My manager [Rohit] is always interested in trekking so we asked him whether he can join us; which he readily agreed and even said he will bring his brother too for the trek. But he could not join us. Few more folks shown their interest in joining us but they too, could not.
It was four of us again, Vikram, Sajith, Mrigank and Me. And this time, we purchased carry mats for all of us from Ramesh Dying for 125 Rs. each.
[12 Dec, 0900 hrs: Breakfast at Aalephata]Here Mrigank was completely bowled over by the variety of biscuits and cakes [see behind]. He was doing rounds of that shelf from one end to other. Before that we had to visit a gas chamber at Aalephata ST stand to empty our bladders. And believe me, it WAS like a gas chamber! :P
So, after packing our tummies we headed towards Khireshwar and let me tell you that the road was piece of cake :) There is no single pot hole [don't take this literally] on this stretch between Aalephata and Khubi phata [where we take right towards Khireshwar]. That was pleasant driving experience. But due to that I drove past Khubi Phata for few hundred meters.
So, after packing our tummies we headed towards Khireshwar and let me tell you that the road was piece of cake :) There is no single pot hole [don't take this literally] on this stretch between Aalephata and Khubi phata [where we take right towards Khireshwar]. That was pleasant driving experience. But due to that I drove past Khubi Phata for few hundred meters.
[Just after we took left after taking a U turn, I had to stop the vehicle by public demand and Vikram got down for shooting]
[After he finished, we resumed but again had to stop for shooting birds. The dam has quite a variety of birds]The road was very bad. In fact it was not the road, but the wall of a small dam. [I remember it was getting built when I had come here last time (5/6 years ago). We had to walk over this 4/5 Km long wall and later dump the idea of trekking Naneghat due to the bad condition of our body :D]
After reaching Khireshwar, we located one house where we can rest our vehicle for two days. I had to play a little bit of Kusti to park it under the shade.
[12 Dec, 1030 hrs: Finally we covered the car and started normalizing the weights of our sacks. Let me tell you there was no fight over this :D We understand each other so much :P]
[(from left) Me, Sajith, Mrigank and Vikram]
[Here we go! The green belt which climbs up in the center is called as "Tolaar Khind". We climb it and take on the mountain to the left]
[The width of these mattresses was more than our sacks. And because of that, its sides were all the time kissing all the trees, rocks; rupturing themselves]
[Vikram took this good photo of Nedhe (Needle Hole)]
[This well was very "well" built]
[Koopmanduk: These frogs were huge, around 15cm in length]My friends immediately expressed some naughty thoughts by seeing this. Very understanding indeed.
Soon after we started the walk, we lost Mrigank and Vikram behind. Both of them were with one local guy who accompanied us till destination. Myself and Sajith started walking steadily; making sure not to stop and take breaks. We just took a very small pause to click above two snaps and the walk resumed.
[12 Dec, 1115 hrs: Top of Tolaar Khind: 1.5 hrs from starting point. At this point, we leave the main route aside and take the left to climb the rock patches]We waited for other guys for 10 mins and decided to resume when they did not arrive.
[Vaghoba (Tiger)]
[Take left up from Vaghoba]
[Rock patch]
[Sajith and me did enough time pass on the rock patch for V and M to arrive]
[Finished the rock patch]There were 4/5 climbing patches after this. After we reached the real top, I had to take some sugar and water to feel a bit energetic.
[Balekilla of Harishchandragad]There were two routes originating from this spot. The local guy suggested to take the left as it has fewer up and downs than the other one. So we followed that. There was enough wind and shade to make us feel less tired. After the walk of hour, we reached the destination! As soon you reach, you are welcomed by the Pushkarini [see below] and Shiv Mandir behind it. To your left is the huge Taramati peak [After Kalasubai, Taramati is second highest peak in Maharashtra].
[12 Dec, 1330 hrs: We were greeted by Pushkarini. The rocky patch which you see behind is Ganesh Guha (Ganesh Caves). We stayed here]We immediately headed towards "Ganesh Guha" to find a cave for us. And we found a very good one! The cave was pretty private. Big enough just to accommodate 4/5 people so there was no question for others to drop in. And it was kind of secluded too.
After occupying the cave the first thing we did is to take out our carry mats and spread them and then spread ourselves onto it! Let me tell you that was THE relaxing experience!
Everybody was so hungry. We had decided to open our tiffins for dinner but we could not hold that much :)
In the evening, we set out to see majestic Kokan Kada. Its a walk of 20 minutes from cave.
Now let me try to describe how Kokan Kada. It is a combination of three HUGE cliffs at around right angles to each other and an open space in the front [from where you can see Malshej Ghat. Yes it is that famous Malshej Ghat!]. Each cliff is minimum 1500 feet high. The middle cliff is actually an over hang. [see photos below] and also refer "Konkan Kada (Konkan cliff)" section of Harishchandragad for more details.
After occupying the cave the first thing we did is to take out our carry mats and spread them and then spread ourselves onto it! Let me tell you that was THE relaxing experience!
Everybody was so hungry. We had decided to open our tiffins for dinner but we could not hold that much :)
In the evening, we set out to see majestic Kokan Kada. Its a walk of 20 minutes from cave.
Now let me try to describe how Kokan Kada. It is a combination of three HUGE cliffs at around right angles to each other and an open space in the front [from where you can see Malshej Ghat. Yes it is that famous Malshej Ghat!]. Each cliff is minimum 1500 feet high. The middle cliff is actually an over hang. [see photos below] and also refer "Konkan Kada (Konkan cliff)" section of Harishchandragad for more details.
[Right Cliff]
[Left cliff]
[12 Dec, 1730 hrs: Over hang: from where first two photos and below four, are clicked]
[Our cell phones got some network at this point. So everybody started calling their homes. Me too reported to my home minister. Mrigank somehow is not pleased]
[I was taking a video of the valley]
[Vikram looks like a proffesional]
[12 Dec, 0900 hrs: In a way, while returning from Kokan Kada]
[Zombies at rest: We took rest after our return. Sajith looks like a mummy, Mrigank a dead body and not sure what Vikram was doing]
[Our room!]
[13 Dec, 0900 hrs: Do you see a small entrance just behind the dog? From there you enter into our room]
[Washing utensils was a task you had to do before or after you cook again and fill the bottles too!]
[It is a leisure to have bread and butter during tea]We set out to see Balekilla but nobody knew the way. But Vikram had some idea of the way the local guy had told him about. So we started walking. After reaching the base of Balekilla, Vikram declared that he is not sure about the way :D So he took the responsibility to find the way and set out into the jungle while we waited for him at the base.
[12 Dec, 1030 hrs: Waiting for Vikram]After some time he returned with bruises on his hands and no luck. There was no option to return to our base and to go to Taramati.
[13 Dec, 1130 hrs: Shiv Mandir and Pushkarini from the top of Taramati]
[There is mobile range on Taramati, so I immediately called up my wife and obtained recipe of Khichadi which I had forgot to get. There is sharp drop of approx 1500 feet at the side I am facing, then a jungle and again a drop of approx 1000 feet minimum]It was almost 1:30 by now, empty stomachs and time to return to base. This time we had Maggie for lunch and had good rest and assorted discussions.
[12 Dec, 1700 hrs: In the evening we spotted herd of boys and girls of around 11/12th class]There was not much left to be seen on the fort now since we had already covered Kokan Kada on first day and Taramati today. So we wandered around the temple doing shooting. Some photos:
[Entrance to the temple can be seen to the right]
[Dish-washing]
[13 Dec, 2000 hrs: Khichadi preparation for dinner]After having a very good dinner, we set out for a walk in the full moon.
[13 Dec, 2200 hrs: Vikram shot this one]The sky was amazing with full moon, rare thin clouds and frequent airplanes! For every two minutes one plane was passing in the sky. It was a good treat to watch. Especially when the planes were flying above the clouds and we were able to see the shade falling on the cloud below.
After some time, Vikram SCREAMED LIKE HELL. Initially I thought a wild animal paid visit but he said something is falling from sky by looking skywards behind me! He saw a very bright light getting brighter behind clouds. But later it was found that it is one more plane and it was its headlight and due to clouds the light was spread making it look like a meteor!
While we were talking; a group of boys was creating so much of noise by shouting songs outside the cave. They were staying just beside us. This is fast becoming the regular site at forts now a days. The other thing which bothered me deeply was amount of waste [bottles, plastic bags etc] spread around the fort, especially near temple and caves. There is so much of it :(
We immediately prepared for sleep after returning. Those boys were still shouting the songs. We fall asleep after their show finished. Don't no how much time was passed, Vikram again shouted "KON AAHE" [who is there?] 2/3 times. All of us woke up and verified there no one in the cave except us and discovered that Vikram has just delivered a sleep talk :D
On the morning of last day, we had just planned to take breakfast, click snaps of remaining temple and leave the fort. So we packed the bags and left for the temple. This temple is again like the one at Ratanwadi. Very well built, great carvings.
Next attraction was Kedareshwar Cave. This cave is big enough like a hall, filled with chilled water and BIG Shivling in between. See below
After some time, Vikram SCREAMED LIKE HELL. Initially I thought a wild animal paid visit but he said something is falling from sky by looking skywards behind me! He saw a very bright light getting brighter behind clouds. But later it was found that it is one more plane and it was its headlight and due to clouds the light was spread making it look like a meteor!
While we were talking; a group of boys was creating so much of noise by shouting songs outside the cave. They were staying just beside us. This is fast becoming the regular site at forts now a days. The other thing which bothered me deeply was amount of waste [bottles, plastic bags etc] spread around the fort, especially near temple and caves. There is so much of it :(
We immediately prepared for sleep after returning. Those boys were still shouting the songs. We fall asleep after their show finished. Don't no how much time was passed, Vikram again shouted "KON AAHE" [who is there?] 2/3 times. All of us woke up and verified there no one in the cave except us and discovered that Vikram has just delivered a sleep talk :D
On the morning of last day, we had just planned to take breakfast, click snaps of remaining temple and leave the fort. So we packed the bags and left for the temple. This temple is again like the one at Ratanwadi. Very well built, great carvings.
Next attraction was Kedareshwar Cave. This cave is big enough like a hall, filled with chilled water and BIG Shivling in between. See below
[14 Dec, 1000 hrs: The height of Shivling is almost 5.5" from visible base]People do "Pradakshina" around the Shivling and this time me too did it! :) The water was cold like anything. I got a shock of 440volts when first time I entered the water and but later it was ok. That was great experience after all!
Started return journey after that and reached Khireshwar 2.5 hours later.
[A break]More and bigger photos can be seen here
2 comments:
Before climbing the rock patch, lots of monkeys are there and they can trouble you. Just be cautious while doing a trek @ night.
Good blog Tejas :)
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