Trek to Duke's Nose

Photo Courtesy: Vinay Bavdekar

Finally, this is a post on an true trek. The trek to Duke's Nose was the first trek of the 2009-10 monsoon season. Duke's Nose is a popular trekking destination in the Lonavala-Khandala valley. You can go there and come back on the same day. Remember, the Duke's Nose is locally known as Nagphani. If you need to ask any locals for directions, ask for Nagphani. Only then will you get an answer from them.

How to get there?Take a train upto Khandala station. When you get down at Khandala station, walk along the tracks in the direction of Mumbai. As you reach level crossing, you can see a temple on the right hand side, when facing Mumbai. Start walking on the narrow path besides that temple. You will reach an abandoned railway track going steep uphill. Walk along that track till you reach the Tata Power reservoir. Enroute, you will also see signboards pointing towards the "Nagphani" route. At that point, you will see a small upclimb route towards your left. Take this route and climb the mountain.

Once you reach a flat top, you will come across three routes. One to your left, the one in middle, and one on the right that goes steep uphill. Take that route. We took the route in the middle and got lost, till a local and a trekking group who had already gone to Duke's nose got us back on track. From here, it is a almost well marked path to Duke's Nose. It is possible that you may stray away and reach some other peak. For this, keep asking every person you meet for the path towards Duke's Nose or Nagphani. Also, this route is towards the right side of Duke's Nose, which means if you get lost, try to search towards your left. Most of the path has good foot marks.

You should be able to locate a semi-developed road. Once you locate it, the Duke's Nose is the only hill next to that road. The last upclimb is straight forward in terms of the path to be followed. After your trek, you might want to come back to Khandala or go to Lonavala. Going to Lonavala is easy, but the route is long. To come to Khandala you will have to re-trace your path, which might be difficult.

An alternate path to the trek is to come to Kurvande village from Lonavala and the Duke's Nose is one straight climb from here. This is the easier route, but you may miss out on some very good scenery if you follow this path.

What should you carry: You need to carry everything. Water, snacks, stuff to eat, etc. Nothing is available at Duke's Nose. Infact, once you leave Khandala or Lonavala, nothing would be available. The entire trek lasts for about 5-6 hrs. So, carry stuff accordingly.

Trip to Vasai Fort

Photo Courtesy: Vinay Bavdekar

Again, not a trek, technically But then, an enjoyable trek, if you wish to be in isolation, away from the hustle bustle of the city. Walking endlessly, along the walls of the fort, staring into the creeks, this is a wonderful place to be. The Vasai fort or Bassein fort, is a sea-facing fort built by the Portuguese to protect their township of Vasai. So, there is no trekking upward or downward. The fort is also undergoing restoration, so you might see some activity going on there.

Reaching Vasai fort: Take the Virar bound local from Borivali/Andheri/Dadar. If you are lucky, you might also be able to board a Vasai Road bound local. The frequency of Virar locals has now improved considerably. Get down at Vasai Road station. It is advisable to start as early as possible. The Western Railway has now put up the latest local timetable on its website. So, you can have a look at the Virar local timings before you start out.

Walk down to the ST stand. From the ST stand, there are buses to the fort after every half-an-hour. The destination is Killabunder, the last stop on the route. If you are reaching early, be prepared to share space with fish, dried wood (as source of fuel) and lots of other utility stuff. There are shared autorickshaws too, but they carry four people (3 in the passengers' area and one next to the driver). So, if you don't want to wait for the ST, this is another option. The fare per person is just a little bit more than the ST (if 4 people are travelling).

At Vasai fort: This fort is nothing but a collection of ruins. You can climb up and walk along the wall of the fort to witness everything around Vasai fort. You also get a scenic view of the Vasai creek. Since the west-end of the fort doesn't face the sea, you view the sunset. On the wall, there are places where you can climb down to the inside of the fort. You can visit the ruins. Some structures are still in a shape where you can make out what they used to be. Cathedrals, stores, barracks, meeting places, soldier stations, churches, and many more structures. Go down to the jetty for a closer view of the Vasai creek. All in all, you may be able to spend 3-4 hours at Vasai fort. It is essential to wear full pants and good pair of socks with shoes as the area is full of wild trees and shrubs that have grown hapazardly.

Facilities: The fort is situated near the fishing village. So, you may get stuff like snacks, mineral water, cold drinks, etc. at the village shops. But do not expect meals like lunch over there. You will have to come back to Vasai city or go near the railway station for that. So, it is advisable that you carry a fair amount of mineral water, snacks, etc. along with you. Also, it is advisable to return to Vasai Road before sunset.

Matheran trip

Technically, this is not about information for a trek. It is more to do with a trip to Matheran by the toy train. Treks to Matheran are there but I haven't done one to comment on that. Last Thursday, we went to Matheran by the toy train. It is an interesting journey but needs careful preparation. We were in Matheran only for the day, i.e. we started in the morning from IIT and wanted to come back on the same night.

Now, many of us may think (like we thought) that the toy train can be availed easily. This, unfortunately, is not true. The time-table for the toy train can be found out here. The train at 7:30 runs only on weekends and gazetted holidays. So, the first train available to Matheran is at 8:50 AM.

The toy train has five coaches. Of these, three coaches are second class seating reserved coaches, one is a first class seating reserved coach, while the fifth is a second class unreserved coach. The tickets for the train can be booked online from IRCTC's website. If you want to try your luck, reach Neral station atleast one-and-half hour before the train's scheduled time of departure. This is because, the number of seats in the unreserved compartment too are fixed. The ticket window for filling up the unreserved seats opens up 45 minutes before the train's scheduled time of departure and you can expect a big rush for the tickets, especially on weekends and holidays.

If traveling from Mumbai, it is better to take the Karjat local and get down at Neral. The Deccan Express does stop at Neral, but it has chances of getting delayed and thus you may end up missing the 8:50 train. The Karjat local timetable can be found here.

The toy train journey is about 2 hrs. Once on the top, you need to pay an entry fee of Rs. 25/- per person to enter and roam around Matheran. This is collected by the local governing body and is used for the upkeep of Matheran. At the same place, you can find a map which shows the various points of interest in Matheran. Use that map and roam around Matheran. Motorised vehicles of any kind are banned in Matheran. Hence, all touring is either on foot or on horseback. But I would favour going around on foot as you can enjoy the weather and the locations at your will.

While returning, the last train is at 4:30 PM. On weekends and gazetted holidays, the last train is at 5:30 PM. So, if you have no reservation, again, be in line by 2:45 PM to stand a chance of getting the return ticket.

Facilities: Since Matheran is a popular tourist place, everything needed is available over there. Food arrangements are excellent and there are a number of eateries to satisfy your hunger. The type of food ranges from Maharashtrian to Gujarati and South Indian to Chinese. Bottled water too is available in the various shops and stores over there. However, be prepared to pay more (even on M.R.P. items) as all the items are hauled up from Neral/Karjat. A safe way is to carry some snacks and water with you from your home itself.