"SANDHAN VALLEY A EXPERIENCE"

VALLEY OF SHADOW : "SADHAN VALLEY"

I had never done valley trekking before and come to know about Sandhan Valley trek organized by FONA (friends of Nature Association) group. Immediately checked with couple of friends and without any second thought booked the seat.

It was two day programme due to activity involved in trekking and traveling time from Pune. It takes around 5-6 hours to reach the destination. Half of the journey is by national highway and remaining by state highway which is narrow road and many ghat sections in between.

How to reach:

From pune by private bus your can follow below route mentioned in map. There Is another alternate route which is Approx 40 km more than this route but most of the journey Is by highway. 

My experience:

We have started at 11.30 from Nigdi. Private bus which was coming from Talegaon picked many of us from Nigdi, Akurdi, moshi etc. We had planned not to stop inbetween since the travelling time was more. We left the nashik highway at Bota village and took state highway. Post reaching near Bealapur driver wanted to have lunch so we all stopped there and had some snacks.

Just after 15 min of break we have started the journey again and reached at Ratanwadi (Bhandardara) at about 6.15 pm. This village is at the bottom of Ratangad. One of the fort of Shivaji Maharaja’s empire. This village had Amruteshwar temple of Shiva. We have been told that its 800^th Century Hemadpanthi temple. Construction of the temple was unique. Villagers told us that between July to December of every year you can’t see the Shivling since its fully under the water. The reason being, Pravara river starts from Ratangad and it flow full during rainy season. The path of the river is just beside the temple. Till December boating options are available for transportation from one village to another since river flows full. Another unique thing noticed here that in front of temple entrance, a stone of pyramid shape to be lifted with the help of your elbow with a wish in your mind. It is believed that if you can do that your wish could be fulfilled. Interesting!

We took some group snaps and individual snaps there had a cup of tea. Some of the members played cricked with village kids. Post that we had started journey towards out destination Samrad village which is the base village to access the Sandhan Valley. Its 8 km from Ratanwadi.

In another 10 minutes we have reached the destination. Guide hired by FONA members meted and greeted us on our arrival and assisted us for camping. Since it was already dark, we immediately started putting our tents. Since it was almost full moon we did not face much difficulty though it was dark by the time we settled there.

FONA leaders instructed briefly about second day activity followed by Dinner prepared by local village people. All went fine and we had slipped in to our tents by 10. 30 pm. One thing forgot to mention that Tribal dance was organized by villagers which was entertaining. Some of our members enjoyed dancing with them.

Alarm rang at 4.30 am and all were ready by 6.00 am. We had cup of tea and biscuit and were ready for the thrilling and exciting trek.

We had started the walk from Samrad village at 6.30 village. In front of us Ratangad was clearly visible and view was amazing. Datta our guide was also ready with his team to help in technical activities which involved 70 ft rappelling in between the route.

 

 

Few of us took the lead while descending through valley. We have been told that its Asia’s second number valley in terms of its uniqueness. Remember you have to manage with very big stone and find your own way to descend. You have to be careful while taking picture since multitasking (Walking and taking pictures) not possible here.

After walking for some time we have come across water pond which you have to cross. No other option than to enter in water and get wet. Water level varies based on the time of your visit in a year. When we visited water level was till waist of average height person. Unfortunately I did not notice that my mobile is in my pocket and it was wet when we come out of the water. So take care.

We had again started the journey. Believe me the each time you move forward and stop to take a look at the valley you get yet another view than the previous one.

Further moving forward we stopped at one point from where entire valley was visible. Everybody then took photo’s as they liked since most of the members were behind us and we had enough time for photography. From there we have again started the trekking and reached at the interesting rock patch. From here you can’t proceed further without rappelling.

By that time many of other members has arrived at this point and guide Datta prepared all technical support so that we can rappel down quickly. Since we were arrived this point first all of us have started to rappel down one by one. Believe me this was first rappelling experience for me in actual trekking conditions. I did artificial rappelling in Adventure Park but this experience was amazing. One thing I noticed your gloves should be proper leather type. I had cut by figure a bit due to harsh rope and soft gloves. Take care.

From there we have again started descend without waiting for fellow members. Then we reached at small 15 ft rock path. 5 of ius successfully passed this rock path without any rope support. To be honest rope support is required here but since we were unaware of the same we managed to descend properly.

Then comes the next rock path. This one was tricky since you have to crawl and pass between two big rock. Again rope support was required here but since we did not have it we again somehow managed this with some difficulty. Team work helped here. This was the second best patch I noticed in entire journey. One thing to mention here that, whatever and however I mentioned about these patches, everything can’t be mentioned in words. You have to visit this places to feel the difference than regular trekking sites. Amazing.

From there without stopping we continued our journey, and reached at one point, yet another rock patch of 20 ft atleast where we got stuck and could not pass this without rope.  We had to wait here for rope to arrive. Meantime villager had carried breakfast for us at this point. We were hungry too so we had enough breakfast here. It was again great feeling having b fast middle of the valley.  Everybody along with Guide arrived at this place. He did not carry the rope and asked us where your rope is. We said we did had rope to which he surprised and said how you did then crossed intermediate rock patches. He quickly revered and got the rope and immediately tied it to the big rock. We again quickly descended and started the journey ahead.

Then we arrived at the point where we had to leave the valley and take another way to start climbing towards our original destination. Samrad Village.

Here with Group Leaders instruction, allowed everybody to come and gather at one point. By this time it was already 12.30 pm in clock. We have started climbing at around 12.45. Let me be very frank, descending this valley and immediately climbing is not that simple. It’s hectic and if climb is in the afternoon when sun is at its peak, it adds more difficulty. When we have started the climb all have been instructed to carry the enough water along with them. Fortunately we have carried 2/3 lit of water along with us but that was also not enough. Fortunately, a person who carried breakfast for us accompanied 5 of us and he was carrying 2-3 lit of water with him. He was making sure we are hydrated enough which made our return Journey little easy. While climbing you have to deal with two rock patches. Since it was afternoon time, rocks were very hot and it was adding difficulty to hold it climb on it. Villager told us that you can do the camping in the valley and can start climbing early morning when you are fresh.

 

At around 3 pm we reached at the top. It was accomplishment for me and everyone who has completed this trek. Everybody was exhausted. Since the lunch was ready we immediately freshen up and finished the lunch.

One thing I noticed that, this trek is not about your stamina to walk but rather endurance test. Endurance test of your muscle, ability to sustain strain and yet enjoying the beauty of rocks. Its complete different experience and you must visit to feel it.

Finally at around 6 we thanked our guide, took the group photograph and started return journey. To my surprise everyone on the bus was charged as if we are ready for the next trek now. No-body was in mood to relax, everyone was cheering and singing songs. This was the magic of Sanhan Valley J.  We have reached at around 11.30 pm to home with ligelong memories. Thanks to FONA group for organizing this.

Few Facts:

I found People in Samrad Village are friendly and supportive. People count is approx 700 as informed by villagers.

You don’t get the mobile network here easily. I tried searching but could not connect to any network. You get network at certain places only.

Enough flat land is available in this village for camping. No issues for larger groups.

Villagers have created small houses (Dormitories) for stay. So if you are coming with Family then book it in-advance.

Nearby places to visit:

Ratangad, Kalsubai, Alang, Malang Kulang are few forts which can are situated near to this places. Guide over here also arranges trek to these places and can assist you to reach at these forts.

Bhandardara is off course a main attraction during Monsoon. It’s fully surrounded by huge Sahyadri Mountains.

"Excellent Trek in Western Ghat Kalavantin Durg and Prabal Machi"

The way I understand its name is, 'durg' means fort and 'kalavantin' artist .... An artistically placed / carved steps in the wall of the fort depicts its name. Off course there is some history behind name and this fort. You can easily google it on wikipedia. Was this fort a part of Shree Shivaji Maharaja's empire? The answer is Yes and it was the part of treaty with Mughals which was reconquered by Maratha's. This was earlier also called as Muranjan fort.

I have decided to join for the trek to this fort when I heard plan that FONA group is organising this in October. The reason being two of my friends already done this many years back and they told me how interesting this trek is. So I never wanted to miss the chance to visit this fort.

How to Reach this Fort:

Just follow the google map below and it will take you there. The road below is from Nigdi, Pune to Durg. Actually its near to Mumbai and comes in the Western Ghat range. Typically this fort falls in the ranges of well known hill station, Matheran.

Reaching at the base by car is pretty easy and besides Pune Mumbai Old highway.

My Experience :

We have started at around 6.30 in the morning from Nigdi by Bus and reached at the base at around 10 am. Off course it does not take this much time to reach but we were group of 30/32 people and all were located at different locations. We has breakfast in between and tea, FONA has strict instructions to have heavy breakfast before start of any trek so that energy levels are high.



Without wasting any time we took Limbu Pani at the base and started climbing the hill. By the way you have decent parking place at the base with small hotel where you can park your vehicle safely and start climbing. You can get tea / Limbu pani and some snacks here. I understand village people runs this hotels / services for trekkers for their living. If you asks they also provide guide services till the end of trek at reasonable price. If anyone / any group is not aware of this before, you can enquire it at the base and they can provide you the guide service.




One thing if you try to search where is the Fort at the base itself, then let me tell you, Kalavantin Durg not visible from the trek start point unless you reach atleast 30% of your total journey.  The path is fully surrounded by dense forest and you can observed different colours of butterfly and flowers on the way.

At one point, you get short-cut to climb upward. Here we were of know clue how much steep it will but since one of our member started with that route all followed him. That was the very steep climb and we have to stop every 5 minutes to take break. It was exhausting patch in all complete trek for me. After fully exhausted and sweating, we reached at some flat place where all us could get the Limbu pani and Kakdi, We though yes we have climbed half the trek but to our surprise, it was not even half, we could see our destination clearly from here and it was way ahead from there.

After taking short break we have started further trekking and come across one small waterfall. Since those were post monsoon days hence water was not flowing fully but enough to get freshen up. There some of us thought of having lunch but finally all agreed to finish the climb and then have lunch. From here we have started again and difficult part of trek began.
Here you have to be cautious as one road takes you towards prabal machi and second takes you to the kalavantin durg. Two forts are in front of each other and separated by V. Photo can do
 the justis of explaining the same.

Here we have split in many groups and arrived at V. At V junction again we could see one stall providing Limbu Pani at Just Rs 10. The main and final climb starts here. From here fully rocky patch begins. The steps are cut in single rock. Many steps are in decent shape but some are worn out. The people having Height phobia have to be very cautious here since steps at many places are not wide enough to walk freely. So care has to be taken. There are not railing or support to other side and mistake could be dangerous. So be careful. Don't try to taken selfie in this patch. Its justs good suggestion. There are fine stones on there stair case's which makes it slippery to climb. So walk slowly and carefully.





Then after 15 minutes of climb you arrive at the enough top of the fort but still not at complete top. Due to humid climate and 1 pm time trek was becoming toughest. If you are climbing in this climate keep yourself fully hydrated to avoid any cramps dizziness etc.

Here one 20 ft rock patch comes which is pretty straight. You have to climb here very slowly. A rope here is required for safety elese it bit tough to climb. Rope is ensure safety as if you look down its complete valley. We have climb here at 1 pm and reached at very top of the fort where just 40/50 people can comfortably stand. From top you can see Matheran range, Mumbai city, Various other forts as well. If its silence a small clamp from Kalvantin Durg can be heard at the other end of Prabal Gad. Echo is generated. Though we have exhausted a lot reaching at the top was making us proud, satisfied. After taking some photo's and flag hosting we have started return Journey.

You have to be careful in your return journey as well. Those have fear of height to be more careful. After descending for 40 minutes we ahve arrived at Prabal Machi, and decided to have lunch. It was late so all were hungry. Here you get one hotel named Hanuman. They serve chiken, egg, veh dish as well. They also provide tents and sleeping bags on rent for stay on prabal machi if you plan for one day stay outing. Staying here is also good idea. You need to carry anything, since all the arrangement can be made here itself.

We took nap for half an hour. It was already 5 pm. Before starting return journey all of us sat together for short introduction of each other. The idea of leaders was, staying there for a while could give us nice experience of sun set. Watching sun set from here was amazing and different experience. Sunset here is different then we see at other times, Here sun vanishes behind horizon and not behind any building, hill etc. at 6 pm e have started descend and reached at around 7 pm at the base without any stop. It was already dark while descending.



Here we have started return journey with life time memories and new energy. Thanks for FONA group for organising such amazing trek safely.

Other Things to Do nearby:

If you plan for stay, you can do kalavntin durg and prabal machi both. Both are in front of each other. From Prabal machi complete view of Kalavantin durg can be seen.

Beast time to visit:

You can visit this places any time during year except Monsoon days since steps are slippery and heavy rain showers.

Here are some more pictures of Journey..













-- Keep Trekking

ROHIDA FORT (VICHITRAGAD) - PART II

Second part – The Rohida Fort (Vichitragad) :

Fortunately it was raining on the day we started in early morning at 6.15 am from Nigdi to Rohida fort trek. Target was to return by 2 pm. 5 of us gathered at Warje and started journey towards Rohida fort in a car. Fiat Punto it was.

Climate on that day was charming. We could see huge rush of sport bikes rush on the road. Some were couple and some were in a group enjoying rainy season ride on Pune Banglore highway. The scene on Katraj Bridge on bypass highway was astonishing. The great turn, vehicle was crusing at arounf 80 km/h, one side foggy climate on small hill and other side huge sump of water, freezing wind wind drops of rain. Ride itself was cherishing.

Scenic road to Rohida Fort

Climate

We stopped at around 8 on the highway near Kapurhol for break fat at small snack centre. All ordered special Misal Pav dish accompanied by cup of Tea. We took some snack here so that it can be consumed while tracking in case someone feels hungry.

One had to take right turn to Bhor from Kapurhol to reach Rohida. Once you reach Shivaji Maharaja’s statue in Bhor you have to take left turn pointing towards Rohida. Drive straight towards Bajarwadi village and you reach at the base of Rohida fort.

Driving Direction From Pune

Hide and sick game of rain was continuing on that day. And btw that’s a speciality of Pune rain. You can’t escape from it and you have to be prepared for the same.  Finally we reached at the base of Rohida fort at around 9.15 and parked car near one of the local school at the base of the Fort. We changed the cloths covered with jackets. Picked water bottles and snacks in 2 bags and started climbing.

Started Climbing to the Rohida Fort

The Rohida Fort

Just to ensure you have started on the right path from base, please check if there is water tank on the way at the base. If yes then you are on the correct route. Start walking and then rarely you will miss a route after that.

No chance to see how much we have to climb. Since the fort was completely covered with the dense fog. So we were having no option than keep walking until we reach at the top. As we keep walking wind speed and noise kept increasing. I have never ever experience so much of wind before on any fort. Sound of the wind was so threatening that someone may decide to climb down instead of climbing up. At some places you have to be standstill and wait for wind to stop then start climbing again. 100 kg person will be displaced if you are not prepared to be standstill while climbing. So be cautious. Cover your ears with cap / something so that it will be protected from wind pressure. Be prepared in this sense.

No Idea How much to Climb

Climb is straight but steep at some place. Though it’s easy trek it will make sure you are completely exhausted while reaching on the top. We were climbing and almost exhausted and still we were not in a position to know how much to climb more. It was complete foggy climate and raining too. To our surprise we heard whistling sound. As we continued we saw Killedar at the First door of the Fort. And we were happy to know finally we reached at the top of the fort. The aged person there was wearing Mavala dress looking to be true ancient Mavala still taking care of the Fort. He offered us water. He was keeping entry of visitors and their details. He was appointed by “Shivdurg Sanvrdhan”. It is organisation / group doing good job of rehabilitating fort and maintaining it. His first door was constructed and directed such that only one or two person can entre / come close to Darwaja at a time. This is beauty.

First Door of the Fort

Once you cross the first door which is still in very good condition and intact, you come across another two doors. You can some message carved in big stone near second door in Urdu and Marathi. I could not understand the meaning though. A big hinge of door in stone also can be seen and you can imagine how much safety precautions could have been taken during those days. As you move ahead you can see strong fortification still in very good condition. Seeing those civil work of ancient time, moment you just keep thinking how this would have been constructed. A real civil engineering can be observed in every details of the fortification. There are several Buruj on this fort constructed on all the directions. Those are also still intact and some are rebuild by Shivdurg Sanvrdhan. Some of the pictures below tell the details of this fort.

The map of the fort is also displayed at the start once you reach on the top so that anybody can easily come to know what all can be seen on this fort and where is what. Since it was too fogy we could barely see anything surrounding scene from the fort. We were completely in clouds. We travelled from the sides of the fort and visited every Buruj. Clicked some snaps. I am not sure why this fort is called Vichitragad but we experienced some odd things. That could be the reason why this is called Vichitragad. The odd thing is, if you visit one Buruj you can see heavy rains and you are completely wet. Once you move to other Buruj, heavy wind can be noticed. Once you reach third Buruj the nearby area is completely dry and no single drop of rain pours on you. It was strange experience and we concluded this could be the reason why it’s Vichitragad.

Message from Shivaji Maharaj

  

Grinder on the Fort

After seeing complete fort we reached near the Mahadev Mandir. It was rebuilt by same organisation. He opened the temple so that we could see it from inside. It was great and as feeling like cave. The caretaker there used to take visitor visit experience on this fort for his record and suggestions if any. Voluntarily you can donate some money for the good cause and he will give you a receipt for it. One more thing if you plan to stay on this fort, you can carry food material along with you and all the required utensils to cook the food are available there. You can use the same. Caretaker offered us tea and Pohe which we refused. We also mentioned that Reconstruction of Sadar is in progress and will be completed this year. There is small rope way to created on this fort to carry the constructing material on the top of the fort. 

Rope Way to carry construction material

History: The caretaker there explained us brief history about the fort that, fort was with Bandal during those and Shivaji Maharaj captured this fort an included this fort in Swarajya. Bajiprabhu Deshpande and Shivaji Maharaja's first meet was happened on this fort only and Maharaj asked Bajiprabhu to get engaged in Swarajya building. He explained him what is Swarajya and why you should be part of this. Later during "Purandarcha Tah" this fort was handed over to Mhughal which was recaptured by Shivaji Maharaja from Mughal. 

After gathering all the good memories about this fort we started descending at around 1.30 pm and reached at the base at 2.30 pm. It took us 1 hr to descend because while descending the climate was pretty clear and we could see the complete fort. So we took some snaps while descending which took more time. Some other groups were climbing when we were almost finished our trek.

We started our return Journey at 2.30 pm and reached home at around 4.30 pm. While returning we had good lunch at Dwaraka hotel on the way to Bhor.

Nearby places: We come know that Raireshwar is 25 km from here and vehicle can reach to maximum height if you don’t want to climb. We will plan this next time.

Mandhardewi (religious place) is also nearby

Bhorbhatghar Dam – This is on the way and can be seen from road. The entir Bhor and surrounding area of Bhor is scenic during Monsoon/ rainy season.

Keep travelling and Keep exploring... You always learn....