Monsoon Magic ~ Trek to Visapur Fort

On Friday evening we, L&T Infoknightes planned a trek to Visapur and packed the bags. The adventure began on Saturday morning at 6:30 am, from Pune - Shivajinagar station where we had to board a local train to Malavli - a small station near Lonavla. The short journey to Malavli was even more enjoyable as all started an enthusiastic and cheerful round of singing. As soon as we leave the station, we could see the Mumbai-Pune express highway.
There is a small flyover to cross the expressway. We were in the midst of an adventure. The climate was amazing. It was slightly raining. The fort was entirely covered by fog. Waterfalls were flowing all over. The road was very slippery and through dense forest.

As we covered some distance we reached Bhaja caves. The caves, 18 in number, are beautifully sculptured with many images of different postures of Buddha, some animals and situations of some stories of the tales of Buddhism. There are some representations of Buddha, in symbolic terms too.Cave 12th is a prayer hall, worth to watch, and represents a fantastic example of ancient Buddhist architecture. It's the biggest of all the caves, and the tilted vault is worth to see. The last cave comprising of "Dancing couple" structure can’t go unnoticed.As usual with cave culture, there are many Viharas in Bhaja also, which, most probably, served as hostels for the learning Buddhist monks. The caves are also interesting for the fact that they are one of the oldest among all caves in India.
Then we proceeded towards Visapur fort. The trek was happening quite adventurous! With perfectly vague directions from the guy at the ticket counter to Bhaje caves that went something like "Us aam ke ped ke peeche se raasta jaata hai upar tak" , we started towards what we thought was the "aam ka ped". Beyond that there was a track, which disappeared every now and then, only to be found again by our ever-enthusiastic trekkers. As we were climbing up and up it was amazing to see the panoramic view around the fort. The team of L&T Infoknightes was approaching their final destination of reaching Visapur Fort top. We were exploring the magic of monsoon. The ride was amazing in the rains with hilltops covered under palls of misty clouds. Finally at 1pm we reached at the top. The main characteristic of this fort is the strong fortification built on a large plateau, to make it one of the strongest forts. Atmosphere was windy. We enjoyed snacks, which we carried along with us. Suddenly heavy rain started. But it was a great fun, which we were enjoying at 3500 ft atop. Finally at 4pm we started moving back. It took 2 hours to reach Malavli station. And we started our return journey for Pune.

It was a thrilling adventurous trek, which we will never forget in lifetime.

How to go : Get down at Malavli Railway station on Pune – Mumbai route. Cross the expressway and trek starts. Approx distance from Pune 55kms.

Food Facility: We have to carry our own food. Also available at base village.

Best Period: Monsoon

So frndz, pack the bags and enjoy monsoon magic ! You can buzz me on 098223 54348 or just drop a mail to writeabhijit@yahoo.com if you need any more info.
Cheers!