Me and my friends had been to Peb fort (didn’t reach there though) for one day trek….
Peb Fort, also known as ‘Vikat Gadh’, is situated at Neral, just besides Matheran….. It is assumed that the fort derived its name from the temple of “Goddess Pebi” which is situated at the base of the fort… It is one of the forts built by Shivaji Maharaj.... Only the ruins of the fort remains now…..
This was one place which I had heard from my trek friends and read about it in blogs and wanted to go there….. Finally thanks to my friends I went there….. We 8 friends (Me, Charmi, Paulomi, Jai, Richa, Ashu,Aijaz & Lotu) decided to go to the fort on 8th August 2010, though the actual planners were Ashu and Jai and rest of us just jumped on the chance…. We boarded 8:15 am Khopoli train and got down at Neral station…. The adventure started in train itself….. The train was swarming with people thanks to ‘Gatari’ and one of my friends lost his mobile in the crowd…. Wow what a start!!!
Once at Neral station, we had breakfast and then we started towards the fort…. One has to take a road on the right, outside the station to go towards the fort… You pass through the plains, the small banglows and the poultry farm which have nestled nicely flanked by these mountains…. Till the base, it is a straight pebbled and kaccha road where you just enjoy the ambience…. We were expecting rains and we were highly disappointed…. After walking for a while we reached a small village… From this place we were kinda lost coz we didn’t know the trail here onwards…. So we took help of one local boy who agreed to take us ahead…. The trail was partially veiled beneath the overgrown shrubs and trees…
After treading for a while we reached this small waterfall where we rested for a while…. I always enjoy water, so for me to sit there and enjoy the view was more than I could ask for…. After taking rest, we started the trek with enthusiastic approach….. The trail was simply gorgeous as you have to pass through this jungle where apart for occasional talks; all you can hear is sound of breeze wiggling its way out through the trees…. You are just surrounded with lush green trees andserenity…. We reached this much awaited ‘Plateau’ where we were to reach and decide if we wanted to go ahead as one of our friends was in no condition to climb further…. This plateau is snuggled between the mountains and as far as you can see is just jungle…. It’s a nice picnic spot where you can just relax and enjoy the natural ambience……
Once there, we decided that we should go ahead and we started….Luck was probably not on our side coz we lost our way and we couldn’t go any further…. So we came back and decided to have a picnic at the plateau…. There we met one group who tried twice to find way to the fort but didn’t succeed….. What luck!!!!
But our destiny had other ideas in mind…. We met this local boy there who agreed to take us to some distance and show us the way…. We knew that we won’t reach the fort, but we wanted to at least conquer one peak out of the three peaks to reach the fort…. So we started again…. Must say, we couldn’t have done it, if not for the local boy…. The trails are covered entirely by shrubs and it would have been impossible for us to find our way through the jungle….. Am glad that we decide to go ahead, as the actual trek started here onwards…. There are huge boulders which you need
to climb and all you have for support are the trees around… The trail and the rocks were slippery coz of the moss…. Walking slowly and keeping your foot properly on rocky surface with deep gorge looking down in your face was most exciting and adventurous…. You can’t afford to lose your footing here….. It was taxing to climb the last few meters but after reaching the top, it’s all worth it….. Once at the top you forget how tired you are…. All you can think of is how beautiful is the surrounding and how much at peace you feel after reaching here…Here, we decided to take rest before our descent towards the plateau where our 2 friends were waiting…. I felt blessed coz it started drizzling, and it became windy, the clouds rolled in from the valley …. This place offered serenity and solitude which is much needed if you staying in Mumbai……
The descent was not as difficult as we had thought….. Though the rocks were slippery, we managed to descent without any injuries… During our descent, we were accompanied by group of guys. At few places we did require their help to reach the base…. Well, it would be wrong to say that the descent was without plateau and we reached the place where we couldn’t see any trail…. It was so much exciting….. 2 of my friends and 3 of the guys from other group spread out to see if they can find the trail…. They did manage to reach the plateau and they started to guide us through telling us where to go…. We had to rely upon the direction from where their voice came…. Following their instructions we reached one place where a guy had come to show us the way…. Finally we reached the plateau….. YIPPEEE!!!! Well one thing is for
sure, I want to go back there to complete the trek and reach the fort…..
From there we began our descent towards the foothills….. Again we ended up on the wrong trial but fortunately it went towards the foothills only…. Instead of getting down from we began our ascent,we reached the other side of the mountain…. It was pleasure treading the untrodden path…There we relaxed at the rivulet and played likesmall kids in it getting drenched in the water…..
After coming home I was still soaked in the experience of the trek and the tranquility I experienced there…..
0 comments:
Post a Comment