Trek to Harishchandragad

Sometimes back I had read this somewhere……..

“When was the last time you did something for the first time?”

And believe me, that’s what I repeat under my breath every time I come across anything new. When you keep guessing when was that last time you really did something new, something exciting, never hesitate…just jump to the opportunity.
And probably that is how 9 lunatics (Rajesh, Shekar, Deepak, Sameer, Sragabart, Mandar, Pankaj, Varun, Me), in search of a new adventure, stumbled upon the breath taking trek path of Harishchandragad. Kudos to all the 9 “lunatics”, this great trip that everyone seems to have enjoyed a lot and been left wanting for more!!Harishchandragad is roughly 150 Km from Pune. The first destination is a small village in the foot hills of Harishchandragad. We started at around half past four on a Friday afternoon from the Govt. bus stand. We had a real “adventurous” trip to our first destination Khireshwar, our “base camp”, a small village in the foothills of Harishchandragad. The bus journey was a typical country side trip with all type of passengers boarding the bus from their “door steps” or stepping down literally at their “door steps”. The trip was really exciting with small ghats and “pin” bends in frequent intervals.


On the way ........

In Bus : Dipak, Me, Sameer (Sambha), Varun

“Destination: Khireshwar”


We reached our base camp at around half past nine. A good five hours of fun, “pet puja” and a bit of “antakshari”, so here we are tired, exhausted and drowsy. We found a school open and tried to get some help for our accommodation. It was our good luck that we could arrange both accommodation as well as dinner. We had a good dinner which was a typical village food but was mouth watering. We were so tired that we went to bed instantly.

“Enroute conquering: Harishchandragad”

We woke up very early in the morning and after the entire daily chorus, with open fields as toilets, which was quite “new and awkward” to all, we set out for a breath taking trek to conquer the heights of Harishchandragad. Some statistics about Harishchandragad: Height:- 4510 feet, places to trek and see :- Number of Caves, About 100 years old temple of Lord Shiva, Kokan Kada , a big Shivlinga. The icing being the “KOKAN KADA”, a steep cliff straight down 4000 feet, which really gives a feeling of the “Grand Canyon”. Difficulty rating: - Medium. The most hectic and dangerous part was the straight 600 feet rock climb which was very steep and dangerous. We reached the top at around half past noon, sweating and out of breath. There was a small hut where we requested to cook some food for us and gave them the raw materials required which we had carried with us. The caves were really good and the attraction was the age old Shiva temple. There was a small pool were we had a bath, the water was chilly. We had our lunch and set to our last trek destination “Kokan Kada”. It was a half hour trek up hill to this spell bound wonder of nature. The very first site gives shivers and a feeling of fright as well as excitement. We had a quick round of photo session and came back to the temple site. We took some rest and set back to the base camp.

“The Return Journey”

The Trek back was really fast. We were only slowed down at the most dangerous patch which was the steep rock cliff which was about 600 feet. We reached back our base camp by seven in the evening and started to prepare for a “grand” camp fire. Food was prepared by the local villagers on our request. We had a delicious meal with some jokes and “masti”. Our bus was early in the morning at half past five and we never knew when the time flew past and it was time to board the bus. The return journey was mostly a drowsy with all the “crusaders” drowsing and having a severe body pains and muscle cramps. We reached back Pune at around half past eleven. The end of an exciting trek, wow!


“What next?”Now the next plan has caught my imagination, Scuba diving and snorkeling on the beaches of Lakshwadeep, well may take lot of planning and coordination and most important, begging for holidays to make it a success, seems difficult, but then …

“When was the last time you did something for the first time?”

Signing off on that note, and excited for the next adventure…….