Lohagad... and Lohagad. :P

Second one of those 11th-hour treks and I’m getting quite used to the lack of advance planning which was a must in the past. We (I, Angad and Rohit) confirmed the ‘Trek to Lohagad’ a day before and were off on a Saturday dawn.

I’ll start with imparting pure information-

• Malavali is the destination, one station away from Lonavala. Pune-local-trains are a blessing.

• Walk starts from the Malavali station itself where you cross the Express Way using a ‘suspension’ bridge and follow a straight road which leads you the fort.

• Feel free to ask the locals, they are happy to help.

• You reach a fork when you reach a cluster of buildings which provide shelter to tourists and stuff. Landmark? You’ll cross a school on your way here. Straight road. No hassles.

• At the fork, on the left you’ll see a flight of steps leading to Bhaje Caves. Again on the left, you’ll witness a normal wide path leading you by the base of the mountain to the Twin Forts.

• Twin Forts? Yes, fort Lohagad and fort Visapur stand adjacent to each other and intimidating those with a romantic heart and passion for Maratha history.

• There is also an option of turning right from the pre-mentioned ‘fork’ and following a path through fields and small streams to the main path. I recommend this path in case of absent rains since it promises a photographer’s paradise and tiny bit adventures.

• The main path is covered with rocks and is a pretty simple, gently inclined climb.

• One curve on the main path gives a first-hand impressive view of the Visapur fort which stares back haughtily 45 degrees to your line of vision. The faraway stone walls and watchtowers speak of a forgotten time and forgotten glory. Strength emanates through every bit of the fortification though. And this is just the first view from miles away.

• Path then branches out in a muddy road which leads to Lohagad. The main path continues up to Visapur.

• On following the muddy path, there comes a short valley where Visapur and Lohagad are on either side and wind is set loose to run wild! The valley is windy and hell yeah, it is windy. Two cliffs on either side from the most powerful two forts in the region (3 other forts in the nearby region) don’t fail to remind us of our humility. Impressive is not even a word.

• A straight path leads from below Lohagad to the point where steps to the fort begin. Lots of hotels at the foot provide good food and reasonable charges. A sigh of relief in case it’s raining hard.

• Climb to the fort is interesting and a guide is present on the fort to part with basic information about the area.

• The top of Lohagad is huge with lots of rain-water reservoirs, a couple of unnamed but not unmarked tombs, wind, fog, wind and a bit more of wind.

• Lots of places to see atop Lohagad including Temples, Tombs, Cannons and also a view-point called ‘Vinchu-Tok’ (the Scorpion Tail). So named because the shape of the range of hills visible below resembles a Scorpion’s tail.

• Fortification doesn’t fail to impress and again makes Romanticists sink into the lost glory of the Maratha reign. No wonder the fort was named Loha-Gad, the Iron Fort.

• Quality of descent, like the climb (ascent), is not worth mentioning because on no account are you faced with challenging terrain. A very simple trek which can be called a sight-seeing trip. (Unless you want to spice it up like we did! Read on…)

• Many detours and side-routes available probably in Summer and Winter but disappear in monsoon thanks to lots of rainwater and dense foliage.

• And so we wind up the Pure Information part.

We made the trek crazy.

First-
I and Angad decided to take a fairly impossible detour for no reason at all. Rohit chose the obvious path while we went on with our crazy, wild and daredevil-ish idea. It gave me scratches and a couple of bruises. Also- made us walk through a gushing waterfall, waist-deep in cold water, on slippery bed. On reaching safe ground, we were both, for some weird reason, tempted to take a dip in the small pool created by the merging of 3 waterfalls. Was it due to the presence of cute girls in the same pool or we were just high on something or something else... no idea boss. :P
But I'm glad we didn't do it in the end. Soaked as we were due to rainfall and waterfalls, that alone gave me near-death experience by shivering in cold on Lonavala station. It was so freaking cold where I'm wet to the marrow and wind finds it fit to blow itself on my cold self. Woah!

Secondly-
Rohit made sure that the return journey reservation was for 25th September and not 25th July as we would have gladly liked. Also, this interesting discovery (that the date printed on the ticket is wrong) was made after getting on the train and seeing someone sitting on our seats.
Good stuff. :)

Gist-
An easy trek, very good for making people walk but total absence of challenging terrain if you keep following main paths. Lohagad-Visapur is a must-visit for History-enthusiasts and Romanticists.

Farewell fellas… until the next Sahyadri trek. Godspeed!
*whooshes away*

Rajmachi - Full On!!

A week’s notice, few hurried arrangements, impulsive decisions, comic agreements, an unforeseen-turned-useful purchase and a canceled priority… this is what helped me realize the eventful trek to Rajmachi.

One of my weirdest treks in and around Mumbai.

But then- my experience is another (and probably funnier) story. hehe

Few basic directions to direct readers who are looking for directions-

:P

1. Get down at Karjat station and, facing Pune side, go left.
2. Ask for Bridge, give reference to Rajmachi, walk your way to a bridge where you will get seat-wise Minidors (Dukkars) :P to Kondivade village. Rs.15 per head can be expected.
3. Don’t ask the rickshaws… it ain’t their job to go down that 15 km road to the village… they make us laugh by asking for 250 bucks.
4. Minidors can either drop you at Kondivade or proceed to the foot of your destination ‘hill’. (‘Mountain’ for first-timers) It is your cake. The small village at the foot is a 10-15 minute walk from Kondivade… a scenic, enjoyable walk. I Recommend.
5. The walk is recommended since it warms you up. :)
6. On reaching, ask the villagers for directions to Rajmachi. They are happy to point it out. (There are exceptions. A certain bloke just stared at us for a couple of minutes before I’d the sense to ask a slightly responsive human being in the area)
7. The ascent begins slowly… quite easily up a small track.
8. As forks start appearing and forest starts getting dense, small white arrows are a big help. Arrows have been marked all the way to the top at certain irregular intervals. They are useful nonetheless.
9. At the very top, when you are kinda drained, a God-sent bloke has his shack up there (selling lemon juice, food, pepper-mints with free-of-charge water) only on Saturdays and Sundays. Sakharam, the name. Try asking him his name… he’ll tell you his full name each time with fervent admiration for the same.
10. A village is another 15-20 walk from Sakharam’s shack.
11. At the village, you may get good food and a place to stay too. Also- you get the option to climb both the forts, visible from the village.
12. You may get down the same way (much faster now that you’re descending) you came up, from Karjat. You may also walk all the way to Lonavala… which a pro can take around 4 hours.
13. Climb from Karjat takes around 3 hours for pros. 4 hours, if you have any first-timers who need frequent breaks.

We were a small group of 3, including one first-timer. We reached Kondivade by 8 and completed the climb by 12:15. Placing an order of lunch, roamed around for an hour and had our lunch at 13:30.

Weather changes and worry of the descent in the rain had us climbing down immediately and we were back at Karjat station by 19:30. Minidors stop leaving Kondivade for Karjat after 6. Their rates shoot up and we paid 50 bucks per head (for the entire vehicle) for the 15 km journey. We don’t regret it though.

That’s about it- Pure Information.

:D