Oh?
Are you going to Dhaak Chaa Bahiri? It
surely is an amazing trek. But beware it is one of the riskiest in Sahyadri.
Bhide Kaka warned me on the previous morning on our routine cycle ride. I cannot afford to ignore Bhide Kaka (Age 78)
who has conquered Sahydris and Himalayas, innumerable times. His high energy level blends very well with his cool nature.
On
hearing from him I go back and check on
the you tube videos. With much
excitement I show it to one of my colleagues in office and tell her jokingly
that if I do not come to office on Monday you may assume I reached the ultimate
destination. She is scared to the core and glances at me for several seconds
and asks coldly if it is absolutely necessary to visit this deadly place? I now
realize what I have done and tell her, it must be a fake video and I must go
and unearth the reality. After assuring her that I will be safe, I escape from
the seen.
10
of us assemble at 6.00 am and get into
the mini bus. It is a very short journey of around 40 kms. We eat our usual
breakfast of Pohe and head to Kundeshwar.
 |
| Jungle Trail |
As
we reach the village, we debate if the vehicle can travel on the rudimentary
road leading to the foot of Dhaak. After much deliberation and after being
reminded by Anirudh, our group admin, that we are trekkers and not tourists to
escape walking, we get down to our feet. In about 15 minutes, we reach the Kundeshwar temple. I like this
place a lot. It is one of the most naturally beautiful locations near
Pune. After a brief meeting with Lord
Shanker we head to start our climb. We cross a small stream and enter the thick
forest. This forest will lead us to Dhaak. After walking and climbing for about
1 hour we take a break for a sip of water. I am very happy with the way it is
going. I assure myself that everything that I heard is untrue and I am going to
make it to the top easily. We are now faced with a huge rock . Sachin has
completed this trek several times and Mr. Bramhe and Anirudh are doing it for the second time. Sachin tells us that we are now in the last
segment and will need to line up and proceed.
 |
| The Traverse |
Chandan
stops talking. Ram also holds back his expert comments. Ninad is quite as
usual. And Nitin our new member has not spoken a word since beginning.
As
Sachin leads our way we enter an aisle protected by rocks on both the sides. I
try to look ahead and suddenly realize what I saw on You Tube was only a small
portion. There is much more excitement ahead of me. I need to climb gigantic rocks and cross a
very big rock before I see Dhaak Chaa Bahiri. The men do it with much easy.
Sharvari is a brave girl and climbs with ease. Benedicte is behind me. Sachin guides me through and I cross this
difficult patch. I am happy I am alive. As we proceed we find a small rock to
stand and take pictures. The camera rolls and we smile not for the picture but
for this beautiful gift of life.
As I
see ahead of me lays a huge hill. I can
see that we now need to traverse a rock patch of about 70 degrees with the support of a cable fixed on the
side. The rock stands high on one side and if you happen to look down you can
witness a deep valley. One step missed
can directly throw you into the valley. All of us hold on to the cable and take tiny
steps to go over the rock patch. This
patch seems unending. We are now at the foot of small hill where Bahiri
resides. There is a small temple inside the caves and a water pond too. As we
look up some villagers shout from the top. They warn us that ladies are
prohibited to climb up on the top. We pretend not to listen. Sachin asks them
if the god will face any problem if we climb up. The villager seems to like the
humar and says no it is not god but the ladies will be in trouble. Sachin and Mr. Bramhe tell him that our
ladies do not mind and will not enter the temple. We are determined to climb up
to the top. We did not come all the way
to leave this trek unfinished. As we look up, we can see small carved steps
inside the rock. Sachin instructs us to
hold on to the cable and find our way through steps. As I climb up I see Mr.
Bramhe waiting patiently to guide us through the last climb. I feel relived and
start taking pictures and videos of other climbers. We still have to finish our
last climb. We remove our shoes now and look up to another challenging
climb. There is a trunckof a dried tree hanging from the top. The branches are chopped
off to be used for resting the feet. We
climb this make shift ladder bare foot and are finally on the top of Dhaak Chaa
Bahiri.
 |
| Benedicte and Sharvari.Brave Girls, Sachin standing strong |
We
find a cool shade to rest. There is a water cistern filled with the water
seeping from rock. We splash water on
our tired faces and open our bags to fill stomachs.
It
is 10.30 am now. Sun is bathing the valley. A few minutes ago this valley which
looked lifeless and scary to us has now turned into a green carpet full of
life. As we sit and relax we look at
Bahiri and see pleasure in his eyes. The God does not discriminate life. Life does.
We
are now gearing up to begin our descend. Sachinwarns us to be careful. He is
an expert climber and we cannot think of doing such treks without his guidance. I volunteer to begin my journey before
others. Sachin explains to me with a fast track demo on how to climb down the
trunk. I nod my head and know deep
inside that I have not followed a word. Somehow I make my way down.
After wearing shoes again I take a deep breath to climb down the stairs carved
inside the rock. I am more confident
now. As I reach down I see some small
children who compete with each other fearlessly. I realize fear enters us only in
the company of knowledge. Ignorance is a bliss at times.
 | |
| Top of the world looking down into the valley |
We
head down the hill and complete our descend effortlessly. We are back where we
started. As we climb into the bus and settle down, each one of us is dumb
struck. We are speechless and are recounting our experience. As a ritual, we start sharing our experience
about the climb. All of us agree that if we had known it is so scary we would
not have come at all. But we are happy we did it. All of us agree to come back
next year again.
 | |
| L to R Anirudh, Chandan, Ram, Ashwini, Mr. Bramhe, Nitin, Ninand, Benedicte and Sharvari (Sachin is behind the lenses) |
Dhaak
Chaa Bahiri challenges your mental ability more than the physical ability. You certainly come out as an accomplished
person. I wow to myself to come again next year. To experience the thrill, to
get excited and to reassure to myself that I am alive.
Journey from
Pune to Kundeshwar in a vehicle
|
1 Hours
|
Best Season
|
September to
February
|
Kundeshwar to the top
|
1.5 Hrs.
|
Water
Available on the Top
|
Yes
|
Overnight
stay in the cave
|
15-20 people
|
