"Nature never misses any chance to leave us spellbound by it’s magnificence. All we need to do is, sit back and live the moment with it. Take pleasure as it unravels each layer of it’s virtue and enigma".
- Dipanwita Chakraborty
Ever thought of paying visit to the valleys
where shadows reside? That too in the pitch dark winter nights. Come winters
and the camping season starts along with long treks, a boon for all nomads bit
by adventure bugs. Yes, you got it right. We did it all during our recent trek
to Sandhan Valley.
Crossing pools of freezing water with water
levels nearly chest deep at places. Admiring nature’s spellwork after crossing
each surprise rock patch, some easy, some difficult, some scary, some
cumbersome. Rock-hopping throughout the valley. Sleeping under the naked sky
freckled with stars. Making childish wishes each time one spotted a shooting
star. And last but not the least, that bunch of crazy friends who tag along
each time I head for any madness rush. Every experience is way beyond
expressions and words, which can only be felt and lived.
Sandhan Valley, also called “Valley of
Shadows” is located in the west of Bandhardhara region, Samrad being the base
village. Entire valley is surrounded by the majestic and beautiful Sahyadri
ranges. These include the mighty Alang-Madan-Kulang(AMK), Ratangad, Ajoba range
and Kalsubai. This mesmerizing valley can make anyone fall in love with rocks
and boulders. Sandhan is also named as the “Grand Canyon of Maharashtra”, a 300
feet deep and 2 kms long valley carved by water.
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Source- Google |
The rock bedded ravine has widths less
than 3 feet at several places, which blocks the sun-rays from entering inside and hence is called
“Valley of Shadows”.
Sandhan Valley trek is one of the most
popular treks of Sahyadris. The reason why this valley lures hundreds of trekkers
every year is due to the transfiguration it undergoes each year post monsoons.
Being water carved valley, the patches keep changing every year, not all of them though. The trek is a full descend trek unlike the usual ones where one has to
complete the cycle of ascending to the top and descending back.
The Trek:
This was my second visit to Sandhan and I
was super excited. With a bunch of 47 trekkers, some first timers and some
regulars, we started off for the most awaited trek of the season. The trek was
organized by Trek Mates India. Nilesh Patil was our lead with Nishank, Ranjita,
Kushal and Shilpa as co-leads.
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The Start- The entire compartment was crowded by Trekmates |
We reached the base village by 4:15 AM. The
plan was to start right away to avoid trekking after sunset. Introduction done
way before dawnbreak, in the dark, with the only sources of light being our
head torches.
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At Kasara |
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Headed Towards Samrad |
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The Introduction |
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The Leader |
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All set |
Sandhan is always thrilling from beginning
till end. There is surprise at every turn as the patches keep unfurling. After
walking for around 10-15 minutes, we come across a water pool with water levels
chest deep. One has to carry their bags over the shoulders and cross the pool.
Thanks to people gifted with good height for carrying all the bags to the other
side of the pool.
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Getting Started |
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Helping Hands |
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Ammu in Awe |
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The Freezing Pool |
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Height Ka Faayda |
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Together we can- Together we did |
We reached the first rappelling patch after
trekking for quite a while. The first rappelling patch is a 70 feet patch. Rappelling
down was fun. We were among the first few to rappel down and waited for others
to complete. The valley had absolutely changed it’s semblance compared to what
I had experienced last year. The patches where we had a little support to climb
down had no support at all. We had to climb down with bowline knots tied around
our waists. Absolute thrill I must say. The second rappelling patch is much
smaller one, of around 15 feet but more adventurous as it is an overhang.
The pictures below would tell the thrilling Sandhan tale in a much better way.
We almost complete our trek after the
second rappelling patch. In all, this year, Sandhan offered 5 thrilling patches
to cover.
The Camp And The Spook:
We camped by an open space just above the
pond. Dinner was delicious vegetarian food cooked by the villagers from Samrad.
So, the rule of camping, as it goes by, no one is allowed to sleep. Dinner
followed by antakshari and ghost stories. I was the first one to fall asleep.
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What's Brewing? |
It was around 3:00 AM when all of us
suddenly woke up with Amrita’s shriek. Nishank felt something fall on his face
from top. All torches lit up and we started searching around and inside the
sleeping bags however, could not find anything out of the way. Some of us thought of the possibility of monkey attack too. We waited for sometime and went back to sleep.
After a
while, Nishank experienced the same spooky feeling once again. This time, he got hold of whatever had fallen on his face only to discover it to be Vaibhav’s hand.
He got up and revealed the source of fear which had, a few minutes earlier freaked
everyone out. Everyone was in splits. Now that we were completely awake at 3:30
AM, we started discussing the stars and constellations. We spotted quite a few
shooting stars too. We went back to sleep only after being reprimanded by Nilesh.
The Morning Tea And Chidiya Udd:
We decided to take another break at an open space
after crossing the jungle area. Another round of fun and games with “Sheep
and the Sheppard” played among 4 groups. The losing teams danced on old
bollywood songs (songs included the likes of "pyaar kiya toh darna kya" from the movie "Mughal-e-Azam" and many others) with their eyes blindfolded.
The moment we reached the base village, we
jumped upon the stock of pepsi-cola squeezies, grabbing as many sqeezies as
possible. After having squeezies to our
heart’s content, we headed towards the seating area. Lunch comprised of
authentic Maharshtrian food. The lunch was absolutely delectable.
A round of hilarious “Chidiya Udd” game
between Nilesh, Kailesh, Vaibhav and Ansh kept everyone glued till the end. The only difference in this game was that the rules were bent as per our craziness quotient. So, the person who fails to raise or not raise his / her finger would not go out of the game but have to face bashes from other members in the group and re-join the game. And, the most important rule- You cannot quit the game. (wink wink)
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Chidiya Udd |
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Looser Gets Bashes |
We started off for Mumbai by 4:30 PM after a round of evening tea. Bid
goodbyes with heavy heart but with plans for the next trek together.
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The Sandhan Family- Batch 3- 2015 |
Trekmates- keep trekking, keep smiling.
**Click on the pictures to get better
resolution
Picture Credits- Vaibhav, Mahesh and
Shreekumar
Share your thoughts with me at
dipanwiita@gmail.com