DurgBhandar Trek, Nashik : Part 2

We had just finished our Bhramgiri Trek (You can click on this link to read), the source of Godavari river. We rested a bit,snatching few moments for early morning breakfast which extended from chapatis to pickle and nimbu pani and tea.It was now time to move towards our next destination, DurgBandar Fort. We left the temple premise and started walking along the railing towards the Shiv Jatta Mandir.

 The colossal plateau offers some of the most amazing views

each scene unfolded just like a picture book in front of us.

The undulating mountains left me speechless.

But just like a true traveler I cannot afford to fall in love with the place, got to move on..... Kyo ki  Nazaaro ke liye rukh gaya toh Manzil bura maan jayegi. 

Enroute to Bandardurg we first come across the Shiv Jatta Mandir. Its a small temple on the opposite corner of the Bhramgiri Temple.

Shiv Jatta Temple in other corner

Outside view of Shiv Jatta Mandir

Inside view of Shiv Jatta Mandir

 Now there is a folklore associated with this temple. It is believed that after the sin of Gau hatya (Killing Of the cow) was committed by Rishi Gautami he was advised to pray to Lord Shiva who will absolve him from his sins by releasing the river Ganga so as to wash away his sins, pleased with the penance Lord Shiva gave river Ganga to him, however Ganga was very attached to Lord Shiva so she refused to let go his hairs where she resided.Lord Shiva was infuriated and he started his Tandav Nritya and dashed his jata(Hairs) on the stone,frightened by this the Ganga appeared there.(Source of the story Internet)

Another thing that I noticed were these small stones kept one over the other, The locals told me that people do this so that there wishes are granted.I remembered seeing this at Bhimashankar Temple and yes even at few of the Himalayan treks that I did.Its all matter of Faith....Jider baat Vishwaas ki hoti hai.... toh koi logic nahi chalega

Peculiar Stone stacking ...its all about Prayers and wishes

Next to the Shiv Jatta Temple is a small water cistern or well, I was told that it has a potable water, Seeing the water I wont take the chances but on lighter note I would say as Indians we can drink any kind of water and nothing can happen to us.(Disclaimer: Don't take this observation of mine too seriously 😃) 

Water well next to Shiv Jatta Temple

 It was now time to move on from here to our next thrilling experience, hence we started to walk between the Shiv Jatta Mandir and the water well as seen in above picture, but towards the back side of the temple  to our next destination, that's Durg Bhandar.

View from backside of the Shiv Jatta Mandir

The walk from here was through dense vegetation with the valley on our left side our walk was through thick vegetation as we had gone after the rainy season.

Walking through the thick vegetation though irritating and dangerous  due to danger of snakes giving a sweet little peck on our feet 😅 ) but felt interesting due to the presence of lovely yellow flowers all around us.

and picturesque surroundings and the inviting looks of the dome shaped  Bhandardurg ahead.
 .

That's the place where we want to go....Bhandardurg
Here I come

this walk through the vegetation lasted for hardly a 10 minutes and we come across a small water cistern and little further walk as we start to really feel the presence of being near our destination and we see the dome shape of the Bhandardurg ahead 

Sanjog here trying to capture the
Dome shaped mountain of Bhandardurg.

Our trek is like walking on top of the mountain till we reach the stone steps.The picture below will help you understand our trek.

This walk abruptly comes to an end near a narrow passage with stones steps going down  20-30 steps and giving almost mystical experience as you descend to the bottom.

Mouth of the stone steps going down.

Narrow stone stairs 

Climbing down these narrow stairs were making me feel very claustrophobic, I actually hate close spaces but thankfully I was immersed in the eerie feeling of the place that I didn't realised when I had reached the bottom of this stairs but before I could let out  sigh of relief I saw this small hole like stone doorway through which I had to crawl to get out of this place. Hey Ram! ab yeh kya naya stunt ! 

OMG ! Am I got to crawl through this....No way

yes that's what my first reaction was.. Omg! am I to crawl through this...No way 😰, someone from the gang tapped on my shoulder and said "buddy this is the only way! well, ab marta, kya na karta, so Chal pada" a little crawl and I come out on the other side in a bright sunlight.

Uff...out in the sunlight again

Standing here I could see long ridge on which I had to walk to reach the outer side.

Ready to walk on this ridge

Walking on the ridge is always a thrilling experience as you can feel the breeze and the thrill factor is always on top form.As soon as this ridge walk ends We see another small entry door , something similar that we left behind so crawling time again 😄😄

Crawl time again

Crawling through this small entry door we again reach the narrow passage of stone stairs. so this time we got to climb to reach the top. 

Climb thru the dark stairs

Coming out of this narrow stairway we reach the top of bhandardurg but still little walk through narrow stone cut rocks were awaiting us.

Narrow stone cut rocks

Walking through this narrow path was quite awesome because the view of the lake and the civilization below looked very beautiful from here 

Beautiful views

There is a small bastion , where we all assembled together and had mini breakfast break with a group selfie thrown in and some personal photo shoot.

Selfie Time

I was here....Moment !!! 

It was now time to go back and the return journey was quick albeit the monkey scare that we got on our way back to the base.It was a fun trek which can be easily done in a day.

 

Bhaskargad Aka Basgad

Though it was friendship day this Sunday yet none of my regular friends had planned anything therefore when late in the night I got call from Swapnali, I immediately agreed to join her for the trek to Bhaskargad Trek.( Honestly I am a sucker for any offbeat kind of trek, so it was simply impossible for me not to go) 

Lure of Offbeat Destinations

However one thing amused me in her invitation, When I said I am in, she very curtly messaged that you have to catch 5.20 am Kasara Local and don't miss the train at any cost !! Saala aise sunker trekker ego hurt no gaya, and I also replied back in the same curt manner and cheekily said "You can leave me if I miss the train" 

because I have been trekking quite long now and know the importance of the timing. But then dosto me aise nok jok chalti rehti hai. Friends you would be wondering what's the big deal about 5.20 am Kasara local, well the fact of the matter is that that if you miss this train the next one is almost at 7.00 am and due to this the whole trek can go for a toss.


Anyways we caught this train, I been the first one to reach Dadar station, After all who can withstand the wrath of a women.Rest of the gang also joined in and we were six people altogether. It was 7.45 when we reached Kasara. As we had not made any booking of Pvt Jeep prior hand so we had to depend on the local public transport. Talking about local public transport let me tell you that there is no direct transport to Nirgudpada, One has to take a jeep till Khodala Village and then take another jeep from there to the base village Nirgudpada.We rushed out of the station and boarded the local jeep, the driver kept cramming the people to the  extent that the jeep may explode.
16 people in an 8 seater 

Bundled together in jam packed Jeep

 Imagine how crazy India can go. Bhushan who works in Mahindra, we kept joking  with him ki Mahindra walo ko bol kitna kum space diya hai Ghadi me, model ko rework karo.
16 people in a jeep !! and no idea kiska kya  kider hai ... obviously pun intended.But friends Trek ke yeah hi majje hai, all the discomfort of the world only encourages us to be more tough and courageous. All the jerks and bumps not withstanding the journey through the Kasara ghat is one of the most amazing journey full of lush greenery, flowing rivers, multiple waterfalls and overhang of the clouds all around only add to the aura of mystic and beauty.

Lush greenery coupled with flowing river

Everything surrounded in a mist

In 45 minutes we reached Khodala village and from here we had to now catch another Jeep, Luckily for us one local jeep was there , ready to go for Trimbakeshewar Temple.

Jeeps waiting at Khodala Village to go to Trimbakeshwar

So we boarded the jeep and continued our journey further, Nirgudpada comes 20 kms before Trimbakeshwar so one can take jeeps going to trimbakeshwar. Our journey took another 40 minutes and It was around 9.30 when we reached the base village.

Base village Nirgudpada

Suddenly the rain welcomed us on our touch down at the base village so we all quickly rearranged our bags, all mobile going in and all raincoats coming out and we were all ready for our trek.

All set for the trek

Let me tell you Nirgudpada is a base village to another very famous Fort, Harihar and the proof of its popularity is the number of jeeps and buses parked at the village. 

Buses and Jeeps crowding the base Village

Harihar fort is famous for its 70 degree rock cut steps, Now its a different matter that with so many trekkers thronging this fort, I dread to think about the plight of people stuck in a human traffic jam on those stairs.

Trekker Traffic jam at Harihar

Thankfully for us no such worries, because we were not with the crowds, we were on our way to Bhaskergad aka Basgad Fort. Neglected and lesser explored by the regular trekkers.

Once you reach the Nirgudpada, one has to walk little backward and you come across the fork road,

Fork Road

Left side road is the one which is coming from Kasara so we should take the road on our right from this Fork junction and as you are walking  you will see Harihar and Fani Dongar on your right too. 

Fani Dongar from the road

the walk on this tar road is of about 15-20 minutes and you can in fact see the bhaskergad fort right in front of you.

Who would not like to take such pleasant walk

Basgad or Bhasker Gad fort on Top left side

 We took our sweet time clicking pictures 
Actually the scenery on both the side was so eye pleasing ki photo ka break toh banta hi tha

amazing eye catching views

as we were not knowing the route so we kept inquiring with the locals whenever we happen to see some hut.

Checking with locals about the route

After walking on this tar road at one point the tar road gets over and the katcha road starts.

Katcha road after the tar section gets over

A little walk from here and we come across a bridge and just 100 metres ahead of  this you have to take left detour to start the trek.

Katcha road and the bridge

Just taking the detour to your left from the road there is a muddy  trail leading into the woods. This is the start point of the trek from where the actual climb starts.

Your trek starts from this muddy trail

View after a little climb

This muddy path is just a gentle climb initially with some rocky sections but can be trekked easily.

Rocky section

and a climb of another 15 minutes we come across open area. from where following  the trail we took left turn and started trekking further.

Moving to the left from the plateau

After a little distance we soon reached a point where there was this small waterfall. We refreshed ourselves here

Time to refresh

We also took some group pictures as this place offered amazing views.

Mesmerizing beauty of Fani and Harihar 

With this micro break we started moving forward, all this while Fani peak was on our left, but soon we realised that we were on the wrong trail as we neared dead end, we retraced few distance and saw one trail going towards the right so we took right turn and started further climb

Taking right turn we come across a large clearing 

 Looking upward we could see the end of mountain and the skyline so we decided to reach there first.Taking switch back route we started our climb. 

Switch back climb

One observation that I want to make here is that in order to reach the fort the best bet for this trek is to just remember that the point from where you started your climbing you have to reach the plateau
and keep walking towards the left and while you are doing so, most of the time Fani Dongar and Harihar will be on your left and keep your eye on the top and once you reach the top another plateau is there.

walking on the plateau toward the rock formation ahead of me

start walking towards your left and as you do so you will see this gigantic Rock Formation. 

Gigantic Rock Formation

Once you reach near the rock formation start traversing from the right side and you would notice cave cut out in this rock and on your right is deep valley.

Traversing from the right

While traversing this path we have to be very careful because at few portions there are stream water flowing and crossing them becomes an extremely risky,

Risky crossings

especially in rainy season due to the moss collected on the rocks the stone becomes extremely slippery. Its my humble advise to future trekkers, please carry rope as a precaution.It could be very helpful for crossing this kind of slippery portion.

It's a different matter that we were not carrying rope with us but we took help of each other and managed to cross. In summer crossing this kind of stone section may not be difficult.

Helping each other cross the slippery patches

After traversing for few minutes we came across the entrance steps. This steps are cut through the mountain stone, The steps are quite high almost 2 feet  each, these stones steps are currently in a very bad state and with moss on it it has become all the more slippery.

Slippery stone cut steps

View from the top of the steps

OMG !!! how I wish
I was little taller to conquer these steps

 we gradually climbed and entered a narrow stone wall passage ( I think keeping  this passage narrow must have helped to trap or control the enemy from entering the fort). 

climbing through narrow passage

In ruins, Neglected !!

This narrow passage section is in complete ruins today. after passing through this passage we come across the main entrance of the fort. The only peculiar thing about this fort entrance is that it is buried in the soil perhaps due to negligence  over passage of time. 

Main gate partly buried in the soil

In order to enter this gate we have to crawl and enter because as you can see there is very less height. Upon entering I saw one more steps though they were not many.

Small steps after entering

Main gate as seen from top of stairs

View after coming out from that stairs

 After coming out from that stairs We saw that there is a little more section of climb to be undertaken to reach the topmost portion. So making our way through the overgrown grass we climbed further and reached the top. All through this walking and climbing among the overgrown grass the worry of snake popping it's head was always on my mind, I treaded carefully and thanked my stars on reaching the top.

View from the top is always beautiful

As I always say that the view from the top is always beautiful and it was no different here because far on the horizon one can see Fani Dongar perched majestically on the top and the huge Harihar and beyond that Bharmagiri fort in its full glory everything was enveloped in clouds the breeze so lovely and lush greenery spread far and wide made the atmosphere magical.

Fani behind that Harihar and behind that Bhramgiri

Nature at its best

We started to explore the top, right at the entrance there was this water cistern.

Water Cistern

From this water cistern we started moving towards the right of the top,the next thing we see is the ruined structure 

Ruined structure

After walking along this structure we come across another natural water pond and beyond that there was an Hanuman Idol.

Natural water pond with
Hanuman idol behind it

I offered my prayers and thanked for the safe trek.

Hanuman Idol

After exploring the top Swapnali and me returned back only to notice rest our gang was getting restless because it was nearing lunch time and here both of us were busy clicking photos.

Our restless friends and
Swapnali watching them

Sitting on Top of the fort and having lunch with friends is the most fulfilling experience, Some discussion , some time management strategy for the descend and we were over with our lunch and bid adieu to the top but not before Selfie le le re (La Salman Style)

Le le le le Selfie lele

Soon we began our return journey. we were very quick on our way
back finishing the descend in almost 1:15 minutes and then relaxing in the stream which was flowing.

Return transport is a big issue from Nirgudpada, we were lucky to get transport from there to khondala village and jeep back to Kasara to catch 6.18 local to CST.

We were told that there is a bus at 5 pm from Nirgudpada for Kasara, But we didn't wait for that. If you have any information regarding bus please help me to update.

All in all a lovely Friendship day trek. Special thanks to Tushar Patil for ensuring that we find the way and don't get lost.