Monsoon calls for a trek. Here I am reminiscing about a beautiful trek to the dark forest - Andharban.
Location: Tamini Ghat Road, Gaon, Pimpri, Maharashtra
Altitude: 2,160 ft
Time taken: 4-5 hours
Difficulty level: Easy-moderate
Pass through Lonavla's Tiger Point, Ambey Valley, random villages and valleys, and after about 3-4 hours you reach this Independence point near the Pimpri Dam. If you are coming individually and not with a travel group, you have to pay a token amount of Rs. 50.- per head. Otherwise no, because the travel agency/group has already paid for it.
Mesmerizing. Breath taking. Hauntingly beautiful.
Before we began the trek, we took a washroom break at the trail start point. There's this house at the start point where a family arranges everything for the group and individual travelers too.
After this, we began the trail...
How do I describe "Andharban", The Dark Forest? I won't so just check out the view below.
Beginning the long weekend with a trek like this along with my friends, was a bliss. The journey started with the group trailing across green pastures surrounded by clouds. Cows to give you company.
The trail starts with you crossing the Pimpri dam and after about 100 meters, you will find this green pasture.
At the end of the pasture is the trail. You will have the Kundalika valley on the left and the mountains to the right.
The trek level is majorly medium, but gets difficult at some places. As we walked alongside a steep cliff, it was mind-boggling as I could not help but enjoy the breath taking view and also ensure that I step along carefully. One slip could be fatal.
We walked amidst the clouds, along the cliff on squishy mud, stones and pebbles. You will find small waterfalls en-route the bigger waterfall on top. Be very careful when you step on stones as they are slippery. We had people wearing Quechua trek shoes, fancy trek shoes and normal walking shoes, irrespective of what they wore - they all fell at-least once.
After about 1 hour, you will reach a pit stop by a bigger waterfall. We took a dip in freezing COLD waterfalls, had a quick lunch (pre-packed lunch box). After a while we left for the final point. The most difficult part now was the water clogged in your shoes, thanks to the waterfall!
From this point started the trail to the top, the view along the way was even better.
Curious what was up there? It was this!
You could go even further from this point into the darker part of the forest.
Journey up seemed difficult first but when the descend began, the former felt like a piece of cake! The return journey was all about rain filled + even more slipperier paths. By the time we returned, it had rained pretty heavy so the pathway was filled with water and mushier mud.
Whats in a trek without it being a little difficult. We just laughed it off!
After we reached our start point, we changed into dry clothes at the house I mentioned earlier. Post which we had a hot cup of tea, pakodas and ended the trail with a group photo.
End note: A trek middle of a dense forest is so totally worth it! The pictures won't do justice to what I actually experienced.
It felt great to break away from a monotonous routine! I hope you do too.
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