A journey to clouds in 300 bucks!!! Mt. Everest of Maharashtra @ Kalsubai

Welcome to CheapThrills!!! This is my travelouge where I will share my experience of visiting different parts of the country in a cost effective way. So it would be more of a budget trip than a luxurious one. Today I am going to describe my  solo journey to the Mount Everest of Maharashtra… Kalsubai.

Kalsubai is a mountain in the Western Ghats, located in  Maharashtra. Its summit situated at an elevation of 1646 meters (5400 feet) is the highest point in Maharashtra which earns it the much glorified title of the ‘Everest of Maharashtra’.The mountain range lies within the Kalsubai Harishchandragad Wildlife Sanctuary. It is visited throughout the year by avid trekkers, Kalsubai temple devotees and wildlife enthusiasts alike.

Journey from Mumbai to Bari…

The plan was to complete it in a day and  that too in tight budget! I took TAPOVAN Express from Dadar at around 6:30 AM.  Had booked ticket  to avoid a standing journey of 2.5 hours till Igatpuri as I had to climb nothing less than 1646 m!!!  Price was mere 75 bucks!  Reached Igatpuri by 9 AM . The train was running on time. lucky me

From Igatpuri on asking a stall wala I came to know that it was convenient to catch an auto till Ghoti  and then a van till the base village Bari.  Within no time  I got an auto and proceeded towards Ghoti. The distance from Igatpuri to Ghoti  is around 7 km . It made my pocket lighter by mere 20 bucks. Being a Mumbaikar this was pretty unusual  for me.

Till now everything was running smooth. I reached Ghoti in around 20 minutes.   I enquired about Bari and soon reached a jeep which was standing empty there. On inquiring,  the  driver said it would take long time for boarding as he would not start till it gets filled.   As time was ticking by I was getting more worried as I had to return back the same day. The driver approached me and said it would  be 11 by the time it gets filled, better you try some other options like a bus or a lift from  someone. It came to my knowledge that there is a bus to Bari at around 10 AM. The bus stop was 10 min far from the place where auto left me. On reaching the bus stand I came to know that there was a bus in next 15 min. Phew!!! Great sign of relief for me. We need to catch the bus to Akole which goes via Bari. I was wondering whether it will be on time and guess what the bus was there 10 minutes before time. Lucky me. Bus fare was 30 bucks! Thanks to MSRTC.

“If you are travelling in a large group you always have that option of  taking the van (charges between 40-50 per head) but if you are few in number then you can target this bus to Akole from Ghoti bus stand . Its better to be at the stand before 10 A.M  as you cannot afford to miss this bus owing to its frequency.”

I reached Bari by 10:45 AM. On inquiring the conductor about returning from Bari, he said there  would be a bus at 6 PM from Bari to Kasara.

And the journey begins….

I must say, Bari is exceedingly picturesque.  It is surrounded by beautiful scenery and the rice paddies will surely catch your attention.

After walking for few minutes, I reached the entrance door of  Kalsubai . The best part of this trek is that it has clearly marked ways  till one reaches the summit,  so chances are thin that one gets off track.

There are shops after small intervals till you the reach summit where you can get water bottles, biscuits, lemonade, maggi, lunch etc. As I have trekked Rajmachi  in monsoon, I found this one quite  easy as the climb is straight forward  and there are no ups and downs. Having said that climbing 1646 m tests your endurance thoroughly. But if you fuel yourself and take short halts regularly , you can complete  the trek without much exhaustion.

At the summit (1646 m) …

I reached the summit by 2 PM. The summit is marked by a temple named ‘Kalsubai’. According to the villagers living at the base of the mountain, a woman name Kalsu Bai was punished by villagers and forced to leave the village, and that the woman climbed the mountain and started living on it, and later died there, giving the mountain its name. The view from the summit is breath-taking and one can get a clear view of Bhandardara dam, Alang-Madan-Kulang and Harishchandra fort.

Good-bye Kalsubai…

I spent the best hour of my day enjoying the breath-taking views of landscapes. After being completely satisfied, I  started my return journey at around 3:30 PM. Trekking down is easy , you just need to balance your weight. I reached the bus top by 5 PM. The bus to Kasara still had an hour so I took a passing by auto to Ghoti.  Followed the same path while returning. (Bari-Ghoti-Igatpuri-Kalyan). Boarded an express from Igatpuri to Kalyan and reached Kalyan by 7:45 PM.

You can go to Kasara from Igatpuri by a local vehicle or directly from Bari by bus and from there board a local to Mumbai. This is more convenient as express arriving at Igatpuri may or may not be on schedule.

Travelling Expenses:

Best time to visit…

Monsoon(July-September) would be the best time to visit Kalsubai. In winter(October-February) you can go for day as well as night trek  . Avoid day trek in summers, as it might become very hot during the daytime.