The day I registered for this 15000 feet Altitude trek, I did feel nervous about the climate, hardship and risk involved but it was this thought
Adrenaline Rush: "For It is the only SuperPower humans have"
that kept me going. I can definitely say that Neither words nor your imagination can describe the feeling you get when you are on the edge of a Himalayan cliff. For me
"Travel is the healthiest addiction"
and I believe that Treks of this kind are a must-have experience for every human being.
Prep:
Unlike normal western ghat treks, a Himalayan trek demands a few weeks of good preparation and I am no exception to this. I joined a cross fit training gym before a couple of months which increased my stamina, attended a few boot camps involving classes on increasing physical as well as mental strength and Finally did some shopping from Decathlon.
Journey to Simla:
We started our journey on a Flight from Hyderabad to Delhi then boarded the Metro to reach Kashmiri Gate ISBT and caught a bus to reach the Queen of Hills, Shimla after a tiresome journey of about 15 hours.
Way to Janglikh:
We set off to Janglikh in the morning and visited the temple of Lord Shiva, where the deity portrayed in different views as Bhairava and Linga, on the way. Below are a few clicks of the temple.
By afternoon we reached the river Pabbar, where we used the pulley car to cross the river and drove along the river through the forest. On the way, we had some terrible experiences.
Land slid a few places and our vehicle struck at one such place and it won't move an inch. We showed a lot of team effort to push our vehicle out of debris and it was really one heck of an experience. As the sun hid past the mountains we finally reached Janglikh strolling through the Pabbar valley and the whole journey took about 9 hours.
Night stay at Janglikh 9,200 ft (2,804 m) :
Janglikh is a village in the district of Simla situated at 2086 meters above the sea level. These villagers have an interesting tradition, they display their achievements in the temple as a token of their village attainment I think this is an awesome practice that inspires their younger generation.
That night we halted in a beautiful wooden cottage at Janglikh village. During our brief stay there we sneak peeked into the local lifestyle and attended a briefing on our tour schedule by organizers. Our Organizer Kishore checked our pulse with an oximeter before we went to sleep. The very sight of that little machine stirred an unusual tension in me and pumped my blood pressure which is vividly remembered by Kishore and he used to warn in lighter vein throughout the tour saying
"Careful Akash, I doubt AMS is absorbing you".
soon it became a popular laughing quote during our dreary trek. To get ourselves adjusted to the sudden variation in the altitudes we took Diamox drug that increases Oxygen levels in the blood).
Apart from increasing blood oxygen levels, it also create weird situation,
"frequent urination" and we called it a Diamox call. That night we had about 3-5 Diamox calls and every time it was a battle with our new companion, Spine-chilling cold.
Way to Dayara 11,075 ft (3,376 m):
And here starts our real journey, We started trekking to Dayara in the morning with Full of energy and enthusiasm. Soon we realised that our bodies unable to cop up with the sudden change in altitude resisted a lot while our mind was aiming for new heights. We had to stop inadvertently!!
Greetings from local people, short intros with them and a fluffy dog are the scenes of during the short trek.
The view of a jungle along the Pabbar valley covered with tall Pine trees created an illusion of trees extending to the sky. A view that made me nostalgic about the childhood Poem in Telugu.
అటజనికాంచె భూమిసురు డంబరచుంబి శిర స్సర జ్ఝరీ పటల ముహుర్ముహు ర్లుఠ దభంగ తరంగ మృదంగ నిస్వన స్ఫుట నటనానుకూల పరిఫుల్ల కలాప కలాపిజాలమున్ కటకచరత్ కరేణు కర కంపిత సాలము శీతశైలమున్ తలమే బ్రహ్మకునైన యీ నగమహత్వ్తంబెన్న నే నియ్యడం గల చోద్యంబులు రేపు కన్గొనియెదం గాకేమి నేడేగెదన్ నళినీబాంధవ భాను తప్త రవికాంత స్యంది నీహార కం దళ చూత్కారపరంపరల్ పయిపయిన్ మధ్యాహ్నముం దెల్పెడున్
In the middle of the forest, there are a large number of rocks were situated. There is a story behind this rocky patch. Our local guide Satya Dev told us this form due to "Bheema threw stones on Kauravas due to his anger at the time of Mahabharata". A typical Himalayan trek through the high rising conifers and small openings in the thick and thin forest, following up the Pabbar river and the streams which cross the trail. We filled water bottles wherever we have streams.
After crossing the forest we were gifted with the pleasures of greens but in varied shades. We have crossed few shepherd's huts on the way. Dayara is a beautiful expanse of loft green meadow in the valley encircled sparsely by conifers. The flock of sheep grazing around with their shepherds and humps of mountains rising high on both the sides make it a picturesque location. Early in the season pre-monsoon, snow can add a different element of beauty to the sight.
At Dayara (3380 M)
Dayara is like a heaven totally covered with green meadows, colourful flowers, huge trees, beautiful people, deep valleys and sheep herd Finally it makes a perfect campsite.
Support staff had reached the campsite before us, they were really awesome. They set up the camp and prepared the food by the time we reached. This location is like heaven, this place is the most beautiful place in the trek we visited. We settled in our tent and came out for lunch. We had the separate tent for dining in, this is created the opportunity for us to mingle. After a delicious lunch, we played Pictionary game. Then a couple of hours every spend time in admiring nature and tried to capture the moments.
By the evening entire group did a little bit of hiking to acclimatize the altitude. Here daylight stayed a long time, cool breezes started hitting us, temperatures reduced gradually. Within no time, we gathered around the campfire. Staff served hot soup along with some crispy chips. Seriously that was an amazing moment. Sitting in front of the Big mountain which was covered by a show at the peak and the last rays of sun scattered in the sky, they fell on the edge of the hill, having hot soup and a warm feeling of campfire hugging from the back side. That moment I felt sorry for my self as I'm not a poet. Even a beauty of women can't beat this spectacular situation.
All hungry stomachs are inside the dine-in tent, we had a delicious dinner Dal, Veggies, Chapati. Now the battle started between the cold and us, even we were not ready to touch the water because of its chillness. Everyone waits for the hot water, staff boiled the water on the campfire. Then everyone back to their tents.
The first day it was a cloudy night, dark around us large full moon hiding behind the mountains, dense fog around the camp, no tweet sound, no message beeps, no social notifications and you know nothing that is going around the globe. At that minute I felt like "My self, I'm the only World who wondering around the giant universe without noticing any comets or any space dust ".
Everyone back to their tents, everything was set for sleep, suddenly (Trek Organizer) came to our tent for checking pulse rate. I don't why my heart pumps high whenever I see that device Oximeter 😂. Due to this, it shows unusual results for to me. We went into sleep after this checkup, although we wake a couple of times for Diamox call 😜
Next Day at Dayara
Here Day starts a little early. The day started with a couple of pictures tried to capture the sunrise, but I didn't because of the high intensity of sunlight when it raises over the top of the hill. We rejuvenate under the sunlight. Our camp was facilitated with temporary toilet tents but we prefer nature for nature calls and we formed as a group, we named it as "Behind the rock line", Sorry for the first day it was "Behind the Treeline".
Had a heavy breakfast, then we packed our luggage and started to Litham "Hip Hip Hurray",
Way to Litham (3580 M)
We have started walking along the trail that passes through meadows along the edges of the valley, Crossed the streams, forest, fields, herds. Meanwhile, we took breaks and we share some snacks which we carried, we filled up the bottles whenever we crossed the streams and tried to capture the sceneries.
Litham has spectacular vies of show mountains. We were very near to them and the campsite also on the bank of the huge stream down it joins in Pabber. From here I didn't find any tree. We had ample time to spend at the campsite.
We played Cricket, it so fun. Seriously we played cricket at the height of 3580mt, I don't know how it sounds but I felt crazy while I'm playing. That day the sky was cloudy and cool winds so it is hard to stand outside although wearing two layers of woollen cloths.
As it is cold outside we started some group activities inside the common tent, like guessing movie names, singing songs. By the evening we have started hiking the nearby hill to acclimatize the altitude. Then we back to tents Hot soup welcomes us and everyone surrounded the campfire.
Trek to Chandranahan Lake (4100M)
Day Started with full of excitement that we were going to cross the height of 4000 mt, which is a very similar height of Bhuran pass, we all ready to see the lake in the Himalayas. This is the first time i'm going to see the lake in the mountains. My mind was started imagining the place, how it could be and all. I can see the waterfalls from our campsite.
As we crossed the quarter distance, we were exhausted and even we didn't carry backpacks with us. small patches of glaciers are situated along the path. Even the mountain has the great inclination. Slowly motivating our self, we have reached the top of the mountain. The mountain is the one of the highest in that range and the view is like out of the imagination. The beauty paid off our efforts. Glaciers form a lake at the top of the hill, and this overflow is Waterfall.
The Chandranahan is a glacial lake that is fed by snow melts of mountains that surround it. It is a small lake, However getting to it is an exciting experience and extremely fulfilling. We cross the stream that we saw just before the Litham campsite. We continue upstream on the trail to the top of the ridge. Then we walk towards the snout of the waterfall. Crystal Clearwater, in blue colour surrounded by glaciers. Under the beautiful sky. it is like a dream, my eyes are enjoying the feast like anything. I didn't saw such a beautiful place never before. We enjoyed a lot and we did some dance moves over there. We ate a lot of snacks as it is mid noon and our tummies were fond of food. After spending some time at the lake we turn back to the campsite. This short excursion helped us to acclimatize for the trek ahead.
Day 2 at Litham, that day is soo cold because of the cool breezes hitting us like missiles. we were restricted inside the common tent, this gave us time to play a lot of games like dumbs art, Pictionary, singing especially the 'la la la' gang. we just hummed the same music for every song :P
I was struggled with the pain due to cracks because of the cold, every stage we were taking care of breath rate as there might be a chance of AMS. Even night we struggled with breath.
Journey to Dinda, we have packed up with the afternoon stuff to eat. we took our backpacks and started to Dinda, continue north-east along the Pabbar River which originates from the slopes of the Buran Ghati. Pass through Khubrini Thach and leaving the tree line behind climb steeply through boulders to enter Dunda Thach, located at the foot of the pass. We stopped at a small lake in a way, another lake bigger in size that is a beauty in itself.
We keep trekking for about 90 mins and take the climb to left. This is a steep climb of about a 1.7 km and will take approx 45 to 60 mins to climb. The top spot is a small patch of land someplace was covered in snow as well. This is the Dunda campsite. The route for the next day's pass is visible from the site.
Dunda was a very cold place, in the night it was like a freezer, totally surrounded by snow, it is very hard to step out from the tents even inside also it hard to stay, It is very hard to drink chilled water as I suffering from the throat infection. Almost 4 layers of cloths wrapped around me still it feels like hell. Body shivered like a vibrator even having warm jackets and gloves.
Summit Day
This is the day, it is very hard to express as it was but, I tried. where we started our journey before a couple of months and travelled for thousands of miles. The day started too early, everyone got up at 4 AM. Everything set for the summit. Loud voices with a great spirit "HIP HIP HURRAY" started our trek in the show, we were moving slowly under the dark sky by breaking the wall of fear, pushing up our energies to the max. Each step makes us close to the summit, and each breath burns the dread put some calories in the will to reach the heights which scare the human eyes. While I trekking, every precious moment in my life comes in front of the eye. Each moment carries loads of love in my heart. Blood in vessels hitting with a speed of thoughts as I rose each inch from the ground. That moment in my mind "There is a lot of love waiting for me at another side of the mountain with some curious eyes and with warm wishes" I want to see that, fetching up some more energy from my body, and my heart telling to my brain "Come on don't give up, I'm doing this beyond my best each step brings me the new threshold point". No point of looking back, we are on our own phase, we just keep moving. We trod on the lead shoe, after crossing the ice fields we have reached a rocky patch. then climbed the steep berg, reached the PASS, Yeah it's the summit point. We were at the top of the notch.
SUMMIT
We crossed the meadows, hills, rocks, lakes, streams, bergs, clouds, finally, we have reached the summit. Few drops of tears come close to my eyes, lot proud lifting my face to the sky. Still, I can feel that greatness. You know what we dance at the height of 15k ft for BABY DOLL song :P everything within the sight is white snow and long range of hills, we can see the mountains in Tibet.
After SUMMIT
Next Adventurous part is rappelling, this section takes nearly 30 min to each person. one by one found someplace where rocks are situated in the ice field. There is ample of time for us to take rest on the rocks, we ate varieties of snack, which we carried with us from home. I'm really missing Hyderabadi dum biryani at that moment. Once everyone did with rappelling we started towards the east. We are not aware that there are a lot of adventurous fleets waiting for us. Two Long undirected slides brought some craziness in me and build that can do attitude in me on slippery ground. Frequently our legs were tucked in the ice as it is melted during the daytime. It is quite hard to balance the body while walking on glaciers.
Way To River Camp Site
Took a break somewhere after crossing the ice fields, then started trekking after two hours of walk we found tree line on the edges of the valley. We have crossed the streams which were formed from glaciers. After crossing the stream we were back to meadows region. Still, we need walk for long. A few shepherds with their cattle roaming in the meadows, It's been 11 hours since we have started our trek today. The drizzle started, it's raining for the first time during the trek. We were entered into the tall trees region. We just continued our journey along the valley edges until we reached the campsite.
River Camp Site
As is was a quite long day, we were desperately waiting for food. I drank two cups of soup and then started playing UNO card with friends. Rainfall was turned into thunder Strome. As we were tired we get to sleep asap. Morning it was the clear blue sky, spent decent time under sunlight. It gave me peace of mind. Then back to breakfast, special was Maggie. I ate 3 cups of maggie like hunger person. We have started our journey towards Barua village where our trek is going to end. This journey was through the fields and apple, apricot gardens and peach gardens took a couple pictures of locals somewhere. We have completed the off-road trip. We celebrate the success in a way trekkers salute.
Sangla:
Reached Sangla in our vehicle, we took a cottage for us. It was beautiful, and it has an apple garden in the backside and a nice view of the mountains from the room. After 7 days trek, we were back into the regular world. After fresh up, we went out roaming around the town. We went to the Buddist Monster, it was small and peaceful design. Spend some time over there then back to the market. Purchased some local traditional caps. Tasted traditional Tibetan food Tuppa, it was like soup kind of thing with noodles and Momos fried rice until our tummies were filled.
Next day our journey is to Chitkul. After discussing all these things we played hide and seek game in the dark night. It was a crazy experience for all of us. It was always with the Cognoventure team, they made our day.
Chitkul:
Chitkul is the last village of India, it was feeling amazing when I'm aware that I'm at the edge of a country.
Back to Simla: 8 hours journey from Sangla, it was a full ghatti road, a lot of turns and twists, reached Simla. Next day morning we went to a famous place in Simla it was Scandal point and visited local shops then we took the bus to Delhi. The entire journey I slept, reached Delhi airport and we took the flight to reach Hyderabad. Back to mundane life, I know its painful but no option I have right now.