“If thinking about it makes you excited, imagine actually doing it!”
About the Trek:
Peb Fort, also known as Vikatgad, is a fortress situated in the range of Sahayadri Hills near Matheran hill station of Karjat, Maharashtra. Goddess Pebi Devi’s temple is there at the base of the fort, which led to the name of the fort as Peb Fort. As per the historical references, the greatest ruler of Maratha Kingdom, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj used the caves of this fort to store the grains. At the top of the fort, Swami Samarth’s temple is there. This temple is maintained by the disciples of Swami Samarth. His padukas (footwear) are also kept there.
This trek is considered to be one of the most beautiful treks in Maharashtra. You will pass through various flora and faunas, crossing the fields, forests, plateaus and climbing the rocks. There are many routes to climb Peb Fort. We used the Anandwadi-Vikatgad-Matheran route for the same. Our whole experience of the trek is shared later in the post.
Difficulty and Risk Level:
Our Itinerary:
Best Season To Visit:
Things To Carry:
How To Reach:
Cost:
Are you kidding me?? : NO!!
The Trek:
We, a group of 5 people, started from Vashi on 26th Jan, 2020. I (Himanshu), Manav, Milan, Harsh and Akshar were the part of the group. After packing essential things and ensuring that we had at least 10 liters of water, we left for Thane at 06:30 AM from Vashi. Despite of being a public holiday (I hope you remember 26th Jan is Republic Day in India: P), Thane station was fully packed as usual. We bought tri color badges, one for each, and boarded CSMT-Karjat fast local at 07:35 AM. Again, we had to struggle as all the second class coaches were overloaded. Somehow we all managed to get on the train, and here our journey for today started.
We alighted from the train at Neral Railway Station at around 08:45 AM. Our hungry tummy wasn’t allowing us to move further. So, we obeyed it without any argue and had Vada Pav, Bhajiya Pav, Batata Bhajji and Idli-Vada for breakfast. Now we were ready to go. We asked a rickshaw driver for base village and he told us that he would take us there for Rs 20 per person. Not a big deal, right? You don’t want to get tired before trekking, so it’s advisable not to go Anandwadi by walking. Moreover, it is not easy to reach there by your own as our favorite google maps doesn’t know about this village. So, we got on the rickshaw and reach Anandwadi by 09:45 AM. It was time to ascend.
Anandwadi is a small village,with a few number of houses. Some kids were playing traditional Indian games. Auto driver told us about the starting point and we started with the same. We followed the well marked path. At some places, there were two labyrinths heading in different directions, but you just need to follow ‘high tension line towers’ to be on the right path. We passed through fields and forests and had crossed the series of electrical towers.
At that time, first dilemma came. At right side, big rocks were there and left side was looking like a path of waterfall. Three of us, Milan, I and Harsh, tried to go from right side. Manav and Akshar were standing there, taking the pictures as the place was really beautiful and adventurous. We were wrong. The rocks weren’t forming any route. So we all moved towards left way.
It was very cool path. Little bit tiring but beautiful. But after half an hour, our stamina started leaving our body. Sharp sunlight was sucking all the glucose we had in our body. We had consumed approx half of the water we had, by then. We had to push ourselves, and we did. We reached to a small shade, which was looking like a small shop. But no one was there. On our left side, the way to the fort was clearly seen, but we had understood that it would be going to be a tough walk till there.
We took some rest beneath the shade for 10 minutes and regained our energy. Then we stepped towards the fort. We climbed over some rocks and reached to another bunch of rocks. This wasn’t easy to climb though.
A rope has been tied on the rock to climb over it. We stopped again to regain our lost energy and had consumed more water. After 5-10 minutes, we stood up and climbed the rocks in one go. It was good feeling as if we had done some mountaineering. But please be careful during monsoon while climbing this. From here, it took 20 more minutes to reach at the bottom of the fort. This was really a beautiful and picturesque place. One can witness so beautiful hills from here. The shade of fort was adding calmness and coolness to the place. I wanted to have a nap there. We sat there for while. But the funny thing was, Akshar thought it was the top and he was then ready to go down. I told him the truth and it disappointed him a bit. But we felt a new energy there.
From here, you have to go right side of the fort. The path is marked with arrows for convenience. You just need to follow them. We did the same. We saw a water cistern which wasn’t looking potable. There were some cave type structures also in the fort.
We moved on. By now, we had started feeling the water crisis in India and were using every drop with caution. But it couldn’t move our enthusiasm to conquer the fort. Further on the route, broken concrete structures were there. Be careful while walking on them. Locals have made many arrangements to walk through difficult accesses. One of these is metal staircase, we encountered just above a small statue of God Hanuman.
We climbed using the stairs.
After that, we could see the top from here. We finally met some humans who were coming from upside. They were also the trekkers. We asked them and they told that it was hardly 20 minutes ascend from here. That ascend wasn’t a cakewalk though. One, it was steep. Two, it was too slippery even with dry sand. I’m not sure how one does that in monsoon, but people do that. Anyway, after a walk of 20-25 minutes, we were finally at the top, at around 12 noon.
The top looks like a temple. Padukas of Swami Samarth, a great saint, are kept there. There were 20 odd trekkers. I asked for some water from a guy. He gave a bottle of water and it was like elixir of life for us. There were 2-3 monkeys too. We stayed there for half an hour and then started to move towards Matheran.
We asked some people about the way to Matheran. This route also wasn’t easy. Thirst and dehydration were testing us at every step. We needed just some water, nothing else, at that time. We checked in all the bottles we had, and drank every last drop of water from them. You have to be very careful at some places again, where the soil is too slippery. We also crossed some more staircases. After walking for an hour and half, we reached to a small temple kind of thing. Just above this, the railway track of Matheran was there. We turned towards right and started to follow the track. As mobile got the network, I checked the distance till Matheran taxi Stand from here. It was showing 2.2 kms. So, we had a target to achieve. After walking for around 250 m, on our right, a big Ganpati statue was there. It ws very mighty and showing the beauty of civil engineering. This is known as ‘Kadavarachya Ganpati’.
Struggling with thirst, we moved forward. After 45 minutes of dry walk (no ascend or descend), we reached Matheran Taxi Stand. You can guess what we had done. Yes, we bought a lot of water from first shop we encountered and drank too much of it. We had a little bit of snacks too. Then we took a shared a taxi till Neral Railway Station, which charged Rs 80 per person (standard price). We reached Neral by 03:45 PM. And boarded Karjat-CST fast local for Mumbai. Thus, another trek completed with lots of experiences, memories and learning.
Hope you enjoyed our roller coaster journey. Check out some pictures from the trek. And if the travel bug has bitten you, don’t forget to follow us on Instagram and Facebook. Happy and safe trekking!
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