My first solo trip and trekk to Triund | Experience

Tripoto
27th Jul 2024
Photo of My first solo trip and trekk to Triund | Experience by Athiyo Chakma

Travelling alone to a destination other than home and my North East Indian region was thrilling. Thus, although I have been a Delhiite for five years and often go home alone, this journey was slightly different.

On June 15, 2024, I took a course for 10 days of Vipassana Meditation in Dharamshala, a part of Himachal Pradesh. I left the centre on June 26, 2024. Once my course ended, I was ready to tuck to Triund. At first, I needed to know more, but I still didn't know the route and had no friends. But it all began when I moved into a backpacker's hostel. I found a poster for a Triund trek for ₹ 1000 there. I hesitated," I'm going to do it or not? Can I make it all alone,". However, I had spoken to other solo travellers and decided to book the trek for the next day.

Our guide called and told me it was time to meet him at Shiva Café above the Bhagsunag Waterfall. But most opted to hike to Triund tread through Gallu Devi Temple, a 10km trek through pine forest with a gradual ascend compared to our route through Bhagsunag, which was lengthier and more challenging. Outside the forest, we had to pay ₹200 to the foresters as a forest tax before starting our ascent. Finally, we walked through the typical pine forest types across a steep mountain with many big rocks. Going up, our skin was entirely red, and we touched the clouds with our hands. We rushed forward keenly to reach the summit before the sun set early that evening while our guide lagged, waiting for other people to follow him.

Subsequently, the clouds showed the splendid feature- the Indrahar Mountain, which forms a part of the Dhauldhar range. This made us more excited and charged up for climbing, and with the adrenaline rush, we climbed further. We marched without interruption until we got to our campsite, slightly below Triund Top at a one-mile distance. After placing our bags and sticks at the place, we decided to climb the last phase and reach the top, where Indrahar and the sunset view look much more appealing. We stopped to watch the sunset before heading to our base camp for dinner, which was included in the package and then slept.

The following day, I woke up around 5:30 AM and climbed up again to view the sunrise event. Luckily, I got to see it around 6:47 AM. The beauty of the morning captivated me, and after taking some beautiful moments in the morning, I returned to the base camp, where a nice warm breakfast of Puri Sabji was served to us. We then had to go down the same steep rocky roads, and with each step, it felt like I had been through this incredible experience.

This trip taught me so much:

What to do when things get complicated.

That you shouldn't give up.

That there is beauty ahead if you keep going.

How to form friendships with strangers.

I realised that everyone has something, and a simple 'Hello !!' A smile can make anyone's day just a little brighter. This was a journey to discover and adventure myself.