1. The most peaceful of the sights is the weathered fortress on the shores of the sea in the town of Malvan. There are limited places to stay, but the destination ensures that you can stay clear of crowds.
2. Sawantwadi works well as a hub to visit places like Amboli and the Nagartas waterfalls. The monsoons are no more looked upon as a daunting season to travel. With some amount of attention to the leeches, enjoy the relentless rain from a balcony and enjoy a good book in Sawantwadi.
3. The ‘Dashavtaar’ art form of Sindhudurg is famous for its ritualistic dance and drama style. During festive occasions, the temples host shows for the locals and travellers. This 11^th century art form is a great opportunity to get connected with traditions.
4. Kunkeshwar Temple – The temple was built in 1100 A.D and was frequently visited by the famous warrior, Shivaji. For those who are not looking for a spiritual connect, Kunkeshwar is also famous for coconut, palm and mango plantations and a variety of seafood.
5. Tarkarli – The search for an isolated beach, unhindered by touristy crowds is finally over. Enjoy this narrow beach stretch with some great Konkani food and options to tent on the sandy stretches.
6. Shiroda Beach – Sparkling blue water and a destination that is replete with nature & wildlife, this beach is great for those who have a sense of adventure. The salt deposits and the Cajurina plantations are a delight for travellers here.
7. Karvi – Karvi is a small village in the Amboli range of mountains which is famous for a type of flower that blooms once in seven years. A short hike is the best way to go searching for these flowers. Ensure that you have a local with you!
8. Hiranykeshi – A place dedicated to Lord Shiva, Hiranykeshi is great to go during Shivaratri when pilgrims come from far away to pay homage to the temple here. The colourful festival is great for photo-opportunities.
9. Dhamapur Lake – Spread over 5 acres, the Dhamapur Lake is situated on the Western part of the district. Many local tourists visit here for the lure of a peaceful destination with some fun activities like boating.
10. Moti Lake – Sawantwadi town has yet another attraction amidst the green landscape – Moti or ‘Pearl’ Lake. This looks brilliant by the night.

So if you are looking for a peaceful holiday away from the rush in Mumbai, the Sindhudurg district of Maharashtra offers a variety of places, the most relaxing being the unassuming beaches.

This guest post was written by Mahindra Homestays, who have a range of homestay accommodations throughout India and run the popular India Travel Blog. They have a collection of Sindhudurg homestays.

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Then, we went to Pataleshwar Cave Temple and Ayappan hill temple near Dehu Road. These two were on the radar for quite some time as we had passed these two temples en-route to many other places.

The first big trip of 2011 was a weekend trip to Murud. This set a nice precedent for 2 more trips to the Konkan region over the year. The murud trip had many beach visits including Murud beach, Kashid beach, Aakshi beach and the imposing Janjira sea fort (post pending!).

The next Konkan trip happened soon after, with a 3 day trip to Diveagar and Harihareshwar. The Diveagar beach is one of the best on the coast (among the one closer to Mumbai/Pune) and the coastal drive from Diveagar to Shrivardhan is too beautiful to be described!

In March, i went on a trek to Tikona fort along with colleagues. We started pretty early in the morning and it was a good decision as it got very hot by around 10. The trek to tikona fort is moderate, but offers wonderful views of the surrounding areas including Lohagad fort and Pavana Dam. Also, the final ascent on the stairs is wonderful.

Then, we had a get-together of friends at Splendour Country club. This was my second visit to the place (post pending!) and it is quite a mixed bag. The condition/cleanliness of the infinity pool depends on your luck, but the location is awesome.

There was a weekend when Vidhya and Akshara were out of town. So, i went on a local sightseeing trip to places which Vidhya might not come along. I went to Shinde Chhatri – architecturally good , bur was undergoing renovation, a butterfly park about which the lesser said the better and then to Chaturshringi Hill Temple, a gem of a place within the crowd of the city(posts due!).

Saturday was gone and i went for something more adventurous on the Sunday – a trek to Kalavantin Durg (post due!). This turned out to be most exhausting day of my life. But, not because of the nature of the trek. It is an awesome trek and the final climb on the rock-cut steps (some more than a metre high) is mind-blowing, particularly for the slightly-acrophobic ones like me!

The monsoon had arrived and it was time to go-green! Our first monsoon trip was to the ever-enchanting Neelkanteshwar temple. If you have never been there, make sure you do (not in the summer though). A place straight out of Amar Chitra Katha, you can not only admire the natural beauty of its location, but also learn a lot about indian mythology.

Though very scenic, i try to avoid lonavala and its surroundings during the monsoon as it gets very crowded and insane. A trip to Korigad fort where i had pass through Lonavala reaffirmed my faith in avoiding the place. Korigad fort though was a revelation. Relatively easy to climb and in midst of nature, it was a wonderful trip with friends.

No monsoon is complete without a visit to Tamhini Ghat and thoseghar waterfalls. I have been so many times to these places and yet, i am not tired of them. The visit to tamhini was, as always, combined with a visit to the broken roads of Chalkewadi windmill farms.

Then came a visit a beautiful temple in a beautiful place – hadshi temple. One photo of this temple on some forum convinced me to pay a visit and i wasn’t disappointed and neither have been all the people to whom i have recommended this temple. I have been there twice, once during the monsoon and another time just after – on a clear and sunny day.

We tried yet again on 15th August to go to Raigad fort, but our calculations proved wrong once again with a 3.5 hr wait for the cable car. So, we had to return (for the second time) with just a view of the cable car and the mighty fort beyond the horizon.

But, all was not bad with the trip. We came back through Varandha ghat and we got to see the best of what Varanda is famous for. Outstanding greenery as far as the eye can see and more waterfalls than we could keep count of!

Then finally, in October with some meticulous planning, we were able to see the king of all forts, Raigad fort (post due!). It was worth the wait, as this fort is an exemplary example of the might of the Marathas. The amount of history within the walls of his fort is amazing. We had combined a trip to Raigad with another new destination on the konkan, Karde beach.

End of 2011, beginning of 2012, lots to look forward too. Starting with a trip to Rajasthan, courtesy my company. So, what’s in plan – Malshej Ghat, Bhadandardara, Ganapatipule or Goa, some lesser known temples around Pune, Shivneri fort and more…

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1. Introducing the “Pune Travel Forum”
2. Trek to Korigad Fort near Aamby valley, Lonavala
3. New Year Weekend Trip to Daman

First a lesson in Geography! When we started research on places to go for the new year weekend, one of my friends suggested Daman & Diu, which was immediately lapped up by all as a visit to an Union Territory seemed as exotic as Kilimanjaro for all of us And so began the process of finding out the details. A simple google search gave the usual suspects – Daman Fort (moti and nani), Diu fort and some gardens. Next, we moved to Google maps to plan the exact itinerary based on the distances. Having zoomed on to the forts in Daman, i next typed in Diu fort. I was in for a shock. the maps applications zoomed out and kep on scrolling westwards and over the sea (and lots of sea!) and finally zommed into the Diu fort. I kind of blamed it on google. It was then i realized that Daman & Diu, though being a single entity in terms of a UT are hundreds of kilometres apart – 600 kms apart by road and around 300 by sea! If you already knew this, be proud. If not, be happy that you learnt something new

Where is Daman and how to go there? Daman is to the north of Mumbai and it would take (approx) 3 hrs from Mumbai and around 7-9 hrs (depending on how much you get stuck in Mumbai traffic) from Pune.

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Beaches in Daman: There are two beaches in Daman, Devka beach and Jampore beach. An amusement park is also there at Devka beach, but we found that most of the play-area items were broken or in a condition that you wouldn’t want your kids to go near them. We went to Devka beach a little after noon and the water had receded a long way. This was the first time i had ever seen the effect of tides. I had never seen a low tide before. Devka beach is a very rocky beach and not considered safe for swimming or wandering into, particularly during high tide.

Jampore beach is a much better option. A very clean beach with soft sand, Jampore beach also has many sporty things to do. We went there early in the morning and the light was just beautiful. The water was still coming in slowly and it was amazing to watch this.

Mirasol lake garden, a few minutes drive from Devka beach, is a nice place to spend the evening with family and kids. There is also the Mirasol water park next to it. The lake garden is an artificial one with all the elements of so-called paradise – a lake, many bridges on it, boating and even a swan boat! There is also a toy train going around the garden.

Daman is split into two by the Daman Ganga river- Moti Daman (big) and Nani Daman (Small), though Nani Daman is much bigger than the moti one! Moti Daman is entirely inside a fort, a beautiful one. Driving inside the fort is like driving inside a movie set. The portugese influence is very visible in the architecture in the dwellings inside the fort. Driving on the narrow road outside the fort will take you to the lighthouse. We went a bit late in the night, otherwise, you can climb up the light-house for a wonderful view of Daman. Jampore beach is close to Moti Daman. Both the sides are connected by a bride. You can also take a boat ride from one side to another.

The pier/sea front on the Nani side is beautiful. The main highlight is the fort of Nani Daman right next to the river bank. The church of Our Lady of the sea is the main building inside the fort.

The boats anchored on the river banks change position based on the tide. When we were there (around evening), it was low-tide and all the boats appeared beached on the river bank.

There are many sandbars which get exposed during low tide and you can take boat-trips to each of them. Depending on the distance you want to travel and also whether you want to get down on the sandbars (more time), the price ranges from INR 20 to around INR 50 per person. We just went for a short 15 min ride into the sea. The evening breeze was awesome and we also got good wide-angle views of both Moti and nani Daman

and of course, the last sunset of 2010 on the Arabian Coast. This should also go down as my first encounter with the Arabian sea as i don’t remember anything from my only prior trip to Mumbai (when i was in 2nd class!)

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1. The year 2011, in travel

This is a great place to go for a one day trip from either Mumbai or Pune due to the following reasons

• The Location: A plateau with unhindered views on all sides with a view of many other forts and dams
• Drive to the location: Cross all of Lonavala’s famous view points and get to the fort through some wonderful roads OR do some adventurous driving and go through remote backroads from Mulshi
• The Trek: An easy trek of around an hour. It took us a little more with two 3 yr old kids, drink breaks and lot of photo breaks. The trek has it all – open path, an optional shortcut through a dense jungle and a flight of stairs at the end
• The Fort: Though nothing much remains of the fort, the walls of the fort are intact and you can walk on the wall for the entire circumference of around 2 km (we didn’t, though)

How to go to Korigad fort (also known as Koraigad fort) from Pune: Korigad fort is right next to the Aamby valley city and very close to Tung Fort. You have to cross Lonavala and then keep driving towards Aamby valley. The base village for this fort is Peth-Shahpur. If you start early, you can stopover at the various Lonavala points like Bushi Dam, Lions Point and the shivling peak. Lonavala traffic is very bad , at least on the one main road. So, better to go into Lonavala pretty early in the day. See at the bottom of this post for an alternative route/round trip

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Once you drive down the ghat section after the lions point and keep going for another 15-20 minutes, the hill of korigad fort should appear on your left. There is nothing else this tall in this area, so you shouldn’t miss it. There is an open area just below the hill for parking. It is just another open area, but there are touts there who demand money (and give receipts too!) saying that it is the official parking for Korigad fort. They charge Rs.20 for a bike and Rs.50 for a car. I probably could park on the middle of M.G.Road for a cheaper amount!/p>

If you want to save few hundred metres off the trek, then drive on the road to the left (just before the hill) and park near a temple (not sure abt the parking place). A path from this temple directly joins the trail. Along the normal route, you start from the parking lot, go towards the tower and then continue on. The initial path can become very slippery in case of rain and it is the path through the water flows and is very muddy. But, not something to worry about.

The path goes around the back of the hill and then your start climbing. So, the trail is not visible from the road or the parking lot. Once you cross the initial stretch, the path turns a sharp right and you start to go towards the back of the hill parallel to the bottom. After some distance, you start to see small lamp posts. These have been erected by the Sahara group to aid trekkers , as Korigad is a popular night trekking destination. When you see the first such lamp post to your right. you have two options. You can continue straight on which will take you amidst few bungalows and then take a u-turn to go up or you can just start climbing the hill right at the base of the lamp posts. It looks steep, but is not. This short-cut is an enjoyabale 10 min climb through some dense lush growth – almost resembling a rain forest.

Then come the stairs. Initially, they start off pretty ok, but the last stretch is a bit steep. But the last stretch is not too long. Also, there is a viewpoint with a big resting area. Once you cross the stairs and pass through the main darawaza, you are on top of the hill. Once you are on the stairs, you get a good view of the development in Aaamby valley city.

The main darwaza covered in moss (during monsoons) is a great sight.There were also lot of monkeys around this point.

Once on top of the plateau, if you have the interest, you can spend hours enjoying the view on all sides. The fort walls are intact and you can walk all along the wall. The top also has two fresh water ponds (another blogger said that they are good for swimming, though we didn’t try) and couple of temples. There are also many intact cannons on top.

The way down (same as the way going up) was fast and easy and took less than an hour. It also rained when we were coming down and it was fun trying to fit all of us and two kids into the 2 kids umbrellas we carried with us! All of us enjoyed the trek including the kids, as can be seen in this photo (from a photo session) taken after the trek.

There is another route to reach Korigad from Pune. You can either go through this route or make it a round trip by returning on this. But this route is remote and not advisable late into the evening. If you have been to Mulshi or Tamhini Ghat , you would have come to a fork before Mulshi and you would have taken the left. The road on the right goes to Ghusalkhamb, which is actually the base village for Tung fort. If you go to Korigad from Lonavala, you will pass this village before you reach Peth-Shahpur. But, i have read on many forums that the road condition is 50-50, whatever that means! A third route exists, that from beyond Mulshi. After crossing Mulshi and towards Tamhini, there is a road sign to the right marked as Lonavala. This goes through lot of interior roads and reaches Korigad fort and then onto lonavala. I have seen this road being mentioned only on biker forums and the reviews says this unspoilt road is amazing during the monsoons. Drop in a comment if you have been on any of these routes.

Similar Places Around Pune:

1. Trek to Lohagad fort near lonavala
2. Trek to Purandar fort – in the rain
3. Trek to Tikona Fort

Tikona fort, also known as Vitandgad, is one of the easier forts to climb and would be a good introductory, yet interesting trek. The fort is close to Pavana Dam. The fort is on top of a ~3500 foot hill and offers unhindered views of the entire region including the forts of Tung, Lohagad and Visapur.

How to go to Tikona Fort from Pune (Magarpatta): Go towards Swargate, then tilak Road, karve Road and then Paud Road which will take you to Chandni Chowk. Then go in the direction of Mulshi/Tamhini. You will first cross Pirangut (Ghat) and then reach Paud Village. You have to take a right towards Pawna dam in this village. There are signs marked as Tikona/Pavana for this turn. After this, it is one long straight road until you start seeing Pavana dam on your left. Here you will see signboards for Tikona. You have to take a right towards Tikona Peth, the base village. the distance is approx 70 kms and should take you approx 2 hrs to reach there. Other alternate route is through NH4-Kamshet-Pavana-Tikona.

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There are 2 paths to trek up. One starts right behind the houses in Tikona Peth. This is the slightly tougher, but shorter, one and can be avoided if you have newbies in the crowd. To reach the other path, you have to go ahead of the village on the dusty road for around 0.5 km and you will reach a clearly marked parking spot. From this place, a path goes in the direction opposite to the one where you see the fort. It is because this path is a gradual switchback which goes up and turns 180 and then stedily climbs towards the fort.

This is an easy trek because of many factors. One is the presence of a clearly marked trail. The other is the presence of many shelters/small caves after you are halfway up on the trail. Once you go up the initial slope and turn towards the fort, you are on a ledge with valleys on either side. You keep walking on this ledge for quite a while before you reach the base of the hill on which the actual fort resides.

At one point, you will enter a darwaza(gate). There is an overhanging tree next to it. This makes for an excellent photo stop.

Around the halfway point, you will see a shall shrine and also a cave. If you had taken the other path, you would have reached this place. After this, the paths converge. There is also the remnant of a stone grinder, the kind pulled around by animals. From this point, the final (and a little steep) ascent to the top begins.

The final stretch called “Shivaji Trail” has recently been restored and hand railings have been added on the steep sections. The steps are split into 2 sections. There is a viewpoint at the end of the first stretch. If you wander to the sides, you can see small caves which are again good photo spots with Tung Fort in the background.

The stairs are steep, no denying that. Each step is much bigger than a regular step and it is broken at many places. But, the good part is that the entire stretch is in shade and is not more than 15-20 steps. This part would easily be the talking point when you get back home. There are steel ropes attached at the sides to help you climb. Do not hold on to them! if you do, you will get your knuckles scraped against the rough stone walls. Instead, just put your palms on the stone walls for support. Again, a photographically beautiful place. We spent a lot of time in crossing this as everyone wanted photos in all sorts of poses. Check out the video to get a better idea of the difficulty/ease of the stairs.

There is not much of the fort remaining except a few walls and gates here and there. Once you reach the top of the plateau, the view is amazing. It should be pretty cold in the winter months as there is nothing around the plateau and the wind is pretty strong. From here, you get an excellent view of Tung Fort with Pavana dam in the foreground. One can also see Lohagad and Visapur forts from the top.

The way down was much faster and of course, we stopped for more photos on the steps An enjoyable trek with colleagues!

Similar Places Around Pune:

1. Trek to Lohagad fort near lonavala
2. Trek to Korigad Fort near Aamby valley, Lonavala
3. Trek to Purandar fort – in the rain

If you want the route to Purandar from Pune and more details on the trek, go to my original post on the trek i did during the monsoon. Though it was well past the monsoon, the weather was very pleasant for the short climb. We started at 6 from Pune and at around 7, when we started the climb, the top of the hill was covered in mist.

The little one kept us entertained. the highlight was this comment that he made. His dad (Copy t-shirt) kept on saying “See, that is very easy” before every slope or gap that needed to be crossed. After a while, the kid got frustrated and commented, “Stop saying so. it may be easy from your point of view, but not from mine!”. of course, he was constantly asking whether there would be tigers inside the bushes!

Once on top of the plateau, we took a small break before intending to embark on the further 30 min walk to the fort. What started as a break turned out to be the end of the trek. After 2 attempts, i am yet to visit the actual fort. On both the occasions, my last stop has been the chai shop! So, this was the issue. We start off with a chai and then go on to a Bhel and then to a Kandha Bhaji plate and then close it with a chai. By that time, we start discussing that we have had enough and it was time for us to return. It happened on both the occasions. Maybe next time, i should skip this shop. The video below shows how the kid managed the trek easily and also how Nikhil almost caused a landslide.

Similar Places Around Pune:

1. Trek to Purandar fort – in the rain
2. Trek to Lohagad fort near lonavala
3. Trek to Tikona Fort

A beautiful fort in a beautiful location, good roads to the base and an easy climb make Lohagad fort one of the more popular destinations to visit close to Pune. But thankfully, it has survived the commercialisation and the mess that Sinhagad fort has been subjected to. The fort is still in a good condition and relatively clean. Many of the structures on the fort are still intact and climbing the fort would give you the feeling of actually climbing a fort rather than walk on “made in 21st century” concrete steps!

How to go to Lohagad fort from Pune: There are multiple approach routes to go to Lohagad fort, each of them unique in what the route presents.
Though Malvali Village/Bhaja Caves: This is the route taken by all the trekking groups and the one which doesnt need the use of a personal vehicle. Go to lonavala by the local train. Take another local to go to Malvali village. From Malvali village station, it is a walk of around 2 kms to Bhaja village, the base village for Bhaja caves. An upward path (stairs) would take you to Bhaja caves, but if you follow the winding path (wide enough for a car) next to the stairs, it would take you to the village of Lohagadwadi, the base village for Lohagad fort. This route is around 5-7 kms long and would take around 2-2.5 hrs on foot. But, if you have a vehicle, you can drive on this road (unless the rains have been very heavy) and go close (not exactly to) the base village. If you want to drive to Bhaja village, check out the direction in the other post of Bhaja caves.
Through the Mumbai-Pune Expressway: This is the fastest way to reach the base village. Go on the expressway from Pune. When the Sinhagad institute appears on the side of the highway, look out for an exit from the road. This is not very obvious though. Get off the exit, go under the highway and enter into a village. If you are doubtful as to whether this could be the route through the village, then you are on the right track! Once you cross the narrows lanes of the village, take a right onto the main road and travel 5-6 kms until you reach a junction where there are lot of tea shops. if in doubt, ask anyone for the route to Lohagad. if you have Google earth, download this kmz file, this will show you the route from the village to the junction. At this junction, take left to go to the base village.
Through Pavna Dam and Dudhiware Khind: This is the route i took when i went to Lohagad. I returned through the 2nd option(highway). This was one of the greenest routes i have ever driven on. Pavna dam and Tung fort in the background (separate post) were a sight to behold. Go to Chandi Chowk. Then cross Pirangut. Once you reach Paud, you will see a junction. On this junction, turn right towards Pavana dam or ask anyone in Paud for directions to Pavna dam. This is one straight road and you cannot get lost. You will drive through pristine villages and there is greenery all around (during monsoons!). The climb down to Pavna dam is awesome. Once you cross Pavna dam, you will come to a T-junction. Taking the right will take you back to Kamshet and Nh4. Take the left and climb up towards Lohagad. On this road, you will cross Dudhiware Khind, a pass cut through the mountains. It is eerie as well as amazing to drive through this pass, particularly when it rains. Given below is a snapshot of the route i took.

The climb to the top of the fort should take around 20-25 minutes without any photo-stop. But, you just cannot pass by such scenery without stopping. So, allow anywhere from 45mins – 1 hr to reach the top. There are steps for most of the way, but they are of stone and pretty big and sometimes uneven. But, this is what adds to the fun. Also, during the rainy season, water flows on the steps making them a bit slippery.

The adjoining Visapur fort is visible for most part of the climb. There are panoromic views at many points on the way up. You get to see the pavna dam backwaters and even the tung fort at many places.

Akshara enjoyed the walk up as it was also slightly drizzling throughout. Only concern was her constant wish to go/see “keezha” (downwards). She wasn’t ready to move from many viewpoints until she got a first-hand look of what was below!

The top of the fort is quite expansive and offers uninterrupted views in all directions. The highlight of Lohagad is its Vinchukata fortification (resembling a scorpion’s tail). This structure juts out from the main section of the fort and requires an additional 15-20 mins of walking to reach the edge. We didnt go for this as were pressed for time, but you can see in the last-but-one pic below (taken from the bottom), people walking on a narrow ledge towards this structure. The last pic is from google earth showing this feature (the shaded region)

Similar Places Around Pune:

1. Trek to Korigad Fort near Aamby valley, Lonavala
2. Trek to Tikona Fort
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The buddhist excavations at Bhaja, also known as Bhaja caves, date almost to the 1st century AD and are believed to be one of the oldest buddhist religious centres in this area. it is also a big tourist draw as it is near Lonavala, but thankfully, because of its classification as a national monument, it is relatively well maintained compared to many other tourist attractions here.

How to go to Bhaja caves from Pune (magarpatta city): Bhaja caves are very easy to locate , as the exit is located right on the old Pune-Mumbai highway. Take the Nh4 (old mumbai-pune highway) towards Mumbai, few kilometres (6-7) before lonavala, you should see an exit on the left towards Bhaja/Malavali (and one on the right towards Karla caves). Take the left, you should reach Malavali village (there is a railway crossing to cross – a wait not more than 10 minutes). 2 kms from Malvali, you would reach the base village of Bhaja, where ample parking is available. On any monsoon day, you would see lot of trekking/walking grps walking towards Bhaja from Malvali railway station, but the likes of me drive over as much we can and then walk the remaining distance. On the day i went, the old highway was blocked because of Palkhi, so i was forced to take the expressway. So, if you too have to take the expressway for some reason, drive upto Lonavala (central point), take almost a U-turn onto the old highway going towards Pune, drive for 6-7 kilometres and then turn right towards Bhaja. During the non-monsoon seasons, there is a shortcut from behind the food court on the expressway (before lonavala) to reach the malvali village road without having to go to Lonavala and then come back.

The base village of Bhaja has its typical share of chai/Pakora shops and the garbage dumps. Once you cross all this, it is just you and nature all the way. There is a waterfall just at the base which is used for bathing as well as washing clothes. But, if no one minds, who cares? There were many buffaloes grazing near the fall and Akshara wanted a snap with them. A little later, she found another dirty cow to get photographed with!

To reach the caves, it is a short climb of around 20-25 minutes on a properly laid out path. There are steps for most of the distance, but at some places, it may get tricky. The steps were a little too big for Akshara to climb on her own, but it wasn’t a tough climb even with carrying Akshara most of the way

The best time to visit Bhaja caves would be late evening, as the caves face west and the late evening light would be great for photographing the caves. It was cloudy/raining for most of the time on the day we went, but the few minutes that the sun came out, the light was magical. The caves officially close around 6 pm and they dont allow anyone to enter beyond 5.45 pm, so time your visit leaving around 20-30 mins for the climb. We took it easy going up , spending lot of time taking photos of the amazing greenery around and also using our standard prop (nowadays), the umbrealla.

You can actually spend a lot of time at the top exploring every nook and corner of the caves. We went close to the closing time and it was also starting to drizzle. With just one umbrella for the three of us ( and no jackets), we spent just around 10-15 mins walking around and doing a brief survey of the caves.

The caves are right next to the Lohagad fort. You can see the fort from Bhaja village as well as from the caves. If you walk to Lohagad from the base village, it is a walk of 2-3 hours. If you have a good vehicle, you can drive along for most of this distance almost upto the base of Lohagad fort. Visapur fort is also closeby. To go to Visapur fort, you have to climb up to the left of the caves. There is no clear path marked, but just keep going up and you should reach Visapur Fort. If you intend to walk to Lohagad from Bhaja, don’t come towards the path to the caves, instead walk across the fields (next to the temple). This should save you a km or two.

More photography on the way down. It was a good half-day trip with a mix of nature and history

Similar Places Around Pune:

1. Karla Caves near Lonavala
2. Bedse Caves near Kamshet
3. Trek to Lohagad fort near lonavala

Purandar fort near Saswad/Narayanpur is one of the easier hill forts to trek to. It takes around 45 minutes to 1 hr to get to the top of the plateau and a further 30 min walk would take you to the remnants of the fort. It was monsoon time and one saturday morning, we (Parthipan, Rajesh and I) decided to go to this fort. Though it was drizzling, we started from Pune at around 5.30 in the morning.

How to go to Purandar fort from Pune(Magarpatta): The route is pretty straightforward. Go towards hadapsar. Take a left on the Solapur road. Go to the side of the flyover. At one point, you will see the bus stand on the right. Here, you have to go on the wrong side (legally), then come around the bus stand. This will take you to the road to Saswad. Keep going on this road until you reach Saswad. At Saswad, take a right towards Narayanpur. Once you are on this narrow (but smooth) road for some time, you will see a hill prominently on the left. There will be a small lane (marked by a board in Marathi with Shivaji’s photo). This is the road towards Purandar fort. It doesnt take more than an hour to reach Purandar from Pune (even under regular traffic conditions). Once you cross Hadapsar, the road to Saswad is relatively traffic free.

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When we reached there, we were only ones at the base of the trail. There is a 7 km long kuchcha road which you can take to reach the plateau (to avoid the 1 hr climb). Since it was drizzling, we were standing at the base thinking of which option to choose. Then a couple came in a Pajero and started preparing to trek up. Then i told them that i was thinking as it looked like it would rain heavily. The guy cheerfully said “So what? if it rains, get wet and enjoy!” Hats off to this attitude. Maharashtrians do really love getting wet in the rain as i saw in Lonavala and at Bushi dam. So, my decision was made, we were to trek up. But, i had a camera to protect too. So, in the pretext of protecting the camera, i borrowed the raincoat from Rajesh. So, i was all packed up while Rajesh and Parthi were exposed to the elements. But, they enjoyed it.

The above picture is the start of the trail to the top of the hill. Since this was our first time in Purandar, we had no idea of how long it would take or how difficult/easy it would be. There are actually multiple routes up the hill. As long as you keep going up and your orientation is ok, you should manage to reach the plateau. Our climb up the hill was pretty slow as i would stop every other minute to say the conventional “wow”s about the scenery about us. This was the first time i had ever trekked in the rain (apart from being caught in an expected cloudburst on the Kalidonia waterfalls train in Cyprus) and i loved every minute of it. it was tricky trying to get photos fast enough so as to not wet the lens. You can also see my Xylo (and the other Pajero) parked at the base of the hill.

We got lost somewhere mid-way and started drifting towards the left and going on pretty narrow tracks. Then we met a villager coming down and he asked us stick on to the rocky sections and keep following the trail. With the rain causing a continuos cascade of water on the trail, it was pretty slippery at times, but it was fun. At the end of the trek, my clothes were a slushy mess! At one point, the trail goes through a thick maze of shrubs, which was pretty cool.

The villager asked to keep going ahead until we hit a wall. At this point, we had to turn left to reach the plateau. As we neared the wall, structures started becoming visible through the heavy mist.

Once you take the left from the wall, it is a steady climb to the top. This path is full of rocks and can be quite difficult in the rain. It was particularly slippery with the flow of the water. We still didnt know where we were heading as the mist was quite thick. There is also a small waterfall on this route where you can get wet if you feel that rainwater is not enough.

Once you climb the last stretch of rocks, you reach the top of the plateau and enter through a door called the Dilli Darwaza. You can actually drive up to this point by taking the road, but it definitely is more fun to walk up.

Once on the plateau, you will find an abandoned church and lot of other structures. The end of the road is actually a place maintained by the army.

You will also see a small temple dedicated to Purandeshwar deity, after which the fort/hill takes it name. We spent some time walking around the temple and photographing the awesome “green”. You have to climb the steps and then go beyond the temple to actually go to the fort. it is a another 30 min walk from here. Due to some time constraint, we decided to turn back and decided to visit the fort some other day.

On our way back, when we reached the wall, we were surprised to see dozens of people starting the trek. There were few organised groups, few individuals and even a family with a small boy. It is really fascinating to see the interest in trekking in this part of India. We spent a total of around 4 hours on this trip and it was worth every minute of it. If you have never been on a trek before, this is a good place for that “first” trek.

Similar Places Around Pune:

1. Purandar hill trek with colleagues
2. Trek to Korigad Fort near Aamby valley, Lonavala
3. Trek to Lohagad fort near lonavala

Two weeks back, i was driving from Lakshmi road (had been to Chitale Bandhu) to Rasta Peth. On turning around a corner, a huge wall came into view. it didn’t look like a normal city building. The wall continued on and on as the road went around the complex. It looked like a fort and it looked very photogenic. The first thing i did on returning home was to research about this and i found out that this place was called Shaniwarwada and it was a fort mansion built in the 18th century.

In all my research on places to see near Pune, i had missed something so big right inside the city! So, i visited the place the following saturday. “Saturday” – this place is called Shaniwar Wada, because the foundation stone was laid on a Saturday and “wada” comes from the fact that it was a residential complex. Peshwa Baji Rao built this mansion as his personal residence.

Route from Magarpatta: (the route that i know of ) Go towards hadapsar signal, turn right on the road to Kroma/Big Bazaar, after you cross the race course (on the right), you will get a small turn to the right (one-way), taking this road and continuing on straight will take you to M.G.Road signal, go on M.G.Road , turn left at the end (near the statue) , keep going on this road until you reach a major traffic signal (ask for rasta peth if you get lost), turning left on this signal and turning left again at the t-junction will take you to Rasta Peth (statue of a fisherwoman on the roundabout). Take  right at this roundabout (towards a small Hanuman temple on the middle of the road). Keep on going straight until you hit Shaniwar Wada (you will see the huge walls). Drive around the fort to find the parking lot.

I had modified the above photo in Photoshop to blur the areas other than the statue to emphasize the statue! Shaniwar Wada, in spite of being at the centre of the city and having an almost negligible 5 rupees entrance fee, is very clean and well maintained.  You don’t see the plastic junk which has become characteristic of almost all forts and tourist spots in Pune.

It had just drizzled just before we went there and the greenery inside the mansion/fort was appealing to the eye. So, what is to be done or seen inside Shaniwar Wada? Nothing much. Walk around, enjoy the calm, the greenery ,read about the history of the place and of course, take lot of photographs!

There is also a fountain (was not operating the time i was there). I have read a lot about the splendour of the fountain. Opposite the fountain, there was a place with lot of depressions on the ground. But, there were no signs explaining them. So, we assumed that it was community bathroom with lot of bath tubs

There is a huge wall surrounding the place. You can climb on the wall and walk the entire circumference. You get a different perspective of the whole place and also the surrounding areas. But, if you are a little horizontally prosperous, getting up the stairs could prove a challenge.

At the front of the mansion, you can climb one more flight of stairs to go to the front porch. The view from here on a clear day extends far into the city.

There were lot of eagles over Shaniwar Wada. Actually, Pune seems to have lot of them!

Similar Places Around Pune:

1. Kasturba Gandhi Memorial at Aga Khan Palace
2. Diwali Celebrations in Magarpatta City, Pune
3. Sinhagad Fort in Pune – the lion fort