Build-Up to the Trek
Trek to Himalayas...The first question that comes in mind is - Will it be safe?
Yes, this is the question which was to be cleared, not only in my mind, but also in the mind of my parents. I fired series of questions to people who had been to the trek, and finally concluded that yes - 'ITS SAFE'
I decided to travel in November 2015, and then comes the next obvious question - With Whom?
I also began my mission to convince people to join me for the trek, because my mind also believed the same thing, How Can I Travel Alone?
And I same replies, which I get since college life :
1. I am really stuck up with my office work.
2. My parents will not allow me.
3. Chuck this, lets go Dubai!
4. I will tell you in few days, which never happens!
So what next - cancel the plan?
Naaaah....Not this time!!
So I again called all those people and asked them, 'Will it be safe to travel Solo?' And they were successful in convincing me to book for the trek. I decided to go for 'Deorital - Chandrashila Trek' in the state of Uttarakhand.
Yes, I made the payment to India Hikes (the organisation with whom I traveled) and completed all other travel bookings.
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| Backpack Checklist |
Yes, my first trip, where I will be travelling all by myself with a group of 'Unknown' people!
The Day I Departed For The Trek.....
Trust me, it cannot be expressed in words....
I got into the train for Delhi and few minutes after the train left Mumbai, it was a weird feeling.
I was soo excited for my first solo trip, equally nervous of what was coming up.....
The beauty of travelling is we often get to meet interesting people. I happened to meet a guy, who did his engineering and then applied for Indian Army entrance exam. They have to stay there for 5-6 days in the campus, as the part of the test. The tests which a person has to go through, their criteria for assessment, their discipline and schedule, it was really fascinating!
Delhi Darshan
I reached Delhi next day morning.My train to Haridwar was at night and I had some 12 hours to explore Delhi. So I just purchased the metro card, got a brief idea on metro connectivity and travelled to Akshardham, then Red Fort and concluded with Chandni Chowk.
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| Red Fort |
Being Delhi, I was kind of little scared to roam around like this.I would consciously make it a point move only in the noisy streets and avoid isolated areas.I took my train to Haridwar from Old Delhi Station and all set for the first day of my first trek!
Journey to Base Camp
I joined the team at Haridwar Railway Station and we left by 8 am in the morning. It was around 10 hours journey to a village named Sari. We traveled parallel to Ganges and the journey in itself was amazing. We gradually started to introduce ourselves in the vehicle and by the time we reached base camp in evening, we already had our breakfast and lunch together.
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| View of Dev Prayag - Emergence of Ganges (P.C. - Murali) |
During the ride, we came across Dev Prayag, which is the meeting point of 3 rivers. It is the place, from where Ganga River comes into existence!
First Day of the trek - Deorital
The group assembled in the morning, and after breakfast, we were given basic instructions before we begin our trek.
I had no idea, what was going to come up in next few hours. I was still in the 'La La La' mode....'Yaay, we going to climb' mode. 10 Minutes....Yes, Just 10 Minutes into the trek, and I suddenly started feeling dizzy. I just sat down and puked over there. There is 4 days of climbing coming up, I have spent a decent amount to reach here, all my planning, everything was passing like a slideshow in the mind that minute. I drank some water, people around motivated me and I moved on. I had decided to carry my own backpack, and not offload it on the mules .(Mules is an animal breed, which is a combination of horse and a donkey, and is widely used for transport in the mountains)
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| Team briefing at base camp |
I was gradually coming out of my fairy tale of trekking into reality. I literally dragged myself to our next camping site.
We reached the camp in around 3 hours and I was among the last in the lot to reach there.
However, the views of the camping site were such ; it was literally one of the best places I have ever been!
Usually, in a camp site, we either get view of :
1.Big Mountains,\
2.Beautiful Lakes, or
3.Forest
However, this was the location which had all these 3 specialties,and made it extra special.
Usually, in a camp site, we either get view of :
1.Big Mountains,\
2.Beautiful Lakes, or
3.Forest
However, this was the location which had all these 3 specialties,and made it extra special.
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| Deorital Lake (P.C. Murali S) |
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| View of Himalayan peaks from the camp (P.C. Murali S) |
The Damaged Shoe:
Well. my patience was really being tested on Day 1 itself. Just after reaching the campsite, I realised that the sole of one of my shoes had come off. After consulting the trek leader, I realised that its not possible to repair it and it will be tough for me to continue with the trek. I literally got cold that minute...What the.....However, after sometime, literally like an angel from the sky, one of our team mate, Kelly gave me strong adhesive tapes, which could help me fix the sole. Somehow, it worked and there was some relief.
Unfortunately, Such was the situation, that next day, sole of another shoe also got damaged and I had to apply those tapes to both the shoes and the result was this!
We walked around the lake, explored the forest in the evening and after some bonfire at night, it was a pack up time. The mountains changed colours with sunlight from Blue to Orange to even Purple, Yes, we could witness a purple shade on mountain in the evening!
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| Thanks to Kelly, Tapes remained intact even on the last day of the trek! (P.C. Umang M) |
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| No Filters (P.C. Murali S) |
2 things remained intact in my mind ;
One was the feeling of finally being a part of the trek team - Solo, which was only an imagination since few years,
Second was about finding the reason for my struggle to climb in the morning.
I wanted to find out, whether it was about my physical fitness or mental fitness?
I wanted to find out, whether it was about my physical fitness or mental fitness?
Second Day
Routine wake up and by 8.30 am, we were ready to leave for the next camp site. I was mentally prepared to perfomr better than previous day. Eventually, I was not the fastest, but atleast managed to complete with the first half of the group. It was a all about mental satisfaction that minute!!
As we were gaining altitude, the temperatures were getting lower and lower. It would go as low as 2-3 degree at night.
Also, treks give you a new schedule, where you got to pack your bags for the next day by evening itself, you got to wear your woolens before the sun sets and keep your torch/headlamps ready.
Look above at night, and you can see a blanket of stars giving you that 180 degree view!!
All the trek mates really bonded well by now and played games in evening. The most highlighted game in our batch was Mafia!! We played this game, on almost all the days of the trek!In fact, this was the game, which got all of us together!
By now, we got used to the conditions and the schedule. We had learned to pee in the mud, and also poo in the mud. Sleeping in the sleeping bags and those cozy tents was altogether an amazing experience.
Then came the evening, the eve of our summit day. In the evening, we were just chilling around near the camp fire, and our trek leader Ankit comes up. He shared the roadmap for the next day, and smartly created an atmosphere, where each and every member of the team got extremely got conscious.
That night, almost everyone was asleep by 8.30 pm (I guess, That is the earliest ever sleeping time of my life!)
As we were gaining altitude, the temperatures were getting lower and lower. It would go as low as 2-3 degree at night.
Also, treks give you a new schedule, where you got to pack your bags for the next day by evening itself, you got to wear your woolens before the sun sets and keep your torch/headlamps ready.
Look above at night, and you can see a blanket of stars giving you that 180 degree view!!
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| The Chai Stall! |
All the trek mates really bonded well by now and played games in evening. The most highlighted game in our batch was Mafia!! We played this game, on almost all the days of the trek!In fact, this was the game, which got all of us together!
Third Day - Chandrashila Base
Again, we left early morning and climbed for few hours. After a tiring day and by late afternoon, we reached our third camp site.
Then came the evening, the eve of our summit day. In the evening, we were just chilling around near the camp fire, and our trek leader Ankit comes up. He shared the roadmap for the next day, and smartly created an atmosphere, where each and every member of the team got extremely got conscious.
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| View of Sunset from campsite |
That night, almost everyone was asleep by 8.30 pm (I guess, That is the earliest ever sleeping time of my life!)
Summit Day
We woke up at 4 am and were ready to leave by 4.45 am. Our target was to reach for sunrise! We were not suppose to carry any back packs. Just a bottle, Poncho, Sunglasses and some snacks.
At 5 am sharp, the trek leader marched off and we all followed him. It was freezing, spirit were high and there was more of excitement then nervousness today.
Within sometime into our climb, we got patches of ice near our legs. (technically, ice is risky compared to fresh snow, as it becomes slippery to walk through the ice!)
We patiently kept on climbing and reached Tunganath. I want to proudly say, that I managed to reach among the first few up there (After that struggle of first day, it was really a boost in my confidence this morning!). We managed to reach by 7.15 am.
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| Sunrise at Chandrashila |
We were all busy watching the views all overon the top of Chandrashila. Yes we were standing at 13,000 ft!
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| At Chandrashila summit |
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| 13,000 ft celebration! |
Experience with Susan and Marcia
In our team, we had 2 wonderful sisters, who had crossed 50 years, but their passion to climb was only increasing. They were among the first to reach at all the campsites. They rightly said that - '50 years is a very critical stage of life. If you let it go, then you will be heading for retirement after this age, and if you show some energy and confidence, it can be a new beginning all together. They were not frequent climbers before they crossed 50 years. They got passionate about climbing only after that. You were amazing!
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Dancing at the summit on Lean On (not clearly audible because of winds)
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Chopta - Last Campsite
We got down and reached by 11 am. Then we headed for Chopta, which was 1 hour downwards. We reached there by 1 pm and had our lunch. Mind was free and relaxed, yes we successfully climed the mountain and now its time to relax!Immediately after Lunch, without any delay, we sat in the sunlight and played Mafia for one last time. This game lasted for more than 3 hours and it was an amazing time with all those discussions and fights!
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| Mafia in Mountains! |
It was evening by then, and I witnessed the best sunset of my life. We were not yet filled, and for the campfire, we decided to arrange the wood by ourselves. So this entire team, literally went into the forest, and got the wood for fire.
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Yes, this was the size of our wood!
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So tried to break the wood, Burst Body Spray at Fire, and what not. And then finally, one of our mates got a Big Stone and just kept on throwing at the Wood, and it finally converted into fire!
Then our trek leader got his portable speaker and it was just a night to remember. Tunes of Sadda Haq, Phir Se Udd Chala, Kabira,Tum Se Hi, Tum Ho, set the stage. We sang together and a day which began at 4 am, finally got concluded at 1 am!
Chopta To Haridwar
This day was only about road journey. We had our breakfast, and soon we packed up. We thanked the entire support staff, clicked farewell pictures and ended the trek. There are loads of stories, some told, some untold!
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| Unpitching of Tents in the morning! |
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| With my tent mates Puneet and Pramod! |
We reached Haridwar by 6.30pm. We had an evening to explore Haridwar, and with one of our mates, we tried Samosas and Kulfis and other street food. It was a feeling of ending of a fast with this junk food!!
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| Evening in Haridwar! |
A Delhi Morning!
My train reached Delhi by 5 am in the morning. I had to travel to Mumbai by 5 pm. I did not want to book a room waste the day. So I asked my trek mate (Delhi Girl) to just drop me at India Gate. And she is like - What - Are you crazy - What will you do over there at 5.30 am in this condition. Honestly, I had no answer to her question.
I was just walking on the streets before reaching India Gate. The frequent bad news coming from Delhi had somehow scared me, as I was walking alone there on the roads, even before sunrise.
I sat right next to India Gate, still wondering what to do. I could witness the army men changing their duties near the India Gate flame. I could witness a sunrise from India Gate. It looks like hypo statements, but it was worth the experience. The police constantly was observing me of any suspicious activity, and I would give them a smile. I updated my writing diary about the trek experience and left the spot by 8 am!
Then I headed to the parliament area, which is around 2 km from here, I walked thru and was just enjoying this experience! I witnessed the Rashtrapati Bhavan, PMO, North Block, South Block...Slowly.....Slowly!!
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| My Spot! |
Somehow I realized after sometime, that, being human, I could to have some food, and there were no shops around here, as I was surrounded by Ministers' Office!!
I still had plenty of time. So I took a Metro and headed straight to Connaught Place. (Still no taxi!) I was still wondering what to eat, and in the process, I met a guy, who had just come back from Sandakphu trek. We searched for a food joint and ended some munching some food at Haldiram's.
I knew that India is playing South Africa in Delhi that, and I just asked him, whether he is interested in cricket, and guess what, we headed straight to the Cricket Stadium from Connaught place, which was around 15 minutes in rick. We inquired and realized the Kohli is batting and that getting a seat inside the stadium is not possible. I just missed a chance to end my trip with Cricket Match!!
To Conclude - What were the experiences from the trek?
1. If you desire something, you will definitely find ways to get it.
2. Its worth getting the taste of Solo travelling, there will be a tremendous boost in confidence!
3. The value of basic amenities like electricity, water, sunlight and even moonlight!
4. Change in the schedules from Bed to Sleeping Bags, having to arrange the clothes and other stuff before evening, despite of being tired after climbing the whole day.
5.The blanket of stars over the head, Flames of Fire, Chirping Birds!!
6. Importance of being mentally prepared for situations - From Lagging the climb on Day 1 of the trek to timely climb on the summit day.
7. Climbing at 50 years - Age is never the bar!
8. The mountain people - We left our bags in the open, outside our tents, and never has there been a case of any theft!
9. The game of Mafia in mountains!
Happy Travelling,
Cheers!
Soham Shah
