June 25, 2017
Location : Sondai Fort, Karjat
Base village : Sondewadi
Base railway station : Karjat
Expenses (approx) - Travel - 170; Food - 30 for breakfast & tea. We carried lunch.
Approx time to reach the top at Sondai fort from sondewadi is 2 hours.
It was a rainy and lazy Sunday morning and still five of us managed to take a train and reach Karjat at around 9 am.
We had a sumptuous breakfast vada paav and tea outside karjat station east and went to west to catch a tum tum to move towards sondewadi. When we enquired we were told that a huge tree has fallen on the road and the route is blocked. However, this did not lessen the spirits and we started off till the fallen tree area and decided to foot it out after that.
However, as we set out we found out that the police had cleared the way and it was free for traffic. We were delighted.
We reached sondewadi which is around 11 kms away from Karjat station.
There is no bus to sondewadi and people wanting to take a bus need to get down at bhorgaon phata and walk along the Morbe dam to sondewadi.
There is a road which goes towards the Sondai fort from sondewadi. However, after 200 metres you need to leave the road and take a right and walk through the water stream towards the fort.
This is little tricky as you may easily miss the trail and take the road which will go till the dam and not to the fort.
The climb is not difficult and we leisurely sauntered to the top feasting on the nature's beauty of our surroundings.
After the heavy rain it was lush green everywhere. As we were ascending in height, the greenery around us was so striking that it left us speechless. There were clouds beneath us, around us and above us. God created the colour green, but if He was to come down and see along with us that day I am sure He would have been as bewildered as we were.
The are no words that can describe what nature we saw, no photos to depict what we experienced. Only memories etched forever.
There are two ladders right at the top before we step on the small area which is called Sondai fort.
Post lunch we started our descend and reached sondewadi in 90 minutes. Again a leisure walk.
As we tread out of the village and I looked up the sky towards the pinnacle of Sondai fort, I remembered what Sir Edmund Hillary said - It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves.
Time zone:
Reached Karjat station : 9 am
Reached sondewadi : 10:15 am
Started trek : 10:30 am
Reached top of Sondai fort : 12:30 pm
Started descend : 1:30 pm
Reached sondewadi : 3:00 pm
Reached Karjat station : 3:45 pm
Took a train from Karjat station : 4:15 pm
Points to note:
1. Bargain hard with rickshaw and tum tum walas. Their rates could be high sometimes.
2. There is nothing to eat at the base village. Carry food and water.
3. Good trekking shoes are compulsory.
4. Trekking is not picnic. Take care and enjoy.
