Destination
Torna
Our team (Amey, Hrishikesh Hegde, Pankaj Khanzode, Ranjit and Swapnil,
the PSPL gang) was looking
forward to
a trek with "medium" difficulty level, now that we had the the
experience of Tikona with us. The second criteria was covering the
whole event in a single
day. That is how Torna was decided as a suitable candidate.
Getting There
To reach Torna, you have to
reach a village called "Velha". State Transport buses are available
from Swargate bus stand at a frequency of about 1 hour. We took the
early one around 7:00AM. You reach Velha in around an hour and a half.
The last bus back to Pune is at around 6:00PM, so you may plan your
climb down accordingly. It will be a good idea to confirm the timing of
the last two buses for pune from the villagers. We did exactly this and
had a comfortable commute from Pune to base of the fort and back.
The Trek
Velha is located at the very
foot of the Torna fort. After having a light breakfast at the village,
we started the trek. One should be cautious while taking directions
from the locals. You may get different pointers from different people.
There are some good checkpoints enroute to the top in form of small
huts. If you don't find one every half an hour or so, it may be better
to reconsider your path. Overall, it takes around 3 hours to reach the
top.
Places to See
The temple of Toranaji is a
good spot to take a halt after the tiring climb. Once relaxed, there
are lots of
towers (Buruj) that you can vist. However, if you plan to go to Torna
in
seasons other than rainy season, you may not be in a mood to enjoy the
beauty
of all the towers, since they are spread quite far away from each
other.
One may find a helpful map of major landmarks atop the fort in the
Toranaji
temple. There are many forts like Rajgad, Raigad, Sinhagad and
Pratapgad that
one can see from Torana.
Survival Guide
It may be good idea to carry
plenty of water, since you may not get any at the top of the
fort(despite what the locals may tell, you may not find any potable
water source on the fort). Also
there is no provision for any food at the top. You will have to carry
your
own food stuff. As usual, bread, butter, cheese, jam, fruits are good
options
for the afternoon lunch ( take care that the butter doesn't melt in
your
bag and your bag relishes it instead of you !!).
Final Verdict
Surely worth a try!