It was a fine evening, at 6pm on the 1st of October. I had packed my backpack. Still, I ran around my home for the umpteenth time trying to see if I’d forgotten anything. I went through the ‘essentials’ list, prepared by Dr. Sanjay Kumar, our club staff advisor, who was accompanying us on the trek, once more (I’ve lost count of how many times I had done that already). I was so excited about the first ever trek of my life. And the USP of it was that I was going to turn nineteen among the hills! That too in just six more days!
Dipak was home, all ready to go. Our bus to Manali was to start at 7.30pm from Kashmere Gate. Mom was going on about how we’ll be late if we’re not off soon (and how almost true she turned out to be. Remember folks, moms are always right!). Anyway, I finally convince myself that I’ve packed everything possibly needed. We grab an auto from South Extension immediately and stuff our backpacks and four big kit-bags containing the tents, utensils, etc into the auto and leave. One and a half hour to reach Kashmire Gate. Ample time? Oh no! Not when Commonwealth Games are around the corner.
The autowalla decided not to take the Ring Road and go via Pragati Maidan to avoid traffic. The plan backfired completely. Due to the dedicated lanes for the CWG, the roads were cramped and there was a big jam. Those were some of the most frustrating moments in my life. After what seemed like an eternity, we get to a point where we could cut back to Ring Road. It was 7.15pm. Sanjay sir had already called three times.
When we reached finally, Sanjay sir took two kit-bags, Dipak and I took our backpacks and a kit-bag each and we all ran towards the bus. It was full. Everyone had come and they were waiting for us. The engine was on. We threw our entire luggage inside, stuck it wherever we found space (don’t ask me how) and sat on our seats. The bus accelerated and so our journey to the
The bus stopped at a dhaba sometime during the night. We took the luggage out and tied it securely on the top of the bus among others’ luggage. We had a light meal and then we were off again. Dipak, Divya and I slept throughout the journey. Next morning, we were received at Manali’s bus depot by Rinchen ji, our cook-cum-guide for the trek, a person I’d never ever forget my whole life.
We checked into a hotel, freshened up and had some lunch outside in a restaurant. Afterwards, while Sanjay sir and Sudha ma’am opted to take some rest, Dipak, Divya and I went out to roam around. We went to a nature park which was nearby. There was a small river flowing through the park and at a place, river crossing equipment was set up roughly 5 metres above the river. It turned out to be a kind of mixture of river
crossing and bungee jumping. We had to cross the river and come back halfway and then the overseer would push the rope up and down from the sides for 5-10 minutes due to which we’d go up and down too. We could even touch the water. All of us tried it. Divya was hesitant at first, but seeing the fun we were having, she gave in.
In the evening, we did some shopping for groceries and other food items we needed for the trek along with Rinchen ji. This took quite some time and in the end, everyone was exhausted. So we had dinner and went back to the hotel and hit the sack. We were going to start our trek the next morning.
We woke up by 7am, got ready and had aloo paranthas for breakfast. We also got some paranthas packed for the trek. Then we came back to the hotel where Rinchen and his assistant Arjun were already waiting for us. We loaded our stuff into a jeep which took us to the place from where we were to start trekking. Rinchen had arranged for three horses to carry our luggage from our starting point above village Prini. While we waited for the muleteer, to the North sto
od majestic snow covered Shitidhar ridge above Solang Nullah. In time our horseman Arjun arrived with horses. We transferred everything except the backpacks onto the horses, and guided by Rinchen ji, we finally started trekking from village Prini. We had to walk up a hill and the going was quite tough initially. After sometime, Divya, who was asthmatic, started developing some breathing problems. We didn’t take any chances and decided to send her back to
By lunchtime, we had reached a tea-stall and we stopped there for a break. The locals around there were celebrating some festival of their local God and were having a communal meal. They offered us the meal too, which consisted of rice and lamb curry which was actually quite delicious. We thanked them for the meal, filled up our water-bottles and were off again, passing through village Seythen on the way. We kept asking for directions for Jhonpri, our campsite for the day, whenever we met locals grazing their sheep on the way. About 20 minutes before Jhonpri, we reached a small dam where we stopped and looked around for some time. It was the first time I’d looked at a dam up close. Around 5 o’clock, we reached Jhompri. Arjun and the horseman had already reached. We chose a suitable place near a small stream to setup our tents on Sanjay sir’s directions. Rinchen joined us in an hour or so.
The temperature started to drop quickly once the sun had set. I had to wear five layers of clothing to keep myself from shivering. Soon, Rinchen called us for hot tea and dinner of rice and daal, which we lapped up happily. Later, we made a bonfire from wood we collected from the ground around us. This was the only day possible for a bonfire because on the rest of the days of the trek, we wouldn’t find any wood or even trees as we gained height. While talking near the fire, we looked up at the sky and were awe-struck. It was nothing like we’d ever seen before. And I’m not talking about the
The next morning, we were up and ready by around 8.30am. Rinchen had made some delicious porridge for breakfast along with tea. We packed our bags and were off on our way by 9.30am, led by Rinchen. After about an hour of trekking, we were out of the woods and entered a valley
called Chika with a small river flowing between the mountains on the side. Far up ahead, we could see a mountain peak covered with snow. This was our first glimpse of the endless views of snow covered mountains we were about to get in the following days. The valley was strewn with pieces of rocks and stones.
At around 2 o’clock, we stopped and had some paranthas and biscuits for lunch and resumed after some rest. Dipak kept clicking photos all the while. At the end of the valley was a small but steep climb to our campsite of the day, Balu-Ka-Gera. Its a plain area covered with sand that had come down with the river, hence the name. Up ahead, directly in front of us, was a snow covered mountain shrouded in a cloudy mist, towards which we were to go the next day.
After setting up the tents, we went inside. About five minutes later, it started to rain heavily. The rain drops constantly falling on the tent were making a loud noise. After sometime, the noise subsided and we thought it was drizzling outside. After about 15 minutes, the rain stopped. We went outside and were stunned at the sight. The ground, which was brown just a while ago, was completely white now. We realised that it wasn’t raindrops that had made the loud noise at first. It was hailstones! The whole place was covered with hail and it had all happened in minutes! We’d reached the camp just in time. If we’d reached fifteen minutes later...
Later, Rinchen again cooked us all a delicious dinner. Afterwards, we went back to our tents and I began to read the book I’d gotten along with my flashlight while Dipak listened to songs on his mp3 player. Soon, we were both asleep.
We were off again the next morning after breakfast. We were finally walking among some snow covered mountains right beside us. By noon time, we’d climbed up to Hampta pass. We stopped there for a while and had something to eat. We were at 14,000 feet height above sea level. From there, it was a sharp descent to our campsite, Shea-Gera, which we reached by 4 o’clock. Rinchen told us that Shea-Gera means “cold place” and by dinner time, none of us doubted it anymore.
I was in for a treat that night because Rinchen, the best cook I’ve ever known, had somehow managed to bake a birthday cake for me with icing on top of it. And all he used was a pressure cooker! My birthday was the next day, but I didn’t think about that. After all, you don’t get to eat your birthday cake at above 12000 feet among snow covered mountains all the time! And what a delicious cake it was. I’ll forever be grateful to Rinchen for giving me a modest but surely one of the best birthdays I’d ever had.
After dinner and cake, we went back to our tents and Dipak soon fell asleep. I was reading my book till midnight. At 12 o’clock, I got out of the tent and looked around at the sky. I had just turned 19! The feeling I had at this thought: happiness, excitement, whatever it was, didn’t last too long as the cold crept into me. So I went back and slept.
The next morning started with wishes. Soon we were on our way towards a village called Chhatru. On the way, we had to cross the river twice. The first time, right at the start, we just waded through the freezing cold water, the secondtime, near Chhatru, there were two rods of iron kept one metre apart meant as a bridge to cross-over. That was quite an experience. By 2pm, we’d reached Chhatru. The road from Rohtang to Spiti valley passed through here. There was a small dhaba called the Chandra Dhaba here, where we had our lunch. The horseman was going back to Manali from there. Our plan was to take a lift from some truck or car to the base of Kunjum pass, upto Batal in the Chandra valley, or to Losar on the other side of the pass, where we were to spend the night. Next day morning we were planning to get some vehicle to the pass top, and hike from there to Chandratal. Since we had to carry our luggage from now, we took the minimum number of things we absolutely required and kept the rest for safe-keeping at the dhaba till we came back. Soon, two trucks stopped there, and the drivers agreed to give us a lift. We stopped at a very windy place called Baatal just before dark. Here too, was a dhaba called Chandra Dhaba, being run by a man called Dorje for the past 40 odd years, and we had our dinner here. They also had beds inside for travellers, and we decided to spend the night there. After dinner, we slid inside the blankets to sleep. It was after a long time that we were sleeping on actual beds. It felt good to finally have the freedom to move around in your sleep.
The next morning, we resumed our journey with the truck drivers after breakfast. They dropped us off at Kunjum pass, from where Dipak, Arjun, Rinchen and I carried the luggage and walked towards Chandrataal. Soon, we reached a place from where we could see a whole range of mountains covered in snow stretching across the horizon.
We were on top of a mountain overlooking the valley below. River Chandra was flowing through it. Chandrataal was hidden from view behind a mountain. The view was so beautiful that we just stood there for quite some time, taking in everything with admiration.
Soon, we got going again to seek what we had come for all this way. After a long and tiring walk, we finally reached Chandrataal. Now, we’d read a lot about this lake before we started the trek, but we were still awe-struck by its beauty. The water was a clear blue colour. The lake was surrounded by mountains covered in snow, whose reflections were visible on the lake’s waters. The place was breathtakingly beautiful. The only reason we didn’t jump in for a swim was that the water was ice-cold. In my case, there was another problem - I can’t swim!
After setting up the tents, we took out our foam mattresses and lay down near the lake under the warm sun for some time. We were almost asleep when Rinchen called us to have maggi and soup. Soon, it started to get colder and windier and we went inside the tent. The place was very cold at night. We could hear the strong wind flapping against the tent. Sleep was hard to come by. But by around 1am, the wind had ceased and we slept peacefully.
The next morning, we started our 14 km trek back to Baatal by road. The plan was to catch the bus to Manali that stops at Baatal at around 11.30am. The bus went past us when we were about 5 km from Baatal. We increased our pace and reached Baatal after sometime, but we’d just missed the bus by five minutes! Luckily
, we met two taxi drivers inside the dhaba who were returning to Manali from a trip. We agreed on a price with them and started our journey. Soon, everyone was relieved that we weren’t going back by bus or truck, which would have been extremely uncomfortable due to the bad condition of the road, or rather, the lack of it. We stopped at Chhatru to pick up the rest of the luggage and had some tea before resuming. We reached Manali by 7 o’clock in the evening. We got back to the hotel, freshened up, called home and watched TV (
The next day, after breakfast, we
stayed at the hotel all morning, sorting out things and packing everything properly. We booked tickets for our return trip to
Overall, those ten days were a few of the best days of our lives, rich with moments and memories that would stay on with us forever...
_Bijoy John Mathew
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