Travel blog sandhan valley

ARUSHI MATHUR|BLOGGER

JAN|2018 ©

Travel blog

DOWNHILL HIKING S A N D H A N VA L L E Y

ARUSHI MATHUR|BLOGGER

Last Friday night I left everyone with a message, to be back within 2-3 days, so now let me fill in this gap.

It's been almost four years since I started to take traveling for real.

Going on solo, duo trips and exploring the world on my own. But this was the first time that I went on a professional trek, although it was a random decision at first and to be honest the only person I knew was my sister (who got her friends) in fact it was going to be the first trek that I share with her so I thought why not, and trust me there is nothing I can compare to this experience altogether.

Sandhan means bonding how fancy.

Sandhan valley, also known as the valley of the shadow, is one of the greatest canyons in the splendid setting of Sahyadri western ghats.

This water carved valley is 2430 ft deep and about 3.5 km long.

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The valley is surrounded by the mighty alang, madan and kulang known as AMK- rated as the toughest trek in Sahyadri. Makes it even more interesting.

After having a hot served breakfast with garam chai we packed our bags with lunch and our journey began.

More than teamwork, I believe trekking is an independent sport even when done with others. No matter what happens, once you are in it you have to get out of it on your own. It's a task of survival in various possible ways.

This included crossing water pools with waters up to your chin at the beginning of the trek, this is where I could see teamwork forming a human chain in that deep water passing all our bags and then moving ahead one by one. Walking through the narrow streak of the valley with

200 ft rock walls on both the sides is an awesome lifetime experience.

After a while, we took a lunch break.

Slowly I could see all of us bonding over food, chit-chatting about some common interests etc., which for me is the true essence of the trek, especially when you are on your own. As we begin to walk more it became harder and tiring but what kept us going is the next spot unfolding the upcoming adventure, where we did rappelling from 6070ft multiple times.

Unlike other treks, this was a descending trek. We did not even stop in the night. Trekked with our flashlights, till we reached our base campsite (After 12hrs of trekking in a stretch) where we relaxed had dinner next to the bonfire sharing our stories, 2.

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singing and dancing, playing cards bonding even stronger until we were too tired to relax and watch the sparkling sky, sharing a moment of peace as the wind blows and we ended up sleeping.

Almost all of us were first timers and we all nailed it. I believe one must surely try trekking at least once in their life.

There is no question that trekking offers the ultimate thrill, but there is much more to trekking than exercise and adrenaline rushes.

Along with adventure, comes a means of happiness, a sense of inspiration. With every step, I learn something great about life. Learned to overcome my fear with a smile on my face.

PS. Thanks to my sister for introducing me to this officially, the gang for making it worth. And

Not just the place, it's the people and their company that made it even more memorable. Our crowd had people of various age group and mixed profession but on a common ground, we were just trekkers, strangers on the hunt for adventure.

Looking for many more treks to be part of my life.

And so the adventure begins..

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Group adventure Rappelling Great guides Night trek Camping Bonfire Water pond

‘WE’ Wanderers and Explorers for making this possible. Sandy, PD and everyone else for making it the most memorable experience.

-Arushi Mathur Instagram- tanyaroxane arushi.mathur24@gmail.com 13-14th Jan’ 2018 3.

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BEFORE

AFTER T R E K M E M B E R S - Sandeep Golatkar ,PD, Arushi Mathur, Vaishali Mathur, Tejas, Akshata, Rituja, Tarun,

Dilip Kumar, Saishwar, Mahesh, Dhanashree Garde, Udayraj Garde, Abhinaya Natrajan, Harshvardhan, Dr. Vishal Sawant, Ved Sawant, Vasanth, Suhas Dhanawade, Darshan Kamat, Radha Bahutule, Sunil, Savita, Shahin, Aniruddha & our guide Tushar Zade.

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