Bhubaneswar: Adding a twist to their regular weekend cycle rides, Bhubaneswar Cycling and Adventure Club (BCAC) members went hiking to the Barunei Hill.
Situated on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar, Barunei Hill is famous for its wild flowers spread all over at different times of the year. More than 60 participants of BCAC cycled and hiked up the hill early in the winter morning when the sky was overcast.
“As we have been there before, we are familiar with the famous caves and water spots along with the trails,” said a BCAC member, Ajay.
With a view to providing a hiking experience to the cyclists of Bhubaneswar and beyond, BCAC programmed a ‘Bike and Hike’ adventure to Barunei. “The moment we announced the event on our Facebook page, more than 50 cyclists showed interest to join the event. The event and its description became so popular that cyclists and adventure enthusiasts
from other states and districts flew-in to join in,” Ajay added.
The peleton with neon-green jerseys looked like a wave of green on the black-top tarmac while hiking on the hill-top, by the side of the all-season stream and Barunei Temple.
“Much to our surprise, the newly constructed concrete path was made at an incline of more than 30 degrees. It was a tough challenge for the hikers to walk on such a high inclined path. Keeping body balance on the hill was quite a daunting task. The concrete road ended after climbing almost 400 metres and we ventured into grasslands with huge bushes and shrinking trails,” Ajay narrated.
The road was full of different wild flowers and huge spiders, he added. “But they are neither venomous nor harmful. In fact they are quite safe,” he said.
The team reached Sita-Kund (a natural water reservoir) and explored the cave of Barunei Hill, which is said to be over a thousand years old. “We couldn’t find the Baba (the Godman, who was living in the cave), but we saw his belongings including an idol of Lord Shiva, Jagannath, Maa Durga and Shri Krishna inside the cave. We spent quite some time to capture the beauty of the nature on our camera,” he further said.
