Trek to BhimaShankar..We have a group of aroung 6-7 who are often on look out for a Picnic mixed with a bit of adventure. It is mid of July and this time we decided to go to Bhimashankar which turned out to be the most amazing experience.
We all gathered at Dadar at around 9AM and caught the train to Karjat. We reached Neral at approx. at10:30-10:45AM. From there we went to base village Khandas (we reached approx at 12noon) from where the trek starts...by a 9 sitter rikshaw. There we arranged for some food (Batata Vada, pohe and biscuits...thats the only thing that we could get) which was as tasty as anything.
We started the trek around 1PM, it was nice and cloudy. Till the start of mountain we were accompanied by a small river, it’s water was crystal clear and can be used for drinking. There are two ways to trek Bhimashankar; Shidi ghat and Ganapatighat. Shidi ghat is dangerous after speaking to local villagers we came to know that many people have lost their lives treking by this route.
So we chose the Ganapatighat which is much simpler but tiring, there are few (3-4) spots where you need to be extra carefull. Otherwise its a 5-5.5 hrs trek if you are carrying some baggage; with 3hrs of climbing and 2hrs of walk through the jungles. During this journey, You can get to see some rare species of birds. Especially if you visit in July-September you will see lots of small waterfalls and bigger waterfalls at every 30mins, this water can be used for drinking.
In our case one of my friend tried to be lil more adventurous and tried to climb through a diificult path and felt down (he still doesnt say that he felt down but I am sure that he did) and started filling dizzy and sick and then was not ready to climb. So myself and he had to go back to Khandas (base village). While going back I met the Pujari at the Ganapati temple (which is at 45mins from base village on Ganapatighat....one must visit this temple and prey the god for safe trek.....this is what locals say and even I), we stayed at his house in Vitthalwadi, Khandas and rest of the group went to the top. That Pujari took great care of us with whatever resources he had and the local dinner that we had was simple but still amazing. It was as good as the place Bhimashankar. Staying overnight at that village was also a very good experience as myself and my friend, we sat at riverbed for long hrs and had bath in the river. The atmosphere was nice and cool and we didn’t know when the night came.
Next day we woke up very early, paid the pujari with a good amount for taking care of us. Had a bath in the river which was very refreshing. Then started the trek, the pujari accompanied us till the Ganapati temple where he gave us cup of tea. The trek was amazing initail 1.5hrs of climbing, then a walk for about 1hrs then again 1hrs of climbing, again a walk for about 30-45mins and final climb of 20mins. If its weekend, you will find a small shop at every 30mins interval after initial climb of 1.5hrs there you can get tea and biscuits which will energize you. When we reached at the top, rather for last 1hrs before we reached the top, it was raining heavily and there was dense fog around and it was difficult but we were feelling like we are in heaven.
Once we reached the top we visited the Shiva temple (one of the twelve Jyotirlingas), took the prasad and had the lunch which was nothing but Vada pav, misal and bhaji....with a tea.....that too was awesome. We had a rest for about 15-20mins and then started backwards journey. You have to be careful at few spots as I said earlier. It took us 3hrs to reach the Khandas. Where we again thanked the pujari and caught a rikshaw to Neral......
It was the best trek that I had........the other treks were Karnala and HarishchandraGad which were good too.
Thanks,
Ruturaj.