Kondhane Caves Trek Experience by Ekansh

 

My Trekking Experience

Kondhane Caves trek with Parvat Buddies

16th Oct 2021

By Ekansh Agarwal

From being captivated by nature’s beauty to climbing steep mountains, treks are truly an unforgettable experience in one’s life. Escaping from the noisy and stressful city life and venturing deep into nature’s lair is a unique experience altogether. Recently I had gone on a trek to ‘Kondana Caves’ with my family and friends. We set out early in the morning and witnessed the beautiful sunrise. On the way we reached an area where there was so much fog that the sun appeared white in colour to us and we were having confusions about whether it was the sun or the moon. After an hour or so we finally reached our destination. We put our caps and sunglasses on, strapped our backpacks and began the climb.

In the beginning, the trail was wide and not to steep. Gradually the path became narrower and the incline steeper. Our guide was extremely friendly and kept showing us different species of plants and animals. We frequently saw earthworms and tried to avoid stepping on them. Seeing the Giant Wood Spider and its web, we were stunned. The web was huge and it appeared slightly invisible and it looked like the spider was hovering in mid-air. We even saw funnel spider webs covered in dew drops. As we moved ahead our guide gave us some instructions which would make trekking easier for us. We had to keep our hands free all the time so that if we happen to stumble we would be able to support ourselves. He also told us that there was no hurry to get to the top and we had to ensure that everyone was on the right track. While some parts were easy, others were quite challenging. We also had to step on the right rocks so as to not lose our balance. Indeed the rocks near the stream were quite slippery and one of us almost fell. Finally we reached the caves and waterfall. The carvings on the cave were extremely detailed and we could not believe that it was created by carving stone rocks. The moss that grew near the caves was neon green and it looked extremely beautiful. The caves had separate chambers which we thought were used for meditation as it was a Buddhist cave. We also saw an ancient writing engraved on the outside of the cave. However, the most memorable event of the day was getting drenched and massaged in the waterfall! The waterfall refreshed us and due to the force of the water falling from top it felt like an excellent massage. We thoroughly enjoyed bathing in the waterfall and wanted to stay there for much longer. We changed, ate some snacks and energised ourselves and began our descent. The warm sun felt very satisfying as we were slightly wet. While climbing down we had to be even more cautious than when we were trekking upwards. This was because we could easily loose our balance and slip on certain rocks. After a slightly tedious descent we finally reached the bottom and let out a sigh of relief.

There was a village at the bottom of the mountain where we refreshed ourselves and had a scrumptious lunch which was enjoyed by everyone. The people living there were extremely helpful and friendly. As soon as we were leaving our car got stuck and after a lot of effort from everyone over there we got it out. We then set off and said our goodbyes. It was a tiring but exciting experience which we would never forget.