[MX6]

Originally Posted by pjbiju

We stopped near a temple and parked our cars. Got out to see a lot of scratches on the sides.

Saar. Just a word of caution when you park your cars in places like these.
My colleague went on a trek to some place enroute lonavala along with many of her friends (with all family).
While two families came in two cars, my colleague took her family in the pune - lonavala local.
The other two families had parked their cars in the base and of them climbed up. When they came down, both the car windows were smashed and theives scooted off with the stereos and other sundry items left in both the cars.
They lodged a police case, but it's been 3 weekends hence and there's absolutely no clue. Worst part was both the cars were hardly 3 - 4 months old and it hurt the other two folks very badly to see new cars smashed.
Luckily my colleague went by train and didn't take the car.

Please take care in future.

[pjbiju]

The trail always presents a lot of nature's models posing for you to capture their beauty. I consider flowers to be one of the most difficult subjects to shoot, especially close-up of flowers. It is difficult to get a good composition in their natural surroundings. During my trek, I found it almost impossible because of the strong wind. There was no way the plants would stand still allowing me to get them in focus. And I was pretty much left behind by the group since I was spending too much time in photography. So there was no support personnel to hold the plants still. Despit that I did try to capture a few things along the trail. Many of them I could not.

A hibiscus in the village

The hibiscus was used for a lot of stuff back home in my village. Before the days of the shampoo, the leaves of this plant were used by the ladies to make their own version of shampoo. We kids used to eat this flower. And then there is another hibiscus variety that does not open up, which always offered us sweet honey like nectar.

A blue flame. Again a common flower. I have no idea what this is called.


A kind of wild fruit. Again I have no idea if this is edible or not. Again I do not know what this is called.


White Flowers. I was seeing these for the first time


The blue lady again


Tender leaves and long protective thorns


Another common flower. What is this called?


A red flower I saw near the lake


The fight between death and life. With the rains gone, these blades of grass are slowly dying, only to spring to life again after the rains


Pink and white blooms

Originally Posted by MX6

Saar. Just a word of caution when you park your cars in places like these.
...
Please take care in future.

MS, thanks for the warning. Ours were the only vehicles there. And my friend in the Figo had even forgotten to lock his car. He discovered this when we returned from the trek. I generally do not keep anything valuable in the car. The stereo system faceplate is always removed. Still this is a good thing to keep in mind. In this case we were quite far from the village.

[pjbiju]

We did meet some wildlife. Well, I am kidding. That was to get your attention. No wildlife. These were very friendly and were at the top of the fort. I have no idea how they survive there. May be they just go up there and then later come down back to the village. My son desperately wanted to take them home. Only if we were not living in a flat!

Again, what breed are they?
The reddish brown one


And then the black and white one

[pjbiju]

It is now mostly some pictures. While going up to the fort, you need to pass along a narrow ridge. At many places, if you slip and fall, you could end deep down in the valley. There aren't many shrubs to hold you back.

Taking a photo break with the fort in the background


The ridge that we passed through


The left side view from the ridge


The first small cave that we passed through


A pond and a temple half-way through the trail. There was a lady who had set up a small shack here selling lime juice.


A distant view of the lake we passed and the mud road that our cars took


Getting past the first gate like structure


Conquered the first section

[jacs]

pjbiju, This deserves a star rating. Beautiful snaps, what gear you carried? BTW spotted doggy seems to be an original Dalmatian breed!

[pjbiju]

Originally Posted by jacs

pjbiju, This deserves a star rating. Beautiful snaps, what gear you carried? BTW spotted doggy seems to be an original Dalmatian breed!

Thank you Jacs for your appreciation. Strange finding a Dalmatian at the top of the fort. I was using my wife's P&S camera LX5. Actually that was my birthday gift for her. But since I have not bought a DSLR yet, I end up using the camera more often than her.

Hanuman guarding the hill


The Fort - now we are close to it


The view of the valley on the other side of the ridge


My son on the flight of steps leading to the fort. Though they look like simple steps, the gradient is very high. So a bit scary when you start climbing down. Not sure how it would be during the rains.


To be continued..
Biju

[StarVegabond]

Originally Posted by jacs

pjbiju, This deserves a star rating. Beautiful snaps,

Agree. Rated 5 star
Wonderful pictures, i liked the way you composed the shots and presented it.

[pjbiju]

Originally Posted by StarVegabond

Agree. Rated 5 star
Wonderful pictures, i liked the way you composed the shots and presented it.

Thank you Star for the appreciation. The joy of sharing our experiences with others is great. This time my friends forced me to take a lot of pictures of them. They would say "don't take pictures only for Team-Bhp". The number of pictures I took of people during our trek to Purandar Fort was not too many. So this time I gave into their demands.

One in our group waiting to climb the steps. I was wondering how the people who occupied this fort would go up and down these stairs. We had to be very careful in climbing down. How did the soldiers do it during the times of war? It was almost like a climbing up and down a vertical ladder.


Others who have already climbed up


After the first flight of steps we came to this small cave and water body


My wife and I at one of the caves. Bad place for people who walk in their sleep. The access to this place is narrow. And if you step out, you plunge down into the valley. A place I would love to sit and watch the rain falling.


Another cave now filled with water in front of the temple at the top of the fort


The statue in front of the temple

[mmxylorider]

great writeup, and photos! I was in the vicinity too, we had gone to the temple at Hadshi and were in two minds about going further to Tikona. Pretty soon, now that I know what to expect!

[pjbiju]

There was a person taking care of the fort. He had an album full of photos of the fort and the trekking trail. Unfortunately I did not see the photos. Nor did I talk to him. I should have. He had a scythe that he was using to cut down some of the plants. He also requested us not to throw any garbage around. That is something we never do. We always carry such things back, be it chocolate wrappers or any other non-biodegradeable material.


There is a water tank at the top of the fort. I do not think the water is potable now. Some forts do have potable water at the top


The mud track below and a red car moving along


The tree with its root in a perennial supply of water.


Alex ready to do his own sculpture. Well he had picked up the stone to throw it into the water filled cave below


Well another fort conquered and our flags flying high


A few more photos to follow.

Originally Posted by mmxylorider

great writeup, and photos! I was in the vicinity too, we had gone to the temple at Hadshi and were in two minds about going further to Tikona. Pretty soon, now that I know what to expect!

Thanks MMxylorider. Where is this temple you had been to? Is it along the same road?

[jacs]

Again amzing snaps there. Good to know there is a care-taker for the fort, a good reason why the surroundings are litter free and clean.

@Star, you have ticked Tikona for this year?

[pjbiju]

After a satisfying trek and some snacks and party games later. We headed back to civilization and its chaos.

A look at the fort again


And of course we stopped at the lake again.


Making waves!


Panoramic shot of the lake


The pump house


The parting shot


Thank you for your time. Hope you have enjoyed the pictures. If you are in Pune, visit this place.

Biju

[StarVegabond]

Originally Posted by jacs

@Star, you have ticked Tikona for this year?

I think biju did a fantastic job of taking us through a virtual tour of Tikona fort.

We have already visited several forts in Maharastra, ofcourse i would like to visit Tikona as well, but not on prioroty. May be after we relocate to Mumbai or may me next time when we spend some time in Pune/Mumbai.

[pjbiju]

Originally Posted by StarVegabond

I think biju did a fantastic job of taking us through a virtual tour of Tikona fort.

We have already visited several forts in Maharastra, ofcourse i would like to visit Tikona as well, but not on prioroty. May be after we relocate to Mumbai or may me next time when we spend some time in Pune/Mumbai.

I think that is a good plan. I think the best time to visit this place would be around September when everything would be green. May be along with another Kaas meet next year? This can be done quickly. We started from home at around 8:00 a.m. and were back at home by 4:15 p.m. This, after a leisurely trek going up, spending almost 1 hour at the top of the fort and again around 30 minutes at the lake. And yes, another 30 minutes for our breakfast at Tikona Peth village.

[rajarams]

Biju, how long does it take for the trek up to the fort? Since you have mentioned "family trek", i was interested, but the pictures seem a bit daunting.
On "Friends & Family" weekends, i need to find places where i (and few other friends) can easily climb carrying our 2 yr old kids too. Is this possible on Tikona? Just for reference, we managed Purandar, the 3 caves near Lonavala & Lohagad quite comfortably.