Hariharwas one of the seventeen strong places that were surrendered to the British on the fall of Trimbak in 1818. This was one of the rare forts that was not destroyed by the British because of its beauty.
Harihar, also called Harish Fort, is 3,676 feet above sea-level.It was one of the forts in the possession of the Ahemadnagar Sultans. Captain Briggs from the British army visited the fort in 1818, and left a fairly detailed description. He described the ascent as truly wonderful.
Early morning On Tuesday,17th November 2015 me and mandar met near APNA BAZAR around 5:40 am outside my area heading towards Andheri station in rickshaw,then we boarded train to dadar station.We got 3 tapovan express ticket to Igatpuri.By the time we copped ticket even aakash reached at dadar station.At 6:28 am tapovan express reached so we ran towards general compartment and got comfortable near doors,train got jammed till kasara station but we cared less as igatpuri was next station.
We reached igatpuri station at 8:53 am and rolled towards Igatpuri ST bus stand to enquire about the bus timing.Igatpuri ST bus stand is like 7-8 minute walk from station.Conductor at the Bus Stand told us'' bus going towards Nirgudpada headed at 8:30am and the next bus is after 3-4 hours''.Now we were bit confused about what to do further! then conductor told to us to ''head at Ghoti ST Bus Stand and take a Jeep''.Ghoti Bus Stand is like 15 minutes driving from Igatpuri Bus stand.We took a sharing TUM TUM to Ghoti Bus Stand which costed us 10 Rs per person.
After Reaching Ghoti Bus Stand,we took a sharing jeep to pahine which is a last jeep stop,i think it costed us 50 Rs per person.Problem with sharing jeep is driver take another 35-40 minutes to gather more passengers.It take 90-100 minutes from ghoti bus stand to Pahine depending on the route.While we were on the jeep one of the local middle aged man asked us ''where y'all going and where y'all from?'' We told harihar fort,after hearing that name he was bit confused then he got it after couple seconds as villagers usually call it 'Harsh Killa to harihar fort'.He asked us whether y'all trekked Kalsubai or nah? We told him last year we did and told him that it takes around 3-4 hours to reach the top with photography and rest,By hearing this some Local old aged man in the back seat laughed at us and told ''It takes around 1 hours for me to reach the top'' which ended up in a heated conversation between middle aged man and Old aged man.Middle aged man started teasing Old aged man - ''Stop Joking You got wings or what? Look at your age,one will end up spilling blood if he trekked continuously without rest''.
We reached pahine around 12 am,jeep driver told us ''make sure y'all return till 4 pm the last jeep pick up timing from pahine''.Now our stomach was screaming food so we eat Bhakri and Shev Bhaji at local eatery as option were very less not only on afternoon pamphlet but there were no hotels around.Shev Bhaji was spicy,however we eat less as we had a trek ahead of us even though he said food served is unlimited 60 Rs per person.
We were worry about return from harihar fort so we asked owner of local eatery who said ''Somehow y'all should manage to Return from harihar fort to pahine till evening! Further i will manage the transport mode for y'all''.
At 1:10 pm Mini Tempo arrived which was heading towards nirgudpada which is a last stop and base village of harihar fort,It takes around 30-40 minutes from pahine to nirgudpada.we climbed on back of the tempo,the base of the tempo was rusted and badly cracked like it would go down any minute.The whole tempo was shaking badly,
We reached nirgudpada,tempo man charged us 15 Rs per person.Mandar went in to village to one of the house to fill up water in empty bottle,like always mandar and aakash did't bring no bottles from home even after consequences we suffered while trekking Peb Fort in January 2015,'i was the only one who got it from home.We started our trek at 2 pm,heat was killing our head but it was just a matter of couple hours.
The trail we took was the longer and little difficult route,good thing was now we were deep in the woods so tree was blocking all the heat.We climbed rock patch on the way but still there was no sign of trekkers,every time we felt like going back and forth however if there is a trail,there is a hope,No matter what,most trail end up at the same route at some point.All of a sudden we heard some human voices and mandar with his hearing extraordinary senses and monkey grip told us to follow.We were finding little difficult to get in the touch with those people who were descending,finally after some time we got in touch,they told us ''You are on the right track,the Long trail y'all followed they did it too while ascending''.
We took a rest to eat monaco biscuit and drink water.The water we drank was sweet as it was a village Well water.There was no more heat around so it was sigh of a relief for us but the issue was timing.After a short break we continued with our trek.We finally reached saddle point,it was such a good feeling with breeze going on.We were able to see harihar fort from here clearly.
We trekked some parts which was little slippery due to loose soil,it could have been worse if it was rainy season.Further we saw villager vendor selling Water and chips,we copped water bottle.These vendors pack up their stuff and descend at 4:30 pm.
We were the last trekkers who were ascending while others were descending at this time.Again we took some rest,eat 2 Oranges which mandar got from home and drank water.At that moment those oranges tasted the most sweetest and fruitful,even the smell of those oranges took our minor headache away.
We trekked rock parts in between and reached the base of the fort.There is only one access to the fort through a 200 ft high rock cut staircase inclined at an 80 degree angle.One gotta be aware while stepping on those steeper steps which is broken in between.Best thing about the staircase is narrow cuts on the steps so one can grab it from fingers to make a grip while climbing.It can be thrilling experience during monsoon
As soon as you climb the staircase,first door of the fort will greet you after that there is a Tunnel with narrow path which you have to walk carefully,the tunnel is really a great art of work.
Check out Tunnel with narrow path video below -
The further you move you will see Second staircase,these staircase reminded me of Peth fort in karjat with little twist and turn.The breeze out here was strong
We reached the top till 4 pm.There are some Tanks on the top,hanuman temple beside pond and Om flag along with Trishul.Sunshine at the top was perfect for photography
We started our descend at 4:30 Pm,most of the time while descending down i was ass dragging on those staircase.We were blessed to see sunset,harihar fort shine turned from golden to orange.
Check out sunset at harihar fort video below -
We descended very fast neither if it turns dark,its very difficult to trace the trail.This time we took the easy straight route,no horizontal one.While descending its easy to figure out what's the right route.It was 6:10 pm by the time we reached the village.We asked one of the villager about the transport mode but he told us there is no transport mode from here after 6 pm,now we were disturbed.Already the country side was getting Cold and darker then all of a sudden two villager men popped and told us ''We are going the same route follow them to one of the village where we might get jeep or van''.That village was like 15 minute walk from nirgudpada,while walking we saw tractor,those two village man stopped that tractor for a lift to that village,we climbed on back of the tractor and held whatever to make a grip neither one might end up falling on road the way tractor vibrates.Some drunk man who was already sitting beside a driver was talking unconsiously.After reaching that village,we waited for some transport mode but there was nothing to be seen,it was all dark with no street lights around and everything closed.Those two villager men's along with drunk man told us to follow them to the village where there was some lights and house around,now we started to think - whether they are thieves or what! Maybe they are trapping us and wasting our time but we had no option left,my heartbeat was rising up fast.
After Reaching near all those houses ,those 2 villager men's started to search for transport mode,there were some vehicle but many were out of fuel or owner of the vehicle was not present.Light of the village went off but got switched on within a minute.By looking at us,many villager men's gathered,we told them about our issue then some VIP looking man came & told us ''y'all should have checked transport mode timing before trekking out here and don't worry about spending night even if you get stuck,villager's will provide you with living and food facility''.Drunk man was like don't worry! come to my house but we barely trusted him.Finally one of the man got ready - we told him we want to go to CBS,nashik(Mandar Rented house),if not! we are cool if you drop us at Pahine.That man told us he will drop us at trimbak bus stand and from there you can take rickshaw,ST bus or Taxi to CBS,nashik.We both agreed for 500 Rs fare total as it was sleeping time for villagers,no other passengers to share fare and no return passengers from trimbak.
We hopped in the van along with 2 villager men's who accompanied us till their stop.They told us ''Like we helped y'all out here in the village,help us when we come to the city''.When their stop came we gave them 40 Rs for helping us,if it was't about them we would be stuck at nirgudpada village all night.Van man dropped us at trimbak bus stand,we gave them 450 Rs total from there we took rickshaw to CBS,nashik which costed us 200 Rs total.
We reached CBS,nashik at mandar rented house till 9:30 pm,there we eat Chicken Lollypop and Fried rice.At 11 pm Me and Aakash were thirsty so we went outside to collect drinking water in empty bottle from one of the cooler outside on the streets beside fastfood shop,they(Vendor) fill the cooler with big bisleri water every morning.
Next morning Me and aakash got ready and took rickshaw to Mumbai naka from CBS,mandar stayed at CBS,Nashik for some college purpose which is 10 minute away from his house.At Mumbai naka we took sharing taxi to kasara station which costed us 120 Rs per person.At 12:15pm we boarded kasara fast local to ghatkopar,From ghatkopar station we took metro to AZAD NAGAR stop.We were home till 3:30pm.
Remember - Below most of the point is only applicable for Budgeted trip one
1.Mumbaikar's dependent on local transport mode should start their trek at night,if they don't want to get stuck.
2.The best option is ST-bus which will directly halt at Nirgudpada,next option is 'other means of transport' from Igatpuri bus stand - Ghoti Bus stand - Pahine - Nirgudpada
3.ST Bus timing - From Igatpuri Bus Stand to Nirgudpada - Around 8-8:30am and vice versa around 3-30 pm.
4.There is no transport facility available after 6 pm from Nirgudpada,you would be very lucky if you found one.
5.If the driver's and locals don't understand the name Harihar fort,use Harsh Killa.
6.Aircel and Reliance connect to the network only once in a blue moon at Pahine and Nirgudpada,BSNL is more consistent according to villagers.Don't know about other sim cards.
Harihar, also called Harish Fort, is 3,676 feet above sea-level.It was one of the forts in the possession of the Ahemadnagar Sultans. Captain Briggs from the British army visited the fort in 1818, and left a fairly detailed description. He described the ascent as truly wonderful.
Early morning On Tuesday,17th November 2015 me and mandar met near APNA BAZAR around 5:40 am outside my area heading towards Andheri station in rickshaw,then we boarded train to dadar station.We got 3 tapovan express ticket to Igatpuri.By the time we copped ticket even aakash reached at dadar station.At 6:28 am tapovan express reached so we ran towards general compartment and got comfortable near doors,train got jammed till kasara station but we cared less as igatpuri was next station.
We reached igatpuri station at 8:53 am and rolled towards Igatpuri ST bus stand to enquire about the bus timing.Igatpuri ST bus stand is like 7-8 minute walk from station.Conductor at the Bus Stand told us'' bus going towards Nirgudpada headed at 8:30am and the next bus is after 3-4 hours''.Now we were bit confused about what to do further! then conductor told to us to ''head at Ghoti ST Bus Stand and take a Jeep''.Ghoti Bus Stand is like 15 minutes driving from Igatpuri Bus stand.We took a sharing TUM TUM to Ghoti Bus Stand which costed us 10 Rs per person.
After Reaching Ghoti Bus Stand,we took a sharing jeep to pahine which is a last jeep stop,i think it costed us 50 Rs per person.Problem with sharing jeep is driver take another 35-40 minutes to gather more passengers.It take 90-100 minutes from ghoti bus stand to Pahine depending on the route.While we were on the jeep one of the local middle aged man asked us ''where y'all going and where y'all from?'' We told harihar fort,after hearing that name he was bit confused then he got it after couple seconds as villagers usually call it 'Harsh Killa to harihar fort'.He asked us whether y'all trekked Kalsubai or nah? We told him last year we did and told him that it takes around 3-4 hours to reach the top with photography and rest,By hearing this some Local old aged man in the back seat laughed at us and told ''It takes around 1 hours for me to reach the top'' which ended up in a heated conversation between middle aged man and Old aged man.Middle aged man started teasing Old aged man - ''Stop Joking You got wings or what? Look at your age,one will end up spilling blood if he trekked continuously without rest''.
We reached pahine around 12 am,jeep driver told us ''make sure y'all return till 4 pm the last jeep pick up timing from pahine''.Now our stomach was screaming food so we eat Bhakri and Shev Bhaji at local eatery as option were very less not only on afternoon pamphlet but there were no hotels around.Shev Bhaji was spicy,however we eat less as we had a trek ahead of us even though he said food served is unlimited 60 Rs per person.
We were worry about return from harihar fort so we asked owner of local eatery who said ''Somehow y'all should manage to Return from harihar fort to pahine till evening! Further i will manage the transport mode for y'all''.
 |
| View From Local eatery(Pahine) |
 |
| Local eatery near pahine(Ph.no on Billboard) |
 |
| Bhakhri and shev bhaji |
 |
| Pahine |
 |
| Pahine stop |
At 1:10 pm Mini Tempo arrived which was heading towards nirgudpada which is a last stop and base village of harihar fort,It takes around 30-40 minutes from pahine to nirgudpada.we climbed on back of the tempo,the base of the tempo was rusted and badly cracked like it would go down any minute.The whole tempo was shaking badly,
We reached nirgudpada,tempo man charged us 15 Rs per person.Mandar went in to village to one of the house to fill up water in empty bottle,like always mandar and aakash did't bring no bottles from home even after consequences we suffered while trekking Peb Fort in January 2015,'i was the only one who got it from home.We started our trek at 2 pm,heat was killing our head but it was just a matter of couple hours.
 |
| Base Village of Harihar fort |
 |
| That's where we headed on the Top |
 |
| Ant Nest |
 |
| Longer and Little difficult route |
 |
| Harihar fort |
 |
| Closer to harihar fort |
We took a rest to eat monaco biscuit and drink water.The water we drank was sweet as it was a village Well water.There was no more heat around so it was sigh of a relief for us but the issue was timing.After a short break we continued with our trek.We finally reached saddle point,it was such a good feeling with breeze going on.We were able to see harihar fort from here clearly.
 |
| More closer to harihar fort |
We trekked some parts which was little slippery due to loose soil,it could have been worse if it was rainy season.Further we saw villager vendor selling Water and chips,we copped water bottle.These vendors pack up their stuff and descend at 4:30 pm.
 |
| Me and Aakash |
We were the last trekkers who were ascending while others were descending at this time.Again we took some rest,eat 2 Oranges which mandar got from home and drank water.At that moment those oranges tasted the most sweetest and fruitful,even the smell of those oranges took our minor headache away.
 |
| ME |
 |
| Mandar,Aakash and Me |
We trekked rock parts in between and reached the base of the fort.There is only one access to the fort through a 200 ft high rock cut staircase inclined at an 80 degree angle.One gotta be aware while stepping on those steeper steps which is broken in between.Best thing about the staircase is narrow cuts on the steps so one can grab it from fingers to make a grip while climbing.It can be thrilling experience during monsoon
 |
| 80 Degree Angle Staircase |
 |
| Narrow cut on both sides of the staircase |
 |
| Tunnel |
 |
The further you move you will see Second staircase,these staircase reminded me of Peth fort in karjat with little twist and turn.The breeze out here was strong
 |
| Second Staircase |
We reached the top till 4 pm.There are some Tanks on the top,hanuman temple beside pond and Om flag along with Trishul.Sunshine at the top was perfect for photography
 |
| Hanuman Temple |
 |
| Trishul |
 |
| Water Tank |
 |
| Pond |
 |
| Mandar,Aakaah and Me |
 |
| Upper View |
We started our descend at 4:30 Pm,most of the time while descending down i was ass dragging on those staircase.We were blessed to see sunset,harihar fort shine turned from golden to orange.
 |
| Sunset |
We descended very fast neither if it turns dark,its very difficult to trace the trail.This time we took the easy straight route,no horizontal one.While descending its easy to figure out what's the right route.It was 6:10 pm by the time we reached the village.We asked one of the villager about the transport mode but he told us there is no transport mode from here after 6 pm,now we were disturbed.Already the country side was getting Cold and darker then all of a sudden two villager men popped and told us ''We are going the same route follow them to one of the village where we might get jeep or van''.That village was like 15 minute walk from nirgudpada,while walking we saw tractor,those two village man stopped that tractor for a lift to that village,we climbed on back of the tractor and held whatever to make a grip neither one might end up falling on road the way tractor vibrates.Some drunk man who was already sitting beside a driver was talking unconsiously.After reaching that village,we waited for some transport mode but there was nothing to be seen,it was all dark with no street lights around and everything closed.Those two villager men's along with drunk man told us to follow them to the village where there was some lights and house around,now we started to think - whether they are thieves or what! Maybe they are trapping us and wasting our time but we had no option left,my heartbeat was rising up fast.
After Reaching near all those houses ,those 2 villager men's started to search for transport mode,there were some vehicle but many were out of fuel or owner of the vehicle was not present.Light of the village went off but got switched on within a minute.By looking at us,many villager men's gathered,we told them about our issue then some VIP looking man came & told us ''y'all should have checked transport mode timing before trekking out here and don't worry about spending night even if you get stuck,villager's will provide you with living and food facility''.Drunk man was like don't worry! come to my house but we barely trusted him.Finally one of the man got ready - we told him we want to go to CBS,nashik(Mandar Rented house),if not! we are cool if you drop us at Pahine.That man told us he will drop us at trimbak bus stand and from there you can take rickshaw,ST bus or Taxi to CBS,nashik.We both agreed for 500 Rs fare total as it was sleeping time for villagers,no other passengers to share fare and no return passengers from trimbak.
We hopped in the van along with 2 villager men's who accompanied us till their stop.They told us ''Like we helped y'all out here in the village,help us when we come to the city''.When their stop came we gave them 40 Rs for helping us,if it was't about them we would be stuck at nirgudpada village all night.Van man dropped us at trimbak bus stand,we gave them 450 Rs total from there we took rickshaw to CBS,nashik which costed us 200 Rs total.
We reached CBS,nashik at mandar rented house till 9:30 pm,there we eat Chicken Lollypop and Fried rice.At 11 pm Me and Aakash were thirsty so we went outside to collect drinking water in empty bottle from one of the cooler outside on the streets beside fastfood shop,they(Vendor) fill the cooler with big bisleri water every morning.
 |
| CBS at 11pm |
Next morning Me and aakash got ready and took rickshaw to Mumbai naka from CBS,mandar stayed at CBS,Nashik for some college purpose which is 10 minute away from his house.At Mumbai naka we took sharing taxi to kasara station which costed us 120 Rs per person.At 12:15pm we boarded kasara fast local to ghatkopar,From ghatkopar station we took metro to AZAD NAGAR stop.We were home till 3:30pm.
Remember - Below most of the point is only applicable for Budgeted trip one
1.Mumbaikar's dependent on local transport mode should start their trek at night,if they don't want to get stuck.
2.The best option is ST-bus which will directly halt at Nirgudpada,next option is 'other means of transport' from Igatpuri bus stand - Ghoti Bus stand - Pahine - Nirgudpada
3.ST Bus timing - From Igatpuri Bus Stand to Nirgudpada - Around 8-8:30am and vice versa around 3-30 pm.
4.There is no transport facility available after 6 pm from Nirgudpada,you would be very lucky if you found one.
5.If the driver's and locals don't understand the name Harihar fort,use Harsh Killa.
6.Aircel and Reliance connect to the network only once in a blue moon at Pahine and Nirgudpada,BSNL is more consistent according to villagers.Don't know about other sim cards.
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