Umberkhind Trek

"16 kms Sahaydri trek and you see no fort, 

Chhodna Yaar koi dusra trek karte hai " 

Now that was the reaction that I got from my friend when I suggested that we go on a trek to Umberkhind. Honestly speaking if you are planning to trek to Umberkhind, Think again ! because to do this trek you must be in love with history.Passing through this route you should be able to feel the event that has happened centuries ago, If you are able to do this, believe me it is one of the finest trek that you may gone to.

Before I take you along with my journey. It's very important for you to know as to what is the background of this trek, what is the history connected with it. Out of the various battles fought by Shivaji most people remember the battle of Pawankhind perhaps because a very brave and courageous commander Baji Prabhu Deshpande lost his life or Battle of Sinhagad which Marathas won but with the loss of Tanaji Malusare, However in the same breath let me tell you that the Battle of Umberkhind was equally important in terms of the wealth that was added to Maratha Treasury and the manner in which it was fought and won.It was one of those battles which Shivaji himself lead and won.

History:

It was the year 1659 when Shivaji killed Afzal Khan in Battle of Pratapgad and soon after that he appeared near Panhala Fort and defeated Rustam Zaman, alarmed by this rapid victories of Shivaji, Adilshah requested Mughals to send forces against Shivaji. Aurangzeb was the Emperor at that time , he sent his maternal uncle Shaistha Khan with a large force  to crush Shivaji.Shaistha Khan deputed the job of crushing Shivaji to Uzbek commander Kartalab Khan who along with 30000 strong army marched from Pune.This time around the Mughals decided not to march openly because they wanted to surprise Shivaji instead Shivaji took them by surprise at the pass known as Umberkhind and attacked them from all sides.This battle too involved trickery and surprise especially the way Shivaji enticed Kartalab Khan to take Umberkhind Route by sending a false news that Shivaji is camping at Kurvande Village due to which he changed his plan and proceeded to this village thus walking into the trap setup for him.In this battle Shivaji was at the forefront with the cavalry and within 4 hours defeated the might troops of Kartalab Khan who accepted defeat and surrendered all their arms and baggage to secure safe passage. A lady commander Raibagan who fought from the Mughal side was released with honour , true to Shivaji 's policy towards women. 

 Detailed History link of Battle of Umberkhind


Our Trek :
we all reached Lonawala station  by 8.00 am and from their the transportation to Kurvande village was arranged. It was a 15-20 minutes journey to the Village. One has to just enter on the right of the main road into the village and the next sight is of this long INS Shivaji fencing you see.

Fencing of INS Shivaji as seen at the start Point of the Trek

there is a well marked trail for going up, on your left is the fencing and on your right you will see a big bunglow and few metres ahead one can see the GAIL gas pipeline, you must just keep climbing straight.It's more of a bullock cart road.

First Look at the approaching Nagphani Hill

 As you are walking on this road you will be able to see Nagphani Hill on your front right side.Little more walking and you come across this kind of pass.

                               Walk through the pass

As you cross this pass you will notice Dukes Nose/ Nagphani on your right side, you must turn towards your left side as the route to right side goes toward the Nagphani Top or Dukes Nose. 

Just when you take left you can see the fencing at far end

After turning toward left and with the fencing on your left side too, Keep walking straight on this lush green path,provided you are doing this trek in the monsoon. "Warna Greenery ki pakka koi guarantee nahi "

Lush green paths to walk on

Walking on this lush green carpet don't forget to turn around and have a look at beautiful Nagphani Hill. "Chal bhai ek baar peeche mud ja" 

"Chal bhai ek baar peeche mud ja"

Nagphani Hill or Dukes Nose

The route from here onwards is basically trail walk kind of journey, Do stop here for few minutes to enjoy the beauty of nature, gaze at the lovely valley below

Lovely Valley as seen from the  Top

and you can always have a closer look of Nagphani hill.The tall overshadowing hill.

Have a closer look of Nagphani hill

 In monsoon this trek offers fantastic view of the Sahyadri beauty, mesmerising you with green splash of colours and not for a moment you feel tired or bored.

Oh! How mesmerized I am by this beauty of nature 

Till now the whole trek is kind of trail walk.We were explained that the route that we had just walked on was lot broader in olden days than what it is in today's time. The reason could be that in those days it was a regular route unlike now when only the villagers or trekkers like us venture on these paths.

Walking on the footsteps of Shivaji

In the past the Mughal army was marching on this route with their horses and elephants,carrying guns and cannons followed quietly by Shivaji and his small party of warriors.I could feel the excitement by just thinking and visualizing how this path was a warpath once and I am fortunate to be walking on the footsteps of Shivaji.After walking for some period we come across water stream.

Despite being monsoon there was no sign of clouds or rains.The sun was hitting us hard, so the sight of stream even though small was refreshing.

Refreshing water stream enroute

It's very interesting to note that though we are trekking this route in monsoon and feeling so thirst and tired , I was wondering about the plight of the Maratha soldiers who did this route during the month of February. One has to empathize with the plight of soldiers in hot and humid climate when the streams are also dry. I can only utter "Bravo" Taking the benefit of the  opportunity to have lovely stream flowing near us we all refreshed ourselves.

 and filled up our water bottles from this stream.I also took out some time for posing.

Posing Time

Finally the Organiser got fed up and told everyone to move fast from here and on wards starts our journey once more. Leaving this stream and walking for few minutes we come across small dwellings. I used the word dwelling because there were only 2 or 3 houses to be seen.

First Sign of Village Life

One has to go toward these  houses and move through their courtyard and cross over to the other side and take a left from here.

Walk through this , and take left 

As you can see in the picture above we took left from behind ,a little walk ahead then turn right.This right is almost immediate.

With such overgrown bushes chances of losing the way is possible but one can always take the help of the villager to lead you to the plain ground ahead. Please note in the picture above that my friend is turning towards the right side. The stone wall ahead can be set as marker for diversion.Moving from here we reach a spot from where the trail leads to open space. we all rested here for a small snacks break.

We all rested for a small snacks 

After resting for 5 minutes we all moved , descending a little down on a gentle slope towards an open ground at lower level

Descending down the gentle slope

Once we reached the open ground , Kiran our historian for the day explained to us one very interesting thing. that standing on this plain ground one cannot see the people behind though the site behind is on elevation however those standing above can see the people below.

Large plain ground

So Shivaji and his troops took advantage of this situation, as one battalion which was following the Mughal troop till here  hid behind the tree .Keeping complete vigil over the activities of the Mughal soldiers below and never for once the Mughal troop realised that they are been followed and in the meanwhile the other battalion had spread wide and far in the jungles below. 

One battlaion of Shivaji was hidden in these jungles

and one more battalion was waiting at the Umberkhind all set to ambush the Mughal soldiers. One very note worthy thing I want to mention here is that from this plain ground on wards the troops has to leave there chariots,horses,elephants here and had to descend on foot down through the jungle route where only a single person can go through at a time. Honestly I could feel the thrill of entrapment.

Descending from here to the jungles

Its is very easy to  lose the way from here  because there is no prominent shepherd trail. Best way to follow the trail is to remember that the side from where you descended on this plain ground, Now you must look out on your right side for the trail descending down.As you prepare for downward descend you will be facing the Dukes nose as can be seen in the above picture.The descent from this point is steep,through the thick jungle. Once the descent gets over, you are again a trail walking along with green grass  and lovely small water-bodies.

Green grass and small water bodies

Marching troops of Shivaji

and this trail walks leads you through some beautiful green woods

Amazing green woods

and some more green carpet

Beauty at its best

As I said for this trek if you can instill the spirit of history in your veins coupled with the beauty of the place it becomes one of the finest trek.Ek hindi film me itne twist nahi jitne is trek me hai. Kabhi pahad,kabhi jungle toh ab nadi, Yes finally we come to Amba river.One look at the river and I went bonkers with my camera clicking crazily. Please enjoy my excitement the pictures given below

we have to cross this river and go across. One has to be very careful because at times the flow of this river is very furious. In fact our trek was postponed by few days as the village people had warned us to avoid coming during excessive rains.All our us crossed this river very cautiously.

We crossed the river very cautiously 

Once we crossed the river , we again took the opportunity to have fun in water and fill up our water bottles. Ab river hai to photo session toh banta hai boss.

Once the river is crossed, we again see the bullock cart road, this road can be very easily be seen after we cross the river.

Bullock Cart road as seen after crossing Amba River

 we all started to walk on this road. The beautiful Amba river flowing along us on the left was indeed a lovely sight.

Amba River flowing along the road

 We walked along this Amba river for another 15- 20 minutes till we reach Chavni Village and this time its indeed a village. Once you enter the village you will understand that it has proper connectivity by the way of Tar road,one can see tempo and car in village.However this is what we are talking of modern day, but during old days all the Moghul soldiers were covering this distance on foot marching toward the Umberkhind to nab Shivaji as their Spies have told them that he is camping there.We walk through this village turning to left and after some time come across the bridge, we cross over this bridge with Amba river flowing beneath it

Resting on the Bridge over the Amba river

Majestic sight of  Amba river flowing with another bridge at far end.

I can very well understand the ordeal of Moghul soldiers who had to cover the distance till the Umberkhind  in the month of February and here we were walking the road in monsoon and yet soaked to death by the August heat.I was almost grumbling at this point because of the overbearing heat but then I reminded myself as to the purpose of this trek,which was not only trekking but to walk on the footsteps of Shivaji, in another words its was a reminiscent of journey of Shivaji.

Slumped due to heat but the smile is intact

  The walk from the Chavni village to Umberkhind is long and arduous, walking on tar road can be very boring and tiring one has to keep himself very motivated to walk this long distance.My motivation was very clear because I was walking with the history. I was walking with Shivaji. I was motivated to be one of the soldier who will trap Kartalab Khan and his army, braving the heat we finally reached Umberkhind. The Khind is not very prominent because of the road passing today, but I can visualise how in a narrow pass the Kartalab's soldiers must have got trapped like mouse and how the Shivaji's mere 2000 soldiers overpowered 30000 Mughal soldiers into submission.

Board on the road at Umberkhind 

Today at this point where the battle of Umberkhind was fought we have this board which narrates the entire battle.While coming from the chavni village this board is on our left side. We take a U turn from this board towards the Amba river to visit the memorial or Vijay Stamb constructed by the initiative of Shiv durg mitra  trekking group and the entire Chavni village.

Vijay Stamb or Victory Memorial on Amba River

 The memorial stands majestically across the river, we have to walk across the Amba river once more to pay our tribute to the heroes of Battle of Umberkhind.

One has to cross the river to reach this memorial

The Memorial is indeed a work of art ,the front side has the picture of Shivaji,

On one side the history is mentioned.

Another side has Aagaya  Patra embbed in the stone

 And the fourth side has the details of the people who initiated and inaugurated the Vijay stamb or the Memorial.

For us the most important part was now, because this was the time to offer our prayers to all the brave heroes who fought the war bravely and intelligently.

Paying our respect to the brave warriors

 After paying our respect it was time to chill out in the Amba river, with 4 kms more to go we needed all the freshness and rejuvenation so without any further thought we jumped into the river, feeling the chilled amba river water.

Time to chill out

With full on fun in the waters we were all set to finish the rest of the 4kms of the long 16km trek. The route was again on the same tar road and it was 5 pm when we reached the Shemadi village. The end point of this trek which takes you to Pali khapoli road. As our Tumtum had not arrived so crashed out on the road itself due to tiredness ,we all squatted on the road waiting for vehicle to come.

Atlast the trek is over,resting on Pali-khapoli Road

My only regret through out the trek was the extreme heat that we have to encounter on this 16kms trek despite our trek being in monsoon season, finally we boarded the vehicle and perhaps to tease us the heavens poured so hard that amid thunderbolts and heavy rains we reached Khapoli station.

Special thanks to  our trek organiser Kiran Shelar for bringing the history alive for me.

Travel tips:
1.Trek starts from lonawala
2. Lonawala to Kurvande village arrange transport.
3. Kurvande village start point.
4.Chavni village next point
5. Detour from Umberkhind board for the Vijay stamb or Memorial.
6.Final 4kms walks till the shemadi Village, on pali -Khapoli road.
7. Tum tum ply from Pali to khapoli, but preferably arrange for advance transport .

Grade: Easy/Endurance.

Thank you

Kashmir Great Lakes : Day 2

You know what is the best thing I like about Himalayan trek? It is the waking hours. All your best efforts are required to move your ass out of the coziness of the sleeping bag and in a bent motion come out of your tent. But the moment you crane your neck out, the beauty and the bliss of the Himalayan range appears as if to remind you that you are truly in heaven.360 degree panoramic view of mountains, lovely Pine trees,Cool pleasant weather.

Amazing mountains

Vast meadows with horses grazing on them

Lush green meadows

This morning magic is coupled with the musical rhythm of the flowing river (as mostly the campsites are along the flowing rivers,streams or lakes.) and for the trekker like me the next best thing is to see the steaming kettle of tea sitting pretty in the middle of campsite and me enjoying the bliss of hot cup of tea

Waiting for the streaming tea to come out of that Kitchen Tent

Crash #$#%#* Puure Dream sequence ki phir se lag gayi , Pucho kyo because Bhaiyo woh chai pilane koi Ramu kaka nahi aane wale, Khud ko koshish karni hai, Yes to drink that tea I have to first take my cup wash it in the flowing river or the stored chilled water , Imagine the effect of thermal shock( I learnt this word from Amit). So the next thing is to brave the thermal shock of chilled water so as to fire up the intestinal furnace. Well thats how the day started for me today.

Oouch !! Bahut hi thanda hai pani

Technically today was the first day of actual trekking. All talks of yesterday evening of getting up early and leaving the camp by 7 was completely forgotten, Ab ek din me toh sab ko Milka Singh nahi bana sakte na ki aap subah jaldi utho aur bhag ne nikal pado, Time lagta hai Jaani !, saher ki aadat jaate jaate. First day, First show ke jalwe hi kuch aur hote hai , full  on commotions with activities like submission of document for Army verification, collection of packed lunch, O2 saturation test, Pulse check etc 

First Day First show ka commotion

Arre yaar kitna kaam hai , Trek karne aaya hu ya Hospital ward me baitha hu, But I understand yeh sab bhi zaoori tha.Somehow everyone pulled and pushed through to get ready followed by another round of explanation by the Trek leader Suman whereby we were informed to be ready for 3 hrs of climb, followed by decent through forest and then gradual plain walk. Total distance 9 kms.

Aa Dekhe Zaara, All set for Trek

Finally the trek started at 8.30 am with full on sunlight. Actually I would have hated this on any other day especially when you will be walking with 9 kg backpack on your back but today I almost welcomed the sun because I was given to understand that the previous batch had to negotiate the rains and that could be messy affair. Well as soon as we started to walk the lovely Sonmarg behind us lay in its full glory especially with the morning sunlight spreading its lovely rays.

 Trek starts with the gentle incline

The trek starts with the gentle incline , with amazing view all around that I could hardly keep my fingers away from my camera. Waise bhi me and my camera are inseparable

Amazing Views

Amazing Views

Its a common experience that whenever you start trek you are bumbling with energy , Always ready to give a pose perhaps I too was charged up so Ek pose toh banta hai bhai

Abhi pose maar ke hua nahi tha that I realised that the climb won't be so easy after all , what with the blazing sun above. Kashmir aur garmi, Hota hai Jaani , chote chote shehero me badi badi baate ho jati hai. 

Famous switch back of himalayan treks

Sweating in this sultry heat with the load of my bag and yet to keep a smiling face for the camera is a task.But like true warrior, On goes the brigade!. The first hour was through various Switch backs sometimes walking through the open meadows and some times through the tree shades.

Kabhi dhoop ,Kabhi Shade

One thing nice going for me was that due to the bus ride yesterday the ice breaking thing happened in the bus hence I now knew few guys well. Madhav and Vartika were the young couple from Pune It was there first trek and they like me was sold out for this trek due to lovely pictures. I liked the way Madhav kept encouraging Vartika to keep going.

Madhav and Vartika had good time encouraging each other 

This uphill kept going for an hour and half. Each one of us were trying to negotiate in our own way. Huffing , Panting but all the while keeping each other in good spirit. As far as I was concerned I skipped some switch back taking short cuts.

Everyone negotiating the climb in their own way

We were quite relieved when we were told that we are now near the Shekhdur camp,eaching Shekhdur means achieving an height of more than 11000 feets. Moving from 8000 feets to 11000 feets is indeed an achievement.(its a seperate matter that in mountains more than 1000 feets height gain is not recommended )  

Iconic tree just before the Shekhdur Camp

By the time we reached Shekdur , I was like Bas karo yaar , Tent idhar hi laga do,Chala ,Chala ke maar dala, Ab kya bache ki jaan loge kya , 

Bas karo Yaar, Ab bache ki jaan loge kya

Arre kambakto 3000 feet chada dala, woh bhi pahele din. Meri toh chodo I felt almost everyone crashed out. I still remember the expression on Santosh's face which seems to say kahan marwa diya. He just covered his face with the cap and went for a nap 

Vartika and Madhav too seemed like koi yaaro humko uthao. Seeing them like this ek khayal mere dil me aaya, Bacha Madhav tu toh mara Shaadi ki pehli anniversary aur tuh wife ko picnic bolkar trek per le aaya, Upar se chala chala ke torture kar raha hai. Later discussing this me and Vartika had good laugh.

Vartika and me sharing some lighter moments at Shekdur

We all rested here for sometime. In fact there is this small shop where one can have snacks like instant noodles, Buscuits, Cold drink and tea. Amit and santosh had noodles and ordered for tea. I remember talking to someone here , the person asked me "Chai kaisi hai", I said "Ok, Kuch Khaas nahi " he asked me"kitne ki hai " I said " 30 Rs" he said 30 Rs, Baap re. 
Meri shaitani Khopdi me phir ek khayal aaya and in the tradition of Om shanti om 
" Ek chutki sindoor ki kimat tum kya jano , Ramesh Babu ..
Mera dialogue tha "Ek chuski chai ki kimat in Pahado me tum kya  jano Ramesh Babu.

View of Shekdur

After enjoying the Tea and Rest It was again time to push ourselves forward.Believe me it takes lots of effort to start all over again. However luckily for us the trek was more of a gentle walk passing through the forest.The view of the forest was so romantic with sun playing hide and seek creating the aura of shadow and light.

Gentle incline towards the forest after Shekdur 

Shepherd homes en-route

Walk through the forest

Sunlight playing hide and seek

This walk through the forest was not only pleasant but also helped us to be protected from the tough Sun. What I liked about this part of the trek was that as soon as you come out of the forest trek you are staring at one of the most amazing view of mountain pass. For me it was indeed a dramatic moment and I almost cried out Wow !

This was a wow moment for me

My first experience at watching a pass

That was the view when I looked back

I am told that this is the start of Nichanai Pass.The moment we enter the valley we see small stream coming down it, At the far end where you see mountain peak well, that's where we have to go.

Valley View

but beware what looked like a small stream turns out to be big river kind of thing once you come closer.

 We all rested here and decided to have our lunch here,( we were given packed lunch of Roti and Aloo bhaji). River offered us a good opportunity to freshen up and feel rejuvenated .

Time to recharge our cells

The trek from here onwards in along this river , however one has to encountered small boulders and uneven rocky section. 

Walking along the river on rocky trail

 But once we cross this section the next scene is something I was waiting for, Yes Yo !! I see the first patch of Snow. Dil bole Zoom Zoom !!!

Yo ! Its s(h)nowtime now

My heart knew no joy when I saw the snow, First day into the trek and we are hitting snow patch.Wow ! Wow ! I am loving every moment of this trek.As I was prancing and dancing in the snow I heard Amit call out from top teasing me  "Aashish Bolo aur kitna snow chaiye , Aur chaiye toh bolo " and I was all like Thanks Amit for pushing me into this trek.

I simply love walking on the snow.

Snow bridge

Another thing I loved about this trek was the ever changing scenery, Hardly we had done with this snow patch that the route again opens up into another valley view, offering another wow moment for me and I shouted to myself "Abbe ab yeh kahan aaya gaya mai, OMG , mindblowing views hai "

Abbe yeh kahan aa gaya mai..... moment for me

By this time our feets were aching like hell, and the camp site was nowhere to be seen, over that not much help was coming through from Suman as regards to balance distance that we have to travel. Humari dukhti tango ke majje le raha hai aisa laga, Arre yaar ab bata de aur kitna chalna hai. Finally he said we are almost there, now that was a big relief and after walking for few more minutes I was happy to see the orange tents aur dil bola thank god aaj ke liye bach gaye.

At last'........Nichanai Camp site 

Campsites are like Oasis in the desert, Just when the body is all ready to give away the only sight that can save it is the view of campsite on the horizon. 

Nichnai camp site is again very pictureque, enveloped within mountains, with one side staring at the valley and usual river flowing along  

As soon as we reached Nachnai Camp, I ensured that we had a good round of stretching,Amit,Santosh, Rupinderji,and her 2 daughters, Rajesh,chinmay all joined in and it was fun. However the best part here was the circular massaging that we did with each one sitting behind the other and massaging the shoulder of the person ahead.Here a funny incident happened, as my shoulder was paining a lot due to the weight of the bag pack so Santosh was giving me shoulder massage, The pleasure of massage was so good that I was moaning in ecstasy without realising the same and the next moment I heard Santosh admonishing me  " Oye Dirty Picture style sound effect bund kar, Public dekhegi toh kya sochegi " I thought "kya sochagi, bolgi Shantaben"(Refer to Kal ho na ho movie agar nahi samja)

Evening shoot of Nichanai

It was late evening and Suman had called for the demo of  Installing and dismantling the tent. I was never a good student so deputed this part to Santosh. Jo jyada bolte hai woh akshar kum sunte hai , mera bhi kuch aisa case hai. Just as a true back bencher jo apni study books me comic rakh ke padta hai Me and Amit were busy capturing the beauty of the camp site

Beauty all around

It was a hard day for us today, 7 hrs climb , 3000 feet height gain, AMS ka pura chance, with these thoughts I retired to my tent for sleep.For me the night spent on this campsite was the longest as I was not able to sleep at all. All night I was wondering whether is it the altitude factor or whether is it due to exhaustion that I am unable to sleep. The moment I close my eyes I could see the mountains , rivers,snow floating around me. Amit was also not able to sleep so we decided to venture out in the open. Kuch nature call aur kuch nature walk aisa program bana, Santosh ko pucha toh woh bola pagal hai kya so jao, I think this night out in the open was sheer bliss, silence surrounding you except the gurgling sound of the river, silver-lined mountains under the canopy of stars , Oh what a sight to behold !

Starry Nights at Nichanai Campsite

Amit who knows little bit of stars explained to me , we had a brief chat out in the open, amit and me don't often meet or trek together but I have seen that our chemistry works, what I like about him his co-operative nature, sometimes I feel blessed to have him my tent mate,( I hope Amit yeh padkar bole nahi abbe ab rulayaga ka ), Honestly I enjoyed this night under the stars  and soon retired back to the tent knowing very well that tomorrow another challenging day awaits us.

Kal ki kal dekhte hai, Chalo Aaj ke liye
Good Night !!

In case if you missed on Day 1 given below is the link

Kashmir Great Lakes :Day 1