A TREK TO TUNG FORT

            September is the month of rain, scenic beauty, greenery and trekking. Pune is known for many good reasons, one being the forts nearby. Also the flora-fauna and scenery attracts many people from Pune to these places, specially on weekends. For a software engineer like me, these weekends are the days for relaxing and peace. However, being a travelling enthusiast, I feel excited to be at new places all the time.

Like all my trips, this trip also was an impromptu decision. I was enjoying the saturday morning on my "beloved" bed when my cellphone rang. I received the call, half asleep, although knowing who was on the other side of the conversation (a trekking enthusiast and my friend). The voice demanded me to be ready in 5 minutes and pack for the trek. Somehow I got convinced and packed some basic things. I had no idea, how is this decision going to turn out for me!! We also picked up a friend's friend, who supposedly knew about the place we were going to. A bit of relief for first timers like me.

We started late in the morning from Pune. We decided to go via Pirangut and Paud . This turned out to be unfortunate route for us for two reasons. The road welcomes you with potholes and rough patches almost everywhere. Second being, the flat tyre, which got fortunately done in Paud. During our run, many a times the rain entertained us and painted the surroundings as lively as possible. The clouds, mountains and the fog around them captivated our eyes many times. Apart from that, the car stereo and friendly talks helped crack the 80 km drive.

Tung Fort

Tung fort is also called Kathingad fort. 'Kathin' means difficult. Its evident from its steep climbs, cone type structure at the top and a narrow route on the edge throughout. Its a 400 metre climb from the Tungwadi village, which is right at its base. This place is very close to Lonavala (a famous tourist place and hill station).

On reaching the base of the fort, we were welcomed by an old man with a kathi (wooden stick) and his barking pet dog. The dog seemed unfreindly at first. But after our short acquaintance with him and some food, got pet-ly with us. We parked our vehicle under a  big  banyan tree and got ready for the trek.

Although the mountain looked not so tall, but its steepness made me realise that it could be a challenge. However, my friends thought that it was a piece of cake, given the fact that they have been to many such treks.

Fort Entrance

We started towards the top, being a sport. In the start, the rocky steps (probably made for people) made it easy to proceed, however they started disappearing and we had to start making our way from very small path  of a stream. The water in the stream was slowly finding its way in all possible diverging paths down somewhere. The rocks and small stones were slippery, probably due to the continuous flow of rain water. But that didnt kept us stopping anywhere. The entire surface of the mountain was covered with greenery and clouds like cotton balls, at the top. The atmosphere changed its mood regularly. Sometimes raining, sometimes wind playing with the vegetation and sometimes a sudden focus from the sun glowing up the wet flora and fauna. Amidst all these, we didnt missed our chance to click some photographs. There is a small water reservoir on the way. The water didnt seemed good enough to take a dive. Hence avoided it.

Tikona Fort

It took us 45 minutes or so to reach the top. The journey to the top was not exhaustive. I rather enjoyed every moment admiring every beautiful thing on my way. The view from the top is just breathtaking. This place is surrounded by lake Pawna from three sides. 

Pawna Lake and Club Mahindra Resort

You can easily point out Lohagad, Visapur, Tikona and Korigad forts very clearly. At a viewable distance one can easily see 'Club Mahindra Holidays - Lake Pawna resort' on the banks of Pawna Lake. 

The top of the mountain is a ruined fort. However it looked much like a watch tower to me. A flag is erected in the approx centre of this place. There is a small structure on the south of the small plane surface on the top which is suppose to be a shrine of 'Tungi Devi'. It was almost unmaintained with everything out of place.

We took some time to take in all these natural snapshots. Everyone cleared there thirst. We had some fruits and some snacks. Having all these on top of a mountain, along with a bunch of friends, just made my day. Everyone posed for there so called Facebook pics of the day :) . Well we captured a lot of pictures of the landscape, green fields, the beauty around us and much more. Getting some peace of mind in your daily life is a boon. 

The sun on the west seemed to be sending an army of dark, angry clouds along with the swift wind to hover over  us and exhibit there power. The bright and glowing sun threw infinite streaks of colourful rays, amidst these clouds, on the tiny appearing fields giving it a heavenly feeling. The baby clouds were fretting from the wind to disappear into the bigger clouds. Soon it started breezing and the rain drops got a chance to play with us. The wind increased its force, sending the rain drops in all possible directions. The drops now started slapping us. The force of the wind created such an effect around the top as if the steam (in the form of tiny rain drops) is rushing out from underneath of the surface. A perfect display of nature's artistic skills. It seemed that the nature was romancing with our mind forcing us to fall in love with it. Everyone was just in their own for a while.

After being on the top for an hour and half, we started heading towards the base. The rain made the way back, a bit difficult. We spotted a troop of Monkeys. The first sign of any living being on the mountain. We reached our initial starting point soon. We unloaded ourselves and started our journey back to Pune.

This time, the plan was to go via Lonavala. In fact this new route was very smooth and better than before. To my surprise this place was very close to 'Tiger point' (a famous place in Lonavala). We decided to halt there for a while. It was around 6.30 pm. The weather was completely foggy. We were not able to see beyond 10 metres. In such a weather if you get to have hot fried pakora (Bhajji) or maggi, then what more could someone ask for? We had garam bhajji ( hot pakora ) and maggi. I have to confess, it was yummy.

After some time, we finally headed towards the destination. The fog turned dense by then. It was a bit diffcult to drive first, but rain then cleared the fog and we were good to go. Almost every one was tired. I threw myself in one of the comfy corners of the car's back seat and went into a sound sleep. Almost in an hour or so we reached Pune. My impromptu decision for this trip definitely turned out to be good.

  

You can get some basic info about Tung Fort here.