After a long time I was at Mumbai Central. I use to travel from Thane to Mumbai for 2 years during my MBA course at BGIMS. The railway station is somewhat same which it used to be 15 years back, only I could see a airport type lounge added to the outstation section, other than that it was all same. But as soon as I got out of the station and started to move towards the Central Bus stand, the whole area has got an upgrade, rather you can say as an upgrade in progress. The newly built underground metro passes between the Mum Central railway station and the Bus stand, the whole top area has been widened to double the size of what it used to earlier. Other than that the same old Railway station and same old bus stand. I was suppose to catch Mumbai - Wai ST Bus at 00:15 AM to reach Wai by morning 5 AM, then reach Raireshwar by locally arranged transport, then start walk to Koleshwar plateau and then descend to Jor village from there which was the first night stay stop. That was the plan and glad we could execute it, but with some hiccups.
As soon as I entered the bus stand, I could sense the anxiety of travellers who had came to board their respective ST buses to reach their respective destinations all over Western Maharashtra. Some had reserved their seat and were anxious about the arrival of their buses, some had not reserved and were anxious if they could get seats for the long journey. Overall the bus depot was buzzing at 11 PM in night on 23rd Jan 2026 more than usual, as following three days were holiday and everybody had to go somewhere. When I reached the Depot I had got 1 hour 15 mins for the Wai bus arrival, so I located an empty seat and rested myself. The seats at the depot are very funny, they are of stainless steel which don't allow to sit still, you place yourself upright and in 2 mins you slips downwards on the seat, then again you have to make yourself upright.
One of my co-trekker and friend Mahesh Gawasane arrived at 11.30 PM and we both were suppose to board the bus at Mumbai central bus depot and other 9 members from Kharghar. As our tickets were booked from Mumbai Central, someone had to come from the origin to inform that most of our team members were boarding from Kharghar, so that the conductor remain inform and doesn't skip Kharghar. Our bus arrived at platform no. 8 of the depot 15 mins before the time. Our seats were reserved so we didn't rush, but some of the unreserved travelers were desperate to find seats. After two of us entered the bus, we announced our reserved seats which were all in left side of the bus, so no one sits on them and later claim to be theirs. Mahesh informed the conductor about the Kharghar boarding and the bus started from Mumbai central on time. The bus when reached Kharghar at 1.45 AM was already late by 1 hour due to traffic and our kind hearted conductor who was calling each and every reserved passenger and waiting for them to board the bus. Around 2 AM in night, the bus with 11 of us and 22 more passenger left Mumbai and plied on the Mum-Pune expressway. While leaving Mumbai central, the driver had announced that there is heavy traffic in Lonavala ghat, which had bulged till we reached the first toll naka at Khopoli. Immediately 5 mins after toll naka, the traffic started and the ordeal got over after 2 hours. While all others in the bus napped during these two hours, only two people were awake. Myself and the Bus driver, Bus driver was awake for obvious reasons and I was awake thinking if we reach Wai late, then will we be able to complete our first day plan in time. Our plan was to do the first day without any guide, as I had seen all the videos on YouTube of the route and downloaded offline GPX maps of the route. But if we reached late there was no room for error or losing the route, coz we may not have time to recover and we may have to spend our night in the forest. I made calculations and different possibilities in my mind. As the bus left Pune city around 6.30 AM, Wai was still around 2 - 2.5 hours away. I discussed the plan with Mahesh and he agreed that we may have to cancel our original plan of Day 1 and reach the Jor village directly by local transport which was earlier posed to drop us at Raireshwar. After reaching Jor village, we may go up to old Mahabaleshwar and come back to Jor village for continuing the Day 2. While I was not happy that we had to cancel the original plan of Day 1, but the late arrival of ST bus in Wai foiled all the plans. After discussing the Mahesh, I explained the plan to the whole team, to which one of the member Sandip Nikam said that if we reach Raireshwar by 11.00-11.30 AM and if we get a guide, then trek route can be completed safely and in time. Even if get into the dark hours of evening, then with help of guide we can find our way to Jor Village as all the members had torch. The plan sounded good, but I was skeptical as in how we shall get a guide at last moment. Some phones were dialed, some experience trekkers were contacted and finally we arranged a guide after trying for a considerable period of time. This guide was Sandip Jangam of Raireshwar Camps on top of Raireshwar, who has camping set up on Raireshwar just before the main temple and also arranges for food for the tourist and trekkers who come up on the plateau.
We reached Wai around 9.15 AM, the whole group got fresh on the ST stand itself in the public toilet, then we completed the breakfast in nearby hotel and called our pre-arranged vehicle to take us to Raireshwar. We had particulary asked for a 10-11 seater vehicle with carrier on top as all of our members had heavy rucksacks for the 3 days trek. The driver brought Mahindra Maxx with carrier on top and we left Wai around 10:00 AM to reach Raireshwar parking lot at 11:00 AM. The whole journey from Wai to Raireshwar is very scenic, first going besides the Dhom dam and then climbing up on the ghat adjacent to Kenjalgad. We loaded our back with heavy rucksacks and started climbing the big ladder after the parking lot. Within 10 mins we were on the beautiful plateau of Raireshwar and well paved path took us to the Raireshwar temple, where Chattrapati Shivaji Maharaj took first oath of Swarajya. On the way we picked up our guide Sandip Jangam and he asked to wait for him near the temple. Once at the temple, we took darshan of the Shivling and got ready for the trek. Took a group photo and started to walk behind the guide in a single file.
Raireshwar is a big plateau with the west end called Nakhind and is of historical importance. We started walking towards West towards the opening of Nisanichi Vaat. On the way, our guide Sandip showed us a shrub which he said if we accidentally eat then all our teeth fall. Even if this was not true, no one dared to even touch that shrub, what a tragedy it would be to lose all your 32 teeths. Further we took left to the south direction and in 5 mins came across an opening in valley and a steep way going down between the rocks. The Nisanichi vaat initial 10-15 mins route is very steep and the slippery dry grass adds to the thrill. We carefully negotiated the initial 40 feet rock section slowly and taking care that rocks don't slip and fall on our team members walking below. The huge south facing wall of Raireshwar was looking intimidating and we could see the whole area between west end of Koleshwar and Raireshwar plateau, which further ends at Kamthe and Dhawale valley. Next 15 mins was total patch of slippery dry grass, sometimes you think slippery soil is better than this. As these routes are only done by experienced trekkers, the route was totally engulfed with grass and without any navigation or guide help it would be difficult to find the route. We could see the Jambhali village below right from the time we started to descend Nisanichi Vaat. Jambhali Village was well situated between Raireshwar and Koleshwar with a beautiful dam to add to the picturesque view. Starting Descend from Raireshwar, in 1 hour we were down at Jambhali Village, refilled our bottles and resolve and started our climb to Koleshwar via Raikanachi Vaat.
The Sun was making its existence clear as we left the Jambhali village, walking towards south we crossed the dam wall and the path merged on the north eastern face of Koleshwar. The initial 20 mins walk was soothing and we were moving in the dense forest of Jaoli, but further the route started to climb on the long arm of the mountain, exposing us directly to the afternoon sun and sapping our energies. Sometimes criss cross and sometimes straight up on chest the route was trying to extract best of us. The heavy backpacks on our back and shoulders was pulling us down and we were acting against gravity with our quads, calfs and glutes pumping at its best. At many places, the soil on the route was loose, but it didn't matter much as we were climbing. After climbing the long arm we came on plateau just below the main mountain, we took a small hydration and food break as all were panting heavily with the ascend. After the break we marched towards the top of Koleshwar plateau and just before we reached the top there are beautiful steps carved between the rock faces which is cynosure of the Koleshwar plateau climb by Raikanachi Vaat. Finding something so beautiful at end of an arduous climb fueled our hearts and made the body ready for 2-3 hours more walk. On the top, we came across a shepherd's house, there was no one in the house at that time. Our guide Sandip Jangam informed us that there are many Gawas (Indian Bison) on the top of Koleshwar plateau, so he requested us that our further walk needs to be silent without any noise. He also asked us to accelerate as it was already 4 PM and we had 3 more hours to walk to our night stay Jor Village.
Walking flat on the plateau for 15-20 mins amidst dense forest we reached the Koleshwar Mandir, which is a small shivling situated in open with stone boundary walls on three sides. After paying our reverences to the mountain god, we started traversing the plateau in south western direction. The walk was not ending and we were walking for one hour continously amidst dense forest of Jaoli, still we were not able to see any opening to the Jor valley between Koleshwar and Mahabaleshwar. The forest on Koleshwar is different kind and you feel the difference when you are walking on the plateau. It is a very scary place to get stuck if you lose the way or if it gets dark. That is the precise reason why we planned to take a guide, because without a guide it was not possible to cut this kind of distance in a short time. But the dense untouched forest of Koleshwar is the kind of nature everybody shall experience once in life. Even if you have trekked long in Sahyadris, you have to once come to Koleshwar and experience real Jaoli. We kept walking and by 5.30 PM, we were traversing the southern face of Koleshwar and down below we were able to see the Jor village (our night stay) and right in front of us the touristy Mahabaleshwar plateau. We started to descend the route called Betkavnyachi vaat to the Jor village. The southern long arm of Koleshwar plateau was dropping to Jor, the route was covered with loose soil and dry grass. All along the way we had not taken a proper food break till now. The sun was getting ready to set on the Bahiri Ghumti side and the village was getting well within our range. We took a food and snacks break on the steep slope of the arm as there was no flat space to sit anywhere. Descending further we arrived at Jor village, just before the night could set in. It was a tiring day as we had covered a long route in 6 hours, which generally take 10-12 hours for other trekkers. We bid goodbye to our guide Sandip and hopped onto our night stay. Our host Balu Kadam had great sense of humour, his family welcomed us in their typical village house and we relished tasty food after a toiling day.
Morning on the second day we woke up at Sunrise and completed our morning chores . Had a hearty breakfast of Poha and Chai, packed our bags and the group was ready for the grinding on day two. The plan was to start walking towards west in direction of Bahirichi Ghumti, reach Bahiri and descend down to Dhawale village via Chandragad fort in between. It was a long descend, being done the same in 2016. By getting initial directions from our host, we started walking at 8 AM along the stream in single file. We chose to not take guide as we had gpx file of the route and after reaching Bahiri, it was straightforward route down, without any confusion. Keeping the Mahabaleshwar mountain on the left, we kept walking for almost an hour along the stream. The stream was mostly dry in patches and at some places water was present at intervals. After initial flat walk the route entered into dense forest making the walk very pleasant in the morning sun. The sunrays cutting through the dense vegetation made a special effect on the water patches of the stream. The forest was alive with birds chirping happily and it was a scene just out of a story book.
Walking around 2.5 hours from Jor Village, we reached Bahirichi Ghumti around 10:30 AM. Bahirichi Ghumti is an important junction on this route. The stone idol of Bahiri devi (mountain goddess) calmly rest on the rock at its back facing south towards the Mahabaleshwar plateau. With your back at the idol, if you walk 14-15 steps, there is opening in the forest on left side, climb from that point takes you to Arthur Seat Point of Mahabaleshwar and if you walk straight then the descend to Dhawale village starts. We had to fill our bottles as there was no water till the descend down to Dhavale village. There is a source of water only 5 mins away from Bahirichi ghumati in Arthur seat direction. There is a water tank carved in the mountain, which carries the most cleanest and coolest water you can ever imagine.
The views from Bahirichi ghumati are jaw dropping, the humongous landscape and rugged layers of Sahyadri make a show you cannot imagine even in wildest of your dreams. Bahirichi Ghumati resides on a edge of the cliff and on the western side it is sheer drop of 2000 feet. You can see Chandragad below in 7 o clock direction and further on the landscape you are able to see Mangalgad. The topography is so difficult that any person standing at Bahiri will wonder 'how its even possible to get down this mountain, where is the way'. We started descending the Dhawale ghat at 11.15 AM. The first 30 minutes are bit scary as you are literally traversing south western direction on the edge with rock face on your left and vertical drop at your right. Most importantly the edge is enough only for your two feet to stand. We decided to stick with each other to negotiate this difficult patch. There was loose soil and fallen karvi trees in between, which made the traverse difficult. Further the route take right towards north on the shorter arm of the mountain, which is steep descend. The sharp elevation drop was making us slow as there were many patches of loose soil and stones. At some patches we had to take support of the karvi bushes and trees besides the trail to avoid losing our balance. Many of us slipped, fell on our bum, picked ourselves up and kept going on. The physical punishment was real and the previous day grind was adding to the effort.
Around 2 PM, we could get out of the exposure and entered the dense jungle below. Still the descent was not ending and we were now moving with a dry stream on our right. This stream is said to be origin of Savitri river, which comes down from Mahabaleshwar to Mahad and opens in the sea at Bagmandla-Bankot estuary. We had a half n hour food and hydration break in the forest on the slope, everybody was exhausted with the steep descend and the afternoon heat and there was question on everybody's face 'how much more?'. The heavy backpack and the humidity inside the jungle was draining our energy faster than expected. Our night stay host at Dhawale village had told us that there is a shortcut which cuts left from the main route to Dhawale village and directly climbs to Chandragad. He said he had kept a steel diya at the point on left side, where we were suppose to take left and climb Chandragad. We were continuously walking through jungle in North Direction and it was already 5 PM, everybody was exhausted from the two days grind, so we dropped the plan of going on Chandragad and continued our walk towards Dhawale village. The trail take a full U pin bend left side on the northern ridge of Chandragad and arrives at Dhawale Village. The dry Stream of Savitri river was with us all along for last 4-5 hours and we were wondering if we could get a cool dip in some of its water ponds which were surviving till end January. At 6.30 PM we reached Dhawale village and retired for the night on the local school corridor.
Next morning, we got first ST Bus to Poladpur, which had came to the village in night. From Poladpur we immediately got a bus to Mahad, where we negotiated hard with an EECO driver and before 1 PM we were at Panvel. Reflecting back these last two days were overall satisfying. The dense forest of Jaoli demanded the best from us and we gave it back to a certain extent.
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