A long weekend awaited a night trek to the historic Kavnai fort at Igatpuri.
I accompanied my friends with a group to the trek.
The trip began with catching a local train to Kasara from CST (10.50 pm). At around 01.30 am(Sunday) we alighted at Kasara and private jeeps were pre booked and were waiting for us at the station. Dividing ourselves in equals we drove to the base village.
Reaching the base village Kavnai after a 50 minute drive, we had an introduction session and prepared ourselves for the trek.
The surrounding was a bright as a day since it was just a day after full moon night and I stacked the torch in my pocket to enjoy the moonlight bliss.
The track was a dry soil stone one and there was a steep climb straight to the balcony right before the entrance. A 20 step metal stair is the last one to climb the entrance of the fort.
A high rised bhagwa(orange) flag was flattering atop the entrance to honor the historic rule Maharaja Shivaji.
The top is a plateau with a Goddess temple and a deep pond.
We spent the rest of night roaming around the plateau and watching the city and the national highway below.
At around 5.45 am we were blessed by the best scenery of the sunrise and the landscape was filled with colors.
At 6.14 am, the sun rised as a circular orange metal ball burnt deep in a furnace and it's rays bought the best of the views.
Before the sun could bring us away from its pleasant sunlight to the heating warm sun rays, we packed our bags and took darshan at the temple and moved down to the base village.
We sat at the village s samaj mandir and had delicious traditional onion poha (rice puffs) and tea.
Freshening post breakfast we drove back to Kasara and took a train back to Mumbai.
A few things to remember:
1. A full sleeve jacket is a must because the nights are windy and require complete protection.
2. Smoking is strictly prohibited since there are honeybee hives which tend to turn on fire due to the smoke and might sting individuals.
3. Water and energy drinks are a must to carry.
