Sar pass trek!

As previously mentioned in my post, I took part in the Sar Pass trek expedition conducted by Youth Hostels Association of India. This 11 days trek was truly an amazing experience. This gave an opportunity to enjoy the nature's beauty and to visit the 'heaven on earth' as many say and to be away from civilization for few days as well(not that I detest it). This trekking expedition normally happens in the month of May every year and I picked 16th May as the reporting day. Considering the fact that there isn't any activity on the day 1, I decided to skip the day 1 and directly report on day 2. So I reached the base camp, Kasol on 17th May taking a bus from Delhi towards Kullu/Manali, getting down at Bhuntar and taking one more bus to Kasol. Kasol(6500ft) is a small place having a pleasant climate throughout the year. I was surprised to see a lot of foreigners mainly Israelis making Kasol as their abode. Day 2(my day 1) at base camp: Since I was bit late to the base camp, I missed the acclimation walk planned for the day. Later that day, I met my batch mates i.e SP_19, a group of 52, during the orientation. In this orientation, the Field Director provides all the necessary information required to be known by the trekkers and some useful tips. Apart from this, orientation gives you some laughs because there will be some guys who do something mischievous which pisses off the Director and the whole group have to bear the lecture, the ones which we were accustomed to during school days :). We all dispersed to our tents after the orientation to follow the norms of introducing ourselves and taking the terms to the next level of fun. The whole group assembled together again during the tea break and during the dinner time which was followed by the camp fire. Camp fire was one different experience as it was with no real fire because burning of wood during camp fire is prohibited :-) Few guys came up with some nice skits and few others sung songs.

Day 3 at base camp: We were taken to a nearby place for the morning exercise which reminded me of Physical exercise class what we used to have in schools, the only difference being the absence of band. Seeing off the previous batch to higher camps is a ritual which we followed too. SP_18 batch was ready, everyone with their rucksack all geared up with so much enthusiasm and ready-to-conquer-the-world feeling. As per the schedule, we later went for the rock climbing and rappelling activities. It wasn't a tough job, however it introduced everyone with all the details involved, mainly the kind of knots required during these activities, the small tools and equipments and the techniques. Later that evening some of us bunked the camp fire session and roamed around having fun.

Day 4 : Now it was our turn to get ready with our rucksacks and walk out of the base camp towards higher camps. We all took a bus to Unch Dhaar, the place from where our trek begins. It was amazing to witness an already loaded bus to accommodate another 52 in it. We had to stack our sacks on top of the bus before starting. After few minutes, due to a road blockage, we had to get down that bus, walk past the blockage and take another bus. Here, few of us got an opportunity to travel sitting on top of the bus. The ride was great, sitting on top with absolute scenic beauty around you. We reached Unch Dhaar where everyone of us purchased sticks which comes handy during treks and it indeed made it easy. The actual trek started. We all walked past a steep valley and reached the next camp, Guna Paani(8000ft) after a 5kms walk. In between we all took rest at couple of tea stalls and lunch point. One good thing was that we found these tea stalls which mainly served tea, maggi noodles and omlet all the way to the top. But the rates increased exponentially with the height. The tea which costs Rs 5 at this first stall, costs Rs 25 at the highest camp!! We reached in the late afternoon so we all had ample time to roam around, spend time in groups and to have fun.

Day 5 : Early morning we all were ready after the break fast and after packing our lunch boxes to trek towards the next camp Fual Paani(9500ft). This day trek was the most difficult one as per me because of the steep climb for few Kms. It really tested us all. We walked past a water fall and a nice cozy lunch point below a huge rock before reaching the camp only to find that the tents are located again over a slope. Because of which walking around was strenuous and tents very uncomfortable. This camp was totally in the midst of pine trees and we were welcomed with drizzle and followed by a double rainbow!

Day 6 : We were all set again in the early morning with our lunch boxes towards next camp Zirmi(11000ft). This part of the trail was very scenic with part of it though the forest with pine trees and later with some wonderful spots between mountains. We got lot many points to have our photo sessions on the way. We reached Zirmi after around 6 hours covering around 6 kms. One more appreciable thing was the spot selection for these camps. All the camps were situated at the right spots where one could just sit and enjoy the nature at its best. Night time after dinner, we paid extra for the camp fire at the nearby tea stall and enjoyed for an hour singing and dancing in that very cold temperature around the actual fire in this case ;-)

Day 7 : The temperature was dipping as we progressed and this was the day when we hit the snow clad mountains. The scenes were mesmerizing and the Himalayan range seen with much closeness. We reached our next camp Tila Lotni(12500ft) with snow patches all around the tents. The rocks nearby gave us a nice platform to witness the spectacular view of mountains around. It was quite a scene to capture during sunset and sunrise. By this time, in this cold weather and high altitude, many guys started mumbling and fumbling as previously cautioned during orientation :)

Day 8 : This day was real adventurous and hectic. We walked through a very high steep mountain followed by in the snow for around 2-3 hours before crossing Sar Pass(13800ft). Walking in the snow was a great experience with some initial scary slips and feet getting in 2-3 ft in the snow during afternoon time. Once we crossed the highest pt of the trek, we all were ready for the next adventurous activity i.e. a slide for around 600 mts in the snow. I should tell you, it was the best part of the day. Its just that you have to sit on the snow without any mat or padding and let yourself slide down. You reach good speed in the process and the secret to go without any falls or vaults during the slide is to just rest yourself on your lower back n butt and not to get the legs down on the snow. But many did this mistake and gave all others to sit and witness this great comedy show :) After the slide we were all wet and more importantly our butts were numb! :) After couple more hours of walking, we reached next camp Biskeri(11000ft). To everyone's delight, we were served pakodas with tea. We had a game of cricket and that might be the game at the highest altitude by anyone so far.

Day 9 : We were now ready to hit the next camp Bhandak Tatch(8000ft). This camp is known as the Switzerland of India and rightly said too. There was a change in plan. Few of us, to be more precise, 10 of us decided to skip the stay at this camp and run through the last leg of trek on the same day itself. We had more than one reason for this plan(as a matter of fact, we cooked more reasons later to convince the camp leader) IPL T20 finals, party at the base camp, done with trekking are few of the reasons basically. As per the new plan the elite 10 of us started off towards the base camp after saying 'good bye' to the rest of the group. We walked for around 19 kms on this day. After 7 days away from civilization, it was with a relief and sadness we hit the road to reach base camp. Reached Kasol back in a taxi and decided to stay in a comfortable hotel rather than in those tents at the camp. The group had a party in a nice restaurant with IPL finals, and I missed it as I had temperature and had to take rest in the room :( But I was happy to know that my team won in the IPL match.

Day 10 : Unfortunately the stay at the hotel didn't turn out be very comfortable as there was no power supply and hence no hot water :( We actually saw our faces in the mirror after 7 days and frankly speaking nobody wanted to see their faces again :) After somehow forcing the hotel guys to provide hot water, we got ready and landed in base camp to finish off with final formalities and obtain the trek certificates. Finally bidding farewell to few of my friends, I, along with a friend of mine took a bus to Kullu to get on another bus to Delhi.

This has to be one of the best outdoor expeditions I had so far taking into account the place, the time and the friends I made during this trek. This trek gave me an opportunity to make some wonderful friends, to meet new people from different parts of India and to see new places. The trek would have been pale and less enjoyable without these new friends of mine.

You can check the trek snaps here.