Valley of shadows....Adventure trek rappelling in Sandhan Valley

Adventure trek Sandhan Valley

Normally every trek starts with climbing and then descending, but first time in my life I did a trek where there was no climbing, only descending till the end. The adventures trek was Sandhan Valley. Sandhan Valley is situated in the western Ghats of Sahyadri. The valley is located on the west side of beautiful Bhandardhara region near Samrad village. The village itself is located approx.  at 3000 feet's above sea level. Valley is surrounded by Alang, Malang, Kulang, Kalsubai, Ratangad and Ajoba mountain range.
As decide we started our journey on friday evening. we all are coming from different places so we have decided to meet at a Kanjurmarg Bridge. As usual our friend Suraj came late by half an hour & we started our journey at 10:30 pm. Is too cold outside so we decided to take a short tea break.

Valley of shadows Trek Sandhan valley Bhandardhara Maharashtra

After taking garama garam bhajiya along with tea we have started our journey at 1:30 for Samrad village. After driving an hour we reached an dead end , then we realize that we forgot the route; we are trying to call Datta (Our Trek Guide) but his phone is not reachable. Thanks to Gaurav's GPS which becomes our guide for Samrad Village. 

sleeping time Valley of shadows Trek Sandhan valley Bhandardhara Maharashtra

At 4:30 AM we reached the small yet very beautiful Samrad village. We took halt at our trek guide Datta’s house. He was the one who was going to give us technical support required at 3 patches. We reached too early for trek. After 7 hours journey our team needs some rest, so Duta provide us the space to sleep. Most of our team members take a rest in their sleeping bags which we had brought for us for the trek. 

After morning rituals, datta bhau provide us garama garam Poha for breakfast along with the tea.
Having heavy breakfast we are ready for trek along with our sleeping bags, before starting our journey we take a group photo.

Group photo Valley of shadows Trek Sandhan valley Bhandardhara Maharashtra

Konkan Kada Valley of shadows Adventure Trek Sandhan valley Bhandardhara Maharashtra

After group photo we started our trek at 8.15 Am. Before starting our trek Datta take us to visit Konkan kada ,divine feeling of being in the heavens. We cant control ourselves to click pics. We click some beautiful pics.

Valley of shadows Adventure Trek Sandhan valley Bhandardhara Maharashtra

We started our trek early in the morning with an intention at the back of our minds to reach Karoli Ghat Base camp by 5PM.  After 15mints of our trek we found ourselves in the mountainous valley, covered on two sides by hills, reaching to the height of 150fts. Water was mildly gushing through the spaces between the rocks and we followed the water flow. After crossing some big rocks, we found a small water pound (Water was actually flowing through the rock-cave) 

Chale chalo... we are singing this song encouraging each other to move further... Crossing this, we started bouldering the valley and reached the second water pool. The level of the water was 5fts and the rock was slippery. Me, Rakesh & Somu went into the water pool to get the luggage passed on, helped other people to come onto the other end of the water pool. Then again, we started bouldering the rock. It was completely at a descending level. Vrashank, and Minal were tired and faced some difficulty in carrying their bags and boulder. However, they managed pretty well, somehow

The water level in the first pool was below waist height and in the second pool it was above the waist height. (The water level changes according to the season). By observing my clothes anyone cam get the idea about water level.

Valley of shadows Adventure Trek Sandhan valley Bhandardhara Maharashtra

We were passing between two huge mountains range. The sun was spreading its rays but the mountains were just blocking it from reaching us. Sandhan Valley is also called as Valley of Shadow as it hardly allows the sun rays to reach the bottom. The valley is also an awesome place for photographers.

Valley of shadows Adventure Trek Sandhan valley Bhandardhara Maharashtra

The descending is not that simple as it looks. We need to make way from many big rocks. The main problem faced while descending is that we were always in the search of shortest and the easiest path but there is no such path. 6 member of our group went ahead and 3 guys stayed back  as they were finding it difficult to descend. The path till the first rappelling point is very time consuming.

We all are waiting for our rest team members to join us for rappelling. While waiting for our rest team members we found our one of team member kunal  is sleeping within 5 minutes. After around 6 hours of walk on the rocky path we reached the 1st rappelling patch.  The first rappelling patch is about 45 feet. By 3 PM the we all completed our  1st rappelling patch.

Rappelling Valley of shadows Adventure Trek Sandhan valley Bhandardhara Maharashtra

Rakesh started rappelling first and managed tactfully well and rappelled down. We then decided to rappel rest of the team. Rakesh was enjoying rappelling so he went up one more time to experience rappelling .At 4 we started our journey towards the second patch.Due to lack of time, we rappelled down faster, and then continued trekking and reached the second rock patch. We had told the guide to make sure that everyone of our team will reach the second rappelling patch. 2nd and 3rd rappelling are of just 10 -15 feets as compare to 1st one but are as thrilling as the first one.

Thanks to the two girls coz of them we even enjoyed rappelling as by the time we reached the 3rd and the last patch it was about to dark.

We reached our camp at around 6.15 PM. Beautiful sky packed with shining stars, chilled weather made us forget the tiredness. After the delicious dinner we decided to sleep, so we can get up early and enjoy the next day trek. Shafali wants tea to drink so I asked to Datta bhau to plz arrange cup of tea for shef & some how he manage to provide us black tea. Every one was so tired , they slept within an hour after dinner.

Breakfast Valley of shadows Adventure Trek Sandhan valley Bhandardhara Maharashtra

Early morning we started our return journey. The rocky path was back in the trek. After an hour trek we had a break for Breakfast. We had Garama garam Poha as breakfast and Tea.

Valley of shadows Adventure Trek Sandhan valley Bhandardhara Maharashtra

After our breakfast we started our return journey with full of energy. After  moving 30-45 minutes we all get puzzled when we saw how to clear a this tricky patch. Then Datta climb the stone and tie a heavy thread (Wire) to tree and drop other end of the tread for us to climb. God knows how we cleared that phase but definitely everyone enjoyed that phase of climbing.

Datta Bhau Valley of shadows Adventure Trek Sandhan valley Bhandardhara Maharashtra

Dutta bhau was the man who helps us to climb this patch very easily , salute to him to carry our heavy weight bags.

Valley of shadows Adventure Trek Sandhan valley Bhandardhara Maharashtra

When everyone clears that phase we started our journey again , but this time less rocky  patch and we found a tree shadow where we take rest . There is one more straight climb patch we have to cover .After completing this last difficult patch everyone want to take rest for some time .
After walking about an hour we reached the plain ground and then we speed up our speed when we saw village.
This was my first ever trek that got concluded in the day light. And yes Sandhan Valley trek was the most thrilling and memorable trek till now for us.

Land of Gods-Valley of Flowers -Trek to Ghangaria - Journey to Govind Ghat

 Devbhoomi... Land of Gods UTTARAKHAND

Day-3 : 11 Aug 2012 Devprayag- Rishikesh

We started for Joshimath at 7:30 am and on the way to Rishikesh stopped at the huge Shiva idol to take some snaps. Visited the Subh Yatra travels office in Rishikesh to complete some formalities for permit. I would recommend you hire a vehicle from them as they offer very good services at acceptable rates. Mr. Naveen from Subh Yatra was the person who encouraged us to go ahead with trip when we had second thoughts after the heavy rains and helped us to finalize our itinerary. Sudha had some ideas to save money, but we dropped the plan!!! 

After having tea and purchasing water for our journey at the dhabas opposite the Rishikesh bus stand we again started at 10 am. On the way to Devprayag stopped at biyasi for breakfast as suggested by our driver Rakesh, who provided us with valuable information throughout the trip. 

We had great parathas at cheap rates and restarted our journey at 10:40 am. In between we saw a beautiful bridge and could not resist stopping our vehicle. We reached Devprayag at 12:30 pm and after some snaps continued our journey.

Devprayag is situated at an altitude of 475mts above sea level at the confluence of Alaknanda and Bhagirathi River. Devprayag is situated in Tehri Garhwal district and some part of Devprayag comes under Pauri Garhwal district. Devprayag is the last prayag (confluence) of Alaknanda River and from this point the confluence of Alaknanda and Bhagirathi River is known as Ganga. The town lies on the Rishikesh-Badrinath highway, 71kms ahead of Rishikesh.

We had gone just 15 mins ahead and nature struck. We had a tyre puncture!!! and got down from the vehicle. I searched for shady spot on the road and the group settled down discussing the journey ahead. After a break of 45 mins started our journey again at 1:15 pm. Rakesh informed kunal that he have to search a tyre puncture repair shop to repair the punctured tyre as the only spare tyre was being used now and we can’t risk another flat tyre. So we stopped at the tyre repair shop in the next village and restarted our journey after the repair.

As we continued further we saw a traffic jam ahead. Kunal and Rakesh got down and went further to investigate to find a landslide had occurred ahead and the BRO team was working hard for 2 hrs. to remove the same. I would like to appreciate the work BRO is doing here. Hats off to them!!! After a 1 hr break the road was clear for traffic and we started our journey again. We were singing songs to keep the morale up and all of a sudden Vipin said Stop It!!! This was the opportunity we were waiting for and sang all songs from that film (DDLJ for your info)

He got so frustrated or excited I cant explain the exact feeling that he threw a water bottle in the air

Boom Boom!!! The missile hit Sudha

 Main Kaha Hu ?

After so many twists and turns in our exciting journey we decided to take a nimbu pani break.Reached Joshimath at 8 pm after an eventful journey consisting of flat tyre, landslide.  Kunal had already booked Joshimath TRH (New) to spend the night. I went inside the room and had a bath and was ready for dinner. After our dinner we had game of cards in my room and went to bed at 12:30 in the night. We had huge day ahead of us as tomorrow we have to start our trek for Valley of Flowers (VOF).

Day - 4 : 12 Aug 2012

Got up early in the morning at 6 am and I was ready for the task ahead.

GMVN Joshimath(NEW) TRH. The climate was beautiful outside and we took a this snap

Left for Govindghat at 7:30 am and reached the place in 1 hr. We had a quick breakfast of parathas and dahi and were ready for our trek at 9 am.

 Sudha and Puja had already decided that they would not walk and we had to hire horses for them. We hired an additional horse for our luggage and deal was fixed for 1650 for 3 horses (550/horse).

Finally started the trek at 10 am and after 1 hr Dipti and Minal decided to hire horses for them. Now 7 of us myself,Suraj,Ravindra,kunal,Shafali,Vipin,Mangesh were left to continue the trek ahead. We decided that we would not quit and complete the trek. After walking for 90 mins we stopped at a cold drink shop to have nimbu pani.

After having the refreshing glass of nimbu pani we had our energy back and started to trek ahead. Now there were 2 groups formed, myself, Suraj,Ravindra,Shafali and kunal were ahead. Mangesh and Vipin had fallen a little behind and were trying to catch up. We were having short breaks for snaps and nimbu pani in between. The trek path went past one mountain after the other with deep valleys on one side. 

The Alaknanda River was giving us company in between our journey and we found a suitable spot to take some snaps on the banks of the river.

After a few hours we saw Vipin and Mangesh pass us on horses and we were a little annoyed to see they had given up. Soon we after a few minutes ahead we saw 2 of them resting on a rock. They informed us that vipin had convinced the horsemen to drop them ahead so that they can catch up with us. We moved ahead as a group and found a spot to have our lunch. After a lunch of biscuits, dry fruits, chips and chiwda (Meri ma ka pyar) we were ready to move ahead. The final 5 km stretch was very difficult and tiresome as it was a continuous climb.

This is the most difficult stretch of the 14 kms trek and we had thoughts of quitting. We encouraged each other and moved ahead. The so called 14 kms trek is actually feels much more because of the climb and incorrect distance markings on the route. We completed the final stretch with the help of sikh pilgrims and chants of “Jo Bole Sonihal” who continuously encouraged us and provided us refreshments to continue our journey. We felt ashamed of ourselves as we were struggling to move ahead and numerous old and young pilgrims of Hemkund Sahib moved ahead with smiles on their face.

7 of us toiled for 7 hrs and finally reached Ghangaria which is the base village for both VOF and Hemkund at 5pm. We searched for Hotel Kuber which kunal had already booked and had a cup of hot tea after reaching our rooms.

It was very cold in the night and we had our dinner at the hotel restaurant and went out to call back home as none of our networks were working. Only BSNL has limited coverage here. The cost of everything is double the normal price as they have to bring everything from below. But I was amazed to hear that a STD call of 1 min will cost me 10 rupees and could not understand the reason. Anyways I had no choice and called up home and returned to my room.

We had a small session of cards in my room and went to sleep as everybody was tired.

Why did suraj lost every time ???

Day - 5 : 13 Aug 2012 - Valley of Flowers

Today we were going to visit VOF, the highlight of our trip. We reached the entry gate were we bought entry tickets. From here we had to climb 3kms to reach VOF.

We started our trek at 9:30 am and very soon began to take snaps of some flowers which had grown near our path.

After a walking a short distance we had to cross a waterfall which was not too difficult and helped each other cross the same




After a walk of 90 mins we reached a spot from where we could witness a glacier and took a halt to admire it.






After the break we started our trek and reached a temporary bridge over a stream which was made of wooden logs and metal sheets.



After crossing the stream you will reach the starting point of VOF. We took 3 hrs to reach here from Ghangaria (11:30 pm).

The valley was beautiful filled with wild flowers of different colors, shapes and sizes.

We roamed 5 kms inside the valley and reached another temporary bridge over a stream.
The stream was flowing wildly and was flowing over the bridge because of the overnight rain. We decided not to move ahead as the current was strong and it was very risky.

We returned from there and reached the starting point of the valley where there is a huge rock. Other groups had taken shelter beneath it to protect themselves and their lunch from the slight drizzle. We decided to have our lunch at this place.we finish our Lunch ( Ma ka pyar ...)

After having our lunch we started to descend down towards Ghangaria.
We have to drink water which is very cold.

Me and Shafali completed our descend in 1 hour and reached rooms at 3:15 pm.
The evening was spent discussing our experiences and we were very happy that the efforts we had put to reach here were worth it.

Day - 6 : 14 Aug 2012 - Journey to Govind Ghat

We checked out from our hotel at 9 am and started our journey back to Govind Ghat.
Hotel Kuber. Sudha and Puja decided to hire horses again. Rest of us started the journey back on foot loading our luggage on a horse which would accompany the 2 girls.

Kunal, Suraj and Ravindra reached Govind Ghat at 12pm in 3 hrs without any major problems. Myself and Shafali came afterwards at 1 :30 pm. I was very happy while reaching Entry point

The remaining group was down at 3:30 pm taking snaps which they had missed as Deepti and Minal did not trek while going up. I was very happy to have completed VOF successfully and was proud of Suraj, Ravindra, Kunal, Vipin, Mangesh and Shafali the only girl who showed great willpower to complete the trek on foot.
We left for Badrinath at 4pm in our vehicle and reached the hotel Shankar Sree at 6pm. We took some breaks during our journey for some snaps.

After a quick shower I was ready to visit Badrinath Mandir and visited the mandir for evening aarti. We very able to have a good darshan as the crowd was very less. We spent some time in the mandir in the peaceful atmosphere and heard some bhajans which some devotes sang in the mandir premises.

Before leaving we paid a quick visit to Tapt Kund (Hot water kund).We played cards and chatted and went to bed late in the night.