15 minutes to the hammock between the two hills
Wilderness BD organizes various thrilling activities in the hills. With this organization, I did rappelling (descending steep hills with the help of a rope) at Chandranath Pahar in Sitakunda two years ago. I was very scared while doing the first adventure in my life. While going down the steep hill, I looked down and saw that I was floating in the void, I cowered in fear. But after following the technique taught by the instructor, the fear of the mind disappears forever. Instead of fear, he sat down with excitement. The thrill of going to ‘Extreme Hamking’ last October.
There are 14 of us in the team apart from the coaches and volunteers. Many have joined such a thrill for the first time. Our destination is Napittachara in Mirsarai. Napittachara is already a popular trail. Lots of tourists visit during the holidays. There are three to four waterfalls at the very end of this trail. After about 40 minutes walk from the locality we reach one of them. The name of this beautiful waterfall between two hills is Bandarkhum. Here we will do extreme hamking.
After reaching Bandarkhum, the training team began to struggle. They first went to the base of two mountains side by side and selected an anchor site. Then one climbs slowly up the relatively easy path of any mountain. Climbed 120 feet down the two hills and hung the hammock by making a tree and stone. We are told that two participants can climb the hammock at a time. They will come down from fifteen minutes.
Our training takes place while swinging the hammock. How to tie the safety equipment, how to pull the hand rope, what will be the footwork during that time, how to go to the hammock after river crossing etc. After about an hour and a half training, climbing equipment harnesses, carabiners, static ropes and gloves are taught to use. The trainers asked to keep hair and clothes very carefully. Because, if something gets stuck between the carabiner and the figure of eight (rope type), it can cause problems. And the carabiner can get hot from repeated rubbing during descent, so be careful.
I started climbing the hill. It had been raining for so long, now it started pouring down. Another member of the team is also joining me. At this time the mountain becomes slippery. I had to get up very carefully. I climbed the middle of the hill and started the river crossing (hanging upside down on a rope). Feet left the ground, slowly floated into the void. After that, what I had to do to go to the hammock, I saw only in survival movies. The weight of the body came to hand. Holding on to the rope, I moved towards the front hammock. Hammock between two hills. 120 feet of water flows below. I went closer and loosened the rope and sat on the loose hammock. The lower hammock line is also gone. On one side is a small hammock with an instructor. He continued to give instructions.
I felt great thrill sitting in the hammock. I looked at the surrounding nature while hanging in the bird’s eye view. The organizers captured the moment with a drone. The rain has subsided. Fatigue was removed by the rain drops on the eyes and face. I really wanted to drink tea. A cup of tea would complete the expedition. After 15 minutes, I got down from the hammock with that imperfection. Previous rappelling experience came in handy this time.
After coming down, I looked at the empty hanging hammock, spent 15 minutes lying there, I still can’t forget that thrill.
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