Camping at the Shelte Water Lake near Kohoj Fort in Maharashtra.

Monday, July 10, 2017

Shelte Water Lake is located at Shelte Village, which is located near Vaghote village. Vaghote village is the landmark. Vaghote village is located very close to the Manor Wada road. By train the closest railway station is Palghar. From there one can either board a ST bus or a chartered rickshaw or switch tum tum at Tain village to get here. The closest fort is Kohoj. 

View from Shelte Water Lake near Kohoj Fort in Maharashtra

 I had traveled by the side of Shelte Water Lake thrice, as it took me three attempts to conquer Kohoj fort. This is my first camping trip, hoping everything goes well is all that was in my head.

This trip was planned with office colleagues and finally on the D day it was just Hansel and me who ventured on this trip. Remember Hansel, he had accompanied me to Aswali Dam and Shiv Kalin Vihir in Badlapur.

Shelte Water Lake near Kohoj Fort in Maharashtra

We met at 1 PM at Amboli near my place, then filled petrol and then off we went via the western express Highway to Manor. The directions to Vaghote village are tagged on google maps. It is around 90 km away. i.e around 2 hours to reach.

Kohoj Fort in the backdrop

As it was the month of May, it was hot. Though we were travelling on the bike the sun still managed to burn the skin off my hand as it was not covered. I should have taken Hansel's advise and worn a long sleeve shirt.

Road leading to Kohoj Fort from Shelte Water lake

We crossed the Versova bridge aka Vasai bridge without any traffic. Which was good. The roads were clear and hence we picked up on speed to reach destination. We took just one pit stop and finally we were at the base village of Vaghote. We got off the Manor Wada road and asked the locals for directions as a lot of changes have been geographically made to the land. Google Maps was of not much help now as these were village roads and the all looked the same.

That's Hansel and Me

Finally after asking a couple of locals for directions we were finally at the Shelte Water Lake. The locals call it the "Bhandara."

The time was now 3:30 PM on my watch. It was hot as hell here. We parked the bike in the shade of a tree and sat there to kill time. Thanks to the tree we were greeted with the winds at regular intervals.

That's the tent and the bike

Many kids from the villages nearby were in the water, either bathing or cooling themselves from the summer heat. The women folk were busy washing clothes in the lake water. This water is surely not fit for consumption purposes.

Hansel setup to explore the lake surroundings in search of dry twigs so that we can have a bonfire post sundown. He managed to accumulate a lot of twigs, I had carried newspapers for easy combustion and we were lucky to get a matchstick box filled with matchstick right at the place where we had parked his bike.

Sun is setting

The weather was playing games with us, suddenly there was cool breeze blowing and suddenly there was no breeze as at all.

As this was my first camping trip, I had carried powerbank, USB LED light, mosquito repellent, along with food and plenty of water,  we didn't carry any liquor as we were on a camping trip. Hansel pitched the tent,  though one of the rods gave in, we still managed to make use of the bike to provide support to our tent.

Another pic of Hansel and Me

Hansel lighted the bon fire. It was a pleasant evening, we talked and talked and finally we were bored talking so we decided to eat supper. Supper comprised of mashed potatoes, boiled chicken with coriander and tomatoes. I agree the food was bland but it was high in carbohydrates and protein. Felt super energized. LOL.

There were a bunch of locals, who too had come to the lake side to have a small party. They asked us if we were carrying liquor and if we could share the same with them. We informed them that we were not carrying liquor, but they could join us for supper as we had food in plenty.

Waters of Shelte Lake

The locals had got with them a float (truck tube) and a fishing net, one of them sat on the float and setup the fishing net  in the lake. They too had lit a bonfire. We could see three more bonfires lit around the lake premises. Interesting , not sure if they were locals or campers.

The locals who were having a party, managed to catch some fish, cook it in a chatty and had their full and finally called it a night at around 10:30 PM.

Bonfire

I too called it a night, the tent could accommodate two people, had we parked the bags outside the tent. But as we had the bags inside only one person could sleep in it.

Hansel had made up his mind that he would stay awake all night long. What and Why were the questions popping up in my head. But that's what he wanted to do. Not sure as there was nothing to do in the dead of the night. I handed him over my phones so that he could keep himself occupied by surfing the internet or watching movies that were already on the phone. Both Vodafone and Reliance Jio had strong signals here, sadly the breeze was playing up, which made sleeping a difficult task for me. Not sure if I was suffering from Sleep Wake Disorder. But I didn't manage to get deep sleep. See the photos clicked by Hansel, I am sleeping, half my body is outside the tent.

Dinner : Mashed Potato and Boiled Chicken

We woke up, or should I say I woke up around 5:45 AM. It was dawn then. Hansel managed to get some good snaps of the surrounding till then.

Dawn

As it was pleasant in the morning, we decided to go for a walk around the lake premises. We didn't cover the entire lake premises, but just a small part of it. The sound of the birds chirping on the trees was music to our ears. I was so happy to hear that sound. It was much better than the sound of the alarm which wakes me up, everyday.

That's Me

We saw a fisherman, who had come early, he headed to the waters, not sure if he was trying to put the net or trying to remove the net. Hoping that he gets a good catch.

Dawn

We then freshened up, and decided to head back to Amboli. We left around 7:45 AM to reach Amboli at 9:00 AM. As there was hardly any traffic on the road, and the weather was all gloomy we managed to speed up on the highway.

Kohoj Fort and Shelte Water Lake

We managed to cover the entire trip in Rs.600 for two. Impressive na.

Kohoj fort in Palghar

Thursday, January 29, 2015

This was my third attempt at conquering Kohoj   I was unsuccessful in the past as we had got lost on the hills, due to no proper directions.  

Kohoj Fort

On the day I was visiting Durgadi Fort, I decided to ask Manohar, Dominic and Nayan if they were free to accompany me to Kohoj fort. 

Nayan had plans so it was just the three of us here. 

Reflection of Kohoj Fort in the waters

Now I had not informed Manohar and Dominic that I had tried climbing this fort, twice earlier but had failed.

Arrow signs on the rocks

We decided to meet on the Western Express Highway. At the intersection of the Metro line, Jog Flyover and the Highway. The same place we met while we traveled to Jawahar. We were traveling in the car.

Manohar, Dominic and Me

We met at 7:45 AM and headed off on the highway to see Kohoj Fort. As it was early in the morning there was not much traffic on the road. P.S. after Virar there is a bottle neck due to road maintenance.

Sheep

The  Western Express Highway aka NH8.  We braked for breakfast at Hotel Kamat's. As said by Manohar many a times on treks, a good breakfast is always necessary while on treks and we did just that.

Shoe soles

There are three toll naka's on the way.

We then headed off the Manor Wada Road to reach village Vaghote. The base village to Kohoj Fort. Please refer to google maps for navigation. It is accurate. We were at the base at 10:05 AM.

Dominic with snake skin

Picked up our bagpacks and we headed off to conquer Kohoj.

Now there are signs in the form of arrows on the rocks, so that you don't get lost. This time we decided to follow the signs, unlike last time when we got lost up the hills.

Ants mating

If you follow the signs, you will first cross, a water body cut in the rock, fields and later the heart shaped dam. 

If unsure then ask the villagers around, they too will guide you. Near the dam we were not able to locate the signs so we asked a Shepard and she guided us. Her dialect was a bit difficult to understand but we still managed to be on the right track.

Temple

Once you cross the dam section, the trek starts, now there are proper signs placed on rocks, that one does not get lost. A big Thank You to the trekking group who has done this.

We followed the signs and in a matter of 2 1/2 hours we were atop the fort. Now remember the climb is a bit difficult. The path is full of loose soil, and stones and rocks. It is a rollercoaster ride up and down the hill. Now we were not climbing Kohoj, but the hills before it to reach Kohoj. The topmost stretch is very steep and to top it, has loose soil. So be careful.

Graffiti on the walls of a tank cutout from rock

Nothing much to see atop the fort. It has a couple of temples here. Now the fortification was missing. How can it be called a fort with no fortification. I asked myself.

Ideal spot for camping atop Kohoj Fort

We had lunch in the form of sandwiches, cakes, thepla and then proceeded to climb the highest point of the fort. 

On our way to the topmost point of the fort

Not much is known about the history of this fort.

Now we were not alone on the fort, there were villagers too who were there to celebrate. They had bought along with them live chicken, rice and masalas and utensils to prepare lunch. Plus they got beer too. How can they drink hot beer? I asked myself. Strange 

That's Me

Finally on the topmost point of the fort we saw the fortification. The walls, but just a small part of it. I believe the rest of it might have collapsed over the years. This is all that remains of it. 

Fortification

Took a couple of videos along with photos atop the fort. Now this as the tallest point amongst the hill ranges around. I was happy about the fact that I as on the tallest point and that like the previous two attempts I didn't get lost on the hills.

Another Temple

Took a couple of lessons in regards to ascending and descending hills from Manohar, which would benefit me in the long run. 

There are a couple of water bodies, cut in the rock which are used to store water. As we stopped to fuel our water bottles we noticed the villagers taking beer bottles out of the water. It then occured to us that the beer bottles were getting chilled in the cold water. Aha now it makes sense to drink beer on the hilltop.

Highest point on the fort

We also saw them cooking up the hill.

There were a couple of them who had come there to hunt for rabbits. They had laid nets all over the place for them. I couldn't locate any rabbits up the hill.

Manohar and me with our sticks

We then decided to descend the hill. The time was around 03:45 PM on my watch. As we are still in the winter season nightfall happens around 05:30 PM. So we had to be down before that and to top it we could not afford to get lost.

Another reflection of Kohoj fort in the waters

As I mentioned the initial stretch is difficult as it is a 75 degree climb over loose soil, so it took time to descend, then as I mentioned it was a roller coaster ride downhill. 

Manohar, Dominic and Me at the topmost point of the fort

Finally at 05:10 PM we were near the heart shaped lake. Refreshed ourselves in the waters and then headed off to the car to head back home. We kickstarted our journey at 06:40 PM to reach our start point at Andheri at 09:10 PM. It took us time due to the bottlenecks and traffic around. 

Heart Shaped Lake

The good thing about this trek, is that after two failed attempts, I was finally able to conquer it. Sadly nothing much remains atop the fort, a few temples, water tanks and fortification. The second good thing is , it is the highest point in that hill range and so offers a very good view of the hills, valleys, farms, houses and roads below. Maybe was not a fort but a watchtower to watch over the land below. 

Unconquered Kohoj

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Palghar is known for many forts, mainly sea forts and hill forts.

My last trek was to Kaldurg Fort, it was my second attempt and I was successful. So I planned to do Kohoj which was nearby to Kaldurg.

I gathered information online about the whereabouts of the fort. The fort can be identified by a human like rock formation atop the fort. Reminded me of the movie “Behind Enemy Lines featuring Owen Wilson, which had a statue of an Angel up the hill and how the enemies destroy the statue with gun firing.” This fort is located in Wada. Now the question you have in your head is how do I get to Wada?

Wada is near Manor which can be accessed from Palghar either via a ST bus or rickshaw. But the bus is faster. The distance is approx 32 km from Palghar Railway Station to Vaghote Village which is on the Wada Road, where the fort stands.

Kohoj fort in a distance

Now this was a short notice trek meaning Nelson spoke to me a day before and within 16 hours we decided to go to Kohoj Fort. As it is the month of May, the hottest month of the year I advised Nelson to carry atleast 3 litres of water. After all trekking Kohoj we were nearing the sun.

Nelson who stays in Mulund had boarded the 407 hours train to Dadar and from there switched to Western Railway and boarded the 504 hours Virar fast which arrived at Andheri at 519 hours. I got my tickets at Rs.15 one way.

It was nice to meet Nelson after a long time and we chatted on women who were a part of our lives. Haha.

At 610 hours the train reached Virar and so we hurried to board the 615 hours shuttle to Palghar.

Finally in the train and a place to sit, we started off. We were lucky that there was no fish being transported unlike last time to Kaldurg when the entire train smelled fishy.

In the train Nelson told me that he didn’t have a ticket to Palghar as the train booking counter was closed. I was surprised to hear that as the train counters open 15 minutes before the first train starts. I had my ticket with me. Only problem is Ticket Checker. If we caught then we would have to pay a fine. But it is strange that no tickets were sold at Mulund.

My worst fears came alive. A ticket checker was there inspecting tickets. We were lucky enough to sneak out of the station without getting caught. It is always advisable to travel with valid tickets else pay a fine.

We had breakfast at a Hotel Lokmaya near the station. Our Breakfast comprised of two plates of Medu Wada and two tea's costing us Rs.70. Though the food is not big shake but having a breakfast is always good. We didn’t know when lunch would be served.

We then boarded the 730 hours bus to Manor. Manor is around 24 km from Palghar. In 30 minutes we were there at a cost of Rs. 14 each. The view from the bus was scenic. The hill ranges that stretched across the backdrop were amazing. One hill range followed by another, like a chain of them. But no sign of Kohoj.

The dried fields in a distance stretching till the hill ranges with a few houses and trees to make it a beautiful scene.

We alighted at Manor at 800 hours and later found out from one of the shopkeepers that we should not have alighted from the bus as it was going via Wada and we had to alight at Vaghote Village.

Manor was a small town flooded with shops on either side of the narrow road leading to Palghar at one end and Wada on the other. There was chaos.  There are shops selling everything here. This is also a major bus stop junction.

So we had to wait there for another bus, finally at 850 hours we boarded another bus at a cost of Rs.14 per head and we reached Vaghote Village at 915 hours. While travelling we could see Kohoj and it appeared to grow bigger and bigger as we were nearing it. The road does a traverse to reach Vaghote Village. There is a human shaped rock formation atop, and it appears as if a human is standing there.

Vaghote Village consists of around 25 houses but no shops there. So if you need to collect food or water Manor is the place. The trek starts from here keeping the fort on your right hand side. We inquired with a few locals and they showed us the way to reach the lake from where the trail leads to Kohoj.

The lake was beautiful. Saw women cleaning clothes in the water and a few children playing next to eat. I noticed that shell fish is available in plenty in the lake. I make this statement based on the no of shells I located near the lake premises. I saw some boys enjoying a swim in the water to chill in the hot sun.

It was just 930 hours and the heat was unbearable. Nelson said if this is the condition now what will happen when we reach the top. Hot Hotter Hottest and to top it the no winds. So sweat like pigs in the hot sun.

The villagers are very friendly in giving directions and so we took it and followed the trail. There are stones marked with arrows on the way so that we are on the right part. But they disappear as we start climbing up the hill.

Don’t know if they vanished in the rains or if they were never marked so we had to find our way up the hill. But as per the villagers the way up is from the backside so we started to climb in that manner. There are many trails on the hills so had to follow them to some extend just to find if we were on the right track.

Finally the worst happened. We were lost and we decided to climb up there via the waterfall route. Though now there was no waterfall just huge rocks’ standing there with thorny bushes for company.  The way up was bad luckily I didn’t slip thanks to my new Action High Ankle Trekking Shoes. But the thorny bushes made the climb very difficult. Both of us were bruised on our legs and hands. We had cuts and blood flowing through it.

My rucksack strap broke. Shit climbing was a pain and now this. It was nice of Nelson to carry the bag up via the rocky and thorny patches. We were just 20 feet away from the top and the climb was getting steeper and steeper with thorns for company.

I checked my phone for signals got none. So I told Nelson that it is better to get down. As there was no way we could communicate with anyone and we didn’t know if we were on the right track. That is the problem with waterfalls.

The climb down was going to be difficult and we had to do it in order to get down.

With ample breaks midway we decided to head back from the hills at 1230 hours. We prayed all the way down till we crossed the thorny bushes and till we reached down the hill.

Finally at 1430 hours we were back at the lake. We jumped into the water to cool ourselves from the hectic climb we had up the hill. The water was refreshing and it cooled us out completely and we felt fresh to head home. All our tiredness disappeared in a jiffy.

After having a Jacuzzi for around an hour we headed off to the Wada Road from where we were to board a bus to Palghar.

Rickshaws are available to take you to Manor and Palghar but the journey is more perilous. As they fit as many people as possible in the rickshaw and it is difficult to sit in one position for more than 15 minutes without stretching.

So we boarded a bus to Palghar after waiting for it for about 45 minutes. Finally got our tickets at a cost of Rs.28 per head. It took us around an hour to reach Palghar.

As we were hungry we headed straight to Hotel Lokmanya to have Puri Bhajji’s and Masala Dosa and gulped it down with cold drink. After having our full we decided to board a train to Virar with a valid ticket. 

After we knew the train would be crowded and we had no other option than to adjust.

We boarded the 1855 hours Valsad Bandra Passenger. It went slow till Virar and from then did Borivali and then Andheri. Finally I reached home at 2045 hours and Nelson at 2200 hours.

The trek was difficult primarily because we climbed in the summer and to top it we got lost in the hills and had to climb up via the waterfall route filled with thorny bushes that bruised us. But the trek was a learning experience for us and thank God I didn’t get dehydrated on the hills like I did in Mahuli.

But I will come again to conquer this fort. A promise I made to myself.