Trek experiences II - Lohagad

Hope u wld have enjoyed my first experience. Here comes my second.

LOHAGAD:

Near Malavali , a place from pune to lonavala is the spot for various tourist spots. It has two forts lohagad, visapur and caves like bhaje and karla all around it. These forts can easily be tracked from the railway. These are popular forts for trekkers and can be toured in a day from Pune. From malavali station its just 15 minute or 5 kms walk to the base of the lohagad.

Lohagad is 3400 feet high and is very wide spread fort. There are 4 doors to Lohagad from the nearby village -Lohgadwadi. i.e. 'Ganesh Darwaja' , 'Narayan Darwaja' , 'Hanuman Darwaja' and 'Maha Darwaja'. Hanuman darwaja is the oldest.Some sculptures can also be seen on Maha Darwaja. Lohagad is not so spreaded and can be easily seen in few hours.

The famous spot on Lohagad is 'Vinchu Kata' - a range of hills that looks like Capricorn. Amazing view of Pawana Dam is also visible from the back side of Lohagad. The wealth from Surat was brought here under the leadership of Netaji Palkar and kept here for some period.

Our treck to lohagad was done during rainy season. So our entire trip was in rain. Right from the base till we returned back. We were very less count say 11 people. Due to the rain many had dropped out. But I felt a different experience due to the presence of rain though we missed the nature’s beauty around us due to the heavy down pour and also a cloudy weather. When we reached the top there were sprinkles of water coming from the deep valley due to the action of heavy wind over the waterfalls. It was a breath taking experience as for long time we were under the illusion that it was rain and never imagined it could be water from the fall due to the action of breeze.

After trekking down back we went and visited the Bhaje caves which is very near to the loghagad and are of buddist origin. Bhaje is a group of 18 caves. In the 12th cave is the Chaityagriha. Near to the caves is a waterfall about 50feet. We had a great time in the falls. We also tried to go up to the roof of the falls but was able to make only a little as it was steep and slippery. It was more adventurous trek.

Usually there is a way from lohagad to visapur and people can complete both of them in a single day. I dint have to chance to visit visapur due to time constraints. These two forts are historically very crucial and must be visited by trek lovers and history lovers