Finally the day I was waiting for from many weeks had finally come. 29th September 2017. We had to reach the base camp by 30th evening. So I decided to take a flight and a train the day before to reach in time. The base camp, Sankri, is a small village situated in Uttarakhand in Uttarkashi district. It's about 7-8 hour drive from Dehradun, the capital of Uttarakhand. So I took a flight to New Delhi and then an overnight train to Dehradun. I noticed so many trekkers on the railway station. You can easily identify them as they would carrying a rucksack and trekking pole for sure :) I found my seat and settled down for the night. It was a long road journey next day so I wanted to catch some sleep.
I woke up next day much before the final station. Perhaps due to the excitement! We finally reached the station around 5.30 AM. I stepped out and started looking out for the shared cab that Indiahikes had arranged to reach Sankri. It was just outside the exit. I waited there for other trekkers to join in. Dehradun is a major entry point to the treks in this region. Kedarkantha, Rupin Pass etc. are some of the other treks that you can do. There were trekkers who were going with other operators as well. Meanwhile, two Brits, Ayla and Guy, came to the cab. They were also in my batch. After sometime, I saw three folks this way. We introduced ourselves and I was happy to know that they were from Maharashtra! Aniruddha, Priyanka and Surabhi. We loaded our rucksacks on the top and the driver covered it with plastic. Because you never know when it will rain in the mountains!
We left around 7 AM from Dehradun railway station. And boy, the route was beautiful! Huge mountains in the distance with lush green vegetation. The majestic Yamuna flowing right beside you. The sound of the river is a treat for the ears. The wind blowing on your face. All in all, I knew I had made the right choice. The upcoming days were going to be amazing :) We took a short break at Juddo village for breakfast and freshened up a bit. The twists and turns were a constant companion for now :) We continued on our journey and next stop was Purola village for lunch. This was the last place where we would get cellular connectivity. So we all called up our near and dear ones and said our goodbyes and resumed for Sankri.
We reached Sankri around 3 PM and were greeted by the Indiahikes trek leader Prahlad. The accommodation for the day was a mountain hostel called Gypsy Child. All of us were allotted bunk beds. By late evening others trekkers also had arrived. All of us huddled up in the tea room for the trek briefing from Prahlad. He explained us in detail about the trek route, camps, precautions to be followed etc. It was going to be a long trek (~60kms). All of us were given a health card where our BP and oxygen levels were going to be noted every day over the course of the trek. Then we had some chai and popcorn for evening snacks and later an amazing dinner complete with dessert! I never thought at that such a place which has bare minimum facilities we will get proper north indian meals. The trekkers who had previously trekked with Indiahikes said that this was just a trailer :) We retired for the night awaiting the mesmerizing experience that was going to unfold over the next few days.
