Bhivgad/Bheemgad Fort:Tales Of two Kids

INTRODUCTION
Bhivgad is also know as bheemgad Fort, it is like 7.4 Km from karjat station. Vadap is the base village.It is an Very Easy Grade Level Trek ,Fort stands at 800 Feet high.There is not much info available of this Fort on net, neither there are any fortification.To reach Summit it will take you around 5o Minute to 1 Hour.

Village 
One will encounter More kids in the village than Adults. What i noticed was Girls washing clothes and picking up vessel while boys playing games with coins early morning.
There is also a Waterfall nearby if one want to enjoy it, i am not a big fan of waterfall specially during weekends time where People get drunk,play loud music and dance,they turned that in to resort.Recently one of the Man died in Mahuli waterfall where he was copying stunt which was inspired by bahubali movie, i mean seriouly damn!

Journey
On Sunday 16th July 2017, Me and Vikrant met near Azad nagar Stop around 5:50 am, Vishesh was supposed to board metro from versova and he was late by couple minute, the reason he was late was because that guy hopped straight in to Medical Shop purchasing Vitamin Tablet since it was his first trek.Finally he boarded the metro, the same metro we boarded from Azad nagar at 6:15 am, the ticket costed us 70 Rs per person return ticket. By the time we Reached Ghatkopar, 6:35 am Train left in front of us, however we purchased karjat Return ticket which costed us 40 Rs per person.In that mean Time we eat Idli and Vada which costed us 30 Rs per person.

In that mean time we discussed like how one of the guy who studied with us in our school time did a suicide recently, i mean he was going through a lot - Various Bike accident, Girl Friend Issue, Drugs Abuse and many more you name it.I still Remember Getting my Ass whooped by this guy in 4th grade, during my childhood day i barely picked hand on anyone so it was obvious.Anyway life is too beautiful to give up your life but i am not here to criticize anyone since i don't know what this people go through, i have never been on that side.
     
Finally we boarded 7:14 am Karjat train, second class was crowded like crazy so we boarded 1st class as Vishesh said ''Don't worry i got Big connection if we get caught by TC''.We reached Karjat Till 8:41 am.One need to take a walk to shri ram Pul from Station which will take you around 7-8 Minute.From there we asked Rickshawala about fare to vadap he quoted 150 Rs total, somehow we negotiated and got it down to 130 Rs Total.
In 20 minute or So we reached Vadap, the way go through Gali from village ,there are arrows and also villagers are helpful.

Reminded me of malgudi days

Vikrant, Way to Fort

Temple

One will Encounter Temple on the left however one need to walk straight as you can see in those above waterfall pic, Left hill to the waterfall is bheemgad, it is easy to recognize as you can see flag on the top.On the way two small local kids who were brothers accompanied us, Vikrant had wireless bluetooth speaker switched On - playing Old Bollywood and 90's Pop songs.
Trail turned in to small water stream during monsoon, now it was raining moderately.In 35 minute or So we reached the point where there was a board which showed direction - Right one go to the dhak bhairi and left one to bheemgad.

Right Dhak Bhairi,Left Bhimgad

Vishesh with Two Kids

On the way be little Careful with algae, it gets slippery neither there is nothing to Worry about.After 10 minute or so, we reached the top.On the top we met 2 men who were descending they too were from andheri west.

Tales Of the two Kids
Since it is a small hill, these two kids trek everyday to enjoy the scenic view.When we asked them about their age, they were little confused ,that's how it is in country side.They were not even aware about which grade they were studying. There are resorts and Mansion but no descent school in the village.I asked them about which sports they play? they said ''Cricket near Temple''.
We shared snacks with them, i could literally see happiness on their Faces, at that time these two brothers were Looking at each other smiling while eating. To the max they descend hills by 5 Pm.There was moderate Rain every now and then, every time it rained they used to hide under umbrella with us and sometimes under windcheater.

Bigbrother with small Brother

I could see little hiphop in Bigbrother, the way he was moving and dancing.So we gifted them cap that we had with us.

Scenic View
Scenic view bheemgad offered was beautiful enough after looking at height it stands at.One can view Waterfall, Bhimashankar range which includes many notable mountains and also temple from the top 

View from the top

Waterfall

Bhimashankar Range

After resting for couple minute, we started descending and got down at base in 30 minute or so, we said goodbye to two kids and gave them little money, we walked for couple minute then we took rickshaw till karjat station which costed us 100 Rs in total,frequency of rickshaw and tumtum is very high specially during weekend times then we boarded train from karjat station, we sat in the 1st class instead of 2nd class as it was crowded and as vishesh said he got connection.
We were happily taking a nap in 1st class, few station passed by and guess What? TC entered the train, we had our heart in our mouth at shelu station, we were giving a tense look at each other and vishesh was like i only got connection in mumbai only.At vangani station TC checked our ticket which was 2nd class one and told us '' per person will be charged 350 Rs'' we told him we will halt at Next station then he replied ''that he is going to do that anyway,now take out the Fine'' Somehow we negotiated and got the charge down till 120 Rs per person, at next station which was badlapur we got down and boarded 2nd class which was crowded as hell.We reached ghatkopar till 3:45 pm and then metro till our stop.I got down at Azad nagar stop,i was home till 4:20 Pm.

Our expense
Snacks and Breakfast charge - 40 Rs per person
Travelling Charge - 185 Rs per person
TC charge/Fine - 120 Rs per person

Sondai: Lesser known Fort of Karjat Region

INTRODUCTION
Sondai is not an popular fort compare to other forts in karjat, it is like 10.5 Km from karjat station.Base village is Sondewadi, One can also take a walk all the way from the station depending on the season if it's pleasant or sunny accordingly. The reason i said 'walk' as this trek will take you around 40 minute - 1 hour to reach the top or maybe less.Difficulty level is Easy.

INSIGHT
Even though the place was green, it was sunny all around due to early stages of monsoon.Farmers were patiently waiting for Rain, so that harvesting season begins and also Morbe Lake which is nearby get filled.

JOURNEY
On July 17th 2017 Me and Atul headed towards AZAD NAGAR metro station, by the time we reached there, it was 4:40 am,metro gate was closed so we waited for like hour,waiting for mandar and Ankit to board metro from versova,once they boarded it, we too did it from azad nagar which costed me 70 Rs per person Return ticket and we told aakash to meet directly at ghatkopar station, he was late like usual.So we took 6 return Ticket For karjat which costed us 50 Rs Per person.Luckily 6:25 am train was late by couple minute, till then aakash reached and this time he was accompanied by his friend Trupti.
We boarded karjat train around 6:28 am, journey on the train was smooth,it was not crowded.After reaching Karjat station, first thing we did was eat Idli and vada which costed us 20 Rs per person then we grabbed Biscuit,water and Maaza bottle from nearby station as there is no shop in sondewadi, after that we took TumTum which costed us 400 Rs in Total I.e Around 65 Rs Per person.It was a very remote village however scenic view it offered was awesome, on the way you will get clear view of Morbe Lake and Irshalgad Fort.

SONDAI FORT

Way to SONDAI FORT

After reaching Sondewadi, we started our trek and started following mandar who was trekking too Fast and he took us from all the way around, Mandar and Atul they both with monkey grip started making their own trail, Ankit alone with shorts and no Bag was enjoying the ascent , he had that beach vacation kind of attire with smile on his face but guess what, that fun was't going to be last forever, until he encountered shrub with thorns on it now he was like 'aah ooh' with tense face while ascending,at that time aakash  and I smirked at eachother.

I warned mandar, this is one the easiest trek in the western ghats and still he was like ''Follow me''.The way we took was little moderate, luckily there was no rain neither this route would have been difficult.Finally we came to the point where the mountain was exposed and the scenery was awesome with breeze going on so we took a rest drinking Maaza. Now we could clearly see the staircase which was going to help us reach on top of the fort.

Staircase leading towards the Fort

Water Stream Dried

Now we came to the point where we saw giant Frog in the tank.One of the frog was dead while other were alive.Probably this was the biggest frog that i ever saw in my life.

Giant Frog In the Tank

After couple minute of walk, we came to the point where we have to climb staircase which was well painted with orange color.On the way mandar gave his bag to Ankit.

Me

Ankit

Now we reached the top, there are no fortification but got sondai Goddess idols and bells under the tree.It is also one of the best watch point to view mountains.Out here we rested to eat sandwich which mandar got with him and drank mazaa. The weather was sunny indeed it was good for photography,neither if its rainy the visibility gets too low. 

View From Top of Sondai Fort

Irshalgad

Karnala Fort(Pinnacle One)

Matheran Range

Amazing

Morbe Lake

Sondai Goddess

In between Atul took a break,he looked little stressed as there has been too many 'No's' in his proposal, his love life is always been too complicated.

Sandwich and Mazaa Time

Atul Break Time

Me,Trupti,Aakash,Mandar,Atul and Ankit

After a Break, we started descending.This time we saw arrow which was showing straight route at that time we realized mandar took a wrong route while ascending and we followed him blindly, however i already knew it but that arrow was the proof.we were shocked after reaching down in 20 Minute or So, i mean this route was so easy.On the way Me and aakash made fun of mandar in a good way, we were like '' If mandar ever became a Leader of the Firm, that firm will go Bankrupt in no time''.
We called TumTum wala, he said ''he will there in couple minute''.In that mean time we rested near one of the hut and requested water from one of the villager which they gave happily. TumTum wala arrived in 20 minute,he took the same fare I.e 400 Total INR.We Reached Karjat station till 2:40 Pm and train was at 3:27 Pm,somehow we killed our time and boarded train when arrived,everyone got the seat comfortably.We halted at ghatkopar, from there metro till our stop.Me and Atul got down at Azad Nagar stop, then we headed home.I was Home till 5:30 Pm.

We took the yellow route as you can see in those above pics while ascending and Red one while descending.Red one should be taken while ascending and descending, nonetheless i would say if red marker route is very easy then yellow one is Easy.

Our Expense
Snacks charges/Drink Charges per person - 60 Rs
Travelling Charges - 185 Rs

Gau Mukh Temple/Plateau Via Kanheri Caves Upper Trail:Forgotten Site

INTRODUCTION
SGNP is the world Biggest national park within city Limit.It is still home to a population of Adivasi, or forest-dwelling tribal communities.Most of the areas are restricted ,so i would say it is more of a business/Picnic spot rather than Exploring site.Anyway we are here to explore the hidden spot named 'Gau Mukh Temple/plateau'.

INSIGHT
SGNP opens at 7:30 Am for visitors and closes at 6 pm.Ticket prices has been increased compared to my last two visit here.Area is way more guarded and secured.If someone want to visit SGNP or kanheri Caves i would say weekday would be more preferable, however if one want to visit Gau mukh temple any day of the week is good.

JOURNEY
On 21st June 2017 which was Wednesday, i met mandar around 6:30 am who headed from lokhandwala in rickshaw to veera desai where i was standing, as soon as he arrived i took the sit then we headed to andheri station, after arriving at station we boarded Local train to Borivali which costed us 20 Rs per person Return Ticket then Rickshaw to SGNP entrance which costed us 10 Rs per Person, One can take a walk also to reach the entrance,it is nearby only, it will take you around 10-15 minute.

We reached 10 Minute earlier I.e 7:20 Am, Once the gate was opened we took the entrance ticket which costed us 48 Rs per person which was quite shocking i thought it was for 2 person, after that we confirmed with forest guard about the Shuttle bus timing it was at 9 Am so we decided to take a walk all the way from SGNP to kanheri caves which is like 7 km.

During our Walk, cloud was playing Hide and seek, there was drizzle of rain every now and then.On the way Mandar talked about a horrible incident which happened to his Fathers Friend Daughter in Vasai recently, she was kidnapped from Building compound premises and month after she was found in Truck along with other school girls in southern India Area by police however her tongue was slashed.

Camera Incident

View From Forest Guard Station

After 40 Minute of Walk we came to the point where there was Water Pump beside Forest Guard station so we took a pause to wash our face, within a minute it started to shower down heavily so we took a shelter outside Forest guard station which was providing us enough cover, during that time i took out the camera for the first time in our journey to snap pics, all of a sudden forest guard said ''Did you took ticket for camera at the entrance? which is 3000 Rs'' to which we said  'No' as we were not aware about the Camera charges and told a lie that our Bag was checked at the entrance, He said ''Wait i will check out On walkie Talkie'' but there was no one on walkie talkie, i don't know whether he was bluffing or it was really some connection problem! He Said ''You will be charged 2100 Rs neither camera will be taken'' so mandar took out the entrance ticket and we had a little heated conversation with guard - where on the ticket it is mentioned about Camera charges?, after a while he too looked little confused and let us Go. 

Next Day i checked on the Internet, On some site it is mentioned about camera charges but it is not clear which camera.On some site it is mentioned that it is only charged for videography, not for snapping Pics. 

Upper Kanheri Caves Trail    
After that camera Incident we reached entrance of Kanheri Caves, Entry fee was 15 Rs Per person which was increased from 5 Rs and Camera Charges were 25 Rs Per Person .

Kanheri Caves

There were group of watchman roaming around the caves, they were too suspicious, this time what i noticed was - there has been a new door and frames installed at caves.
Talking of  'Kanheri Caves Idol face', many are Destroyed by British during Pre-independence era.

Way to Upper Kanheri Caves Trail

In above Pics those Steps you see is way to Upper Kanheri Caves Trail, back then  it was rocks and mud instead of staircase.

After climbing those steps, you will reach a cave as you can see in those above pics,way to upper kanheri caves is from side of those caves.We went in to sneaky mode and reached Upper kanheri Caves Trail, if they came to know about you trekking to Gau mukh temple,Probably they will not allow it.

Upper kanheri Caves Plateau

Once you reach Upper kanheri Caves trail, you will spot small hill ahead of you.just follow the trail.After that one need to trek for 10-15 minute to reach Gau Mukh Plateau.

Gau Mukh Plateau

Gau Mukh Plateau

On gau Mukh plateau we took a little bit of Rest by drinking water, out here we heared echoes of people screaming at kanheri Caves.

Gau Mukh Plateau Trail

Way to Gau Mukh Temple

Keep following the straight Trail on Gau Mukh Plateau, you will enter forest, from here you will see Gau mukh temple, the route goes little downward.

Gau Mukh Temple

Talking of Gau Mukh temple, it is semi demolished by forest officials since it was illegal.It used to be crowded in 90's era during mahashivratri times, Idols has been removed.Now it looks more like a drug spot. there are Names and Naked Girl graffiti on the walls.What surprised me the most that there are barely any Info and no Newspaper articles on this temple ,like when it was constructed or demolished.It is Abandoned and Hidden site.The main reason i think it would have been demolished was because of  'Army Air Station' in the region, 'place is So confidential that there are not even single photograph available of that station on the Net.One can view it on Google Earth to get an fair idea how it looks.

Army Air station (Google Earth)

There is also way to a Jambhulmal point which is highest point of Mumbai from around Gau mukh plateau region, i am not specific though from where exactly.If you want to visit Jambhulmal, one need to take permission from National Information Center, they charge a specific fees along with Guide fee and they need to be informed well in advance.It is advisable not to Visit that place alone due to leopard,venomous snake found in the region and if officials found you around that place without permission you will be fined.

Once the rain got stopped, we headed back and drank cold drink at Canteen near Kanheri caves, there one of the man who was in charge of construction going around caves asked 'Y'all both went all the way to the top, Right? We said Only Upper Kanheri Caves Trail,not above that,he had that very angry look on his face.
After that we headed to Bus stop waiting for like 25 minute or so, finally the bus came at 1 pm,bus driver told us ''Bus will head back after 1 hour as it is our lunch time'' so once again we walked all the way to SNGP entrance then took rickshaw till Borivali station which costed us 9 Rs per person then Local train till andheri then metro till Azad Nagar which costed me 10 Rs, I was home till 3:50 Pm.

OUR EXPENSE
Travelling/ Entry,Camera Charges - 148 Rs per person
Snack/Drink Charges - 55 Rs per Person

Tandulwadi: 800 year Old Fort.

Introduction
Tandulwadi village is like 7 km/5 km from saphale Station depending on the route. Tandul means 'Rice' and Wadi means 'Village'.Fort is like 800 year old,There is No hotel or Restaurant nearby, neither no caves on the way while trekking but there is enough place on the plateau for camping.It is one of the easy trek,so one can visit during initial stages of monsoon.

Occupation and Life
Most of the villagers they extract fruits/vegetable from farm and some from Tandulwadi forest itself then they sell it at Saphale station.In our journey we encountered family who were busy cutting fruits and spices which i will write about in detail in our story section below.
Tandulwadi looked like an small village to me with very few huts around and it was good to see many new solar system machine used in the village.

Journey
As decided On 14th June 2017 which was Wednesday Me and akshay met near Azad nagar metro station at 5:10 am and took sharing rickshaw till andheri station which costed us 10 Rs per person and then boarded Dahanu fast train at 5:30 am from andheri which costed us 30 Rs per person Return ticket, what shocked me the most was that in Mumbai Indicator app it showed 5:50 am Dahanu train, i mean one Can't be dependent on that app,specially long distance train however one can use it just to get an slight Info of timing.
On train we discussed how many youths today want to be like Mumbiker Nikhil without checking his financial background, i mean every one wants to be a rider now days and Go on a Long distance trip on regular basis which don't make sense for working class people until and unless your family is a Big shot and got a good successful business/property running around.
We were at Saphale station till 6:40 am,Nearby station we did a quick Breakfast by eating Vadapav and Dhokla, also we purchased biscuit,water,frooti for our journey.At 6:55 am we boarded S.T bus, remember next bus comes at 8 am.We easily got the seat matter a fact half the bus was empty early morning on week days.At 7:15 am we reached Tandulwadi Village.

View from Tandulwadi Village.

School kids playing

School at Tandulwadi Village

I will strongly recommend you to ask for the right trail from villager at the start,neither you will you end up taking a straight trail instead of left from the water body nearby.

Right Trail

After a while,there will be steps on the way.We took a small break in between as we were trekking almost after 7 months so we were little tired nonetheless this is a easy trek with well marked arrow on the way.

Weather was mild,there was little wind every now and then.I did't expected the spot to be this green at the early stages of monsoon which shows it rained good in the past couple weeks.
Finally we reached the plateau, after reaching here some flying insect started biting around our neck, at first we thought it was honeybee but it was something else.Talking of Fortification there is barely anything left.There is water tank here and there.

View of Vaitarna River from Tandulwadi Fort

Vaitarna River give that necklace kind of view from here,as seen in the above pic.It is one of the main River which supplies water to the Mumbai city.

Greenhouse Farming

It was good to see farmer Adopting 'Greenhouse Farming' which helps the crops from extreme weather,Pest/Diseases, Easily manageable and ensuring High quality Final product.More awareness should be made about this since most farmers are taking a decision to suicide due to high debt and unpredictable Weather which is quite common in India. Greenhouse Farming helps to cultivate crops throughout the year even during bad times.

Akshay and Me

We took a break before descending, In that mean time we drank frooti and eat Monaco Biscuit and started discussing about our friend, i am not gonna take no names - cause the people who we were talking about are now Drug consumer and Peddlers. We discussed Like how it was all good week ago, they were good kids now they are damn skinny, like this one guy he had been to Rehab and back, Took Cops beating still sell Coke which provide him enough money to satisfy his material thing.

After having a talk for 30 minute we started descending, while descending for 15 - 20 Minute we realized we lost our way, now it was getting tricky, Don't know how we ended up near graveyard which was kind of scary.More we descended more we were Lost.Finally after 30 minute or So we saw a family cutting Fruits , they told us to wait for 15 Minute as they too were heading down. They told us you both are faraway from tandulwadi route, so it would be better to head down at saphale which is nearby from here.Those people had so many kinds of fruits and vegetables tied under clothes and basket, which they were going to sell at saphale market at station later on.
After they were done we started following them, on our way they asked '' there is only two of You?'' we said yes to which they were shocked.Now we were on track even though it was different route, they gave us a tips ''From here Go straight and beware of snakes on this routes '' and they got busy in their fruit extracting activity.
Finally after 30 Minute we were on the road this was different village, First thing we did was drink water and wash our face from the pump which was connected to the well. 

Pump

we started walking on the road as station was like 1.5 km from here, In between we took rickshaw which costed us 8 Rs Per person.After reaching saphale station we boarded express train which was heading from Ahemdabad. After halting at borivali station we boarded fast train to Andheri and near Andheri station at Shringaar Veg Hotel, there we ordered Dal/Rice Papad, Paneer 65 and cold drink which costed us 115 Rs per person then we headed home.I was Home till 4 Pm.

Our Expense
Travelling Cost - 70 Rs Per person
Snacks/Drink Cost - 50 RS Per Person
Lunch Cost - 115 Rs per Person