Nakind Tok via Kothaligad

Sunday was around the corner yet I had no intentions for going
to the trek and I  thought I would be resting at home.It was a chance chat on Facebook with Jignesh Lakhani that my trek to Nakind Tok via Kothaligad materialized.I smiled to myself  "Beta aashish ek baar fir tu fisal gaya trek ke naam

 per" and with this a small poem played in my mind.         "Ab yeah kisne likhi hai, I don't know but mere dil ka hal bayan karti hai, jab bhi mai mountains ko dekhta hoon...  kuch aise

Koi Deewana Kehte Hai , Koi Pagal samajhte hai,

Magar Dharti Ki Bechani Bas Badal Samajhte hai,

Mein Tujhse door kaise Hoon, Tu Mujshe door kaise hai,

Ye Tera Dil Samajhta Hai , Ya Mera Dil Samajhta Hai.

and I was off to new trek.

Car Drive To Base Village 

It was 10 pm when I met Jignesh on the Highway at Jogeshwari, Rest of the team members were to join us at Kalyan It was pretty long drive but shortened because of the long chat that we had, whereby we were sharing notes on treks that we did.It was pitch dark when we reached Kalyan Phata where we were to pick the rest of our team Milind,Puja and Praful.

we missed the guys and drove away

Due to darkness on the road and our deep concentration in chatting about treks, we missed these guys !!! and drove away. But luckily for us they had seen our car so they called us on our mobile and we made a detour and picked them up. "Bach gaye jaldi pakad liye warna aur ek ghante ki band baj jati " Once when all of us were in the car then it was full dhamaal.

Besure Raag

 I can never forget that series of Aashique 2 songs being played on the deck and all of us singing in chorus in the middle of nowhere, 

"Andheri Raat me Besure sath me ", 

 but to be honest Is besure Raag me bhi aapna maja hai.Itna maja ki safar kab kat gaya pata hi nahi chala.

It was 1.00 am when we reached the 

base village Ambiwili. There is this small hotel at the start of the village where we parked our car nearby and took out our mats and slept on the floor outside the hotel.Luckily for us the night was not so cold.so we were able to catch some sleep.

It was about 6.00 am when I felt something wet on my hands and startled  I woke up only to see that it was the stray dog who was licking my hand. Horrified and amused for a second I muttered something which can be explained only by a  Censor beep.

 Anyways these are the occasional trek hazard that a trekker should be ready for. 

 "Yeah toh mera good luck ki yeah Kutta nikala samp nahi. "

We got ready in the morning, Had steaming hot Poha and Upma at the hotel where we slept last night. Jignesh had made all the arrangement so perfect with the hotel guy that nothing was left to chance.He had also arranged for the guide for us. So from here we started our trek at 7 am.

On the way from Ambewadi to Peth Village on kucha road.

Ambiwali to Peth Village:

The trek from Ambiwali to Peth Village is quite simple.You hardly walk 200 metres from the road that you see a little diversion on your left side. One has to take this route and ignore the road going ahead. this road is kind of kacha road. stone laden one can say.The ascent from here is quite gradual that a first time trekker can also do it very easily. Walking for about an hour one reaches the plateau.The view from the plateau is amazing and one can see lovely Kothaligad perched high up.

Kothaligad Perched High atop.

 I am giving below pictures of the view from the Plateau 

View From 1st Plateau

View From 1st Plateau

 This plateau is a good resting point because one can feel the lovely breeze and beautiful valley view below , numerous waterfalls all around especially if you go in monsoon. From here, one must be careful because generally people go straight along the plateau because they see Kothaligad fort in front of them. Let me caution you because that route may take you to the jungle. The error is quite possible in summer especially when trail is not easily visible due to dry grass growth. One must take left turn along the road from which you were coming. A little further walk of 10 minutes and you can see the Peth Village and the Kothaligad fort behind it.

 The path opens up to the  Peth village
 and Kothaligad Fort behind it

Peth Village to Nakind Tok:

Those of you who wish to go to Kothaligad should take the route to the village and passing through the village can go upto kothaligad. You can refer to my  Kothaligad or peth Fort Trek. As our destination was Nakind Tok so we bypassed the village and took a left turn from the just ahead of the house shown in the picture above.

Bypassing the village we moved further, Keep an eye on the Wind mills on the top right of the picture. That's our Destination

Some landmarks for reference ,
In summer the hay is stacked on this log stand.

As we were walking the Kothaligad fort towered on our right side, in a way we traverse the base of the hill and move behind it to go towards the Nakind Tok. 

Kothaligad fort towered on our right side

Crossing this village one has to cross few paddy fields. This could be tricky without a guide. Therefore my suggestion would be its better to hire a guide.Due to lack of any marked trail one can only keep an eye on the Windmills ahead and move on.

 Walking towards the fields we passed this tree 

Keep an eye on the Windmills ahead and move on.

Once crossing few paddy fields ( let me be clear ki yahan agar guide sath nahi hota toh I would have never understood ke kiske khet me khusna hai aur kiske khet me guskar bahar nikalna hai ) we enter into a forest.From the Peth Village till the time we entered forest there is no climb just plain walk among the fields as shown above. Its a 15 minutes walk till the start of forest and walking for another 10 minutes into the forest we reached a water stream.

Crossing the stream 

on reaching the stream we cooled ourselves because the climate was quite humid and the sun was hitting us. The only saving grace was the forest cover which saved us the sunburns.Splashing the water on our head we felt rejuvenated to start the trek further. Just from behind this waterfall we move further till the place where we come across a small rocky slippery portion which we cross over to other side

Small rocky slippery portion which we cross over to other side 

From this point onward the actual climb starts.and a good climb of 1-1.5 hrs till the time you reach second plateau.We kept taking little breaks because humid conditions were not allowing us to zip through.while climbing at 2 -3 places we felt we will be hitting the top but nothing such happened and we were always confronted by further uphill climb. But atlast the 2nd plateau arrived and this was the the first sight which we saw.

First sight on reaching the Plateau 

  This Plateau is quite big and vast. As one enters this Plateau on your left side the Kothilgad fort can be seen and on the right side on top the giant wind mills are quite prominent.

Kothaligad Fort as seen from the Plateau

Valley View from the Plateau

Glimpse of  the Plateau Top 

Glimpse of  the Plateau Top 

Being rainy season we were lucky to come across a small water stream flowing on the top we filled our bottles and had some photography session clicking lovely sahyadri flowers

Yellow flowers on Plateau

Spending some quality time at the plateau we started moving further little ahead because our destination was to reach the Top. Our guide said that this is the top but as we could see the windmills above us

Windmills above us.

We kept pushing him to take us there. Hardly a further climb of 15 minutes and we came across a small water tank, 

walking around it and moving towards the right we climbed and we were near the Needhe or our Nakind Tok.

At Nakhind Tok/ Nedhe

Once we reached the Nakhind Tok we all rested in the shade, had our lunch, some bantering was going on between Milind, Praful and Puja.Jignesh sir all the time was wondering why cant we go further up from here.He kept asking the guide " Warti Jayla rasta asel na kaka" ( There must be a way to go up ) and believe me Kaka had this expression " Mere ko maff karo na baba "

 I must however say that it was on the insistence of Jignesh that we had reached this Point. Warna Kaka ka top toh plateau per hi khatam ho gaya tha.

 Time was 2.30 pm and It was now time to get back to the base village. But by the time we reached the 2nd Plateau the climate was getting overcast.the clouds seems to gather more thickly.The Kothaligad Fort which we were earlier able to see was getting hidden among the clouds.

Gathering Clouds

We were getting little worried that it could start to rain. So we quickly started to descend.But the rains caught up with us.What was more worrying factor for us was that it was getting quite darker in the day time and there is a portion that we have to cover from forest.Upar se hum logo ne Top per Guide ki chutti kar di thi ,Aur ab Hamari chutti hone ki puri possiblity lag rahi thi....It s quite easy to lose your way in dark.  

Sky was getting Darker

We kept our trekking speed constant without wasting time and it was almost dark when we made it to the Peth Village.I let out a sigh of relief that atleast from here onwards things will not be tricky.As the route from peth village to ambiwali is more of a stone laden way. Lekin Mai Galat Tha !!!

Its beyond description for me to explain the mood of the climate, suddendly the wind was blowing at breakneck speed, Heavens have opened up like anything and it started to rain very very heavily that to keep our eyes open itself was a task and if this was not enough the skyline exploded with threatening Lightning with thunders....

Bolo aur kuch chaiye kisi ko trek me. 

Somehow our team completed rest of the trek gradually with water flowing constantly under our feet throughout the distance till ambewadi.

Wet to almost the deepest clothing we finished the trek in pitch darkness when actually the time was just 6 pm !!!.

I want to Thank Jignesh Bhai, Milind, Praful and the brave girl Puja for been such a wonderful company in such a wonderful trek.

Thank you

Kothaligad/Peth trek

It so happened that our last trek to gorakhgad was very memorable, specially on 2 count first it was a trek which we did on our own and secondly the cost to each person was very petty. This prompted me to the thought why not let us have a group where we all gather and have fun and enjoy our passion of trekking rather than follow a commercial route. So on this noble premise I started my group call Weekend Wanderer  which incidentally is also my pseudonym.Our trek to Kothaligad was our maiden outing.

Initially we had planned a small group of 8 -10 ppl for this trek but it so happened as everyone got the news that we are going for trek the numbers started swelling and we ended up with a team of 26 members.


Now the Million dollar question was where to go for trek . I was very clear that the first trek has to be simple. Few of my friends suggested that we should do Chanderi but I was little apprehensive as Chanderi for a first timer could be dicey prospect. Anyway we narrowed down our choice to Kothilagad/Peth as this trek is not very long and not too difficult so all in all a good trek for beginner.

Kothaligad/Peth Village

One of my co-trekker said kya sir simple trek rakte ho kuch difficult lo na" so I explained to him and said "Raja kabhi kabhi dal chawal bi ka lena chaiye roj roj biryani nahi mangni chaiye" and the trek was on !!!


The night before the trek I had butterflies in my stomach Saala puri raat tension ke mare neend hi nahi aayi, Ki agar subha utha nahi to sab gali denge aur bolenge organiser hi gayab hai. Sharp at 3.00am I was wide awake made few wake up calls to Nikhil and Subhashji.4.30 sharp Nikhil and Pooja were there at my place. I felt this is good sign dost log time per hai.We had targeted to catch 4.42am local to Dadar but were there before time to catch 4.39 local. At Vileparle station Subhashji were to join us, but unfortunately the train came on the other platform and Subhashji was on another, still I managed call out aloud and meri pukar sunkar  subhashji jumped from his platform and made it to our train  I thought Wah kya start hai . We all regrouped at Dadar and then from Dadar we took 5.37 am Karjat local.Enroute all members kept joining us and as usual it was Sunday Reunion.

Sunday Reunion...

 It is always fun to catch up with old friends, each one narrating some trek  tale. Few of the members were new to me but I think it was a matter of few minutes ki sab janam janam ke dost lagne lage.

janam janam ke dostwala scene at Karjat Platform

Never ever I have seen such a cohesive group and the best part of this trek was that though I had not written on the event " If you miss the train you miss the trek" then also each and every member was there in the same train 26 ppl all together!!! ( Do log to ticketless traveller the, Bole kya aashish  train kaise miss kar dete) I said to myself Wow!! Agar agaaz yeh hai to anjaam hoga hasin for sure( If the beginning is such then end will definitely be beautiful).

Unlimited Group photos me se yeh pehla group photo

We reached Karjat station at 7.44 and because Mayur sath me hai toh boss photo session to banta hi hai.


We all moved out of the station and decided to catch 8.30 ST bus to Ambivali but then on second thought I felt jab maje kar hi rahe hai to kanjoosi kyo kare chalo Tumtum karte hai and we hailed a tum tum stuck a deal with him and hired 3 tumtum for 26 of us so that we all can go in comfort

For a change trekkers are not stuffed in a tumtum akhir me yeh aaram ka mamla hai   

The tumtum journey was again one of the most memorable moment for me, what with crazy array of song spanning all the eras and genre of music Aur gaane ke sur aise ki aacha bala aadmi pagal ho jaye it was a wonder that the driver of the Tumtum did not get down and said Sirji mujhe maafa karo!!! 

Some how I wish I could be omnipresent and be able to enjoy the atmosphere of each tumtum. Akhir me mere ko Sanket Remix bi sun na tha and Anusha's contagious enthusiasm bi enjoy karna tha. In all this high voltage song and dance drama on tumtum we never realised that we have arrived at Ambivali village. 1 hour journey and it was like a blink . Wah re Mere Kishore kumars and Asha Bhosles !!!

We all assembled at the local hotel where we had our breakfast of Idli and Chutney which my wife had lovingly made for my co-trekker.After all it was our maiden trek.

Idlis for Breakfast

After stuffing ourselves with Idlis and gulping hot masaledar tea we had a intro round which was full of masti that the whole thing has to be conducted all over again.Koi lawyer tha(Ramya)(did I hear someone say divorce lawyer) toh koi private me kam karta tha(I mean in a pvt Co) toh koi 8th ki ladki lagti thi (jyoti) Intro round kum aur pagal khana jyada lag raha tha.

We started to trek moving from the hotel following the tarred road as it was going but just little ahead one must take left turn and follow this new way .

Stone laden road....You simply cannot miss mumbai roads wherever you go !!!!

 This road is not tarred but kind of stone laid way.  The walk from here is nothing but a gentle climb.While walking you can see lovely mountain range

view from the road on the way

 Walking on this road for around one hour we reached the first plateau. Reaching plateau generally take 40 minutes lekin hamare log to sab photo ke bhookhe so har panch minute ke baad kabhi group photo toh kabhi apna profile picture. Kabhi Kabhi sochta hu yeh photo ka bhukhar FB ke karan to nahi.

Ek photo FB ke naam bhi

Thankfully we reached our 1st point of break  per yeh aur baat hai ki photo ke chakkar me is se pehle 25 break aur ho chuke the.

Everyone wants to catch the Heaven 

Once we reached the plateau everyone lost their sanity few of us wanted to touch the heaven toh lage jump marne and in this melee I too lost my mental balance and turned into James Bond  akir me itne haseen chekre jo sath me the..lolz.

The name is Bond, James Bond!!!

We rested here for a while, few guys had Nimbu pani, few hung around. Koi masti me laga hai ,Anjali,ramya,divya,jyoti,anusha all had extensive round of photo session. Atmosphere pura ka pura charged up tha !!!

Fooling around at the plateau

 You can have a lovely glimpse of Kothaligad from here ( plateau.)

Glimpse of Kothaligad from the plateau

For first time I have to do the dirty work of reminding everyone to move forward. Dushro ke sath trek per jata tha to mai unki problem tha, Bechara organiser mere ko chilata rahta tha ki chalo ab bus hua photo baad me nikal lena" but today we were on our own hence sab ko bola Bhai ab immandari ke sath aage nikal lo warna shaam ko late ho jayege.

Approaching Peth Village ,green fields on both the side and Kothaligad right in front

Moving forward on the way we came across few streams, few green field and soon we reached the base village of peth.Everyone of us took a short break here, again some masti and photos and we moved on

Masti at Peth Village

Refreshed after this break at Peth village we started our trek further. For the benefit of my reader let me tell you from here onward the climb is little steep and you gain height very fast.The route is well marked and one has to cover a long rock patch.Rameya and Pooja found this portion little challenging but kudos to both the ladies that they managed to overcome their fear and moved forward.

Rameya fighting the way forward

Pooja has Question here but ek muskutahat ke sath arre aur kitna aage chalna hai

Once this Rocky portion was covered by everyone we reached the cave. The Cave here is big enough for 40 to 50 ppl. 

Caves at Kothaligad good enough to shelter 50 ppl

Carving on pillars in the caves

First we decided to have our lunch here but because this cave is full of bats so the idea was dropped.Adjacent to the cave is a small temple and few water tanks.Sadly this time I found the water was dirty in all the water tanks so not advisable to drink.The caves has some interesting carvings on the pillars.

Spiral steps 

Now comes the best part of the trek the spiral stone stairs right next to the caves.This is indeed a very unique and interesting portion of Kothaligad because sitting at the caves one will wonder how do the ppl reach on the top but as one moves through this spiral stairs which are no less then 2 feet ..Kabhi Kabhi sochta hu kitna tras hota hoga purane jamane me roj roj yeh stair chadne me. Sometime I also wonder whether the Moguls were tall that is why the steps were so huge or was it to keep the enemy at bay. Whatever may be the reason meri to hamesha asi seede chadne me waat hi laagi hai  Kya kare apni height choti hai na

The final climb to the top is very thrilling and once you reach the top suddenly you can feel the cool breeze caressing you and you forget all the hardship of the trek.The View from the Top is mesmerizing and one can see innumerable peaks like Padargad,Karnala,Bhimashankar range and many more.  

All of us lied down on the grass at the Top and enjoyed our well deserved lunch.

Lazing after well deserved Lunch

 Here I want to add Rameya because of height Phobia could not make to the Top but she showed lots of will power to make it to the caves. To her credit I can say she missed the top by hardly 20 steps.

After spending some time at the top we all started our descent. The descent was not very tough all of us made it easily to the peth village where we rested for a while and moved gradually to Ambivali village.

Naadan Parinde Ghar aa ja

 So all in all a successful maiden trek as a group for Weekend Wanderer and to celebrate our success the heaven opened up in the evening and it rained very heavily. All of us rushed out of the hotel shelter and danced in utter pleasure under the downpour.

Weekend Wanderers rocking in rain

Mumbai me hote hai to chata doonte hai barish se bachne kiye and here sab ke sab Suru ho gaye Barsaat me tak dinadin.

Barsaat me Tak dina din

Mostly my blog ends with this comment that we took the tum tum back home lekin dost abhi thodi si kahani baki hai. This whole motley of crazy crowd "Jasise gaate hui subha me aaye the waise hi Shaam ko gaate hui tum tum me ja rahe the."


It was 6.00pm when we reached Karjat and CST local was at 6.30 so we quickly got wadapav packed  ki chola train me kha lenge.But the Karjat local was very crowded  so like a true trekker sab ke sab station per Mandi dalkar bhaite gaye and what a rocking time we had ,enjoying wada paw with no care of the world. We all enjoyed like nobody's business and to top it all we had Cadbury Chocolate kyo ki abb kuch meeta to banta hi hai na bhai.

Amit and me serving everyone

Train journey was another madness no place to stand also lekin Weekend wanderers ki Battery Khatam hi nahi hoti hai...Everyone  was singing till Thane. 
Some one asked me "yeh log thakte nahi I said Sir Yeh log Jannat se return aa rahe hai!!!"  

Thank You All