I have a busy job. I get really less time to travel but ultimately it is the only thing I crave for. Travelling became my ultimate purpose when I realized that material things and people are both temporary. What stays with you are the memories and the experiences that you gain. I use to crave for work but now I've started craving for happiness. And Travel helped me to achieve that. Now not only I feel happy travelling but also while working.
I use to travel a lot with my friends and usually with someone's company but there was a part of me who always wanted to crave to be alone with myself and I never had a change to experience that. So one day while travelling my way to office, the idea of solo travelling hit me. It was not the first time it was happening but I've denied the vibes previously with some lame excuses to myself which I did regret later. But that moment I didn't want to deny the feeling and because I was scared that I will make the lame excuses again to cancel the plan, I booked the tickets right away. And few moments later, After the booking confirmation, I took a deep breath and realized "I am travelling solo to Indrahar Pass."
This is by far the best and craziest thing I have ever done because I've never travelled solo and This was the best thing I've ever done because It shaped me into a different version of myself. It has strengthened my solitude and made me strong to survive alone.
So, It was dussehra of 2018, and I got off for 20th October 2018 (I work on Saturdays, So it was off for me.). I left my chandigarh at 12:00 Midnight. I reached Mcleodganj early at 6:30AM. The Volvo dropped me at Mcleodganj Bus Stand. I was not that cold but in the morning I was feeling a bit cold so I decided to have a cup of tea and something to eat because I was about o start by trek right away from Main Square. Right there I met with a tibetian old women having breakfast at the same shop. She was visiting her childrens in Mcleodganj. She was coming from dehradoon and she offered me some food that she was having with her family. That was the best food I've ever had while travelling.
It was early in the morning and sun was about to rise. The sunrays started to light my path and I was feeling good to see the sun as I started to feel cold while climbing up. The monkeys accompanied me along the way. Along the way I met with a beautiful soul. Her name was "Upma". She was a writer and She accompanied me along the way to Gallu Devi Tempi. She was there in the woods just to experience the sunrise so she accompanied me all the way to Gallu Devi Temple. On the way we discussed about the novel she was writing and It was really good to know that she is following her passion. She was'nt going any further so I waved her a goodbye and good luck for her book and we parted out ways.
On the way to triund, I barely took a break but I captured some beautiful pictures
So I borrowed a tent and a sleeping bag from snowline cafe because I wasn't carrying it myself. We start heading to Laka Glacier, Our next destination.
But our spirit was too high, We decided to continue to Lahesh Caves. Though I wasn't carrying enough warmies but still my spirit was too high that I wanted to sleep in Caves that night. I cheered everyone up and we started to move forward.
We were running low on water and then we saw a little water stream coming down from the montains. We filled out bottles from this little water stream while climbing our way to Lahesh Caves.
After some difficulty and ups and down we manage to climb it up. And when we reached up there, The view was breathtaking. We were standing in the middle of Mighty dhauladhars.
The Cave was congested we 8 people were staying in that night and only 2 tents could be setup inside the caves. It was a cold Evening and It was aroung 6:00 PM. Sun has already set on snowline and triund. but Caves were shining like gold. We stayed in Caves that night and cooked Pasta for the dinner. Thanks to the Tibetian Guys and the Folks I've been climbing up with,who helped me with the food otherwise I might have starved to death that night.
Next morning, We climbed up to Indrahar pass early in the morning at 7:00 AM. It was breathtaking and beautiful to see how beautiful things look from the top.
While coming back down, I waved good bye to the good people and left the pack to reach back to bottom. I had to catch my bus back to Chandigarh by 5:00 PM from Mcleodganj. Back on my way back to Mcleodganj, I met with Ana. She was from Portugal and coming back from Caves too. We hiked back to Gallu Devi temple together. Learned a lot about the things from her country and happy to know more about her.
That's the best part about the solo travel. You learn and you grow. You meet new people who have the same though process just like you do.
Here is the Youtube video of my this trip. I hope you guys will like it and stay touch for more.
Cheers to upcoming more trips.
Trekking from Mcleodganj to Galu Devi Temple is Beatutiful. You just have to walk throgh the beautiful Pine Forst which is full of monkeys.
I've reahed triund in 2 hours and 30 minutes from Gallu Devi Temple and It's a steep 6Km from Gallu Devi Temple. I was getting cramps along the way beacuse I didn't took any break in between but I think you should avoid It. Breaks are very important while climbing up otherwise you will get cramps and you might be able to walk or otherwise can get serious leg injuries. On reacgin triund I decided to realax. So I was chillin in the hot sun Right in front of Mighty dhauladhar ranges and that's where I met Anas. Anas was such a wonderful Guy and he was travelling from Dubai and he was India for around 3 months trip. He told me how travelling solo can be made exciting by bumping into random people and getting to know about them and it's not weird at all. He gave me few tips about how can I do well in my trip and enjoy more. More or Less he is the person responsible for the awesomeness of this trip. After talking for around an hour or two, I decided to move forward so we exchanged our contacts and wished each other a farewell and hoped that we will see each other soon.
Right when I started climbing up to Snowline, I met 5 super awesome poople from South Africa who were on Indian trip.
Since they were heading to Lahesh Caves for the day and targetted to reach Indrahar Pass. I decided to accompany them for rest of the trip. While climbing up to snowline, It started to snow in the middle. It was the first snowfall of the season and I was so delighted to experience it. Though I was not prepared for It. It started to snow so heavily that we were not able to see the mountains clearly.
Within few hours, Whole mountain was covered in snow and that was enough to make us question for the continuation of our hiking further from Laka Glacier.
While climbing my way to Lahesh Caves, I faced a little difficulty because there was too much snow and my shoes were not really good enough for the snow. I slipped 2-3 times on a dangerous slope and got few bruises too. The DSLR camera that I was carryig was started to feel like a burden to me because I hardly took 20 photos from my DSLR.
