I got to know about this trek through Rashmi and her cousins. This trek is organized by Youth Hostel Association of India and the details is available on this link - http://www.yhaindia.org/program_bookings. Initially, we planned to go in a group and finally, only 3 confirmed including my friend Srinath. Lot of planning went behind in booking the slots, creating itinerary, preparing for the trek etc. Rashmi had some urgent work and she also decided not to come for the trek. Finally, it was Srinath and I who were going for the trek. We hadn't had any idea how it would be, but we were looking forward.
On the 20th of May, we reached Delhi. We were supposed to reach Kasol on the 21st. Kasol is a small place near Manikaran (known for the famous Gurudwara). We had our base camp in Kasol. Kasol is 30 KMs from Bhunter and Bhunter is 10KMs before Kullu. So, we booked our tickets to Bhunter (has an airport) through Himachal Tourism (online booking facility is available).
We took the 7 pm bus from Delhi and reached Bhunter at 10:30 am. It was a long journey and later we were informed that Swagatham Travels is better than Himachal Tourism. We had our breakfast from Bhunter and started to Kasol. There are many buses from Bhunter to Kasol. We reached the base camp at around 2 pm and immediately completed the joining formalities.
Before I detail anything further about my experience, I would like to comment something very important about the trek:
a. YHAI organizes these treks at a very low cost
b. These treks are managed by volunteers
c. Those who are joining these treks should take care of themselves during the trek
d. There isn't any back-up plan in case of bad weather as there are groups joining every day
e. Sar pass is not an easy trek and individuals should be physically fit. This is not a pleasure trek and those who feel that they are not physically fit should not attempt it.
f. At any point of trek, if anyone feels that they cannot manage it further should abort and get back.
Please check this link to gather complete info related to Sar pass - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sar_Pass_Trek
21st May - After the joining formalities, we checked the process. It was clear that YHAI has their own schedule and we are expected to adhere to it. We understood that there were two other batches with us and one of the batches had their briefing about the trek. The Field Director - Mr. Chauhan was briefing them. Most of them looked tired.
We thought of taking bath and so, went to the bathroom and realized that the water was freezing, but still we took bath. We were given Tent no. 9 to accommodate and there were around 8 from the earlier batch. This is where we met Abhijeet and Ramesh Uncle from SP 21.
Spoke to a few of them to check their batch and realized that there were Kannadigas who belonged to SP 20 and many kids from Mumbai from our batch.
The best was the camp fire in the evening. Srinath and I were looking for the fire spot and were not sure how it would be organized. At 8:30, we were asked to assemble with other batches. SP 20 were supposed to organize the camp fire. Srinath and I were still looking for woods, but to our surprise it was not the woods, it was electric camp fire. The best part of the program was the Teacher from Shimoga singing a song for the Kishore kumar's tune; it was really funny, but should appreciate his enthu to do that. We were informed that it was SP 21's turn tomorrow to organize the camp fire.
In the night, we met new faces like DharmaTeja, Suri, Sarvanan, Vijay... We had Milo in the night and slept off. We were worried about our belongings and Srinath took complete care of them. Srinath managed that very well.
22nd May - we got up early and charged our mobile phones. This was the best part - charging mobile phones. We had around 15 slots and all the 3 batches had to use it. So, our strategy was simple, call our parents once in a day and then switch our mobile phones. As per the schedule, we had tea at 5:30 am. We were taken to Kasol at 6 for our exercise, uffff, long time since I had done some exercise. All of us ran to the ground and Mr. Chauhan was ready. Most of them were scared of Chauhan and did adhere to his instructions. So, the exercise started and most of us were struggling. Our body was reluctant to take any exercise, but Chauhan... so, after the first dose of exercise, I realised that my body was rigid.
We were asked to get ready by 8:30 for our acclimatization walk. Before we started our walk, we were asked to stand in a line and cheer SP 19 who were starting their trek. All of us stood in a line including SP 20 and cheered them. It was fun...
For our walk, we were led by a kid who might be like 15-16 year old. As he walked, we followed him. It was a small hill just opposite to our camp. As we went ahead, we could understand how our trek would be... Nobody struggled, but it was not easy. We reached a particular point and took sometime off to speak. This is where I spoke to Swapnil, Shantanu, Vijay, Raj, Kalyani, Swachit, Raj's brother... Also, got friends with our Andhra friends - good kids. Swapnil took the lead to manage the camp fire and was busy planning. Srinath and I took off and were enjoying the nature.
We reached the base camp at around 12:30 pm and took some rest. All of them were keen on charing their mobiles. The weather was good, it was bright and sunny.
At 3 pm, we were briefed about the Trek by Mr. Chauhan. He tried to cover all the aspects starting from how YHAI started and their objectives to all the aspects about Trekking. I really admire him for his dedication, we realized that he had taken off 30 days from work and volunteering.
In the evening, our group organized the camp fire and it was OK. Kids were enjoying and it was good.
23rd May - slowly we were getting used to the schedule and we used to get up bit early. The water used to be freezing and Srinath or I didn't dare of thinking to take bath. It was nice to see people busy, getting ready as per the schedule, speaking to people whom they would have met for the first time, some were very anxious about the trek and would check with the batches which had got back from the trek... Ya, most of them were anxious to listen to the stories of the earlier batches, and when we saw them, we realized that they were exhausted, but very happy. We all knew that it is going to be a long trek and I was clear that we need to mentally prepared to take the physical strain, but I was looking for those huge mountains capped with snow. I so wanted to feel the ice and play with it, and definitely experience the great views of Himalayas. With the path unknown, I was clear that many have walked, and so, we can also.
The day started with our morning exercise and it was better than yesterday. We knew that we will have raffling and rock climbing today. My earlier batch friends had told us about this and I was also anxious about this. So after cheering SP 20, we went for raffling first. We had two instructors and one of them was Dev. So by this time, it was clear that we would walk with our Andhra friends as we were comfortable. So, we had like four groups, but still we did engage conversations with all of them.
The location for raffling was near the river side and it was good view. All of them were eager and hence I decided to go last. So, we had to reach out like 40-50 ft high place and from there, we were supposed to descend. All the instructions were given and I was like - oh ho... and when kids started to do, I felt comfortable. I think the best one was from our Deputy although he was about of fall, but he managed very well. I went almost at the end, and when I reached the top, I was nervous. I was clearly instructed what to do, and when I stood almost 90 degree to the wall, I knew that it was comfortable. I went slowly and I knew that I need some more time to take big jumps. I descended calmly and so did Srinath. In between all this, we got to know that Kalyani had hurt herself while descending, and I knew it would be tough for her to join as it was a knee injury.
After raffling, we went near the river side and took some snaps. Our Andhra friends and Srinath enjoyed the water, and it was cold. At around 1 pm, we reached the camp and we were told that we will start for rock climbing at around 3 pm. We were taking rest and we realized that it was raining. So, we waited for rain to stop and we started at 4 pm. I decided that I will start first and I was given the opportunity by Dev. Now, we were about to climb the same wall which was used for raffling. I knew that it would be easy considering that I was not physically geared up for it. I climbed to a certain distance, but I was not able to go further. I tried couple of times and I felt that it would be tough for me to further. I gave up and got down. Srinath also did the same. After Kalyani's injury, I didn't wanted to take any chance. The best were brothers - Shantanu and ... (sorry forgot the names)... and I felt they were challenging each other. But the kids were amazing, and they were reaching the top easily. One of the girls who attempted was superb, considering the height of the rock. Suri decided to go and I was watching him. Sarvanan and Teja were there watching him. He tried and reached around 20 ft, and he was struggling. And suddenly, I see that Suri is falling right down and he is helpless. The rope was let free and Suri fell down. Everyone hurried, but I didn't move and was scared of the worst. Suri was shocked and was in pain, and he couldn't move. Both of his friends panicked and didn't know what to do. We made him rest, but Suri was in deep pain. Finally, one of the instructors got a bike and dropped him off at the camp. It was clear that he had a sprain and he might not be able to join us tomorrow. The sad part was that we didn't have any bandage at the camp, and his friends went to get them. Everyone started giving their opinion and finally, we decided that Suri cannot join us and so their friends decided to drop also. It was very sad, but nothing much could be done. So, we had a quite evening and slept. Others were getting for tomorrow and we knew the road was tough.
- will continue...
No comments:
Post a Comment