Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Trek to Harishchandragad

Two day trek to Harishchandragad was totally a different experience, this time we joined with Giridarshan trekking club (GTC), its was a awesome experience with GTC team
People from different walks of life joined this trek. We met in Shivajinagar bus stand on 24 Nov 07, around 28 people have turned up.The trek was wonderfully planned and well organized, around 4:45 we reached the summit, then we went to Konkan kada to see the breath taking view and sun set.

We stayed in the cave, next morning after break fast we left to the base village.

Harishchandragad Paradise for Trekkers
There are 3 peaks in Harishchandragad namely Rohidas , Taramati and Harishchandra.

Taramati peak is the highest one in the fort. Many peaks , fort and other beautiful places like Malshej Ghat, Jivdhan, Nane Ghat, Ratangad, Kalsubai etc. can be seen. There are some old caves on Taramati which are used by trekkers to rest and relax. A beautiful temple of 'Harishchandra' is pride for the fort. The temple is very old and some sculptures can also been read. It is said that Sant Changdev stayed here for some time and completed his manuscript - 'Tatwasaar'. The Nandi and Shivling in the temple are really wonderful. A cave nearby is always full of very cold water.

Friday, November 2, 2007

Rajmachi trek




Rajmachi became my dream destination after knowing about this place from different trekkers and reading more about this place, so planned the trek with my Fujitsu friend's and decided to do a night trek, total team size was four including me because of last minute plan we had to go ahead with this small number.Sundeep my friend from Pune have been to this place before he was our navigator, we took the 11pm local from Chinchwad to Lonavala reached lonavala around 1215am.
This trek was one the toughest trek i did till this date, one should have high endurance even though the terrain is not difficult.

Rajmachi consists of two beautiful peaks namely 'Shrivardhan' and 'Manaranjan'. Rajmachi is very famous fort near twin hill stations in Maharashtra - Lonavala and Khanadala it is nearby 20 Kms from Lonavala but a nice way to reach the fort is from Tungarli Lake.
Shrivardhan and Manaranjan can also be considered as two separate forts. There is one small platue in between them. A temple of 'Bhairoba' is very beautiful. Shrivardhan is 'Bale killa' of Rajmachi. It is almost 3000 feet high. But it was mainly built to keep watch on Konkan area. The other - Manaranjan is 2700 feet high. Manaranjan consists of strong walls, 3 doors and many water tanks. One can see Ulhas river, Dukes Nose (Nagphani), Karnala ,Matheran, Mahuli and Bhimashankar etc. The old caves of 'Kondhavi' on Rajmachi fort are worth to see. The way to fort is long but truly with a good view. One can enjoy a nice forest, Tungarli lake and many waterfalls as well.Rajmachi is one of the good places to visit around Pune. And its the awesome place for trekkers and nature photographers.

Slideshow of Rajmachi trek