Chhattisgarh Jungle Trek

The Jungle Book Trek

It is hard for the settings of the Chhattisgarh Jungle trek not to set your imagination ablaze. The landscape is such that you are constantly transported to the mysterious world of Rudyard Kipling’s Jungle Book.

Lying in the heart of the Guru Ghasidas National Park, this is our most unique trek. It is so unique and exotic that we cannot compare it with our other treks.

For example, on the very first day, we walk through the open deciduous forests of the Chota Nagpur plateau. The forests are dense, yet you can see through them for long distances. In the open forest, the world appears both intimate and expansive. These are the forests where the last of the Indian cheetahs would sprint through with explosive bursts of speed. Trekkers have yet to witness such forests.

Rock formations within the forests are strange, almost like volcanic bubbles erupting from the surface, yet frozen for millions of years. Hidden within Chhattisgarh jungles are ancient, pre-historic caves. Cave paintings here are easily ten to fifteen thousand years old. The outside world does not know of their existence. The cave paintings tell stories of men, women, animals, and communities. These ancient cave paintings evoke a profound sense of awe, like peering through a window into the distant past.

The trek continues to surprise us every day. The final day has trekkers smitten. The entire day's trek is a walk on the Gopat River as it meanders through the forests and finally emerges out of them. The crystal clear cool waters swirl around our ankles. Trekkers have never experienced walking on a river bed like this for a full day's trek of over 5 kilometres. These are once-in-a-lifetime moments.

Not many have heard of Guru Ghasidas National Park. It is larger than both Ranthambore National Park and Kanha Tiger Reserve put together, at 1,440 square kilometres.

Chhattisgarh jungle trek is even more remarkable because you need the Forest Department to help you get inside the national park. These are reserved areas, and access for the common man is prohibited. So, with the help of the forest department, we explore a natural jungle untouched by safari tourism. It is not often that you get to experience the jungles of our country like this.

A word of caution: While the trek is by no means difficult, it is not easy on the legs either. There are long daily walks—about 10 kilometres on largely forested terrain. Fitness is critical.