Trek to Vikatgad Fort

Tripoto
31st Jul 2016
Day 1

Moving from Delhi to Mumbai is a blessing in disguise. And it couldn't have been at a better time than June just when the city that never sleeps is on the brink of the water explosion. Monsoons are the best time to stay in Mumbai. Right then, the traveller in me woke up looking for the best places to visit.

Photo of Vikatgad Peb Fort, Maldunge, Maharashtra, India by Rohith T V
Photo of Vikatgad Peb Fort, Maldunge, Maharashtra, India by Rohith T V

This time, I chose to go with a traveller's group called Mumbai Travellers. It has many advantages like you don't need to waste time in planning the trips. And I don’t need to convince my friends to join me for the trip. The fear of ditching still lingers in minds after all the plan is made. All these are taken care with the travel groups.

Photo of Vikatgad Peb Fort, Maldunge, Maharashtra, India by Rohith T V
Photo of Vikatgad Peb Fort, Maldunge, Maharashtra, India by Rohith T V
Photo of Vikatgad Peb Fort, Maldunge, Maharashtra, India by Rohith T V

Going through the list of tours organized by Mumbai Travellers, I had zeroed it at Vikatgarh Trek looking at the pics. As planned I had boarded the local train that goes to Karjat at 6:50 am from Thane. Got down at Neral at around 7:45 am and soon moved to our rendezvous. We had travelled to the trek location by autos. We had our breakfast and chai in a lovely hut. Apparently the hut owner is our guide for the trek.

Photo of Vikatgad Peb Fort, Maldunge, Maharashtra, India by Rohith T V

As soon as we started our trek, it started drizzling. Little we knew then that this is going to be one heck of a rainfall. We had just trekked around for one hour, the small drizzle had picked up to a heavy downpour. It was like someone is pouring a bucket full of water over you. It is gradually getting difficult to trek. All the rocks turned slippery making it a herculean task to mount.

Adding to this, slowly the raindrops became streams and the more higher you go small streams became waterfalls. This did not daunt us and we kept going. The scenes around reminded me of Baahubali movie where Amarendra Baahubali climbs a mammoth waterfall to meet Avantika :P.

Photo of Vikatgad Peb Fort, Maldunge, Maharashtra, India by Rohith T V

By 1pm we had reached the top where a small temple was built right at the peak. After few clicks we started our descent. Really weird things happen at higher altitudes. The winds were so fierce that the raindrops were moving horizontally against the gravity. Imagine a huge cloud hitting the mountain and you are a tiny creature witnessing all these weird things happening around you.

Photo of Vikatgad Peb Fort, Maldunge, Maharashtra, India by Rohith T V

We had reached back to Neral station by 6pm and back home by dinner. The trip ended with awesome memories and amazing stories to share with.

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