Himalayan Trek - Part II

We were woken up at 6 am with tea. We had to get off quickly lest the tea get cold. We then learnt how to take care of our daily ablutions in the Himalayan heights. After a nice breakfast we again set-off for the next phase of our trek. We were now getting used to the 8 – 10 km treks daily with the guides leading us and the rest of the crew packing up and then catching up with us pretty quickly and then overtaking us to go and set-up the next camp site. The second camp site was Badang Bugyal at 10,037 feet. It was again a fabulous location with excellent views of the mountains.

The night was pretty interesting where we heard some leopard roars at a distance. For me the highlight was the unforeseen spectacle of the UFOs past midnight during a loo break. I saw a sudden flash of blinding light and zoom it was off leaving me dumb founded. A couple of others also witnessed this spectacle towards early morning.

Well, the next day was even more eventful for me. We had a steep climb throughout the day that left me with mountain sickness. My head was pounding and eventually I threw up as the combination of altitude, snow and sun light got to me.

But the climb was worth it as the Vijay Top Camp Site (11,648 feet) offered a 360⁰ view of mountains all around. Some climbed all the way up to the peak (12,059 feet) to get an even more spectacular view while some of us settled for a nice rest after an arduous climb.

The sun-set was magical as the sky changed colors rapidly.

The moon rise was even more magical as it was a full moon that emerged out of the mountains.

The bone chilling cold winds had us all bundled up near the campfire. Our isolation by now from the rest of the civilization was complete. We were not getting mobile signals for over two days. We stopped encountering people along the way. The magnificent isolation was excellent as we soaked in nature without any disturbances.

We changed our plans at the point to reduce our trekking as people like me were finding it difficult to negotiate the altitude and climb quickly. The hydration pack came in very handy as I constantly sipped water to keep myself hydrated.

We walked on a series of ridges with snow as we reached our highest trek point (12,275 feet).

We then crossed over from one valley to the other (Rupin Valley to Supin Valley). Called Rikkata ki Odi (12,084 feet), this point again was just out of the world with a series of snow peaks offering magnificent views.
























We had a good view of the Swargarohini peaks, Ranglana peaks, Bandarpunch peaks and glacier and the Jaundhar glacier.

Legends say Swargarohini peaks form the path to heaven that was followed by the Pandavas. It is believed that is only way one can go to heaven with human body itself.

We spent some time clicking pictures and didn’t want to move from there. But we had to as the clouds were building up in the horizon.

(To be continued)