Kohoj

When it comes to Sahyadri treks, my adventures have primarily revolved around the Karjat-Lonavala region, and I’ve also ventured near Igatpuri. However, I realized there was a whole new world waiting to be explored in the northern part of the Sahyadri ranges near Palghar. So, when Videsh suggested that region, I instantly embraced the opportunity. We enthusiastically researched options like Takmak, Asherigad, and others, but Aishwarya picked the lesser trodden Kohoj. It turned out to be an exceptional choice for an exhilarating trek, filled with unforgettable experiences and breathtaking views.

Sure thing! Here it goes..

I happily nodded for the plan, but not without whining about being the unlucky soul chosen to leave the comfort of home before the sun had even thought about rising. The plan was to catch the 5:20 am Churchgate-Dahanu train from Dadar, which meant I had to muster up the courage to wake up at the ungodly hour of 4 am. Talk about a challenge! Thankfully, my dear aunt residing in Bhayander came to my rescue. I crashed at her place the previous night, all packed up for a crack-of-dawn adventure. So there I was, waking up fashionably later than everyone else !

On the morning of the epic trek, Aishwarya and Sonali were the first ones on the train, to be joined by Videsh, Madan, Snehjeet, Rajas and Rohan on the way. They claimed to be in the “central” compartment where we were all supposed to meet up. Naturally, I found myself in that very compartment at Bhayander, only to find no trace of them. I kindly asked them to share their secret location, and like a clueless detective, I hopped off at three different stations desperately searching for them. Finally, at Virar, I spotted Videsh at the door, and I raced back aboard in the nick of time. But hold on, like a lucky omen of all our treks one of us was missing. Apparently, Madan missed the train and would be joining us at Palghar. What a start !

I was meeting some of these guys for the first time and we had our introductions. We got to Palghar around 8 am and had to wait for Madan to join us. While waiting, Videsh and I asked around for a ride to Vaghote village, which is where we needed to start the Kohoj trek from. Luckily, we found a cool tum-tum (a 10 seater), right outside Palghar station, and made a deal with the driver for a drop and pick-up for Rs 2200. He even agreed to wait for us at the base village until we finished our trek. Ride booked, we asked him to hold on and explored locally for food and stumbled upon a little corner restaurant serving some (not-so-tasty-as-Neral) vadapav. Finally, Madan showed up and we were all set to embark on our exciting trek adventure!

We took about 45 minutes to reach Vaghote village from Palghar station. The drop off point is just a couple of minutes after a toll plaza on the Wada-Manor road. We told the driver we’d be back by 2:30 – 3, and he was like, “Nah, you won’t be back before 5.” We laughed it off, but little did we know how right he was! Our plan was to come back as early as possible and chill at a nearby waterfall. With our backpacks on, we hit the trail that led to the fort.

As we happily strolled along, confidently treading our way down the path, we bumped into a cheeky villager. With a stern look, he informed us that we had veered off the right track. “Ignore him, and carry on!” I exclaimed, pretending not to notice his sly attempt for some trek-guiding cash. But, alas, the joke was on me as we realised we were on a longer route, and had to turn back, avoiding an awkward eye contact with our newfound nemesis. He and his accomplice stood there with their bikes, basking in their triumph while we sheepishly retraced our steps. Lesson learned, never underestimate the powers of a wily villager! 😄

So, we walked along, trying to find our way, when this old farmer and a group of ladies helped us out, confirming we were on the right path. We had read about this huge lake on the way where we could see a reflection of the fort. As we kept going, we could see the fort in the distance, but we weren’t sure if that was the right one. There weren’t any other mountains around, so we figured this had to be it. We trudged through these muddy bullock cart tracks, getting our shoes all dirty, until we saw that cheeky villager again. Seriously, how did he get there before us? We joked that he must be the forest guardian ghost like Ajay Devgan in that movie Kaal. It was pretty funny, but also kind of weird since we had left him way behind.

We were on this cool elevated path that kinda looked like the top of a dam, with a lush green field below and Kohoj chilling in the distance. But, alas, the road had caved in halfway through, and there was no way we could have jumped across. So, we had to go all the way down the dam slope, cross a stream of water below, and climb back up again. It was starting to feel like a real adventure now. None of us had been here before, and there wasn’t a soul in sight. But, we kept going anyway. After this dam, the trail takes a complete U-turn and takes you into the forest below Kohoj.

We started off the trek with a chill walk through fields and all that green stuff, until we hit the base of the mighty mountain. And, that’s when the real deal started! We plunged into the thick forest, but let me tell you, the trail was all over the place. We had to rely on some online guides to find our way. Oh, and the bugs! Mosquitoes were having a feast on us, but those little pests didn’t even flinch with all the Odomos we marinated ourselves in. We kept getting lost and doubling back, probably like 5 or 6 times. We were practically calling out in bird whistles, cooing like secret agents through the jungle. And guess what? Aishwarya’s apprehension of seeing a snake on a trek came true when she spotted one sneaking into the fallen leaves.

We took a break in the middle and grabbed some snacks. And as expected couldn’t resist taking pictures along the way. Just when we were posing for a group selfie on Vatsal’s phone, he got a call from a girl, and boy, was he red-faced! We all teased him mercilessly for the next half an hour, but he took it in stride and let us have our fun.

So, we finally got to this sign that said “800 meters only :)”. We were like, cool, we are almost there at the fort. But, we didn’t realize what we were in for! That smiley was a big deal! The climb from there was no joke. It was steep as hell, with busted steps, big-ass rocks, and it really put our endurance to the test. And I was starting to feel the burn. My knee started to give in, but the young guns kept pushing forward, and that was pretty inspiring. Even Rohan was struggling a bit, but he never gave up. And don’t even get me started on the trees. We couldn’t even lean on them or hold them for support because they were infested with hairy caterpillars that could mess you up with a nasty itch if you touched them.

I dragged myself to the top, taking a zillion breaks along the way, probably the slowest one to make it up there. We thought we had already reached the fort, so we all lied down on a flat rocky patch. Snacks, water, ORS, juices, you name it, we had it all spread out. We just chilled there for a solid 30 minutes or so, only to find out later that it was just the starting point of the actual fort, which was towering above us. But, the view was so pleasing. A lush green carpet stretched out before us with a little temple in the distance.

We were all pumped up and kept on walking towards the temple when we bumped into a group. And guess what? Videsh actually knew one of them! He casually mentioned that it would take us another 45 min to reach the top of the fort. So, the real climb to the fort started from the Mahadev temple down at the base with an amazing Nandi statue at the entrance. The path from there consisted of a combination of some broken old steps and a trail that led us to the main entrance of the fort. And we had finally conquered it! Videsh even whipped out our Tiranga (Indian flag) and we all struck a pose (atleast a hundred to be honest). The view from up there was simply mind-blowing – you could see the plains below and the majestic mountains all around, with Takmak somewhere in the distance. It was totally epic!

The fort is pretty much in historical ruins now, probably after those Portuguese folks had their way with it. There are these two massive stone structures at the top that resemble human figures up there, like they’re still standing guard or something. One of them actually used to look like a person, but its head probably got knocked off in some storm. Once we finished taking our pics, we hurriedly climbed up to the top. Snehjeet even managed to conquer one of those rock figures like a boss. I thought about giving it a try too, but then I chickened out, thinking about the dangers involved.

We set up camp below this massive rock and just chilled, taking in the awesome view and watching the rain rolling in from a distance. We were damn hungry and basically devoured all the snacks we had left: chips, chaklis, you name it. It was then that we realized we hadn’t packed nearly enough water for this trek. Seriously, 2 liters per person wasn’t going to cut it, and we would only figure that out on the way back down. We had a little impromptu singing session, with the pros, Rajas, Rohan, Madan, and Aishwarya entertaining us with their beautiful renditions. Just when we were getting into the groove, a gang of monkeys came charging from a distance, but luckily they backed off and left us alone.

We were all chilling at 2:30 pm, thinking we had plenty of time to make it to the waterfall. Aishwarya kept bugging us about the time, but we just brushed her off and kept on with the session. Finally, at 3 pm, she put her foot down, and we reluctantly decided to start heading down to the plateau. We spotted a lake on the way down that looked pretty, and also because there appeared to be a food stall next to it. We figured we could grab a snack there. On our way to the lake, we made a quick stop at the temple for a quick darshan, and Aishwarya whispered a secret wish to Nandi. And guess what? A few minutes later, she stepped right into some cow dung! We couldn’t help but tease her, joking that maybe her wish had come true! But then, one by one, almost four of us ended up stepping in dung. It was like her curse or something, and she had a good evil laugh at us!

So, we finally made it to the lake and guess what? It was like a bunch of ancient rock tanks filled with water. The whole shed thing was a total letdown. It was a dilapidated toilet 🙁

We did manage to snap some cool pics at the cliff’s edge though, trying to spot the mountains across the Vaitarna river below. After taking in all that amazing scenery, we started heading back down.

We spent a solid 3 hours getting down. Sonali was struggling with her sandals, and Rajas and Madan came to the rescue by swapping shoes with her like champs. But, we were slower than a snail on a hot pavement, trying to catch that waterfall. Almost everyone ended up slipping while climbing down. The thirst was getting to us too, and we had to ration the last bottle of water. Sonali banged her knee on a rock and Aishwarya hurt her wrist. And of course, yours truly couldn’t resist sliding around a few times as well.

So, when we eventually descended the mountain and finally got to the broken dam, we were like, “Wait, where’s the lake that we saw in all those cool pics of Kohoj online?!” And then it hit us. The dam was busted ! The water had all drained out, leaving behind this grassy riverbed. We tried to hustle and make it to the waterfall, but, it was getting late and would have gotten dark. So we had to give up on that dream. Sonali was the most disappointed soul! 😔

We finally made it to the drop-off spot by 5:30. Our tum-tum driver was there waiting for us! We were starving, even after all those snacks, so we asked him to take a pit stop somewhere for a quick snack. It started pouring as soon as we hit the road. We decided to take a short break at Mastan Naka. That place looked a little sketchy, but our hunger couldn’t wait. We picked a random roadside eatery and thought of grabbing some vadapav, but it was so grimy and unclean. The girls were not having it, so we quickly made our exit, only managing to buy a couple of water bottles. About thirty minutes later, we arrived at Palghar station and gave the driver his fare. Along the way, I had done a quick search for nearby food spots and found a Dominos around. So, we headed over there, had a satisfying snack since our next train to Churchgate was still a while away.

We were so tired, but we had a good time! We took the train from Palghar and eventually said our goodbyes when we reached our stops. I was the first to get off, quickly grabbed my stuff from my aunt’s place, and hopped into an Uber auto to get back home. Such a great day!

We kind of missed a waterfall on this trek, but, it’s all good! We didn’t really have any major mishaps, and overall it was a good one. The view was absolutely amazing, the climb definitely pushed our limits, and the descent was no joke either. We may have gotten a bit lost along the way, but that just added to the adventure. And of course, the company was top-notch. All in all, it was quite the unforgettable trek!