Darjeeling: Colorful Calmness for Chai with Queen

Darjeeling is famously known as “Queen of Hills” and I could easily feel the way air changed as we crossed Sukhna military base & climbed up to Kurseong from NJP railway station in our private vehicle. On road it is 3 hour distance, but if you do have sufficient time- close to 7 hours, do take toy train from NJP to Darjeeling, aka, Darjeeling Himalayan Railways (DHR), which is indeed breath taking. Remarkably, DHR is world heritage site and established in 1881 by British. The toy train track runs along the road and I was delighted to spot the smoke omitting locomotive pass by twice! Names of station are quite interesting- Tung, Sonada, Ghum and tells you that you are entering Gorkhaland, on which culture stands out with Tibetan colors, Nepali language, monasteries, generosity, happiness and amazing food!

A photo posted by Jaideep Rao (@jaideeprao) on Mar 21, 2016 at 8:20am PDT

We stopped at Batasia loop, which is just after Ghum station. Ghum station is in the highest altitude & on a clear day you should be able to spot Sleeping Buddha or Kanchanjunga from there. When I crossed Ghum, clouds had started forming and has less than 10m visibility. Temperature had dropped from 30 c to 6/8 c. Oh, coming back, Batasia loop is a 5km long spiral engineering marvel made to help the train climb up from low altitude to height of Ghum railway station. Batasia loop also has a memorial garden to the Gorkha soldiers of the Indian Army who sacrificed their lives after the Indian Independence in 1947. Batasia loop is surely a must visit!

I stayed in couple of hotels in Darjeeling- Hotel Seven Seventeen and Sonar Bangla- both had courteous staff and very well maintained space. I recommend both of them. Seven Seventeen have their own restaurant which served amazing Tibetan food and Sonar Bangla is right behind Glenary’s, which is must visit place for bakery junk food & Darjeeling tea. Next to it is Emami Frank Ross café that interestingly serves some amazing south Indian food! Both Glenary’s & Frank Ross have amazing ambience and are in Mall road that ends in Chowrastha, which reminded me of Shimla! I did some accessory shopping for the Sandakphu trek from Mall market and when I returned, did some for my home!

Prime attraction of Darjeeling is undoubtedly Padmaja Naidu Zoological Park and Himalayan Mountaineering Institute (HMI). Don’t miss out on animals which are only found in Himalayan ranges at the zoo. Red pandas, Himalayan black bear and snow leopards are the show stoppers. I was really impressed with the zoo & would rate up above any zoo which I have visited.

I can vouch on HMI museum that it won’t let you exit without the wow feeling. HMI was established in 1954 by PM Nehru and had Tenzing Norgay, first person to ascent Mt. Everest with Edmund Hillary, as it’s first director. HMI museum has very inspiring collection of accessories used by summiteer’s, their lives, what it means to scale peak on peak, Himalayan culture and has put in place the perspective of joy of mountaineering. HMI also has Samadhi & giant statue of Tenzing Norgay. We spent close to 2 hours to cover both in detail- this pace is truly astonishing!

Last place I visited in Darjeeling was Japanese Temple and Peace Pagoda, which is 4kms away from Chowrastha. Peace Pagoda is very beautiful with Buddha’s life depicted in the parikrama (means when you take a round). Four statues of Buddha emit peace radiance here. Japanese temple, established by Fujii Guruji, is a lovely place and for me it was lot of learning going through life & thoughts of Fujii Guruji, a Buddhist monk who lived 100 years!

Darjeeling is indeed a lovely place with friendly people. I would cherish taking shared taxi to eating momo & thukpa to walking & climbing up/down to navigate between places. Queen, always be the best!

Sandakhpu trek: Sleeping Buddha with Silver Blanket Ramro Che

It had rained in Darjeeling the day before we started Sandakhpu trek. We didn’t know whether it was a good omen or the indication of disastrous trek ahead. Luckily, it turned out to be good for us as it didn’t rain for next 5 days when we were on road and skies only got clearer each passing day! This is my travelogue of climbing highest peak in West Bengal at 12000 feet and walking through India Nepal border on the oldest trek trail of India which is in Singalila National Park, part of the Eastern Himalayas.

Day 1: Manebhanjan to Tumling via Meghma

We left Darjeeling around 6.30am to reach Manebhanjan by 8.30am, place where we met our guides- Rakesh and Sujay. I could spot Indo-Nepal border with Indian SSB camp and 1950's made Land Rovers which climbs up to Sandakphu and Phalut on rent! We started off by scaling 3km steep hill to reach Chittrey – which had a beautiful monastery with stupa’s. This was our first foot in Nepal, my international debut! There were some small Tibetan villages along the trail throughout and on the entire trek, India was on our right and Nepal on our left. And we ended up sleeping in Nepal on Day 1, 2 and 3! {International Trekker swag!}

Later in the day, we passed Lamayadhura to reach Meghma, 7km easy trek. From Meghma we set foot towards Tumling and reached Siddharth lodge {which had amazing valley view} around 4pm, but it felt like it was already 7pm and visibility of 10m. Temperature had dropped close to 5c and we got our hands on delicious dal roti chaawal dinner at 7.30pm to end our day! Meanwhile, I put down some lines my mind had accumulated when I walked overhearing classic Tibetan instruments and here it goes:

The last mile is when clouds
Came together to bling my eyes
The warm clothes and gloves could not stop me shiver
My sweat merges with the cloud
When white and red rhodendrons smile
Along a way that is barely visible
Though it feels like a drea,
And you try to enjoy and catch breath
Last mile haunts me and reminds me
That loneliness is a famous myth
As clouds with my thoughts are on a fly
With Buddha, Nepal and Sleeping Shiva- Peace!

Day 2: Tumling to Kala Pokhri via Gairibans

It was a heartbreak to wake up at 5am in the morning for sunrise and not seeing Kanchanjunga due to heavy fog. Putting disappointment behind, we started trek at 8am which had in store a 7km stroll through dense jungle and steep ascents with descents, we reached Garibans to find Jawans of Indian Army celebrating holi with colors, pakoras and sweets! This is the best holi I have celebrated and made it more special when a Jawan quipped- “Neither I nor you are at our homes, we are family now and let’s celebrate”. I guess, life is all about friendships!

After sharing momo’s and cup of chai with all, we started again and took a soupy noodles break at Kaiyakatta, at around 1pm. These houses use firewood for cooking and run on solar lights. Different life indeed. Gariribans to Kala Pokhri is around 5 kms and we reached the black lake (Kala Pokhri) where super chill winds were blowing & ensuring that the beautiful Tibetan flags all over the lake kept fluttering. Quite a sight! It was easily around 3c here! With pasta for evening snack & dal chaawal for dinner, we retired for the day at Pandim lodge.

Day 3: Kala Pokhri to Sandakhpu

Surprisingly, sky looked clear and we could also spot Sherpa Chalet lodge, our house in Sandakhpu from Pandim lodge. With renewed hope of catching a glimpse of Kanchanjunga, we started 1 hour before schedule after lovely Choley roti breakfast. After a quick 1 hour ascent we heard the voices of joy and knew magic had happened-

Then I finally see you
As expected you were magnificent
Breathtaking, heap of happiness, picture perfect
And of course, you were elusive!
I had woken up before sun rose yesterday
Just to catch first glimpse of you
But then, you were cozying with clouds…
I sighed and went back to my daily chores
But today, you made up for everything
You glowed and shined under the morning sun
Majestically sleeping with cakmess and peace
Which I pray that never eludes me from now!
You, sleeping Buddha, with silver blanket!

Sleeping Buddha, with Mt. Kumbakarna as face, Mt. Kanchanjunga as tummy and Mt. Pandim as toes- is treat to watch and we spent quite enough time just watching it! After good amount of pics, we walked to stop at Bhaneybunjan from where Sandakphu looked the closest. We knew this was the last ascent and very challenging. With close to 70 degree steep ascents and constant climbing we could do this stretch in 3 hours and finally we had reached our summit! Time for celebration with kichdi and awesome sunset where you are standing on a hill to see red sun romance clouds which are below you!

Day 4: Sandakhpu to Sephi via Sirikhola and Gurdum

On a shivering 5am morning, we woke up to see the best part of the trek- Sunrise at Sandakphu. Full moon setting on my left and new sun rising on my right, sleeping Buddha was shining red and slowly turned white. This is just wow! Icing on the cake- Vaguely visible 3 sisters- Mt.Makalu, Mt.Lhotse & Mt.Everest. I knew my trip was complete and with satisfied heart, we started to descent! After a while, I took off 3 layer of clothes on me as temperatures started to soar to 10c as I reached Gurdum, 9km trek down. River on the sides, Sikkim villages in front and constant descents of another 5kms trek along Timburey & Sirikhola, we reached Sephi. I enjoyed Sujay’s heartful singing on the banks of Srikhola. River, music, happiness of successful trek- what more to ask! We were served typical Gorkhaland food with homegrown spinach and potatoes-I had best food and stay at Lippohochha.

Day 5: Sephi to Darjeeling via Rimbick and Manebhanjan

After a quick lemon tea, we started off from Sephi at 6.30am on a shared taxi to Darjeeling which costed me 220rs! Passing through scenic landscapes, we reached Darjeeling at around 12pm and we finally had access to hotwater to bath! I have separately blogged on what I did in Darjeeling here.

Ofcourse, there were great lessons for me in this trek. Noting down a few:

1. Smile like the people from hill. Ear to ear!
2. Inner peace- go completely offline, look at landscapes and monasteries, appreciate smaller aspects and things which we take for granted
3. Build friendships- from sushi cook of Munich to retail banker from Bombay to trekmates from IIT KGP to reigniting friendship with Bachhubhai (Rakesh Da, our guide, fondly called Supraj like this)!
4. Work- You know that you have to scale up and you are catching for the breath- put your head down and do one step at a time. Manthan, I am going to remember you for long!

Like everyone, while I write this I am experiencing Post trek symptoms, which were/are:

1. Must have thigh pains (due to descent) which makes climbing down stares a nightmare for couple of days!
2. When you see beautiful girl and you think- “KT Dami Ramro Che!” (Nepali style!)
3. Looking up at the sky and giving white clouds the shape of sleeping Buddha- Kanchanjunga!

Trip to Taj Mahal: To Display Thereby The Creator's Glory

After successful pilgrimage to Vaishno devi and Jammu visit, I got 2 days in Delhi, which was surprisingly pleasant with mercury reading around 20-25 degree Celsius. Day one was spent in local site seeing and the day two was spent visiting Brindavan, Mathura and Agra. Note, places below are in the order I visited.

#Birla Mandir aka Laxminarayan Temple indeed boosts of incredible calmness. We visited this place in the morning and atmosphere was truly blissful. This year, i.e, 2014, this place is celebrating platinum jubilee. It was inaugurated by Mahatma Gandhi, was made built by B. R. Birla and Jugal Kishore Birla. Surrounded by beautiful garden, paintings, sculptors, Geetha mandir, tight security

Qutub Minar

and Metro (to travel conveniently) - definitely a must-visit place!

I revisited some of the places which I blogged last time, this time around with my parents- we visited Qutub Minar, Red Fort, Chandini Chowk, India Gate, Parliament House and travelled mostly in autos or metro trains.

#Ranganath Temple Brindavan was a disaster. Numerous “so-called” panditji’s in round-neck collarless tshirt with Krishna print and dhoti- try to pursued you to spend cash on them/on their temples! This place has no doubt lost its religious shine and has turned out to be a place where business is run on the name of Lord Krishna. Panditji also turns to guide here- vomiting out some random spiritual lines from no-where and explaining how much other people have spent in terms of cash/gold/diamonds (Paresh Rawal’s “Oh My God!” was running in mind)! Roads are poor, infrastructure sucks! You’ll see 500 odd temples on the way just like this. Taxi guys get commission paid if he gets a visitor to any of these temples. Panditiji’s loot- creating fear and proclaiming aloud what-happens-if-I-don’t-give ideologies. Krishna if at all descends down to earth, not shockingly will run back after seeing the hell His people have created using His name. My advice- forget visiting this place, let Krishna’s

Birla Mandir

original Brindavan(which we saw on televisions) hold it’s place in your imaginary, don’t kill it!

#Krishna Janma Bhoomi Mathura luckily under archeological dept. was really well kept. It didn’t look like a disputed land to me (you’ll see idgah- Muslim prayer hall structure- built by Aurangajeb next to Krishna Temple), since the white birds and kindergarten kids wearing white uniforms making their way inside temple premises. They really know no differences, no boundaries, no religions, no hatred! The beautiful charm of Radha Krishna idols in the temple on top of prison where Krishna is believed to be have born was clearly reflected on these young innocent faces. Elders were right; we can see God in children!

#Akbar Tomb, Sikandara is really beautiful with masterpiece Mughal architecture which was

India Gate

planned by Akbar himself and was finished by his son, Jahangir. Mughal Greatest emperor Akbar was laid to rest here. I spotted fearless squirrels, free-grazing flock of deer, broad-and-tall wall doors, marvelous windows, lavish gardens, wide spread area, good infrastructure by archeological dept. and last but not the least, at least 25 unmarried couples!

#Taj Mahal turned out to be the gem of this trip, 5 degree inclined symmetric pillars, gardens and fountains, incredible white marble paintings and architecture, river Yamuna romancing this serene heart-warming sensation, I am in loss of words to put the beauty and ended-up saying- WOW! Must must visit once in lifetime. I really wish that the planned black Taj Mahal on the other side of river would have also been completed by the Emperor. Hat’s off to Shah Jahan for constructing this for his wife Mumtaz and as I am still in awe; I am not going to write any lines of my own, instead will repaste Shah Jahan’s words through which he described

Sikandara

the Taj-

Should guilty seek asylum here,
Like one pardoned, he becomes free from sin.
Should a sinner make his way to this mansion,
All his past sins are to be washed away.
The sight of this mansion creates sorrowing sighs;
And the sun and the moon shed tears from their eyes.
In this world this edifice has been made;
To display thereby the creator's glory.

#Red Fort & Agra Fort, I caught the glance of it from outside. Red fort of Agra is supposed to be replica of Delhi’s historic Red fort. Since the day was hot and Sun seeping out our energy, we gave these two places a skip and were contented with it’s marvellous built from the

Taj Mahal

outside.

#Yamuna Expressway, I need to mention this. Had never ever seen such straight and planned roads. Glimpses of fertile land both the sides, extremely huge road, intelligent execution of planning, sight of farmers toiling, quick glance on Budd International Racing Circuit, restrooms and eateries- it was a delight to be on this highway! Who says India is not developed!

[Thanks to Archi for helping in planning and execution]

Himalayan Trek in My First Trip to North India...

I think it had rained an hour ago. Chill in the air and stagnant water at the roadside were clearly indicating this fact. After acclimatizing to temperatures ranging from 2 to 40 centigrades for over 2 weeks, I was back to the city that boasts a constant weather of around 20 centigrade, Bengaluru. I was walking towards home with a bagful of stories to tell- some adventurous, some philosophical, some controversial. Here it is- the travelogue of my first trip to North India!

This entire trip was very very well planned in paper with all hotel and travel bookings already done.Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani”. A week after watching the movie, with official nod from parents we had booked the complete itinerary while having an icecream, sitting in the Corner House of Kasturi Nagar, Bengaluru. Our trip had a disastrous start as the main trip planner, Manu met with an accident a day before our departure. We were given a royal send off by Vijay and Yashu, after a tasty dinner (Thank you, Aunty!) at Yashu’s place. Did I feel that I won’t return forever? Nah!

Hadimba Temple

I’ll traverse through the states of India that I visited in this trip. I have provided links for complete story. Enjoy, as much as I did!

#1. Himachal Pradesh, a romantic state that shares it’s borders with Tibet. I visited two districts- Kullu and Shimla. The charming skin tone and excellent physique of the citizens deserves special mention. I got down in Shimla with a 20kg luggage, looked around to find no auto rickshaws, instead plenty of man labor. I and my friend decided to walk to Hotel Chaman Palace. 5 min after we started, we realized that it was a mistake! 70 degree slopes and stairs took out all the energy as we reached the hotel located close to Mall road. Mall road is the busiest and the most happening with lot of eateries and shopping outlets. Veg momo’s and burgers of Krishna Traders are the best I have had till date. Street food- channa kulcha and chatpati chat- I recommend. This city was incredibly disciplined with no smoking and

Toy Train

no plastic policies followed till the last dot!

Kullu, on the other hand is more ethnic with localities wearing the vibrant “Himachal ki Shaan” topi and apple sellers everywhere. Base camp for our trek was in Manali. We visited a Tibetan architecture influenced Hadimba and Ghatodgakch temple, built atleast 500 years ago. Beas River flowing along the canopy of Pine trees gives this city an artistic look. We got to visit Nicholas Roerich’s museum in Naggar, 25kms away from Manali. His breathtaking paintings of Himalayan inexpressible beauty and the peace flag (harmony of religion, art and science) that he designed for “League of Nations” (current UN) is the highlight.

Remember Kareena in “Ye Ishq” song of “Jab We Met”, we were at this serene place- the Naggar Castle, built in 16th century. We had delicious snacks in the hillside view balcony of the hotel there, Cutlets, yummm!! We made sure to visit the famous Johnson’s café, and of course, had a great

With Bishi and Gursagar

evening with 11 buddies!

I have deliberately put the best part of Himachal in another blogpost. Trek Hampta pass (Click here) yourselves!

#2. We entered Punjab, land of 5 rivers, through the UNESCO heritage narrow gauge toy train from Shimla. Toy train to Kalka, running since 1902, brought us best of landscapes. We made our way to beautifully planned Chandigarh from Kalka via couple of auto rickshaws which run like public buses here. We visited my friend, Bishas and Gursagar (Thanks a ton guys, you rock!) for dinner and they redefined hospitality, we set off to explore Punjab the next day (Click here, yeah, story is long enough for another blogpost)!

Golden Temple

#3. The Delhi Honeymoon was a dream come true. As we keep hearing the daily happenings of Delhi, I was excited to see how it really lived, the capital of “The India”. My experience that changed “Delhi” to “Dilli” (city of heart) is indeed heartening, I suppose, why wait, read here The Delhi Honeymoon!

The trip plan was executed almost near to perfection, all thanks to the 3 hours delay in “Hirakund Express” from Amritsar to Agra, because of which we had to skip Agra since there would be little time left to explore Agra that Thursday evening and Taj Mahal shuts down every Friday. Dear Taj, will see you soon!

Whenever I achieved some small feats,

Hampta Pass

People blessed me that I’ll go places…
I sit and contemplate on what it meant,
Realizing answers are sole aim of our life… 

May be a different perspective of new place,
In the thick thread of cobbler’s spool…
Showing the life that I never lived,
In the kaleidoscope of a roadside kid… 

Today, I really want to achieve more feats…
Today, I really want to visit more places…
Today, I really want to find more answers…

[Heartfelt gratitude to Manu, Akhilesh, Bishas and Archi for planning this out. Cheers to Thomas, Tanja, Parijat, Naaga, Harsha, Sowmini, Spurthi, Chandrashekar V, Neerav, Niladri, Akshat, Bharath, Shushanth, Saranbir, Thakur Saheb and IndiaHikes for making the trek super awesome. Photo Credits: Akhilesh, Parijat, Chandru and Harsha.]

Land of braves: Visit to ethnic Punjab

Catching glimpses of Chandigarh on the way to Bharathgarh- well planned sectors with disciplined site maps and green areas- I promised myself to return to explore this city. This trip we had opted for ethnic places over malls. 3 days well spent in Punjab, we had ample time to read the pulse of this state which mostly follows ideals set by Guru’s, led by Guru Nanak. Places I visited...

Bharatgarh Fort

#Bharatgarh fort is located in the banks of River Sutlej, close of Roopnagar or Roopar. Set amidst the Shivalik Ranges, this magnificent Fort of Bharatgarh was constructed in 1783 and incidentally, this is the only standing live-in fort of Punjab. There is a portion of it that has been made open to tourists in the form of a heritage home. Beautiful interiors, paintings, antique furniture and “The window” will give you immense happiness. I had the pleasure of learning the entire story with it’s historical significance from the proud heirs of this fort, my friend Bishas’s wonderful parents (Thank you for everything!).

Virasat-E-Khalsa

#Virasat-E-Khalsa, Anandpur Sahib is an hour away from Roopnagar, boasts of an enchanted museum and an old Gurudhwara. Life size paintings depicting the journey of Sikh faith with sensors attached to it, narrates the story in the headphones that is given and the theme is so well set that I was amused and couldn’t believe that museums can give us much more than what I always thought. It’s a must visit place. We visited Gurudhwara and had our meals (Langar) before heading towards Amritsar via Jalandhar. Bus conductor cheated us to grab some extra money and this journey stirred lot of thoughts in me- relevance of Gurbani (preaching of Guru Nanak) and where greediness is taking us. I’ll reserve my further comments for later.

Golden Temple

#Golden temple, Amritsar is the calmest, peaceful and one of the most well organized temple I have ever seen. Gold reflections of the temple in the lake, golden fishes at times creating those small waves, the soothing Gurbani’s sung melodiously and luckily full moon at display- I sat down and prayed at peace- one can sense God here- with some many volunteers contributing for this perfect functioning of the temple. Also, here we met cast and crew of Kannada reality show-“Indian”.

#Jallianwala Bagh, Amritsar still speaks for that disastrous day when an English officer ordered his troops to open fire without any prior warning on thousands of people including women and children who had peacefully gathered on

Jallianwala Bagh

occasion of the Punjabi New Year on April 13, 1919. Marks of gunshots, well where many laid their life jumping into it, Shaheed Uddam Singh’s (One of shot the British viceroy of Punjab in London) ashes and memorial dedicated to martyrs inaugurated by Jawaharlal Nehru are the highlights of this place.

#Wagah Border, Indo-Pak border was definitely a sort of let down for me, 30 kms away from Amritsar. Patriotic songs were being played when I arrived at 6pm here and a large crowd with tricolor was running/jumping around. When I was about to soak this patriotic feeling, “Koi Kahe” of “Dil Chahta Hai” started playing! 6.30pm, parade started at respective side of gates of India and Pakistan. As gates opened I could hear some swear words come out for Pakistanis from a person who was sitting next to me and seemed like quite a few of them being emotionally charged. Probably to mock at the whole set up- A white bird was entering India, totally carefree, in a different level!

Wagah Border

#Bharawan Dhaba’s Amritsari Kulcha had at least a glassful of ghee, is the most famous Dhaba in Amritsar running since 1912! I went to Punjab with very different set of expectations and had to return back with unexpected experiences. I wish general public won’t just restrict their beautiful ethical culture only to their Gurudhwara’s. People were greedy for money and I saw outsiders being literally ripped off. The poor cycle rickshaw drivers were the only people who looked very honest and hardworking to me. May the God bless their tribe and let the Gurbani prevail!

[This was part of the tour. Read the complete experience here] 

Tryst with Destiny: Trek to Hampta Pass

After many days of speculation and infinite warnings from family/friends midst Uttarkhand flash floods, it finally happened- the Hampta pass. It was a five day affair, thanks to snowing and wet tents/clothes, we had to wind up in four days, oh sorry, we were more than happy to get back heart and hale as early as possible!

Checklist of the trek was really long and it took quite a while to arrange everything. Starting from trek poles to shoes to rucksacks to thermal inners to rain coats to synthetic tracks to energy boosters to medical kit. Once the gear was ready, it weighed at least 9kgs, which I carried on my back, every day, don’t I deserve a bravery award!

13-08-2013: Manali to Chika basecamp
Supposed to be day where we get the trailer of what is probably waiting. With Saranbir (got your name right!) and Thakur sahib guiding us, we started off to Jobri in 3 vans, yeah, I met 17 awesome fellow trekkers! Jobri to Chika was an easy stroll of 2hours, small steeps and small river crossings; we reached at 5.30pm and learnt how to pitch the tents. Chapthis with paneer and dal was served for dinner, not to forget, there was a soup and a desert as well. Food just got better by day and chai, kept tasting best as we scaled the altitude.

14-08-2013: Chika to Bhalu Ka Ghera via Jwara
After a good sleep, woke up fresh. To answer the nature’s call, I explored toilet tents, not satisfied with the ambience, decided to carry axe to dig cat hole and enjoy the landscapes! This happened for next 3 days as well!

Sky kissing pines are dark green,

And as white color sets,
On a chilled night with creamy fog…
I see no moon, no stars!

The mild wind stretches the peg,
That holds my hand built tent…
Not strong enough, not weak though!
Yes, my nest is going to stay!

As the sun rises from the hill,
My eyes focus on a flying eagle,
Fighting rains, all set for a hard day…
I wrap my tent, head for a new journey!

We were served good breakfast and bananas/toffees to munch on the way, trek of 5 hours. With plenty of short breaks and decent pace, we were trying to acclimatize to the environment. Ah, I forgot to mention that this trek was mostly river side! Saran (Our trek lead) made it compulsory for us drink these riverside fresh water, basic idea is to overcome AMS (Acute Mountain sickness). Enough of huffing-puffing, making friends with fellow trekkers- we managed to reach Bhalu Ka Ghera, means Land of Sand, and we pitched in our tents.

When everything was so perfect, it started to rain. The rain that took this trek difficulty level from easy to moderate! The rain that made most of us wear same clothes everyday due to the drenched rucksacks. The rain which almost shattered our dreams of making it to Hampta pass the next day. All of us were working on the alternate plan of things that we would do if we got back tomorrow. With dejection and sorrow, most of us prayed for the rain to stop. It kept raining. It kept raining.

15-08-2013: Bhalu Ka Ghera to Shia Ka Garu via Hampta Pass: The Independence Day!
I came out of the tent, looked at the skies, obviously clouds had not cleared, no sign of the Sun, I sighed. 10min later, Saran comes out, probably after working on some of his magical tricks which he kept throwing at us throughout the trip, Bazinga!, tells us- “Guys, we’ll celebrate Independence day in Hampta pass” . All of us were electrified and we hurried to pack our belongings, I knew I was going to live “Tryst with Destiny” today!

All set with rain coats, head caps, gloves and some food on the way to eat, we started moving slowly but steadily, like a wind which is waiting to turn into a storm, we picked up pace and with regular breaks we crossed valley of flowers. With every ascent, it just got tough since it had started raining and now, we were not even bothered about it. We crossed glaciers and I could not hold my excitement of seeing them for the first time in my life, I stepped on the sides and in a split second, my left leg had gone in, I threw away my trekking pole and held on to a rock nearby, managed to get out safe. I looked through the hole my leg had made; I saw a river flowing in deep silence!

Breathing got tougher and when we reached the Hampta pass, we let it go, shouting slogans of Independence Day and congratulating each other for the feat achieved. It had taken us 6 hours to reach the pass. We started the descent. Oh man, numerous slips and knees hurting, ascent was better than descent! Blue lakes far away were a treat to watch. We even spotted mountain rats, sheep, goats and dogs.

Shia ka Garu means land of cold, and temperature was easily in single digits, not sure, if it went to negative! After 9hours long trek, pakoras and chai was the savior before the yummy dinner. With our wet clothes, wet inners and wet tents, sleeping was out of question, I kept shivering. With trembling hand and hoping for Sun rays, I penned this down...

Sun will smile tomorrow,
Marks of yesterday’s water…
Will speak the story of valor,
Of incredible belief in destiny…

Footprints in snow glitters,
Hiding enormous flowing river!
I press my shoe hard, hard enough…
To kick away those vacuum…
To kick away that emptiness…
To kick away those failures…

16-08-2013:Shia Ka Garu to Manali via Chatru
Plan for Day 5, i.e., Chandratala was cancelled since we had spotted fresh snow and it was almost impossible for another wet, cold night. So we headed to Chatru where we were supposed to be picked by motor vans. 4 hours of easy descent plus plain land. We started our day with clicking group pictures and crossing the crazy freezing cold river barefooted. We reached Chatru and were relieved to have finally finished the trek successfully. Then the news broke in!

There were 3 landslides and we had to trek for 13 kms more to catch our waiting van. It started all over again in Spithi valley and we were running out of words in praise for the landscapes, numerous waterfalls. To support green initiative of IndiaHikes, some of us kept picking up the littered items. Crossing the first and second landslide was not easy, and then came the third, like the climax, JCB of Tibetan Border Force, that was clearing up the road, gave me a “lift to remember”! We jumped into van and best of music to listen with satisfaction of trekking successfully- what more can you ask for!

To sum it up, I can easily recommend anyone to take up trekking, yeah, “taking up”, it’s definitely a sport! It’s not about lavish landscapes or scaling 14000ft (Hampta pass), trekking is like life- sometimes you walk alone, sometimes you laugh, you face anxiety, you meet new people, make friends, talk about diverse topics ranging from politics to finance to mules, sometimes you fall, someone will lend you hand, sometimes you help your friend tie shoelace, learn a thing or two, sometimes you work hard and smile, basically, you smile from your most satisfied heart!

[This was part of the tour. Read the complete experience here]