rajgad trek

Well this was ma first so called hardcore trek to rajgad fort which is near pune.Being the capital of great king shivaji for almost 26 years this trek is really adventurous.We started form swargate(pune) with 3 of us....from where we took a ST bus to velhe village.This bus leaves swargate at 6.30 in the morning(reconfirm after u reach).there are 2-3 ways to reach the fort.....one being through "chor darwaza" (most popular,shortest and little bit difficult).....one through "pali darwaza" (easy but takes a longger time with big steps at the end)..we took the chor darwaza route....we got down at margasni phata from where the "chor darwaza" route starts.from margasni phata the base village is "gunjawne"..about 4km from phata...we walked the entire 4kms...coz getting a bus or local transport was difficult early in the morning.a bus goes to gunjawne village directly also but we were not aware of the timings.the trek starts from gunjawne village.u can have a light breakfast and refreshing tea over here and can order food(breakfast,lunch or dinner) which they deliver on the fort(35/plate and Rs.100 as transportation charges) else u can cook ur own food also.u even get a guide which takes u to the fort(Rs.100)...i suggest u take a guide coz there r few points on route where there are chances of being getting lost..."and u will head straight away in the dense forest"...after some refreshments we started our trek at around 9.30 in the morning.it takes about 1 hour 15 minutes to reach the top for professionals and around 2 hrs for amateurs.
This route takes u to the "padmavati machi" point on the fort.....the last part of this route consists of a rocky patch which is so-called difficult(:D).....
After almost 2 hrs we reached the "chor darwaza"...at 11.30 am.i say u will enjoy this route more than the other 2.
u need a minimum of 2 days to see the fort.there are 3 places for overnight stay->padmavati temple(recommended),rameshwar temple(recommended) and yatri niwas(in front of padmavati temple)....we stayed at rameshwar temple.after lunch we took a rest for about an hour.places to visit on the fort are->balekilla,sanjeevni machee,suvela machee,padmavati machee.we visited balekilla on the first day.

trek to balekilla is the most exciting.u encounter heavy rock patches at the last part.u have strong iron rods erected for support.
balekilla meaning a palace or mahal...rest atop a rocky hill.there is nothing left on the top except for the ruins of palace but the views from balekilla are breathtaking.u can have a view of the entire fort from balekilla.from this point u can view around 7 forts around rajgad->torna,sinhgad,raigad,purandar,panhala,pratapgad,lingana(have a pair of binoculars)...."take precautions while descending from balekilla"....we reached back to rameshwar temple around 5.30 in the evening.its difficult to cover other machees on the same day(avoid roaming during the night).if u cover balekilla by 5 or 6 u can catch a beautiful sunset.the best place for watching sunset is right behind the padmavati temple.


dinner arrived at 7 in the evening which we had ordered from gunjawne village.after gobbling the food we had no energy to venture out in the night(and not recommended also) and slept at 8 (:o)

DAY 2:
we got up at 6 in the morning.people say u can easily get up early(:D)as soon as u get up leave aside ur nature calls and head up towards "daru kothar" a few minutes walk...to catch the sunrise.

after a quick refreshing tea we headed for sanjivni machee which is about 2.5km in length.
it takes about 2-3 hours to get back from machee.form the extreme end point u can have a beautiful view of torna fort and the route to torna from rajgad(thats another trek).
there are many secret passages on route machee which u can visit.after returning from sanjivni machee we had to drop the idea of visiting the other suvela machee coz of time constraints.
after lunch we started our descend.
ST buses start from gunjawne village towards swargate.the timings are 6.15 am,11.15 am and 4 pm.....after this u dont have any ST buses so try to reach the village b4 4pm.....if u start ur descend around 2 or 2.30pm u can easily catch the 4pm bus.take precautions during descend coz there are chances of slipping down.we left the fort at 2.45pm and reached gunjawne at 3.45pm.

NOTE:

how to reach(from pune):bus from swargate at 6.30 am to velha.get down at margasni phata if u opt chor darwaza route else head towards vazeghar for pali darwaza route.from gunjawne buses are at 6.15am,11.15am and 4pm to get back to pune.

how to reach(from mumbai): take any bus going towards satara and get down at nasrapur phata and from there u can either take jeeps or bus.

days required:minimum 2

water:available only on fort not on route(avoid water from padmavati lake coz people swim and
wash utensils...use water from 2 ponds which are behind rameshwar temple).

places to stay:rameshwar temple(recommended),padmavati temple(recommended),yatra nivas

food:u can order ur food from gunjawne village(35/plate and Rs.100 as transportation cost) or cook ur own



SO THIS WAS MY TRIP TO RAJGAD.feel free to post comments and suggestions :)