Andharban

।। श्री आशापुरी देव्यै नमः ।। 

LSoM (marathon नव्हे, फक्त "last sunday of the month") ला अंधरबान / अंधारबन tick-mark ☑️ झाला.. महिना संपायला आल्यावर सरतेशेवटी सरकार पडलं, आणि पाऊसही 👌..

drift of the year ⏩

after watching the video, if you are suspecting it to be AI generated 😅 - wondering such a climate and greenery is not possible to find in today's weather conditions even if it is आंधरबन, you are very much on the right track.. but still, the video is as unadulterated as it should be, only trick being the basic most of all - timelapse..

yet, that pretty much should also contribute nothing in terms of amplifying your hopes to any unbeatable levels which can never be fulfilled.. 'never be fulfilled' as in, in today's 🌡️ weather conditions.. so, here is the second trick.. the video is from a different universe 🌦️.. same place, same group, but a different time zone.. ~Jun '22..

if you missed out on 'Resolution T22' article 📑, will be helping out with the link towards the end, so that along with the drift, you also get to enjoy the swag, frame, peak ⛰️, view, pattern etc. etcetra from that year..

 

 शिलालेख, महादेव मंदिर, हिरडी

 

sometimes the wait is longer because the blessing is bigger.. Andharban.. because it's सह्याद्री !

what's with the title?.. ह्यांचा हा सुद्धा trek गंडला वाटतं?.. आणि, पावसाळ्यात already एकदा करून झाला आहे तर पुन्हा भर उन्हाळ्यात आणि भर उन्हात 🌞 करण्यासारखं असं काय आहे इथे?.. let's see..

when enquired विशाल about the availability the previous day, he replied with a हरी झंडी ✔️.. then checked with वैभव.. since he was also part of the pilot, I was doubtful if he'd come again.. but he said, 'I'll swim 🏊‍♂️,' and he showed up 👇..

now you must be wondering... since when has अंधरबान been / known for swimming ❓.. and what's with this 'pilot trek' here?.. aren't people roaming this area for the last 25+ years, may be more ⁉️ 🤔..

now is the time for the reality check 💔, but that also is the fun part of all.. जो होता है वह अच्छे के लिए होता है.. when this line is used, generally nobody would expect - everything falls / fell in place, and so it be.. the harsh reality is - we were not supposed to trail अंधरबन.. but as they say, समय से पहले और किस्मत से ज्यादा किसीको कुछ नहीं मिलता, we compromised 😒.. had to..

महादेव मंदिर, हिरडी

while the original idea was to descend the कुंडलिका valley along the emrald water 🌊, through origin of the कुंडलिका river (yes, the same one, that's famous for rafting), our ignorance was at its peak.. हम सब तो रंगमंच की कठपुतलियां हैं रे 🪅, जिनकी डोर ऊपर वाले की उंगलियों में बंधी है.. least aware of the script, we reached the starting point 🏁.. and that'll also be all from bollywood..

on the way, also learnt about considerably lower RTO registration charges for 🇮🇳 all India permit vehicles 🚐 in Daman and Assam.. so, if you happen to spot any tourist vehicles having DD or AS tattoos ®️, you now know the reason..

and now, you also know the reason behind the spelling mistakes in the article.. unless those got sneaked in un-noingly, are the forced ones and forced once 🤣..

28 February 2026

one of the those few instances, where the intro might be longer than the trek itself..

if you are ever planning to visit this dark forest (नाम में क्या रखा है?), please make a dew note of this.. we were well aware about the needed entry fee 🎫.. least we were aware that this entry doesn't happen offline / on the spot anymore.. मग काय? शोधा network 🛜.. literally, each one of us were made to pay for it on an individual level.. for 25 pax, it was an hour wasted, especially when, for selecting birth date, पंकज was actually going back in time, one month per tap 🤦‍♂️ (what if he was from 60's, instead of 90's) .. trust me, you have also done this some time, so you know, what exactly am I talking about here 😜..

कुंडलिका valley, उन्नेयी धरण, भिरा गाव

our leads tried hard to convince the official that we wanted to hike down the offbeat valley, but he did not budge at all.. नाही ते नाहीच 🥺.. a few mishaps here and there, and suddenly every other area has to deal with the ripples.. somebody had died 🥀 near एकोले / lotus valley, and thus issued were strict guidelines..

last time, we hiked from घुटके till पिंपरी.. today's refreshed plan 🔄 was still from पिंपरी till भिरा, but via हिरडी..

माकड्या आणि बोकड्या ओढ्यांवर बांधलेले गरज नसलेले पूल were something different than last time.. the next distinct thing was what we first took for butterflies 🦋.. however, sensing their collective presence and a somewhat atypical fluttering style, we became skeptical.. observing closely, we realised those were moths..

couple of weeks ago, वैभव was here to hike from नागशेत till पिंपरी, when he learnt about a beautiful महादेव मंदिर at हिर्डी..

अब और का बताएं भैया / बहना 🙃, आज के लिये बस करते हैं 🫠..

what would have been otherwise an expected walk in scorching sun ☀️, turned out to be an unexpected one through the shadows interim.. generally, people are happy the other way, but we had not signed up for this..

if there will be another attempt to hike down the valley, even if all needed precautions / permissions are taken beforehand? - time will tell 🙂‍↔️..

trekचं काय जे झालं ते झालं, best thing that happened today was जेवण 🍱. period.

consecutive weekends, another plan b (b for back-up).. though start and end points were unchanged, the journey unfolded differently than planned.. yet, no complaints.. because it's सह्याद्री ! 🥳.. बऱ्याच गोष्टी ज्या पुण्यात / इतरत्र मिळत नाहीत, त्याचं हे एकमेव ठिकाण!"

another timelapse, course of the day 

उन्नेयी धरणाच्या आसपास कुठेतरी, photo credits: वैभव

annexure

last weekend's plan b, SRT

https://sskothawade.blogspot.com/2026/02/blog-post.html

Resolution T22,

https://sskothawade.blogspot.com/2022/12/resolution-t22.html