Kothaligad (Peth Killa), Karjat.... A Trek That Turned Out To Be Mesmerizing!

A misty scene out Neral station

 Its a bit late to post this blog as we went for this trek in February 2016 (way before Dapoli trip happened) but i thought it would be nice to share this experience with you. So this time my residential friends and a couple of other friends who were school friends with my friend(confusing!...lol) including my younger brother decide to go a Saturday morning. Took the 05:32 am train for Karjat. Unsure whether we should get down at Neral railway station or Karjat we got down at Neral station. Super chilled whether and we didn't carry any warm clothes and all the surrounding were foggy and misty.
     It was Neral West (opposite to where you catch the mini train to Matheran hill station). Had some tea and 'batata vada' and packed some for lunch and looked for a ride in ST bus or Tum-Tum rickshaw whichever available. One person there told us that it would have been convenient for us to take an ST bus at Karjat which is half an hour away from Kothaligad rather than Neral so we realized our mistake as Tum-Tum rickshaw really cost us a lot. But that's okay we learned and move on with the rickshaw. Don't remember how much time it took to reach Peth village which is the base of Kothaligad fort(And how we all freaked out at the fact that my brother almost lost his mobile phone in the rickshaw and we found out that his phone slipped through his pocket and fell under the seat). 

The 'guardian' dog

Gazing the Fort

   So a dog started chasing us from the start of our trek (they follow you for food but they do follow you till the end). Its an almost 3-4 hours trek and has roadway made by rock destruction and ground leveling. Maybe they are trying to make it the next 'Matheran' because as  we were progressing we saw so may government notice boards saying 'this is a private property' and all over the first phase. For Kothaligad you have to cross a mountain to reach the one with the Fort on it. Its fun! 

Kothaligad from Ambivli village

    There is not much to say how we kept moving and what we saw because its pretty much clear to every trekker and person who has at least done trekking ones. so going on further we came across a patch of hill plateau like from were Kothaligad was visible like a 'Submarine' and the view was magnificent.

So walking and taking picture we arrived in the village called 'Ambivli' and this people literally walk the distance everyday for going to the market and all(that's fit) and the dog that was chasing us passed on to the female dog (how can I use the word b**** here). And then she started followng us till the Fort top. The village was amazing with all the small farming and domestic animals and mud houses. Some provide eatables and lemon juice to trekkers and earn money.
     At around 11:45 am approximately we were inside the fort. Its fascinating that the entire fort is nothing but a carved huge rock from inside and from outside it looks just like any other rock on a mountain. Only the outer fortification of the fort and the gate was build with rocks.
  And we see some birds and a bumblebee!

       You know when you trek hard and its only 12 noon and you are already on the top of the fort and seen everything you can after the adventurous 'no support' of any kind climbing towards the top of the fort. I will post the link to my video of Kothaligad below and also one of my friend's video who is my fellow traveling partner.

    Our other friends had brought tiffins for lunch which we had no idea and it was a lot and delicious to eat....finally after full in our stomach we had to give the remaining food to the dogs(they did follow us to the top) and then we took a lot of photos.

Entrance of the Fort

   I may not be able to describe the fort fully as i made a video about it you guys can have a look and see for yourselves.
   I can tell you that the fort was under British fort a really long time and they used it as a watch tower and stoing all their gunpowder and canon balls.

    Sitting and chatting till 03:00 pm and we started our return journey and felt hungry again so had food in a small hotel in Peth village at the base(reasonable price and good food). 
        Its is important to keep track of bus timings so that you don't miss your ride way home as the frequency of vehicles in rural areas is low.

Entrance to the top most part of the Fort

   While returning we took ST bus and just couldn't control sleep for  almost half an hour we slept in the bus and we reached the ST bus stop in Karjat. From where we walked for 15 minutes towards Karjat railway station and reached Bhandup railway station in the evening. My Kothaligad video..

My friend's Kothaligad video

                                                                                 - Thank you

Kondana Caves (Kondane Lenya), Karjat 5 Times Already!

08:45 am Karjat station

My college buddies can be crazy sometimes as honestly I was fed up of visiting Kondane caves for for the 5th TIME!!! Arghh!! But never made a video about it so taught to myself that lets just this time be the final time I visit this place just for the sake of my Youtube channel ;) 

The tum-tum ride

  As I said they convinced me into this and I was like "Okay whatever" and forcibly woke up the planned morning.SO we took the 07:14 am train to Karjat railway station and then it was just a matter of time of us reaching there which takes approximately 1 and a half hour. One funny thing when one of my mates was going to show up late as she woke up late which made my other friend rage out of frustration...Lol!!! But luckily she was able to get on board.
  Reaching Karjat around 08:45 am we had some tea and breakfast (Vada pav, Bhaji pav) and packed some more for lunch(Later on checking that the vendor forgot to add Samosa Pav in it :( and was too late for that...but that's the latter part).We walk towards the ST bus stop to hire a tum-tum(rickshaw) and the charges have gone up...sigh...But we have no other option as it takes 20 minutes to reach the Kondiwade village of Karjat by a vehicle.

When you don't have a car

  After reaching the village there is a 15 minute distance to walk till you reach the base from where the trek starts.Kondane caves trek is short and easy difficulty level and you can clearly see Rajmachi Fort atop which takes more 2 hours from the point where the caves are located.

The 'Gaonwale' pose

  When I previously visited this caves there was a small Emu birds farm at the base which is just not there now or maybe due to rainy season they sheltered them somewhere else.So some photos with friends and a gushing river by the side of the road. Even though i don't like to travel in rain the scenic views balance out those uncomfortable feelings....Huh..
 
 So you will come across many minor waterfalls in rainy season and there's one halfway in this small trek. And we go there to have some fun and get soaked.  
  Moving on further after some more trekking you can see some plateau like areas in between with great view. In rainy season it becomes really messy to trek in the mud as my friend just didn't care and all her feet was huge pile of mud so walk carefully guys..
     The first glance of this caves is really what catches my eye like you see some secret hidden ancient civilization visible amidst the dense trees although its just caves but anyways...there is also a waterfall near the caves. You can see the steps towards the caves.
  Here's my link to this youtube video below

  

   In the video you can see the scenic water falling from above and the caves having a super huge roof of rock.and my friends abandon me while shooting it and decide to go in another waterfall...crazy friends man! 

   Seeing the difference from my previous visit I could tell that they have started to reconstruct this Buddhist caves, the pillars etc. Place is super crowded with people on weekends as it is the nearest picnic spot for people to hangout from Mumbai.
   And now at around 01:45 pm we had our lunch and sadly the vendor just forgets MY Samosa pav...man it was too late.So ate the extra plate of Bhajis that we bought and had an apple brought by a friend.
  So after spending time and drying up after being drenched in the waterfall we walk to our journey of return and sit by the river and play skipping stone. We were just throwing stones in the river like crazy....
    And its started raining... 
   Getting a tum-tum rickshaw is a real task when it comes to going back to the railway station so make sure that you note down the contact number of the previous rickshaw driver in the case you are not able to get any of the vehicle.... But they charge big...sigh...
   Hopping back up on the train and we share out memories with each other via 'Share It' app and deciding on our next venture.

                                - Thank you

Kolad Water Rafting A Thrill Worth One Try Atleast! Tamhini Ghat Waterfalls And Shree Ballaleshwar Ganpati In Pali (Raigad District)

Leaving the easy route Rasayane

This time a totally new set of friends from my office (or should i say just colleagues....Lol just kidding) decided this adventurous activity since don't remember how long because like others we also heard about the famous rafting in Kolad and went with a firm decision (except some people who later on opted out of this plan). Well they missed out on the fun we had. No hard feelings though... So one my friends arranged for a car and we all were going to meet at Thane station East (Kopari) and started our journey at 06:15 am approx.There were other friends also but they arranged a different car from Kharghar as they stayed in Navi Mumbai. And off we started our journey to Kolad. Well not to mention the time that we were given by the adventure sports team of 08:30 am sharp we got a little behind and took the long route which gave us the beautiful nature ride for some extra kilometers (the roads did give us a hard time....phew!)

    Around 10.30 am ( yes 2 hours late but adventure sport people were good) we reached near Kundalika river but super confused about the start point A(from where your rafting journey starts) and we just ran in circles there and an awesome movie scene happens with the other set of friends when we see them driving towards us on a one way and just stop and think "hey that car looks familiar?" Laughing out loud!!!

The movie scene........ O.o

 So together we go to find the point A and we see the river besides us with some people already rafting in it.... Adrenaline pumping and nervous as never dared to swim in a deep river. One of our friend drove the car to point B where our rafting journey was going to end (it was pretty far) and then we wore our life jackets,raft paddles, helmets and we started....Yayyy!! :)........

Chivalry is ready

The nature's awesomeness

        I seriously wanted to shoot a full on video in the rapids with everyone's reactions but just couldn't ....guess it was for the best....listening to the instructor and sitting on the edge of the raft...especially when you are sitting in the front and you know before all you have to go through the rapids is thrilling and scary at the same time. But no regrets as I felt never such adventurous before. The instructor told us that the speed of water currents depends on the number of gates the government decides to open. so the more gates open the more water and more fun....... Lucky! so after some rapids the instructor just throws you into water....lols just kidding !!! he tells us that there is a patch of river with no rocks and safe to swim and he is there if something goes wrong. I almost though this is it for me as when I went to swim I was so exhausted I just couldn't kep my feet moving and when the river to its force I was like.....man I m drinking a lot of water!!!
       On a serious note if you never swam then take the opportunity to swim here with a life jacket on as it helps but even though it can get risky and when you feel so just call out and try to get towards your raft for some relief.OH! by the way It was Kolad White Waters Kundalika River Rafting a cool team. So after my resurrection..Lol!! we had a phase of still and silent river water where we just swam endlessly  almost getting near to Point B the end where we were called to our rafts and do the hard work part of rowing the boat till the end.

Tamhini Falls

            Here after having some some pictures,snacks and changing we parted from our Kharghar friends as they had a curfew of time. They drove back to their home. But we saw something on the mountains and starting asking nearby locals about the waterfall that was visible from a real far distance. It was Tamhini falls.
          It took about 1 and a half hour more to reach there but man it was woth it as you drive in the ghats and upfront is this huge water fall which was visible from a far away distance. We took some time to enjoy the view and take some picture near the waterfall

Shree Tuljabhavani

Shree Swami Samartha

         Moving on around 02:30 pm we decided to have our lunch so on our way to returns we went to Shree Swami Samartha Temple  and  Shree Tuljabhavani Ani Shivaji Maharaj Temple in Kolad which was devotional as one of my friends really wanted to pay a visit to them.

Shree Tuljabhavani ani Shivarai Mandir

 So had our lunch after visiting this temples and drove towards our last destination which was Pali in Raigad district approximately taking 2 hours to reach we were witnessing the grasslands and villages and the hill ranges which was nature at its best although it rained though i don't like rain but things were pretty scenic. 
  And we reach near the entrance of Balleshwar Mandir one of the shopkeepers told us to pay a visit to Dhundi Vinayak Ganpati as it is a common practice to do before you visit Shree Ballaleshwar. 
         So after visiting Dhundi Vinayak we went into Shree Ballaleshwar temple. The temple has ancient importance and there since the time of Peshwas.....haha !! History..... 
        There is a pond behind the temple with a large bell hanging on the door which is since the time of Shivaji Maharaj as it is said that he offered the temple this bell. And here we completed our journey in the name of Lord Ganesha! :)

Shree Ballaleshwar (Pali cha Ganapati)

   So this is how we started our return journey but trust me Google Maps are necessary.....Music while driving. Endless chats with friends and more relief is when you find the rightway to home Mumbai- Pune Expressway. And you start thinking you will reach home on time but the traffic just catches up to us...Lols!!!

 Yet I would say there much more to explore.....!!! 

    You all can check out my youtube video of the above places

                                                                                              Thank you!!!!

Lohagad Fort, Lonavala, Pune district, a trek that was on my mind for a really long time...

08.43 am on Lonavala station

       So this time not being with the usual group of friends I travel with, one of my college friends asked me if I'm interested to come to Lohagad Fort a short trek for one day in the weekend. Since this fort was on my thoughts to cover in my travelling journey, I quickly responded 'Yes!' (Well not immediately to be exact but after a couple of hours, when I returned home from work)...... Later on I realized that it was one of my college friend's birthday and it was planned to go there to celebrate, he booked the tickets for all of us.

At the base of the fort

       We were suppose to meet at 06:45 am at Thane station from where we had to board on Intercity Express which arrives on Thane station at 07:00 am. And I was about to be late as usual( sigh..) but luckily made it in time on the station (not to mention I had search for my friends for a good 15 minutes....oh god bless me). So we searched for our names on the seating arrangement and the wonderful journey began.

Moments to cherish!!

       So Journeys can be amazing as for me I met my college friends after a long time and also got know a new member addition  to our friend circle. On 08:43 am we reached Lonavala station from where we booked tickets for Malavali station which is the stop via a local train. Malavali being the most nearest to Lohagad is a village situated at the base of the fort.

           We all start walking and on the way came across a hotel which was a perfect place for having our breakfast and also for the caking cutting to celebrate his birthday. After being stuffed we continued our walk towards the fort and came across various waterfall which are active in the monsoon. And my friends decide to enjoy in one of them on our return.

           Although I have a slight regret while blogging this that we couldn't manage to do Bhaja caves that had a different course to climb up, somehow I managed to get a blurry shot of it

Bhaja caves (Bhaje Leni)

      Time is precious otherwise we would have missed the train for our return journey. So moving on we walk and walk in that muddy shortcuts only to get our clothes soiled and I almost slipped while filming my video and reached the plateau region where we took a while to get some beautiful pictures.

Visapur fort

Visapur

    As we continue, we come across the very huge Visapur fort adjacent to Lohagad fort  and of them look like two giant battle ships facing each other. Certainly a great view to capture. Finally after sometime stairs towards to fort start and small ancient canons can be seen lying near some steps ahead. Weekends are fun but its

more fun if you don't have to deal with a hectic crowd that is

Lohagad

moving on the same destination. There fort was crowded :(

     Anyways ignoring that unavoidable crowd we moved forward climbing and reached the First gate of the fort called 'Ganesh Darwaja' (the only gate name I remember).

     The fortification is still strong even after so many years of environmental effects on it which is why most other part of the fort is in ruins. The climbing goes up and up until you reach the second gate where you can see the food grains and gunpowder storage areas and further through the third gate you will be entering the most upper part of the fort.

    You can see my YouTube video for Lohagad fort

P.S I apologize for the video being rushed but usually my aim is to complete videos within 10 minutes. Link below

    As you enter the Top most part of the fort you will find many ancient relics like the first which comes in view is The King's and Queen's tomb, Horse stable of the ancient times, mosque, ancient Shiva temple, large water tanks, ruined soldiers' shelters etc.

  And not to forget the breathtaking view of Visapur and the entire village below.

King's and Queen's tomb

view of the fort from above

Soon running short of time we starting our return journey which was really tiring (trust me!) and then as decided my friends went to get drenched in the waterfall as it didn't rain through the day only drizzle....

     At the end of the day it was worth it that we all connected again and I got to buy a Captain America shield keychain which is cool....By 06:45 pm we arrived on Thane station.

                                                                                                  Thank You