Kalavantin (कलावंतीण)

This particular trek was on my mind for quite some time now. The Kalavantin Dug (कलावंतीण दुर्ग) or Kalavantinicha Buruj (कलावंतीणीचा बुरुज) was described as tough and dangerous by quite a few. But then, even Torna rockpatches were mentioned as tough by many. So I was skeptical, yet, I had seen the pics of the Buruj, supposedly taken from the top of Prabalgad, and it did appear as a challeging climb. I wanted to see and experience it in person.

With a long leave approaching, I decided Feb end is near about the end of trekking season as well, owing to the hot weather that prevails this part of the world, post February. So an impromptu plan was drafted for Junnar area, and a one-off trek to Kalavantin. All were planned on working days, to avoid any crowd. Mountains are always peaceful on a working day.

So on Monday, 25-Feb, I took off on my bike, with camera gear, binocular and miscelleneous stuff on the back.


How To Get There

From pune the route is along NH4:

Pune - Dehu Road bifurcation - Kamshet - Lonavala - Khandala - Khopoli Exit on the expressway section - Khopoli - Shedung === diversion ===> Belavali - Thakurwadi

Distance: ~120kms from Chandani Chowk, Pune

At Shedung bifurcation (शेडुंग फाटा), there are 4 roads, one that joins the expressway, one that comes from expressway, one that comes from Khopoli, and the fourth one - a small one - is the one that goes to Belavali. Better to ask at the junction if confused.

Thakurwadi is about 5km from Shedung bifurcation. The road to Belavali and on to Thakurwadi is good and smooth overall, with an occasional rough patch. Prabalgad and Kalvantin are visible almost throughout the ride to Thakurwadi, though, in the morning, sun rises behind the mountain, and all you can see is a silhouette of the two, rather than any details.

Thakurwadi is the base village for Prabalgad (प्रबळगड) and Kalavantin. Lonely, eerie and haunted. Near Thakurwadi, where one finds 4 roads going in different direction, there stands a Banyan tree, and the road that's in front of the Banyan tree, going directly towards the mountain, is the road to Prabal Machee (प्रबळ माची).

The road is motorable to a certain extent, and I decided to take my bike till the point I can. And it saved me almost a couple kms of walking. The road was broken in the middle, over what seemed like a water pipeline. I parked the bike there on the roadside, and started walking onwards.


Prabal Machee (प्रबळ माची)

It's plain walk for about an hour and half till Prabal machee. The road goes winding around the mountain, and Kalavantin stays hidden behind the imposing wall of Prabal Machee, for most part of the walk.

Plain Prinia (?)

Common Cuckoo

Dead silence with bird chirpings is the sole pleasure of this trail. I sighted a Common Cuckoo along the way. It was a little fidgety and would let me come close. So all I could manage was a record shot. It was a lifer for me. Hadn't seen a cuckoo before.

The Machee is typical of a lot of forts in the region. Large densely wooded plain lifted off the mainland to a great height, and then he pinnacles and forts rise above this machee. I was pleasantly surprised when I found out that not only are there people inhabiting this remote place, but there is even a well-built school(!!) up there. Kudos!


Kalavantin

Route to the top of Kalavantin, is from the V-shaped col (खिंड) between Kalavantin and Prabalgad. At Prabal Machee, I asked for direction towards the col and was told to just keep going up in the direction. As usual I lost the way somewhere, and then had to do a hanging traverse to get into the col. The rock traverse was pleasant, though I had this anxiety that it might end up on a super exposed rock face rather than getting into the col, and then I would have to traverse back again clinging to the same rock. Fortunately, I ended up dropping on the proper route to the col, and eventually got to the point where Kalavantin route, in its full glory, starts.

I was told the route starts from the col, but looking around I could hardly see any stairs that lead up. Looking closely I realised, the first few feet are, as if, blasted off, and the real stairs start after that. You have to make do with whatever holds you can manage in those first 5-10 feet.

The stairs are couple feet high and nearly vertical. The climb indeed has it's own flavour of fear factor. The exposure is pretty high, and some patches are made of all gravel. Rock is easy to hold onto and negotiate, but gravel is where I always get nervous. I just dont trust it.

The route goes winding up, through patches of stairs and gravel. It's not difficult, but it's definitely not for begginers. The menacing vertical-drop rock-face (कातळकडा) of Prabalgad is visible all the time while you go up. It's massive and majestic.


Eventually I reached within the final 20-25ft of the summit. This rockpatch of last 20 odd feet of Kalavantin, is a proper (easy grade) rock climb. In my opinion, it should be tried only if one has done some basic rock climbing, and is aware of holds, balances, is flexible enough, and most importantly has enough pulling power in the arms and biceps. If the technique and climbing experience is there, it's quite an easy climb, and then it's all about managing the fear factor. There is almost a 500-600ft exposure on the left, climbing, side; and you should, in advance, think about how you are going to get down without ropes. Free climbing without ropes is comparatively easy and manageable. Getting down is altogether a different story.


I dropped my sack at the base of the rockpatch, and started climbing. There is a very helpful crack on the left, and then some pinch holds on the right. The rock is pretty sturdy, and some of the very good I have seen in Sahyadri so far. So those holds are quite trustable. I was on top in about a couple mins. It was exhilerating to be on top, and at the same time, the precarious looking edge, from where I climbed, kept making me anxious about eventual climb-down.

The view from top are great. I could identity Karnala fort due to it's unique pinnacle, even though it was quite a long distance from there. Peb and Irsalgad are also said to be visible from there, but I  couldn't identify which is which; though I did notice two peaks with strange rockfaces on top.

Getting down from there comes with a lot of anxiety. You lose your balance for one instance, and you are hurtling down the rockface in the next. So all moves have to come with absolute conviction. Slow, steady and perfectly balanced all the time, is the key.

Once I was down at the base of the rockface, there was the next set of challenge - the gravel and vertical steps of Kalavantin. Going up was easier. Getting down, looking straight down the vertical slope, was a little nerve-wrecking. Especially due to the reality that no one would even know if I fell.

It took me almost an hour to make it down to the col. I was dead slow in the gravel part. The rocky stairs were comparatively manageable since there are a few jug holds created in the rock, apart from some natural pinch holds. It's easier to get down either backwards or sideways since that way your centre-of-gravity remains very close to the rock and you can use your hands to hang on to the rock.

Once I got back into the col, it was all about walkin to the machee, and then onwards towards my bike on the semi motorable road. The route from col to the machee, is still a little steep, but not at all dangerous. It's probably a water-stream route going by it's characteristics, but it takes one directly to the habitation on the machee.


Way Back Home

By the time I made it back to the bike, it was late afternoon and everything I touched, burned my hands. Including my bike.

Eventually I made it to Shedung and NH4, had my lunch at a dhaba, and reached Pune in next couple of hours, by 6:30pm. The only section where I really enjoyed racing was the Khopoli ghat section which joins with the expressway. It's a super twisty-turvy ghat, with absolutely plain heavenly roads, scarce traffic, and brilliant banking with lot of scope for adrenaline inducing cornering. Racing up these slopes is to a biker what a superbly well made Puranpoli (पुरणपोळी) is to a foodie.


Some Tips For Those Attempting Kalavantin

Based on my experience, here are some tips which, I felt, might come handy to those planning or attempting Kalavantin -

1. If you haven't done a lot of trekking and a basic amount of climbing before, don't attempt this on your own. Get someone experienced along. This is not for begginers.

1.1 Don't do this alone unless you are sure of your feet and hands and navigation, and have prior trekking/climbing experience.

2. Carry a lot of water. After Prabal Machee, there are no sources of water anywhere. At least I couldnt find any. And you will need a lot of it.

3. Try to make it to the col as early in the morning as possible. If you get late, you will get your hands burnt while coming down. The rock heats up like it's on fire, and you dont have an option but to catch hold of it while coming down.

4. Stay close to the rock while on stairs.

5. Make sure you are not stepping on loose gravel. Be very careful on the gravel patches.

6. If you don't have prior climbing experience, I would advise against free-climbing the last rockface without ropes. It's not tough, but it does need some delicate movements and balancing. And it's exposed.

7. While climbing down the stairs, grab hold of the rock any which way, and climb down backwards or sideways. Dont sit down for finding the next step below. One - you might lose your balance looking down, and two - your backpack might hit the step above and spoil your balance. It's too exposed out there to take these kinds of risks. Be safe.

8. It ain't over till it ain't over. Don't lose your guard until you are safely back into the col.


Approximate Timings:

Thakurwadi to Prabal Machee: 1-1.5hrs
Prabal Machee to the col: 0.5hrs
Kalavantin climb up: 30-45mins
Climb down to the col: 1-1.5hrs 

Pune - Rajgad - Connecting Ridge - Torna - Pune: In a Day - Part III

Continued from Part - II ...

Fort Torna (तोरणा किल्ला)

BUDHALA MACHEE (बुधला माची)

By 3pm indeed, I was below Budhala Machee. Couple of inclined spots had a lot of scree and gravel for my comfort, and with that heavy rucksack on my back, I had to be a tad more careful to avoid any skid.

Budhala Machee and its pinnacle (बुधला माची आणि त्यावरील सुळका)

I had learnt that there were 3 rockpatches along the Rajgad-Torna route, and on reaching Budhala Machee, I was all excited and started locating the first one - Shidi Rockpatch on Budhala Machee.

It was a disappointment. It was so lame that, after putting my rucksack and camera bag down, I could climb it while holding my DSLR in one hand, in 30sec tops, while avoiding almost 90% of the ladder (from the left of the ladder). Getting down is different matter altogether though. There is a lot of scree and gravel there, and it suddenly dawns on you while getting down.

Ladder Rockpatch (शिडी कातळकडा) - Start

Ladder Rockpatch - From a distance

Ladder Rockpatch - The Ladder

Konkan Darwaja (कोकण दरवाजा)

I kept my camera on one of the rocks there, and started getting down using all four limbs. But it was harder than I thought. The scree and gravel was making it insanely difficult for me to get good holds. And the place is exposed well enough to make you concerned about the reliability of your next hold. It took me upwards of 15mins to get down from there. 

After picking up my bag, again it took me mere 30 seconds to climb that rock-patch. There, below the ladder, I met a local leaving for home, and got couple of glasses of lime juice to freshen up. By the time I reached top of Budhala Machee, it was 3:30pm. Now this was part of Torna, where I had never been before. But hey, I had never been on that long sprawling ridge before either.

After I started following the dirt route for sometime, I reached what people call rock-patches. They are rocks from the falling fortification, sitting on top of each other in a strange way. Though the exposure is on both sides of that patch, there are proper holds, and if you are nimble with your movements, there is no way these 'rock-patches' can pose any risks. You can be out from there in no time.

I was at Konkan Darwaja by 4:15pm and here I met a boisterous group of lads from Police force who had arrived at Velhe for बंदोबस्त (vigil) during some local poll process. They were quite vocal, and within seconds we built a nice rapport and the conversation was flowing. Me being from Sangli probably helped, since couple of guys were from Sangli themselves. They were impressed with me crossing the whole long ridge alone on my own, while I was impressed by their jolly demeanor with a commoner like me - (supposedly) so much missing from Police force in general.

Fortifications near Mengai-Devi Temple  (मेंगाईदेवी मंदिराजवळची तटबंदी)

TORNA

Taking their leave, I was quickly on my way towards Mengai Devi Temple, and by 4:30pm I was on my way down towards Torna base. Since 1.5hr was seemingly sufficient for climbing down Torna, chances of making it to the base before sundown were looking very bright.

All along the climb down, the legs had started making their presence felt. It was a torture to walk downhill with aching toes. But as planned, I made it to the base right at 6pm. The sun hadn't set as yet, and I was ecstatic to have completed what I had set out to do, strictly within the schedule I had set for myself. There was a very pleasant sense of achievement running around in my mind.

WAY BACK HOME

The next aim was to get to Gunjavane and pick up my bike, before I would set out for home. This turned out to be an ordeal which I hadn't expected. The region is quite short on transportation, and since Gunjavane is almost 20km from Velhe, I was getting quite anxious with every passing vechile that wouldnt stop. Finally got a jeep till Pabe and then a truck till Margasani bifurcation.

आऽऽऽऽऽऽऽऽऽऽऽऽऽऽय हाझ डन् इट!!

It was 7:10pm and Rajgad was still 8-10kms from there. By sheer luck, I came to know that there was a मुक्कामी बस (residential bus) from Vajeghar till Gunjavane at 7:30pm, and suddenly all my tension went away. I was going to reach home that night after all.

By the time I reached Gunjavane and left for home, it was almost 8pm, and owing to the low visibility coupled with flying insects all around in the night, I maintained a very slow speed throughout. At 9:30pm I reached home, and thus ended one of the most hectic and ambitious treks I had ever got myself into.

Apart from the sense of achievement for going solo in an unknown territory, it was the success on planning and time-management fronts that really improved the credibility of my gut. In my own mind, that is.

Pune - Rajgad - Connecting Ridge - Torna - Pune: In a Day - Part II

Continued from Part I ...

RAJGAD

Kick-started my bike, and was on my way by 5:30am sharp. As expected, the windchill was killing me. After a couple of stops, one of which was for petrol, I reached Gunjavane by 7:15am, and immediately started towards Rajgad. The sun had just risen, and birds were out chirping, sun-bathing and foraging. I had to ignore birding today. As much as possible. There was a schedule to stick to and it was driving me. Sometimes when you see a Shikra or a Kestrel though, the temptation is just way too much.

I had set a mini-timeline to reach the Rajgad top by 9:15am so that I would have some buffer to find the Alu Darwaja and figure out the way out on the ridge. I could also eat something for breakfast with some extra time on my hand.

I kept going, taking merely a single break along the route, and to my surprise, went through the Chor Darwaja and reached Padmavati Machee at 8:45am itself. 1.5hrs for the same Rajgad trek that used to take me 2.5-3hrs couple of years back. That too with a 15kg backpack on my shoulders. That had to be a personal record of sorts.

10am was the magic figure, and I was running almost an hour ahead of that schedule. So I had all the time to go after a pair of Kestrels that I spotted sitting on a wire alongside a tank, and also to eat some breakfast, before I would set out to find the Alu Darwaja.

Common Kestrel (ससाणा)

A Doting Mother

Some catchy wild flower

Board on Padmavati Machee giving directions

ALU DARWAJA (अळू दरवाजा)

After photosession with the Kestrel was over, I started out towards Sanjivani Machee. That is where the Alu Darwaja is located. Sanjeevani Maachee is almost an hour's walk from Padmavati Machee. There are few water cisterns apart from the still-in-good-shape fortifications. I walked on the Machee, inside the double-curtain fortifications, which by the way are quite impressive, in search of the Alu Darwaja. But even after reaching the final vantage point of Sanjeevani Machee, Alu Darwaja was nowhere to be found. 

Sanjeevani Machee

The ridge that was to take me to Torna was right in front of me though, and I could distinctly see a semi-walkway coming from the ridge below the Machee and followed that to the left side. 

I had an inkling that this was the route going out from Rajgad, and where it ends on the left of Sanjeevani Machee, would be the Alu Darwaja. I climbed the fortification, started walking on it following the dirt walkway below the Machee. I came to a point where walking further on the fortification would have been nothing short of harakiri due to loose stone and gravel all around. There was not a single human being in sight there to ask directions to.

It was almost 10:20am by that time, and I was quickly running out of time. All the advantage of time I had got initially, would be wasted if I wouldnt find the way out quickly. I was below the first observation point on Sanjeevani Machee, and on the right side I saw a small opening. I was sceptical but followed it just for the sake of checking it out, and viola! There was an opening further, went through that opening and there I was - emerging out of the double-curtain fortification and out of Rajgad, in the open! So that was Alu Darwaja. Hmmm, pretty darn deceitful and well hidden.

THE RIDGE

Bravo! So I was finally out on the terrain, and it was 10:30am in the morning. Not much behind the schedule. Keeping the Sanjeevani Machee on my right, I walked for some distance before I came right below its final vantage point. From here I took right, and the vast ridge that connects Rajgad to Torna, was right in front of me. At the end of it, was the pinnacle of Budhala Machee that would be my beacon and guide for the rest of the journey while I would make my way on the ridge.

The Ridge

The first couple of hills after leaving Rajgad are a kind of roller coaster, with a lot of scree and gravel. When you get on top of the 2nd hill, there is one lonely hut visible when you look along the ridge. That's where the Kolhe Khind (kolhe pass) is. An absolutely desserted tar road passes through this pass, and can be used as a backup plan (retreat option) if need be.

After around an hour of walking, at around 11:30am I came inside this dense scrub jungle. The route was passing through a net of green scrubs, so dense that it was dark and cold beneath when it was a hot sun overhead. I decided to have my lunch there beneath a small aromatic flowering scrub which had beautifully scented flowers. The dark, the cold, the scent - it was plain surreal. By 12:15pm I was done with my lunch, and was ready to go once again.

In about 10 mins of walking, suddenly the tar road of Kolhe Khind appeared. Crossed the tar road, got some दही-साखर (sugarated curd) at the hut. While eating that sour-sweet curd, I had a small chitchat with the lady of that hut. They are the only family leaving in that area, and though there hasn't been an issue of leopards or other wild animals, source of drinking water is very distant from there. It was the lonely family of four, somehow sustaining in that jungle, where even drinking water is luxury! Life people live.

Kolhe Pass (कोल्हे खिंड)

The Lonely Hut along the ridge

The Moss - Leftovers of a long rainy season

I confirmed my directions, and left the hut. Couple of hills later, while still thinking about the hardships these people face, I suddenly realized I was going downhill, away from the ridge. But thankfully, there was another way up to the ridge, and apart from a minor time loss, there was not much of a penalty. The plan and schedule was still in place.

The Budhala Machee pinnacle was quite close by now, while Rajgad was suddenly distant. It was 1:30pm and I was growing restless about the 3pm deadline to reach Budhala Machee. I picked up pace to reach there in time. Couple of photography distractions did slow me down en route, but by and large, I was on time and doing well.


Continued to Part III ...

Pune - Rajgad - Connecting Ridge - Torna - Pune: In a Day - Part I

The Ridge that connects Rajgad and Torna

PLANNING

Rajgad-Torna was on mind for a long time. Almost 4years now. Torna, in particular, has been the reason why I hesitated. People had talked up about its rockpatches so many times that it had become a monster in my subconscious mind. So much so that I used to have dreams of a tall rock-face on Torna, where I would get stuck in limbo, somewhere in the middle. I always kept postponing it to the next winter, and eventually due to various reasons, one of them being the self-doubt about my rock-patch climbing ability, it wouldnt happen. Almost 3-4 years passed by like this.

This year, while riding high on confidence after climbing a Vetal-tekdi rockpatch and then the Madan rockpatch, I decided Torna has to happen now. And trekked it without absolutely any difficulty couple weeks back. Only after reaching the Mengai Devi temple, and then to the Zunzar Machi did I realize how silly I was to believe in that hearsay about Torna rockpatches. Like almost all food-joints in Pune, the rock-patches on Torna were also 90% hype and 10% substance. The railings around the rock are plain unnecessary. It's a standard trek.

With that experience in mind, I started planning for the long overdue Rajgad-Torna backpacking trek. As I had half expected, people were not ready to go unless there is a sizable bunch, and accumulating a sizable bunch for such a hectic trek is easier said than done. So the plan was quickly going down like all other over-optimistic plans. This time though I was way too much into the plan, and on Friday night, the night before the trek, I decided to go solo.

Going solo in the hills, has its own perils. All those bad things that can happen to you, you have to face them alone. But then, if one puts that negative thought aside for a moment, there is a brighter side to going solo as well - You are free out there. If you want to take a detour you can take it; if you want to spend sometime focusing on a bird, you can do it; if you like a flower or some peculiar thing, spend as much time around it as you want; you want to keep walking, keep walking, no need to wait for others. It's calm and tranquill all around and you are out there enjoying yourself, without any restrictions. Going solo, is not as bad as it sounds after all.

Now the initial plan was to leave Pune in the afternoon, reach Rajgad top during evening, stay on Rajgad, and then early next morning, leave for Torna. That way we would get one full day for crossing that loooong connecting ridge between the two heavy-weight ramparts of once glorious Swarajya. That would have been easier on everybody with varying physical fitness. But now that I was going solo, those considerations could be scrapped altogether and a tighter and tougher schedule could have been worked out. I decided to do the full Home-Gunjavane-Rajgad-ConnectingRidge-Torna-Velhe-Gunjavane-Home thing in a single day.

I went through whatever info I found on the net about this trek. On an average people had reported a 5-6hours walk on the connecting ridge to reach Budhala Machee. An hour more, to reach Mengai Devi temple. From previous experience, I knew I would need at most couple more hours to trek down from Torna. The daylight ends at around 6:15 to 6:30pm. So 6pm was the deadline by which I had to be at the base of Torna. That means by 4pm at Mengai Devi temple, by 3pm at Budhala Machee, and by 10am in the morning, I should be on Rajgad and on my way towards Torna. So 10am was the magic figure.

As per my previous Rajgad treks, I used to clock around 2.5-3 hours for reaching Padmavati Machee from Gunjavane. So for reaching Rajgad top by 10am, I should be in Gunjavane and should have started my trek by 7:30am. Now Gunjavane is around 63kms from Kothrud, and given the windchill in these wintery mornings, it's very difficult to race the bike even at 60kmph. 40-45kmph is more doable without shaking violently on the bike due to windchill. That meant I would need at least 1.5hrs frome home to reach Gunjavane. Leaving at 6am in the morning, meant I should get up before 5am since I always need at least an hour to get ready to go. And to get at least a 6-hour sleep, I should have slept by 11pm. It was already 11:30pm and I hadnt even decided about what gear to carry. I set an alarm of 4:45am and started brooding about the gear.

I had a gut-feeling that, thanks to cycling, my stamina and fitness is much better than average, and I should be able to comfortably do this trek in a day, though I didnt find anybody doing that before (at least on the net). Trusting my guts, and going without all the camping gear, I would have saved almost 5-8kg of weight on my back. But given the vast jungle along the route, unknown territory, and not much sureity about what to expect, my second mind was warning me about being prepared for a worst-case condition, rather than blindly trusting the guts. I slept undecided.

After getting up the next morning, I decided to carry all the camping gear, since I would be better prepared in case of an eventuality. Packed my gear and got ready to leave. Here is the list of things I decided to carry -

Tent: 2.5kg
Sleeping Bag: 0.5kg
Extra Clothes: ~2kg
Food: 1kg
Water: ~4kg (2 bottles - 2 ltr each)
Camera Bag: ~3kg (DSLR + 1 wide-angle + 1 telephoto + bag)
Misc: ~2kg (big hiking backpack + medical kit + head torch etc)

TOTAL: ~15kg


Continued to Part II ...

Visapur Fort Trek (3-July-2010)

With the setting of monsoon and the thick cloud cover, activities like trekking and motor-biking into the mountains come as no-brainers. Especially if you are living in Pune. It takes a really sad person to stay at home in such a magical environment. Also better to enjoy whatever serenity left in the nature, before the burgeoning population destroys everything. Case in point - Sinhagad, Lohagad.

Anyways, Visapur was on my mind for a long time. It was sad that I had been to Lohagad, but gave Visapur a miss that time. So finally with the monsoon setting in, Visapur was finalised. One of my colleagues was to join me in the morning local. But he didnt. So I was all by myself for the trek. Not my first time going on my own though. Once the mind sets on a trek, there should be no notion of turning back. So I marched on alone.

On my way, during breakfast at a local hotel on the way, the hotel-owner cautioned me against 'dangerous' route to the Visapur fort. He kept asking why I didnt bring any company with me. I guess he was more worried about me falling into the valley while climbing and nobody knowing about it. So much so that he avoided answering my question about the route to the top, and suggested I should go to Lohagad as it was safe. That was not an option. I didnt ask him again.

I kept walking, and another local that I met on the road suggested I go up the stairs towards Bhaje caves and in the midway, where the stairs meet the mountain slope, take the mountain route। I followed it, and just as I was to divert from the route, I found couple of teenagers sitting on the guard-walls. I enquired about the route, and as luck would have it, one of the guys was going on the fort himself and was happy to lead. Problem solved. In fact, as a bonus, we had three more lives giving us company - 3 cutie-pie adorable pups. One of them bright-white and very sharp, and other two light-brown with white patches, and very feeble at heart. Cute.

We started trekking upwards. It was a bit steep and we were going quite fast. So after sometime, I asked him to wait for sometime, and I went to relieve myself. Just as I was about to go near a bush, a rabbit shot past me in a flash. First time in my life, I saw a rabbit in the wild. I realised the origins of that Marathi vernacular proverb - '......ला गेला अणि ससा सापडला'. Guess, our ancients were quite good observers. They had a saying ready for every 'sensitive' situations. ;)

Anyways, we continued and along the way, the local guy showed me couple of Lava bird running helter-skelter and even tried setting his pups on them! But thankfully the birds were sharper and vanished in the bushes. Continuing, we reached a very small hamlet called Dhanagar-vadi, comprising of not more than 4-5 houses. That Dhanagar-vadi platue was quite exotic though. Camping in the area would be great fun in full moon, provided those crabs dont ruin the night. Seriously.

On the way to the top, we had to tread couple of quite exposed and risky corners. The pups were all eager and raring to go with us, but were petrified to the guts to negotiate those corners and climbs. So we carried them on the corners where we were not sure of ourselves! Fortunately, there was no drama and we reached the top safely after finally climbing the fortification wall.

The plateu on the top of Visapur fort is huge and expansive. It took us almost 2-3 hours to just go around the fort. There are lots of relics on the fort, including few Hanuman carvings in the stone, few Temples, lots of water tanks filled with clean water, some caves and the fortifications. At lots of locations, the fortifications are still rock-solid. Good enough in my opinion to sustain canon fires even in these days.

Apart from that, quite a huge expanse, at the base on Malavali side, is visible from the top. So huge, that I kept wondering if even a super-wide-angle like 10-22mm will be able to do justice to the view or not. On a clear morning after heavy rains, this location has all the ingredients for a photographer to compose a winner. Alas, my photography is doomed after I detected a fault in my 17-85mm, and after forcing a refund for the same, I am still not finding enough time to go to Mumbai and pickup the Tammy 17-50mm (non VC) that I have set my eyes upon. So I had to make do with my old reliable Powershot 530A with CHDK mod. But 5MP resolution is just not enough to capture the intricate details of the terrain viewed from the top. It just kept reminding me how big a difference a DSLR makes.

We spent a lot of time on the fort wandering around. The area is full of small mounds and greenary and is literally infested with all types and sizes of crabs. From a very small ones to absolutely giant ones. The local guys who was accompanying me was insane and kept catching the crabs, to the extent that when he saw a *giant* crab in one of the fresh water tanks, he entered the tank to catch that crab, without any regards to personal safety! That crab was big and muscular, so much so, that one snap of his claws would cut a human finger into two! To my surprise he came out with the big bad muscular crab holding its claws in his hands.

Later on I talked him into setting the crab free and before he did that, I accepted his challenge and held the crab in my own hands, despite the underlying fear of the crab attacking my fingers and wrist. My fingers earn me my daily meal, damn it. No fingers, no typing, no software, no fun, no money, and no hopes. But I somehow managed to hold on to that scary thing which was moving vigorously, making sounds and cracking his claws.

We also had some knowledge transfer there. It's on the Visapur fort that I came to know that crabs or herbivorous (dont know how true). He also told me one horrible procedure of throwing those giant crabs in hot oil to prepare an oinment to treat serious and deadly skin burns. I shuddered at the level of cruelty and changed the subject.

While we were roaming around the fort, we noticed at least 3 routes to the top of the fort.
One route was: Bhaje caves stairs-mountain slope-Dhangarwadi-connecting ridge-Visapur Fort. This is the route that we took.
Second route was through Paatane village near Malavali, which, I think, we pass just after the Malavali fly-over on the expressway. A route from Paatane take one to the top through a ravine which seemed quite easy to negotiate.
The third route came from Lohagad, on the Pavanaa-dam side of Visapur. This route also seemed quite simple, though the final climb appeared to be a little bit tricky.

From the top, it should have been easy to notice Tung, Tikona, Lohadag, Korigad, Pavana dam and maybe Duke's nose as well. But due to the characteristic monsson weather that day, hardly any of them was visible. Bhaat-raashi mountain was visible though, being quite close to Visapur. We also noticed couple of shanties on the slopes of these mountains, and kept wondering how the people living there would make their ends meet. And then, like typical metro public, I blind-folded myself, denied existance of people who have to fight harsh conditions for a day's meeth-bhaakar (which itself is not guarranteed) all life long, shoved myself into the cosy, comfortable, feel-good mindset and moved on. Crocodile tears - what would we do without you!
Somewhere it ached though, and somewhere down there, the pain persisted.

We started climbing down. The pups were again restless on the slopes and corners. Any regular trekker would know that climbing down is a bigger risk than climbing up, especially so, when the rains make the trekking route slippary. With my heart in my mouth, somehow I managed to negotiate those slippary patches and risky, exposed corners. On the way down, the local guy dug up a 'kand-mool' for me. It did smell eatable, but I didnt dare. It reminded me the climax of "Into the Wild" where the camper guy eats wrong roots, which turn out deadly. So I just followed the thumb rule of - dont eat any roots until you are absolutely sure about them.

Anyways, we descended and parted ways. On the way down, I also visited Bhaaje caves. Got bored in 5 minutes. Came down, had heavy snacks and lots of egg-whites. caught a local and returned to Pune. Turns out, even though I had to go on my own, without any company, this is one of the best treks I had done recently. Of-course there is no match to what happened on Harishchandra-gad. But all in all, a very informative, exhausting, thrilling (the giant crab!!) and 'real' trek after so many days, and that too in the monsoon weather.

More snaps from the trek here on my picasa stream - - http://picasaweb.google.com/shyran

Biking: A Visit to Torana Killa

How often does it happen that you plan an outing after a grueling week and the outing turns out to be an experience to be treasured for a long long time? Well, that is what I felt after I came back from my half-day bike tour en route Torana Fort, one of the jewels in the Maratha Empire setup by Shivaji Maharaj in his time.

These days i.e. after I got my bike, on every Saturday morning, I go out for a short outing somewhere nearby Pune. I have found that the rejuvenation that you get from such an outing is a perfect medicine to counter the stress that gets to us during the week's time. Especially for a software engineer. To bust the stress we usually splurge our hard-earned currency on things like shopping, movies, eating out etc etc. While I am not saying that these are wastages, I do believe that these things don't always bring with them the peace-of-mind, the happiness that we are seeking in the first place. They stop making any difference after a while. The 'gyan' part aside, all I am trying to say is if we are ready to spend a couple hundred bucks on petrol, there is a pleasant surprise awaiting us. All that you need to do is just feed your bike with enough juice to last for around 100 miles. There are a lot of scenic sites that will leave you spell-bound. The greenery, the fresh air, the silence, the solitude, the history (if you are inclined) of the places, the ghats, the passes, the roads less travelled, the laid-back and completely out of touch villages, the little children along the route and their antiques-due-to-ecstasy seeing a bike (which happens to be yours), the 'wow-factor' in their eyes and a big smile on their face ….. …. …. … it's just amazing. Whatever it is, it's very rejuvenating, and it goes to have a calming effect on you. Anyways, enough gyan.

So, I started for Torana fort on my bike on one fantastic Saturday morning of 9^th August 2008. There was a slight and pleasant drizzle, not much wind, completely overcast, no sun. In short, a pleasant monsoon weather, perfect (IMHO) for a long bike ride. For the starters, you need to go to Sinhagad while going to Torana. From Sinhagad, take a right towards Khanapur and from Khanapur, there are two routes to go to Torana. Madhighat-Pabe pass-Pabe-Welhe-Torana Fort is one route. While the other one is to head straight to Panshet Dam and from their go to Welhe using the Kadhave Pass. I used the former route while going, and the later one while coming back.

1 Road leading to Khanapur - Near Sinhagad

After you take a left from Khanapur village, starts a very scenic ghaat called Madhhi-ghaat. It's a kind of dense forest on both sides of the road and the atmosphere is like - as if some big cat might pop-up from any side of the road – you know - just to say hi to you.

2 Madhhi ghaat starts ...

This road takes you to the top of the hill and you can find a spot there from where you can enjoy a breath-taking view of the valley down below. I parked my bike near a turn where I felt like there is a good spot out there. The drizzle was heavy now. I was in a hurry to get there and I was finding stones to hop on, I stepped on one and arrrggghhh … cow-dung (curbed the urge of using the BS word)… was what is was! Fresh at that. For next couple of minutes I cursed the eternity while simultaneously I was trying to get that thing off my floaters. Finally when I came back to 'senses', I found this amazing view into the valley below. Eventually I realized, I was actually standing on top of the hill.

3 A Dream home in a heaven like this would satiate one for a life-time

By now I was really missing my camera. I had to use my cell-phone based 2MP camera to capture this heavenly beauty.

I roamed around the hill for some more views and then started back towards Torana. Along the route, I found the roads to be in drivable but bad condition. Also there were no boards on few of the bifurcations. I lost my way a couple of times because of this and had to come all the way back from some totally unknown village which has only one small bridge as a link to the outside world. Check out the bridge in the picture below –

4 The lifeline for a village - only 1 bike can go in any one direction at a time!

The bridge was so narrow (and in a very bad condition) that only one bike could somehow manage to cross it in either direction at a time. The biker would be in constant fear of the bridge collapsing due to the weight and falling into the stream below.

Then started the Pabe ghaat leading to the Paabe khind. This portion being remote from the hustle-bustle of the Pune city, the traffic on the road was almost non-existent. Hardly a few bikers here and a few there. The area is full of huge mountains, and hence very scenic because of the greenery in the monsoon. So overall, the equation was - small roads, absolute silence except for the bird-chirping, huge mountains, nobody on the roads, zig-zag turns through the ghaats, splendid views on the valley side of the ghaat and the distant greens and mounds and mountains visible due to the height at which you are driving. Truly it's an experience to savor.

5 Huge hills draped in green - very poetic

6 Am I in Europe?

I let the view sink in and slowly reached the top of the hill near the pass – Pabe Pass.

7 Pabe Pass - bears a board indicating routes for the forts in the area

After the Pabe pass, starts the road down-hill to the Pabe village. This latter half of the ghaat is equally scenic and breath-taking as was the first. From Pabe village, there is a bifurcation. For Rajgad fort, you need to take left, while for Torana you should take right. So I took right, and in 15-20mins (because of the good roads and a hitch-hiker cum guide) I reached the base village of the majestic Torana fort – Velhe. As per the local guy who hiked a (free) ride on my bike from Pabe to Velhe, the Torana fort is very dangerous to trek during monsoons because of the very steep and slippery routes and other live dangers like abundance of snakes and scorpions. According to him, summer is the best time around the year for this trek. So I shelved my (non-existent and very weak if existent) plan of parking the bike somewhere and actually doing a trek uphill, till the summer. Interestingly, I hear from my friends, that they don't allow you to stay there on Torana fort in the night as the locals fear there are ghosts up there. Even the regular people from the village always climb down in the evening. This proposition makes the trek and the stay, even more adventurous.

8 The majestic Torana fort as seen from the road to the base-village of Velhe

So with a desire of trekking on the fort in the near future, I started my journey back towards home. While coming back, I decided to take a different route than the one that I took while coming. So rather than going through the Pabe pass, I started for the Kadhave pass which connects Velhe and Panshet dam and the surrounding villages. Again, the Kadhave pass is the route that Shivaji Maharaj took while starting out for a famous attack on Surat to win it and connect it to his empire. So being a historically inclined, it was an added turn-on for me to imagine and live the things, the way people would have lived four centuries ago.

Initially it looked like I am in for a majorly pleasing route back home. Initially I found a weird animal farm which hosted the Imus – some creatures that looked like an ostrich. I was seeing them for the first time in my life.

9 Imu Farm

Then next on my way back, I found a waterfall big and noisy and scary enough to give an adrenaline dose to my fatigued mind and body.

10 Big, very noisy and hence scary waterfall, that I met in the ghats while coming back

The noise, the size, and the force with which water was flowing really made me nervous at the thought of doing what they call as white water rafting. I really love and fancy being part of a team that is in to these kinds of adventure sports. It's really fearful to wrestle with that monstrous a force. It sets my heart pounding. But I subscribe to the school of thought where they say to face your fears and do the things that scares you a lot. That helps in building your guts. That makes you strong. I find this thinking, somewhat similar to the Chinese acupressure technique, in which they ask you to keep pinching that acupressure point in your body that hurts most when pinched. After incessant pinching, that point stops hurting anymore and your associated ailment goes away with it.

Anyway, I took some pics of the waterfall from different angles and again started my reverse journey. From here started my ordeal. Even through the surroundings were scenic and beautiful, I was driving for almost 4-5 hours now and my body had started talking. I was feeling a bit of travel fatigue. To make the matter worse, the road that I was driving on now, had started deteriorating very fast. It reached its pinnacle of being a pain-in-the-ass when the actual ghaat section started. To top it all, I lost my way and went deep into a pathetic road toward a village called Antroli. A board at a bifurcation had been set to show the wrong direction! The damn thing cost me almost half an hour of highly painful driving experience with my lower back going for a toss. I started for Paanshet dam again, this time of the correct route, but still the road condition was not at all good.

11 The pathetic road in the Kadhave Ghaat section

The road was very small, just enough for a couple of bikes to squeeze in somehow. Other surprising thing was, during my whole journey of around 20kms, I didn't meet a single bike, let alone a 4-wheeler, passing in either direction. Not even a passer-by was there treading that route! If your bike starts throwing tantrums mid-way, you are done. You don't have any other option but to beg your bike for mercy. If something happens to you, there is nobody to help you there; absolutely nobody. The place is completely deserted.

So after driving my bike through that scary route for almost an hour or so, at a miserable speed (because of the road conditions), I reached the Kadhave pass.

12 Kadhave Pass

From the other end of the pass, one can have an amazing view of the valley covering the Paanshet and Varasgaon dams and adjoining areas.

13 View of the Valley from the other end of Kadhave Pass

Apart from the view, there is a very little encouragement from here, as you can see that for the next 10-15kms you have to traverse a similar torturous route, which has been killing you till now.

With a lot of frustration and cursing, I somehow completed the punishment and once the route came back to being smooth, my bike was racing towards pune at a blinding speed of around 70-80kmph. I was consistently touching the nineties for small durations. The speed was again bringing back my spirits. The road was smooth, and heads were turning when my bike passed. So it had started getting pleasant again …. I was quickly forgetting the pain in the last leg of my journey and the blowing wind, raining skies, scenic ghaats, and the valleys and mountains laced with a lots of shades of greenery everywhere, were soothing the mind …. I was feeling very relaxed and rejuvenated …