The monsoon in 2014 was absentee in June so I had to wait
avidly till July for any trekking to begin. Luckily the rains arrived in July
and I was off initially to Bhimashankar (again). That trek always gets trekkers
by the dozen during rains, though this time there were much fewer groups.
However the thought of going to an offbeat place where one could almost enjoy
the location exclusively for a while was tempting!
So I zeroed on to Tandulwadi fort, a small mountain just
outside the western suburbs of Mumbai. We took a fast train to Dahanu and got
down at Safale station (second station after Virar). From Safale one can either
get a bus or a shared auto to go to Tandulwadi phata. From here a short walk on
the tar road takes one to the base village from where this fort is easily
visible.
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| Tandulwadi fort from base village |
We had cloudy skies so there was promise of rain when we
started. The trek starts from a small pond outside the village. One has to go
from the left side of the pond and ascend gradually. The ascent takes us to a
plateau. The first point on plateau is kind of a pass; it windy out here. There
are a few paths that meet at this point and we took the right one. The route then
on traverses this plateau and eventually enters into the forest near the main
massif of the fort. This is where things get a bit tricky and a guide would be
helpful.
We back-tracked a bit but found the correct path. We luckily
met two other hikers who were also lost and phoning their friends for
directions. We followed our instincts and traversed a bit more before entering
the forest. Ultimately we met the two guys who had more luck with one of our
‘failed paths’. Through the forest now the climb is steep and after a solid
climb of half an hour we were on top. Rain was scarce but that meant lovely
views all around.
On the top one has to walk for a while through lovely forest
(especially a grove of cacti) till one starts seeing remnants of the fort. We
saw a carved tank that was empty. We saw some walls and a few steps. Other than
that there is hardly anything of the old fort left. On top we had lunch as we
gazed on the surrounding countryside. We did see the confluence of two rivers
which was great. The wind was strong on the top and soon we had a burst of rain
that continued till we descended.
Descent was quicker and we were back quickly to the base
village. We took an auto (charge ten bucks per person) to Safale station and
took a train to Dadar at quarter past four. This is a comparatively easy outing
in the rains and easily accessible from Mumbai – we were home comfortably by
six!
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