Andharban Trek - Where Shadows meet Serenity !

After clocking the 12 hours, the worker bee had just un-loaded the last drop of nectar when the war-cries blared... "We are under attack, let's get those stupid humans who spoilt our day's work". The swarm of bees charged to attack the gang of mischevious boys out on a jungle trek, aiming their stings to cause maximum damage to all, except the 3 of them... Two of them, middle-aged men, were looking dazed and just stared at the bees, as if they had submitted in front of them... The third guy was carrying 2 bottles of water, ignoring the chaos and human casualities all-around, just focussing to get the water to his 2 parched pals.. This story is about the adventures of these trio and their gang who were waiting downhill, oblivious of the challenges they were facing!

Let's start from the beginning !! It was a hot humid Saturday evening in Mumbai when a group of 13 boarded an AC tempo traveller to spend some time in the lap of nature. The destination was Andharban (translating to Dark forests) situated in the laps of Sahyadri mountain ranges.

The advertised USPs of this trek was quite alluring - unlike any regular trek going up the mountain, Andharban starts at the top and one works their way down through a 13 km trail, mostly under dense canopies of trees... The reviews also mentioned it takes 3-4 hours of easy/moderate walk... All-in-all it looked like a pretty fun day out even for newbies. 👍

All excited, the group set out from Mumbai on Saturday 21st September evening. The first stop was Pali where some devotees went to get blessings of Lord Ballaleshwar Ganpati while others took a hot ginger tea break!! By then, the sun had set as we reached the so-called haunted stretch of Tamhini Ghats. Soon we were sharing experiences (some personal and some heard/overheard) of spooky encounters as we all stared at the road ahead looking (perhaps secretly hoping) for some glimpse !

Unfortunately, all we saw were hoardes of cattle, few dogs and some villagers on the roads !! The road was in a pretty good condition and would have been fun to be on the bike here. We reached JC Cottages Resort around 9:30. It was a beautiful small resort with 8 rooms, well maintained decor. 

We wished we had spent some more time relaxing at the resort but that was not meant to be!! After promising each other that we will be ready to leave by 6:30am sharp, we retired for the night around 11:30 pm.

Woke up early, got ready and stepped out to this amazing view from the balcony & soothing bird calls !! 🥰

The promised 6:30 am start soon became 7:00 am and it was past-8 am when we actually reached the trek start point!!

Few information for first timers here:-

1) The trek is through dense jungle, so though the trail is generally visible, it's still preferred to have a guide. We got a guide from the resort and he charged Rs 250 per person. 

2) When you reach the location, you are charged Rs 50 but that's just for accessing a private piece of land to reach the actual start of the jungle which is about 500-600 metres from the road. There is another ticket of Rs 150 per person to be paid here. 

3) It's an actual forest so keep yourself well covered to avoid the leeches and other insect bites. I wore a full pant, but went with sandals instead of trek shoes. 

By 8:40 am, we were all pumped up and ready for our longest trek !

Andharban trek starts at an altitude of 2100 feet and then descends through a valley to reach Bhira dam. The trail is a mix of rocky terrain, shady trees and meadows. For a few kilometres, the pathway is in open skies with Kundalika valley to the left and mountain ranges to the right. 

The actual 'Andharban' start after that, as the trail turns through a dense forest which could get darker on a cloudy day. On our day, the fogs had lifted and the trail was well visible.

The hike through the thick forests is mostly gradual ascents for about 3-4 kms till we reach an open flat area. With panaromic Plus Valley on the left, this place could have been a good camping site. Myself and Ananda decided to get into a run/jog mode here for about 1 km of flat terrain. 

Soon we were at Hirdi village and had covered ~8 km. From here, the rest of the route was mostly downhill but with some controlled maneuvering required to avoid slipping on the mossy trails. The knees took a toll for many in the group. At this instance, our group of 13 split into 3 subgroups as per fitness/ breaks required. 

While the first 2 subgroups came down pretty much unscathed, except for couple minor falls, the third group had an adventurous experience which I briefly mentioned in the beginning. Exhausted, dehydrated almost to the point of blanking out, the men were lying down when the swarm of bees started their attack. Luckily (or maybe out of pity), the bees didn't harm any of our team and they came down with an adventure story for lifetime.

While the bees were having a field day some 2 kms above, we were having fun at the water stream flowing onwards to Devkund waterfall. The flow was not much and it was muddy too, but what a relief it was to get some cold water on your legs !! I jumped into the water, spent a good 20 mins just sitting in and taking some photos while waiting for others to come down. 

From here, it was a 10 min walk on flat terrain with the backwaters of Bhira dam on the left for company. We reached the road where our tempo traveller was waiting for us. Quickly changed and had some tasty zunka-bhakri, Maggie and hot ginger tea at a make-shift shop at the base.... At this point and 8 hours after I had started, I finally hit the Stop button on my watch.

The Strava records did some number-crunching that I walked 16236 steps covering 13 km and 155m elevation gain, but these are exactly that..just some numbers... The photographs or the stats don't do full justice to the wonderful trekking/ hiking experience which we had (for that matter, neither my blog may have done justice 😁).

The landscape was incredibly beautiful and is an ideal destination for those loving wilderness. Few parting words of advice or experiences :

1) The route doesn't have any options for food/ drinks (except perhaps the mushrooms or flowing water stream). So carry food and atleast 2-3 litres of water with you;

2) I mentioned this earlier, but it's advisable to have a guide and stick to the trail. At the resort the night before, the owner narrated instances of trekkers losing their way and ending up taking almost whole day/night to get back to safety;

3) Start early in the morning so that you finish before it gets dark. We started at 8 and ended at around 4 pm. Experienced trekkers/nature lovers may explore starting late, camping overnight at the plateau (with Plus valley view) and starting the descent next morning. But seek local guidance on this part;

4) Wear comfortable clothing and shoes/sandals with good grip. Hiking poles would also be a very useful gear to have.

5) Social media is a good way to announce how adventurous one is, but it's more important to respect nature. Avoid littering on the trails (carry garbage bags to take home the chocolates/ biscuits wrappers/empty plastic bottles), don't consume wild flowers/ mushrooms unless you are well-versed in botany, or simply don't fool around trying to steal honey from the new beehives !! 

6) Lastly, if you do end up in the bee-attack scene like my friends, few saviour acts could be to remain calm, lying on the ground face down and possibly lighting a small fire (don't burn the forest down though!!)

That's it for now. Signing off with hopes of seeing some warm feedback in the Comments section. Lastly as they say, if you liked what you read, please don't forget to share it with friends and subscribe for more blogs!  

Cheers

Sunil