Who willingly gives up their time and precious energy to go climbing up a mountain’s incline, go un-showered for days and be devoid of their precious mobile network, all the while alongside strangers?
But then again, who would be crazy not to do just that if it puts a bigger smile on your face than anything else in the world?
So, for this love for the unpredictable mountains, I found myself in the back of a jeep, hurtling through the Himalayas to our trailhead for the stunning Har Ki Dun trek.
Our journey to Sankri finally started. Our driver was good. We drove through the curvaceous roads of the Shivalik Himalayas. It was spectacular. We had a young group of five friends in our team along with Joshua. A nice pleasant group altogether.
We reached Sankri and were taken to our rooms. It was pitch dark. Due to the rains there was no power and so no hot water to shower. It was very cold. We tried to freshen up as best as we could in the dark and with the ice water. We then had to walk down for a kilometre in the rain to the cafeteria. We were served tea and biscuits, documents were collected and we were briefed about the Do’s and Don’ts. The dinner was awesome and hot. Everyone was happy but we were not looking forward to going back to our dark rooms.
We had breakfast of bread omelette. Finally, we got into the vans. We had a 12 km drive from Sankri to Taluka. We noticed that the dog we befriended had started to run in front of the van and was leading the way to Taluka. Amazing.
We were all excited with the view and the beautiful scenes. We reached Taluka in an hour. There were other groups also there ready to start the trek. Everyone was energised and ready to go. Pictures, good-lucks all done, we finally opened our trekking poles and started down. Today we would be trekking 14 km from Taluka to Osla.
Everything was going well. Everyone was being careful and fascinated by the views. We met a few trekkers who were returning. Our team stayed together and tried to stay away from the other group. One of the groups was of two girls; they were also from Hyderabad. The biggest coincidence was that one of them had been sitting beside me on the flight from Hyderabad to Delhi, and also they were on the same metro to Kashmiri Gate. It’s a small world really. We chatted for a while then we started walking again. We were soon ahead of them. We walked over bridges and climbed over mountains.
We had two guides — one in the front, Sarabjeet, and one behind, Altaf. We stopped to wear our ponchos as it had started raining again. The weather kept changing and soon we stopped at a tea stall. We were given our packed lunches of rotis and potato. The food was really cold. I ordered a Maggi and we all had tea too. It suddenly started raining really heavily with hail. The moment it stopped, we all started walking again.
Finally we reached our campsite. We were hungry and tired. But we did have enough energy to end the night with Mafia.
Something mysterious and wonderful happens when you trek. Everything you eat tastes like it’s from heaven.
It’s true that the best dining room is outdoors alongside nature. A nice rock, a fabulous view and the sweat to prove that you have earned every delicious bite. Soon hot soup was served, then dinner. Oh my, it was really delicious. We had rotis, dal, rice, veg curry, papad, pickle and sweet. We all ate well as everyone was hungry. We then all went to our tents to sleep as it was getting really cold. All four layers of clothing came on and deep inside the sleeping bag, it was really cosy.
We woke up early around 5 am as we were to start by 6:30 am. We freshened up and went for breakfast. Upma! It had never tasted so good at home. Finally we got ready to start. Our packed lunches were handed over to us. Today was going to be a higher altitude so we needed all the energy and we wanted to start before it became hot.
Today we would trek around 14 km to Osla Village. There is a unique temple of Bheema of the Mahabharata in Osla village situated at an altitude of 2,650 m. Along the trek route we crossed bridges over the Tons river, lush green valleys covered with wild orchids of the Himalayas and, if we got lucky, we might probably encounter the rich wildlife of the Himalayas like barking deer, blue sheep, bear or leopard too. We had our fingers crossed and our eyes open.
We all started off and the weather was fine. We climbed up a steep mountain and walked with a few stops along the way. We then stopped at a tea stall. Everyone caught up — our team as well as the others. We had something cold to drink and lay there on the grass. Our dog, who we had named Boss, had also appeared out of nowhere.
We started on our way again. It was pretty easy so far. We walked on over the bridges. Our mules passed us by. We climbed up, climbed down and finally stopped at a quaint little tea stall on a mountain for lunch. Everyone sat down to eat our packed lunches. Aloo paratha! It was cold and not at all appetising. We shared one paratha and fed the remaining to Boss.
As we were resting, another group was returning and had also stopped to rest. We chatted and asked them about the path ahead. The other group who had started with us had also caught up by this time. As the path was getting steep and narrow and it was getting really crowded, our team decided to start climbing.
It had started to drizzle and was beginning to snow. We climbed up and by this time I was beginning to tire. I was getting really slow. Soon we lagged behind with Deepa and Altaf, our guide, behind.
We walked on chatting, stopping and catching our breath and trying to figure out how far more we had. Altaf kept saying we would reach our base camp by 3.30, so that kept us going. By now I was really exhausted. I told Altaf to walk ahead and we would catch up. We continued walking really slowly; my friend kept encouraging me and stayed close. All the while I walked, I told myself and my friend that I would join the gym. That was the one thing on my mind — The Gym 🙂.
We walked on; it was 4pm and there was no sign of the base camp or anyone else. The other team had set up their base camp way below and we could only see that from up above. My friend was getting really nervous as it was beginning to snow again and we were alone up there. We kept walking.
Suddenly our first guide appeared and we were really glad to see him. He told us that the rest of the group had already reached our base camp and that he had come back to pick us up. We were really happy because that meant we were near the camp, so we continued on with renewed strength.
We kept walking but could not see any camp. I was really upset and kept checking with the guide. Finally we saw a tea stall and there was our team, but no sign of any base camp. It turned out that there was no water, so they had to move the camp another 2 km from there.
We sat there really tired. The others started walking on; finally we started, and we were so tired. The guide and my friend stayed with me. I was extremely slow and every step was difficult. I could see that my friend was exhausted too. We kept going.
Finally up ahead we could see our base camp. Everyone was so excited. Then one of the helpers who had also come back to check on us said, “It looks close but it will take at least half an hour to get there.”
The others ran ahead. We walked slowly and it took us almost an hour to see the camp in front of us. At that moment nothing could have made us happier. It was already 5.30. We saw our tents, got in and just lay there. We could not even get up due to fatigue.
After some time the helpers came to call us for snacks and tea, but we were just not able to move. We just lay in our bags so tired and exhausted. We were called again for dinner but we said we were not hungry. All we needed was sleep. We fell asleep.
We woke up at 5 am totally refreshed. We looked around the base camp as we had not seen anything the previous evening. It looked as if there had been a campfire. We freshened up and joined the team for tea. The conversation was only about the long trek. Everyone was annoyed because it was very long and tiring, and everyone felt we could have stopped along with the other team.
We waited for our breakfast and it was gobi paratha. I ate one. Today we were to walk up to Har Ki Dun — around 6 to 7 km — and then relax for lunch. After that, it was our exploration day: those who wanted to enjoy the most exotic book-reading session could relax in the camp, and the rest could trek up to Jaundhar Glacier, around 4 km away and taking around 3 hours to reach, with a view “to die for.” After that we were to return to the base camp.
We decided to start early. After the previous day, we were sure we would need a head start. So we told our guides that we would be starting early, and they agreed, as it was a straight path and they were sure they would catch up with us. Today we had no luggage to carry — just water and our ponchos.
We got out of the camp and suddenly one of the mule guys started walking with us. We were really fascinated because he was climbing up the mountain in rubber slippers. We walked on; it was very pleasant. We chatted with this guy, and he offered to carry my coat for me. We stopped to click pictures in the snow; the others caught up with us.
At one point the cold got to me and I had severe cramps in my knees. Tears of pain just flowed down my cheeks and I gave up. I just sat there and refused to go on. I asked my friends to pick me up on the way down. They were trying hard to make me go with them when this old man carrying a heavy load passed by. He looked at us and checked what was up. He said, “It’s just there behind those trees. It’s ten minutes away. You came this far — how can you miss it? Take my hand, I’ll take you there.” Well, that did it. I got up and started walking, not because of a miracle but just pure willpower.
We followed the path and came to a fork in the road. We looked up; on the right mountain we saw the two girls from Hyderabad sitting there. We were about to start climbing when we looked down and saw an X mark drawn in the sand. The other path had “Renok Adventures” and a tick sign. It was obvious our team had left this for us. We were so glad that someone had thought of doing this.
We started climbing and after 15 minutes we saw Sarabjeet coming down. He told us that this was not the path we had to climb — we had to go down and go to the other mountain. He said two members from our team had gone up this mountain and they were also returning. So we climbed down and climbed up the other path.
At the top we did not find anyone from our team. We asked Sarabjeet but he told us to wait and take pictures; the others would join for lunch. We clicked some pictures and waited. We saw the other two who went up coming back; we called out to them and they joined us. We waited for an hour. It was already 1 pm and there were no signs of the others.
The lunch had arrived and soon Altaf had also joined. It had started to get really cold and I realised that my coat was with the helper and he was nowhere to be seen. I looked around and saw a small kitchen-type place where a small fire was burning. It was so warm there. I took a stool and sat in there; soon the other three also came in.
At around 2.30 pm our lunch was served to us as we could not wait for the others. It turned out that the helper had guided the rest of the team up towards a lake. This was not even in the itinerary. We thought of starting back to the base camp but it was really cold and the helper had my coat so we had to wait for them.
At around 4 pm they finally returned very tired and hungry. They had exciting stories about the trek and the helper and the lake. It all sounded exciting, but the truth was that no matter what, it was a dangerous thing to do — it was not even part of the trek, and they were not with either one of our guides.
We, the four of us, started walking, leaving the others to their lunch. It was an enjoyable walk down, no stress at all. We met a lot of people coming up. To our surprise, we saw many elderly people also doing the trek. Everyone kept enquiring how long more it was to reach the top.
We finally reached base camp and freshened up. It was around 5 pm. We had some snacks and chatted about the trek. A campfire was set up outside, so we went and sat around it. We had a lot of fun with the team and the helpers. The peak discussion was the helper who led the team. Yes, everyone was happy and relaxed now that the trek was over.
We woke up around 5.30 am to a really pleasant day. We freshened up and had our tea. We then got ready while the others were beginning to wake up. We went for breakfast and were served paratha; I had one. We were given our packed lunch.
We packed our bags and decided to leave and get a head start, as we were slow walkers. We walked along. Joshua caught up with us; he was feeling a bit better today. We enjoyed the view and took pictures; we remembered the day we walked up and the difficult time we had climbing.
We kept walking, then stopped at the tea stall. Some of the others caught up. My leg was beginning to ache, so we applied Volini and rested; the others also joined us. We started walking again. This time another dog started following us. We kept walking down, and mules kept walking up and down the trail.
At around 11.30 am, as we were climbing down a mountain, my leg started to pain again. This time it looked more severe. I was unable to walk at all. We just sat there while other trekkers were climbing up. Finally our team caught up with us. Altaf massaged the leg. It felt okay but it was difficult to walk. I asked the team to walk on and we would walk down slowly, so Altaf agreed.
We climbed down for a bit; then the path was straight for a while. We walked slowly; we could see the team ahead of us. Slowly they disappeared as we were getting even slower. It was getting really cloudy and we were not even ready to stop and have lunch as we wanted to reach base before it started raining.
We walked slowly on. As we walked, we came to a small stream and noticed something we had missed on the way up — a small flour mill functioning without electricity, just by the force of the water. It was really fascinating. I stopped and clicked some pictures.
We continued walking through the stream; we remembered this way. From where we were above, we could see our team on the bridge down below. They looked so far away. Finally we reached the top of the mountain where the bridge was. I remember it took us just 15 minutes to climb up this mountain. We slowly climbed step by step the never-ending mountain, the bridge not getting closer.
It had taken us nearly 45 minutes to climb down. Now we relaxed a bit because on the other side of the bridge was Osla village and the base camp would be a little ahead of that. So with renewed strength we crossed the bridge. We saw a tea stall in the village and decided to finally stop for lunch; it was already 3 pm. We had Maggi as we did not feel like having the cold packed lunch.
After that we walked on. Sarabjeet told us we would reach in half an hour. We continued walking; it had started to drizzle. Finally we saw the base camp right in front of us. We rushed there and looked for our tent. The team came around happy that we made it back safely.
We got into our tent and immediately, as we closed the tent, it started pouring. We rested for a while. We could hear the others playing games in the other tent but I was feeling too lazy to join them. We rested for some time, and around 5.30 pm, when the rain stopped, we joined the others in the dining tent. We ordered some hot pakodas — they tasted really good.
We all chatted and had fun. Then the helpers set up a small fire, so we went and stood around it. Dinner was ready by 7 pm. We enjoyed the hot food; Prashanth was at his best, service with a smile. We stood by the fire again for some time and then went back to our tent.
We wanted to leave early in the morning because of today’s slow trek. We fell asleep, and suddenly we were woken up by a loud sound — thunder and lightning. It was very loud and bright; we were afraid it would touch us. We could do nothing but lie there and hope it would stop soon. We soon fell asleep again.
We woke up at 5 am and got dressed. We packed our bag and had our tea. We were determined to start early. Everyone was just waking up. We got our packed lunch — it was veg pulao — and thought we would eat it later when hungry and have Maggi for lunch.
We looked around for Sarabjeet; it was already 7.30 am and we told him we were starting. We took our bag and started down. Everything was pleasant and nice, just a bit messy due to the rain. Joshua passed us on the way. We walked slowly as we had plenty of time to reach Taluka.
We saw Sarabjeet running behind us. He looked really worried. Behind him came Sid. He was worried because he did not think we would have walked so far ahead. He thought we were probably lost. He was quite relieved to see us.
We walked on. We were not hungry at all. The others slowly caught up and all stayed together. At around 1.30 pm we came to a bridge and climbed down to the water side. Our team — except for Joshua, who was nowhere to be seen — had gathered there for lunch. We took out the packs and ate the pulao; it was still a bit warm, surprisingly.
We then went down to the water and had a wash. That done, and with another 3 km more to go, we decided to start trekking again; everyone was together. As we got nearer to Taluka, it started getting hot and everyone felt the change in weather. Everyone was waiting to get to the hotel in Shangri.
We soon reached Taluka and waited for the luggage to be loaded in the van. We got in and finally started on the way to Shangri. It took us at least an hour to get there. We were all praying for electricity so that we could have hot water for much-needed showers.
Our van reached first. We quickly collected our bags and headed for the rooms. We requested hot water, and after a long wait, we finally got it. We showered — it never felt better.
We walked around but could find nothing of interest, so we went back to the restaurant and ordered Maggi while we waited for the chicken. There was a very old lady sitting there. I asked her to come talk with us. Even though there was a communication gap, we had a small conversation. We chatted about her family and her work, and she told us she climbs Har Ki Dun and back in a few hours. She was laughing as it took us five days to do the same.
Finally the chicken arrived. It looked amazing and a big portion was served. It tasted really good. We were really satisfied and finally left the place. The others had not yet come up for dinner, so we decided to go back and pack our bags for the journey tomorrow.
We walked back to the room and met the others, then packed our stuff. Altaf came and called us — there was supposed to be a briefing and also our certificates would be given to us. We all walked back up to the dining room and waited for the others to catch up.
Finally everyone was there and we had the briefing led by Sultan from Renoke, who had arrived just that afternoon from Dehra Dun. We discussed the trip and gave our feedback. Then the certificates were handed over to us. Everyone was excited; pictures were clicked; the support staff were thanked, and then it was time for dinner.
The much-awaited chicken was served. It was good, but not as good as the earlier one. Finally we were done and it was around 9 pm. We all decided to go to bed and get an early start in the morning.
Everyone settled down and we fell asleep. Suddenly we woke up — it was around 1 in the morning. Someone was banging the washroom door; it seemed like it was a common washroom. We refused to open the door and settled down again, only to be woken up again with dogs barking. It was quite a disturbing night and even though we were tired after the trek, we could not get proper sleep.
We woke up around 6 am and got ready, as we planned to leave for Dehra Dun around 8 am. The others were also up. After eating we got into the van and soon started on our way, after many farewells to the support team. Everyone was getting restless and we wanted to reach as soon as possible.
You see, treks have a funny way of sneaking up on you like that. You go in ready to take on the mountain. But what you don’t realise until you’ve come back down and are enjoying the feeling of sitting still for the first time all week, is that actually you took on yourself — and you won.
And suddenly you’re sad it’s over. You can’t wait to do it again, because it was a wonderful, painful and amazing experience.
An experience no photograph could ever capture