Peb Fort: A Breath-taking Trek amidst Foggy Mountains
Heavenly trek with a sensational experience among the hills of Matheran!
Peb Fort is a hilltop fort that is located in Neral, on the hills of Matheran. Situated at a height of 2100 ft. makes the place pretty as a picture. The hilltop fort has no significant history as such but the view from the top is breath-taking.
It takes about 3
hours to trek up to the fort from the base villages. Being extremely close to
the civilizations, this place gathers a lot of enthusiastic trekkers on
weekends.
On this sensational trek, we were joined by Nishit and Janak. Nishit Mistry, an engineer who loves to be in the mountains whenever he gets time to do so. And Janak, who has been with us on many other voyages needs no introduction, as his Instagram speaks for himself.
How to get there?
It is one of the
closest treks for Mumbaikars. It takes about 2 hours to get there.
Matheran: 8 KM
Mumbai: 55 KM
Karjat: 45 KM
Pune: 128 KM
Railways: Trains are
the most preferred choice to get here, as Neral station is located just beside
the starting point of the trek. There are trains every 15 – 20 mins that take
you to Neral from Mumbai. As soon as you get down at the Neral Station, you can
see mini-train tracks just outside the railway station. By following them you
can easily reach the fort.
Car/ Bike – Roadways
can get you here in about 2 hours or so if you stay in Mumbai, but if you stay
in Kalyan then it’s probably much more feasible to you guys.
*We don’t recommend
coming here in a bus cause you will have to change buses and that will
eventually, make you tired even before starting the trek.
Stairway to Heaven
There are two ways to
reach the fort, via the tower and the other is by simply following the train
tracks. Though the train tracks don’t take you to the fort but there are
signboards where the track turns towards Matheran and on the opposite side lies
the fort.
The path up to the
fort is extremely difficult and tiring. The fort looks much more heavenly
during the rains but the major concern of coming here in the monsoons is that
the path becomes slippery and makes it even more difficult to trudge over such
terrain.
One of landmark that
you might encounter on your way is this huge idol of Ganpati Bappa, if you see
the idol then you’re on the right track.
Once you see the
idol, then there will be a small entrance with a bell tied to it. Passing the
entrance are a few steps that take you down to narrow path. Moving further
ahead on the narrow path leads you to a point where you see two ways, one that
goes to Bappa idol and other to the fort. Take the other road and a further 20
minutes’ walk or so and you will encounter a beautiful waterfall and take a
small road on the left of the waterfall.
Finally, after
walking for a few miles, you’ll reach a pair of oppositely facing ladders
that’s when you know you’ve reached the top. Walking further up to the hill,
you’ll see the temple standing tall on the edge of the hill.
If you come here in
rains then you’ll be greeted with many small waterfalls on your way up to the
fort. It’s more like the hills on one side and the other side there’s a deep
valley.
Moving further ahead,
there’s even a small ladder on your way. Going down the ladder you will see a
narrow path that takes you to the fort. Then there’s a small gate which is an
entrance to the temple.
There must have been a small fort a few years back but now there are just the scraps of the fort that are present.
The Backpack
Your backpack should
hold essential utilities apart from food. The trek is risky and might even
injure yourself from the sharp edges of the rocks. So, carrying a first aid is
of utmost importance. Moreover, the trek is about 3 hours long and so feeling
hungry in the middle is completely humane. Easy to eat foods like some fruits,
chocolates can be in your backpack, too.
It’s better to carry
a lightweight camera rather than a big DSLR as the trek requires to the walk
for 3 hour straight and carrying huge loads on the back can tire you up.
During rains, the
pathway become slippery so appropriate shoes that have decent grip and a
raincoat for yourself, a bag cover and a mobile cover.
What you should know about ‘Peb Fort’?
The most important
thing you need to know about his place is that it is filled with blood-sucking
leeches which can easily climb on your body without you even noticing. So do
carry some salt with you as it helps ward off these creatures.
There are high
chances of you following some wrong path and get lost so don’t panic just
inquire about it to someone or simply try finding some landmarks like the
Ganpati idol or the gate with a bell etc.
There are taxi
services also that can help you ascend or descend almost up to the midway. So
do avail yourself of those services in case you get extremely tired, which
usually happens on your way back down. Moreover, it’s recommended to reach the
midway by taxi there’s still a lot more to traverse even after reaching the
midway.
Woow!
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