Rajmachi - A very popular place amongst trekkers and nature lovers.
This was on my radar for last 2 monsoon seasons but somehow the plan continuously failed for 2-3 times. This year in the month of May I decided that Rajmachi should be the target for this season no matter what happens.
Very Soon I got a perfect opportunity. Our company announced a team outing to Wet n Joy (Water Park) near Lonavla on Friday 3rd August. I asked few of my friends in the company if we can extend this further and go for Rajmachi trek on Saturday? Initially, there were 5-6 people who looked interested but as we decided the detailed plan, the final count came down to 4 (Me, Amit, Saurabh, and Durgesh). Never mind the plan was ON.
After some googling, we found a contact person Mr. Subhash Ware from Udhewadi - Base village for Rajmachi who makes an arrangement for food and stay for Rajmachi trek. We contacted him and booked Stay and Food at quite reasonable rates.
With the help of DurgBhraman (https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/durg-bhraman/id1252251747) application we found a lot of useful information about the trek. We got to know that the trek from Lonavla is about 12-13 Km walk or there are some Jeeps available that will drop you till mid way after that you will need to walk for around 5 km to reach Udhewadi as further route is blocked for 4 Wheelers. 2 wheelers can still go till Udhewadi but you will need to do a lot of Dirt Biking as it is full of Mud during Monsoon. In other seasons, 4 wheelers can also go till Udhewadi village. As we heard a lot about the beauty of the route till Rajmachi in monsoons and we desperately wanted to enjoy the beauty of nature along way so we decided to do the complete walk. We were all set and just waiting for Friday.
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Fantastic 4 !!!
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Finally, the day arrived, we enjoyed the beautiful and terrifying Rides in the water park. After lunch one of our colleagues dropped us till Upper Hill Resort in Lonavala where the Road for 4 wheeler ends. It was 3.30 pm when we reached here. We Thanked him for the help and were ready to start the Trek.
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Starting Point of the Trek
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It was 3.45 pm when we started the walk from this point. The map was showing we need to walk for 12 km to reach base village Udhewadi. Initial the road was full of Mud and then there was a steep slope that took us to the small tar road which the Jeeps use for transport. We continued to walk for around 2 km and we saw a small tea stall alongside a small waterfall. A group of young boys was enjoying the waterfall with a cup of Tea and Maggie. This was our first halt.
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First halt at Tea Stall
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We had tea there and asked the shop holder about the frequency of vehicles and trekkers on the route. He told us that there is a big rush on all weekends and it is good that we are going there on Friday. After having refreshing hot tea, we again started walking with a fresh mind. The road was not that bad and we are surrounded by lush green mountains. We saw the peak of Dukes Nose and some valleys of Khandala alongside. As it was Friday, there was no rush and we were the only trekkers along with very few local people at some places on the route.
After one and half hour we reached another awesome point where there was another huge waterfall. We were at the top of that waterfall and it was amazing view below. The place was perfect for camping. At the other side of the valley, we were seeing the first view of Rajmachi Fort and some small 'tapris' at the base which was our destination for the day. The Crossing point of the valley was too far from here and that's why the route to reach there was complete 'U' shaped. At this place, local people were serving some food and tea. they also make an arrangement for lunch on prior notice. We were told that this is the point where Jeeps will drop you. From here it was an almost 7km walk that should take around 2-2.30 Hrs as per the locals.
It was already 5 pm when we started from this amazing spot and increased our walking speed little so that we would reach the village before it's too dark. The next part of the route was from dense forest and again it was full of Mud and rocky. There were few ups and downs as well but they were not much tiring. This route had few concrete bridges along the way which showed that there should be a plan for proper tar road in coming time.
After some time we arrived at a 'Y' junction called
Jambhali Phata. From here left road goes to Udhewadi village and the straight one goes to 'Della Adventure Training Academy'. We took the left road and moved ahead. After around 500 meters we saw a big Hole made in the road to block the entry of 4 wheelers. There is only small road kept so that 2 wheelers can go ahead. Asking locals later we came to know that it was done to avoid four wheelers coming for Off-road adventures at this place.
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Jungle Route
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Jambhali Phata
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Road Block for 4 Wheelers
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After walking for few more Kilo-meters on this jungle route we came to the actual valley crossing point called
Udhewadi Bridge. There is another waterfall at this point. There were few bikers enjoying the waterfall. The place was so tempting that it was very difficult for us to stop ourselves from going into the waterfall and enjoy but because of time limitation, we decided will enjoy this spot while return journey and we moved ahead.
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Waterfall En-route
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Udhewadi Bridge
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From here there is a long steep patch that might test your stamina for some time. The road becomes worst here at this spot and it's even difficult to ride on a two-wheeler on this road full of mud. We also had to leave the main road and take some longer routes within the jungle to avoid Muddy patches. After that steep patch, we came at a height of the base village so the route ahead was straight one but very muddy. Soon we reached a spot which we had seen from another side of the valley some time back.
The spot was Awesome with a breathtaking view of Horse Shoe Waterfall in the front. This was a huge water fall surrounded by a rocky patch in the shape of Horse Shoe. The sound of that waterfall and the mighty wind blowing along could be clearly heard and it was terrific. We were fortunate that we reached this in the proper light and we were the only one to enjoy this beauty without any disturbance. We spent around 10 -15 mins here with lots of photographs of course.
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Muddy Road to Udhewadi
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From this spot, it was hardly 1-1.2 km walk remaining. After spending enough time at this spot which took away all the fatigue of walking 10 km, we started last part of our walk.Soon we reached the entrance (Vesh) of Rajmachi Village. There is a temple of lord Ganesha and Hanuman at the entrance and little signs of fort walls.
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Entrance of RajMachi
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We were seeing beautiful views of Shrivardhan fort and Manaranjan fort on our left. Both of them are Balekillas for Rajmachi having very strong Fortifications which is still intact. Soon we reached at the junction where one road goes to the top of the fort and another one to the village Udhewadi. We followed the road to the village and arrived at the entrance of the Udhewadi village.
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Manaranjan Fort
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Shrivardhan
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The village is very small consisting of around 20 families but it looked well organized. Most of the people in the village make food/Stay arrangements for trekkers and this is the only source of their income. The village does not have electricity supply but there are solar panels at few places that are used as a source of electricity here. You will find lots of boards for stay/food arrangements and also vehicle arrangements for Rajmachi trek.
We entered the village and asked villagers for Subhash who has done stay/Food arrangements for us. His place is the last house of the village. It is a typical house with a big veranda in front. They have given us a separate room that can accommodate around 10 people. As there was no rush we were only 4 people staying in such a big area. It was indeed great arrangement. Subhash welcomed us with Tea and some Biscuits. We rested there for some time and then roamed around the village for some time. At around 9 pm we had an awesome dinner made by Subhash's Mother. The food was really delicious and very homely. After having heavy dinner we decided to take rest for few hours and at 10 pm we went to Sleep.
In the morning, we woke up at around 7.30. We were feeling so refreshed after having good sleep for 8-9 hours. As we woke up there was a group of bikers who came to Subhash's place. They were riding the bike all night and reached village early morning. We had tea and Breakfast of "POHA" which was again very nice. We were so impressed with the food that we asked Subhash's mother if she can cook chicken for us at lunch. She happily agreed and then we left to explore the fort at around 8.30.
The climb of the fort was very easy. It took hardly 30 mins to reach the top. At the beginning, there are steps till
Bhairoba Mandir. There is also a cave en route. Bhairoba mandir is used by some trekkers as the camping place. after that, there is a small rocky patch that will take you to the main entrance of the fort. The view of Bhairoba Mandir, Manaranjan fort and Udhewadi village from the route is awesome. as there was some fog in between, all these views were looking more beautiful. The rocky patch was little slippery at the end but it was safe and easy. There is a water cistern also near the main entrance
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Starting point for fort
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Bhairoba Mandir
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We reached the main entrance of the fort. There are few steps and some old structure not in good condition now at the entrance. Just after that, there are two water cisterns. The upper one is used for potable water and the same water goes to the village. There is a large cave which must be the store-room in old days. This can also be used for camping in winter/Summer. Then we moved to the highest point of the fort where there is a Flag hosting place. There was a lot of fog there so we were not able to see the surroundings. We waited for some time till all the fog disappeared and then we could see amazing views of Horse Shoe waterfall and surroundings. After spending some time there we descend to the point called
Chilkhati Buruj. This is the famous spot on Rajmachi that gives you the most beautiful view of Horse Shoe waterfall in front of you. This is one of the bastions of the fort. there is also a small door that takes you to the lower part of this bastion.
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Fort Entrance
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The Route
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This spot was so amazing that one could spend 3-4 hours just sitting there and watching the different shades of nature. We spent around 30 mins here took lots of photographs as our memories and then started to walk towards the main entrance from the fort walls. At the entrance, we met with few other trekkers from Mumbai as well. We could also see some more trekkers approaching Udhewadi from the top of the fort. We felt that we were lucky that we could enjoy this beauty of nature in peace and without any disturbance from anyone.
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Strong Fortification
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Horse Shoe Waterfall from Chilkhati Buruj
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We climbed down to Udhewadi again in 20 mins and reached our place. We spend some more time there waiting for the delicious chicken made by Subhash's mother. By the time lot of trekkers arrived Udhewadi and we could get the feel of the rush on weekends. After an hour of desperate wait, we were served with the mouth-watering Chicken and curry. After having such heavy Lunch, it was time to say thanks and goodbye to Subhash and his family.
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Mr. Subhash Ware - Thanks a lot for such homely arrangement
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We started our return journey at around 2 pm. As always return journey was a little bit boring. On the way back we met lots of trekkers coming to spend their weekend with nature. We shared our experience with them and wished them Best luck for their trek. We also found lots of people coming with their bikes on those muddy roads which became worst due to the heavy rain in the night. After a walk of around 2 hours, we again reached the place where there are Jeeps available. We were so tired and the day was becoming hot so we decided to hire a Jeep till Lonavala station. The cost for the jeep was 1000 Rs per trip. It can accommodate up to 8 people. Group Sharing is not allowed here. We reached Lonavala by 5 Pm. Then we did some shopping of famous Maganlal Chiiki in Lonavla and caught the local back to Pune.
While traveling back in the train, we remembered the whole journey of last 24 Hours. It was truly a great experience and a memorable trek. Completely worth of the tiring 18 Km walk. I would suggest it is a must do monsoon trek for all the trekkers in Pune and Mumbai.
Happy Trekking !!!
Some Important Points about the trek:
- Avoid weekends because of the rush.
- Book your stay/Food prior to traveling.
- Hotel Shrivardhan - 9822420316
- Subhash Ware - 9158413493 (https://rajmachifort.in)
- Taxi Service - 9881500936
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