Malvan Beach in Malvan

Monday, February 24, 2014

Standing on the Malvan Jetty gave me an amazing view of the land and the sea.

The Sindhudurg Fort parked itself in a distance clearly visible to my naked eye. The Front of the fort was so wide; I could gauge how big the fort actually was standing at the Jetty.

Malvan Beach was very colorful. Photos shot here are good enough to be kept as desktop wallpapers. 

Beautiful view of Malvan Beach. 

 The beach had white sand with green waters lashing on it. I missed the heavy rush of water gushing on the shores here. This place was like a haven for fishing boats. They were parked both on the white sands and the green waters of the sea . The white sands were covered with coconut trees so dense that I could hardly see through it.

The seas were very clear as I managed to see the bottom of the sea. A few rocky patches too could be seen in the sea. What I liked most is the color of the water in the sea. The green colored water was very refreshing to my eyes. It was basically because of the vegetation.  

Another view of Malvan Beach

There is a jetty erected on the Malvan Beach, boats plying to Sindhudurg Fort ply from here.

In the evening this place is packed with people, who come to see the sun setting in the waters, boys playing volleyball on the beach and the local fishermen pulling their boats out of the water after a hard day’s work. 

View of the massive Sindhudurg Fort from Malvan

Standing at the jetty gave me a commanding view of the sea and the land. I almost thought as if I was a General here looking after the territory I had. Imagining I had the fort, the sea and the land in my kitty.

But that was my imagination but the reality is that this place is truly beautiful. Do come here in the evening to spend it with the sea.

Malvan - Journey Mumbai to Malvan

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Blue waters of the Arabian Sea lashing against the clean white sands of Maharashtra with light blue skies above makes a photo truly beautiful.  Fishing boats parked on the white sands waiting to be sailed in the blue sea and a few fishing boats out for a good catch makes our photos even more interesting. Yes this is Malvan.

I always wanted to visit the Konkan stretch so had planned the same with Hithakshi, remember Hithakshi, she accompanied me to Chinchotiwaterfalls.

We decided to do Malvan, Devgad and if possible Vengurla in the eight day trip, considering two days for travelling we had six days for sightseeing.

I inquired with the Sandeep the bus agent and he told me that there are no Volvo’s, AC buses and Sleeper buses plying to Malvan. The only mode of transport is a 2 X 2 seater bus or a private vehicle or ST bus. The later cannot be booked there.

He also told me that it would take around 14 hours to reach Malvan. “14 hours, I takes 12 hours to reach Goa, then why 14 hours to Malvan?” on this replied that for 4 hours the bus keeps moving in Mumbai city itself in order to collect commuters and then heads out of the city.

I got our tickets for a 2 X 2 seater bus. These buses are slightly smaller than the regular buses. Why are these buses smaller, is what I was wondering, never the less we had a place to sit in the bus and that is what matters.

The bus took off at 15:30 hours from Gokul near Borivali and I boarded the bus at 16:30 hours at Andheri. One hour just to travel from Borivali to Andheri. And to make it worse at 18:30 hours we were still in Bhandup in Mumbai. I lost my cool as it was three hours and we were still circulating in Mumbai picking up commuters.

And to top it, it took 4 halts on the way, ranging from 15 minutes to 30 minutes. Which made me very uneasy.

No wonder it takes 14 hours. These private buses are a pain up the a**. Next time I’ll take the services of the ST bus as they will at least save me time commuting.

Finally next morning, when my eyes opened I saw small narrow tar roads cutting through the fields. The red tiled roofs of the beautiful colored houses of various shapes and sizes and the temples adorning the land. The private farms growing mango and jackfruit. “I am in Malvan” is what I said to myself.

Now I know why the size of the buses is smaller than the regular ones, because to the roads.

I finally alighted on the Malvan soil.

The roads throughout the city are narrow, wondering what a tough time the vehicle drivers will have trying to drive on these roads with the people and cattle for company.

Soon we were a part of the roads either walking on them or travelling by ST buses and rickshaws.

Malvan is famous for Sindhudurg Fort which can be accessed from the Malvan Jetty, The beaches of Malvan and the historic temples of Malvan.

We boarded a rickshaw from the market at a cost of Rs.50 to take us to Samudra Hotel on the frontiers of Kolamb Beach. The rickshaws here don’t work on the meter; the prices are expensive in comparison to the ST bus but better than walking it out at least.

Finally in around 30 minutes time we were at the Hotel, Samudra Hotel.

Bordi Beach

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Bordi is a small fishing village near the Maharashtra-Gujarat border. This small village offers a visual treat of green trees and a beach with black sand. A narrow road running through this village sees a stream of rickshaws, buses, cycles and private vehicles off and on.

Bordi

The roads offer a pleasant sight. As I walked along, I could see chikoo trees on my right and casuarina trees on my left on the beach front. There are a few old Parsi bungalows, all surrounded by trees, on this road. These old and beautiful bungalows rest peacefully near the black sand beach of Bordi.

For a moment, I felt a tinge of envy. What a fabulous way to spend the evening, every day, watching the sun go down right from the porch of your house. And if you were sitting on a rocking chair with a mug of beer or a cup of black tea, why, what could be better?

Beach

Small houses crowd both sides of the narrow roads. I wonder how the buses ply on these roads without damaging life or property. Some of the houses are in a very old and dilapidated state. You never know when they will come crashing down.

I landed on the beach of Bordi late in the afternoon. The heat was killing. It was low tide when I got there, and I had to walk almost a km to reach the water. I noticed that the water was rather dirty and completely unfit for swimming in.

The narrow lanes at Bordi

The crabs on the shore had created beautiful patterns there. Also, there were tiny dunes formed on the shore. This was the work of the winds on the sand. The casuarina trees were gently and delicately swaying in the wind. Altogether it offered me a very pleasing sensation. By this time, I had almost forgotten about the heat, thanks to the swaying winds.

As I walked along the stretch of the beach, I also found a couple of shells in a pattern I had not seen before on any of the beaches I had visited. I picked up some of these shells for my personal collection.

Pattern formed by crabs on the sand

I found a dead snake and many dead crabs on the beach shores. Looks like the waters here are not safe for crabs. I have never seen so much death and desolation on the beach.

I met a couple of fishermen who had just come back from the sea. So I asked them, “Masa bhetla ka?” (Did you catch any fish?) In my broken Marathi. One of them replied, “Nahi” (No) in a sad tone.

Dirty Water accumulated on the sand dunes

The fishermen were folding their nets rather dejectedly as they had not managed to catch any fish. I prayed that they might have better luck tomorrow.

I then moved on to explore the beach further. In the distance I saw a few mangroves in the middle of nowhere. As I approached nearer, I noted that the tide was rising. So I decided to head back to my starting point.

Fishermen pulling their nets

Returning to the shore, I sat on the sand and watched the sun drown in the water. I wished I had a hammock. I would have tied it between two of these casuarina trees, lain there quietly with a pint of beer in hand and watched the sun go down. Already I seemed to have drifted far away from the stresses of everyday life. I didn’t want to get out of this state of mind. But I had to as it was growing dark and I had to head back to my cottage.

My day in Bordi was a mix of both the silent beach and the small fishing town. It kept me away from my daily chores and let me be with myself.

Manori and Uttan

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Manori is located in Mumbai (easily accessed from Malad West) It is known for its Beach and Creek. Manori can be accessed either by a ferry from Marve or road from Bhayander. Uttan on the other hand can be easily accessed from Manori and Bhyander. It falls in Thane District. Both are fishing villages around Mumbai

I had planned to head for Madh Fort and Mandapeshwar Caves on Sunday and so I had put up my plan with an open invitation to my group on my Facebook page, Merwynsrucksack. Unfortunately, there were no takers for the trip. Only Hithakshi, a colleague of mine who had accompanied me to Chinchoti Waterfalls, agreed to accompany me.

So as discussed we met at Malad Railway Station at 7 am from where we were to board BEST bus no 272 to Marve beach. Since we planned to go to Madh Fort and Mandapeshwar Caves on the very same day, we decided to buy BEST’s Rs 25 travel-all-you-can-in-a-day ticket.

To my misfortune, we found that the Rs 25 ticket had been discontinued by the BEST management. Apparently many people misuse the ticket. They buy the ticket in the morning, use it all day. When they finish their journey, they strike a deal with one of the commuters waiting at the bus stop and sell the ticket at a low price, resulting in losses for the BEST. And a loss to us for we were deprived of this service for no fault of ours.

Now our tummies were empty as we had not had breakfast before leaving home. Most of the food outlets near the station were closed. Our tummies growled even louder at the sight of the downed shutters. We tried our best to control our hunger pangs, in the hope of finding something to eat at Madh Fort.

We alighted at Marve with the sea right in front of us. As the tide was low, the waves were gently hitting against the surface.

Hithakshi and Me

The view from here was amazing. Manori Island could be seen in the distance on one side and the Global Vipassana Pagoda on the other. As the top part of the Pagoda is golden, the soft rays of the sun landing on them made it a beautiful sight to see. 

At the shore there were some fishing trawlers parked. These were multi colored and greatly enhanced the look of the place. 

The beach is a very quiet place with many people making it a track for their morning walks. As we clicked pictures, we found people staring at us, wondering what we were shooting. Maybe they didn’t see anything there that was interesting enough to shoot. But we did. So we came, we saw and we captured.

We saw that a ferry was leaving Manori Island and heading towards us. I tried to locate a jetty where the ferry could land. I could see one at Manori, but nowhere at Marve.

So Hithakshi and I debated on whether we should go to Manori or Madh Fort. I finally gave in, and we decided to board the ferry. Both of us were clueless as to where the ferry would pick us up.

To my surprise, it stopped right near where we were standing. As the ferry was parked near the shore in the absence of a jetty, two plywood planks were lowered down from the ferry to enable us to climb aboard the ferry.

Fishing Trawlers

 I told Hithakshi that when I had gone to see Arnala fort, the ferry had stopped a few meters  away from the shore. What’s worse, it was not even a ferry. It was actually a small boat with a motor fitted at one end. And we had to walk through thigh-deep water to board it. Worse, two of us had to board it from the two sides of the boat to prevent it from overturning.


To view writeup on Arnala Fort click here http://merwynsrucksack.blogspot.com/2010/10/arnala-fort.html

This one was better. Thank God for small mercies! 

The ferry was full of people who were out on mini-getaways. The ferry even accommodates two-wheelers.

Within a few minutes of getting into the ferry, we were on the jetty. The ferry charge was Rs 7 per person and Rs 10 for two-wheelers. There were many colorful fishing trawlers parked on the island. I took some good pictures there.

After walking out of the jetty, I saw a BEST bus standing on the island. I was confused about how the bus had managed to land on the island. The ferry which we had boarded to get here only carried humans and two-wheelers. Then how could one explain the presence of this bus on the island? Hithakshi informed me that there was another way to reach this place and that was via Bhayander. The mystery was resolved.

Pagoda in a distance

On the shore, we saw some fishing nets which had been brought by the fishermen. One of them was drying fish (Bombay Ducks). These were huge in size, maybe 12 inches long.

Hithakshi claimed, "I have been here a thousand times." This was a getaway for her so I was under the impression that she knew this place inside out. So we decided to talk it out to Manori Village, in the hope of getting some food. Dear reader, you may have forgotten that we were hungry. But our stomachs did not let us forget.

The walk was amazing. We saw dried fish laid out to dry on the roads or on wooden hangers with not a guard in sight. Many questions came to my mind. "How come there is not a soul here to guard the dried fish?" "How come the crows are not taking away the fish" "Have these people forgotten that they have laid out fish to dry?" Sadly this time, none of my questions were answered. :(

The tar roads leading to the village were very narrow. Only one big vehicle could pass at one time. We did not see much traffic on the road, but maybe that was because it was too early in the day.

 It took us 30 minutes to reach the village. At the village, I got amazing photographs of flowers. My regular readers will remember that I am not good with plant names. So I cannot tell you exactly which flowers I saw.

At the village, there was a small pond, infested with algae. There were many flamingos having a ball of a time there and to my surprise a group of women were washing their clothes in the water. "How can these women wash their clothes in this algae infested water?" "Will their clothes ever become clean?" There were some of the questions that popped up in my head. Again there were no answers. So I headed to the beach.

Colorful Cart

Manori is a small fishing village. I could see crosses erected at every nook and corner. For a minute, I thought that I was in Goa. This place is a popular weekend getaway for the people of Mumbai. There are many resorts here. My tour guide, Hithakshi, informed me that rooms are easily available and cheap but food and liquor are overpriced.

We headed out to check the seaside. A light-blue colored boat in the middle of the sea caught my eye. I don’t know whether it was the color or the silent sea around it, but it was a beautiful sight to see.

The beach was still quite deserted. It was 10 am. We sat on the shore, continuing with our photography sessions, and watched the silent sea in the distance. There were gola carts (gola is the Hindi word for slush) everywhere. The carts with their bottles of colored flavourings added to the color on the beach.

We then headed back to the road. Our tummies were growling louder than before. Hithakshi's legs were aching and so we waited for a bus to take us to Manori Jetty.

Please don’t be under the impression that Hithakshi had tired herself out by walking on the beach. The truth was that she had been working on her calves and hamstrings the previous night. Now which sane person would do a leg work out in the evening and go trekking the next morning? This girl is too much.

We saw a few beautifully colored bullock carts on the way. Again food for my camera.

Fishing Trawler 

Finally Hithakshi saw the shutters of a stall opening. Yippee! Food in the making! We immediately rushed there to have our breakfast. Our breakfast was overcharged. We ended up paying Rs 55 for a double omelette with three loaves of bread. 

After having our fill, we talked about whether we should go to Malad or Bhayander. As Hithakshi's legs were steadily refusing to support her, she argued in favour of the latter as she resides in Bhayander.

I gave in the second time and we boarded the bus to Bhayander. ST buses and rickshaws are the two public modes of transport here. For a change, the bus driver was not living out his F1 dream. The bus tickets were quite reasonable but the rickshaws don’t work via the meter and charge a fixed sum. You either take it or leave it.

The bus journey was amazing. The view was beautiful on both sides. I felt like asking the bus driver to halt so that I could click pictures.

We alighted at Uttangaon to take a rickshaw to Pali Village. Uttangaon is a marketplace. From here we had to board either a bus or rickshaw to take us to the topmost part of Uttan from where the entire village could be seen.

We hired a rickshaw at Rs 40. The driver took us very close to the topmost part. From there we walked on and took photos of trawlers in the middle of the sea. Though it was very hot, the photos were amazing.

 I had made the mistake of telling Hithakshi not to carry any bag. Had I not done so, we would have had food and water for the journey.

Drying Fish

Point to be remembered: For any journey, no matter how big or small, one should always carry a bottle of water, some food and a notepad. You never know when these items will come in handy. 

After having a cold drink at a small stall and inquiring with the locals, we finally boarded a bus to Bhayander.

Uttan is also a fishing village like Manori, populated by Catholics as one can see crosses erected all over the place. I couldn’t locate many resorts and hotels here. Later, we boarded a bus to Bhayander.

Fishing Trawlers, Nets and Dried Fish

One thing I really liked about bus drivers here, in comparison with the ones in Mumbai, is that even if the bus stops for 5 minutes the engines are immediately turned off. If this is not done, then we are wasting our precious resources. I encountered the same tendency on my trek to the fort of Kelva in Palghar.  

To view write-up on Kelva Fort click http://merwynsrucksack.blogspot.com/2011/09/kelva-fort.html

Finally we reached Bhayander in 45 minutes thanks to the traffic on the narrow roads.

I know it is hard to say but I would like to thank Hithakshi for accompanying me on this trek. I bet she would make a good tour manager. If she can handle me with care then she can handle anyone.

Map of Manori

View Larger Map

Map to Uttan

View Larger Map


Please do comment under each post in "Comments" or "Post a Comment", that way I will know your views on my blog.

If you'd like to follow this blog and see when I update it, please click "Join this site" on the right hand side, in the blog

Tarapur Fort

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Tarapur Fort is located in Boisar, one railway station away from Palghar on the Virar Dahanu shutle. As the frequency of the trains halting at Palghar and Boisar is unreliable, we had to board an ST (State Transport) bus to Boisar from Palghar. It took us around 30 minutes to reach Boisar.

Doorway to Tarapur Fort

From Boisar, we boarded a tum tum to take us to Tarapur fort. It took us around 30 minutes to reach Tarapur Fort.

Tarapur fort located in Tarapur, a small fishing village. The fort is very small and there is not much to see around. A number of coconut and chickoo trees sum up the vegetation on the fort. There is a temple in the fort.

View inside the fort

There are a few banyan trees which have grown next to the outer walls of the fort. Their branches have spread across the walls.

The fort can be best viewed by walking on the walls of the fort. Unfortunately, the unruly and excessive growth of the vegetation makes it very difficult to see the fort.

There is a small inscription on the walls of the fort on the outside in Portuguese. Viceroy Matias de Albuquerque, who ordered the fort to be built in 1593, had this put up. There

is a small watch tower in the fort from where the entire scene can be viewed.

Fortification

This fort was intially built by the Portuguese but was later conquered by the Marathas and remained in their control. The fort is now a private property but the walls are still owned by the government.

We could not see much on account of the excessive vegetation, but it was still nice to re-visit history.

Murud Roadtrip (includes Korlai Fort, Padmadurg Fort, Palace, Murud Janjira Fort and Bhalegaon Caves)

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Work, work and more work, I was stressed out big time. I need a break said my body. So I decided to go on a road trip. Where to go was the question I had to ask myself. Beach or hill station? It was tough to decide because of the soaring temperatures. Finally I made up my mind and decided to go to Murud, a lonely fishing village situated 170 km from Mumbai in Raigad district, Maharashtra, India.

So I packed my bags and decided to go on my road trip. I booked a Chevy Tavera to take me to Murud. Heavy city traffic made it difficult for us to make good progress but, once we were out of Mumbai the journey was smooth.

On the way to Murud, I saw the broken ruins of Korlai fort in the distance. Forts always excite me so I decided to visit this one. The road to Korlai fort was so narrow that only a single vehicle could pass at a time. Somehow we managed to get to Korlai fort. We had to first pass over a narrow tar road with fisher folk houses on either side of the road. As we progressed on, we came across fewer and fewer houses until we saw the sea on the left and the walls of Korlai fort on the right.

In a few minutes we reached Korlai fort. At the entrance of the fort there is a lighthouse which is still working. The guard related to us the history of the lighthouse. The lighthouse at Korlai has a16-m (52 ft) square cylindrical masonry tower with a lantern and gallery attached to the front of a two-story masonry keeper's house. The tower has been painted with black and white horizontal bands while the dome of the lantern has been painted red.

Light House

Light House from Korlai Fort

Korlai Fort is also called El Morro or Castle Curfew. A steep staircase takes you to the entrance of the fort. With temperatures soaring, the climb tests both your physical and mental balance. But my love for exploration and my physical fitness helped me get up in a few minutes.

The view from the top was just amazing. I cannot describe it in words but I will try to do so for the benefit of those who haven’t got the chance to visit this fort. The sunlight had turned the seawater into liquid gold. It took me around an hour to visit the entire fort. Although the fort is in ruins its beauty is still visible. I spoke to a few locals who were doing some renovation work on one of the churches in the fort and they told me that the fort was built by the Portuguese in 1521, and was later conquered by the Marathas in the 17th century. There were plenty of cannons on the fort.

Korlai Fort from Light House

Boats in a distance from Korlai Fort

A few cannons up the fort

Ruins in the Fort

At this point I had to make a return to my beach house at Murud as it was already 3 in the afternoon and hunger had taken its toll on me. So I took a few pictures. They reminded me of the ones which I have on my computer desktop. Now I know such places really exist.

We left the fort for Murud. I reached my beach house at 4 in the evening. I was exhausted but I was also keen to see as much as I could of the place. A quick snack later, I was ready to explore the area around the cottage. Golden Swans Resort where I was staying had beautiful cottages. The lovely sea shore stretched on right in front of our cottage.

Another interesting thing about the resort was that they had six swans all around the place.

Visiting some locals, we learnt that there are two forts and a cave and a palace in Murud . Forts Jangira and Padma durg (Kasa Fort) are both sea forts but the latter is closed to the tourists as it was broken down by a cannon situated at Jangira and is currently under the Customs’ supervision. Padma durg was built by Sambhaji, the son of Shivaji, to enable him to conquer Jangira Fort. It is a small fort in comparison with Jangira Fort.

Padmadurg Fort from Golden Swans Resort

Padmadurg Fort from Murud Janjira Fort

The palace looks quite pretty from the outside. Much as I longed to, I could not explore it as it is privately owned by the Nawab who currently resides in Mumbai. The palace was built in 1885 for administrative purposes.

Palace

My cottage gave me a very good view of Padmadurg fort and the Palace. There is no night life here as it is a fishing village and after 7 in the evening all roads are deserted here. So I stayed inside the resort, had beer and resort food and stared at the star studded sky and forgot all about my stressful life in Mumbai.

DAY 2: Tuesday. I decided to visit the Jangira fort. I trekked off to Murud village. I had to board a ferry in order to visit the fort. I bought the tickets and set off. It turned out to be a sailboat. This was the first time in my life that I had sat in a sailboat. It took us around an hour to reach the fort. The good thing was that it was windy so we got there faster.

Murud Janjira fort from Murud village

The fort is truly amazing, You have to see it to believe it. The sailboat took us to the entrance of the fort. The local boat riders who also gear up as guides showed us around the fort for a small fee.

According to our guide, the fort was built by a Siddhi who came from Ethopia. It was  designed by an Afzal Khan (not the one who had his hand cut off by Shivaji) from Iran. It took the Siddhi 22 years to build this 22-acre fort which has 22 bastions around it. The walls of the fort are still intact. Although the fort is in total ruins on the inside, it still looks amazing. The fort was built using the materials available on the island itself. Nothing was bought in from elsewhere. The fort consists of a three-storey building which is now in ruins, a mosque, the Sheesh Mahal for the use and convenience of the queen, shops, houses and the graves of some of the inhabitants of the fort. It even has a hidden underground route which takes one to the village. The route is now closed by the government.

A strucutre on the fort

A lake on the fort

Bastions

There are two lakes within the fort. In bygone days they used to cater to the drinking needs of the people who used to stay there. Today they are filled with dirt. There is also a school which was closed back in 1971. The fort has three huge cannons on it. Out of these, supposedly the second largest cannon in the world, was used to break the Padma durg fort into three pieces.

The guide told us that the cannons were made of a combination of five metals. The temperature was 45 degrees celcius and we were all perspiring heavily but the cannons felt cool to the touch. We also saw the hidden entrances to the fort called chor darwaza and the soldiers resting rooms. 

One of the three big cannons on the fort

The entrance of the fort was marked with carvings of an elephant face. The same markings were also imprinted on some coins which were used as a kind of countersign for identifying inmates who sought entry into the fort

Carving of Elephant face at the entrance of the fort

Fort from a distance

By this time it was afternoon, and I was hungry. On the way back, I stopped at a place called Patil Khanvils as it boasts of good food (thalis). The food was tasteful and simple. They have fish, vegetable and chicken thalis. The thali which I ate consisted of rice, fried fish, fish curry, chappaties and solkadi. I ate lunch and headed back to the cottage. I spent the rest of the day in the cottage and in the evening had a bath in the sea.

DAY 3: On Wednesday morning I decided to visit the Bhalegaon caves. These Buddhist caves are supposed to be around 2000 years old. I was told that these caves were around 25 km from the cottage. Later I found out that the caves were not in Bhalegaon but were around 10 km away from Bhalegaon in a place called Kodi.

With the help of some locals, I set off to see the caves. They were perched on a hill and the view from there was truly beautiful. I was lucky that the Tavera took us right up to the caves. There was one stupa there and a number of carvings in the caves. But what I liked the most was the head of an elephant which was carved on the entrance of one of the caves. It was beautiful.

Bhalegaon Caves

Sculpture of an Elephant

Sculptures in the Caves

I returned to the cottage late in the afternoon and repeated my previous day’s schedule. Lunch at  Patil Khanvils and the evening at the beach.

In the evening I learned about a bull race on the seashore. I was very keen to watch it. These races are held once a fortnight in order to encourage local sports. But there were more motorbikes on the field then there were bulls. Most of the bulls were white and very well built. I got the impression that they were bred only for the races.

The bull race was truly an unforgettable experience as was all of Murud. I was very sorry to have to leave it and return to Mumbai. I enjoyed this visit to one of Maharashtra’s most beautiful forts. I look forward to coming here again and to making many such trips in the future. 

Ways to Reach: As Murud is 170 km from Mumbai, travel by road is the only way in which one can reach Murud ie via Alibaug or Roha. One can also take a ferry from the Gateway of India to Mandwa, near Alibaug, and then travel about 50 kms by road.

Visit: This fort can be visited throughout the year.