Are you one of those who hates the city and wished that your life in it was just a bad dream? Do you dream of spending time with nature without having to pay a bomb for it? Do you wish to do something out of the ordinary? Some years back (7) my brother asked me to join him and a friend for a lil trek up what could be the highest point on the sahyadri range of moutains. Not one who enjoys too much strain to my body parts I declined politely. It would have been the biggest mistake I have ever made, had not the 2 gentlemen hauled me in very ungentlemanly conduct to the railway station with a packed rucksack on my bag. What unfurled in the next 48 hrs was a dream. Its a dream that recurred for the next 5 yrs of my life atleast once a year. Its Bhimashankar. I dare say some of you have heard of it, but for the others, I will let them know that its quite a obscure place and a perfect getaway from the daily humdrum of the city. its roughtly 4000 ft above c-level or so I have heard, and since I dont have any means of checking this for authenticity... digest it. Its historic significance is that the temple at the summit is supposedly the place where Hanuman lay accross the path of Bhima blocking him with his tail, which Bhima was unable to lift. There are 3 routes to get to the summit. 1. Motorable road way- If you are thinking of this, stop reading the review and concentrate on something else please. Actually I wont tell you which road to take. so there! 2. Sidi (ladder) Ghat- This is the more treacherous of the 2 trekkable routes. It involves scaling the mountain via a ladder that was built at a time when Aurangzeb was in his nappies. I do not prefer this route as it adds mental strain to the intense physical strain which is involved. This route will take you roughly halfway up from where you have to join the other route and carry on like everyone else. There are some terrific views from the ladder, but I reckon you will be concentrating on saving your neck than watching the splendour of mother nature. There is this point almost at the end of the sidi where one has to throw himself accross a rock and grab on to the ladders continuation to be able to proceed. Brrr...bbrbr.. not for me guys. 3. Ganesh Ghat- This is my favourite route. It involves endless hours of treking through dense and sparse jungle. THrouhg ravines and small streams. The trek begins with a walk accross many fields and a river which you can cross by swimming (in rains) or by taking the bridge. In winter its almost dry with small puddles here and there. Once you are through this roughly 2 kms walk you arrive at the bottom of the mountain range where you will begin climbing. <> The gradient of the climb varies constantly and people who are not physically fit will find this tough. Keep plenty of glucose and water handly. you are going to need it. You will arrive at the Ganesh temple. (i use this as the first resting point) I love the view from here. It overlooks the countryside and this is where you stop to notice the villages becoming smaller and smaller. There are 2 very tall and perfectly parallel trees here bang in the centre of the view. I think it makes for great composition for photographers. This temple also holds significance cause this is where I almost got bitten by one of the most venomous snakes in India, the green pit viper. The beautiful creature was basking on a plant and it was so perfectly camoflaged that I did not see it as I stood there to take a leak and actually did it on the snake, thats when it moved and thats also when I moved faster than any man has ever moved before. AS you proceed the mountain becomes more forgiving and the climbing gradient starts to ease and this is when you start enjoying your trek. Its beautiful. Only greenery around you. All you can hear are the sounds made by the birds and the animals. the trees hush once in a while and the occasional brook that you wade accross takes you straight to god. There is nothing more pleasing that this walk. You will cross ravines and huge boulders. At times the canopy of trees makes visibility at dusk times difficult. You will eventually arrive at a small village (3 houses) where you can rest and stay the night in the forest. A kindly man there (Govind Bua) will sit and talk to you if you can converse in marathi and will tell you many interesting stories of the jungle, about tigers stealing his cattle (there used to be tigers in the forest some years back) and of spirits and the haunted mountain side. You can sleep in the open if you dare or in a small temple which has something that resembles a door. But it will do. You can even cook your own food (we do that) as the old man will provide you with wood for the fire and even vessels if you need, but dont do that.. I am sure he has limited resources. The night can be freezing but its great to watch the stars from the bed. The sky is pitch black and has millions of stars. The visibility at night is zilch. so you better have a good torch if you want to answer the call of nature at night. The next phase of the climb, beginnig morning of day 2 will offer a different terrain. Its rocky and there are black and red scorpions now. watch out for them. the climb is very steep and dangerous. It is advised that you take your time and do it. A wrong step could be fatal at certain points. The end of this very strenous climb of 2 hrs will bring you into the cool shade of trees which we have named ’’glucose point’’. SO thick is the vegetation here that its almost dark. It is here that you can even sight the Giant squirrel (if you are lucky). A brief period of walking thru beautiful dark green jungle with overgrown shrubs and plants will bring you to your last stage of the climb. This steep climb will bring you to a point where you can see the entire countryside and one huge ravine. Just sitting here on this curve soothens my senses. Its quiet with only an occasional monkey calling after seeing a leopard or other predator and the silence of the mountain. once you reach the summit, enjoy the hospitality of the ppl. They can offer you accomodation for as less as 20 bucks a head a night and unlimited food for 25 bucks. Go to the temple, and walk around the small village that is bhimashankar. There is another place treeking distance of 2 hrs from here called gupt bhimashankar but I will write about this in another review. how to get there- Take a train to Karjat. do this very early in the morning cause you will need to start your climb by 11 in the morning latest. from Karjat take a bus (rs. 12/-) to Khandus village. from khandus you walk to the bottom of the range and begin your climb. This place is not very commercialised so dont expect too much in terms of creature comforts. FOr once forget you television and enjoy life at its basic best.