We woke up early in the morning at about 5:30 and got ready to head out at about 6:30. On the way we stopped for some tea, before hitting the road to Ratangad. The journey took about an hour to the base village of Ratanwadi. Along the road we passed by small villages, green hills and dozens of waterfalls of all shapes and sizes. There seemed to be a waterfall at almost every corner. I guess the previous day’s heavy rain had helped increase the waterflow in several of these seasonal waterfalls. Once we got to the village, our driver introduced us to a villager who agreed to guide us to the fort. While I’ve never really required the services of a guide on previous trails (usually the route is well marked by small arrows along the trail), on this one it was definitely necessary.The trail started at the village and weaved by fields along a small stream. After a little while we had to cross this stream. Initially I thought that this was the only crossing, and so I was careful not to get my shoes wet. However, little did I know that the trail would crisscross the same stream several times. Eventually the trail led to a jungle. The climate in the jungle was quite cool and there weren’t any mosquitoes, unlike Mahuli which had very hot and humid , mosquitoe infested jungles. Therefore the climb was very pleasant. We stopped at a small plateau on the way to have some fruits. After resuming the trail we soon came across Karvi blossoms. The Karvi Flower (Scientific Name: Strobilanthes Callosa) blooms once in seven years. So seeing this flower in full bloom was an unexpected bonus. Soon the trail weaved through the jungle, eventually heading out to the foot of the fort. To my surprise in barely two hours we had reached the ladders.
The two ladders are propped up against the fort walls that lead you up into the fort. This stretch of the trek is considered very dangerous. The ladders are quite old and actually have railings missing on some of the rungs. So it takes quite a bit of courage and a level head to climb up these. After climbing up the ladders we walked along some steps cut in the rock face to finally enter the fort.
The sight that greeted us within the fort was beyond description. The entire fort was covered with lush green grass and purple and yellow flowers. We walked around the fort seeing the various tanks, secret passages and caves. Finally we climbed up to what is called a “nedhe“. This is a natural orifice in the summit of the hill carved due to wind erosion. Its big enough to hold a few people. We sat in this place and had breakfast wind the wind blowing all around us. The experience was simply out of this world. After having breakfast and feeding groundnuts to some of the monkeys that were curious enough to come down, we set off to head back.
Since the ladder route seemed dangerous, we climbed down from the main “Trymbak Darwaza“. This route took us done some steep slippery stairs. The entire staircase was dotted with dozens of red crabs. Finally once off the stairs we had walk along a ledge and a a narrow path that took us around the hill and finally down the hill. Somewhere down the hill we could get the distinct odor of an wild animal (possibly a wild boar). Luckily we managed to get out of the forest without any mishaps.
After getting off the trail I headed to the ancient Amrusteshawar temple to click some quick snaps , and finally headed back to the car. After paying the guide we headed back to Bhandardara.
There after having lunch we finally headed back to Mumbai.
