Himalayan Walk

"What human beings and Himalayas have in common is both undergo disturbances at regular intervals which represents their sturdiness to grow" - Devashish Singh

Although, I have experienced walking through the greens and travelling to the heights, I always felt incomplete since I never stayed and lived on such terrains. And finally the time has come when I decided to walk and live on a terrain which has always fascinated people from all over the world. So let's get started.

Trek Pick

When it comes to walk, stay and live Himalayas, the best way is to go on a Trek. Search started, and I found Bhrigu Lake trek best for the season which is post monsoon in the month of September. Widening my search, I came across a trek facilitation organization Indiahikes which is well known for their safety measures and immense guidance.

Get the gears

We do not need to get much of the gears for the stay since the trek organizations arrange or avail most of it, I am listing out three things you must carry that nobody is speaking of and is really important!

1. Dish wash brush and liquid/ soap: After you see everyone using the same dish wash brush multiple times applied on same soap, first thought that triggered was "point noted, I will get my own next time"

2. Portable jet spray: Believe me if you are a person who never compromises with hygiene, trust me toilet papers can be an utter spoiler of your getaway. Even while walking the greens , I was thinking about going back and cleaning myself with water at the soonest :)

3. A powerful power bank: Because if I had not had a humble tent mate, my post below wouldn't have pictures. Bring along one or two with you to keep your phone charged specially when your phone serves as a camera too.

While the rest of the items in the list are all mandatory like a bag pack, a torch, jackets, cutleries and so on.

On-boarding

I left home, New Delhi, on a Himachal tourism bus named 'Himsuta' bound to Manali, Himachal Pradesh state of India. Started at 8 pm, it took 16 hours for the bus to arrive in Manali with two refreshment stops and a long halt at Kullu for refueling. After reaching, the individuals who have been a part of package gathered around at Rambaugh Circle location and hence transported to the Trek starting point a place known as 'Gulaba'

Day 1

Here we are heading to the starting point, I enjoyed the view so should you :) and please mind my not so much photographs since I do absorb views in eyes than capturing in camera.

The highest altitude we must gain in this trek is 14010 ft. above the sea level. All high altitude treks are designed in such a way that acclimatization process goes along the trekker's move. So the first base camp was setup on the height of 10000 ft. It was not difficult and was half wood half road walk. There was a constant spray from the clouds that has made the terrain a bit slushy but still remains walkable.

PRO TIP: Choose your shoes wisely that won't hurt under any circumstances. Get in touch for more Pro tips and guidance.

After walking an hour and a half appeared yellow little tents tied to the wet mud up above a few meters. Yes! that was our first base camp and name was 'Jonker Thatch' at 10370 ft. height.

An Indian even if separated from a loved one and start searching around, the first thing he will end up is having a 'Cup of Tea' - Devashish Singh

As we can see in the picture, you will sense that clamminess around caused by the mild rainfall. So we hanged around till we get a signal of dinner from our trek leader, that's right a trek leader huh! It all looked so appealing and alluring around. Between huge and marvelous Himalayas lies a secret, a silence and an ineffable sound all together.

There's a big tent where all of us would congregate for meals, minigames, singing and gossip and list goes on. We all had dinner, get our oxygen checked using oximeter(I got to know about only after covid-19) and back to tents for rest. We are supposed to wake up at 6 early morning, breakfast at 7 and start further trail at 8. See you next day!

Day 2

Good morning with this view.

And exactly what we predicted, the rain did not stop whole night and is still falling. Hence we were given the options to either stay to try again the next day or hike a little half way to the destination and come back to descend tomorrow. I did go with second option so here we go!!

We trekked for about 2 hours, watching local cattle grazing, dense cloud hindering the mountain views and yet a constant rain that has showed no mercy on us. Since we are a group of around 15 people, we have been a boost for each other. On the way down met two couples I see were struggling to tackle the weather conditions and terrain. They did not seem to be equipped with proper gears. Let's learn from it - Trekking shoes, emergency aid and rain protection is a must have.

So you shall clearly identify the difference between the two pictures, we returned with wet socks hanging out there!

I was skeptical about the rain behavior one the coming day as well. Let's go back to tents after meals and wake up to hear the next action action decided by trek leader, yeah we had one!!

DAY 3

Sounds I heard outside my tent

Nope!

Na!

Nahi!

Mujhe nahi lagta!

Abey Yar!

Have breakfast and start to descend is the only option today. So we clicked a few pictures and rolled down(not literally) :)

The trek did not go as planned but I still took a lot from there! Here's the list

1. Outstanding trek companions.

2. Uncommon livelihoods experience

3. Unpredictable natural conditions

4. Survival tactics with least comforts, and

5. Instagram likes of course :)

The list doesn't ends here but I must keep in mind reader's interest too and at the end there's someone special who got my attention, Suraj, the local guy who was our trek guide throughout the trails. he prepared food for us and made all that limited arrangements.

To be honest, he requested me to contact him for any future treks that I wish to go on by skipping the Trek organizations and I will sure give him a chance. If those who are reading, wish to trek any of the mountains in Himachal can get connected to me for his contact and that's free of cost.

Thank you and live well!

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