Date: 25th December 2007
After nearly a month long gap since the last trek, which was to Peb, I finally planned a trek to Kothaligad or Peth.
So, by around 6:20 am I was at the platform awaiting the Karjat local. From Karjat there is a lone State Transport (ST) Bus at 8:30 am that I was planning to catch so as to reach Ambivali. From Ambivali one has to trudge along the nearly an hour long mud path to reach the base village Peth.
I got a window seat in the Karjat local by chance and was enjoying every bit of the chilly morning. The train reached Karjat by 7:55 am. The ST bus depot is to the right side of the platform. I reached the bus stand by 8:10 am. I enquired with one of the ST depot official as to when the Ambivali bus was expected. He said it was scheduled to depart by 8:30 am and the Bus was already in the depot and he pointed towards it. I got into the bus and placed myself comfortably besides a window seat. After some time the conductor came inside to inform us that there was going to be Bus change as the one we were seated in has to undergo some repairs and a new bus will be arriving soon. The new bus came by 8:27 am. And our journey began by 8:30 am.
En route there was a Ganesh Mandir at a place called Kadav. It was 9:33 am when I got down at Ambivali. From here I walked along the opposite direction of the bus I was traveling in and took the small tar road going to the left side. Further ahead the road split itself into a mud path and a tar road. A local mentioned that the mud path will take me straight to Peth village, so I trudged along the mud path. I came across as many as three Land fillers being put to use. It seems that work is going on to connect Peth village to Ambivali through road. I maybe exaggerating here but it might happen that our very own Peth could become as well known and accessible as Malang gad.
I reached the base village by 10:26 am. I enquired for a place from where I could have lunch after the trek got over at the first visible settlement itself. I found one and told the lady to prepare a meal for me in an hour or so. I then started the actual trek to the top. I reached the top by 11:05 am. The Main Entrance still retains all its grandeur. I went around the pinnacle and found the lone cannon. Then I retraced back my steps and had darshan of ‘Bhairoba’. Further ahead there is a huge cave. As there was light coming inside the cave I decided it safe to venture inside a little bit. I could see some nicely carved figurines of dancers on the two pillars. There are two more chambers inside, but as they were too dark and I didn’t have a torch I just peeked inside and returned. I returned back and after passing the Bhairoba Mandir I noticed step leading to the topmost point. These are unique steps in the sense that they look so different from normal steps. I however skipped going to the top and returned back.
There is an underground water source which I also skipped as I was feeling a little bit hungry. I began my trek downwards. I must have covered a quarter of the distance till Peth, when I found a group of four middle aged trekkers resting. They enquired if someone was there on the top or was I making a solo trek. I told them I was indeed on a solo trek. They mentioned that they were on a 4 day trek from Bhimashankar to Rajmachi. They had started trekking Bhimashankar on Friday followed by Padargad the next day and were climbing Kothaligad today and intended to reach Rajmachi base by the night. I wished them luck and started my trek downwards.
It was a loss of some 10-15 minutes there but I did get to know which mountain ranges were the Bhimshankar, and where was the Padargad and also that just some 1.5 km from Ambivali were the lesser known ‘Pandav Leni’ and a talao. By around 12:20 pm I reached Peth and found the lady awaiting me. It was a very heavy lunch. She mentioned that all the preparations were from their cultivation itself. They kept whatever was needed by them and sold of the rest. Lunch over I took leave of the lady. It was 1:05 pm when I started trekking downwards.
By around 2:15 pm I reached Ambivali. I enquired for some ‘Khava’ from a shop near the bus stand. I had heard that Milk and ‘Khava’ are very famous items here. I purchased ½ a kilo of it and got back on the road so as to catch a Vikram. I thought I might as well give the ‘Pandav Leni’ a visit and started walking towards Jambrukh. However midway through I shelved my plans on seeing a Vikram approaching and got into it. It took us to Kashele in half an hour’s time. From there I caught another Vikram going to Karjat and reached the station by 3:30 pm, just in the nick of time to catch the local. I reached home by 5pm.
Reaching there:
Karjat is on the central line. Some one hour from Kalyan. From Karjat there is an 8:30 am ST (I think there is only one bus going towards Ambivali) till Ambivali. Bus fare up to Ambivali is 23 Rs.
The return bus is at 5pm from Ambivali. Vikram’s fare comes out the same as the Bus fares.
From Ambivali one has to walk along the mud path.
When to visit:
Monsoons
Important information:
One can keep the rucksacks, bags etc at the Peth village. Do remember to inform the villager to prepare food for you if you aren’t carrying anything along with you. Khava and milk are very famous items here. Khava is cheaper at Peth village. So ask for the same as soon as you sight any villager.
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