Sunday 29 June 2014

Monsoon trek to Torna fort

After Visapur and Tung fort, it was time to do one more trek in the month of June. We wanted to step up the endurance level so we decided to go to the Torna Fort. It was our monsoon trek. There was no sign of rain on the day but cloudy weather and soft sun light played their best role to unfold nature’s beauty in front of us.

Trekkers for Torna were me (as group leader), wife Renuka (Female group leader), Himanshu (My partner to organize treks)-Ketaki, Abhijit-Manasi, Sangram, Girish Ghospurkar (Father-in-law), Parikshit, Sandeep, wishwas, Ashish and smallest trekker Tanmay (Age-13)

Torna Fort
Torna Fort

About Torna fort: 
               Torna Fort or Prachandagad (means ’massive fort’) is located in Pune , State of Maharashtra. It is the first fort captured by Shivaji Maharaj in 1643, at the age of 16, forming the nucleus of the Maratha Empire. The mountain has an elevation of 1,403 meters (4,603 ft.) above sea level, making it the highest fort in Pune.
There are many places to see on the fort. You can see Bini Darwaaja (the main entrance) Temple of goddess Mengai, Budhla machi, Zunjar Machi, (bastions), Kothi Darwaaja and Konkan Darwaaja on the fort.

There are 2 routes to reach the base village Velhe. One is Pune – National highway 4 – Cross first toll – take right at Nasarapur phata – Baneshwar – Velhe village whereas another route is Pune – Khadakwasala lake – Donje phata – Take right at Donje phata – Khanapur village – After khanapur village, take left for Pabe ghat – Cross Pabe ghat – On T-Junction, take right for Velhe village.

Personal vehicle or Government bus services from Swargate are convenient options to reach Velhe.

There is only one route to climb the Torna fort from Velhe village. Trekkers also prefer Rajgad – Torna trek route which is more popular. For this route you need to climb Rajgad – Sanjeevni machi – Descend along the left side of Sanjeevni Machi – 5/6 hours of walk to cross hills – Climb Budhla machi – there are 3 rock patches – walk towards right side to reach at Mengai devi temple.

29th June 2014: Trek to Torna (1.5 hr. of Journey + 3-3.30 hr. total climb):
            We woke up by 4.30 AM and left home at 5. We met the other trekkers at Rajaram Bridge. Some people were new to me as well as for others. After a quick round of introduction, we left for Velhe village. It was a cloudy weather and we were expecting showers as we did the previous 2 treks without rain. It was a pleasant journey to Velhe via Pabe ghat. We parked our cars at a restaurant ‘Torna Vihar’ in the village. It was 7 in the clock and we did not want to waste time for breakfast. We had Poha/Misal pav in breakfast and then our trek began at 7.45 AM.

Torna Fort and route
Torna Fort and Path to climb first hill on Right side

               Weather was perfectly set for trekking conditions. The sun was busy in hide and seeks game with rainy clouds. The first patch was a flat one through planes and fields. But soon after crossing the fields and planes, it got an elevation at approx. 40 degree. There are a series of interconnected hills of varying heights which gradually lead to the highest hill hosting the fort. Reaction of new members after watching height of Torna fort and its route was like, are we sure that we’ll climb this fort in 3.30 hours? My reply was not to think about the peak but just try to focus on the hills. After walking along the fields, we took a right-hand side path to start hike towards the first hill. The patch was rough and there was no defined path. We somehow climbed carefully. From the first stretch only we found that it was going to be our test of stamina and energy. We took a small break and then resumed our trek to climb the further part of the hill.

Blue sky

               After the warm-up hill climb, everybody started the trek in high spirits with the aim to reach on top in three hours. We were taking breaks at regular intervals to gain energy. The trek to the Torna fort was simple and straight on the path nicely laid after climbing first hill. After 1 hour of hike, we reached on top of one hill. You can see beautiful nature view of Gunjavne Dam once you’re on top of the connected hill. It was not possible for us to start climbing on massive Torna fort without capturing its beauty in our cameras. From the top of hill, you need to walk on small plateau before actual hike.

Route to Torna
Route to Torna

               The last 45 minutes of trek uphill are indeed pretty interesting. Torna fort offers you two small rock patches. For safety purpose, railings were mounted. Any person with basic knowledge can climb it easily. Somehow 3 girls from the group took lead and went ahead of us. Ketaki and Manasi are new to trekking activity but they climbed till the top without our help. The route after the small rock patches to Bini darwaja is pretty narrow though you do have railings to support you in case you miss a foot. There is a small waterfall just before Bini Darwaja and we took a small pit stop to get refreshed.

Torna Fort a.k.a. PrachandGad (Massive Fort)
Torna Fort a.k.a. PrachandGad (Massive Fort)

Walk on plateau before actual Hike
Walk on plateau before actual Hike

Waiting for Trekkers or for Monsoon!
Waiting for Trekkers or for Monsoon!

Railing on route during final hike

               Soon we reached the entry gate of the Torna fort ‘Bini Darwaja’ by 11.15 pm. All were really happy to reach here. It was as if one has got the fruit of all his efforts made. Next entrance named Kothi Darwaja to Torna fort is quite interesting. The path to the entrance is in curved shape along with guardrooms. As we were on height, sunny weather was replaced by cloudy weather and cool strong breeze was playing around us. We took a break and then decided to go to Goddess Mengai Temple for lunch break. On the way to the temple, you can see a water tank and a constructed room without roof. Trekkers can either set up their tents here or can stay inside the Goddess Mengai temple.

Bini Darwaja (Bini entrance)
Bini Darwaja (Bini entrance)

Bastion at Kothi Darwaja
Bastion at Kothi Darwaja

Kothi Darwaja (Kothi entrance)
Kothi Darwaja (Kothi entrance)

              After 3.15 hours of trek, everyone was hungry. We settled down inside the temple for lunch. Homemade packed lunch and some rest made us feel fresh to explore the fort. This fort is believed to have been constructed by the Shaiva Panth in the 13th century. Torna was the first fort won by Shivaji at the tender age of 16. Seeing this huge fort must have prompted Shivaji to name it Prachandgad. After his daring escape from Agra, he came here & renovated the fort. When Shivaji started the restoration work of the fort, he came across a hidden treasure which financed the cost of rebuilding the fort of Rajgad which stands on the mountain opposite Murumbdev. In the 18th century, the Mughal Empire gained control of this fort after assassination of Shivaji Maharaj's son Sambhaji. Aurangzeb, then Mughal emperor, renamed this fort as Futulgaib (Language unknown: Divine victory), in recognition of the difficult defense the Mughals had to overcome to capture this fort. It was restored to the Maratha confederacy by the Treaty of Purandar.

Mengai Temple
Mengai Temple

Colors of Nature

Rajgad Fort from Torna
Rajgad Fort from Torna

                 We decided to go towards the Budhla machi. In Marathi "Budhla" means a vessel, & "Budhla" Machi looks like a vessel kept upside down. This is a breathtaking spot on the fort. On the way to budhla machi, we saw mahar water trench and kokan darwaja. Fortification of the Kokan darwaja (kokan side entrance gate) is in a better condition. On the way to Budhla machi, you can see a beautiful bastion construction with a secrete route to enter into the bastion. You need to crawl to reach here. We went there and it was truly amazing. It is definitely a must visit place. From budhla machi, you can go to the Rajgad fort.

Fortification and Fort wall
Fortification and Fort wall

Kokan Darwaja (Kokan Entrance)
Kokan Darwaja (Kokan Entrance)

Budhla Machi
Budhla Machi

Way to secrete Bastion
Way to secrete Bastion 

            Another famous location on the fort is the Zunjar machi. After spending some time near budhla machi, we took a walk towards Zunjar machi. It is situated on the western side & is a wonderful spot to see. This machi was the most important part of the fort during the wars as it is the most difficult part of the fort to win and hence it is called as “Zunzar machi”. "Zunzar" means a "Fighter". To reach “Zunzar machi” you have to descend an iron ladder. This iron ladder has been put on the wall of the fort making the access to the Zunjar Machi easier. After this ladder there are two rock patches, out of the two the last rock patch is a difficult one. Everyone was trying to capture the beauty of the machi in cameras. We spent some time here and then walked along the fort wall.

Sadar

Zunjar machi
Zunjar machi

Fort's Wall
Fort's Wall

             We saw almost the entire fort in 2 – 3 hours and now everyone wanted to have a power nap before we started the descend. The nature changed its mood regularly, sometimes raining, and sometimes winds playing with us and sometimes sudden focus of the sun-rays glowing up the lush green wet vegetation. Everyone was taking rest when I was eager to enjoy nature’s beauty. I informed my group member and went to explore the fort again with my camera. As most of the other trekking groups had started to descend, I was exploring the fort alone. Peace of the fort, nature’s beauty with cool breeze was best way to do meditation for me. I enjoyed photography for around 1 hour and joined my group for snacks.

Waiting for Monsoon...
Waiting for Monsoon...

                 After sightseeing, we started descending at 4.15 pm. Myself and Abhijit helped the girls to descend the rock patch. Descending was not a difficult job but after some time, pressure on the knee becomes troublesome. After descending half the way (Rock patches), we took a break for 10 min. No reason as such for the break. Yet after the small break, we covered the remaining distance with lighting speed. We reached Velhe village at 6 PM. After we reached at our parked cars at base village, we had tea break and then we left this historical place.

Our Torna Gang (L to R: Me, Renuka, Ketaki, Himanshu, Sandeep, Sangram, Girish Ghospurkar, Parikshit, Abhijit, Manasi, Wishwas,Ashish and Tanmay at center)

                 Torna is truly a place to visit and to remember the greatest Maratha King. One must visit the fort and enjoy the nature and the beauty of the great fort. It was a perfect end to an adventurous weekend. We reached home by 8.30 PM safely ending a pleasurable trek in monsoon.

Zunjar machi from another angle
Zunjar machi from another angle

Old beauty at base village Velhe
Old beauty at base village Velhe

Things to carry for Torna trek:
  • A water bottle to carry at least 2 liters of water
  • Some dry food and packed lunch, No suitable food stall is available on Torna fort.
  • Windcheater / jacket / Barsati during monsoon trek.
  • First aid kit
  • Do carry instant energizers like Glucon-D or Tang.
  • A towel or napkin and 2-3 old newspapers
  • Camera to capture best nature movement
  • Better avoid wearing Gold and other ornaments. No need to carry heavy cash.

Our Expenses:
  • Car petrol: INR 750-800/- (approx. 9 lit at INR 81.8/lit)
  • Breakfast at Village Velhe: As per ordered Dish (Poha: INR 20/-, Misal: INR 30/-, Bread-omelet: INR 35/-)
  • Tea: INR 10/- per cup
  • No Expenses on Lunch as we were carrying food from home.

Contact Number for reference:
  • Restaurant Torna Vihar at base village: Hemant kadam – 9403581022 / 9021813512.


Thanks for reading this Travel Blog. Happy traveling.

Pritesh Kulkarni 
Pune

Sunday 15 June 2014

Monsoon trek to Tung Fort

After Visapur trek, now we were planning for another easy level trek for monsoon. Visapur trek was planned as monsoon trek but turned out to be our summer trek. Now weather was set perfectly fine and we decided to for Tung fort. It is also known as Kathin Gad. The word "Kathin" in Marathi means difficult. One side of route always exposes to valley so need to take proper care while climbing.

Trekkers for Tung fort were me, Renuka (My wife), Girish Ghospurkar (Father-in-law), our friends in couple as Himanshu – Ketaki , Abhijit – Manasi, Advait – Amruta and Swapnil.


Tung Fort
Tung Fort

About Tung fort and Trek:
              It is located near Pawana Dam around 60 km from Pune. The base village of fort is TungWadi. Tung Fort has an elevation of 1075 m above sea level. The fort is conical and has steep climbs with a very narrow route on the edge of the mountain throughout. Its sharp, conical peak makes Tung Fort a prominent landmark. Fort is located close to Pawna dam hence you can see backwater from three side of fort. Not much is known about the history of this fort.

To reach at the base village of fort from Pune is Pune – Chadani Chowk – Pirangut – Paud – Take a right at Paud after Bus stand – Hadashi (No need to take Hadashi temple route) – Javan – Take a left at javan – After crossing Hilton resort, look for proper T junction (Javan to T junction distance is around 14 km) – Take a right at T junction and drive for 3 km – Take a left and park your vehicle at Maruti Temple.

15th June 2014: Trek to Tung (Total Distance traveled: 133 km):
              We woke up early morning by 5 am and left Pune by 6.30 after meeting other trekkers in kothrud area. We all were aware of roads and we were on our four wheelers. Weather was cloudy but there was no sign of heavy rain. After crossing Pirangut, we took our first pit stop for breakfast at Maganmurti Vada-Pav center outside Global hospital. We enjoyed tasty Vada-Pav and it was drizzling outside. After a tasty breakfast, we moved ahead towards Tung fort. We took a right turn at Paud village, and we were making sure that we stay together so that no one loses their way. After crossing small Ghat section, we took left at Javan village for Tung. Road condition from javan to Tungwadi is horrible condition. We reached to Base village “Tungwadi” after 13 km of beautiful drive.


Pritskulkarni
Travelling is my passion and I live for it... Me, My wife Renuka and my 5 year travel partner - Uber cool machine i20

Take a left to Tung Base and straight road to Tungwadi (Peak of Tung on left top)

             There is a small temple of lord hanuman. Ample parking space is available close to temple. Group of 25 people from Pune were about to begin there trek so we spend around 30 min at base to avoid crowd during climb. After short break, our trek begins. Trek route begins with bit steep but steady height gain so we decided to take it a bit slowly. Narrow route on the edge of the mountain made our trek more interesting. Initially looking at route, fem member were scarred but soon they gain confidence. The wonderful scenery was adding towards us forgetting our tiredness and enjoying the beauty of nature. Weather was perfectly set for trekking conditions. Sun was busy in hide and seeks game with rainy clouds. Light rain shower make us feel fresh. The atmosphere changed its mood regularly, sometimes raining, sometimes wind playing with us and sometimes sudden focus from sun glowing up the wet vegetation.


Hanuman temple at tung fort
Lord Hanuman Temple at base

Narrow climb on Tung

Hanuman temple from Fort

             Within 30 min, we reached at main entrance of fort. From this point we saw some ruined part of fortification. After few min walk, we reached at Lord Ganesh Temple. You can see water trench / tank backside of Ganesh temple. It not a drinking water. There is ruined part of Sadar (meeting hall or administration room) just opposite to temple. You can also see Bastion fortification. Soon we reached at the base point of Bale Killa (Small fort constructed above fort). To climb Bale-Killa was really difficult job. Narrow rocky path and it is exposing to valley on one side. This place is too windy so it’s better to take proper care while climbing on top of fort. Generally Bale-Killa is built to protect your surrounding fort and constructed in such a way that it is difficult to climb and conquer in war.


Main Entrance of Tung Fort
Main Entrance of Tung Fort

View of Pawna Dam from main entrance
 
Tung Fort
Way to Bastion - Tung Fort

 
Second Entrance door for Tung



Sadar location (Meeting palace/Hall) on Tung Fort
Sadar location (Meeting palace/Hall) on Tung Fort


Ganesh Temple and water tank on Tung
Ganesh Temple and water tank on right (Tung peak at background is visible )


             We all climb on the peak successfully. To our surprise, all girls were leading entire trek without asking help from us. When we reach at the top of fort, we got to know why this fort is known as Kathin Gad (Kathin = difficult). Space on the top of fort is very small. There is small temple of Tungi Devi. The View from top is just breathtaking. From here, you get an excellent view of Tikona Fort with Pawna dam. One can also see Lohagad and Visapur forts from the top. Entire Pawna Mawal region can be seen from top.


Bale-Killa of Tung Fort
Bale-Killa of Tung Fort
 
Way to Bale-Killa
 
View from Tung fort
View from Tung fort



            Before I write further, I would like to share some history about Tung fort. Tung Fort was built before 1600 CE. It was built by the Adil Shahi dynasty but was captured by Shivaji Maharaj. Fort was used as Watchtower guarding trade route and nearby area. In 1660, Netaji Palkar (Commander-in-Chief of the Maratha Kingdom under Shivaji) was appointed to protect this region. In 1665, Dilerkhan and others destroyed the villages around Tung & Tikona, but were unable to conquer these forts. According to Treaty of Purandar (signed on 12th June 1665), Kubadkhan with Halalkhan took over fort. After 5 years fort was recaptured by Maratha kingdom.

Lohagad and Visapur Fort from Tung
Lohagad and Visapur Fort from Tung


Tikona Fort view
Tikona Fort view


View of Pawna from Tung
View of Pawna from Tung


Tungi Devi Temple
Tungi Devi Temple

               We took small break and had our packed food for breakfast. After resting for 30 min, we decided to descend. It was a fun to descend rocky patch. We spend more time in photography and reached at the base village within an hour. After we reached at our parked vehicle at base village, we left this historical place. Food is not available at base village. We drove till paud village and then had tasty lunch at Durva hotel. Other food options are at village Javan, near Tikona fort or resort located at Kolavan dam. We reached home by 4 PM safely ending pleasurable trek in monsoon.


Tung Trekking group

Things to carry for Tikona trek:
  • A water bottle to carry at least 2 liters of water
  • Some dry food, in case you didn’t find any suitable food stall
  • Windcheater / jacket / Barsati during monsoon trek.
  • Do carry instant energizers like Glucon-D or Tang.
  • A towel or napkin and 2-3 old newspapers
  • Camera to capture the best nature movement
  • Better avoid wearing Gold and other ornaments. No need to carry heavy cash. 
 Our Expenses:
  • Car petrol: INR 800/- (approx. 9.6 lit at INR 82/lit)
  • Vada-Pav: INR 10/- per Pic at Managal-Murti Vada pav centre
  • Tea: INR 10/-
  • No Expenses on snacks as we were carring food from home.
  • Lunch at Durva Hotel (Between Paud and Pirangut village): INR 120/- per person for only Panjabi dish and Roti-rice
 Click here to read Travel Blog On Tikona Fort.

Thanks for reading this Travel Blog. Happy travelling.

Pritesh Kulkarni
Pune

Sunday 1 June 2014

Day trek to Visapur fort

As monsoon was about to start, we decided to start some trekking activity. We planned Visapur trek on 1st June 2014. We were expecting light rain on that day but it turned out to be bright sunny day. This time we invited our friends and they joined us.

Trekkers for Visapur fort were me, my wife Renuka, our friends Himanshu - Ketaki, Abhijit – Manasi, Aniket – Gayatri and Sangram – Priyanka.


Visapur Fort
Visapur Fort (Taken during last monsoon from Lohagadwadi village)

About Visapur Fort and route:
              Fort is situated 52km from Pune in western India. It is at an elevation of 3,556 feet (1,084 m). It is built on the same plateau as Lohagad. Visapur Fort is larger and at a higher elevation than its twin fort- Lohagad. Trekker usually start there trek from Malavali railway station. It is just 9km away from station.
              Visapur region was built by Bahmani rules. It went into the hands of Mughals in the treaty of Mahuli, between Shahajiraje and Mughals. Seeing that the Mughals were not able to keep a control over the region, Shivaji Maharaj captured almost all the forts here till 1660. Historic evidence says that current fortification was built during 1713-1720 CE by Balaji Vishwanath. There are many places to see on fort. You can some Caves, old stone arch, and fort wall, cisterns of water, Old Grinder and lord Hunuman temples.
              There are 2 ways to start trek to Visapur fort, one is from Malavali station. After crossing the Express-Highway & reaching Bhaje village we get straight route to Lohagad - Visapur. Now tar road is newly constructed from Bhaje caves to Lohagad base village. After walking for 1.5 to 2 hours & turning to left from `Goumukh Khind` we will reach to Visapur base. After a 1 km walk from Goumukh Khind, you will find old hut. Take a left route and walk for 10 ft. for another small left turn which goes through dense forest to the top of fort.

Another route is from Patan village. After crossing the Express-Highway, take a left for Patan village. Once you reach at Patan, you can start hike for fort. Make sure that you will remain close to waterfall route. This route is bit confusing so better to hire local person from village. Their chargers are not fixed as such so whatever you will offer they accept it or better to decide amount before trek.

Trek Route to Visapur from Gomukh Khind
Trek Route to Visapur from Gomukh Khind


We decided to climb from Goumukh Khind and come down by second route.

01st June 2014: trek to Visapur (1.25 hr. of local train + 2-2.5 hr. total climb):
               We woke up by 4.30 AM and gather at Shivaji Nagar railway station by 5.40 AM. Everyone was on time and we caught 5.55 AM local train from Shivaji Nagar station for Malavali. We reached on Malavali railway station after around 70 min. Aniket – Gayatri, Sangram – Priyanka were new members in our group and till Malavali we became familiar with each other. Once we reached at Malavali, without wasting any time, we started our first warm up patch. After 1.5-2km walk we reached at Bhaje village. We had poha as breakfast and then our trek began. Few members from group were too new to trekking activity so we decided to take small break as per their stamina.               Weather was perfectly set for trekking conditions. Sun was busy in hide and seek game with clouds. After crossing Bhaje village, there are 2 routes, one leads to Bhaje caves and other is to Visapur fort. There was a route from Bhaje caves to Visapur but we were not aware so we took winding path for our trek. We crossed 2-3 waterfalls in route. As monsoon hadn’t started so there was no water flow in the waterfall. After crossing 2 bridges (small bridge to bypass waterfall), there was small route on left side which was a shortcut with sudden height gain. We took that path. It went through a dense small forest. We had to take stop once to refresh ourselves. After walking for some time we reached at `Goumukh Khind`. Wherever possible, we chose alternate path with height gain. When we reached at Goumukh Khind, weather changed its mood and Sun started dominating all over the sky.

Waterfall during trek route (Pic taken in last monsoon). Please take proper care in fall. Life and nature are beautiful so respect them.

Lohagad Fort (on the way to Goumukh Khind)

               We took left for Visapur fort. After a km walk, we had our second pit stop at hut which is at the base of Visapur fort. It was bright sunny day and only half of the trek route was covered by forest area. First part of trek route goes through dense forest whereas remaining route is from rocky patch. No one gave up and after climbing on last rocky stretch, we reached at top. Everybody did great job even though few of them were not an experience trekker.

Visapur fort view from Goumukh khind


My friend indicating trek route whereas other friend indicating trek route sign on rock. Pic taken from hut


Visapur trek route
Trek Route

               Once we reached at the top, we searched for place where we can settle down for lunch. Being girls in group gives you advantage on food department. Renuka and her friends had bought enough food for lunch. We had some sandwiches and other dry stuff.

Rest after climb

              Before I write further, I would like to share some history about Visapur fort. The forts of Lohgad and Visapur have played an important role in guarding the trade routes and Bhaje and Bedse caves. Lohgad was witness of many significant historical events but unlike that, much less history is known about Visapur fort. As I said earlier, Visapur region was built by Bahmani rules then by Mughals and Shivaji raje. Shivaji Maharaj lost this fort in the treaty of Purandar in 1665. But after few years it is conquered again. On 4th march 1818 Colonel Prother captured Visapur, and the next day Lohgad fell into his hands. Making use of its higher elevation and proximity to Lohagad, the British troops set up their cannons on Visapur and bombarded Lohagad, forcing the Marathas to flee. Thus, in 1818, Lohagad-Visapur was taken over by the British in 1818 AD and placed under the command of a Colonel Prother.

Fort Lohagad and Fort Tung
Fort Lohagad and Fort Tung (R to L)


Fort Tikona and Fort Tung (L to R)


               After so called Lunch, we took some rest then explored fortification on fort. You can see ruined stone-built house known as Peshwa’s palace, old grinder, water tanks (known as Taake in Marathi), fort’s wall which is 3 ft thick and strong, secret entrance and carving of Hunuman (Lord Maruti) idol which consider as deity of Visapur fort. It was sunny day hence unable to cover all places within 1.5 hours but entire fort can be seen in 2 to 2.5 hours time.

Water tanks ( paanya che Taake)
Water tanks ( paanya che Taake)

Small Cannon on fort


Visapur fort wall
Fort Wall

Large Cannon on Fort

Visapur Fort wall


escape route or secret route
escape route or secret route

              For our descend we decided to explore Patan route. Route is little bit difficult as there are many paths which may lead to some other place. It’s better to keep waterfall route parallel to your path. For monsoon season, better to avoid entraining into waterfall as water flow can drag you away. In the beginning of route, we passed by one lord Hanuman’s temple known as Chapetdan Maruti. It named because of Lord Hanuman's pose to slap the devil that is at his feet. There are small caves and drinking water source. You can spot same idol on Tikona fort.

Chapatdan Maruti

              We reached Patan village at 3.45 PM. We got Auto in the village for Malavali station. We missed our 3.50 PM local for Pune. We rested for an hour on station and board local train by 5.30 PM. We reached at Pune station safely ending pleasurable trek.

Things to carry for trek:
  • A water bottle to carry at least 2 liters of water
  • Some dry food, in case you didn’t find any suitable food stall
  • Windcheater / jacket / Barsati during monsoon trek.
  • Do carry instant energizers like Glucon-D or Tang.
  • A towel or napkin and 2-3 old newspapers
  • Small first aid kit
  • Camera to capture best nature movement
  • Better avoid wearing Gold and other ornaments. No need to carry heavy cash.

Our Expenses:
  • Local train ticket: INR 30/- per person (Pune-Malavali return journey)
  • Breakfast at Bhaje village: INR 30/- per person (Poha INR 20, Misal INR 25 and Tea INR 6/-)
  • No Expenses on Lunch as we were caring food from home.
  • Auto from Patan to Malavali station: INR 100/- for 4-5 people.
  • Parking chargers at Shivaji Nagar railway station: INR 20/- per 3 hours.
 
Thanks for reading this Travel Blog. Happy traveling.
Pritesh Kulkarni
Pune