Harishchandra gad trek

Finally............. summer is over & every trekker's favourite season has arrived.. Its raining & time to spend your weekends in lush green sahyadri ranges..

This year's first rainy trek was harishchandra gad... We went for the two days trek on 26-27 June..
for visiting Harishchandra Gad one has to start early in the morning.. we met at Thane railway station at 6:30 am & took the train for Kalyan.
After getting down at Kalyan check whether you are carrying all the necessary food & medicince.. if anything is missing Kalyan & Murbad are last two stops where you can purchase things..
Take any State transport bus passing through Makshej Ghat from Kalyan depot which is very close to the Kalyan railway station.

aboard the ST bus & enjoy around 2 hours ride till Khubi Phata.. If you dont know Khubi phata, tell the conductor to guide you.. Khubi phata is just 10 minutes after you pass malshej ghat tunnel..

Get down at Khubi Phata & you will see a big water reservoir to your left.. You have to cross this & head to the village called Khireshwar.. its around 4 kms walk.. You may find a jeep travelling to Khireshwar, these guys will take you to the village in 10Rs per person..

You can have a breakfast at Khireshwar & start the climb.. anybody will guide you to the way to the fort..

Way to the top is pretty clear & very few chances of you getting lost in the forest.. just keep following arrows drawn by other trekkers.. We took 2 Hrs before we reached a rock patch. This is the only section where you have to be bit careful.. Its not huge.. it takes 20 - 25 minutes max to cross this rock patch..

And once you cross the rock patch.. you can enjoy the treat of tea / nimbupani ..You can also take halt for lunch after completing rock patch section as, you have crossed more than half of the distance..

After this point you have to cross 4 hills to reach the fort. Just keep following arrows, there is a chance of getting lost in this section.. so keep an eye on arrows.. after crossing 4 hills you can see the ancient rock carved temple.. thats it... you have reached the top. Now your next plan of action would be to look for an accommodation.

There are some caves around this temple, where villagers will arrange for your accomodation.. If everything is full, there is a small cave near Kedareshwar Shiv Linga. So book your cave & have a great time roaming around.. njoy the nature... njoy waterfalls..
  Dinner can be arranged by the villagers staying atop. Our friend Bhagwanta, who stays atop arranged dinner & next day's breakfast & tea for us.. We were carryig some kerosin.. so we also njoyed campfire..

  Next day.. thats day 2 one can visit Konkan kada & taramati pinacle.. We visited only Konkan kada.. If you are visiting Harishchandra gad you should not miss Konkan Kada.. After visit to konkan kada we had our breakfast & started descend..
  It takes around 2 hours to come down to khireshwar.. then come till khubi phata or travel 5 more kms to Madh village to catch the bus to Kalyan..
  Happy monsoon & happy trekking

weekend planner - Around Mumbai - Bhandardara

Bored of going to Lonavla, khandala, matheran ? Mahabaleshwar is too far to visit in just two days? want to discover new place? Here it is, not very new to everybody but for some its new..

Just 60 Kms away from Nasik & 180 Kms from Mumbai, this beautiful place will definitely be admired by you. The perfect season to visit is rainy season, thats from july to september. One can also plan in the month of december to february..

If you are starting from Mumbai, travel on Mumbai - Agra national highway till Igatpuri. Igatpuri is considered as hill station, but personally I didn't find it too attractive... After crossing Igatpuri, take right turn for Bhandardara. For accommodation Igatpuri provides more options compared to bhandardara, but staying at Bhandardara, is ultimate experience.

So move further, after taking right turn you will have to cross market of small village called Ghoti, cross the market & at the end of the market take one more right turn. You will reach the checkpost where you have to give toll. after going 7-8 kms ahead there is yet another right turn. & then there is a single road to bhandardara, keep following it till you reach there.

Bhandardara dam is very beautiful & if you get chance to stay at MTDC or anadvan at Bhandardara, nothing like it... both the hotels are placed on amazing locations & in rainy season it feels heaven. Enjoy the beauty of dam. Anandvan resort provides good option of buffet lunch. So after enjoying rains, clouds & beautiful dam you can enjoy food & then head for the next spot.. Konkankada point, if you are travelling with your wife / girlfriend & want to have romantic drive, this is the place for you. I wont recommend bike ride because the road is through forest, but if you are in car, dont miss Konkankada point. Its mere 23 kms drive but its beautiful, especially during rains.

After visiting Konkankada point, come back to Bhandardara & if you have got accommodation here then end your today's travel here & relax.

Next day you can visit many spots near Nashik viz. Jawhar tribal kingdom, ankai-tankai forts, coin museum in Nashik. One more amazing thing is, you can combine this travel with Shirdi. So this rainy season, plan trip to this less explored hill station & write your experiences for others.

Ashtavinayak plan for 3 days

Many people in Mumbai go for ashtavinayak yatra on their own vehicle so here I present 3 different options to do Ashtavinayak yatra first option is 3 days with ashtavinayak + few more places, second one is completing within 2 full days & third one is for those who want to do it in record time... In this post I will write about option 1.


Lets see how can we combine Ashtavinayak + few places on its way in 3 days..

Day1: Start early morning & head staright to Khopoli via Panvel on old Mumbai Pune high way. There are two temples near Khopoli Viz Pali & Mahad visit Pali first which is very close to Khopoli. You can take another route NH17 after panvel & take left for Pali, 10 Kms before Kolad. Ganpati of Pali is called Ballaleshwar. Visit this temple & then head start for mahad.

Mahad is 30 Kms from Pali. Being close to Khopoli these two temples are crowded on weekends. So if you are travelling on weekend, my advice would be start as early as possible to cover these two temples.. & don't forget to enjoy malai peda & malai mava at Pali & variety of papads & pickles.


If you really want to enjoy the journey, reach Pali latest by 8:30 Mumbai Pali is 2:30 - 3 hour journey. & reach mahad latest by 10:30. So you can avoid rush. Ganpati of mahad is called Varadvinayak.

You can have breakfast at Mahad & proceed further towards Pune. Join express highway at Khopoli & reach Pune. After reaching Pune head straight to Solapur Highway. You are entering Pune from North west & you have to go to South east so cross the city & reach Solapur highway. You can visit Dagdu sheth Halwai ganpati in Pune. I will suggest take lunch in Pune . If you can travel some extra miles, you can visit Dehu which is near Pune, but if you want to visit Dehu, leave express way at Pimpari - chinchwad, visit Dehu & then go to Pune city & then to Solapur road.

On Solapur highway there are total 3 temples. First on the way is Theur. After joining Solapur highway you will reach Theur within an hour. There is a left turn on this highway where you can see direction board for Theur. Don't miss Sugercane juice, & figs outside Theur temple. You can also visit Vrundavan, small Samadhi of Ramabai, wife of great Madhavrao Peshwa, its at walking distance. Madhavrao Peshwa died
in this temple. Ganpati of theur is called Chintamani.

After visiting Theur, come back to Solapur highway & head towards Solapur once again. After crossing another 40 Kms, You will reach village called Chaufula. From Chaufula take right turn. From here you have to travel another 25 kms to reach Morgaon. If you travel as per schedule you should reach here by 7:30 pm.

Visit Moregaon temple, enjoy dinner & stay here.. Many people in moregaon provide accommodation in their home itself. Its good idea to stay here.. Just enjoy maharashtrian food & end your day here. Morgaon ganpati is called Mayureshwar.


Day 2: Enjoy breakfast of Kande Pohe at morgaon & start your travel. Travel 19 kms ahead of morgaon to visit Jejuri. Jejuri is famous for Khadndoba temple. The temple is on small fort called Malhargad. But you have to climb 250 steps to visit this temple & the temple is usually crowded. Avoid white clothes, as they will surely become yellow due to turmeric people use there. Check your timing, You should complete Jejuri darshan latest by 11:00 am.

After visiting Jejuri, come back till Chaufula for heading to the next temple Siddhatek. Keep moving towards Solapur. After driving for another 45 minutes you will reach Patas, from here take left for Daund. Cross the town of Daund & you have to travel 18 more kms to reach Siddhatek. Few years back there was no bridge over the river at siddhatek, so tourists had to take ferry, but now bridge is operational & your vehicle will go right in front of entrance of the temple. Visit the temple & have delicious zunaka bhakar after the darshan. Zunaka bhakar of siddhatek is very famous. You can take a dip in the river near the temple & then enjoy the meal, the river is safe for swimming, of course if you know swimming. But check time again You should leave Siddhatek at 3:00 pm max. The ganpati we visited is called Siddheshwar.

After visiting Siddhatek, come back till daund & instead of going back to Patas take road for Kashti & belwandi. From belwandi take left for Shirur. This is straight road till Shirur.( If you enjoy country ride You can take MIDC pipeline road from kashti instead of going to Belwandi. ) From Shirur, take left for reaching our next temple Ranjangaon. Ranjangaon temple is on this highway itself & you can see the huge hoarding of Mahaganpati. Check the time if you are well ahead of time i.e. its before 5 pm. You can visit vadhu budruk, here is the Samadhi of Chhatrapati Sambhaji maharaj. Now you have three options, either stay in lodge at Shikrapur or travel to chakan or travel to Pune. If you are not comfortable with small lodges / economy accommodations, I would suggest, stay at Pune. If you are fine with small accommodations you can stay at Shikrapur or Chakan . You will reach chakan in an hour from Shikrapur. Now at end the end of day 2 you have visited 6 temples & two more are remaining.



Day 3: Start early & head to Narayangaon via Chakan. From narayangaon take left after crossing Narayangaon & on crossing few Kms, you will reach Ozar. Visit Ozar temple & don't forget to buy kandi pedha from here. After Ozar, travel to last temple Lenyadri which is just 9 kms from Ozar. At Lenyadri You need to climb 200 steps to visit the temple, but these days Palkhi service is available. Before leaving don't forget to Buy fresh grapes from farms on the way to Lenyadri.


Here, your ashtavinayak darshan is complete. But If you have started in time, you must have some hours left. Don't worry you can utilize them very well. Travel to Junner which is 6 kms from here & visit another very divine place, birthplace of Shivaji maharaj, beautiful fort of Shivneri. If you have time, visit the fort & you can start your return journey.


Travel from Junner to NH222 which you will join near Otur, you need to travel through Ganesh Ghat. From here travel through beautiful Malshej ghat till Murbad & then to Kalyan, & then to Mumbai via Mumbai - Nashik highway. Remember Lenyadri to Mumbai is long stretch of around 4 hours so start early. Malshej is beautiful in the day, you can enjoy the amazing beauty of nature so travel in a day (In the night its little unsafe as its narrow & deserted).


So plan you tour now & contact me @ kaustubhkhare@gmail.com or 9820031162 if you have any difficulty in planning or need any help. Please write me any improvement suggestions for my further posts. Even if you want to plan your trip on bike its good expedition for beginners.


Best months to travel are November to March avoid April may as its too hot... you can travel in rainy season as this complete region is low rain belt.

Ratnagiri and around..

Few months back I had written a post with title Guhagar & around in same blog.... This time I am taking you bit more southwards to Ratnagiri.. Entire coast of Konkan is beautiful & it will be disrespect to the beauty if I write single post on complete coast...

So here comes Ratnagiri for you.. You might have searched some sites till now & read names like ratnadurg, thiba palace, patit pavan mandir, mandvi beach.. but as always my attempt would be to add some offbeat things..

so.. my first suggestion would be keep 4 days if you want to travel to ratnagiri.. ofcourse one can cover even in two days but 4 days would give you real relaxation & joy....

While going to ratnagiri dont follow the usual NH17 track it becomes boring at times.. So leave the NH17at goregoan & follow the road for mandangad. This is country side road & travelling through Ambet - mhapral bridge & kelshi - Anjarle - Karde to Dapoli is fun. From Dapoli go to Dhopave which is 30 Kms from Dapoli. From Dhopave, load your car / bike / bus into ferry boat & go straight to Anjanvel.. If you have time.. dont miss Gopalgad & lighthouse near fort.

After visiting fort you can take next break to Guhagar beach which is one of the most beautiful beach in Ratnagiri district. One can also visit Vyadeshwar temple on the way.. There are many places between guhagar & ratnagiri, if you want to visit them, take halt at guhagar as you will get many options for stay here.

Day 2 start in the morning.. take left turn from Vyadeshwar temple.. After travelling 6 kms take right turn.. This road heads to Velneshwar & hedvi.. two beautiful places. Velneshwar is 18 kms from Guhagar & Hedvi is 25 kms from Guhagar. At Velneshwar visit beautiful beach & ancient temple of lord Shiva. From velneshwar move further to Hedvi. There are three things to see here, first is Dashbhuj ganesh temple in hedvi, small but beautiful Hedvi beach, & bamanghal.

Further ask for the road to Bhatgaon, dont join NH17. Bhatgaon is another 45 kms from here. The bridge is constructed over Bhatgaon creek. This road from Guhagar to Bhatgaon & further till Ganpatipule is amazing. You will surely enjoy the ride.

If you have time & you are fort enthusiast you can visit Jaigad before proceeding to Ganpatipule... You need to run few extra miles but then the location of fort is great...
Further you will reach at ganpatipule after travelling some 25 kms further... Ganpatipule is famous for Ganesh temple & its beautiful beach.. visit the temple, then go to the beach... look around & if you think its to crowded for you to enjoy.. dont waste time here.. just start your vehicle again & travel 3 kms further to Bhandarpule.. stop in this village and enjoy your private beach... very clean, calm & beautiful..........

From here you can opt to stay at ganpatipule or travel to Ratnagiri town for accomodation.
In ratnagiri town you have many places to see.. you can visit mandavi beach, ratnadurg, bhagwati fort, thiba palace, patit pawan temple, house of lokamanya tilak.. but one more must visit spot is Aare-Waare beach.. This is yet another virgin beach.. must visit near ratnagiri.

If you have one more day.. or dont want to see many places but want to relax.. still you have fantastic option nearby.. just 18 kms from Ratnagiri town is Pawas.. typical Konkan village. The math of swami swarupanand here is very good.. One can enjoy numerous Mango products manufactured locally by Desai brothers at Pawas.

Hope you will plans to visit these places.. if you have time on the way back you can visit dervan near chiplun, shivtharghal which is 24 kms away from NH17, or you can take diversion at Poladpur to visit Pratapgad...

If you need any help in arranging a trip or info about specific locations.. feel free to contact me at kaustubhkhare@gmail.com or call me at 9820031162

Nubra Valley - visit india's Silk Route

The heaven on the other side of Khardung La is called Nubra valley.. a beautiful V shaped valley where one can spend 3-4 days relaxing & still wont get bored.

  The total distance from Leh to Diskit which is the main village in Nubra is 118 Kms. & you can go 7 more kms. To visit hunder which is famous for white sand dunes.

 
   The river flowing through Nubra valley is amazing & the landscapes are really beautiful. This is actually a desert & you will witness sand filled planes all over on your way to Hunder. But the roads built by BRO are in very good conditions.

 
  There is only a Gompa to see in Diskit, but Hunder is worth spending some time.. Small village near famous white sand dunes gives you best relaxation.. One can stay in Habib guest house, which is a small house
but people are very nice especially the owner himself. You can spend great time playing in sand dunes or watching sunset. If you want to take break from your normal life full of tensions, this is the place. People

also come here for bird watching & photography.

   One more attraction of Nubra is double Humped camel.. Yes they have two humps on their back.. In ancient times this was the silk route, & most of the trades with middle Asian countries were through this road..
The camels I mentioned above are also from middle east asia.

  The road ahead of Hunder goes to Siachen but civilians are not allowed after certain point..

 

   If you are in Nubra valley, try local breakfast called Khambir.. It tastes amazing with honey & butter.. Its kind of local bread but when served hot.. Its amazing.

   If you are planning to visit pangong tso directly from here, no need to go till khardung la once again, there is an alternative route through Wari La using which you can avaoid going to Khardung La again. So if you are planning trip to Leh, dont miss Nubra valley, in fact I would suggest keep 2 days separately for visiting this beautiful place.

Khardung La - world's highest motorable Road

Khardung la pass is every rider's dream.. Yes its highest Motorable point in the world. At 18,380 ft above sea level you really touch the sky at Khardung La.

  This pass is near Leh town, you have to travel only 40 Kms to reach this top. Road to the top is very good & if you are travelling to Leh this is must visit.

  Not only because its beautiful but it's the highest point you can travel in vehicle, if you are civilian.


  For visiting Khardung La one has to take inner line permits from District commissioner leh. You can get them through agents also.

  If you are travelling on bike, you will reach the top in an hour. On the way, you have to show your permits at South Pullu.

  You can also have maggy or tea here, as you need to reach North Pullu or come back here for your next meal.



  From north Pullu, Khardung La is just about 15 kms.

  Its not difficult pass at all, If your bike gives combustion problem, remove the filter & it will go smoothly.

  Just 2-3 kms before Khardung la pass, you will see a point called India gate, people stop here for taking pictures.. even we did, but couldn't understand how to enter India from this gate?



  Just 2-3 kms more & you are there... On the top of the world, Nobody can go higher than you, at least not in vehicle.

  There is a signboard indicating this is the highest motorable point in the world.

  The pass is always crowded as whoever comes to Leh usually visits Khardung La. But its not advisable to be here for more than 20-30 minutes.

  The Indian Army men stay here for entire year though.

 

  After visiting Khardung La, you can either come down on same route to leh town, but if you have time going ahead is must..

  After Khardung La you are descending, so don't worry if you are feeling giddy it wont last for long time..by the time you reach north Pullu you will be alright.



  So whether you are on bike or in car, don't miss this chance to be on the top of the world & if possible visit Nubra valley too & post your experiences so that more & more people get to visit these beautiful places.

Living root bridge - Bio-engineering at its best

Cherrapunji as you all know is famous for highest rainfalls in the world...

But if you are visiting cherrapunji, there is much more to it than rainfall & waterfalls.

Today I will be taking you to a fabulous example of bio-engineering...
 
On Shillong cherrapunjee highway, keep moving towards Mawsmai caves...
Just 3 kms before mawsmai caves you enter a village where new road starts to your right.

The important landmark you can notice on left hand side is restaurant called HIlbari.
 
You will see the signboard showing cherrapunjee holiday resort..

Its 15 kms away from this junction. 15 kms is bit tough travel due to bad roads but the hoardings painted on the road will keep you moving till you reach the resort.

After crossing this distance, you will see a bunglow. This is the resort... a fantastic place to spend time. For visiting living root bridge, you have to take stop here.

The owner of this resort Mr Rayen is very interesting person. He and his wife run this resort & all people serving you here are from nearby villages.

Mr. Rayen is originally from Tamilnadu & his wife is from this village where the resort is nestled. Mr. rayen was working with nationalize bank & after taking retirement he has started this small but beautiful place.
You will feel very homely after reaching here..

They serve good food, you can enjoy campfire & evening  music program performed by local artists.
 

Next morning resort can arrange guide for you or if you are regular trekker you can go on your own.. but I guess the advantage of taking guide is you can ask him about local people, villages around & other
things which you wont come to know otherwise.

 
One has to descend 2000 steps to reach our attraction, living root bridge.

This is a single decker living root bridge.. used by locals to cross the river.

Now, what's so special about this bridge? Its built without using any artificial construction material, fabulous example of bnio-engineering..

Here locals plant two trees with elastic roots, one on each side of river. Then they put bamboo, or wooden plank over the river with its end touching roots of both trees on both banks.

The roots are then trained to grow on this bamboo or plank. Roots of both the trees grow over the plank till they meet each other & even further till they reach opposite side.

Once roots of both the trees are grown... your bridge is ready to use.

The binding of these roots is so strong that people can easily use this bridge for their daily commute.


After this single decker bridge you have to come back till junction where steps start for going up(not trek starting point) & take right route.. You have to walk for another 40 minutes & you can see Double
decker living rot bridge. On your way, you will realize that the bridge is not any artwork or experience but this is the way they used to built bridges for their commute & hence there are ample of such bridges, some of them extending over 100 feet.

 
Due to elastic nature of roots they are able to take huge load for years.

Tired after walking so long? Don't worry walk 10 more minutes ahead of double decker bridge & you will reach the place called natural swimming pool.

It's amazing & your tiredness is gone away. Due to limestone, the water reflects the blue sky & as there is no pollution here, its very clean calmly flowing water..

Enjoy swimming here, have your meal(Which you have to carry from resort), & get ready to climb back al those 2000 steps & 2 kms of walk..


It will take another 3-3.5 hours to come back.. end of the day you will be tired but happy that you have seen something very different & unusual..

So enjoy the hospitality of Mr. Dennis rayen & also the trek.. If you are visiting Cherrapunjee dont miss it..