It was end of May’19 when me and my friend Deepak decided to do the 3-days Beas Kund trek in Himachal Pradesh. While i have been doing regular mountain treks for past few years, this was the first for Deepak. Although Deepak was a little apprehensive about undertaking this trek, i was confident in him being able to pull it off given that he is a regular Marathon runner and does have the required level of fitness.

The Winter season of 2018-2019 had broken a 25-year record of the maximum amount of snowfall received in the Northern Himalayan States of Himachal Pradhesh,  Uttarakhand and J&K. It was a prolonged winter as well, which meant that we would be encountering a heavy dose of snow even towards the end of May month. This had made us very excited indeed !

The trek starts off from the ‘Solang Nullah’ (elevation above sea level : 2700 mtrs), which is at an hour’s drive from the popular (but over-crowded) tourist town of Old Manali. From the road-head of ‘Solang Nullah’, you have to walk (on level ground) 9 km to reach a place called ‘Dhundi’. Dhundi is where the construction of the new Rohtang tunnel is underway (almost nearing completion) – this alternative new route is not only expected to cut down on the travel distance between Manali and Rohtang Pass but also ease the traffic congestion at the existing Manali-Gulaba-Rohtange Pass route. The scenery at ‘Dhundi’ was mesmering with the Solang Valley looking at its greenest and loveliest. After a long but flat walk, we took a short breather before embarking our on steep hike towards for first night’s campsite.

The hike towards Bhakharthach (elevation above sea level : 3400 mtrs) was along a moderate slope parallel to the river stream. During the time we visited, the stream was still in frozen state, although we could hear the sound of the gushing water beneath the frozen top layer. At a couple of places, we had to cross these glacial streams (hoping they wouldn’t crack and drown us in their waters below :D). The view along the trek was quite scenic with the initial stretch of lush green carpets giving way to rocky patches lined with Birch trees and wild flower blooms. Halfway through our climb, it started raining (and snowing at higher reaches) and we could feel our hands and feet freezing and going numb. At one point, i got a little worried as due to the freezing rain, i couldn’t feel any sensation in one of my fingers; i realized this was due to lack of blood flow and needed to keep moving my fingers continuously to ensure blood circulation (lesson learnt – always keep drinking lots of water during a trek and have a good hearty breakfast before starting your hike).

After nearly 5 hours of trekking, we reached our campsite for the night. ‘Bhakarthach’ is a very ‘idyllic’ sort of a campsite surrounded from three sides by tall snow-clad mountain ranges with a deep valley on the fourth side. It has a river stream nearby as a water source. The grounds of the campsite comprise of vast meadows stretching for atleast a couple of kilometers with a couple of small hillocks in between. We pitched our tents on one of these small hillocks to give us a bird’s eye view of our surroundings.

The next day we began our trek towards our summit, the Beas Kund, a glacial lake located at an altitude of nearly 12,200 ft. above sea level. After incessant rain and snow yesterday, the day had began with the valley bathing in sunshine. Today’s trek was going to be entirely on snow. At the start of the hike, we came across multiple huge ‘ice boulders’ which were basically big chunks of the hanging glacier that was falling apart at the top of the mountains.

The initial stretch was a 2 km long flat walk , which was made difficult by the immense amount of snow we had tread upon. At the end of this initial flat stretch, we reached the base of a huge section of moraines which we had to climb. Prior to climbing the moraines, was a short but tricky section wherein we had to cross a frozen glacial stream – this was quite exciting and perhaps a little scary as we could hear the water stream rushing beneath as we walked upon its frozen surface. After crossing the frozen glacial stream, came the toughest part of today’s trek – a steep one hour climb on the somewhat ‘unstable’ moraines. Halfway up the moraines, Deepak who was struggling with AMS (Acute Mountain Sickness) the day before, started feeling a little dizzy and decided to skip his climb to the top, assuring that he would be fine just resting. So one of the guides decided to stay back with Deepak and the other decided to lead me to the summit. Although this section was tough and a little risky, it provided us with the best views of the entire surrounding mountain range – we could spot the Friendship Peak as well as the base of the Mount Tibba.

Once we reached the top of the moraines, the view had completely transformed. The snow here was fresh, pure white. The distant mountain peaks felt much closer and within touching distance. The clear blue sky above and bright sunlight added a picture-perfect setting to the whole scenery in front of us. It was calm , serene and heavenly up here. I spent nearly an hour admiring the beauty of nature, before beginning the descend back. Unfortunately, the heavy snowfall last night had made the last stretch of the trek leading up to the Beas Kund, a little risky. This last stretch consisted of multiple cris-crossing little streams that were now covered with snow and risky to cross. So we simply watched the Kund (lake) from a distance before heading back.

The descend back towards the solang valley was long but uneventful. The white snowy patches at the higher reaches and the lush greenery at the lower reaches was a treat to our eyes and shall remain etched in our memories forever. Deepak, for whom this was the first Himalayan trek, had certainly been bitten by the trekking bug by now and vowed to come back again for another of such treks again.

Those who know me are well aware of my fascination with the Himalayan mountain range with its clean fresh air, views of surrounding snow-capped mountains and colorful blossoming of flowers in its endless valleys during spring. Within the Himalayas, one of my favourite places happens to be the Kinnaur region of Himachal Pradesh, some 8 hours drive east of Shimla.

Kinnaur is a lesser known place amongst travelers outside of the State, but is one of its best kept secret. In fact, locals claim that the ‘Kinnauri apples’ are of the best quality in India ! At the centre of Kinnaur region, is the scenic hill station of ‘Kalpa’, standing tall at almost 10,000 ft. above sea level. A more discerning reader would have read about surveys conducted by the Government of India on ‘air quality’ mentioning Kalpa as having the cleanest air amongst all towns and cities of India.

What really makes this pretty little town stand out is its captivating and clear view of the Kinner Kailash mountain range as well as the ‘shivling’. Me and my wife had visited this place during the Spring of 2018 and had sat in our Homestay’s balcony for hours admiring the magnificence of the view in front of us. Here are some of the glorious views :

A few kilometers away from the centre of Kalpa, is a little village called Roghi. Roghi village is famous for its apple and peach orchards, which were in full bloom during the time we visited (Mar-Apr.)

Evenings and mornings view from our balcony overlooking the Kinnaur Kailash range was so magnificent, especially with the full moon rising over the mighty mountains and the orange shadow of the setting sun on the peaks.

On our very first day, we were lucky to see a full moon rising over the mighty mountain peaks.

The next morning we were greeted with the yellow rays of the sun.

 

In the early spring of 2018, my wife Amruta and I had planned our vacation in the mystical land of Kinnaur, Himachal Pradesh, some 9 hours drive from Shimla. After an enchanting stay at Chitkul, famously known as the ‘Last Indian Village’ before the Tibet border, we next reached the village of Rakcham at an elevation of 3200 meters above sea level. Rakcham is a quaint little village with a sparse population mostly engaged in apple cultivation. Most families here own houses at two different locations, one slightly on a higher altitude where they settle in summers and the other down the slope where they stay during winters.  We had chosen to stay at Hotel Apple Pie which was down the slope. The view from the hotel was simply breathtaking with looming mountains resembling big bars of chocolate on one side and melting glacial river on the other side.  Here’s a preview of how Rakcham is like 🙂  –

My favourite – big bars of chocolate !

On the day we reached Rakcham, we set out on foot in the evening to explore the beauty surrounding us and walked along the main road towards the lovely pink blossoms of the wild apricot. As the moon began to rise, the whole scenery changed and the temperature started to drop dramatically. With the full moon in the background the village took on an eerily fascinating look.

On the next day, we had planned on doing the 8-km long Rakcham – Batseri trek during our stay at Rakcham. The hotel staff arranged for a local young man named Hardev to guide us on the trek.

We woke up early to catch a glimpse of the sunrise and were blessed with a spectacular view of the sun-kissed snow-covered alpine mountain peaks from the window of our room.  Our guide Hardev Singh arrived promptly at 8 am and after a hearty breakfast of parathas we set off for the trek. The starting point of the trek was on the other side of the river, across a bridge. With our spirits high we started our walk. Initially there was a short climb, at the end of which we were welcomed by a thick blanket of snow. Amruta got very excited at the sight of pure white snow all around. We soon reached the start of a forest trail which looked right out of the fairy tale books which we have read as children. Not another soul in sight, the three of us kept walking through the snow trail enjoying the pine trees, snow covered rocks, small ice glaciers and the melodious chirping of the birds.

While we were navigating the treacherous snow path, we suddenly saw some giant crystal clear frozen icicles. Since I had never seen such big icicles before, I wanted to see them from up close. So with Hardev’s help I managed to get a little closer to what looked like a small cave opening (resembling a giant’s open mouth with set of icy teeth). As I reached closer, my entire leg suddenly gave way and sunk into the snow, it was a little scary moment for me. I managed to pull myself out only with Hardev’s help. Hardev, meanwhile had no difficulty reaching over to the giant icicles. With Hardev leading, Amruta in the middle and me watching her back we kept walking through the tricky snow patches. Our legs unexpectedly sunk into the snow at multiple places it became like a mini adventure for us.

My entire leg suddenly sunk into the snow

 

Halfway through the walk we reached a pristine place along the banks of the river. And what a sight to behold it was ! We sat near the banks of the river which was flowing rhythmically. Across the river was a mountain range so picturesque as can adorn any wallpaper. After a quick food and water break, we continued on our trek ahead.

The next stretch was a series of climbs followed by descents. At one steep point, I had a ‘nice’ slide down after my leg slipped over a mush of melted snow and leaves. Amruta too decided to follow suit and enjoyed a slide herself. It seemed as though we were the first visitors after the winters as at some places the usual route taken by the trekkers was blocked by fallen trees and some mud slides. Hardev proved to be an excellent guide and managed to find a way out of such blockages. From afar, we could spot a cave with a small frozen water stream that looked straight out of some animated movie.

Uptil now, we had walked through snow-covered forests, over frozen glaciers and along the banks of the river. Next up was a uphill climb that gave us a close-up view of a glacier that has just melted producing a dazzling aqua-blue green colored water stream.

After having admired the beautiful glacial stream, we set off on the last leg of our trek that would take us to our destination – Batseri village. The moment we set eyes on Batseri, we fell in love with it ! It was the beginning of spring season and the local apricot, cherry and peach flowers were in full bloom painting the village in all shades of pink. It was as though the whole village was blushing !

 

Straight out of a postcard

The scenery of tall snow-clad mountains in the background, lush green forests in the surroundings and the all-shades of pink flowers blossoms blew our senses and we just sat there admiring the scenery. We could have lived in this village our whole lives (still contemplating it as our future retirement home :D). Amruta couldn’t help herself posing for my camera in these beautiful settings (possibly auditioning for the next Yash Raj movie opposite SRK or Ranbir Kapoor  :P)

It had been a long walk that had taken nearly 5 hours and we had started feeling hungry by then. We walked past the lovely village streets which were lined up by fruit orchards on both sides and reached a nice premium hotel with an outdoor dining arrangement to have our lunch.

By the time we finished our lunch at 4 pm, it was nearly evening and the weather which was mostly sunny the whole day had now started to turn overcast. We had always heard from the locals how the weather can change very quickly in these parts, but still we weren’t prepared when within the blink of an eye, the clear blue skies gave way to dark grey clouds and we waited in eager anticipation of a possible snowfall. In just a few minutes, we could see that it had started snowing in the higher reaches of the surrounding mountains.

After a wonderful day well spent in the forests of Rakcham and village of Batseri, we drove back to our Homestay where a warm hearty meal and an even warmer hospitality of our hosts awaited us 🙂  The next morning, we went to the meet Hardev at his home nearby where he had just started apple cultivation. There we learned to our surprise that Rocky, the Alcesian whom we met yesterday was actually the house dog of Hardev. Rocky was as excited to meet us and simply refused to let go of us. We felt sad bidding farewell to Hardev and Rocky, our hosts at Hotel Apple Pie and this heaven on earth called Rakcham. We promised ourselves to visit here again !

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was the monsoon of 2017, when my wife Amruta and I decided to plan our next vacation to some of the hidden gems in the North East of India. The perfect time to visit the North East is just after monsoons, when there is lush greenery and waterfalls all around, yet no rains to hamper your travel. So we choose the period between the last week of September to first week of October for our visit to the little known places of Mawphlang in Meghalaya and Ziro in Arunachal Pradesh (Ziro deserves a separate blog all for itself 🙂 , so here I shall be writing about our Mawphlang adventure).

Guwahati & Shillong:

We reached Shillong via Guwahati airport after a pleasant 4-hour road journey. Just the day before, we had enjoyed a lovely romantic evening on the ‘Brahmaputra Sunset Cruise’, an excellent one-hour river cruise offered by the company ‘Alfresco’.

Shillong, the capital of Meghalaya, is a lovely city, though congested, like all popular hill stations of India. So we decided to skip Shillong and head right away to  the more scenic locations on the outskirts of Shillong. Having said this, the one place worth visiting in Shillong is the Umiam lake (locally known as the ‘Bara Paani’, meaning ‘huge water body’, which indeed it was :D).

Café Cherrapunjee, Mawkdok – the misty dream:

Our first stay was at a quiet little village called Mawkdok, a little more than an hour’s drive from Shillong on the Shillong-Cherrapunji highway. Although Mawkdok is a very small village with few commercial hotels, we found one very interesting property called ‘Café Cherrapunjee’. This hotel was interesting in more ways than one – firstly, it was used as a horse-shed by the British during the pre-independence days. Post-independence, it began to be used as some local post-office. Only recently, this property was bought by a local entrepreneur (the current owner), then renovated and transformed into a magnificent hotel with eye-catching interiors and antiques, stone structure for insulation and a warm fireplace. The part we liked the most was the 2 luxury tents, pitched just outside the main house. The tents contained inside a room made from hardwood and a truly luxurious attached bathroom worthy of any 5-star hotel. The tent was equipped with a heater for warmth. All in all, it was a little piece of luxurious accommodation in the middle of natural beauty and warm hospitality – a perfect 5-star rating.

The ‘mysterious’ flying saucer at Mawkdok:

During our stay at Café Cherrapunjee, it was raining incessantly inspite of it being the fag end of the monsoon. Post-dinner, we had a nice little chat with the owner of the property in the common hall, besides the warm fireplace. The owner was a very friendly and passionate chap who offered us a very tasty locally grown homemade wine and began telling us all about the history of this property and the village. There was one unbelievable  ‘true story’ he told us that took our breath away – about an ‘alien flying saucer’ being spotted in a forest lake nearby on the 13th of October, 1967 . He said that one village lady actually reported seeing the flying saucer sucking out all the water from the lake. When the next day the villagers went to the lake, they saw practically no water was left in the lake ! He sensed the ‘disbelief’ on our faces upon hearing this story, and in order to prove it, he showed us a newspaper cut-out of the ‘Indian Express’ which had reported this same story on its front page in October 1967. Wow !!! just simply wow ! We were left dumbfounded by this revelation !!

MaplePine Farm stay, Mawphlang:

After a fascinating and rejuvenating one-night stay at Café Cherranpunjee, we bid goodbye to Mawkdok and headed to another piece of heaven, Mawphang village. Mawphlang is an hour’s drive away from Mawkdok towards the east. It is a little village far from any urban influence and surrounded by forests on all sides. We chose to stay at a very unique Homestay of James, an Indo-Canadian settled here. James’s homestay, named ‘MaplePine Farms’ is a self-sufficient property with zero carbon footprint, operating entirely on wind and solar power. It is like a small island (about 25 acres land) enclosed by little river streams on its 3 sides. The property has one main house where James lives along with his wife and 3 children. This main house was surrounded by 4 ‘log-wood cabins’ for the guests and a large organic garden containing vegetable plantations like pumpkin, brinjal and local corn . We chose a 2-storeyed cabin which had a small cosy attic on the top floor. All the 4 log cabins were designed and constructed by James himself in Canadian country style and were very well equipped with all the necessary comforts. It was touching to hear James describe how tough it was to get the entire farmhouse constructed from scratch in such a remote far-off location, installing all the solar panels, wind turbines, water supply and log cabins. Truly very inspiring.

One of the best part of our stay at MaplePine Farm was getting in and out of the ‘little island’. The only way was either to cross the stream through waist-deep water or to drive through it. James had his own Jeep handy to transport guests and essential goods in and out of the farmstay. Like little kids, we enjoyed crossing the streams multiple times, both in the jeep as well as wading through the water 🙂

 

Another part of our stay at MaplePine Farmstay that we enjoyed a lot was the homemade food cooked with love by James’ wife. She was a local ‘Khasi’ woman who had travelled and lived in Canada with James before settling down here in her village. She was well versed in cooking both the local Khasi meals as well as Canadian cuisine. Her cinnamon-flavoured pancakes were the best ones we had ever tasted in our lives. They tasted even better with the dark coffee freshly brewed by James himself (he was very particular about not using any coffee powder, but finely grinding the beans himself just before preparation – exactly the way I like to have my coffee :)) We also loved their Canadian style roasted chicken preparation for dinner.

One important thing that a guest needs to adjust to in Homestays like these, is that there is a fixed timing set for everything – meals, hot water for baths, tea, room service, etc. Although these rules and strict timings might be annoying for some, there is a perfectly logical reasoning for them – this is not a ‘hotel’ equipped with full-staff and 24-hours service. This is a ‘homestay’ run by a eco-friendly couple in a very remote location where even essential items like milk were hard to get and no manual labor was available. If one has to live close to nature and amongst the best scenery, then one has to sacrifice the comforts of our city life and learn to live the hard lives of the locals !

Enchanting walk inside the magical ‘Sacred Forest’ at Mawphlang:

During the 2nd day of our stay at MaplePine Farm, we decided to do a small trek inside the locally revered ‘Mawphlang Sacred Forest’, just 15 minutes steep uphill drive from our homestay. The forest was surrounded by lush green landscape and rolling hills engulfed in dream-like mist. We stood there admiring the enchanting scenery and knew then why Meghalaya was often called as the ‘Scotland of the East’.

We were accompanied by a local boy who acted as our guide for the forest trek. At the entrance of the forest was a stone sculpture which the locals worshipped. We took blessings of this ‘stone god’ and began our walk. As soon as we entered the forest, we knew we had entered into a fairyland. The forest was so dense that it became very dark just a few 100 meters into the forest. Our guide explained to us that the forest is so dense because no one has ever cut the woods here and the reason for no one ever cutting the woods here is because of a local belief that anybody who takes even a small leaf or twig out of this forest becomes cursed – so the vegetation just keeps on growing. The trees inside the forest were very tall and all covered with green colored fresh moss. We also spotted a wide variety of mushrooms and orchids of different colors and shapes and sizes.

Along the way, our guide kept entertaining us with local stories and traditions, which was very informative as well. Then suddenly, he stopped and started pulling out some long thin leaves from a small plant, which he called as the ‘cobra plant’ (because of its brown-spotted leaves, just like a cobra). Without explaining to us, he started weaving an intricate structure out of those leaves using a thin twig for support. It was only after he had completed his weaving, that we realized that he had made a natural ‘crown’ for us to be put on top of our heads (he proclaimed us the king and queen of Mawphlang forest !!! … atleast for the time being :P)

 

With our ‘crowns’ secured over our heads, we strode forward towards the end-point of our trek, a little stream crossing which led to a small natural waterfall. After cleansing ourselves in the crystal-clear stream, we headed back towards the entrance of the forest. On our way back, our guide showed us a long rope-like branch hanging down from a big tree and encouraged us to do a ‘Mowgli’ i.e. take a wild swing on this hanging branch.  While I was afraid that the ‘rope’ might give way under my enormous weight, Amruta did take a shot and successfully completed a ’round-trip’ on the swing 🙂

 

After 2 hours of trekking, we returned back to the entrance of the forest, where our guide diligently instructed us to take off our ‘crowns’ that he had so delicately woven and return them to the forest (lest we want to get cursed by the Forest God !) We then got out of the forest and finally into broad daylight.

Laitlum Grand Canyon:

Our next destination was ‘The Great Laitlum Canyon’, a 90 minutes drive away from Mawphlang towards the west. We reached Laitlum Canyon by noon. The 360 degree view from the Canyon was simply breathtaking. Lush green rolling hills on the backside (reminding you of all the Hollywood movies portraying English countryside) and the great depths of the valley on the front side. The clouds were constantly in motion, sometimes engulfing the entire valley in fog. But when the fog parted, we could clearly see the valley deep down below and surrounded on all sides by tall mountain ranges. We just lay down near the edge of the canyon and watched the scenery in amazement for couple of hours. We were amazed to see a Christian couple who had come to the spot to take their wedding vows. The bride in her all-white long dress and the groom in his smart blazer suit, against the misty backdrop, were really looking like a ‘match made in heaven’ !

Finally, the time had come to say farewell to this mesmerizing land called Meghalaya. We were extremely satisfied with our unique experience here with its extraordinary natural beauty as well as the hospitable locals. We promised ourselves to come back again to this scenic State and trek to the ‘Double living roots bridge’ of Cherrapunjee and sail on the clear transparent waters of the Dawki river bordering Bangladesh. Until next time, we will miss you, Meghalaya !!!

 

It was the beginning of the year 2017 and me and my wife, Amruta, were longing for our first Himalayan trek together complete with overnight camping and all. Since our marriage a couple of years ago, we had travelled together to scenic places like the greens of Nilgiri mountains in the South to the turquoise blue  waters of Andaman Nicobar islands. Now we were longing for someplace in the North of the country. After doing a lot of research on Himalayan treks, we figured out that there were actually quite a lot of Himalayan trek options for beginners/’non-experts’. Finally, we zeroed in on a trek in the newest National Park of India, the Great Himalayan National Park (GHNP) in the state of Himachal Pradesh.

THE GREAT HIMALAYAN NATIONAL PARK (GHNP):

 GHNP is the newest addition to the list of India’s beautiful National Parks, roughly some 7-8 years back. In 2012, it was accorded the status of UNESCO National Heritage Site and ever since then, it has been popular amongst trekking enthusiasts looking for an off-beat experience. The Park is situated in a quaint and pristine valley called the ‘Tirthan Valley’ in the Kullu district of HP. Tirthan Valley is one of the lesser-known hidden gems of this country, with beautiful valley views (altitude 1800 mtrs), gushing rivers and a variety of flora and fauna. GHNP and Tirthan valley is home to some of the most exotic Himalayan birds including the State bird ‘Monal’, pheasants, flycatchers and many other colorful rare species. The wildlife is comparatively sparse but if you are lucky, you can spot bears and leopards.

It was this quaintness of the place (less tourists), sheer scenic and unspoilt natural beauty and the simplicity and hospitality of the local people was what attracted us to this place.

THE PREPARATION:

It was in March 2017 that we finalized the plan to do a 3-day trek to Rangthar (one of the many camping sites within the GHNP) during the last week of April. We had only 40 days to train ourselves for the trek and get our bodies into shape (our daily hectic and stressful lifestyle and long travel hours had given us very little time to exercise). We practiced by trekking up and down multiple times a small hill (right in front of our house in Kharghar, Navi Mumbai) – although this small hill was no match to the arduous trekking of mighty Himalayan mountains, it still served the purpose of getting us somewhat acclimatized to the experience of trekking and its demands.

THE JOURNEY TO REACH TIRTHAN VALLEY:

Finally, the day we were so eagerly awaiting for so long, arrived when we set off from Mumbai on our journey to Tirthan valley and the GHNP. We were welcomed at the Chandigarh airport to a sizzling heat of 40 degree Celsius !!! — (little did we know then how the weather would drastically change for us after just 8 hours). We took the pre-booked HP Govt-run AC bus (Himsuta) from Chandigarh towards Manali, starting at 10 pm in the night. Amruta, as is her custom, instantaneously went into deep sleep (all the twists and turns of mountain driving not troubling her one bit), but I on the other hand, had a sleepless night (as is my custom during road travel). It took us nearly 7 hours through the twisting roads of the mountains to arrive at our drop-off point near Aut Tunnel at 5 am in the morning. Now ‘Aut Tunnel’ is a very famous tunnel that leads to the popular but touristy destinations of Kullu and Manali. Many cars ply this tunnel daily, but once in a while, there comes a vehicle that takes a right diversion before the tunnel towards the hidden jewel that is Tirthan Valley. From Aut tunnel , we took a taxi (booked by our Homestay owner), towards Tirthan valley and reached in an hour.  Upon our arrival, we were greeted by the smiling faces of the owners of the Homestay ‘Khem Bharti’s’. Inspite of having arrived very early at 6:30 am, we were still given access to our room (most commercial ‘hotels’ won’t even entertain you 6 hours before check-in time; that’s one of the many beauties of the homestays). We were then treated to some of the most delicious parathas and a homemade garlic pickle. After a long journey and a hearty meal, we spent the rest of the day relaxing and doing little village walks, saving our energy for the tough trek starting the next day. On that particular evening, we went down to the banks of the Tirthan river and enjoyed the cool water breeze and the surrounding beauty of the vast valley.

THE TREK BEGINS :

The trek was organized by ‘Sunshine Adventures’, a professional Himalayan trek organizers group. We got up early that morning of the trek and had a hearty breakfast. At 10 am, we were picked up from our Homestay in a car and after an hour’s uphill drive reached the starting point of the trek, a village called Pekhri, at an altitude of 2100 meters above sea level. At 11 am, we started our trek carrying our individual bag-packs containing our clothes, camera and mobile accessories, food, water and essential items (Amruta, as is her custom J, had planned the ‘food’ part in great detail – dry fuits, apples and bananas, chocolate bars, ladoos and sweet puran poli).. We were accompanied by a team of 4 locals (one served as a guide and one as a cook) carrying 4 tents – one for us, another big one for the 4 of them, one ‘kitchen’ tent and one small toilet tent as well as their own back-packs containing their clothes and some utensils and food items.

The trek was a 5-km steep uphill climb taking us from an altitude of 2100 meters to nearly 2900 meters on the first day. We started our trek full on enthusiasm and the first kilometer was easy enough as it was simply a flat walk round the mountain taking us to the other ‘hidden’ side of the valley. After that, the uphill climb truly began. The 360 degree vistas that the valley offered gave us the added positive energy to continuing trekking upwards. After an hour of climbing, the weather suddenly changed from ‘sunny’ to ‘cloudy and windy’ (the kind of weather that Amruta and I truly enjoy). This pleasant change of weather really set us in the mood for photography.

After nearly 1.5 hrs of trekking, we took our first break near a settlement consisting of just a handful of houses, made of stone and slate roofing. We found a ‘store house’ which the villagers use to store their grains and cattle fodder and sat down nearby to take in the beautiful 360 degree views that lay in front of us. After this break, the climb got steeper and also the terrain became more rocky and difficult to walk on. Along the way, we came across some green fields and beautiful red and pink rhododendron bushes, which lifted our mood but our legs were getting tired by now. Our team of guides kept cheering us up insisting that our lunch stop (Lakhcha village) was just a few minutes away, but those ‘few minutes’ never came and we kept dragging our feet along the steep slope. Finally, after another 1 hour of very steep climbing from our last break, we reached the village of ‘Lakhcha’ which was to be our lunch stop. Lakhcha is a truly scenic village with simple people living in wooden and stone houses (with that unique grey slate roofing) and great views all around. We had pre-packed lunch, arranged by our team of guides, consisting of parathas, bananas, frooti and kit-kat J  As soon as we had finished our lunch by 2 pm, it started raining heavily and we had to take cover inside a house storing ‘cattle fodder’ (our trek had made us so weary that we didn’t mind sleeping on the hay stacks inside :D). The rains subsided as fast as they had come and we started our trek again.

Post lunch, our climb was very steep and tough for the first hour; although this time, with food in our bellies, we managed it with lesser difficulty. As we were climbing up and above, we noticed that the crows here were much bigger in size (almost the size of an ordinary eagle back home) – Amruta corrected me that these were actually ‘ravens’ and not crows. Then suddenly out of nowhere a huge shadow came up near me and automatically made me look up to the skies. My instant split-second reaction was that it was a mini-helicopter but then I quickly realized that it was a huge vulture – its wingspan more than my height and a fat well-fed body (Our guide Pratap told us that there are many vultures above which are huge in size thanks to being well-fed on the dying carcasses in the mountains). After nearly 2.5 hours of steep climbing, we finally reached a more flattish terrain and from here our destination ‘Rangthar’ started coming into sight. This brought great relief and delight to our tired faces, since up until then we were beginning to think that we will never reach our destination before sunset. Our next break came at a location which offered a great top view of the Lakhcha village. In fact, from here the truly magnificent setting of Lakhcha village was highlighted and I couldn’t help but recall some lines from one of my favourite songs of the movie ‘Swades’ – “…. Jaane woh duur kiska gaav hai”

The last one hour stretch was on relatively comfortable terrain although by evening we had gotten extremely weary after 4.5 hours of trekking. Finally, we could see some flocks of sheep in the distance, which our guides told us were heading towards Rangthar meadow for grazing. Somehow the image of sheep grazing on high green pastures has always fascinated me (to me it symbolizes the very thought of being close to nature, far removed from the maddening crowds of the cities that we live in). This image spurred me on to reach the meadows as soon as I can (although Amruta had now fallen way back and was almost on the verge of collapsing :P). With one last great push, we finally made it to the Rangthar campsite by around 4:45 pm, just in time to enjoy the setting sun and the varied evening colors of the sky.

 

Soon our tents were assembled and we picked a spot near the edge of the meadow, facing the snow-clad Tirthan range, for having our evening tea and snacks. We were in awe of the energy and stamina of our guides (who were probably carrying more than 5 times the weight we were) and were still quick enough in setting up the wood-fire (few broken down branches from the forest nearby served the purpose) for heating the tea and making Maggie noodles. One of them set out to fetch water (in its purest form!) from a natural stream nearby. Tea and Maggi had never tasted so better !!!

As the sun set and night fell, the temperatures dropped drastically (reaching ~5 degrees Celsius) and we had to put on our heavyset winter wear. By 8 pm, it had become totally pitch-dark with not a single light in sight. That’s when the sky above started twinkling with its multitude of stars and galaxies. It was an experience like no other just gazing at the brilliant stars in total darkness. Our dinner was served just outside our tent and near the bonfire; and what a 5-start meal it was !!! It was a complete 4-course meal with soups, salads, roti-subzi, daal-rice and also a sweet desert (local kheer!). We were simply not expecting such a luxury at such a remote place but we were treated royally nonetheless. Dinner was also the time when we got acquainted with our guides , their lifestyle, culture and challenges. It was really nice to have gotten to know them in such detail – Pratap, our main guide, for instance had a farm growing potatoes and rajmah and was very well versed in local music. After our heavy meal, we walked a little in the darkness and then got back into our tent for sleeping. This was the first time in our lives that we were going to sleep in a tent. The experience was both exciting and a little troublesome at the same time. We got inside our sleeping bags (warm and nice but claustrophobic) and tried to sleep. Amruta was much more comfortable than me and went off to sleep peacefully after some time, while I lay awake for hours struggling against the feeling of ‘claustrophobia’ and some weird insects (long-legged spider-like objects) for company. After some time, I had a full bladder and needed to answer to the nature’s call. So I got up to go to our Toilet tent. Our toilet tent was pitched some 100 meters from our tent and I started walking towards it, along the edges of the meadow (safe though) in total pitch darkness, with just a torch in hand. It felt like a real adventure – walking alone in this darkness with winds howling, near-freezing temperature and just the stars and moon for company. After that ‘little’ adventure I felt relaxed and slept peacefully.

The one thing that I always enjoy on our trips and eagerly look forward to (and something that Amruta kinda hates :P) is the morning sunrise. I woke up just in time to see the orange glow over the snow-clad Tirthan mountain range. A truly breathtaking spectacle. I had my eyes so fixed on the sunrise, that I didn’t observe our guides had also woken up slowly and already began their preparations for tea and breakfast. Just after having clicked my customary sunrise pics, I was presented with the tea and some biscuits. What a treat ! What a life ! Having chai at sunrise , smelling the clean fresh air and with birds singing the most unique sweet tunes in the nearby forest. I couldn’t resist waking Amruta up (again, something she despises: P) to witness this awesome experience. Soon we had completed our morning chores and sat down for breakfast at our now ‘favourite dining spot’ along the edge, overlooking the glorious mountains on the other side of the valley.

After a hearty breakfast of oats and milk, toast and poori-bhaji, we relaxed a little and set off for a small hike to one of the nearby scenic spot – ‘Birchi Top’, a location at an altitude of 3100 meters (a gentle 200 meters hike up from Rangthar camp) and famous for its butterflies and a near-360 degree view of the mountains. The path to Birchi Top took us first through the forest under the shade of the trees and then along the sharp edges of the ridge (just a little too steep and risky at some points) under the full blaze of the sun. In the forest, we could hear a variety of beautiful sounds of the birds, but managed to spot only a few. But we were lucky to spot a large ‘pheasant’ bird (very rare to spot them) – to be very precise, we only managed to get a fleeting glimpse of the large bird but what was unmistakable was the sound (noise) it produced upon our coming. It was a scary screeching sound made by the bird, also referred to as the ‘Watchman of the forest’ – it is named so because of the alarming noise it generates to warn the other inhabitants of the forest to announce the coming of the intruders (in this case, it was us J). After this ‘alarming’ encounter with the pheasant, our path opened out of the forest and long the steep narrow ridges. Although the trek along the ridges was quite exciting, but it was fraught with a little danger at certain points where the slope got a little too steep (and vertigo-inducing). With expert guidance from Pratap, we managed to reach our destination unharmed. Birchi Top was indeed a magnificent setting, although we were a tad disappointed that it wasn’t exactly a 360 degree view as it was advertised to us, but more of a 270 degree view. But, nonetheless, it was a breathtaking spectacle giving a view of the Marahni peak (the peak we had initially planned to trek as final destination, albeit a little too ambitiously for us) as well as the Tirthan river deep down below.

We returned back to Rangthar campsite from Birchi Top just in time for lunch. It was a bright and sunny day and we decided to have a nice little siesta after lunch. In the evening, we went to a nearby gentle slope which had a lot of pretty rhododendron flowers in full bloom. These flowers also attracted a variety of colorful birds (we could spot birds of almost every color – yellow, orange, red, white, blue). The bright red and pink rhododendron flowers against a background of white snowy mountains made for a very lovely sight indeed.

After a soothing session of bird watching amongst rhododendron bushes, we had our evening tea. By then, the weather had transformed completely from bright and sunny to dark and cloudy. The clouds above us were looming ominously and we knew then that we were in for a heavy shower that night. Till such time, our mood was lifted to a new level by this sudden change in weather and we just soaked in all the sights and surroundings.

The second night, again, witnessed a dramatic fall in temperature compared to the pleasant day-time. Expecting rains anytime soon, we quickly had our dinner (one of the guides had trekked all the way down to Lakhcha village and back up to procure for us the local pahadi chicken, which simply tasted so much more delicious than our regular poultry fare). We were also served a unique vegetable which is very localized to this region alone, it tasted like ‘sarson kaa saag’ and was simply delicious. After dinner, we went off to sleep in our tents and this time, I was able to fall asleep quickly and had a sound sleep.

When I woke up next morning, it was to the loud sounds of howling winds and rains lashing against our tent. These weather elements were shaking our tents so violently that I was convinced our tent would get ripped off anytime soon and get blown away along with the wind. Thankfully, nothing of that sort happened and once the rains subsided, I got out of my tent to go attend to the nature’s call. To my great surprise, our toilet tent was nowhere to be seen. Then some 30 meters away I saw a ‘orange’ colored piece of cloth, which I realized (to my great horror) was our toilet tent – That tent had gotten blown away some 30 meters by the winds !!!

After attending to my nature’s call, it was only then that I looked around and to my most pleasant astonishment, the scenery had changed completely. The grass looked greener, the air misty, and the Tirthan mountain range across the valley appeared ‘fresher’ and whiter. It was then I realized what had happened – while it rained on Rangthar last night, it had snowed on the Tirthan ranges across. I quickly got out my camera and started clicking photographs and shooting videos of this fantasy-like scenery. My happiness was about to reach new heights when suddenly out of nowhere I spotted the very elusive State bird of HP – the Monal. It was the first time I was seeing the Monal and initially I almost mistook it for a peacock (it had the same dark blue – green color with sharp beautiful features and an orange colored neck). The shy bird quickly ran away upon my entry and I was unable to take a pic of the magnificent bird.

We spent many hours simply admiring the natural beauty around us. Just when we were thinking that the scenery couldn’t get any better, we were treated to a spectacle of our lives right in front of our eyes. As we were completing our breakfast, 2 flocks of numerous tiny triangular shaped birds flew almost right over our heads. One flock consisted of deep-blue colored birds while the other flock was made up of brownish colored ones. We watched in sheer amazement as this entourage of the 2 flocks sped far away into the distance and disappeared onto the other side of the mountains. While we were still getting over the numerous surprises we had received on our last morning, there was still one more left for us.

Since the second day of our trek, there had been one dog from the village Lakhcha who had been following us in and around our campsite. Now we saw that he was accompanied by 2 more dogs; and these were no ordinary dogs – they were shepherd dogs. Now, I had heard tales of shepherd dogs being very ferocious and protective of the sheep herd and even going to lengths of attacking humans who they might perceive as threats to the herd. So we were initially a little scared of the approaching shepherd dogs, but then soon realized that they were actually very friendly indeed. We enjoyed watching all the 3 dogs getting along in their own playful way and then once in a while one of them would approach us for a pat on the back or a little tummy rub 🙂

It was now time to finally say good-bye to our Rangthar campsite and begin the descent back to Tirthan valley. We simply couldn’t bring ourselves to leave this heavenly place and even contemplated extending our camp by another night; but in the end decided to leave right away as per original plan (a decision we would come to regret later).

Our descent was a much less taxing affair than the ascent. It was made all the more enjoyable because of the company of all the 3 dogs who had decided to accompany us till all the way down. We reached Lakhcha village in less than an hour and decided to interact a little with the villagers. As I was shooting a video of the village, my camera went in the direction towards a little baby girl, who very spontaneously obliged and posed for the camera by holding up a small sheep in her arms.

The downhill trek from Lakhcha was very comfortable and in less than 3 hours we had successfully reached our base camp of ‘Pekhri’ village. Here we had our pre-packed lunch provided by the trek organizers. After lunch, it was time to say goodbye to our friends, our guides, who had made our trek and camping experience so memorable with their hard work, smiling faces and eager-to-help attitude. We did so promising them we will be back next time here and would surely like to trek with them again. Our car dropped us back to our Homestay ‘Khem Bharti’s’ in an hour. Upon reaching the homestay, we felt a tad sad upon the realization that our trek had indeed ended. We were now looking forward to a relaxing and uneventful evening ahead.

But in a day full of surprises, there was one last surprise that Mother Nature had in store for us. Not a few minutes had passed upon our return to the homestay, that the sky suddenly opened up and it started raining heavily. While we were watching the rain fall, we observed something that we were not at all expecting – hails ! Yes, it was a hailstorm, the likes of which I had not seen since my early childhood days in Pune (when Pune used to be quieter, cooler and lesser polluted). We could see tiny hail stones bouncing off the slate roofs of houses, car windows and even in our balcony. That was when our homestay owner made a remark that instantaneously made us repent our decision to not extend our stay at Rangthar by another night. He said : “If it’s a hailstorm here in the valley, it could very well be snowing up above at Rangthar”. To even things out, the rain stopped and then there came a long colorful streak of rainbow across the sky. Upon closer inspection, I saw that is was no ordinary rainbow ; but a ‘double-rainbow’. It was the first time either me or Amruta had seen a double-rainbow. I had seen on Discovery channel that a double-rainbow is nothing but a reflection of the rainbow itself and that the colors of the second rainbow are in reverse order as that of the first rainbow. Closer observation revealed that this was indeed the case.

So with that last sight of the double-rainbow, our eventful day came to a close. Spurred on by our wonderful experience of the trek, we decided to do another couple of short treks during the remaining 7 days of our trip. And these treks also turned out to be marvelous experiences for our city-stressed souls. On one of these short treks, our local guide told us something that resonated deep down inside with me – he said that during one of these treks he had organized for a “Corporate group” (as he called it) hailing from Mumbai, one person who was a top-level executive at an MNC, got so emotional upon seeing such natural beauty, peace, simple and stress-free life that he almost had tears in his eyes. Well we certainly didn’t become so emotional but just like this ‘Corporate’ person, we too felt very sad that we were leaving such a heavenly place and going back to our daily stressful lives.

I shall end this blog by posting below some pics of the beautiful exotic birds of the Tirthan valley.