is a mess with big craters on the road. We reached Tel Bail phata and turned right and went ahead. Here there is a kaccha road upto the village. We reached the village at 5.30pm and got a house veranda to stay. The walls were looking cool from here. I was a little apprehensive about climbing but decided to do it anyway.

Some time later rock climbing experts Bhau Satarkar (who is an expert and has been climbing for almost 20 years now) and Hemant came in. They were to fix ropes for us and help us during the climb. As the sun set the cold started creeping it. We learnt that it was "Urus" time in the village and so the village was very crowded and loudspeakers were blaring at full volume. We had a good dinner of chapati-bhaji and went off to sleep. But we could not sleep because the loudspeakers blared the whole night ... it was like someone used to sing bhajans turn by turn all through the night..it was very irritating but we couldnt do any thing :)

We woke up in the morning at 5.30am and had hot tea and breakfast and then got our harnesses and carabiners from the experts and started for the base of the wall at 7.45am. We reached the base - there is a temple at the base and people from the village come there to pray. There is also a water tank at the base with cool water. We then sat at the base while Bhau and the others went about their task of fixing rope by free climbing. The wall is not very difficult but you cannot climb it free style. The route goes in this manner - the first patch is about 60 feet of rock - after that patch we traverse left and walk over half broken steps and come to a small cave - ahead there are steps again broken and there is a cave next where there is a a water tank. Next patch is about 40 feet but its an overhang with no holds in the rock but small cracks , we have to jumar up holding the rocks and go ahead. Above there are steps again broken upto the top. The top is very narrow about 2-3 m wide and nothing to see on top just rocks and the amazing views all around like Sudhagad , Ghangad and sarasgad and others.

One by one all of the climbers climbed the first patch - some climbed fast - some slow. On my turn i climbed successfully , at some points there was absolutely no foothold and I had to literally pull the rope and get up - but that experience was too good. Got some bruises on my hand but nothing compared to the experience. After the first patch traverse was done from the left over half broken steps and to the 2nd cave. Had a lunch of methi parathas here and waited on my turn to jumar up from here. The jumaring part was a little tricky and Bhau was helping us go up by using a pulley and asking us to jumar...me as i was doing it for the first time did it quite fast and it didnt feel difficult but while climbing I used to get a little frightened but i had faith in the equipment. After the overhang i came to the steps and went ahead and in 10-15 minutes reached the summit at 2.30pm. Reaching the top I was very happy and elated...saw some cool views around. On top there's nothing much and its too narrow so we just sat there for 10 minutes admiring the views and started climbing down the same way till the first patch. Then we rapelled down the first patch - that was also a very great experience coming down. It was around 6.30pm when everyone came down and we started for the village down - it was sunset already but the moon was almost full so we found our way fast.

Coming down we started for Pune at 7.30pm and came home by 10pm.

All in all it was a great first experience of climbing rock patch with all the things attached.

Chanderi

2007-12-17T23:08:00.000-08:00

Fort: Chanderi
Region: Karjat
Height: 2592 ft (above MSL)
Base Village: Chincholi
Grade:Medium upto Fort , Pinnacle:Tough

How to reach: get to Karjat (by road/train) – go to Chincholi village via Vangani -> Goregaon (turn left at Chanderi Dhaba) -> Chincholi -> walk from here.

Total time taken: 3-4 hours from base village depending on nature conditions.

We started from Pune by the Sinhagad Express on Saturday morning and got down at Karjat station. Then we took a local to Vangani from Karjat. Alighting at Vangani we waited for a friend who was to come from Dombivili. Once he came we started off towards the road. We were 6 people so we took 2 rickshaws to the phata near Chanderi Dhaba. In 10 mins we reached Chanderi Dhaba. We went inside Chanderi Dhaba and ordered breakfast and waited for the order to come in the meanwhile doing timepass. After having a heavy breakfast we started towards the base village. It was 11.00am and the sun was beating down on us heavily. That was the first fault of ours to start at this time. We reached the base village Chincholi at around 12.00pm after a long walk via tar road. (We made a mistake of not taking bikes this time upto the end of the road which would have saved us more time and energy).

Once we reached the base village we started on the path. The path is via jungle trail with huge bushes around. Some parts are in shade so it was cool but most of the climb was via open and with the sun bearing down on us we got too slow adding to it the weight in our bags made us even slower. In some time we reached an odha where we refreshed ourselves and sat for some time and continued walking. We found out that we had lost our way here and were trying to find a route out. Suddenly 1 villager appeared from far away and we asked him so he gave us the correct directions – we had started to the right side of the odha but we had to take the left side of the odha and continue. We found the correct path and continued via the odha. The odha walk is a nightmare via huge rocks. We were resting every half and hour. The sun was mercilessly beating on us. In sometime we had a small lunch and continued. In all the wrong right path choosing and others it was 4pm now and the col between Chanderi and Mhaismal was still far away till where we had to reach and turn left for Chanderi.

Suddenly, dark clouds gathered around and it started raining heavily. First the sun and now the rain, we were completely wet because we didn’t bring any rain wear thinking it would not rain. The rain continued for another 45 minutes during which we could not even walk as it was very heavy and then stopped. Now the sun was also going down and we were nowhere. The rocks of the odha became too slippery to walk on and we walked on cautiously ahead slipping here and there. We were very tired and now thought we should stop at the odha for the day because it was too far, there was no light – the sun had gone down – we had torches but we didn’t know how far we had to go. But some enthusiastic folks said we would continue. Now at this point we could see white arrow marking to show the directions. We followed the white markings in torchlight and went ahead slipping and falling. Then we made the biggest mistake. We could not find an arrow further (actually there was an arrow on the rock but it was covered with moss and there was a shoe hanging there to show the direction to the right but we missed it and continued straight. We went very far off on the wrong path and then realized that we were nowhere. We had torches but didn’t know when they would go off – we decided we would stop in the middle of the jungle and continue at dawn.

We found a small clearing in the jungle and put our bags down, opened our carry mats and had our dinner. We decided to take turns patrolling while others slept as being in the midst of the jungle we didn’t want to take a risk. In the jungle there are weird sounds coming at night which kept us on the edge and every 5-10 minutes I would shine the torch nearby to see if everything was alright. The night was ok and we all had some sleep.

At dawn we decided to go down and see if we could find the arrow marks and then the right direction. We finally found the shoe and the arrow marks covered in moss which we had missed in the dark and continued towards the col. The route was slippery due to the rain and we walked up. At one point we had to climb a mixture of rock and loose mud where I slipped and hurt my hand. But anyways we continued ahead and reached the col where we turned left towards Chanderi. We could see the pinnacle ahead. We had to climb more 45 minutes from the col over rock and scree slowly and finally reach the top at around 8.25am (we started at 7 from the jungle). Once we reached the top we could see great views of surrounding regions – forts like prabalgad, malang-gad, irshaalgad, peth were visible from here and the view was breath-taking. Once we reach the main pinnacle base we need to take a right over a grassy path to reach the caves of Chanderi. The cave is big enough for 15-20 people and had a Shankar mandir inside with a water tank whose water is not good as people have made it very dirty with plastic bags etc.

We reached the cave and put our bags there and refreshed ourselves with water from another tank nearby which had good, clear and cool water. We had some breakfast of hot Maggie which we made there and had some rest at the cave. We had decided against climbing the pinnacle as we were tired. Just as we were talking we heard some more trekkers come in with a local guide. We asked the guide about the pinnacle route. He said we could go up and its not that hard. Purvesh, Deepak and Saurabh decided to go along with the guide up the pinnacle and the others and me opted to rest out in the cave as we were battered the day before . We had ropes and stuff but the guide said we don’t need it. The route to the pinnacle is via grassy path from the caves upto the rightmost end. Once you reach there we have to climb thru a gully of rock and go up. The pinnacle route is not that tough but it is exposed. There is scree around and there was a very small ledge to walk and go up. The top is not much just 2 m wide and narrow with grass all around. There is a flag and a statue of shivaji maharaj there. Climbing down is also tricky here. Purvesh and the others came back had lunch and some rest and started climbing down after filling our bottles with water. Coming down took 4 hours due to the rocks in the odha, now they were dry but walking over them was a pain esp. because we were so tired. At one point we were confused about the path to the village, again God helped us this time by bringing another villager who was going home. We followed him till the village and drank water there. We were all very tired but we had to get home so we hired a rickshaw till badlapur and then we parted ways with Mumbai friends , we reached Karjat by local and got an express till lonavala and reached home at 12am on Sunday night – Monday morning.

This was the my second trek where we had lost our way (the first being siddhagad – where we climbed through odhyachi vaat ) but it was an adventure spending the night in the jungle and then making the trek successful by climbing the fort and pinnacle (for those who climbed). The most important thing we learnt is do not start late(the sun can kill), don’t carry unnecessary weight and most importantly we cannot do anything against the forces of nature.

Dhodap

2007-12-17T22:48:00.000-08:00

Fort: Dhodap
Height : 4750 ft (above MSL)
Region: Vani
Range: Satmala
Grade: Medium

Base Village: Hatti,Wadala.

Getting there: Pune – Nashik , from Nashik get onto Malegaon Highway – Pimpalgaon - On Malegaon Highway (after 48km) – Vadalibhoi village – Turn left for Dhodambe (8km) – cross Dhodambe – turn right for Hatti (2km).

How to go:

ST bus from Pune – Nashik, from Nashik catch a ST bus to Hatti village (very less frequency – guess 2 in a day) OR get down on the main highway and get jeeps to go towards Dhodambe, Hatti (I doubt there would be any as this is a remote area and own conveyance is best)

Distances of places from turn on Malegaon Highway: Saptashrungigad 44km, Vani – 25 km, Saputara – 60km

Hatti is the base village for Dhodap. It is a small village and one can get food cooked there too – but we had our own cooking stuff so it was not necessary.

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We started on Friday 26/10 from Pune (FC road) at around 11.45pm in the night. We were to travel through the night by bus. After a quick round of introductions – form filling (I had gone through Trek-Di adventures group – so had to fill form and all) we all settled down in the seats and feeling sleepy dozed off – The night was cold and the bus windows were too bad – they used to open on vibrations letting in the chill air and causing the whole bus to get cold inside :). Morning around 5.30am we reached Nashik – the highway is pretty OK but the bus was not OK. Around 7.15am we reached the base village Hatti – we could see Dhodap at a distance – the whole view of the fort is awesome with the pinnacle and the rock cut.

We made a quick breakfast of pohe and chai and started for the climb around – 8.15am. We had hired a local help for carrying the kitchen materials J. The way is pretty ok and climbs gradually via slippery rocks and scree. In about an hours time we reached a plateau. Here is where we saw the first darwaza of the fort. It is in good condition. Looking up it was still a long way to the fort – albeit it looks less. On the plateau we saw small huts (in the books they mention it as sonarwadi – where goldsmiths were living). We can see the ikhara pinnacle at a distance from here; it looks daunting and huge from here.

After the plateau we start climbing up again via bushes and rocks going up and towards the fort. After around 45 minutes we reached a steep rock patch and im wary of rock patches – especially steep ones but usually go up soon and don’t think much – this one was steep albeit cannot define steepness on rock patches and maybe different for different people J , this rock patch will be fun during monsoons – but I wont do it during that time.

Got up the rock patch in around 3-4 minutes (wow ,fast eh) and then up towards the ridge and the 2^nd darwaza of the fort – some remnants to be seen here and hanuman taaki – a big tank for water , the water was not potable here. Stood here for sometime as others were climbing up the rock patch slowly. The sun had finally come out in full force and I was beginning to feel the heat but most of the climb was over and it would be only a matter of 20 minutes to reach the fort. Finally when everyone had come we started again. After this plateau there is a gentle climb which leads to the final steps and the main door of the fort – the buruj and tatbandi can be seen from here and is in fairly good shape.

Before the main darwaza there are Persian (or maybe Urdu) inscriptions on the wall (as this fort was ruled by Nizam before). The main door is like a tunnel and at the other end there are some more steps to get at the top. There we could see some water tanks, remnants of construction and the huge pinnacle in front. The local who was leading us told us stories about a sadhu baba who climbed the pinnacle like he was climbing steps with a flag in one hand and pooja thali in the other. The pinnacle cannot be climbed without equipments and looks very huge.

From this point we go to the left side of the pinnacle and keep walking for 5-10 minutes and we reach the caves. The caves are really huge and we stayed in one of them. It was cosy in there and there was a devi mata mandir too here. Nearby there is a shivling too and a water tank. The water is potable here and is available in monsoon/winter and summer too. We refreshed ourselves with the cool water and it was heaven. We reached the top at around 11.15 am (a climb of 3 hours). Finally we started with making lunch – cutting vegetables – cooking dal-rice. We had a sumptuous meal of dal rice with vegetables and mind you the food was too good... it was a wholly satiating meal and we had a good time there. Finally everyone stretched a bit – some people went off to explore the fort and others were just relaxing.

I started exploring the fort and went to the rock wall. The wall width is about 3m and it is a plain walk. At one point I came across the gap which I had seen from below and it’s not a small gap it’s a huge 70 X 70 feet gap. A huge hole we can say although it looks like a small drop from below. People say that the Nizam had ordered this gap to be made so that no enemy could attack from the other side although climbing the other side of the wall is also a heavy risk. From here we can see the forts of rawla jawla , markandeya , saptashringigad and the vani hill.

Finally coming back I went to the back side of the pinnacle base and saw some half finished caves and came back to our cave place. It was tea time now and we had some refreshing tea and some Timepass discussions. Finally we went off once again to explore the fort on the entrance side – we found huge caves and more water inside them there. At this point Darshan a volunteer started climbing the pinnacle free-style and within minutes he was near the top – but retreated back as the top 10-15 feet was full scree and rock and there was no one to guide him up there so he came back. I looked in awe at this fellow who climbed the pinnacle free-style and that too so fast!

We came back from the adventure and it was sunset time so we went towards the rock wall side to the west. The view of the sunset is something one can never explain – its too good. A cold wind had started blowing all around and in a matter of minutes it was dark and we reached the cave. Time for dinner preparation – here we prepared dinner of rassa bhaji – all the while singing songs and doing faltu Timepass. The dinner was good and after that we went out to just do Timepass. Some people were on the phone as we had range of airtel and idea here on top too!

The moon had risen and as it was poornima 2 days back everything was lit in moon-light and looked great. We all sat outside and sang old kishore kumar songs and marathi songs esp. sandeep khare ones. It was cold outside and we were in our jackets. Sometime later when everyone was feeling sleepy we opened our sleeping bags and everybody started settling down.

Although it was cold outside the cave, the cave was warm enough to sleep in and was really cozy.

Morning we woke up around 6am and after all activities , went to the east side of the fort to view the sunrise.

Coming back we started making breakfast of chai and missal. After having breakfast and a round of checking all equipments and baggage we started again down this time. At the rock patch again tense moments were witnessed but this time I descended the patch without problems – one enthu group of people from Nashik were just coming up that time. Finally we descended down the path to the plateau and went to see the temples on the other side. There are 3 temples there, 1 of shiva, and 2 of Devi mata.

After some time we came back to the house on the plateau and rested for 10-15 minutes. Soon we found out that the people there in the house make khawa and sell, so we had some khawa and mind you it was mouth-watering and the taste was so nice after adding sugar, it melted in the mouth. Starting once again we descended the plateau and onto the final path to the village – the sun was beating down albeit it was only 11am and we slowly trudged back to the village. There after refreshing ourselves at the pipe we settled down in the bus once again and started for Pune at 12pm. Found out that there is a puncture and fixed it losing an hour in this process. Halted in between at a dhaba (the great Punjab dhaba) and had a good lunch.

Finally we reached around 9pm to Pune thanks to the habit of the driver in following slow trucks at 20kmph. We were very irritated with the driver but no one had the strength to talk to him.

The highlight of the trek was a 73 old person from Pune, Mr.Vinayak Dandekar who came with us on the trek. He has been trekking from around 35-40 years and has loads of experience in this field and also stories from his trek. He has been on Himalayan treks as well and last year he had been to Chota Kailash in the Himalayas. A truly great person. We (atleast I am) are nothing in front of him as even at his age he is the fittest person.

Kalsubai

2007-12-17T21:27:00.000-08:00

Kalsubai
Region - Igatpuri
Base Village : Bari
Height : 5400 ft (above MSL)

I went to Kalsubai the highest point in Maharashtra on 9th December 2007. I had gone with the trek-di group. We were a group of 40 people and started from Pune at 11pm on 8th December 07. The route is via Pune -> Nashik Phata -> Bhosari -> Moshi -> Chakan -> Rajgurunagar -> Khed ->Manchar ->Narayangaon -> Alephata -> Sangamner -> Rajur -> Akole -> Bari

At around 2.ooam we reached the Sangamner turn for Rajur. Here we had hot tea and refreshed ourselves. Manali (a leader from trek-di) was trying to pull out sugarcanes from a sugarcane laden truck and it was a truly hilarious sight to see that..soon everyone started pulling the sugarcanes :)

We started again in 15 minutes towards our destination. The roads were good and we made good time. The road is via ghats and hence has to be negotiated carefully. In between there is a turn for the Bhandardara dam but we continued straight ahead and reached the outskirts of Bari around 4.45am. It was damn cold outside and we found a school to sleep in -- some people slept in the bus. We had to get up at 6am -- however I couldn't sleep due to some over enthusiastic guys from the group who had got onto the roof of the bus to sleep and we rocking the whole bus :-)

We got up at 6am and tea was being prepared. We could see the peak of Kalsubai towering and it was an awesome sight.Breakfast was bread , butter / jam and we had our share along with piping hot tea which was a relief and we got fresh. We started again from that place to the village where we had Kunal, Amit and Chaitanya already present (they had come on bike becoz there was no place in the bus). We got down with our sacks and lunch (paratha packets) were distributed to everyone for eating once we reached the top. We had a quick round of introductions and started on our trek.

At the first halt there is a small temple where people stopped for a breather. The view was starting to get awesome from here. We climbed on till the first ladder (over the rock patch). The ladder was rusty and looked like would fall any moment but we made through it up and climbed. Here there were many rock patches to be climbed but they were easy. We used to climb up and wait for others to come and then would start again.

One by one we climbed the 3 ladders over the rock patches and reached the base plateau of the mountain but we still had a lot to go to reach the highest point. The route was scree laden and was slipping but we got through it and reach a point where there is a well.Here everyone refreshed themselves and we could see the kalsubai peak getting nearer and could see the last rock formation which is the highest point - we reached the peak by climbing a last ladder.

It took us around 3 hours from base to climb till here. The views from the top are amazing - we can see the fort of Ratangad far away towards the south side - on the west side we can see the forts of Alang , Madan and Kulang and other mountains.

There is no other mountain near Kalsubai hence we can see everything clearly from top. On the top there is a small temple of Kalsubai mata. After enjoying the views we sat down for lunch and took our packed paranthas out and had a great lunch with everyone sitting round and enjoying parathas , dahi , pickles and other stuff.

After lunch we laid down in the cool shade of the temple and had a small siesta :). Sometime later we had our photo sessions with the group and then started preparing for our climb down. The climb down was equally interesting and adventurous. Due to the loose mud , scree and rocks we had to climb down with care. We reached the base village in about 2 hours and waited for all others to come.

We had bhel for the evening snacks and started by bus back home. We reached Nashik phata at around 11pm in the night where I alighted and went home.

A great trek thus ended.

Vasota-Nageshwar

2007-12-16T21:16:00.001-08:00

Region: Javali (satara) - Koyna backwaters

Fort:Vasota
Base Village:MetIndawli
Height: 3842 ft (above MSL)
Grade: Medium

On the weekend of 15-16 December 2007 we had been to Vasota-Nageshwar for trek. I had gone with the group called as trek-di. Vasota was my dream come true and i had longed to go there from a long time but the forest permission and other stuff were a deterrent for my plans to go there but I took this opportunity with trek-di.

We started from Swargate at 7.10am in the morning total 49 people in a privately hired ST bus. Before that I and my friend had come on bike from home. I had a large group this time around with my BCS friends and ours was a large group there.

We reached Shirval at around 8.15 or so and had vada-paav and tea there and again started towards Satara enroute Bamnoli the place where we have to get the boat for vasota base camp (Met Indawli). After Satara the road is via ghats and truly scenic.

We reached Bamnoli at 10.30am and Pinakin and Chaitanya were already there and had booked the launches and had got permission for the forest camp.

We climbed into our boats (20-22) people in 1 boat and started towards Vasota base camp Metindawli. The boat ride was superb with amazing views all around of the koyna backwaters and the islands. Finally we reached Met Indawli at 12.30pm and kept our bags there and rested for sometime and had our lunch there which we had brought.

After lunch we assembled and had a short round of introductions and finally started for the vasota fort. The forest was dense and cool - even though it was afternoon we did not feel the heat at all. We reached the first point a stream where we filled our bottles and continued ahead towards the fort.

The route is simple but in the end there is a lot of scree which one has to negotiate. Finally we reached the fort in the afternoon at 3.30pm after 1.5 hours of trek. We could see amazing views from the top of the nature all around.

We went to the Babu kada side and had a view. The Babu kada is a U shaped cut in the mountain of Old Vasota - Old Vasota is a hill fort in front of New Vasota (where we were) but permission is not given to go to old vasota fort and the routes also are in dilapidated condition there.

The views from here are too good and scenic. We spent some time resting and came back to a spot where there are 2 water tanks. One is potable and the other is not. We had snacks here and had a look around the fort. There are 2 temples on the fort 1 of Hanuman and the other of Mahadev.

We had a look at the other side of the fort too. There we could see Mhatari cha angtha (old woman's thumb) a structure shaped like a thumb and Nageshwar Pinnacle at a distance. The view was awesome here too.

Finally it was time for us to start down from the fort and we started climbing down. Again due to scree our progress was somewhat slow but we came down quickly and in some time it started getting dark as we were nearing our camp. Once again at the stream we filled our water bottles and came to the camp around 6.45pm , it was pitch dark now. We had got a tent so we put our bags outside and rested for a while in the tent. We drank some tea which was refreshing and waited for dinner to be served.

Dinner was simple with usal and chapatis which we relished and then settled down in our tent. All the people in the tent did some timepass upto 10.30pm and then we slept.

Early morning it started getting cold and we woke up at 5.30am and refreshed ourselves and prepared ourselves for Nageshwar trek. We had a breakfast of upma and started towards Nageshwar. The route was via the stream path and we had to walk over stones of the stream. It was a slow trod over the stones and I went far ahead. In about 1.5 hours I could see the peak of Nageshwar at the end of the stream route.

There is a slight climb ahead and we reach the place in 15 minutes. There are a series of caves at the base of the peak where there is a Shiv Mandir - the view of Konkan from this point is awesome. The way to top of peak is a little risky one as we can go up easily but while coming down the route is full of scree and mud - hence while coming down we have to sit , look and come.

After visiting Nageshwar we returned back , this time taking a different route back to the camp via the jungle , this route meets the route to the fort vasota and then climbs down. We reached the camp at 12.45pm and had a great lunch of pulav , papad and achar and then one by one others too came in. After a hearty lunch we waited for the launches and they arrived at 2.30pm. Once more after a journey of 1.25 hours we were back to Bamnoli and in the ST bus - we reached Pune at 8.30pm.

Uttaranchal - Heavenly Experiences

2007-09-03T23:01:00.000-07:00

Uttaranchal – the land of Gods (DevBhoomi) as they say and the mystic Valley of Flowers.

We were a group of 17th people. (Me, Purvesh, Saurabh, Saurabh’s dad,Saurabh’s mom, Saurabh’s mama, Asawari, Meera, Prakruti, Prakruti’s mom, Deepak,Sachin,Sharayu,Tejas,Tanmay,Purvesh’s Dad,Tushar)

Our trip started from Pune on 10th August afternoon to Mumbai and onwards flight from Mumbai to Delhi on 10th night. We reached Mumbai airport amidst traffic and all at around 8.30pm. Our flight was scheduled at around 10.20pm. When we reached at the airport we found out from Purvesh that the flight has been delayed and now is to depart at 11.15. We started for Terminal 1A from where our Go Air flight was to depart. We reached terminal 1A and went in the airport area and checked-in our luggage. Our entire luggage was big sacks and small pittu sacks. The Go Air people were kind enough to provide snacks to the passengers as the flight was late, that was good. After checking in our luggage we went to have snacks and had a small round or introductions. To our dismay we found that our flight was delayed again and now was to depart @ 12.15 am. Now Purvesh was at his nerve’s end but anyway we waited there, charged our phone on the chargers there and did general tp , Deepak showed off his new Canon cam and was taking photos of everyone.
Finally we went through security check and waited in the queue to board the plane. We got into the plane , everyone was allotted different seats so we were not together. As it was night we couldn’t see anything out too so we slept for around 2 hours of the flight. The landing at Delhi was fine and we went into the arrival area and got our luggage.

Saurabh and Purvesh went out looking for the Qualis drivers and we pushed the trolleys with our luggage outside. Finally they found the Qualises and we loaded our luggage onto the vehicles. We started from Delhi at around 3.30am on Saturday morning. The problem ahead was the Delhi – Haridwar highway was blocked due to Mahashivaratri , during which Kavad yartris (shiv-bhakts) use the highway while coming back from Haridwar. So we had to pass through small villages, this further added to the time. In our Qualis people slept sitting as we had no sleep from the night before. We had a halt at a place 40km before Meerut and had chai-pani. Did a great deal of Timepass during that break. There was a hand pump there so we washed our faces there and felt fresh. Started again and we played antakshari in our Qualis, with a mixture of old and new songs and it was great fun! We reached one place around 10am and had our breakfast, we were around 60km from Haridwar now. Asawari had brought a home-baked cake and we relished it , it was tooooo good. We finally started for Haridwar around 10.30am and reached Haridwar at around 12.00pm in the afternoon Normal time from Delhi to Haridwar is around 7 hours but we reached in about 8 hours. Upto Haridwar there was no rain but once we reached Haridwar the rain started in torrents and mind you it was bad than Mumbai, I had a umbrella so I stood with my umbrella open but the rain was so much that my umbrella started leaking, and our bad luck the Qualis drivers we hired in Delhi did not put tarpaulin covers over our haversacks as they cited no rain and here it was raining heavily so we had wet sacks, We had a bad time locating our bus for the further journey and finally found the bus , but by then it had started raining very badly, so we put all the sacks inside the dikky running from Qualis to bus and finally go inside the bus fully wet Thankfully most of the people had put all contents of sack in plastic so no problems, others were not so lucky and had wet wet things.

We had hired a bus from Haridwar onward (18 seater bus) and started for Rishikesh where we would get our permit work done. The scenery on the way was too good with occasional peek of the river Ganga, at one point (guess it was a shortcut from Haridwar to Rishikesh) water from a waterfall had come onto the road and was flowing dangerously, so we backtracked and went by the normal Haridwar – Rishikesh route which was packed in traffic. We reached Rishikesh around 2pm and had our permit work done. We found out that our driver had changed but anyways all the drivers there are too good. Our target for the day was RudraPrayag as we had a hotel booking there. We started well in time for RudraPrayag.The road to RudraPrayag was good with rain clouds threatening but thankfully no heavy rain so we were lucky not to encounter any landslides and reached RudraPrayag at around 8.30pm in the night and checked-in to our hotel. Some of our guys found that each and every stuff in their sack was wet due to the rain and they had a tough time in making them dry. The route on the first day read Delhi-Haridwar-Rishikesh-Byasi-DevPrayag-Kirtinagar-Srinagar-RudraPrayag a distance of around 400km.

RudraPrayag is the confluence of the Alakananda and Mandakini rivers and is a beautiful place to be in though we did not have enough time to see all things we had a walk along the river in the morning and started for Joshimath the target for the 2nd day i.e. 12th August. The sky was overcast with clouds threatening heavy rains. We started at around 6am from RudraPrayag towards Joshimath (distance of around 120km) and hoped to reach around 12pm the day. But nature has its own cards. We reached Pipalkoti a village in Chamoli dist and found out that the road ahead is closed / blocked as a huge landslide had happened and will take around 3-4 hours to clear, with no other option left we had our lunch at Pipalkoti and went to see the landslide. The landslide was truly frightening with almost all the road covered by rubble over 5-6 feet high and no place even to cross over by foot. The PWD guys were working with bulldozers to get it cleared. Finally the road was cleared at around 2pm and we started for Joshimath, in between near Bhimtala our tyre got punctured and we had to wait to get it replaced another 1 hour lost. In between this time some people got down and went down a bridge where the Ganga was flowing in full force and enjoyed the water there, I explored another part of the river alone and took photos. In Bhimtala Deepak had relatives there so he got off the bus and said would join us later. Finally everyone came back to the bus and we had a intro session with everyone, it was great fun introducing oneself with expert comments from Sachin, Deepak and Purvesh put in. Finally we started , it was around 44km more to Joshimath. In between we found out that a bus had collapsed into the valley as a landslide had happened over it. Thankfully we found out that the driver had offloaded people in it and tried to move the vehicle ahead when another landslide pushed the vehicle over the edge and the driver too jumped out to safety, we got down to see the bus in the valley, the bus was similar to our bus and was of the same company as that of our bus. Our bus driver gave some clothes to the other driver and we started off again.

We reached Joshimath around 4.30pm, it took us around 10-11 hours for a 5-6 hours stretch, but you cannot do anything against nature, but anyways we were on schedule. Route for the second day read RudraPrayag – KarnaPrayag – Chamoli – Garudganga – Pipalkoti – Helang – Joshimath. At Joshimath we got down from the bus and got on a rope way to Auli – a tourist destination. Joshimath is around 1845m height from MSL and Auli is around 3016m height from MSL and the ropeway ride was truly a great experience. There are around 12 stations on the ropeway from Joshimath to Auli and at station 8 , one can get down if he/she wants to get an experience of an open ropeway. Some enthusiastic people like Purvesh, Sharayu went to get an experience of open air ropeway. It was raining torrentially now when we reached Auli and we saw some points had hot tea there and started back to Joshimath on the ropeway. In clear weather you can see peaks like NandaDevi (7817m), we couldn’t see any due to the cloudy and rainy weather there. We spent around 45 mins at Auli, had some tea and explored the nature there. Finally at 5.35pm we climbed into the return ropeway car. At station 8 Purvesh and others got in. At Joshimath we checked into a GMVN (Gadhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam) hotel at Rs.100 per head per day. It was unusually cold at Joshimath and once we were in our rooms we got under the blankets and slept for some hours. We had dinner for the night at the same hotel and found out that those guys are averse to adding salt and sugar to anything, so we had bland bad food.

After Joshimath to Govindghat we have a one way road which is operated via gate system and the gates open one-way for 2 hours only, the first gate opens at Joshimath for 6.30am.We headed for the gate only to find out that the gate would not open as the road from Govindghat to Badrinath was closed due to landslides hence no way for opening the route upto Govindghat too. So our driver told us that we can get sumos or jeeps upto Govindghat as our bus was in the middle of the line for the gate and there was no option left for reversing, he told us that once the gate opens he would wait at Govindghat for us. We took our heavy sacks and found 2 sumos for 17 people and finally reached Govindghat around 8am in the morning. The route from Joshimath – Govindghat is truly dangerous with non-existent roads, ever hanging cliffs ready to fall and a valley on the other side. Govindghat is a very small town on the banks of the river Alakananda and is the point from where we have to go to Ghangaria the base for Valley of Flowers. Govindghat has some hotels and a gurudwara and you can see many Sikhs there as they go to Hemkund Sahib (the 2nd most religious place for Sikhs after the Golden Temple) whose base is also Ghangaria.

We hired mules for our sacks for the 14km trek from Govindghat to Ghangaria as one cannot carry the sacks all the way 14km uphill. We also go ponchos(plastic covers) for ourselves + our pittu sacks as it was rainy weather. We started at around 10.30am from Govindghat towards Ghangaria. The route is amazing with water falls all the way and it was raining. The last 4 kms are steep and one becomes very tired walking and thinks that when will it end. You can alternatively use horses too, if u find it strenuous enough to climb. We walked all along the way and reached Ghangaria around 4.00pm. Checked into our hotels got our sacks and went to sleep. My legs were like speaking (bolat hote) J , after getting some hours sleep we went to have dinner at around 7.30pm, in Ghangaria lights come from 7 – 10pm and morning 4.30-6am only, rest all time there is no power. In Ghangaria everything costs a fortune due to the inaccessibility of the place via road so the hotel rooms cost around 500 per head per day, also food costs more here…..We used to have daily sessions of fun in one of the rooms there with everyone gathering there and doing Timepass , laughing , doing mad things.

It was too cold in Ghangaria when we had gone there and I was literally shaking …., we put on sweaters and monkey caps and went out and had dinner. Here too there was no salt in the food. Don’t know why…!!

The next day morning we started for Valley of Flowers – it’s around 3km from Ghangaria and the route is scenic with the Laxman Ganga river flowing and some glaciers there. We were lucky as the weather had cleared to some extent and we could see snow clad peaks near Ghangaria. We reached the Valley in around 3 hours time and were surrounded by truly amazing flowers which we cannot see anywhere else. It was like a carpet of flowers ….. The whole valley was in abundance of flowers of different types which flower in that season. It was a truly great experience and I photographed all flowers, hopefully they come up good when I see them…I shall share them too. We also saw the grave of Margaret Legge, a botanist who had died in the valley. There is quite a history about the Valley of Flowers. After enjoying the Valley we started back and I was in the lead. An incident happened here. I was walking over a landslide prone region and had just crossed it and heard a rumbling sound….when I looked back I was shocked…I could see 3-4 big boulder falling down the valley from above the hills from the place where I had just crossed…sheer luck…I was shaken and sat for 1-2 minutes there thanking my stars..

We reached Ghangaria around 4pm and went to our hotel rooms and had some sleep.

Next morning we started for Hemkund Sahib (the religious place of the Sikhs)…it’s an 8km trek from Ghangaria.The route is all steep and there is not even a meter of level land. Hemkund is at an altitude of 4329m(14303 ft) above sea level. We reached Hemkund at around 10am (started at 6am). At Hemkund there is a lake and a gurudwara…it is said that Guru Gobind Singh had meditated here and attained salvation. There were clouds all around and all around the route to Hemkund we saw BramhaKamals and other rare flowers. The Bramhakamals were flooding the valley a truly awesome sight.

At Hemkund, it was freezing weather but they provide tea and khichdi to all those coming there so it was quite comfortable…we had darshan at the gurudwara and had a look all around, there is a Laxman mandir there at Hemkund. We had a look there too. The origin of the Laxman Ganga is from Hemkund. After spending 2-3 hours there we started for Ghangaria around 1pm and reached Ghangaria at 3pm as it was downhill all the way but it was raining heavily. We had some rest at Ghangaria, saw the slide show about the Valley of Flowers at Ghangaria and bought some maps , books and photos there, and packed our things as we were to go to Govindghat the next day morning.

Next day morning we started for Govindghat at around 6am and packed off our sacks on mules down to Govindghat and ourselves trekked down 14km with small sacks.Now this was a downhill route so it was not a problem. We reached Govindghat at around 8.30-10.30am and did some purchases and went to our bus which was there and had come from Joshimath once the gate had been opened. We got a clear weather that day with sun and no rain…and also we found that the road to Badrinath was open and there was no rain. We started for Badrinath around 11.30am and reached at around 12.30pm, the roads were truly horrific. The temple was closed from 12-3pm so we went to the village Mana which is the last village on the Indian border. Mana is truly heaven, and there are some places to visit there. Ganesh Gufa, Vyas Gufa and Bhim Pul (the origin of the river Saraswati). We started back to Badrinath and had darshan at 3pm and started back to Joshimath via Govindghat to catch the gate there for 4.30pm which is the last time for the route from Govindghat – Joshimath route (one way). We got the gate at 4.35pm and reached Joshimath at 6pm. We actually had a stay at Badrinath that day but decided against it because if it would rain we would sure shot be blocked due to landslides because the road was such so we didn’t want to take risk and reached Joshimath. We got our booking at the same GMVN hotel and stayed there for the day. Route for the day was Ghangaria – Govindghat (trek) – Badrinath (Road) – Mana – Badrinath – Govindghat – Joshimath. (Distance of around 70km).

Next day morning we were informed that the road was blocked from Pipalkoti as the road had crashed down the valley due to rains and the PWD was building new roads…!! Hell but the same time we got another news that the road was closed from 3 days and now has been opened. But we got yet another news, a part of the road at Helang, 13km from Joshimath had crashed down and the road is closed for 3 days. We could not afford to delay because the next day we had a train from Delhi to Mumbai and we had reservations so we went upto the spot and trekked up 10 km with our heavy sacks leaving our bus and came down to the other side and got a local bus to Rishikesh. It was truly an experience there trekking up the huge mountain with the 10kg + heavy sacks and coming down over non-existent routes. Finally we got a bus to Rishikesh from the other side of the block as vehicles had lined up on both sides of the block and were turning back. That driver was a maniac and rode the bus like an NFS car over the hill roads. We had a glimpse of the earlier Pipalkoti road which was horrific and bad, anyway we prayed and the bus crossed over.

We had our night halt at KarnaPrayag as in that part of the Himalayas driving is allowed from 5am – 8pm only and after 8pm you have to stop at some place as the police don’t allow you to ride further. We halted at KarnaPrayag and had dinner and booked a room for us. Next day morning we started for Rishikesh and reached DevPrayag at around 10 in the morning and discovered that yet another block has happened and a truck has been stuck here so we had to wait. The truck was finally removed at around 1.30pm and traffic resumed at around 3pm.

We had our train in Delhi at around 9.55pm and had to reach Rishikesh at around less than 7 hours the time we need to reach Delhi. Finally we reached Rishikesh by 4pm and got Qualises to Delhi by 4.30pm. The drivers rode like maniacs as we had told him that we need to get there by 9.30pm. We reached New Delhi station by 9.56pm and the train had already left, we missed by 2 minutes….what a bad situation. The drivers of the vehicles were truly good, they covered a distance of 7 hours in 5 hours still we missed the train , bad luck. It was a sight to see everyone running at New Delhi railway station to get the train and finding out that the train had already left L

We then booked for a flight to Mumbai the next morning. We went to the Delhi airport only to find that the ticket counters would open at 3am , so we slept outside the airport as the police didn’t allow us to enter without the ticket and we did not have the printout of our ticket because we had booked through phone J, we slept out side on our carry mats. At 3am we got our tickets and went inside, where we got fresh, had some sleep and checked-in our baggage. Finally we had our security checks and went inside the flight, once inside the flight we had our own Timepass with leg-pulling everyone. We landed in Mumbai around 7.15am and got our luggage and had last photographic sessions. Finally we bid bye-bye to everyone.

People from Pune hired a Qualis for ourselves, we reached Pune somehow at around 12.30pm in the afternoon. We learnt many things from our experiences, firstly do not have a rigid plan, nature can play all the tricks with you to fail ur plans. Don’t go to such places in heavy monsoons….sure shot failure of schedule. Although our trek was successful and we are thankful to come back safe albeit some problems.

This was the experience of Uttaranchal trek.

Siddhagad

2007-05-19T21:22:00.000-07:00

Fort : Siddhagad
Height : 3223ft (above MSL)
Base Village(s) : Narivali , Siddhagadwadi (plateau just below the fort)
Grade: Easty upto Siddhagad wadi , Difficult from there to top of fort (loose rocks)

Route(s):
1. Karjat -> Mhasa -> Narivali (vehicles buses come till here) -> Siddhagadwadi (walk from Narivali to Siddhagad wadi)

2. Bhimashankar -> Bhatti (Forest region) Machan -> Valley down (take left at 1 point) circumvent Dhamdamia Dongar -> Siddhagadwadi

3. Mhasa -> Borwadi -> Siddhagadwadi.

We (myself, Vinod and Aditya) started for Siddhagad on a hot saturday afternoon. The plan was to ascend till Siddhagad wadi , stay there for the night and in the morning climb Siddhagad.

We started from Pune -> Chinchwad at around 3.30pm and went via Lonavala -> Khopoli -> Karjat -> Mhase -> Narivali. Narivali is the base village. Here we met 1 Kaluram Bhoir who told us we could park the car at his home and told us the route. He also gave us phone numbers of 1 Tanaji Nemade who lived atop siddhagadwadi so that we could inform them about where we were in case we got lost.

We started off towards Siddhagad. The sun was setting fast. We came to 1 village and crossed it. At one point the sun gone completely and darkness setting in we lost our way. We climbed through the waterfall route dangerously strewn with big rocks. We had missed the route big time. Anyways we got out our torches (mine and aditya's) as vindy had forgotten his. The route was tiring and night was coming swiftly. At one point we thought we should sleep here and not go ahead as we were all getting too tired and the route didnt seem to end. Finally at around 9.55pm in the night we reached the clearing where the plateau of siddhagad wadi starts thanks to Aditya and his compass watch we were able to go to the correct direction. The sense of elation we got when we reached there was blissful and we started walking towards siddhagad wadi. Once in the wadi we crossed a small school on the way where some trekkers from the Nisarg Bhraman group had settled down. Some more distance we asked for Tanaji Nemade and found him sleeping blissfully. Poor chap we woke him up and told our stuff to which he told there was another route very easier with which we could come up in 1.5 hrs. Imagine our level of frustation on hearing it and we were cursing ourselves on missing the route and climbing for 4 hours.

Tanaji gave us a open courtyard for settling down and we had our dinner with tales of other such foolhardy route climbs. My knee was paining at this point and I decided that I could not summit the next day if it worsens so thought OK thats over for me but lets wait for morning and see how the knee behaves.

We slept like logs and in the night a cat drummed on Vindy's face like a drummer and got us all awake and we had our time laughing out. Morning 6.00 we rose and I declared that I was not going to summit as i did not want to worsen my knee condition. Vindy and Aditya started towards the fort for the climb and i roamed the wadi and took photos.

Vindy and Aditya finally came down at around 11am or so and looking at their faces i could sense that the trek was tough up, anyways i was sad at missing out the scenic clouds and other things.

We went to the village well and bathed. It was pure bliss bathing in the hot sun with the cool water. We refreshed instantly.

Then we had a breakfast of usal and bhakri and started down towards Narivali at 11.49am. The sun was already shining high and heat was increasing but due to the tree cover we didnt get affected that much. We now got the correct way for going down and realized how we had hazardously climbed the night before. The way was cakewalk and we got down fast. But now the sun was beating like hell on us as we trudged slowly towards narivali. Once at Narivali we went to Kaluram;s home and rested for say 45 mins and had some water and cool drinks. Then we started towards home. A good trek but sad on missing out the summit. Will do it again.

Trek 14 accomplished.

Korigad

2007-05-19T21:08:00.000-07:00

Fort : Korigad
Height : 3059 ft(above MSL)
Base Village(s): Peth Shahpur , Ambavane.
Region: Lonavala
Grade : Easy

Route(s):
1. Lonavala -> Bhushi -> GhusalKhamb(straight)->Peth Shahapur
2. Lonavala -> Bhushi -> GhusalKhamb -> Peth Shahapur -> Ambavane

Total km: Lonavala -> GhusalKhamb = 16km Ghusalkhamb -> PethShahpur = 6km PethShahpur -> Ambavane = 2km.

After doing Tung started towards Korigad. Came to base village PethShahpur and parked my bike at a roadside shop and started towards Korigad.

Went via a distinctly marked route but somewhere lost my way to go up but got the correct path thanks to the floodlight poles which Sahara group has erected. (Sahara has taken a massive construction of holiday homes and other stuff near Amby valley overlooking this fort. During night time the fort is visible via floodlight via specially erected poles giving a cool look)

Reached the fort steps(incidentially these steps were built by Sahara group to aid trekkers) but trekker dont like climbing over steps....:-) anyways had to go up the fort.

In between there is a temple of Lord ganesha and a cave with water next to it. The water did not seem potable to me.

Reached the fort in 25 mins and started walking along the walls. The fort is huge and has nothing much on top except some big cannons and some good architecture plus the eye soothing view of the Sahara City below.

Circumvented the fort in about an hour and the sun had come down shining hotly now on me. So when done with the fort and taking snaps started down. At 1 point there is a cool cave. Where i sat down and had my dabba and water. Rested for around 10 mins and started down. This time did not lose my way and found it correctly till the road. Had a thums-up and started on my bike towards home. Trek 13 accomplished.

Tung a.k.a Kathingad

2007-05-19T20:42:00.000-07:00

Fort : Tung (Kathingad)
Height : 3500ft (Above MSL)
Base Village : Tungawadi
Region: Lonavala
Grade: Easy
Route(s):

1. Lonavala -> Bhushi dam -> INS Shivaji -> Air Force station -> Ghusalkhamb(turn left) again left (narrow tar road) -> Tungawadi Gaothan. Here there is a Maruti (Hanuman) temple. The route for the climb goes from front of the Hanumaan Temple

2. Kamshet -> Pawna backwaters-> Launch thru pawna backwaters -> Tung base -> climb. (difficult route)

Total km: Lonavala -> Ghusalkhamb = 16km , Ghusalkhamb -> Tungawadi = 8km.
Forts seen from here: Lohagad, Tikona, Visapur.

History of Tung: It was used as a watch tower over the maval region along with other forts like lohagad visapur and tikona.

Had gone to Tung fort on 19th May 2007. It is the one which i wanted to go from many days...so thought why not. Started from home around 5am on my bike (Pulsar150) towards Lonavala.The route after lonavala (bhushi) was scenic and cool. Clouds were drifting at low altitudes and it seemed like heaven.

On the way saw a Shivaling type of hill it was truely the most divine sight i have ever seen. Looks like a proper shivaling and its an isolated hill.

Reached GhusalKhamb and turned left but instead of taking the narrow road left went right 4-5km and thought something was amiss. So asked a local and he said go back and take the narrow road near the ghusalkhamb phata. Went back again and took the correct road and the road is too good but narrow. Reached Tungwadi Gaothan and went near the Maruti Mandir.

Took Darshan of Lord Hanuman and started at 7.09am from there onwards up. Takes like around 15-30 mins depending on ur strength but it is very easy. While going up at a short distance there is again a cave with Lord Hanuman in it. The route up is winding and goes easy.
Reached the fort darwaza at 7.24am (imagine doing a fort in the sahayadris in 15min)...was my fastest climb ever :-) )

Once on top took some photographs...Inside the first darwaaza there are two buruz and there is 1 more small door there to go atop. On top the scene is too awesome and cool! Nothing much on top. There is a Lord Ganesh Mandir on top there and a water source which is too greenish (not recommended for drinking atleast).

Once ur there the route goes slightly up circumventing a small rock formation towards the highest point of the fort (which is a buruz). There up the view of the Pawna backwaters is schintillating. You can see Tikona fort, Lohagad fort from here. There over a pole the bhagwa(saffron) flag flutters proudly and there is a small shrine of Tungai Devi in at the end point.

Once this was done started climbing down the fort and got down at 8.10am and again took darshan of Lord hanuman and started towards Peth Shahapur for Korigad. One more trek done.
Trek 12 accomplished

Pandavgad

2007-04-09T22:07:00.000-07:00

Fort : Pandavgad
Height : 4185 ft above MSL
Region: Mahabaleshwar
Grade : Medium

Pandavgad is situated in Mahabaleshwar region at the end of the Mandhardevi Ghat towards Wai side. It is a peculiar fort.

After doing Vairatgad we did Pandavgad. We passed through Wai city and saw that the famous ganesh temple was under water due to the heavy rains that year. We traversed slowly in the city and finally came out and started towards Pandavgad. After around 45 mins we arrived at the base of Pandavgad. (Base village : Gundewadi)

History : Pandav gad was built by the Shilahar king Bhoj - II , and it was under the rule of Adilshahi before the Marathas captured it. Aurangzeb again captured the fort and after him the British took over it.

We started up towards Pandavgad and it was an easy ascent. The Mandhardevi Ghat road was looking awesome from a height and we took some photos. We reached up in about 45 mins. The fort is nothing much to look at. Pandavgad is private property as per records and its caretaker is 1 Sher Wadia....we could see his home at a distance there.

Finally we started down in around 10-15 minutes and came down in about 40 mins. Changed our clothes and started towards Pune. We came to Pune at 8pm and went home weary but happy ...

Trek 11 accomplished!

Vairatgad

2007-04-09T21:32:00.000-07:00

Fort: Vairatgad (3939 feet above MSL)
Region : Wai
Grade : Medium

We did this trek during monsoons last year July 2006 when the monsoons were on peak. I did it through vxtrek a company trekking group with Shash, Asmita, Abhijit, Swati and one more person.

Vairatgad is located in the Wai region.

We were to assemble at around 6am at Mayfair office but like always IST we assembled at 6.30am and started finally at around 7am from Pune. We went via the satara road towards wai. The sky was overcast and it was raining like hell in Pune too.

We had a break in between at Natraj Hotel for breakfast. I had some Upma which tasted good and again we started towards wai. We reached at around 8.30am nearby wai and asked for directions towards Vairatgad.

Finally we found the right way and went to the base and started climbing. It was pouring by now and the route was too slippery thanks to the rain and the mud which had turned to slush.
Finally after around 1 hour we reached the top. Took some photos and had our lunch in the temple there. After lunch we immediately started down and now the actual fun began. As we were descending we were slipping like hell and I was really scared this time as I was afraid to go down but well anyway with Shash and Abhijit's help we came down and heaved a sigh of relief !!

We started towards our vehicle and went towards Pandavgad. Pandavgad in next blog write up. Trek 10 accomplished!

Rajgad - again

2007-04-09T21:29:00.000-07:00

We went to Rajgad again during the monsoons. This time it was planned that we would go to Rajgad enroute Satara to Pradeep's home. Myself, Rahul, Amit, Prasad and Pradeep started from chinchwad towards pune. We halted near Satara Road for more people to join in.

Finally we started towards Satara. Basically we thought we would not do Rajgad as it would be slippery during the monsoons but then later we said we can do it and then at the phata we turned right and went towards Rajgad. At one point we saw Rahul's bike's rear tyre was punctured. Luckily we were at a village in between nasrapur so we repaired his bike and had some breakfast of vada sambhar.

Then we started towards Rajgad. The roads were too good and as it was not raining we were speeding towards our destination. we turned left at one point at Margasani phata and went towards Gunjawane village. Finally we reached Gunjawane village and parked our bikes at a hotel. We changed our clothes at the hotel took some water with us and kept all heavy baggage there and started towards Rajgad.

Initially I was feeling some problem with my stomach so i decided not to go ahead but then i said if i have come this far why not to go up. So I went ahead. It was not raining and the nature all around was too good. The fort itself was shrouded in clouds and was all green over. We climbed for around 1.25 hours and finally reached the rock cut steps. Here we saw a person who was afraid to ascend the steps also because he was having fear of heights...that guy turned back :(

We anyway ascended the steps and had some photosessions. Now it had started raining hard and we were soaked to the skin. Finally we reached the fort. It was heaven there. All clouds had descended down there and we could see nothing. Finally the others decided to go to the balekilla i stood down as i was in no mood.

I stood admiring the nature and taking some photos from my cell. Finally the group came down and we again started down. There were quite a lot of people on the fort and were part of some trekking group.

Finally we started down the way we came and came down quickly. At one point the rain started again heavily and we were at a muddy part of the descent and due to the rain it had become all slushy so we walked slipped and fell down again got up and walked through...it was fun. Finally we came to level ground and saw a small hotel. We asked the owner to prepare some tea and it was very refreshing.

While coming down we talked to 1 villager who told us whether we would take a snake (cobra) to the Katraj zoo. He had basically caught the snake nearby and it was a small cobra. He said he had hidden it on a tree as the villagers would kill it if they saw it. He pleaded with us to take it to the Katraj Zoo because he knew he could not care for it properly and the zoo authorities would care more for it than him. My bag was full and i couldnt take it. I felt so bad for that.We saw the snake in the bottle...it was an awesome sight...it was a small cobra and it was beating against the bottle....

After having tea we again started down and came to the hotel. There it was a rivulet of sorts because of the heavy rain and it had become very slushy. We had a satisfying lunch at the hotel and now I was feeling feverish as though something was wrong. I decided against going to Satara and started towards home. Trek 9 accomplished.

Raigad

2007-04-09T04:21:00.000-07:00

Fort : Raigad (2851 feet above MSL)
Region : Raigad
Grade : Easy

Raigad is the capital of all the forts of Shivaji. It is situated 22 km from Mahad and there is a whole district which has the name derived from this fort.

Raigad is a very big fort with many of the things quite present on this fort. There is a hotel too on top and facilities for living are too good. Myself and some friends decided to go to Raigad in the month of December 2004. We left by 10.21 local from Chinchwad and reached Shivajinagar. From Shivajinagar we took a bus to swargate and entered the swargate ST stand.

From Swargate we took an Asiad Bus for Mahad. The route was via Katraj Ghat -Bhor phata - Bhor - Varanda Ghat - Mahad.

The road at Varanda Ghat was too bad and the ghat was too dangerous and we were scared to our limits when on the ghat. It was a long ghat. Finally at about 4 in the evening we reached Mahad. From Mahad we got an ST bus which goes right upto the base of Raigad. We reached Raigad at around 5.30pm with plenty of sunlight. We decided to climb through the steps. Its an easy way up there with steps right upto the top and no problems. There is a rope way too which goes up but we decided against it.

We climbed on through the steps for 1 hour looking at the scenery on the way while going. We also saw the Hirkani Buruj on the way.

Finally after an hour we reached the darwaza of the fort. We could see the vast expanse of the fort and climbed towards the place where we would rest for the night. We had a sumptuous dinner and then did some time pass talking for sometime.

Finally we decided to have a night walk. Being december it was too cold out there and we were shivering. Finally we came and slept at around 11pm. Morning we woke up freshened up and finally started exploring the fort. For exploring Raigad you need atleast 2 days as its a very big fort.

We saw the bazaar peth (market place) which is still intact. We saw Chhatrapati's throne and the durbar which were still intact and the ASI were making amends to some broken structure. It is said that the throne of Maharaj was set of pure gold and with precious stones on it. The English when they invaded Raigad took away everything with them.

We then had a look around the fort and saw the Mahadev Mandir. The top of the temple was looking like a masjid. In those days Aurangzeb and other invaders used to bomb temples so while designing the temples the worksmen would design the top as a Masjid to fool the invaders. There we saw the samadhi of Waghya and Maharaj. Waghya was Maharaj's pet dog who had died on Raigad.

Then we saw the Kali Kada or Devi Kada which is quite steep. We saw Lingana fort from here and the view was breathtaking from this place. We then decided to climb down the fort. Finally at around 12 in the afternoon we reached the base and hired a six seater and went towards Mahad. At Mahad we had our lunch and boarded the bus to Pune via Tamhini Ghat - Mulshi. We reached Pune at around 8 in the evening and started towards home.

Trek 8 accomplished...

Sihangad

2007-04-09T04:03:00.000-07:00

Fort : Sinhagad (4320 ft above MSL)
Region : Pune
Grade : Easy

Finally had the time to go for this. Went to this fort numerous times but this time went with friend group.Its near to Pune and is around 34 km from my place. We started by bus from Nigdi around 6.00 am in the morning and went up to Swargate.

From Swargate we caught the Sinhagad bus and started off towards Sinhagad. We alighted at around 8.00am at the base village of Sinhagad and started to trek up. It was tiring as I had not done treks for sometime now.

We walked for around 1.5 hours before we finally reached the top near the door. There we had cool lemon juice and started towards the fort. The fort is a good one and had 2 doors near the entrance. From here you can see the doordarshan tower also on top there. Finally we went inside and had a look here and there.

We sat near a hotel up and had pithla-bhakri and it tasted like heaven.We also had bhaji and tea and then started off exploring the fort. We descended the steps towards the Kalyan Darwaza and sat there sometime enjoying the nature. Finally we went around and made a whole round of the fort and reached windpoint. The wind was blowing fiercely and we could feel ourselves been blown by the wind. The scenery here is too good..finally we started from here and saw the Rajaram Samadhi and then finally started down. While going down we descended in 45 mins and when down had a cup of tea at a small hotel and caught the bus to swargate. From swargate we went home by Nigdi bus... trek 7 accomplished

Rajmachi

2007-04-02T05:59:00.000-07:00

Rajmachi consists of 2 forts (2710 ft above MSL)
Region : Lonavala
Grade : Medium
Forts : Shriwardhan and Manoranjan

The Rajmachi fort is located near lonavala and is covered by thick jungles from 3 sides. We decided to do it during graduation on a saturday and a sunday.

We left from Pune at 9.00am and reached Lonavala and went to Deepak's home. Everyone had come along there. We started for Rajmachi at 4.00pm in the evening and bought raw material for food and stuff and started trekking. We crossed the express highway at 1 spot and then the road was like straight but it was covered by jungle on all sides. We kept walking and pulling each others legs and were a merry bunch...we were around 20 people this time.

We reached Rajmachi at 8pm and immediately settled down in the temple there. The night was eerie and we started cooking. The rice got burnt when being cooked but we were spared eating it as we had rotis for us also.

As night advanced the cold took over. It was too cold out. We huddled in the temple and went to sleep like never before. All of us were shivering even under our bedsheets. Morning we woke up at 7.00am and went to Shriwardhan Fort.It was not much effort as its not at a height of more than 1500 ft. From above we could see the Rajmachi Point, the BorGhat , Dhak chi Bahiri and other forts around. We idled there for a few more minutes and started down.

Then we got around Manoranjan. It was also not much effort as the height was not too much. We came down and then some guys said ki class jana hain so leaving. I also left and overtook these guys. Did not have any breakfast or anything. And the walk in the sun had me dehydrated so much that when I reached Lonavala it was fine but in the local when coming to chinchwad I was not able to see anything everything was going blank...my stupidity had made me like this...but well i got down at chinchwad and had some juice after which I regained senses..:)

Then trek number 6 accomplished...!!

Torna - Rajgad

2007-04-02T01:53:00.000-07:00

Forts :
1. Torna (Prachandagad) (4604 ft above MSL)
Region : Velha (Pune)
Grade: Tough

2. Rajgad (4514 ft above MSL)
Region: Gunjawane (Pune)
Grade : Medium

This was the greatest ever trek done during my whole trekking life till now. We did this during TY BCS October 30th 2002. It was diwali time and we decided to go for this trek with class friends.

We had 14-15 people for this trek. Saurabh,Deepak, Shankar,Ganesh,Amit,Prasad,Deepak M, Yashwant,Uday,Rahul, Nitin, Sachin,Chetan and Me.

We started at 6.00am from chinchwad towards Pune by local and got down at Shivajinagar station and all of us gathered together.

We boarded a bus to swargate ST stand from where we would board a bus to Velhe the base village for Torna (also known as Prachandagad). Torna was the first fort which was captured by Shivaji at the age of 16 years.

We got down at Velhe and the iternary was climb Torna and stay for the day, morning get up and start for Rajgad, climb Rajgad and stay for the day and then climb down and go home.

We freshened up ourselves changed to shorts , got vessels for cooking and other raw materials and then had some photo sessions and then started the climb. The climb to Torna is difficult and even in the winter the sun shines down hard. Some few minutes and every body was panting. Torna is difficult to ascend but thats what we are here for and nobody got bogged down...all were very enthusiastic.

Finally after 3 hours we reached the main darwaza of Torna. The sense of relief after having got there is like something which cannot be described. We had water and did some timepass waiting for people to come up.

Then we went inside the fort and went to the temple where we were planning to stay for the night. We had our lunch outside the temple. Then we went on a site seeing of the fort on all sides and had a nice time clicking photographs and all and doing things. We went to the machi and looked in awe at the structure there. The sights around were too good and we had good time exploring the fort.

We came back and did some timepass. We collected some firewood and started to make tea for the evening. It was turning dark and we had tea. The temperature had also dropped down as it was winter and we had chilly wind blowing all around. Uday started cooking dinner with every1 doing his part and after that we had a dinner of rice and boiled potatoes which was like a treat for us because we were that hungry :)

After dinner it was time to do timepass but there was a problem...the cooking utensils had to be given back to the villagers from whom we had taken them on rent. So Uday, Prasad and Amit volunteered to go down Torna to Velhe give the utensils and climb back in the dark!! :-O
It was like something I could have never done. They started with torches and went down. We sat there in the cold night talking, singing and doing all sort of antics and stuff.

Uday and company came back within 2-3 hrs after which we all started going inside the temple for a good sleep. There was another group of school girls who had come there too. While sleeping suddenly Amit saw the flag atop the mandir and thinking it was a snake he said "arre saap"...it was mayhem all over and everyone was running like mad. Finally we saw that it was not a snake but the flag and settled down again to sleep.

Morning we woke up and had a cup of tea and started for Rajgad at around 7 pm. We descended Torana from the other side (Budhla Machi side) and had a hell of a time climbing down as it was too steep and slippery. Finally we came to a rock patch which had to be descended :-O and it was a steep one. Saurabh and Deepak brought a rope with which they secured it both ends and one by one we started down on the rope.

Coming down was a weird experience and was frightening too with all stuff but it was thrill.Finally we descended the fort and heaved a sigh of relief but wait we had yet to walk all the way to Rajgad and climb up....

The walk from Torna to Rajgad took us around 6 hours of walking in the sun and we had 4-5 breaks in between as such it was just walking on the ridges but still it was tiresome. Myself,Uday , Shankar and Ganesh decided to go up fast and climb Rajgad faster than others so we started walking very very fast and wat happened is my floater (which should have not been worn) tore and I could not walk with it...i had to walk barefoot now....and the stones were killing me. I climbed Rajgad without any shoes or aid and finally at 3pm in the afternoon we four came up Rajgad.

Rajgad was the erstwhile capital of the Marathas until Raigad was born or made actually. It is a huge fort and is built on the hill Murumdev.Shivaji built this fort using the money from the treasure he found at Torna fort when he had conquered it.

Continuing then..all of the other guys came up and we started to go towards the temple there. It is a huge temple with capacity for 30-40 people. We settled in one corner. There were many groups there who had come. We made some tea and refreshed ourselves and then we had a tour of the fort. Sanjivani Machi and all. It was an awesome fort. We also climbed the balekilla (kings quaters) and saw the BazarPeth over there too.

We came back and it was dark now. Co-incidentially that day Babasaheb Purandhare had also come over to Rajgad so we went and attended his pravachan there. They asked us to eat food there but we politely declined and said that we had made our own food. We made food later and ate it. Every one was tired so we lay down and did some timepass with all singing some songs and laughing and doing childish things. Everyone was tired so by 10 everyone was sound asleep.

Morning we woke up and prepared tea and breakfast.Did some timepass and then started on our way down the other side to Gunjawane....
We started descending and me this time too without any aid descended down. Chetan was kind enough to give me his floaters for the last leg of the journey. We descended to Gunjawane in around 50 mins and waited for some transport to come. We came across a Trax owner who agreed to drop us at Vajeghar from where we could get an ST to swargate. We reached Vajeghar at 3pm and immediately got a swargate ST bus and reached swargate at 5.30pm. I had my floaters stiched from a cobbler and felt good wearing them. Myself and Rahul along with all went to Pune station and the local was just about the start. We entrained a moving local. Some guys were left behind because they could not entrain. So they were left out. Others were there. So we got down at Khadki and waited for the next train so that we all could go together.

Finally everyone got together and we went home. Treks 4 and 5 done. Total count: 5 :)

Visapur

2007-04-01T23:35:00.000-07:00

Fort Visapur
Height : 4000ft (above MSL)
Region : Maval
Grade: Medium

Visapur is a fort near Malavli and is close to Lohagad fort. Though not much to see there but worth the climb.

Me , Mehul and Rahul started from Chinchwad at 7.00am towards Malavli. We met Hemant , Sanjay at Akurdi and Indrajeet, Vikram and some friends at Talegaon. Arriving at Malavli we started our walk. The same way towards Lohgad. At one point there is a bifurcation where 1 road leads to lohgad and the other towards Visapur where one should start the climb. We started on this route.

Mehul was enthusiastic as it was his first time. We actually lost our way to find the climbing route and were helped by a villager who showed us the route amidst bushes which was hard to spot. Thanking him we started on. Here there are no steps but huge rocks on which 1 has to climb. There is shade all along but its quite excruciating climb and everyone was growing tired.Finally we reached after 1.25 hrs of climbing.

The Visapur top is too big and one has to walk round it to have a good view. We went to the other side and walked near to the walls where we could see the route from where we had come. We had a look at the balekilla and it was awesome.

Looking for some shade we started our lunch after settling down and removing our lunch boxes...had a nice wholesome lunch and walked round the fort enjoying the nature and taking photos.

Finally we started descending down. It was another nightmare over the boulders hurting the legs...finally we came down in about 45 minutes and got on the main road. Mehul's condition was worse and he could not even walk. :)

We decided we would go up to see the Bhaje caves.The route we took was over a dried waterfall.It was pure rock climb and we did it. Mehul had to be escorted up with help from Indrajeet and others as he was not even in a position to walk. We sat in the cool caves at Bhaje and had one more lunch session where we ate chiwda and other stuff and had an afternoon siesta.

Finally we came down the steps from Bhaje and walked to the station and took a train to Pune. Visapur done : 3rd Trek!!

Lohgad

2007-04-01T22:52:00.000-07:00

Fort Lohgad
Height : 3450 ft (above MSL)
Region : Maval
Grade : Easy

This was my second trek with Saurabh, Chetan, Deepak and Avinash. Lohgad is situated 9km from Malavli station. Vehicles go upto the foot of the fort and then there are easy steps to climb.

I started from Chinchwad at 7.00am towards Lonavala.Met Chetan who had boarded from Pimpri and met Sauri at Talegaon. Deepak and Avinash joined us at Malavli.

There is no bus from Malavli. We started walking along the road towards Lohgad. After 20 mins we reached a village where we stopped and had tea and again started. We started walking through lush fields....the environment was excellent to say.

Some time later towards the right we could see the Bhaje Caves. These caves are of much importance and are said to be of the Buddhist Era.

Next we had to cross a small hill. Though there is a road going up it is winding so walking along it takes most of your time so we decided to take shortcuts...already i and chetan were panting and Deepak and Saurabh further pushed us....:) .We could see the fort at a distance. It looked huge.
We took some photo graphs and again started walking.

Now we were on top of the hill after 1.5 hrs. N we were walking towards Lohgad.To the right we could see the vast expanse of the Visapur Fort. It is another awesome fort. Now we were at the base village (name not known). We started up the steps which were normal ones. We then got towards the darwaza...it was good. Then we started exploring some stuff...some said that an underground route goes directly from here to Sihangad :))

We got on top of the fort after climbing some 100-200 steps. Took photos. There is a masjid on top of the fort. It was learnt that Muslim rulers had also ruled here so the masjid. Then we started walking the perimeter of the fort. At the end was the most amazing form I had ever seen in my whole life. The "Vinchu Naangi" (Scorpion Fang) was an amazing site. It was a part of the fort.

To get to there we had to cross a rock patch which was well my first one. I descended with much difficulty and fear so as not to roll off the edge :)

Finally we started walking along the nangi walls and reached the end. Cool air was blowing and we sat there saying nothing and enjoying the nature. Finally we started back from there and again the rock patch to be climbed. I climbed again with much difficulty with help of Deepak and Saurabh.

We had lunch and then started down the fort. After 2 hours we arrived at Malavli station in the hot sun exhausted and boarded a local to Pune. Lohgad also done - trek count : 2 !

Tikona - My first one

2007-04-01T22:29:00.000-07:00

Done this during Grads!

Tikona is a fort situated near PavanaNagar, Maval near Kamshet. The base village is Tikona Peth.
Height : 3580 ft (above MSL)
Region : Maval
Grade : Easy

This fort is not much known among people but its well worth a trip up there. This was my first trek n thus started my love for trekking. :)

Tikona essentially means triangle or pyramid. The shape of the fort is like a pyramid and looks quite a small fort from below.

We started at 7.00am by the Lonavala local from Chinchwad. We reached Kamshet at around 8.00am. Avinash (Khengare) and Deepak came from Lonavala and were already waiting for us. We took an ST bus from the Kamshet ST stand located just outside the station towards PawanaNagar.

Pawananagar is a small village near the famous Pawana Dam. The bus ride was of around 30 mins and we could see the huge Pawana Dam walls from the bus. The bus stopped at the village and we started our walk towards Tikona.The road was well in between green shrubs, trees and more. More or less was flat land then we started to climb a hill. Here the road started steepening and me as it was my first trek was huffing and puffing....

We got a glimpse of the fort from far and it looked like "hey thats too small and easy..eh? "
But the climb got even steeper now and i realized that it was not so easy !!

At one point Purvesh, Deepak and Saurabh tried some stunts. They went down a steep incline and said that we could continue they would join us. Later we heard that they had a hell of their time there because there was no foothold they had to climb over dried grass literally holding onto anything on hand and come up. Quite an adventurous bunch!

After 1.5 hours we reached the entrace of the fort. Though small the steps were too huge..one had to climb over the steps to climb higher...here the place was cool and we took some photos there. After some initial photo sessions and timepass we started exploring the fort. The fort was awesome to say and being my first I started exploring stuff. We went near a cool place where water had collected and refreshed ourselves.The water felt like nectar cooling our parched throats...we collected water in our bottles too.

We had a lunch session where everyone had brought quite a great amount of food and we had a great lunch. Then we explored the fort and went to the highest point. Sat down there and did some timepass.Then we decided to start going down now.

We descended down to Tikona Peth and again had a session of chiwda and asked locals about the bus to kamshet. We were informed there was none until 2 hours now. Reluctantly every1 agreed to walk towards kamshet...we did tp while walking...singing and pulling everyones legs. On route we saw the pavana backwaters and things. We sat at a place for rest. Suddenly we heard a bus coming our way. It was an ST and heading towards Kamshet. Wow....but the problem was again the adventurous bunch were behind busy exploring.We started shouting their names and in a flash all of them came running for the bus. All boarded the bus and started towards Kamshet....arrived at Kamshet took a local for Pune. Whew...first trek accomplished....:)