What is your idea of a weekend outdoors?
Some may prefer a trek through the wilderness, others want to just ‘chill with friends’ on a picnic by a waterfall. Some people are just looking to escape the maddening chaos of weekday rush hour traffic amidst misty hilltops, reading their favorite book next to gentle brook. And then, there are some who seek the thrill of adventure and adrenaline, which comes from rappelling down a hillside. But, what if you could combine all of these … in just one day!! Travel, Trek and Rappel under a 90ft. Waterfall … Incredible, isn’t it?
Some may prefer a trek through the wilderness, others want to just ‘chill with friends’ on a picnic by a waterfall. Some people are just looking to escape the maddening chaos of weekday rush hour traffic amidst misty hilltops, reading their favorite book next to gentle brook. And then, there are some who seek the thrill of adventure and adrenaline, which comes from rappelling down a hillside. But, what if you could combine all of these … in just one day!! Travel, Trek and Rappel under a 90ft. Waterfall … Incredible, isn’t it?
This is exactly what a group of travelers from Pune and Mumbai experienced this weekend at Dhodani, Panvel. Dhodani is a rustic and scenic village of less than 100 houses, located at the North Western foothills of Matheran, where a river emerges from its lofty abode in a cascade of 3 waterfalls. Situated on the terminal end of Panvel-Dhodani road, Dhodani is accessible by road from Panvel through State Transport (ST) buses or minivans. Forts such as Chanderi, Prabalgad and Kalawantindurg and the Gadeshwar dam are visible along the way. Apart from the waterfalls, Dhodani is also the starting point for a half day treks to Matheran, ideal for beginners and group treks for school children & community groups etc.
I (Suraj Devadiga) was part of the Waterfall Rappelling event organized by Backpack Holidays (Dimesh Patel, Borivali West, Mumbai). The rappelling was to be conducted under the expert guidance of Hemant Salunkhe (Hemat Sir), Sushant Karandikar and Rahul Shinde. Having previously participated in other rappelling events conducted by this team, I was at ease about their skills and especially, their ‘commitment to safety’ of all the participants, always mindful of the fact that many participants are usually ‘first timers’.
By 8 am, the participants started trickling in at Dhodani village. What started out as a small group of 10-15 people, slowing swelled up to 70 participants. (Thanks to digital word-of-mouth publicity on Facebook). The participants were a diverse bunch, from teenaged school and college students to married couples looking to ‘share an adventure’ with their spouse, from early career professionals catching up with college buddies, to mid-career professionals looking to unwind from the stress at work.
After piping hot ‘poha and kadak chai’ at the village, the group started the trek uphill. We followed the winding footpath though the village, through rice paddy fields, along the river for a few hundred meters and then climbed gently up the valley on the southern bank of the river. The steep and rocky northern end of the valley used as to graze cattle and goats by the villagers, is a ‘quicker but trickier’ trek for some of the more seasoned trekkers. But since it was a diverse group and also to enjoy a more scenic, longer and safer trek, we took a path up the southern bank of the river. As we climbed higher, the ‘paywat’ (meaning footpath in Marathi, but amazingly similar to Pathway in English) got narrower and the vegetable patches irrigated by the rain-fed brooks and rivulets, turned into denser vegetation that grew wild on upper reaches of the valley. The top 2 cascades of the waterfall are visible throughout the trek, beckoning the weary trekker with a promise of fun and frolic at the end of the journey. Our destination however was the third and nearest waterfall, comprising 2 side-by-side cascades of ~90 ft. each. As we drew nearer to our destination, there are 2 forks in the path. Once leads to the bottom of the waterfall and the other climbs to the top. We climbed to top and set up the gear awaiting the arrival of the adventure aficionados.
What can I say about the rest of the story? They say ‘A picture is worth a thousand words’. So, you’d better see it in the amazing pictures courtesy Nilesh Wagh from Pune & Video courtesy Surabh Amlani, Mumbai.
Saurabh Amlani’s video: (copy+paste URL to your browser)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4r5TWORGzPM&feature=youtu.be
Nilesh Wagh’s photos: (copy+paste URL to your browser)https://picasaweb.google.com/nileshwagh33/DoodhaniWaterfallRaplling?authkey=Gv1sRgCOGImJvklY78dA
Blog is written by Mr Suraj.
Dimesh Patel
Backpack Holidays
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