It was high time for me now to do a high altitude trek after numerous short treks since last 2 yrs.. I tried to gather a group this time as well, but mostly in vain, so I took a slot in a batch for Hampta Pass (IndiaHikes), leaving on 16th Aug from Manali.. I had huge skeptics, especially towards IH as i never felt a friendly tone and also no communication from other mates, but it turned out to be the most memorable 6 days in Himachal..
Day1 (16th Aug 2014)
I boarded bus form Chandigarh for Manali.. There were news of landslides and the possibility of reaching Manali in time looked quite bleak.. The halt at sundarnagar on 16th morning was not promising as i noticed few land slides on the way and a heavy stream of water flowing on road due to recent rains.. There was a huge slide near tunnel after Mandi where some JCBs were operating.. But surprizingly, we got clearance mostly and our bus managed to reach Manali at 12PM, about 3 hrs late from expected arrival but still in good time..
At meetup point, rambaugh circle, we first met Rishi and then Rajesh ji.. I though Rajesh Ji is one of the organizers, but no.. he travelled for 26hrs to reach from Delhi.. Then we came across Zainab, who was in Manali since few days already.. for me she seemed a solo traveller and a regular trekker.. Later, other people came in, Prachi n Sagarika, Shubra n Nidhi, Kiran Ila Sneha, Avinash, Udit n gang.. etc.. many people reached late due to the landslide..
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| waiting to start.. no one knows each other as yet.. :) |
we were 18 in all for this plan, who headed towards Jobra at 3pm (4 hrs late).. Some connections already started building while riding towards Jobra.. Those 42turns uphill took a toll of few.. Jobra itself a beautiful place with cloud covered peaks around, I imagined the hanging mountains of Avatar..
A dam construction there somewhere was not very attractive thou.. Later, after few instructions we started our trek with a light meal of Siddu (a local stuffed bread delicacy).. It was quite an easy walk under a light drizzle..
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| A bridge on the route.. that shook badly when u step.. |
and about 2 hrs later we were at a beautiful campsite already amidst a valley, green 360degress, a snowy peak visible at a distance(the Indrasan), a stream gushing beside the camp and a beautiful waterfall as well few feet higher..
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| View from campsite. photo credits - Sagu :) |
Me, Rajesh and Rishi were camp partners.. After an awesome massage session and a dinner + bournvita, all crashed in tents.. We were late on everything, no introductions even happened..
I had a shock when i looked at the sky that night.. I couldn't believe the Milky way so evidently visible, apart from the dense sky around it.. The best view of it of my lifetime.. I felt underprepared for this as i could hardly identify a constellation due to so many starts there.. after seeing 2 shooting stars and few talks with Avinash and Udit (who's faces i saw nxt morning only) i just went in my tent..
Day2 (17th Aug)
The plan for today was 6,7,8 (wake up tea, breakfast, leave).. But to explore around Rajesh ji woke me up at 5.. I was happy to have an enthusiastic tent mate to explore the place around and also finish my nature call.. We climbed little to reach the waterfall.. It was quite beautiful..
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| Early morning.. credits: Sagu |
After a few clicks n stuff we came back for a nice breakfast of porridge bread n honey..
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| Tent partners.. |
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| an early morning photo bomb! poor ladies ;) |
After packing tents, sleep bags and rucksacks we started at around 8.30 towards 'Balu-ka-gera'.. Enroute was another unique view of himalayas to witness.. The valley had green patches on both sides and a stream in the middle along which we kept slowly ascending.. We had to do a lot of bouldering and at times cross waterfalls (some so beautiful).. Ocassionally you see few falls at distance and sometimes few really complex rock faces that kept me wondering..
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| a shivering welcome on trail.. |
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| happy faces.. |
After about 2 hours of trek, we had to cross a water stream.. Always scares me but I was confident since I did it recently on western ghats.. But this was nowhere like my earlier crosses.. We decided a guy-gal-guy-gal chain to cross, but I missed to grab Nonita's hand as she had a stick.. It was ice cold water and the moment i stepped in the gushing section i lost balance and slipped.. Though I was quite confident to rise up and continue, thankfully the guide came in time to rescue and moved us across.. Then Saranbir (our group leader) and the guide helped others to cross..
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| well! |
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| not really happy now :) |
I kept thinking for a while about how Saranbir was standing for that long in that ice cold flow.. and my own capabilities in this regard.. Later he told, today the flow was lesser ;)
After the stream cross, the valley of gods started showing it's colors.. There were huge patches of some really beautiful flowers all around us.. Not really dense though as in VoF but still worth to cherish..
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| Good click implies, courtesy: Sagu :) |
After about 5 hours of walk with some breaks, we were in Balu-ka-Gera.. Our guide showed us the campsite that was not visible, just some meadow at a distance.. The idea was to trek till the edge of Balu-ka-Gera to have a head start for tomorrow.. but when he said it will take another 2-3 hours to reach there surprized me as it dint seem so far.. It was 2pm..
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| valley till eternity, mist falling behind, route a discovery |
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| At Balu-ka-gera but still 2hrs to go towards that far far away site. |
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| what we left behind was now hiding under a veil |
We kept walking and actually it took 3hrs to reach the camp site.. On the way we crossed 2 snow sections.. The view started to mesmerize us on the way.. this valley with high mountain walls on both sides, the clouds hanging on top.. few waterfalls dropping tall from cliffs, waved by winds.. and there was a cave high up, seemed un-aaproachable from anywhere.. The clouds now fell down in the valley behind us, as if curtaining the way that we just traversed..
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| Last steps.. "hellooo, we are here" |
We finally reached the camp-site that had a huge plain n muddy stream slowly flowing, the place aptly named (balu = soil).. I was worried as a headache bothered me for sometime, but mostly due to cold as the oximeter gave good reading when Saranbir checked me later.. We were at approx 12000ft, which also gave me confidence that it's not anything like AMS.. The Maggi and Tea that was served just when we reached, really rose the spirits.. Hats-off to Shubra and Nidhi who also made it to camp site, among all troubles..
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| Maggi in my hand, worries in my head.. I had a slight headache today.. but it went away soon.. |
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| from the campsite |
Finally our introductions happened and Saranbir also gave an insight about IHikes.. I was impressed and my skeptics went quite lower about IH as a money minded bussiness.. And surely something I looked as an option.. Mostly people here were those who couldn't go to VoF due to closed route and opted for this trek.. destiny..
This place was quite windy, so all just had their dinner + hot choclate and went to tents.. I wanted to make some notes of gaze tonight, but damn it was again so dense.. I noted few shapes and spotted 4 meteors tonight and went back in where Rajesh and Rishi were already sleeping.. Tomorrow was the D-Day and I was super excited to land in Spiti, an unwitnesed part of the Himalayas..
Day3 (18 Aug)
Plan again 6,7,8.. Again me and Rajesh woke up early.. We were randomnly exploring around but then spotted a waterfall hidden behind rocks. We went towards it.. I dint thought we'll manage to reach that closer, after we climbed thru a tricky section.. Then we returned for breakfast..
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| Balu-ka-gera campsite |
A beautiful rainbow within another high drop waterfall behind made my day.. we clicked a few pics around it..
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| spectacular! PC:Sagu |
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| Another one near our camp |
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| Kitchen tents |
It was a cold morning, but then with sun things were comfortable.. We packed the tents and other stuff.. After some delays we finally started the ascent towards the pass at around 8.30..
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| oxymeter readings twice a day keeps AMS at bay.. |
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| Kunf fu balance act.. n some disciples.. |
It was a consistent climb for about 2 hours, which was tiring at times..
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| Just the start |
Then a small snow section to climb, towards which am always apprehensive.. Climbed it carefully, but i observed poor Zainab had a bad slip.. Later after a 15-20min break we could see a task ahead..
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| First snow section |
It was a glacial climb for almost two hours.. It wasn't that risky as I expected.. actually me and Saranbir ran on it, but I dropped my water bottle that I had to get back..
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| The longer section.. a glacier.. that orange color bag is to collect litter on the trail.. credits: Rajesh ji |
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| lucky | happy | shining |
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| somewhere around |
After this we had a long break where people had their food or snacks, plus enjoyed the view around..
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| I stood there, the wind kissed me, my eyes spelled, the strange formation of ice in front and those unvisited corners there kept me wondering |
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| yea, this formation.. |
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| And a herd of lambs just crossed.. |
After this climb the pass was visible now, beyond another section of snow, much steeper though.. After a herd of lambs crossed us, we headed forward for this section.. Then I noticed Iti was crying due to headache.. All stopped to help her, but when Saranbir reached I was sure she will be fine.. Without interfering much, I moved forward..
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On this steep snow section, when the guide made a intentional slip over it (he actually skied through on foot), it rose my confidence really higher.. I climbed up the section and waited for others.. there was tremendous wind here.. I saw Zainab slowly coming up.. really liked her attitude when the guide went to help her but she opted for doing it herself..
Slowly all climbed and we had a good long halt on a rock section..
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| We all: Gagan, Prachi, Sagarika, Rajesh ji, Prerna, Zainab, Rishi, Shubra, Nidhi, Eti, Shraddha, Ela, Kiran ji, Sneha, Udit, Avinash, Pallav, Nonita, and our trek lead Saranbir. |
Ok, speechless again.. on a side of this section were these steep peaks.. Very unique as one looked like a huge natural slide of snow something of a fantasy movie.. Not lesser was a neibouring peak as well with those sharp edged sections all the way till top and there was a cave in the middle, seemed like a face of monster.. Strange our guide said these two do not have any name of significance as for me they were really unique archs of nature..
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| seeing this I get goosebumps.. |
At 2PM we moved forward over the pass to cross towards spiti.. I observed some prayer flags above and climbed up to see what was there, just some religious stuff.. I wanted to stay longer here.. at 14000+ feets, wanted to breathe the thin air.. I noticed, Iti had a headache again.. Me and our Guide Dinesh went ahead to help her.. Dinesh gave her a head massage, in middle scalp that releived her (so n so, she cracked a joke :P)..
Just a 5 min trek and damn, the valley of Spiti was visible below..This was a huge drop on other side of the mountain, a valley with dry peaks without any vegetation whatsoever that spread infinitely in all directions with a few ice capped peaks, The Indrasan and Deo-tibba visible.. The minute camps we could see from top.. Our camp was the furthermost from all that were visible..
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| The contrast Spiti (left) and Lahaul (right).. that's Deo-tibba in the back drop.. |
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| The drop.. No, that wasn't our campsite, it was far far away.. |
A beautiful Turquoise colored lake was visible from top, still wondering the reason that gave it that color.. There was a stream flowing in the middle of the valley as well.. A view of a dreamland..
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| Oh that was interesting..! |
Getting down is always tough if you are in-experienced.. With so many newbies in our group, I knew it's gonna be a tough story here, so it was.. Few of us climbed down fast but then wait for long long time till others catchup.. This happend twice or thrice, but then people were on their own..
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| 3 o'clock |
After an hour or so, there was a snow section to get down from, something most prone to slip.. Surprizingly, Iti was leading.. She stepped on snow and slipped.. While she slided down, straight towards the rocks, our guide ran (or skied) to catch her up.. Sliding seemed a better idea actually rather than a slow careful descent.. The guide asked me to slide as well and he'll catch me.. When I slided I realized I had much more control thatn i anticipated. I was able to direct myself, slow down and even stop my slide.. Eventually everyone slid through that section..
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After a while there was another section of snow to cross.. definitely I was more confident now after previous slide and I walked thru.. After few metres of descend further, was the most scenic walk of my life.. The vast Himalayan expanse in front with its own unique color that I never witnessed earlier.. We were in middle of valley with huge mountains on either side, that spread infinitely towards our front.. we strolled slowly on this path, actually marked with small pebbles (probably for the army tents here) and a river on the right..
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Across the river was more uniqueness.. Huge boulders of stones that had slid down.. broken and spread on grass, as if artistically done by god.. Behind them Indrasan stood tall.. Seemed close but yet so far.. The river was more turbulent than what I thought from top.. I imagined to cross it, but not a possibility now..
The mystical clouds played above.. You see huge clouds sway along the wind from behind the pass entering into the valley, but before they could do anything significant, they just vanish.. this happened, almost all the time.. the dots for the dry valley could connect.. few traces of historical waterfalls from melting snow you could see all around..
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| observe that shade of clouds.. :) |
The dream-walk continued for almost 2 hours.. Our camp-site was much farther than it seemed from distance.. When I reached, I was too excited and got my Frisbee out.. But people looked tired.. Mostly crashed in their tents as it was too cold and windy.. Rajesh ji also had puked on the way so he was also not well.. Me just went for the tea and pakoda that was served hot.. got company of Udit, Pallav, Avinash n Noni there.. We were talking and then later started observing the huge herd of sheep who were crazily running here n there on the grassed hill nearby.. We wondered for the 'Bhed-chal' for a while and soon realized this all was for mating.. Our cook n guide Buddhi singh ji told, the wild dogs killed 2 sheeps here.. Another human-animal conflict, for which I knew the animal will have to pay the cost as I heard the guys were thinking of shooting down the dogs..
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| Campsite |
Later Kiran ji was telling his interesting stories as a marine. The Somalian pirates and stuff, that were really interesting.. after a while, Shubra and Nidhi also reached.. It was really interesting to see the expressions on their faces.. They were feeling like the achievers for the day.. They were super tired, but really happy at the same time.. Shubra got huge bruise on her arm while sliding on snow.. that looked nasty, but there was an awesome smile on her face.. Saranbir the hero also came, who was with them all along.. The first descend is always tough.. I knew they learnt a lot today and will never look back..
The dinner was ready and everyone hungry.. Today Buddhi singh ji prepared a sweet disk as well.. We all ganged up in the tent.. Rajesh ji couldn't eat, all puked, so he went back to Tent.. Prerna couldn't eat much too, but the kheer and ginger water later worked for her.. The magical ginger water.. It was another clear night (phew, I miss it badly).. the milky way spread across the valley nad I already witnessed a shooting star.. And Buddhi singh ji served this magical hot drink.. Me, Soni, Udit, Eti and Avinash were sipping it in that kitchen tent and doing our endless talks.. It kept pouring in, till the point our staff asked us to go as they had to sleep..
Good night for all, but not me.. I stood in that cold night in complete darkness amazed by the sky above.. Actually I drank a lot of water to was waiting for my pee.. :P I stood there for 20-25mins and I broke my record of 8 shooting stars in a night.. I saw 10 :)
Back in the tent same story. Rajesh and Rishi sleeping deep, leaving good space for me where I manage to change my clothes in torch light and coz in my sleeping bag.
Day4 (Change of life)
As a custom, me and Rajesh ji woke up at 5 again. We strolled to a close hill from where I clicked a few amazing photos. Checked temperature that said 4deg and altitude was close to 3800mtr, that meant we were camping higher and higher each day. Soon the first rays of sun hit the peaks in the west. That gradient that grew with time was worth a witness..
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As I sat there I noticed a local crossing the river stream for his mules on other side. So it was possible to go on the other side, but I dint want to risk myself. Later I came to know, that was the first thing we'll be doing today. Phew! out of options..
We were now back down to have our tea. As most people woke up, there was some noise now. Few agreed to try their hands on Frisbee. Later Buddhi singh ji gave a pleasant surprise for the morning - "Aalu ke Paranthe". Those ton heavy paranthas made in ghee made my day, though I could manage to eat just one.
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| Hamare Buddhi singh ji.. |
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| More charm :P |
All camps, sleeping bags packed, it was time to move now. We started around 8am towards our last trail to trek for this adventure. And it started with the river cross, a proper human chain this time and the icy cold water again. This was a longer crossing than earlier, the cold water hardly mattered moments after you step in coz it numbs ur steps, but the rocks below gave painful punches. Had to run here and there to warm up my feet again and wear back my shoes. Whatever, this was quite a test for everyone and all seemed quite content and happy at the end.
The trail was flat, muddy and quite easy to hike through. It was a swift walk by everyone for quite a while. I remember few unique scenes still, a mountain wall on our ride that stood high, the big drop of the river towards the valley in front and a small rainbow of its mist. We kept talking and Buddhi ji told about a cultural trek he organizes, Hampta circle, where they even teach you dance apart from local cuisines.
The crazy moment, when we crossed a small waterfall and saw a crystal clear water pool there. Everyone sat there for a while, had some water, but me and udit came up with idea to take a dip. That was ice cold water and our guide did gave us glances to not to do it, but those crazy cells of my brain always put me in these situations :) Thankfully I had company this time. Moments later we were in the pool.. hoo it was damn cold.. 2 full dips and I was out, breathless and shivering.. We dried ourselves fast and wore back our clothes.. the sun was shining good that gave us quite a relief.. After few moments of sunbath, and when everyone left, about 15 min later we also started moving, just when shubra and nidhi arrived there..
We caught up quite easily to our gang.. The road and a Village were visible now. Seemed, it should take another 2hrs but it took much longer. Down the hill we reached a place where there were infinite droppings of sheeps all around. Further down was this cliff point where I could stand on a stone to feel the air of spiti and an awesome view in front. I stood there for some time. Some crazy people did tried to push me from there, but that place was hard to leave.
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| I was actually running down.. |
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| across that faaaar bridge was CHHATRU! |
The descend continued with maeri and other songs among us. Seemed all done, but 2 more breathtakers were yet to be done through. First was this small bridge, quite a temporary one, that we had to cross. The water below dint look happy at all. It could take your focus away and gulp u so that needed to be crossed carefully. No one dared to click a photo standing over it.
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| not evident :/ |
Second was a small glacier! This was surprising to me as the valley was dry all around. From distant this snow piece looked like a rock only as it was too muddy. Seemed it had slid from the mountain face down towards the river that was eating it slowly. The river was really turbulent and quite a volume of water too. Crossing this part was a no mistake thing again as a slip will throw you to the stream from where the chance of surviving was absolutely zero. Among all apprehensions, going across was not that tough, but yes focus was important there.
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| yea, that glacial section.. scary? |
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| after crossing it.. PC: Saggu again :) |
Further a km more maybe we reached the steel bridge that lead to chhatru. There was noticeable trash in this area. I did not mention, but we were collecting trash wherever we found on trail since day1. Here also we collected, but almost all bags were full now. On the bridge was the moment of accomplishment that all wanted to cherish for a while. We gazed at the violent river below (I think it was Ravi) and played around. I was too adventures to jump here n there, but soon realized it wasn't a place to be casual as the steel plates on the bridge were not that permanent.
We trekked for 4 days and it all ended here, at this deserted yet so beautiful place. There were few dhabas on roadside, plus a small room besides to accommodate few. We hung at the one just across the brigde and ordered some tea + maggi. The content was in air. All were happily chatting, dancing n singing. The place had its silence, with only our chats disturbing it and few vehicles that crossed once in a while. It was a picturesque place and we clicked a lot of them. Then the request came for patakha guddi that was apt for this place. Saggu played on her ipod and it stepped up the mood even higher.
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| while I was clicking few photos.. |
It was around 1pm. Plan next was to visit Chandratal - the moon lake. That was 50-60kms further on Jeep. All the rucksacks on top, the 3 sumo jeeps started this yet another adventure on the most bumpy road that was just a narrow cut through in the scenery around. After few interesting bridges and a few streams we crossed we had to halt coz our Buddhi Singh's Jeep was coming back. The story was, there is a truck with a damaged axle stuck in middle of road 1 hr ahead. So there is no clear thorough road and we need to return back. NO!! as all yelled.. this was quite dissapointing.. few other vehicles were also coming back.. Little hiccups and talks, but our leader Saranbir made the decision to continue till the point of return and then decide. Crossing some really scenic places, not many words for them, we reached here, the 'situation'. There was water flowing in the middle of road across which a truck was stuck.
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| water on road.. road on water.. common sight.. |
People were already moving rocks from the remaining section of road to widen it sufficient so that some trucks jammed on the opposite side may cross and then our vehicles. God know since how long this situation was, but when we came in things were swiftly done. Kiran ji, Saranbir and almost all people of our group were there on the task to move some really heavy boulders. Though the girls were majorily doing the moral part of it :)
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| oh that's impossible, but something made that possible.. |
If you have the will, you create your own way. That's what happened there and the tactical drivers did phenomenal to move across their trucks through whatever narrow section they got there.
Yippie! after an hour of wait n effort, we were back on road. It seemed little mean there as the truck that was stuck got little damaged due to other trucks that crossed. The driver, literally crying dint looked good at all. I remember precisely what Buddhi Singh ji said "In the end all should be happy, not just you or me getting out of a situation. That's what I believe in, not sure about you". Learnt a perspective that will remain with me. We prayed, the poor driver should gets out of it soon.
I was amazed by everything happening there. Hats off to the positiveness in our group, precisely remember when Nidhi said "no matter what, we are gonna be at chandratal today" and we were on our way. Amazed by driving skills of our driver too. We were late and to make it to the lake before sunset all our three drivers had their experience in place. Amazed by the view all around that kept changing and unveiling a new side of Himalayas time and again. At one time we were actually driving on a river bed, at times through boulders, through waterfalls and when we off routed towards Chandratal (from our main that was towards Kaza) the road was narrow as hell and the view splendid.
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| Worth a ride.. the magic of barren land.. |
We saw our campsite, from where chandratal was another 5kms. I felt we were in a hurry and already made my mind to come in morning for a more peaceful visit. We reached the lake finally, had to walk some distance. It was too windy and cold here, unlike Chaatru from where we started. So all had to move into their jackets. The lake was scenic with clear bluish water. Hard to observe unless you go higher to see it. We din't have time for that as it was already 6pm. The game of stone bouncing on lake started and continued for a while. You could also have a walk around its periphery, that takes around an hour to finish. Me Prachi n Prerna decided to have a 15-20min walk around it that was a memorable one, thou we missed on the photos that people clicked. We were called back as it was getting dark now. The twilight beyond the peaks also made a unique mark and took my attention for long. We sung songs while climbing back, breathless in low oxygen due to no vegetation in this region and the altitude (we were still at 12000+ft).
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Game of Stones at Chandrataal..
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| We missed this click.. :( |
Back at the camp-site scene was different today, no tents were set yet due to the delay. Again super awesome team-work by all and we set up our tents in that wind pretty fast (good learning too). Girls again gave all the moral support.. :D
Yea it was a long day. Still a lot to write about our last night away from civilization the feeling seeding to all. The last night to gaze the wonderful sky above that reminded me of my mere. I already spotted a really prominent shoot star. Zainab and Shubra told they never witnessed one in their life. I told them this is their best opportunity. They can't witness sky clearer than this, anywhere down in plains. Tea time, Oxymeter time and then Antakshri time! Shubra was feeling cold, Prerna had a headache and many others too, but the Antakshri turned out to the game changer. each one of us gathered in a tent to play one of the most competitive Antakshri, as nobody stopped even for a moment. Dinner came, plus the unbelievably tasty gulab-jamuns (total luxury!! and our game continued. Almost 3hrs of game and we were requested by our staff to give them space to sleep as they had to get up early morning for breakfast. So what, we moved out of the tents and continued. Still a lot of energy and now a sky to witness. Shubhra and Zainab got their bite finally as shooting stars were playing their show above. We were 5-6 people who hung till the last. At around 1pm we dispersed. My same story continued in tent.
Day5
Again me and Rajesh ji woke up early at around 6. Stepped out of tent to observe the dew that had crystallized on the tents. It was sparkling. No wind now, so little we realized the temperature was 1.8deg as my watch recorded. Sub-zero must be at night that froze the water around.
The search for the eventual spot was tough as there was plain land mostly around us. Had to go beyond a hill for the task. On the way a slated slope was quite interesting to me, from which i collected few stones (one in my hand right now :P) Came back, all were packing their stuff while I was tempted by the field around for Frisbee. made few hucks before the "how to pack your rucksack" session by Saranbir. A:Accesible B:Balance C:Compress D:Done E:Effectively. I added my tip (actually show off) to roll stuff more effectively so it doesn't unroll every now n then. That was applauded by all and I felt real good :)
Followed the last meal from Buddhi Singh ji and he made sure it was special.. There were breads, butter, jam, honey, the special pancakes, tea and really yummy Maggi. And later Watermelons. Had a heavy one, though I wanted to keep light for the full day ride today. Now something I dint expect, the certification ceremony of IndiaHikes. Gave a great stage to everyone to express out and also a feel of achievement after the 5days of adventure we had. Also we greeted our support staff, mainly Dineshji, Buddhi singh ji and the super confident chotu.
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| Certified Hampties :) |
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| Entertainment quota, Shubra Saranbir Nidhi :) |
This I never did before, dancing at the end of trek. Not recommended on that altitude, but the excitement can't be controlled and everyone seemed full of oxygen (oxymeter verified). All in form, but then this kiddo from staff took centre stage with his own style of dance. This last dance, marked the end as we adieu this amazing place at around 9am, in our jeeps.
The day still long as we once again crossed all the scenic sections again. Hard to believe I was trying to capture the most in Eti's phone cam. The 'situation' point came again as the truck was still stuck. Few buses were lined up here, the daily Kaza-Keylong service and Manali-Kaza service. I thought, they are gonna be stuck here forever but I overestimated the size of bus and underestimated the skills of their drivers. They went through issues, no issues whatsoever. The journey continued and after a long time there was silence in our car. Just small talks, but no songs or noise. I knew there was a lot happening in Saranbir's car as they sung along the loud stereo, but our silence had its own charm.
Finally Chatturu, the place I loved, but it was quite crowdy today. The journey ahead now a newer side yet to be revealed. Saw a bunch of bike riders here, riding on pulsar bikes? and I thought its only Enfield that can tackle this terrain.
Some had tea, some food and after a 30min odd break we started for the journey ahead. I stopped counting the number of falls we crossed through, they were ubiquitous. A huge one then came. About 200metre section of road all in water below a beautiful fall. It was a young fall as I would term it, not yet stabilized. A recent washaway of road was evident and a small trail of traffic waiting for it to be fixed. Few local workers were at task and as per attitude of Hampties (that's what we call each other nowadays) few jumped into to help. I was standing, coz at times you are more of a noise than any help. But thanks to motivation by Shubhra and Eti, I stepped up after a consent from worker and pushed some rocks from the hill, where another guy (probably a European, I saw earlier at chhatru) was already doing his part. Moment later, there were enough rocks to be officially called a path to cross. The Pulsar riders were there as well and Saranbir helped one of them to cross the entire stretch. That actually looked scary as that guy hardly had any balance during that.
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| Time to help.. |
We crossed safely and oh we saw some tar road now. Finally it will be less bumpy for we back-seaters but now it was other way around. There was much much bumpier sections and we almost crashed into each other in the backseat of our Sumo. I observed a bike rider (a Enfield one, you find numerous in this region), he just slipped while tackling a sharp turn to climb higher. His fellow riders helped him. We were now continuously climbing higher and higher. A huge cloud falling towards the valley below got our attention. A U-turn and we were heading straight to it. This mountain was greener as compared to what we witnessed in last 2 days. We finally reached on top, the rohtang-pass where we took a pre-halt near a Stupa. A much better point than the commercial halt ahead. Out of the jeep, phew the damn wind, and the fog. We went towards the Stupa, to circumvent around it, just to find some beer bottles there. Bad signs of civilization.
Further down there was a stone at the edge of a cliff. I ran towards it and when I stood on its top I felt like to take off into the vastness beyond. And I did. That scared all for a moment, I remember someone yelled from behind "Gagan", but I then emerged from the 4-5 feet drop beyond that, not visible from above :P. It worked.
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| The EDGE! |
Now race time, back to Jeep. A slow and gradual climb helped me n I won, consistency is important you see. I was on top, but breathing heavy, really heavy for atleast 10-15mins. The thin air took a toll of me. The trash there disturbed us, so we collected how much we good and dumped in our jeep. A km away we stopped again at the actual pass, the crowd and the normal human behavior didn't interested anyone and all remained inside, even after repeatedly asked by our driver to go out and enjoy.
The journey ahead was pretty normal and we could feel connectivity, rush n stuff. A few paragliders did invoke our interest for a while. Finally we were in Manali, the Rambaug. Thankfully we had a day here to rest and enjoy, but Eti, Zainab and Rishi had their bookings done for Delhi and they just made it on time for their bus. A quick adieu and we went to our places to stay to meet back again at Johnson's café at 8pm. I had our bookings at YHAI hostel in Prini. Prerna, Prachi and Sagu also joined us as they dint had any booking and dorms were empty at hostel.
I can write a separate chapter about our stay at YH and all the fun we had there. We were the only people there and it was kind of our monopoly. After unloading our rucksacks, we had our tea n our gapshap. Me and Prachi without our toothbrushes and lazy enough to buy them, just got ready for the party like that. Yea it was cold there (Prachi knows it better), but not that cold (as I remember precisely) :P Girl took leisure time to get ready, while I checked for para-gliding options for tomorrow. A recent casuality rose my concerns about safety here.
That hot-water bath after 5days gave a new look to all. We couldn't recognize each other for a while :P We headed towards the market now for the party. I was bit scared to walk down that dark road from our stay to main road. Safety was my concern for this alien city, but I was assured its a safe place later. An auto till-rambaugh and we 4 were the first to occupy this lush lawn of Johnson's café alongwith Saranbir. After all my choices for beer were turned down, I decided to remain in senses tonite. But thankfully Udit lead us to a 'better' Johnson's café. Nice ambience and god, all looked so different. We got a good table and a deutche beer on menu made the day. We were 15people and to start with, conversations remained confined to different sections of that big table. While Prachi ordered a drink matching to her dress, Sagu ordered a benadryl cocktail and Prerna's fruit mocktail won the compete. Food was nowhere near to what we were having for the last 5days. Dude Saranbir pumped my bottle and wasted a lot of my valuable nectar. The next bottle Ela took a big share and damn ppl expected me to be high there :P
Now some in a mood to dance, rose from table to a small area behind and did whatever moves possible on those slow tracks. The mood was set and eventually all were there, but no good songs to support. There were talks, performances, innovative moves and a lot of fights (just funny, topic? "you drank my drink?"). While all were almost done, Saranbir paaji flew in with 15 vodka shots. No one hesitated and had their piece. It continued with some ball dance moves, some fantastic moves by Shubra and some photo clicks (oh nidhi, I still remember those poses :D). The best party, to remember for long. Yea, the day ended finally at 1.30am we headed back to our hostel. Silent and serious through those dark and empty roads. Back to the hostel, we had another round of talks mainly about the paragliding plan for tomorrow. The leg-pulling also continued, but it ended on a serious note as Prachi seemed pissed off from me. We were sleeping on bunk-beds, a luxury after 4 nights in camps.
Day6
The morning at YH was amazing. It was around 7.30am. While all were sleeping I stepped out to check the view around. I felt happy to choose this place. Away from city noise, this was calm and refreshing. Back to the room I realized someone is not in a good mood still. A girl in bad mood and bad breath :P I got an idea to fix both, so I went for a walk to get a toothbrush for her :D
That stroll was more than 2Kms to finally locate a shop and get the cheapest brush available :P The technique worked, actually surprised everyone how deep I thought. An instance we all still remember and still discuss. Me and Sagu went for a small walk to check the morning, then the Paranthas and then some jumps in a nearby Apple orchid to get an apple. Memorable. We then re-packed all our stuff as we had to checkout by 10. Final clicks and we had to walk for atleast 2-3kms to finally get a bus till the city. 20rs for 4 (90% lesser than auto :P).
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| bye bye Youth Hostel.. :'( |
The day a sad one as one after the other we were seeing off everyone. Good we tried some Tibetan food, that restored my faith in Thukpa again. Later a final gather at the rambaug amphitheater, where we posed in the "high altitude trekker" t-shirts that no one bought except Prerna and Avinash.
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| oh yo tees! |
Finally we walked till Hadimba temple, that we were planning since morning. That had it's own fun, hampties were rocking wherever they went.
Rajesh-ji had left for a museum in Nagar about a Russian painter. Damn I came to Manali 4 times and I dint knew about it at all. We caught him up at the market for some final selfies. Another see-off, this was saddening now. We 4 strolled in the markets to eat something. Some first time experiences for Sagu, as we sat in restaurants, saw the menu and moved forwards. This we did thrice :) and finally landed at some pathetic food in main market. What now, shopping! I managed a key-chain only as a souvenir. Luckily we met Saran for one last time at a bakery shop. This became little emotional as we were just an hour away from our departure (finally after all see-offs). The bakery shop was good. Me and Prerna bought quite some stuff from there.
The bus ride started sharp on time, an amazing one for the first few kms while I sat on window seat with the gushing beas on my side visible as if I was watching a show. Some fun for a while then all slept except me as I had to get rid of my lenses. I did that at the late halt around 11.30PM. Phew! it was my time now. At 4am it was Chandigarh and I had to say bye to all.
This is where it all ended, a memorable trip where I met some really interesting people, made some awesome friends and gathered some unforgettable moments. I felt I lived too complicated thinking about my future, but after this trip I returned so different. Life is about keeping things simple and just go along with it. Future is imaginary, just live in the moment. And that I am mere in this huge cycle. You need to widen your view. Only then you realize, a lot of things really do not matter. For that view, go higher, leave the world below. When you disconnect from that, only then you realize, you have sufficient, you can quit the race, the race of pride, the race for money, the race to show-off that you are superior. Himalayas, I will be there again. To witness that sky and realize the minuteness of our existence, to cherish the nature, its power and grow my respect and importantly to disconnect from this world as I feel alien here at times.
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Photo Credits: mostly Sagarika, few photos from Rajesh ji, Shubra, Shradha and Rishi.
