Dhak Bahiri- ढाक बहिरी

Well it was the first trek I lead. My friends from company always wanted to come for a trek but timing never matched before. This time we kept all our work aside and got ready for Dhak. Pankaj (Jumbo man), aman (little fearless trekker), Arjun (Papa's), Ganesh (Sabu) and Jignesh (most enthusiastic), and me got together for this trek.

We decided to go on bikes to avoid dependency on public transport. All guys left from pune at around 6.30am and I joined them at around 7.30am from talegaon. We did breakfast (sorry Jumbo breakfast) at kamshet and moved to jambivali (base village). There is a route (kaccha rasta) for four wheeler till Kondaneshwar temple, so we parked bikes at kondaneshwar temple.

We started around 9 am to climb; a local villager came to show the way. Climate was cool and cloudy so even though we started late Mr. SUN did not cause any trouble for us.

I must mention, during the all way there were enough arrows and boards indicating direction towards Dhak, so there is no need to take any guide with you.

At around 11 we started descending through col, between kalkarai pinnacle and dhak, and reached the rock patch.

Jignesh was just not able to find the way ahead and was asking "abe yahpe age janeka rasta kidhar hai?”

As all of them came first time at dhak, so it was definitely a thrilling experience for them to walk on a plain rock. I kept one rope with me for safety. We kept our bags down and started climbing.

First patch was having steps in the rock for around 20 - 25 ft. approx. aman and pankaj climbed without rope; others used rope just to ensure safety, which actually took fear out of their mind. Everyone was climbing with calm head and taking their own time to climb, which was good.

Second patch was to go horizontal towards wooden ladder. I tied a rope at two ends and asked everyone to come from inner side of the rope, so even if someone loses balance rope will help to balance.

From there everyone climbed ladder easily with the help of ropes already fixed at the place.We relaxed for some time in cave, enjoyed beautiful view of nature. There were two mountains far from us, looking like the transparent mountains one behind another.

We started descending after some time, this time everyone was more confident than they were while climbing. We were able to come down much quickly. Belay was given just for the sake of safety.

Now there was a surprise waiting for us at the place where we kept our bags. Mr. Monkey has opened my bag and all food that I brought was gone. And we discovered that we were left with only 2 liter of water.

We climbed col and had some biscuits, also decided not to eat in village because we were not having much water with us. After having some water, jignesh told that he has only one bottle left, and we kept that for drinking on the way. We travelled the way as much as we can without water, at the end when we saw Kondaneshwar temple we decided to rest and have some water. And at that time jignesh started searching a bottle in his bag? And he said that we don't have any water with us. (Jignesh you deserve a kick from every one of us.). It actually gave us moral support that we have some water with us on the way.

We had some water and lemon juice at jambivali, ate puri's brought by pankaj (what a relief, I was so hungry all the way). Then we came to my home at around 6.30pm, had some snacks and all went back to home safely.

It was a fantastic experience for me. I realized the responsibility on the trek leaders, under whom I did all my previous treks. All guys supported a lot, no panics even in the worst situation. Thanks a lot to all of you, it was an awesome trek.