The day before our trip to prabalgad fort,i asked many of my friends for a trek but everybody were busy,some with Classes,Some with Doctor appointment and Body ache excuse but it was Monsoon season,the only time one witness Moving cloud on top of the hill and waterfall in maharashtra.
It was sunday,17th July 2015 Me and aakash met near Veera Desai Bus stop at 5:30 am then headed towards AZAD NAGAR Metro and took two tickets for Ghatkopar which costed us 40 Rs Per person.
At some point before prabalmachi breeze get strong in monsoon,the scenery and atmosphere take your tiredness away.
There are trees on the way which will hide you from the rain and is also perfect for resting.
On the way i saw some teenagers enjoying themselves in Mini waterfall,here you will find another vendor,it's just before prabalmachi.
Now we were at Prabalmachi,this might be one of the best base villages in western Ghats whether it's come to Accommodation,Providing Guide,Eatery or View.There are houses in village which provide you to stay till night at cheap rates.Mostly trekkers come day before,stay at night in prabalmachi and Ascent early morning covering both Forts - Prabalgad and Kalavantin durg.It is not possible for trekkers like us to cover both forts in a day if you start your journey from Home(Mumbai) early morning.
Check out video of prabalmachi below -
View From the peak of prabalgad video below -
At 4pm we decided to head down,while we were in horrific forest we again heard that bird voice but we paid no attention however all of a sudden monkey looking animals popped in front of us,they started screaming and swinging on trees.Dog saw me standing still and worried so he started barking at them,in that mean time we managed to cross that path.
Due to so much fog around the forest we took the wrong route,we realized after looking at one of the small tank which was not there while coming,In no minute we were able to figure out the right route.
Dog stayed at the prabalgad forest while we started to descend down very fast.We were at prabalmachi till 4:50 pm,we rested there for 10 minute then continued with our descend.By 5:50 pm we were at Thakurwadi village ST Bus Stop.
ST Bus arrived on time at 6 pm,this time we got the seats comfortably.At station we copped drinking water bottle but it was smelling like liquor so we threw it in the garbage then we took the train from panvel to Andheri station even there we got the seats comfortably.One man asked us on the train ''what happened?'' as we were sleepy and tired,we told him we trekked prabalgad then he started to talk about his college days that how he was unlucky,'In his group most of them use to drink liquor and trek as a result they end up getting hangover and injured.He started to diss people who do drugs,Stunt on bike to impress girls,hanging on the door of local train purposely.
We halted at andheri station around 9 Pm then we eat Veg cheese Sandwich at one of the fast food centre then took Rickshaw at home.I was at home till 9:30 pm.
Remember
1.Prabalgad and kalavantin durg both are different fort,prabalgad is at higher point.
2.Bus timing:From Panvel St bus stop to Thakurwadi village - 7:40/8 am,10 am and Vice versa - 6 pm and there is one bus available after 6 pm which i am not aware about.
3.Difficulty:Trek is quite easy till Prabalmachi and from there to prabalgad is little confusing and tiring but no need for a guide
4.Water and Food facility is available till prabalmachi,thereafter no facility till prabalgad.
It was sunday,17th July 2015 Me and aakash met near Veera Desai Bus stop at 5:30 am then headed towards AZAD NAGAR Metro and took two tickets for Ghatkopar which costed us 40 Rs Per person.
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| At Veera Desai Bus Stop Waiting for Aakash |
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| At AZAD NAGAR METRO STATION |
We took train to Kurla station from ghatkopar then From Kurla to Panvel station which costed us 10Rs per person,the panvel train was empty,we managed to get the seat after 1-2 station.We reached panvel station by 7:20 am and rolled towards Panvel ST BUS stop which is 5 minute walk from station to enquire about Bus timing to Thakurwadi which was 8am,In that mean time we went in to one of the hotel nearby named Malvantadka to eat Upma.We finished our breakfast quickly and rolled back to ST bus stop.ST bus arrived at time,by the time we hopped in the bus it was jammed packed.St Bus ticket costed us around 15 Rs Per person,Bus reached thakurwadi village within 45 minute which is a last stop.
One can view Kalavantin durg which is pinnacle shape and prabalgad fort which is horizontal shape from Thakurwadi village,It is a breathtaking view imagining that you gonna be on top of the peak after some hours.We were very excited.
Prabalgad is 2300 ft high above the sea level,it is located between Panvel and Matheran.Right next to prabalgad is Kalavantin durg,they both are different forts
Prabalgad is 2300 ft high above the sea level,it is located between Panvel and Matheran.Right next to prabalgad is Kalavantin durg,they both are different forts
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| Hills - Kalavantin Durg(Left) and Prabalgad(Right) |
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| Me |
The villager helped us in showing the right direction to the trail,now we were on the track.We copped one drinking water bottle from the vendor as i only had one water bottle,two monaco biscuit on my backpack and like usual aakash with no bag.
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| Aakash |
There were many group of trekkers along the way from teenagers to adult ones of different weights,some were finding it quite easy and some breathing heavily.
Goodthing about this trek is you will find Vendor selling water bottle,Lemon water,barbecued corn in monsoon,cucumber and maybe Biscuit,chips along the way till prabalmachi which is a base village.
At some point before prabalmachi breeze get strong in monsoon,the scenery and atmosphere take your tiredness away.
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| Hanuman God Curved and painted in the rock |
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| Broken stairs before Prabalmachi |
There are trees on the way which will hide you from the rain and is also perfect for resting.
On the way i saw some teenagers enjoying themselves in Mini waterfall,here you will find another vendor,it's just before prabalmachi.
Now we were at Prabalmachi,this might be one of the best base villages in western Ghats whether it's come to Accommodation,Providing Guide,Eatery or View.There are houses in village which provide you to stay till night at cheap rates.Mostly trekkers come day before,stay at night in prabalmachi and Ascent early morning covering both Forts - Prabalgad and Kalavantin durg.It is not possible for trekkers like us to cover both forts in a day if you start your journey from Home(Mumbai) early morning.
Check out video of prabalmachi below -
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| House Providing food at Prabalmachi |
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| Hills - Kalavantin Durg(Left) and Prabalgad(Right) From prabalmachi |
The further you trek for prabalgad you will go through small village straight in to forest,now we were searching for the right trail which will take you to starting point of prabalgad but we were unable to find it and there were barely any human out there as most of them trekkers went for kalavantin durg which is a different route.
To reach prabalgad you have to go through big horizontal jungle on your left side as you see on the above pic 'prabalgad' itself is a Horizontal shape so many times it get quite get confusing when searching for a right trail which will take you to starting point of prabalgad,after spending almost 20 minutes in the forest we went back to the small village where we encountered Pet Dog inside Wood fence barking and flashing teeth which was scary.We went to one of the village man and asked him about the route instead he told us ''y'll should have hired Guide which cost around 400 Rs'',no way we gonna hire guide with only two of us and even on internet i read articles that it's not hard to search for the trail. We went back in the forest searching for the right trail,this time we took the narrow trail and found some shoes mark in the mud,after couple minutes we heard some human voices who were descending so we screamed Hello! Hello! Where y'all at? They replied ''Wait'' and Rolled near us within a minute showing us the right trail,from now on it was easy but tiring due to some rock trek
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| Right Trail |
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| Closer to Prabalgad |
On the halfway of the trek from the starting point of prabalgad we encountered another dog who followed and also guided us on the top,this dog was opposite of Aggressive pet dog we encountered before.
In the middle we took a break,drank water and Shared Monaco Biscuit with Dog.The breeze was now strong and it was getting little foggy further.
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| Dog who Guided us and Followed us. |
After reaching the top we took left,that's where one can view Kalavantin durg,it take around another 10 minute to reach that point,The top of the prabalgad is covered by some dense Tree,the forest on the top reminded me of 'Blair witch project' movie,the atmosphere out here was horrific with some hidden birds in the woods making voice,it's like they are calling you,there was a point where we felt like 'Are we hallucinating or what? on top of that we were alone out here -only Me,aakash and Dog.I would say this is the perfect location in monsoon if one want make a Horror movie!
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| Blair Witch project Kind of atmosphere |
Finally we were out of that dense woods and reached the point from where we could see Kalavatin durg and 270 ° view of Sahyadri.I can't describe with my words how heaven this place was like we were in the clouds with rain playing hide and seek with us every now and then.If it's not for top3,i would definetly put this place in my top5 on the basis of whatever place i travelled in the past.
Prabalgad is at higher point compare to kalavantindurg.
Check out video of Prabalgad and kalavantin durg covered in clouds below -
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| Kalavantin durg View from Prabalgad |
In between we took a break to drink water and share monaco biscuit with dog.We later continued with our photo and video session as my mobile battery was getting low.
At 4pm we decided to head down,while we were in horrific forest we again heard that bird voice but we paid no attention however all of a sudden monkey looking animals popped in front of us,they started screaming and swinging on trees.Dog saw me standing still and worried so he started barking at them,in that mean time we managed to cross that path.
Due to so much fog around the forest we took the wrong route,we realized after looking at one of the small tank which was not there while coming,In no minute we were able to figure out the right route.
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| Small Water Tank |
Dog stayed at the prabalgad forest while we started to descend down very fast.We were at prabalmachi till 4:50 pm,we rested there for 10 minute then continued with our descend.By 5:50 pm we were at Thakurwadi village ST Bus Stop.
ST Bus arrived on time at 6 pm,this time we got the seats comfortably.At station we copped drinking water bottle but it was smelling like liquor so we threw it in the garbage then we took the train from panvel to Andheri station even there we got the seats comfortably.One man asked us on the train ''what happened?'' as we were sleepy and tired,we told him we trekked prabalgad then he started to talk about his college days that how he was unlucky,'In his group most of them use to drink liquor and trek as a result they end up getting hangover and injured.He started to diss people who do drugs,Stunt on bike to impress girls,hanging on the door of local train purposely.
We halted at andheri station around 9 Pm then we eat Veg cheese Sandwich at one of the fast food centre then took Rickshaw at home.I was at home till 9:30 pm.
Remember
1.Prabalgad and kalavantin durg both are different fort,prabalgad is at higher point.
2.Bus timing:From Panvel St bus stop to Thakurwadi village - 7:40/8 am,10 am and Vice versa - 6 pm and there is one bus available after 6 pm which i am not aware about.
3.Difficulty:Trek is quite easy till Prabalmachi and from there to prabalgad is little confusing and tiring but no need for a guide
4.Water and Food facility is available till prabalmachi,thereafter no facility till prabalgad.
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