Purandar Fort (The most iconic place) – A drive to remember

Statutory warning: This blog post is solely written from a lazy traveler's perspective, I take no responsibility of anyone referring it for any future trips. This is not a guide, nor helpful document for planning a trip to Purandar or anywhere for that matter.

So, are you still reading? Fine, go on, read it and waste 5 minutes of your life.

Good luck.

Because sometimes 13 minutes is all it takes to plan a trip.

Following events occurred from 11.47 to 12.00 am. 

(Kavita wanted to sleep before 12 at any cost)  

“But let’s go somewhere tomorrow” Kavita pleaded in sweetest voice possible.

“I am ready for any trip, doesn’t matter if we are only 3 people, let’s just go” Anmol seemed frustrated spending weekend at home.

The lazy laidback personality in me didn’t want to go anywhere initially but I couldn’t refuse them, we had plans to meet after a year.

“Tamhini ghat drive” I suggested only because my roommate had gone there a week ago and told me that the crowd is very less there.  Crowd factor does matter to me. As it is there are not many places of attraction in and around Pune. But “Aaj weekend hain, mandatory bahar jaana hain” waale log are too many.

I respect travellers, but those who visit Lonavala-Lavassa every weekend and end up creating instagram account “Travel till horizon” kuch alag hi planet ke rahiwasi hain.  

“Let’s go to Purandar Fort, else I will spend my Sunday shopping at phoenix” Kavita chuckled.

“I am okay with anything” Anmol quipped as usual.

“See you tomorrow”

“Bye”

Because driving on a Sunday morning in City mode with TATA Nexon is still economical.

Following events occurred between 8 am to 11 am. I am taking this section to promote TATA Nexon a bit.

So, I picked Anmol and Kavita. And I called 3-4 people for company. Some had plans, some were out of station. But my junior Sushant was up and ready within half an hour. I love people who say “yes” to me. (Love you bro :P) 

Google maps can be tricky at times. It leads us to destination but people on the way are the best confirmative sources around. We encountered a few navigation troubles and had to turn and twist a few more times. Anmol who usually is fit n fine outside, started getting a little headache inside the car.

Amidst the food, the beautiful farms, the place where people appear from anywhere, the pink flowers , and flying plastic ( I hope the cops aren’t reading) we somehow managed to reached Ghats section.

This is where I take the opportunity to praise my car (Because, its my blog and I can praise anyone/ anything I want ) , sarcasm apart, navigating tricky corners and turns of a very steep ghat was made easy by the SPORTS mode of TATA nexon. As Kavita and anmol sat behind closing their eyes and reminding me again and again of missing railings of the road, I found driving up the slope pretty smooth.

Purandar fort area is managed by Indian Army and the snapshots of those Kargil movies kept flashing in my mind while driving through the big Gates guarded by soldiers with rifles.

Because Posing for pictures in front of a painting by Majnu bhai is must at Purandar fort.  

Following events occurred between 11 am to 1 pm , #menhavetinybladder

It was a time for breathtaking views and crazy pictures. Yes, that is something which everybody does. Some Selfies and some pictures holding painted horse’s imaginary tail were clicked.

The horse painting inside the church now in ruins reminded me of Anil kapoor’s masterpiece painting from the movie welcome.

Army people with thick moustaches were walking with rifles and we took a sneak peek in their bunkers.

Anmol wanted to pee and kavita wanted to greet the rifleman passing around while we were inspecting the bunker.

“Shhh, stop it, he won’t help Anmol pee, but he sure will shout at us in thunderous voice which will make me and Sushant feel like peeing as well” I quipped.

We clicked the last selfie before we began the climb as we had to “deposit” the cellphone. (Ya, right, deposit)

Sushant and Anmol told me “Writers like you will be happy that there are no camera phones allowed. You can capture the memories in words.”

“Oh no, It is such a lazy thing to do, that’s why, I am just a weirdo who never likes being called a writer” was my honest reply.

Because I am horrible at creating picturesque memories with words and good at wearing loose sandals for trekking.

Following events occurred between 1 to 4 pm.  (F*ck I walked for 3 hours)

How do writers describe a particular section with words, I Googled few blogs and found those copy pasted exactly from Wikipedia. That Purandar fort is actually a fallen piece of mountain Lord Hanuman was carrying in mythology. That it is the birthplace of Sambhaji , that it was involved in purandar treaty which we had to byheart in history classes. Blah blah blah , see I told you - read Wikipedia for these things.

But nonetheless, climb was amazing and not tiring, Anmol and Kavita as usual kept fighting while I told Sushant a story which he listened with intent. There was a point where we had to take help of rock and walk over a natural pond of water. I cursed myself for wearing sandals.

The only other thing that we did after we climbed the never ending steps and reached Kedareshwar temple was to sit there peacefully and talk about our lives. The breeze there was cool and amazing despite it being afternoon. Here we discussed a lot of things and I wanted our talks to never end, but being a little responsible and old I had to take a call of starting the descent. Because, I didn’t want to drive down the scary slope without railings in pitch dark.

“I am 27, technically, I am old, I need to take care of you all” I added albeit a bit sarcastically.

“No, you don’t look old” Kavita added and Anmol laughed while I puffed my chest emphatically.  

“Maybe your behavior makes you old” Sushant replied in good term but we all laughed anyway.

Because having an early return, avoids traffic and helps me get car washed.

Following events occurred between5 pm to 8 pm (Smug face)

We took the car slowly down the slope and Anmol started getting headache again. I wish I could help him but there was no way I could. So I had to remain quite.  We drove with Windows down, halted at the place where we had during the morning and drank lemonade which tasted so “lemony” that I almost threw lemons in my mouth. No wonder Kavita kept offering it to us again and again.

While Amit trivedi sang “Mujhe chod do mere haal pe for Anmol, Kavita sang some lori which I can’t recollect. But her voice is really hypnotic and super amazing. Some day when she becomes a famous singer and forgets us all, I hope she reads this blog post and remember this weirdo writer. We all slept when she sang that lori, even I took a tiny nap of 5 seconds on that straight road stretch.

So, I dropped Sushant and kavita helped me navigate to her place, I am horrible at remembering roads. She showed us her gym while Anmol stayed sleepy all along.

When we were just two, me and Anmol, we visited some serious topics, I felt like an elder brother sharing with him my life experiences. We were caught by cops in between but I know Marathi, so they were cool. :P #jaimaharashtra

I had to wash the car at any cost, the muddy water splashed right on top of the roof due to rough drives in Goa, was giving it a rather sludgy look. I am sucker for not washing the vehicles, I find the dirty car look cool, like Hank moody from californication, but cousin was waiting and I met him in the night, and after a clean wash, we went for the long pending drive.  

Because ending the post abruptly is not cool.

Following events occur…… oh shut up!!

I will add some standard travelogue ending waala passage here, you can stop reading or start reading :D

Honestly, the fort is pretty well maintained and one of the better places around Pune where people don’t swarm much. The drive is pleasant and the walk seems well orchestrated with army personal guiding throughout. The place is clean and not littered. And my experience was surprisingly good. Not the best fort I have ever visited or will ever visit, but certainly one of the calmer place around Pune that sooths you down, away from the hustle and bustle of the city.