Trek to Kohoj Fort
Kohoj fort is located near Manor, on the Mumbai Ahmedabad highway NH8. It provides a nice weekend trekking destination, being a medium grade trek. The fort itself does not have too many man-made features. One distinct feature is a rampart that is now weather-worn into a shape that resembles a man’s torso with a head.
Three of us – myself, Sameer and Bhavik set off on our Bullets early in the morning on 7th October 2012. The early morning ride down Western Express Highway was a great experience, except for a few patches of bad road near the Dahisar toll point. At Manor, we stopped for a quick breakfast of idlis, and then turned off the highway towards Wada.
The village at the base is Waghote, with a few houses just a few meters away from the highway. We parked our bikes outside one of the houses, and convinced a teenage boy named Nitesh to guide us to the fort in exchange for some pocket money.
The walk from there on was through lush green paddy fields, till we reached the base of the hills
The initial climb was moderate, reminding me of the climb up Ratangad. But this was a much longer climb in terms of distance.
The next lake we passed was the bigger Shelte lake close to the base, where we found a sadhu sitting on a broken boat, enjoying the serene lake view. Funnily, even this lake is heart shaped!
Another broken boat without a Sadhu
The real climb started after the lake. Bhavik was doing a trek after a long break and he really bore the brunt of the distance on the way up
After the initial climb, we reached an idyllic meadow with tall green grass all over, and a small temple populated by a lone dog sitting on one side of it
We passed a small Hanuman temple while climbing towards the rock formation
We reached down tired but quite pleased with ourselves.
We then rode back to Mumbai uneventfully, with a final stop for kheema pav at Mira Road, before we raced on the Western Express Highway back home.
What a great way to celebrate my birthday!
