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