Sandhan Valley

This was the most awaited trek of this year.  I was planning this for last one year and was missing on it for some or the other reason.  Finally, March 5, 2011, was that day when we stared for this wonderful event.  The Sandhan Valley is one of the most beautiful valleys in the Sahyadri.  This gigantic valley is situated on the south east of Samrad village about half a kilometer.  We started at morning 5.00 am and reached the first halt Bota at around 7.00 am.

We took tea at Bota and headed to Kotul the place where we planned to have our breakfast.  We try to find out a WADA built by Bajirao Peshave at Bramhanwada (A village on our way to Kotul) but it was totally in demolished state and what we could find was debris of that WADA.  We also come to know about a tomb of wife of Sardar Bapu Gokhale situated on the east bank of a small stream. 

We had our breakfast at Kotul and headed towards Randha fall our next attraction.  This beautiful fall on the Pravara River is running throughout the year as it has supply from the Bhandardara dam.  This place is really very picturesque and once can spend few ours there in relaxation.  We spent about an hour and moved to Ratanwadi our next destination.  We reached Ratanwadi at around 11.30 am.  We swam in the dam for sometime.  I took few rounds and we went in the temple of Amruteshwar for Darshan.  This very beautiful temple is about 1000 years old and is of Hemadpanthi style of architecture.  There is a Pushkarni before the temple.  This is a particular style of well not much found in Maharashtra.  The Pushkarni is very beautiful and has carvings of the Dashavata’s of Bhagwan Vishnu.

We spent some time in the temple watching the unmatched carvings all over the walls of the temple and then took lunch at a small Dhaba.  The lunch was very tasty and after that, we can’t stop ourselves from a nap in the afternoon.  We got up at 4.00pm and got fresh.  We took evening tea at a stall and started our journey towards Samrad our final destination.  While on the road, we saw one of the most beautiful sunsets of our life.  The sun was slowly going behind the mountain and the sky was changing its color every minute.  We reached Samrad around 7.00pm and asked fro Mr. Dilip Ragade the person who made all arrangement for our dinner and stay.

We got up early in the morning, have tea and got ready to explore the beautiful valley.  We first visited the Kokan Kada and were amazed by its beauty.  This decision to see the Kokan Kada proved very good for us, as it would have been very tiresome to watch it in the sunny and hot afternoon.  We entered the valley around 8.30 am.  The valley is very small at the opening and becomes wider as you keep on moving through the gorge.  It is difficult to explain what you feel after you enter this gigantic natural structure.  We all were speechless for some time.  We keep on moving deep into it and found it more and more mysterious.  We have to cross a span of about 30 feet where water comes up to chest height.  This was a thrilling experience and the water was ice chilled.  We reach at the end of the valley around 11.00 am.  We spent some time there.  We had some snacks and started the journey towards Samrad.  We reach Samrad at 12.15 pm.  Took lunch and stared our journey towards Pune.  We took the road via Shendi instead of via Ratanwadi. 

While on our way back, we reached Bramhanwada around 3.30 pm.  We also wanted to see the battlefield where the Anglo Maratha war took place, which is on the Bramhanwada Otur road towards the south of the village, but can’t make it, as we have to reach Pune early.  We reached Pune around 6.00pm and that was the end of a spellbound journey.  If you want to visit this place, please contact Dilip Ragade at 9326151812 or Datta Bhangre at 9325926341/ 8605151641.  These two guys are very helpful and can arrange anything for you there.  Datta can arrange tents and night stay with dinner in the valley as well.