There are dreams and some come true ...
It used to be a distant dream. Not anymore.
Trekking on the Himalayas was an experience on its own. Less to be told, more to be experienced.
On a whim somewhere 2-3 months back me and
sriharsha_hs decided that we would do the Youth hostels Himalayan trek (Sar Pass).
We aren't big trekkers. We hardly did any before but we wanted to do this as a break from our routine.
We went ahead and got the bookings done. We were to do the Sar Pass trek.
Slowly we got our trek reservations, train reservations etc sorted out and soon it was time to go on an exciting journey.
It wasn't easy since we had to get out of office for about 15 days.
Finally with everything sorted out our trek was to begin on May 3rd.
We boarded the Karnataka express and were on our way to Delhi soon. The reporting for base camp was at a place "Kasol" in the Kullu District, Himachal Pradesh. It was an overnight journey from Delhi.
We reached Delhi and went on to Kasol starting on the same day evening. Reached the base camp the next day morning.
A pretty scenic place Himachal Pradesh is I must say. The base camp presented us with these scenes and we were excited.
We never had an experience of snow and this was a feast to our eyes. Only we realized how much more of the snow we were to see and feel and touch.... :)
There was a 3 day acclamataization period. You get used to the heights, a little bit of physical exercise, rappling, rock climbing etc. And you go on a smaller trek to a nearby hill.
This was our first camping in tents. It was an experience on its own. Camping with unknown people from all over India, making new friends. Oh yeah and you come across some irritating people too. (whom I might write sometime in my future posts, i.e if I am not lazy).
The excitement started building up. We were to start the trek from a nearby place and were to reach there by a bus. Its around an hour journey and on the bus top with around 50 people. You imagine. The places are pretty scenic all the way. People are pretty excited and enthusiastic.
Your group gets a leader and an environment leader. Group leader kind of sees that the whole group reaches the camps, environment leader takes care that none of the thrash is thrown out while trekking.
You come across a few houses, schools (Yes, school), villagers on the way. Interesting designs of the houses and more interesting are the villagers and their lifestyle.
We trekked through the intermediate camps Gunna Pani, Fuala Pani, Zirmi and reach Tilalotni which is where you reach the highest point Sar Pass (13800 feet). Amazing will be the understatement. Each camp has its own experience to give but the one from Zirmi to Tilalotni is the best.
The snowfall this time seems to be the highest in the past 30-40 years. And the experiences we went through reaching the camp of Tilalotni were chilling in the literal sense.
There was huge snowfall, rain, blizzard, all hitting at once. The visibility has gone so poor you werent able to see more than a few feet infront of you. You have to cross over thin ridges in that kind of weather. It seems frightening but very exciting.
On the same path we were stuck at one place with heavy rain hitting and the snowfall was already heavy. It was so tough we settled down in a small tent about a 50 people shivering and their asses freezing. We saw people smoking for the first time in life to save from that temperatures. :)
Once you reach the camp you are so relieved. You can atleast shed off your wet clothes and feel some warmth. Your hands seem to get back to you. And reaching the camp you actually slide over the snow. So your ass is literally freezing.
We reached the camp, literally stripped and got on a new warm pair of clothes and jumped into our sleeping bags. Wow an experience that was.
We were all excited and the descent from the Tilalotni camp was all pleasant. You reach Biskeri, Bhandak Thatch and then base camp.
It really is an awesome experience. A post can't do justice to it.
The places are so damn scenic you wouldn't want to switch off your cameras a bit, but then at some places your cameras wont open and your batteries wont work.
If you guys can spare a couple of weeks from your work life, this indeed seems to be one of the best ways to spend them.
Trekking on the Himalayas was an experience on its own. Less to be told, more to be experienced.
On a whim somewhere 2-3 months back me and
sriharsha_hs decided that we would do the Youth hostels Himalayan trek (Sar Pass).
We aren't big trekkers. We hardly did any before but we wanted to do this as a break from our routine.
We went ahead and got the bookings done. We were to do the Sar Pass trek.
Slowly we got our trek reservations, train reservations etc sorted out and soon it was time to go on an exciting journey.
It wasn't easy since we had to get out of office for about 15 days.
Finally with everything sorted out our trek was to begin on May 3rd.
We boarded the Karnataka express and were on our way to Delhi soon. The reporting for base camp was at a place "Kasol" in the Kullu District, Himachal Pradesh. It was an overnight journey from Delhi.
We reached Delhi and went on to Kasol starting on the same day evening. Reached the base camp the next day morning.
A pretty scenic place Himachal Pradesh is I must say. The base camp presented us with these scenes and we were excited.
We never had an experience of snow and this was a feast to our eyes. Only we realized how much more of the snow we were to see and feel and touch.... :)
There was a 3 day acclamataization period. You get used to the heights, a little bit of physical exercise, rappling, rock climbing etc. And you go on a smaller trek to a nearby hill.
This was our first camping in tents. It was an experience on its own. Camping with unknown people from all over India, making new friends. Oh yeah and you come across some irritating people too. (whom I might write sometime in my future posts, i.e if I am not lazy).
The excitement started building up. We were to start the trek from a nearby place and were to reach there by a bus. Its around an hour journey and on the bus top with around 50 people. You imagine. The places are pretty scenic all the way. People are pretty excited and enthusiastic.
Your group gets a leader and an environment leader. Group leader kind of sees that the whole group reaches the camps, environment leader takes care that none of the thrash is thrown out while trekking.
You come across a few houses, schools (Yes, school), villagers on the way. Interesting designs of the houses and more interesting are the villagers and their lifestyle.
We trekked through the intermediate camps Gunna Pani, Fuala Pani, Zirmi and reach Tilalotni which is where you reach the highest point Sar Pass (13800 feet). Amazing will be the understatement. Each camp has its own experience to give but the one from Zirmi to Tilalotni is the best.
The snowfall this time seems to be the highest in the past 30-40 years. And the experiences we went through reaching the camp of Tilalotni were chilling in the literal sense.
There was huge snowfall, rain, blizzard, all hitting at once. The visibility has gone so poor you werent able to see more than a few feet infront of you. You have to cross over thin ridges in that kind of weather. It seems frightening but very exciting.
On the same path we were stuck at one place with heavy rain hitting and the snowfall was already heavy. It was so tough we settled down in a small tent about a 50 people shivering and their asses freezing. We saw people smoking for the first time in life to save from that temperatures. :)
Once you reach the camp you are so relieved. You can atleast shed off your wet clothes and feel some warmth. Your hands seem to get back to you. And reaching the camp you actually slide over the snow. So your ass is literally freezing.
We reached the camp, literally stripped and got on a new warm pair of clothes and jumped into our sleeping bags. Wow an experience that was.
We were all excited and the descent from the Tilalotni camp was all pleasant. You reach Biskeri, Bhandak Thatch and then base camp.
It really is an awesome experience. A post can't do justice to it.
The places are so damn scenic you wouldn't want to switch off your cameras a bit, but then at some places your cameras wont open and your batteries wont work.
If you guys can spare a couple of weeks from your work life, this indeed seems to be one of the best ways to spend them.