Sar Pass - 2012

Expedition to Heaven

Even after 2 weeks of returning home from my first Himalayan trek, I still wake up at nights, blinking, staring hard at darkness, feeling awe, as if I’m still in the tents, waiting for the dawn to break and for the shouts of ‘bed tea’ to be heard. I sometimes even get scared when I see no ‘tent mates’ around, thinking if a bear has abducted me (I usually slept near to the tent opening), or whether the group has left without me! It still takes some time for me to realize that now I’m home after safely and successfully completing the first major trek of my life. I guess this Sar pass hangover would remain for long time to come…

From childhood, I had cherished the dream of trekking in the Himalayas. The mountains attracted me, and I became inquisitive about the Himalayas. I had dreamed that my first trek would be somewhere in Uttarakhand, but little did I know that Sar Pass in Himachal Pradesh would be my first ever Himalayan trek.

Sar Pass trek is conducted by Youth Hostels Association of India (YHAI) every year during April-June.  I booked May 11 as my reporting date, and booked the ordinary HRTC bus for May 10. “You should have booked an AC Volvo bus” said my Mom, “you’ll sprain your back”. “No problem, Mom, it’ll be fun” I assured her.

So finally the day came; I was feeling very excited. My bus to Kullu was set to depart on 10:02 pm from Kashmere Gate today. I still hadn’t started my packing, so I made long lists of things to carry – clothing, accessories, documents, etc., not to forget the binoculars. Most of the day was spent on buying stuff and packing. After my packing was done, Dad made me some sumptuous Aloo ka parathas for tomorrow’s breakfast. I was running very late thus had a hurried dinner. I caught the Metro from Guru Dronacharya at 9:00 pm and reached Kashmere Gate at 10:00 pm. I had nearly missed my 10:02 pm bus, but caught it just in the nick of time. The bus started as soon as I boarded it.

I met 3 persons in the bus who were going for YHAI’s Jalori Pass biking expedition. All of them worked in Google. One of them had done Sar Pass in 2009. He said that there was a blizzard atop Sar Pass and persons died out there…

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Day 1 Base camp, Kasol (6500 ft) 

Sunrise

I hardly slept in the bus, mostly due to the excitement of going to the mountains, and also partly because I can’t actually sleep in anything moving. I ‘woke up’ early at 5:30 am (maybe a sign of things to come!) The road to Kullu was beautiful – mountains everywhere – and it enhanced the taste of already wonderful Aloo ka parathas manifold! Towns like Bilaspur, Sundernagar and Mandi came and went.  Aut (26 kms before Kullu) came just after the long tunnel en route Kullu. The 3 ‘Google-ists’ got down here for Jalori Pass expedition.

I got down at Bhuntar (11 kms before Kullu) at 12:30 pm. Bhuntar is a beautiful little town in Kullu district. It has an airport, the only one in the district. It also has a sangam (confluence) of Beas and Parvati river. Whereas Kullu-Manali is on the banks of river Beas, Kasol and Manikaran are on the banks of river Parvati. So from here I would take another bus to Kasol, our base camp for Sar pass.

I almost immediately got a bus for Kasol (25 kms from Bhunter, 5 kms before the famous Manikaran) from Bhunter bus stand. It was filled with locals, young and old, all in colourful Himachali costume.  I particularly got impressed by a nursing mother with a homemade ‘baby carrier’ hung at the back. She got down at Jeri, 7 kms before Kasol. 

Kasol is a small hamlet largely situated on the true left side of the river. It was initially colonized by Israelis who were mesmerized by its virginity, something which the place still holds. It is said to be haven for backpackers. It also has a sangam – that of river Parvati and a vibrant stream, which locals call Grahan nullah (named after a nearby village Grahan). Also, some of the world’s finest Charas grows here, and all over Parvati valley.

Sar Pass base camp is 0.5 kms before Kasol. I reached here at around 2:15 pm, hungry and tired from the long journey. I headed straight for the tent marked ‘reception’, and began to show my documents. “Have your lunch first, it’s about to get over” said one of the attendants at the reception, pointing towards the dining tent. Those words were like music for my ears. I gorged on the wonderful lunch and afterwards did the paperwork.

The base camp consists of 16-17 tents, plus one reception tent, a large dining tent in the middle, some 2-3 tents reserved for officials or camp leaders, others acting as store room, kitchen; and a brick-and-mortar toilet. It also has a Shiva lingam just after the entrance. There is a large play area in the center of the camp and in the middle of it was an electronic ‘campfire’ (burning of wood is prohibited here). The campfire is lit every night after dinner. Voluntary performances are done by the participants. For the staff here, who are devoid of worldly pleasures like TV, newspaper, this is their only source of entertainment.

Pir Panjal, as seen from binoculars

The view of snow-capped mountains (the Pir Panjal range) from the base camp is awesome. I spent the rest of the day exploring the camp and talking to people in the camp - Mithun Das, the instructor, and also viewing the snow-capped mountains through my binoculars. As I was roaming round exploring the camp I saw the schedule for the days to come. “It’s going to be fun” I said to myself.

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Day 2 Base camp 

I slept uncomfortably… this was for the first time in life I slept in a sleeping bag. Morning began early at 5:00 am with the shouts of ‘bed-tea’, which was being served at the dining tent. Today was the ‘acclimatization day’. So, after the arduous morning exercise, we got ready by 8:00 am for a long hike into nearby mountains for acclimatization walk. At 8:15 am, there is a little ceremony called ‘sending off ceremony’ where we cheer for the people going for the higher camps. After they went, we started our hike.

Resting by the Grahan nullah

The hike was awesome – mountains, cool atmosphere, forests all around – it was like heaven. It was during this time we started gelling as a group, performances started coming out (Prashanth sang a nice song for us!) and each one started to know the others. After the tiring and at the same time relaxing hike, at around 12:30 pm, we started heading towards the base camp for lunch. Post lunch we had a rather funny orientation session with the camp co-director. The more he tried to speak with seriousness, the more guffaws it drew! It became a source of fun for the rest of the days!

The sangam

All the 40 members of our SP-11 group had finally arrived by now. There were four girls in our group. At 4:30 pm, we were free from the session. I went for a little exploration of the cute little hamlet Kasol. It seemed that there were more foreigners than Indians out here in Kasol. Hebrew billboards in front of the shops, for the ease of Israelis here, were quite noticeable. There is a pathway before the bridge which leads downwards towards the sangam. The view of sangam from there is fabulous. 

Sangam of Parvati and Grahan nullah 

From the market I purchased some important items for the trek – hunter shoes, rain-sheet and torch. Little did I know that the torch would stop working at the third camp itself… 

Soon it was time for campfire. There were a few performances from the group. Dr. Sanjay Dubey sang a very beautiful song, which would become the song of our group – the trekker song!

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Day 3 Base camp

Night was good, I slept soundly. I had become habituated to the tents it seemed, or was it the tiredness of the last 3 days?

The vibrant Grahan nullah

Today was the ‘rappelling and rock-climbing’ day. I got ready hurriedly and at 8:45 am, we were at the site for rappelling. Rock climbing was scheduled after lunch.

The rock face was about 25-30 feet high, inclined at 80-85 degrees. It didn’t seem very intimidating, but the adroitness with which the instructors climbed the rock to tie the ropes was commendable. As we stood there watching them in awe, another instructor started debriefing. “…Say ‘I’m falling’ when you are about to fall” he said. I was amused… just screaming ‘Aaaaaa…’ would not help?

Rappelling by an instructor

Nevertheless it was a good experience and there was no need for either ‘Aaaaaa’ or ‘I’m falling’ for any of us. After the rappelling, Sushma ji, one of the instructors, served us Litchi squash made from natural mineral water from nearby Grahan nullah. The squash was more than welcome, as the sun was quite strong – it seemed to penetrate through our skins!

We reassembled here after the lunch for rock climbing. Rock climbing proved rather difficult, and also due to lack of time, only about half of the people got chance to do rock climbing.

Garba at campfire

At 4:30 pm, we were at the base camp busy packing our rucksacks for weight check and deposit of extra luggage. Mine was very heavy; Mithun Das asked me to cut down weight significantly. Even after half an hour of brainstorming, I couldn’t make my mind which items to take out. After taking some extra clothing out (which doesn’t seem to make any difference), the guide said that it’s still too heavy. “No problem, I’ll manage” I said, though I couldn’t convince myself…

The Garba at the camp-fire caught everyone’s attention, and most of the people joined in. I learnt a few steps myself. The soothing music and some spectacular steps (I hope no one saw them!) later, it was time to sleep.

It was an altogether different feeling tonight, as finally we will be off to higher camps tomorrow! ‘It’s going to be fun!’

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Day 4: towards Kangchani Thatch (7800 ft)

The SP-11 group, before sendoff

Sendoff ceremony

I woke up even before the shouts of bed-tea due to excitement. We were exempted from the morning exercise today, so we took our own time getting ready for the higher camps. I enjoyed getting dressed up, packing my bags, filling the water bottles, tying laces of my hunter shoes, packing my lunch, posing for photographs, having some last views from my binoculars; as we waited for our ‘sending off’ ceremony to begin. At 8:15 am we were lined up for the last bits of instruction to be given. And at last at 8:30 am, we were green-flagged for the higher camps. The cheering truly seemed to melt away the self-doubts which had cropped in my mind. I also found myself cheering and clapping away for my group!

Steep road to Shilla Village

We boarded a bus to Shilla village, 15 kms further in Parvati valley (7 kms short from Barsheni village, where our trek would end), at around 9:15 am. It is near this village that our next higher campsite – Kangchani Thatch was situated. The bus was filled with locals and foreigners in equal numbers. Excited as we were, we started Antakshari, and even the foreigners joined in with their own songs! After 1.5 hours of Antakshari, unmindful of the deep gorges and the steep climbing of the bus, we reached our dropping point. Our guide to next camp, Tulsi Devi, a 50 year old woman from Shilla village, was already waiting when we got down. The village is on the other side of the bank, there is also a road to it. It was thus an easy 2.5-3 hour walk.

After around 1 hour of walking, at around 11:30 am, we reached our ‘lunch point’ which was beside a small waterfall. Here we would have our packed lunches. We had to wait here till 1:30 pm, so to while away the time we played Steppu (or Kuntebille), and also explored the nearby area with Tulsi Devi.

The road to Shilla, especially from the lunch point, is ridden with ruins and wreckage of trucks and cranes. Never before in my life had I seen such a waste of machines – odour of petrol, broken windshields and glasses, punctured tyres, abandoned warehouses everywhere. More than pity, it evoked a feeling of awe. Tulsi Devi said that these wreckages are here for about 7 years, and that these belonged to a dam-construction company which went bankrupt.

At around 3:00 pm we reached Kangchani thatch. The camp was set up just before Shilla village, on a cliff overlooking a valley created by a large nullah. We were welcomed by the camp leader, who gave us advice about the toilet areas, dustbin, water source and schedule. As soon as we reached, it started drizzling and it continued till the evening, with some pauses in between. Needless to say, it became very cold. Sweaters and jackets soon came over the trekking t-shirts which we wore in the afternoon. We whiled away time sitting inside our tents, chatting and telling jokes and stories. I shared the tent with Hemanth, Jeewan Singh, Mohan, Shripad, Dheeraj, Parvinder Singh, Harish Phulwani, Dr. Shashi Sharma, Dr. Dubey and Swabhiman Shukla. The stories by Jeewan were amazing!

Kangchani

The shepherd and his sheep

The tea at 4:30 pm was welcome, but washing-up after that in cold water equally unwelcome. On the opposite mountain we could see a shepherd, who with amazing stamina and balance was mending his sheep.

Night came soon after and it was all dark, since there is no arrangement for electricity. After dinner, it was time for campfire. Since it was drizzling, we had the campfire inside one of the tents and played Dumbsherads and Antakshari. The budding doctors from Gujarat stumped us with the movies –‘Howrah Bridge se latakti hui laash’, ‘Mera pati pati tera pati vanaspati’!

Our first higher camp was surely fun. But meanwhile, due to sudden fall in temperature, many of us caught cold, and 2-3 persons fell ill. “It’s all because we didn’t do Jaykara of Gods when we started from the base camp. Tomorrow, we will do Jaykara before starting to Khordu thatch” said Mr. Shukla, who was our group leader. ‘All will be well and it will be fun’ I said to myself.

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Day 5: towards Khordu Thatch (9100 ft)

I had great difficulty attending to the nature’s call out in the open, since it was first time experience for me. I had never used toilet paper before in my life. When the ‘mission’ was finally successful, I was pretty much ‘satisfied’ with my ‘performance’!

By 9:00 am, after having breakfast, packing lunch, and cleaning up the tents and campsite, we lined up. We did the Jaykaras, thanked the camp-staff and left for the next camp – Khordu thatch.

Rest break

For the next camp, we had to retrace our steps to yesterday’s lunch point. From there a trail leads upwards to the campsite. It was quite steep and strenuous climb through dense forests. So it was frequently punctuated by rest breaks. The walking stick is quite useful in this scenario – it can act as the third leg if used properly.

At around 11:00 am, we reached our lunch point, where we were to wait till 1:30 pm. The lunch point was under an overhang of a large boulder, which was quite intimidating. We sat nearby, and sang to our hearts content! Much of the time went eating the dry and cold Aloo Puri, but even that seemed good when you are eating with friends, surrounded by nature all around.

There were few pieces of garbage on the trail. Deepa started collecting these pieces of garbage, and that also inspired me to collect these  and dump it in the next camp. 1 hour of steep hike later, we reached Khordu thatch. The campsite is in a clearing (with a few trees), with some boulders here and there. After 10-15 minutes of rest, the camp leader, Anurag Shukla, welcomed us, and advised us about the weather (“always rains in the evening”), toilet areas, water, bears and other blahs. Hold on a second – BEARS!? We listened intently – there had been bear attacks on the cattle in the past 3 days; one of the dead cow is hung by the tree and is visible from the campsite; possibility of more than one bear; one sighting reported this afternoon only- inside the campsite; advisory about restricted areas and against going alone… Among all this was a good news – we were to collect as many fire woods to build a real campfire, that would go on till morning and keep bears at bay. Finally, a real campfire, thanks to bear!

We started collecting wood happily. The campfire was started after the dinner. It was memorable – we sang and danced, did Garba, stared at the fire, warmed our bums by the fire, sang again, danced again till we became tired and sleepy.

A bear killed this cow

I generally sleep at the entrance of the tent. I was last to get into the tent after the campfire and by mistake I left the tent open (ie untied). At dead of the night, someone barged in our tent. We were scared, and were about to shout “bhaaalu (bear)!”, but just then that someone spoke in human voice. He was actually a local person who ran the canteen here, and he came looking for the doctors, for some insect had entered into his ear causing him considerable pain. The doctors in our tent gave him pain killers and advised him descend and go to a hospital for check-up. From that night onwards we made sure that each night the tent is tied shut securely by the person who is last to come inside.

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Day 6: towards Zirmi Thatch (10500 ft)

I had a disturbed sleep. Twice I woke up, listening intently the sounds of snoring (or were that grunts of a bear?) and gusts of wind (or was that a bear brushing through our tent?) I could see no light from the campfire, and I thought I heard something moving outside. I was quite scared, as I was sleeping at the entrance of the tent. I shut my eyes tightly, and when I finally woke up, it was morning and I was still in my tent (thank god!).

There were still some embers left from the campfire. The pain in the ear of the man who visited us last night had subsided, although the dead insect was still inside. He would need to go to the hospital to get the insect out of the ear.

We did our usual chores; it was a ‘mission successful’ thankfully; and got ready by around 8:30 am. We thanked the camp leader and the staff heartily, did the Jaykaras, and proceeded to our next camp – Zirmi thatch.

The next camp was not very far from Khordu, it could easily have been reached in 2.5-3 hours. The route was not as strenuous as compared to the previous day’s route, but there still were some patches of steep climb. The route passes through numerous small bugyals (thatches) and on one such bugyal was our lunch point. We had to spend close to 3 hours here, so we played cricket with the plastic ball available with a canteen guy and a bat made from nearby woods. Also, we played an entirely new game – something which we wanted to keep on playing, which soon captured our imagination, and became the talk of the group even after the trek! – Mafia Wars. Shripad and Prachi became the moderators, as they knew the game thoroughly. It seemed that we could have spent another 3 hours at lunch point playing that game!

1.5 hours later, we reached Zirmi thatch. The campsite was located on the far end of a large bugyal. It had some breath-taking views of the snow-clad mountains. The snowy Sar Pass was also visible up there, so were the villages of Barsheni, Tosh and Pulga down in the valley. The weather was quite cold and windy, although it was sunny. After the welcome instructions were given (no bears this time, fortunately, or rather unfortunately!), we explored the camp area, and also played some games of Mafia Wars.

The food at Zirmi, be it soup, baingan ka bharta, kheer, chapaties, etc. each and every item was very tasty, the best in the entire trek! The campfire was again inside a tent, were we played Dumbsherads and Antakshari. Frost showed us some fantastic dance moves, so were the cute performances by Aimy! Soon it was night time and we were off to sleep.

Tomorrow, we will be going to Tilalotni, the highest camp. This trek from Zirmi to Tilalotni was surely fun, the best trek according to me!

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Day 7: towards Tilalotni (12500 ft)

We were asked to get ready by 07:30 am, since Zirmi to Tilalotni was one long trek. At this point of time, Mr. Deshpande from Goa could not go further – he had experienced pain in the chest last night... We wished him luck, and after last bits of instruction and advice, we started for Tilalotni.

There was a bit of everything on this trek – forests, bugyals, ice… Till Zirmi there was no ice, from Zirmi to lunch point en route Tilalotni ice was visible quite nearby only, and from lunch point to Tilalotni we mostly had to traverse on ice.

There is a very vast and scenic bugyal just after an hour of steep climb, with small flowers all around, and herds of cattle – cows and sheep – grazing away happily. ‘If this is not heaven, than what is?’ I wondered. Well, I got the answer later in the day, and also 2 days later. Himalayas have quite some ways to surprise you, isn’t it?

We spent nearly 2 hours in that bugyal (walking, resting, again walking, posing for photographs, running after the sheep, and sometimes chased by the cows). Some steep climb later, we reached a point from where the whole 15 km stretch of road from Manikaran to Barsheni village was visible down below.

After a moderately steep climb through some small bugyals and frozen streams, we reached lunch point at 12:00 noon. It was situated on a bugyal, and near a small glacial pond. The view was fantastic – even the far-off Himalayan peaks (ie the peaks near Manali region – Indrasen, Hanuman Tibba, Shitidhar) were visible from there.

It was very windy – cold winds – out there. Also, the clouds started building up; I might have even felt a few rain drops. Tilalotni was still 1.5-2 hour climb away. So, we had a hurried lunch, and were ready to proceed by 1:15 pm. The onward trek was mostly on ice – a sneak preview of what was to come tomorrow. 

Walking on icy slopes was a first time experience for me, and I didn’t want to take any risks. One step here or there and you might slip off the trail, some 200-300 meters down. I had feelings of vertigo initially. However, as I walked on, and watched others walk, I gained confidence. The walking stick is the ultimate support – it may even be used to self-arrest, in case you fall.

The rain drops became more noticeable, and we hurried our steps, pausing very little for rests and photographs. The last half-an-hour of the trek was fully on ice. The distant mountains, including the Sar pass peak, were all covered by clouds by now.

Tilalotni campsite is situated on a small grassy clearing among the icy slopes. There is a naturally occurring rock formation, and a natural platform for posing for photographs! There is also a tiny patch of ice in middle of the campsite.

As soon as we reached Tilalotni, it started – snowing… yaay! The snowflakes were elusive – as soon as they touched anything, they vanished. Nevertheless, it lifted our spirits sky-high, and we enjoyed every bit of it!

The usual instructions were not given this time – it was too cold and we were tired and therefore, we headed straight towards the tents. The snowfall continued for some time, and then turned into sleet, which continued till evening.

All of us knew that tomorrow we have start at 4:30 am for Sar pass summit attempt. My torch had stopped working at Zirmi itself, so traversing on ice at 4:30 am at night seemed impossible. “We’ll see it’ll be fun.” I reassured myself. I decided to go for ‘the mission’ today only. So I took with me all the necessary items and went off for it in the evening.

Going for ‘the mission’ at such an altitude, with snow and scenic beauty all around, with strong but pleasant winds stimulating the whole body, was an ‘out of the body’ experience! It was cloudy here, but I had an incredible view of the sunset over the distant mountains, with pinkish hue over them and the sky above – it was like seeing heaven! Himalayas have quite some ways to surprise you!

We had dinner at 6:15 pm – it was the earliest in my whole life. We had tasty little Gulab Jamuns for sweet. But washing-up after dinner was quite another task. I developed some burning sensation in my toes and fingers due to extreme cold, so I decided to skip the ‘campfire’ (almost everyone from my tent skipped it), and retire early for the bed.

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Day 8 towards Biskeri Thatch (11000 ft) via Sar pass (13800 ft) 

 I ‘woke’ up at 3:00 am. It took quite a lot of effort to get out of warm and cosy sleeping bag. The temperature at Tilalotni had fallen to sub-zero. Ice had formed over the water in the tub outside. I skipped brushing my teeth – as it could have frozen too! It didn’t take me much to pack, since I already put on most of the clothing I bought! At 4:30, we were lined up on the ice-field just above the camp, ready to move on. I felt no need of torch – it was not too dark, as dawn was already breaking over the distant mountains. 

“Today is the day” I exclaimed, “today we will cross the Sar pass!” We heartily thanked the staff and camp leader for their efforts and support. After the Jaykaras, we were off, along with 6 Sherpas who would guide us and save lives from danger if need be.

The sky was clear. No one would have believed that it was overcast yesterday evening. The trek from the campsite to Sar pass is fully on ice. First two hours consisted of moderate to steep climbing. The ice was rock solid, but slippery. The Sherpas used ice-axes to make way through the ice.

The trek was difficult – the small frozen grass patches were especially difficult to cross, since these were very slippery. I watched in awe how the Sherpas were negotiating the ice and the grass patches without much difficulty. I asked one of the Sherpas to show his shoe-sole. There was very little grip, due to wear and tear. “How?” I asked. “Confidence”, the reply came. So, I was infused with confidence, or was that over-confidence? 

On the very next patch, I had a major slip – if the Sherpa were not there with me at that time, I could have slipped all the way to Barsheni! As I tried to get up, I again slipped. My walking stick fell some 50 foot below. I was scared for life. I sat there for a minute, catching my breath, watching the steep slope below just after the point where my stick fell. The Sherpa waited by my side, motivating and encouraging me. Somehow, after 2-3 attempts and with his help I got up, but my confidence was all time low. Without the walking stick, I couldn’t walk straight, and used my hands, till it got numb, as support over the ice. I saw the Sherpa going down to bring my walking stick back. I was very thankful when he came back with it. Not only he brought my walking stick back, he also brought back my confidence!

The sun was now coming out slowly from behind the mountains. The distant mountains were the first recipient of the golden rays. Some 15-20 minutes later, sun came out with full force, and so did our sun-goggles.

At 6:00 am, we reached the top of the mountain we had been climbing for the past 4 days. Chetan and Gauri were first to reach. All around us, the vistas were fantastic. We were at an altitude of about 4200 meters, but it was like we have climbed the Everest! While on top, I looked at the faces of my co-trekkers and wondered what led them here, enduring so many difficulties? It’s because of the same reason I was here - “That was the dream, to be on the top of the world, to fly high…” I closed my eyes and thanked God.

The Sar pass was visible far ahead, on one of the ridges of the1000 meters higher main peak (which looked like a giant vanilla ice-cream). “We will reach there by 11:00” said one of the Sherpas. 

After about 1 hour of walking through the thick ice and intermittently posing for photographs, we crossed by a frozen glacial lake. “Sar” means a lake in local language, hence the name “Sar pass”. Some more trekking later, we reached our first snow sliding point. I was nervous. The slide was quite steep, but I didn’t look that dangerous. We had to descend some 100 meters through slide. I took a deep breath, and started my slide. I gained speed… I was just too cautious to scream! ‘This was surely the best part of the entire trek!’ I thought “There are 2 more slides after you cross the pass” said the Sherpa. “Yes! It will be fun!”

We reached our ‘lunch’ point at 8:30 am. Imagine we were having lunch at 9 in the morning! The site was near a micro-crevasse, over where a private gas-stove for making tea and Maggi was kept. I was wet from the slide, and became even wetter due to sitting on the porous mattress spread over the snow. Having lunch on a snowfield, under the mighty mountain, was nevertheless quite relaxing!

We started our onward journey at 9:30 am. We walked on moderately steep ice-slopes, with Sherpas cheering our every step. Each and every step went ankle-deep into the fresh snow. Some grassy patches similar to the one on which I slipped also came. “Oh no, not again!” I cried. I was losing my cool. Sherpas cheered from the distance, and I realized that this act of mine would demotivate others too. “Koi nahi, ho jayega! (no problem, I’ll do it!)” I shouted. And without any major hiccup, I crossed the grassy patches. 

The last 20 minutes climb to Sar pass was very steep. A rope was tied on this stretch for our safety and support. I had to take some rest after every three steps. I didn’t have the courage to look down. The Sherpas were cheering on, so was I. Finally, at 10:30 pm, we reached Sar pass! It was a thin edge, about 2 feet across, with a rock formation at the top and steep slopes on the either sides. I had feelings of vertigo. Since the space was less, the ones ahead of me started moving. The next slide’s starting point was visible few meters ahead of us. It was clearly longer than the previous slide. Longer? Means more fun! This time, I screamed to the top of my voice “yaayyy! woohooo!!” During the slide, Hemanth turned and slid head-first! I myself was sliding so fast that I bumped into Gauri, and propelled her down few meters! We descended some 400-500 foot through the 2 slides. Sliding seemed to be the easiest and the most exciting way to descend on the ice. Although we were wet to the core, we all wanted to do it again and again! Wherever there was any hint of slope, people got down to slide rather than walk!
At around 12:00 noon, we reached a tea point – a private canteen – a blue colour tent which was visible just as a speck from the Sar pass. Nagendra and a few other trekkers had reached there even before I started my second slide! The tent was pitched on a large bugyal, signalling the end of ice fields. The next camp, Biskeri, was still 1-1.5 hour trek from here. It was quite sunny, so we warmed ourselves – we were quite wet and numb from cold from the slide. Gauri shared Maggi with quite a few of us, bringing us back to our senses! Nagendra was busy with an animal skull nearby! Few of us warmed their bums in the sunlight!

At 1:00 pm, we started to Biskeri from our lunch point. Barely 15 minutes after we started, we come across a large ice field on which we had to descend. The ice fields were not quite over. The slope was steep, with no flats or other natural obstructions to break the slide, as in previous cases – so sliding was dangerous. But still some brave hearts attempted slides and reached to the bottom quite early, and without any mishaps. I walked slowly and carefully. After 1 hour of careful descent on the snow, the ‘rock and mud’ descent came, where walking was relatively – difficult! The snow provided a natural cushion, so it didn’t trouble the knees much. So in next half an hour, I reached Biskeri. The surroundings are green again, with trees, not snow, in the vicinity! 

I was very happy to find the weather sunny. I quickly took out my ‘aromatic’ socks and put it for drying (along with some clothes). Soon, Mafia Wars, and other games started. It became all normal – we had crossed the Sar pass – and soon we fell back to our routine – soup, dinner, washing up (it was still cold), the ‘fake’ campfire; we were all happy and satisfied. I closed my eyes and thanked god for our successful crossing of Sar pass. And yes, needless to say, it was fun!

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Day 9 towards Bhandak thatch (8000 ft)

Today, two of the trekkers – Chetan and Aimy – left us and went straight for the Base camp. We cheered them good-bye, and started from Biskeri at around 8:45 am.

Bhandak Thatch is around 4 hours trek from Biskeri. Most of it was steep descent, so we had to be careful of rolling off the mountain.

After 2 hours of descent, we had to cross a mini-gorge, so we would rappel down some 15 foot, cross the stream over a 15 foot bridge made of wooden logs and then climb up a bit (to reach the lunch point). The rappel was not tough – many did it without using the rope. For me, the main challenge was to cross the stream on a rickety wooden bridge. Seeing that I couldn’t balance myself, the guide took my hand and helped me cross the bridge.

We reached the lunch point at 10:45 am, where we would wait till 12:30 pm. I had tea here, before the lunch. Maybe, this would be the last tea we would be having together during the trek…  

We went further, crossing some streams and some bugyals worthy of shooting some romantic songs. Nagendra became ‘Bhandak baba’ here, collecting bony remains of the animals on the way! Midway, it started raining and hailing – I had to take out rain-sheets to keep myself from getting wet. The last 20 minute climb became very slippery; I slipped many times and fell at least once during this stretch.

At last, we reached Bhandak thatch – rightfully called the mini-Switzerland. Maybe Switzerland should be called macro-Bhandak! The campsite is amidst vast stretch of grassland, with a 360⁰ view of snow-capped mountains. It was raining – most of the mountains were covered in clouds when we reached. But towards the evening, the clouds gave way for us to witness a beautiful sunset! Himalayas have quite some ways to surprise you!

The camp leader here was the coolest of the lot. Although there was no risk of bears, we were agreed to light a real campfire! 

We also decided to shoot a movie depicting our life in past 10 days (and depicting the two ‘lives’ of the ‘Bhandak baba’!). Most of the time went shooting for the movie. Afterwards, after dinner, we lit our last campfire. We again sang and danced; Dr. Dubey sang 2 of the favourite songs – the trekker song and the Almora song. The Garba by Timir and Dharmesh was fantastic; Prasenjit amused us with few of his unique moves; Ujash did a namaskaram for us – and we enjoyed to the fullest!

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Day 10: towards Barshaini village (6600 ft) then to Kasol

Today was our final day of trek. “You would reach Barsheni village in about 2-3 hours, from where you will get a bus to Kasol” said the camp leader. Half of the group remained here to complete the shooting of the movie. My part was over yesterday, so I goodbye-ed them and went ahead with the other members.

Barsheni is a quaint little village in the Parvati valley. It is laced with colourful houses made of wood. It serves as a base for various other treks in the Parvati and Tosh valleys. It is the site for an 800 MW hydro-electric project. We reached the village at 10:30 am, and had some snacks at a small eatery here. We were informed that the bus to Kasol would start at 12:00 noon.

I slept halfway through the journey to Kasol. I was woken up by Dheeraj who showed our starting point – from where we started our trek! Sure enough, I could see some red YHAI rucksacks (through my binoculars) near the lunch point en route our first higher camp – Kangchani thatch.

We reached the base camp at 1:30 pm, just in time for lunch. After that, we went for a bath at natural hot water springs which was on the true right bank of the Parvati river. Having a bath after 10 days was refreshing!

It was good to see Mithun Das, Sushma ji again. It was fun recounting our experiences to the new comers! Many of us were leaving today only… we bade them goodbye heartily! During ‘campfire’ after dinner, the SP-11 group was facilitated with certificates. It was a proud moment for us!

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Day 11 

Morning came; I was heavyhearted – I didn’t want to go! But soon after, it was time to leave. After packing my 2 bags and having my breakfast, I was all set to leave with others. We bade farewell to Mithun Das and some of the other staff. Dheeraj, Prashant and Mr. Murthy chose to stay some while longer. At 9:00 am, we boarded a private bus to Kullu. All except me had planned to go for river rafting near Kullu. I wanted to reach home at the earliest, so I decided to board the bus from Kullu to Delhi. I had also decided to book the tickets at Kullu bus-stand only.  Jeewan bought us the tickets which cost Rs. 45 each, which I planned to pay him back. But fate had other plans!

All got down some 3-4 kms before Kullu. I thought that I should also get down to bid them farewell, and would later catch another bus to Kullu. So I too got down. Just after the bus left, I realized to my horror that I left one of my bags in the bus itself! Parvinder paaji, Shukla ji and Jeewan helped me hitchhike onto a bike to Kullu. The biker left me 1 km before the bus-stand. I walked helplessly some 2-3 minutes, but then afterwards spotted a traffic constable who helped me catch an auto-rickshaw. Just 200 meters before the bus stand, the auto dented an oncoming car. Precious 2 minutes wasted due to argument which was about to ensue. Thankfully better sense prevailed and soon I was inside the bus-stand. I didn’t know the bus number, nor did I know the colour of the bus. “Oh God, please spare me from going to Manali!” Fortunately, I recognized the yellow-jacketed driver of the bus. I dashed into the bus and found my bag unharmed!

Afterwards, I spotted an ATM and withdrew some cash to book the tickets! “This little adventure was fun” I said myself! At 11:00 am, I booked the 1:00 pm ordinary HRTC bus for Delhi. I roamed around the Kullu, explored its market and soaked in the views of the mountains. I had a sumptuous lunch at a nearby dhaba, and boarded the bus to Delhi.

In little over 10 days, I had seen myriad vistas of the kaleidoscopic Himalayas: forests, meadows, snows, streams, the sunrise; the undying spirit of the locals and their melodious language – I cherish them all, I will miss them all! I have made friends for life, had experience of lifetime, and memories lifelong!

And yeah… needless to say, it was fun!


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