Away from the humdrum blues of Pune, a paradise paradigm is situated. This one is for those who salivate over lustful nature and seek adrenaline rush. It didn’t happen till we made our acquaintance with one of the most secluded and beautiful place in the country. We embarked on a journey to the Harishchandragad, it is a hill fort famous as one of most trekked routes in the Western Ghats. Although a destination is deemed as a journey’s end but here, the journey was what we had hoped for and the results were not so dull. A trip through the dense forests framed within the rugged dominance of nature, subtly encouraging and brutal at the same time granted a view that succumbed to tranquillity. The trekking proffers vast lush and green pastures that lend nothing but a wide grin throughout. The unspoilt beauty of the land stands out as a wonderland for those of us whose lives revolve around lethargic work schedules and mundane rules.
From Pune we drove for 2hours and 30min to reach at the base village of the fort that is, Khireshwar Village. This place is a must stop by, it provided us with more food and water and it is also a great place to charge that irksome temper. Khireshwar is not only portrayed as one of the easiest and most chosen routes but also is the most exciting and brings insight a great outlook, it led us to our next destination; Tolar Khind or Tolar Valley.
Tolar Khind redefined for me a forgotten charm of nature that was so overwhelming; it has power to leave anyone breathless. It brought to life some of the stunning imageries of Baggins’s excursion from J. R.R. Tolkien’s The hobbit and The lord of the rings and the fact that i’m comparing this to what was framed in the movies justified the miracle of this place that is mother nature.
The Harishchandragad fort can be reached within 2hours of straight walk from the valley. It actually made our journey more thrilling, once we had to shelter ourselves in caves. There are numerous caves and enough to shelter almost thirty people in one. Traversing the rambled landscape and gorges was easy due to the inbuilt carved steps and the arrows engraved on stones for better directions.
Just at a distance of few feet, there erects the reason for this hard-earned trekking to Harishchandragad, the Konkan kada. After much meandering through the trails, Konkan Kada is a rugged architectural mould of nature, an overhanging cliff overlooking the Konkan valley with an awe-inspiring view of the Sahyadris. Its conclave structure is about 4000ft. in height that dominates a deep pit in which the clouds are sucked in and are thrown vertically into the sky. The fog and the clouds complement each other creating a vision, which is simply idyllic.
