Wow, Life is so happening. Yesterday I went to Purandar fort and the details I have already shared. Today, 2nd August I went to Bhandardara, a place on Nasik highway around 160 km from Shivajinagar, Pune. As always my team has got changed again, this time again with a new team. We booked a 16 seater tempo traveler. We knew that a lot to travel so started our journey as early as possible. We had our breakfast in the bus again to save time. In between we stopped only once to get the breakfast packed. In the bus as usual we were shouting, singing, dancing and jumping in joy. Now I had so much of small trips these things are quite regular for me.
Bhandardara is a place where one can have everything, trekking, huge waterfall, dam, boating, fort and temple. We knew that covering all the places will not be possible, so we were selective. First we went to Umbrella Water fall. On the way we saw Wilson Dam also. We did not get down from the bus. The Umbrella waterfalls is nothing but a huge round shaped rock and when water comes down from that rock, it takes the shape of umbrella. Unfortunately the day we went there it was not raining at all and for the last entire week there was no such rain. So not much water was there in the dam, as a result the huge rock disappointed us. That area was restricted also, so we were not able to get inside. The guards were saying we should have issued gate pass from Nasik/ Aurangabad/ Akole/ Rajur. We did not know this fact so without gate pass we were unable to see the Dam from close. It was appearing to be interesting for me. After that we took our lunch break in MTDC restaurant. The cost of food was not too much. In Rs 75 they were serving Veg Thali. From there we had a boat riding in the Arthur Lake. It charged Rs 30 per head. Once we returned from the dam, was bit confused where to go. Near to Bhnadardara there is peak Kalsubai which is the hieghest peak of Sahyadri. We planned to go there, but once we reach at the bottom of it, realized we won’t make it in a small trip like this. So we came back from there. Then we headed towards Randha Waterfalls which is around 11 km from the Bhndardara. This water fall was really gorgeous. It’s big in size and full of water. So we spent a lot of time there. Clicked snaps. This was the last point we visited there. After that we started journey back to Pune. We missed the Ratnagadh fort which is by road 22km away from Bhnadardara. So anybody is willing to go there please plan to have enough time on your hand to cover all the things. And one more suggestion at the end, do not go there if there is not enough rain. Otherwise you are gonna find most of the places so boring. This trip was not at all successful. There are few reasons behind, but let’s not discuss that. I know in coming days some more lively trips are waiting for me.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Purandar Fort Trekking on 1st August
My venture continued…. I planned not to waste a single weekend in this monsoon and to cop up with that plan 1st of August I went to Purandar fort, this time with a huge team from my office. Actually this trip was planned by the office HR team. I just nominated my name there.
Purandar fort figures repeatedly in the rising of Shivaji against the Bijapur kingdom and the Mughals. Purandhar fort stands 4,472 ft. above the sea in the Western Ghats, 20 miles southeast of Pune. It actually consists of two forts - Purandar and Vajragad (or Rudramal). The latter is the smaller of the two and is on the eastern side of the main fort. The village Purandar takes its name from this fort.
We started our journey from office at around 7:30 after a handsome delay of 1 hr. we were 40 in count, had our breakfast in the bus itself and after a 1.5 hrs journey we reached the bottom of the fort. There was a formal road also to go up, but we planned to trek all the way to the top. So without wasting our time we started the trekking. Now what is trekking? If you say climbing up through the rocky surface of a hill 
is trekking then yes we were trekking. We had this kinda trek before also, however this one was different from all of them. This is because normally we were following the path which was marked by the footsteps of others who came here before, but some times we were encountering position where nothing can be decided where to go and how will we climb up. So we were making our own path. It was a real fun. Climbing up with the help of thorny bush and the muddy-slippery rocks made our lives tough, though we enjoyed because that is 
what we wanted to taste. We formed human chain to climb up helping each other. That day it was not heavily raining, so did not get enough natural water falls. The more high altitude we were reaching the more cloud covering we were getting. When we were about to reach Bini Darwaza, got a tiny water fall. Better late than never, we jumped into it and started enjoying the chilled water coming down from the hill top. It was so refreshing; we overcame all the fatigue we had to reach till here.
Our next venture was Bini Darwaza. This is one of the rarest things in Purandar fort which is still in good shape. Near to Bini Darwaza there was one statue of Murarbaji Deshpande, we clicked a lot of photographs there also. After that again we started trekking for the next destination, which was Delhi Darwaja. We climbed up th
ere in very quick time then took a long break. There we sang songs, thanks to Sidhharth, Rahul and DD. Sidhharth was carrying his guitar and DD his bongo.
From Delhi Darwaja we started for our final destination, Kedhareshvar Temple, which is at the top of the fort. This final part of the trekking I found the most interesting. The weather also was awesome. The rain and cloud was playing hide and seek at its leisure. Walking down the jungle roads covered with fog and the only sound that one could hear was our footsteps…. Oh this was the experience of our lives. It looked as if we were flying through the clouds. The clouds covered us like
blankets in the wintry afternoon. The temple was not so gorgeous with its architectural prospect but the surroundings made that temple so special. When the cloud was full on, nothing was visible around and it was like we were sitting in the heaven.
We were so amazed with the scenic beauty did not even notice how time went past. No one was bothered about lunch or anything else of the materialistic world. We were hungry and the only thing we had was biscuits. But no one was having any complain on that. Everyone was busy in posing in front of camera with their innovative ideas.
Finally we started our journey back to the bus. This time we decided to take an easier route however ended up following some weirder narrow path. A healthy competition was going on for finding the shortest path to get down. The more we got closer to the bus the more people started feeling hungry and thirsty. Eventually it became the motivation factor to get down quickly. Once we all reach safely, took a long tea break. While returning back we had our lunch in a road side dhaba on Pune-Bangalore Highway. As soon as the break got over, we started our journey back to Pune, with a good experience in memory.
At the end some important information for all the trek lovers and whoever wants to go there.
The place is very near to Pune, so if you want to go
for a trek please start your journey as early as possible. Do not expect much to see in the fort, you won’t find any actually. There is no hotel/restaurant/tea stalls at the top of the fort and anywhere near to that. There is only one tea stall at the bottom of the hill. So be prepared with sufficient water/dry snacks/fast aids. One more important thing is, the rocks there is very loose so be careful while trekking. Do not get over excited. Your safety is in your hand.
What else????? Happy Trekking
P.S. During this trip only we planned tomorrow also. Tomorrow we are going to Bhandardata. So have to take rest. Till then Good Bye.
Purandar fort figures repeatedly in the rising of Shivaji against the Bijapur kingdom and the Mughals. Purandhar fort stands 4,472 ft. above the sea in the Western Ghats, 20 miles southeast of Pune. It actually consists of two forts - Purandar and Vajragad (or Rudramal). The latter is the smaller of the two and is on the eastern side of the main fort. The village Purandar takes its name from this fort.
We started our journey from office at around 7:30 after a handsome delay of 1 hr. we were 40 in count, had our breakfast in the bus itself and after a 1.5 hrs journey we reached the bottom of the fort. There was a formal road also to go up, but we planned to trek all the way to the top. So without wasting our time we started the trekking. Now what is trekking? If you say climbing up through the rocky surface of a hill 
is trekking then yes we were trekking. We had this kinda trek before also, however this one was different from all of them. This is because normally we were following the path which was marked by the footsteps of others who came here before, but some times we were encountering position where nothing can be decided where to go and how will we climb up. So we were making our own path. It was a real fun. Climbing up with the help of thorny bush and the muddy-slippery rocks made our lives tough, though we enjoyed because that is 
what we wanted to taste. We formed human chain to climb up helping each other. That day it was not heavily raining, so did not get enough natural water falls. The more high altitude we were reaching the more cloud covering we were getting. When we were about to reach Bini Darwaza, got a tiny water fall. Better late than never, we jumped into it and started enjoying the chilled water coming down from the hill top. It was so refreshing; we overcame all the fatigue we had to reach till here.
Our next venture was Bini Darwaza. This is one of the rarest things in Purandar fort which is still in good shape. Near to Bini Darwaza there was one statue of Murarbaji Deshpande, we clicked a lot of photographs there also. After that again we started trekking for the next destination, which was Delhi Darwaja. We climbed up th
ere in very quick time then took a long break. There we sang songs, thanks to Sidhharth, Rahul and DD. Sidhharth was carrying his guitar and DD his bongo.From Delhi Darwaja we started for our final destination, Kedhareshvar Temple, which is at the top of the fort. This final part of the trekking I found the most interesting. The weather also was awesome. The rain and cloud was playing hide and seek at its leisure. Walking down the jungle roads covered with fog and the only sound that one could hear was our footsteps…. Oh this was the experience of our lives. It looked as if we were flying through the clouds. The clouds covered us like
blankets in the wintry afternoon. The temple was not so gorgeous with its architectural prospect but the surroundings made that temple so special. When the cloud was full on, nothing was visible around and it was like we were sitting in the heaven.We were so amazed with the scenic beauty did not even notice how time went past. No one was bothered about lunch or anything else of the materialistic world. We were hungry and the only thing we had was biscuits. But no one was having any complain on that. Everyone was busy in posing in front of camera with their innovative ideas.
Finally we started our journey back to the bus. This time we decided to take an easier route however ended up following some weirder narrow path. A healthy competition was going on for finding the shortest path to get down. The more we got closer to the bus the more people started feeling hungry and thirsty. Eventually it became the motivation factor to get down quickly. Once we all reach safely, took a long tea break. While returning back we had our lunch in a road side dhaba on Pune-Bangalore Highway. As soon as the break got over, we started our journey back to Pune, with a good experience in memory.
At the end some important information for all the trek lovers and whoever wants to go there.
The place is very near to Pune, so if you want to go
for a trek please start your journey as early as possible. Do not expect much to see in the fort, you won’t find any actually. There is no hotel/restaurant/tea stalls at the top of the fort and anywhere near to that. There is only one tea stall at the bottom of the hill. So be prepared with sufficient water/dry snacks/fast aids. One more important thing is, the rocks there is very loose so be careful while trekking. Do not get over excited. Your safety is in your hand.What else????? Happy Trekking
P.S. During this trip only we planned tomorrow also. Tomorrow we are going to Bhandardata. So have to take rest. Till then Good Bye.
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