Today on my blog for the very first time is Saumy Nagayach who is an avid blogger from Pune. He writes mostly about travel and his writeups on Madhya Pradesh are my favourite on his blog. Read on about his adventurous weekend trip to Visapur fort, near Pune.
What happens when an unplanned trip with friends make memories for a lifetime? Well, to answer this we need to go in flashback and revive the memories of a scary yet an eventful trip.
About Visapur Fort….
I live in Pune and whenever people ask me that what is good about the city and what all places one can visit when in Pune? I mostly try to avoid the latter question as there isn’t much to explore within Pune. It’s a fact that most of the Punekars won’t differ to. No, I’m not at all saying that Pune is a bad place. It’s actually a wonderful place and the rich culture of Pune always amazes me. It’s just that when the city is surrounded by the Western Ghats, there are more beautiful places around rather than within the city. Also, Pune used to be considered as one of the major cities of Maratha Empire and that can very well be seen in the form of Forts built in that period at different locations in and around Pune. There are several forts in the vicinity of Pune. One of them is the Visapur fort, built by Balaji Vishwanath, first Peshwa of Maratha Empire. It’s a hill fort and a part of the Lohagad -Visapur Fortification.
Our Journey….
It was just like any other weekend, I had no plans to go out and get myself drenched. People in Pune eagerly wait for the arrival of monsoon season and make plans for weekend well in advance. And here I was, just wanted to spend my weekend sleeping like other lethargic bachelors. Fortunately, or say unfortunately, my friends planned a surprise trip to Visapur Fort. Yes, I was surprised! Or say I was shocked as I wasn’t mentally prepared for this trip. I was still in my sleep and wanted to stop everything but my friends had other plans. Finally, I gave up and agreed! We started from Pune @ 6 am and after taking almost 10 breaks (Chai-Bhutta time out) in between the trip, we reached Visapur village. Visapur is approx. 65 km from Pune. It was raining when we started from Pune. The main agenda of planning this trip was to enjoy the rain and explore the Visapur fort.
The Route
As per the plan we all agreed on, opted to go via Patan route, hence as soon as we reached Visapur, took help of few locals and they guided us with the directions for both the routes to Visapur Fort; One from Bhaja and other from Patan. We took the latter one. I didn’t know that how tough the trek was beforehand, though people suggested us to take the Bhaja route but my friends wanted to have an adventurous trip. Hence, we agreed upon Patan route. The trek was fairly okay, we followed the water stream, and that led us to the top. Not that we didn’t face any difficulty, we got lost 2-3 occasions and also slipped uncountable number of times before reaching the top.
The climb
It was raining heavily and there was no respite from breeze either. After reaching to a certain point, we stopped because there was a cliff that we had to climb. It was quite steep and on the other side, there was a deep ditch. We had to take a decision because climbing such a scary cliff wasn’t looking a great option. Also, to go down by taking the same route wasn’t easy either. Finally, we decided to follow the same route. The return journey gave us some fearful experiences as the path was slippery because of excessive rain and with a ditch on one side, we had no other option but to slide and cross the muddy patch. It was risky but an adventurous trip!
As soon as we reached the village, we spent some time at the waterfall across the road and then left for our humble abode.
Best Season…
July to February. Preferably during monsoon as there will be lush greenery all around.
How to reach…
Visapur Fort is roughly 65 km from Pune. It’s on the old Mumbai- Pune highway. One can also take a train from Pune to Malavli station from where Visapur is at walking distance i.e. 5-6 km.
Places to visit near Visapur…
Lohagad Fort
Bhaja Caves
Lonavala
Bedse Caves
Karla Caves
This post has been written for the month long blog festivities as my blog turns one as a self hosted one.
That’s an awesome experience Saumy. I am glad that you penned it down finally…Been waiting to see this post for long now. Thanks for hosting him Shalz 🙂
Thank you so much, Keerthi! 🙂
Oh what a lovely place! Right now would be a great time to visit, just post monsoon, the greenery would be breath-taking. As always, Saumy covers the travel aspect, must see inputs so well! The pictures are captivating, wanting even a non-trekker like me want to go adventuring. Cheers Shalzz for a wonderful month of guest blogging! Love and cheers!
Thank you so much for the kind words, Di! 🙂
I always love the lush greenery of the Mumbai-Pune ghats. This looks like an ideal destination for monsoons. The pictures are wonderful. Thanks for the detailed post, Saumy. Great to see this resourceful guest post on your blog, Shalzz!
Thanks a lot, Vinodini! Glad you liked the post 🙂
Thank you so much for hosting my post on your blog, Shalini! I’m glad to have contributed to the guest post series here. Thanks again! Also, hope you liked the post. 🙂
I am very happy to host your saumy – your post had some really WOW pics that captured the lush greenery and monsoon feeling to the T. Thank you so much for doing this!!! Cheers 🙂
The place is blessed by nature! I must say you have the adventurous streak in you…… I would have run the other way in fulllll speed
Wonderfully penned Saumy! There are sooooo many destinations in Maharashtra which are not popularised and indeed such treks in the sahyadris are so blissful! 🙂 especially in the monsoons! Your captures are brilliant as always:)
Wow, Monsoon Extravaganza Visapur Fort Trek is an absolute adventure lover’s dream! The lush green landscapes, cascading waterfalls, and misty atmosphere during the monsoons make this trek an unforgettable experience. The combination of nature’s beauty and historical intrigue at Visapur Fort is a match made in heaven. Don’t miss the chance to explore this hidden gem and make memories that will last a lifetime.