"Sondai", which is located in Karjat, is one of the most beautiful place blessed with wonderful picturesque beauty.The location is renowned for the abundance of adventurous trekking, particularly in monsoons.At the top, you'll have a fantastic view over the Matheran Range, which is made up of green and foggy pinnacles.
About the Trek
Difficulty and Risk Level
Our Itinerary
Best Season To Visit
Things To Carry
How To Reach
Cost
The Trek
About the Trek:
“Yaar, left se chadhen ya right se? I think right wala kam slippery hai (Dude, should we climb by left side or right side? I think the right one is lesser slippery” Milan asked me. I said “Chirag ko left se bhejte hain and tu right se jaake dekh. Tab ham aayenge. (Let us send Chirag by the left side and you go to the right one. We will come later)”. And we all started laughing. This time we were four people: Me (Himanshu), Milan, Chirag and Anvesh.
Sahayadri Range of Western Ghats is full of surprises. One of these surprises is this: the Sondai Fort. This is lesser a fort but more of a watchtower, situated in Sondewadi Village of Karjat district in Maharashtra, India. This is another perfect weekend getaway for nature lovers, who are bored with the glamorous life of metro cities such as Mumbai and Pune.
The fort got its name as Sondai Fort because of the small temple of goddess Sondai at the top of a hill or watchtower or fort; whatever you say. Sondewadi Village is the base village for this trek, which is easily accessible from different parts of Mumbai and Pune.
This is a small trek that you can complete within less than 6 hours, including ascending, descending and enjoying at the top. But no doubt, it feels heavenly here, especially during monsoon. (We visited in Monsoon only, so don’t know about the other seasons).
Sahayadri Range of Western Ghats is full of surprises. One of these surprises is this: the Sondai Fort. This is lesser a fort but more of a watchtower, situated in Sondewadi Village of Karjat district in Maharashtra, India. This is another perfect weekend getaway for nature lovers, who are bored with the glamorous life of metro cities such as Mumbai and Pune.
The fort got its name as Sondai Fort because of the small temple of goddess Sondai at the top of a hill or watchtower or fort; whatever you say. Sondewadi Village is the base village for this trek, which is easily accessible from different parts of Mumbai and Pune.
This is a small trek that you can complete within less than 6 hours, including ascending, descending and enjoying at the top. But no doubt, it feels heavenly here, especially during monsoon. (We visited in Monsoon only, so don’t know about the other seasons).
Difficulty and Risk Level:
- Difficulty Level: Easy to Moderate
- Endurance Required: Low to Medium
- Risk Level: A little bit risky when it rains heavily due to slippery rocks. Overall low risk.
Our Itinerary:
- Leave from Mumbai and catch direct CSMT-KARJAT local at 8:56 AM from Thane. (This train starts from CSMT at 7:30 AM).
- Reach Karjat at 9:22 AM.
- Have breakfast there and take auto rickshaw for ‘Sondewadi’ Village.
- Reach Sondewadi by 10:30 AM and start the trek from the village by 10:45 AM.
- Reach at the top by 12 noon.
- Have fun there for 2 hours. Click pictures, enjoy the sceneries around. Have packed lunch, if you have.
- Start descending at 2 PM.
- Reach Sondewadi at 3 PM.
- At this time, you will hardly get any conveyance. If you want to get rickshaw from here to Krjat then you will need to pre-pone the whole plan for at least 2 hours. Or the second option is, take the contact details of the auto driver, who dropped you there in the morning and call him to come and pick you. He would charge extra obviously.
- The last option is (which we did), walk till Borgaon Phata which is approx 4 km from here. Reach there by 5 PM, enjoying the weather and greenery around.
- Get a taxi from here to Karjat Station.
- Catch Karjat-CSMT fast local and reach Mumbai.
Best Season To Visit:
- Any season is good to visit such serene places. But according to me, monsoon is the best season as there is nothing except greenery all around.
Things To Carry:
- Good Trekking Shoes (Make sure that sole is not flat because at many places, surface is too slippery).
- Raincoat/Poncho/Wind-Cheater. Any of these three is must, whichever is comfortable for you.
- Umbrella;
- At least two liter of water per person.
- Plastic Covers for Phone and Wallet; (Please do not throw them there. Because nature is beautiful, right! Let’s not make it tedious)
- Packed Food, Chips, Biscuits, Chocolates, Energy Bars, Energy Drink (During the trek, these things save you from Dehydration and keep you energetic. Again, please don’t litter around natural places.)
- Personal Medications, if any. It is always a good habit to keep basic first-aid kit while doing adventures. (Because uncertainty is uncertain: D)
- Do not carry sling bags or Jholas. Keep both your hands free while trekking. So, rucksack or backpack is recommended.
- Trekking stick is also not recommended for this trek.
How To Reach:
Sondewadi is the base village for this trek.
- From Mumbai: Direct local from CSMT to KARJAT. From Karjat, take an auto to Sondewadi Village (10 kms from Karjat Railway Station).
- From Pune: There are many direct trains from Pune to Karjat. One is Singhad Express and another is Sahayadri Express. Try to catch former one so that you can reach Karjat by 8 AM. Sahayadri Express can be a good option too, if you want itinerary same as ours. Take auto for Sondewadi Village
Cost:
Our overall expenses were less than Rs 300 per person. You can refer to below-written expenses for more clarity.
Total: INR 225.
Now, that’s really appreciable, isn’t it? :P
Now, that’s really appreciable, isn’t it? :P
The Trek:
It was approx 9:30 AM when I got off from the CST-KARJAT local at Karjat Railway Station. Other three people had already reached there and were having breakfast. They were coming from Pune. I called them and joined them. We had Poha, Vada Pav and Jalebi. So basically, our day started with the breakfast only. We hired auto after the breakfast for Sondewadi Village, which is 10 KM from Karjat Station. It costed INR 300 for us (It was a classic example of bargain fail: D). En route, we noticed the same water body, which was there during our last trek (One tree hill point). We asked the driver whether Ambewadi village is on the same route or not. Ambewadi is base village for One Tree Hill Point Trek. He told that for both the villages, route is almost same. We could notice the same tree standing tall in the midst of that water body (Morbe Dam). So, we were there at Sondewadi by 10:30 AM. On our left, some houses were there and on our right, we could see the Sondai Fort. After confirming with the villagers, we started the trek.
Sondewali Village sign-board
It was proper flat road with some ups and downs for 300-400 meters. We were walking on the clean road. After 5-7 minutes of walking there was one waterfall, we could see, on our right. Some villagers were there, bathing and washing clothes. I asked them and they told us that this is the way for Sondai Fort. So, we turned right. Within 5 minutes of walking, we got that this is going to be a beautiful experience, as we were walking on steep terrain, full of stones. It was just for 100 odd meters and then came the real terrain for the trek.
Don’t forget to take right turn towards this waterfall area!
We could see the fort from here only. It was not looking so far, but as we went during monsoon, there were some muddy areas and slippery rocks too. It was feeling very easy as we were going with a good speed. Within half an hour we had travelled approx 40% distance.
You can see the fort from the starting of the trek only!
There came the slippery rocks. It was very tough to decide, which way is correct and safer. We had orange and took 5 minutes rest. While observing the route, we saw that at one side of the rocks, some marks are there which could be used as the support while climbing over them. We successfully climbed them without any casualty. There were some points which were too slippery and Anvesh and Chirag had also slipped at some points. But it was nothing but fun.
First slippery rocky patches during monsoon. Follow the footmarks!
We noticed some other travelers behind us. The trek had become more beautiful and the trail had shrunk. It was too shrunk at some points that only one person can pass through it at a time, that too with precautions. But the surrounding scenery was so beautiful that it hardly matters for us. We were just enjoying the trek because it wasn’t tiring at all. Again some rocky patches came with slippery surfaces. We stopped there and thought about how to cross it. Meanwhile, other trekkers had reached them. All of us started climbing slowly. They all did it easily but I was not feeling confident. Then, a person from another group helped me in climbing.
En Trek!
Plateau just below the fort. More beautiful than the top itself!
From there, it was hardly 20 minutes of easy walking towards the base of the fort. We had reached at the base by 11:30 AM. The environment there was so pure and serene that we didn’t want to go anywhere from there. We could see the final stairs for the fort, but we liked the place so much and sat there for 15-20 minutes. We clicked some photographs with crossing clouds, grazing cattle and Morbe Dam in background. Then we again stood up, and headed towards the fort. You can see orange color stairs which are to be climbed to reach at the top. From here, we took 15 minutes to reach at top and we were there at 12:10 PM. There were two water cisterns. Some bloggers say that the water is potable, but I strongly oppose that. We could see frogs floating in the cisterns, which were full of algae. Moreover, it was too slippery around that.
Non-potable water cisterns on the fort
On the top of the fort, Sondai Devi Temple is there which, the reason for the name of this trek is. We stood there for one hour. It started raining heavily so we stopped there for some time. One can enjoy packed food, chips, chocolate or other foods there but please do not litter around. Already, some people have made that place a little bit dirty. There is no shop there so you need to take your own food.
The top! The destination! The Sondai Devi Temple!
Symbols of faith of localites!
Many people had come and left meanwhile. We started descending at 1:30 PM. We still were thinking that this is too early for us. After 3-4 minutes of descend, we noticed a cliff. So we went there and had a photo-shoot. Be careful while doing so, especially during monsoon. The world looks more beautiful when everything around you is that much serene. We were lost in the environment and loving this more and more. But being a corporate person, you have to face the reality, so you need to come back right!! We did the same.
The cliff! World looks imaginary from here.
Again dilemma was there while descending from those slippery patches. But we again made it easily.
Be careful! Slippery rocks are not easy to handle.
We reached at the sondewadi village by 2:45 PM. There was no auto rickshaw around so we asked the villagers. They told all the rickshaws leave at around 12. You will hardly find any. After asking about the options we had, they said that we need to walk till Bore Gaon Phata from here which is 6-7 KMs from here. It was a shock for everyone except me, it really delighted me. As we had no other option left, everyone had to do it. So without any further delay, we started walking towards Bore Gaon Phata. I loved the clean and empty roads. Others were enjoying it too.
The Road to Bore Gaon Phata.
Milan is very fond of bathing in waterfalls, lakes or similar bodies. So we stopped near a small waterfall, which was making a river kind of structure. Anvesh, Milan and Chirag took a bath in that river. I was sitting aside, enjoying the atmosphere. Seeing a flat plateau on my right, I thought of doing camping there someday. Anyway, we were done with the bathing and started walking again by 3:30 PM.
They really took a bathe in the flowing water of the waterfall
The destination was still 6-7 KMs from there. So we fasten our pace. We were going through the fields, forest, and hills but on a clean asphalt road. Nothing gives me more joy than this, walking in the peace. We had reached till the Morbe Dam. It was looking more beautiful, that tree in the dam.
Remember this tree?
I always dreamt of walking on such roads
After one hour of walking from there, we stopped at a local shop and had Vada-Pav and Ice cream. It worked as therapy as we all were too tired. Bore Gaon Phata was still 2 odd KMs from there. So we kept walking. Approx half km before the Phata, we were on a bridge. So we checked what is there below and it stunned us. This was a railway track, surrounded by hills. I had seen such things only in movies and I was so happy after seeing that in real. We would have missed that if we had taken an auto rickshaw.
And the fairy tale doesn’t end here!!
Anyway, we reached Bore Gaon Phata at 5:50 PM. We got a taxi from there till Karjat Railway Station and were charged just INR 20 per person. At 6:15 we had reached the station. All three Pune guys had lunch-cum-dinner as they had to wait for 1 hour for Sahyadri Express. I caught the KHOPOLI-CSMT local at 6:28 PM and another beautiful day came to an end.
I hope you enjoyed the experience. So buckle up guys, and plan a trip to Sondai Fort. Check out some photos from the trip here.The link is given below.
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