Raireshwar

Hi all,

Raireshwar is not a fort .. its a Lord Shiva's temple where Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj had taken oath of Swaraj and laid the base for it.
There are couple of forts on the way which you can try namely Kenchalgad and Kamalgad.
This weekend the trek was decided on Sunday as Shrikant wasnt available on Saturday and I was not well and so needed someone with me to lead.

Sunday, 10 Aug -

I woke up at 4.45 a.m but was in total disarray whether to go or not. Srikanth called at 5:00 and threatened me to come or to get shot by him as he went for water rappling to Rajmachi on Saturday and on my request was again coming on Sunday. I started getting ready but I dont know to worsen or betterment I vomitted twice and as it was raining heavily outside I was really scared to go. But again I reached late to Sri's place n started for Shivaji Nagar. There I met Sriram - Srikanth's collegemate who had came all the way thr Mumbai for the trek.Later I got to know that Shekhar had also accompanied him.

So, as guessed we got a call from one of us who reached earlier that theres no bus for Bhor from Shivaji Nagar and we have to go to Swargate. I had informed Sri earlier abt it .. but Shivaji Nagar is too comfortable a point for everyone to meet. :-). So instead of 6:30 bus as planned we got a 7:00 am bus from swargate to Bhor. We were total 12 in bus with Soujanya joining later at Bhor as he ws late in reaching. The list goes like this - Me,Srikanth,Sunil,Shekhar,Ashish,Sriram,Rohit,Soujanya,Sourabh,Akhilesh,Hitanshu,Arjun and the lone from girls side Swati. Soujanya arrived at around 9.15. By then we had hired a jeep for going till Korle village (base for Raireshwar and kenchalgad) and coming back in evening. We bargained that for 550/-. The point to worry was - how are 13 people going to fir in 1 jeep. :-o.

Towards Korle :-

We started for Korle as soon as Soujanya arrived. The ride was just awesome with couple of others hanging outside the jeep -- so space was never the issue :-). As soon as we reched the base village Korle ... with some guidance from villagers we started for Raireshwar. The route towards it was very different compared to the ones done earlier. One side there were mountains and numerous waterfalls and one side long valleys with mountains on other side. It gave a very open and frsh look. On the way we met a localite who came to take us with him. On enquiring he told that someone from base village had informed him that we are coming so he came from top to escort us. We were in a enjoying mood so asked him to go ahead and keep the lunch ready while we reach at top. We got some directions from him and continued.

The wrong way -

But the usual thing happened. He had instructed about a particular diversion - the one where we have to climb on right on the hill instead of going on proper paths.But as others didnt knew marathi they didnt undrstood it properly and we went on wrong way towards Wai. An old woman really came as angel and came us with us to show the way. But one thing ought to be noticed all the way. Due to openness in atmosphere and as it was raining full day it was very chilling throughout.

The way ahead was very interesting with stone steps initially to climb the peak. They were around 300 of them. Also ahead were some iron steps which were a bit scary as there was a deep valley on side and they 'seemed' to be shaking.Later on it was pleasnt walk thr streams and dense fog. But as we were late; the one we met earlier - Suresh sent one of his frnd to get us. We then went to the temple Raireshwar. There he explained us about the history of the temple - why Shivaji chose this place to take the oath of Swaraj; the importance of other forts around the Raireshwar etc.

We had a very nice lunch and specially the atmosphere was very cozy. It was chiiling outside and the small 'chullah' seemed enough to make us feel comfortable compared to the chill outside.Sriram was so sick of the cold that he went directly in their kitchen and sat beside the stove. The tough time started now. To leave that warm place and start again for the descent was very hard. On top of that I got a sprain in my left knee so it was very troublesome for me to get down ... specially on steps. But rather than getting slower I increased my pace so that I can finish the trouble soon .. ;-).

We reached in very short time below. Me, akhilesh,hitanshu and Swati were racing down the hill. But for a brak we arrived at a waterfall on which just took the snaps while climbing. And u know - "The trek is never completed without getting drench in waterfall". So we all three went in ... soon the others also did catch up wit us in the same. But this delay made us to get a fury of driver. He had to report his owner asap and we were taking time at our leisure. But Sriram was in full form and was pulling legs of him - n he wasnt even aware of it. :-). The journey back went quite peacefull with almost everyone half asleep. We reached Korle by around 7:30 pm. Sriram n shekhar bid us gudbye for Mumbai and we also got a asiad towards pune. The bus got full and was almost going to start when they both climbed up. It wasnt not easy to get on highway from that village to get bus for Mumbai. So they decided to get back to Pune n then catch bus/train to Mumbai from Pune.

Rest of the journey went in sleep. We reached Swargate -Pune by around 9:00 pm. I got to Srikanth's place grabbed my bike and raced back to home.

Details:

Team : 13

Route: Pune (Swargate/Pune station) -Bhor -Korle(base village)

Endurance: Low

Difficulty : Low.

Time : Pune to Bhor by S.T 1hour 15mins - Bhor to Korle 1 to 1.5 hour (by private jeep or bus). A bus is available for Korle at 8:15 am. Later on its at 9:45 am. Get back to korle village before 7 p.m as the last bus to Bhor is at 7 pm. You will be in trouble otherwise.From Bhor to pune there are quite a buses available later.

Suggestion - If you are planning to get late more than 7 p.m to reach Korle while descending better hire a jeep from Bhor to get to Korle and coming back.

Expenses: Rs 150 Approx.

Best time to visit: Monsoon!