Dhaak Chaa Bahiri : Thrill Redefined

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