Why trust? I’ll
come to that in a while.
Things happen
when they have to happen; you meet people when you’re destined to and you visit
places when they call out to you I guess.
It was meant
to be because after a lot of mental wavering and rejecting assignments, I took
the train to Chandigarh on my journey to Himachal Pradesh, for the Deo Tibba
trek in the Kullu region. As usual (this is becoming a regular thing with me),
I messed up and reached a different YHAI base camp in the shivering cold at 3
a.m.; that gave me an inkling of how the weather was going to be.
Finally when
I reached the Dobhi base camp (4820 feet), the correct one, I was told that the
next group was to be merged with us as they had only 12 registrations in our
group. So, it was supposed to be a group of 50. One by one, people started to
trickle in and introductions were exchanged and judgments were being formed, as
they almost always do. And these judgments change, almost always again. And
they did!
The first two
days were spent in acclimatizing ourselves to the weather and the place. Our
trekking destination was perched right there, overlooking our campsite, a snowy
dove with its wings spread, static, as if posing – the magnificent peak of Deo
Tibba. The snow clad peak and its neighbouring mountains allured us with its
grandeur. Out there in the clear blue skies, birds without feathers flocked
together. In a plethora of colours, they contrasted against the blue and stayed
there, in the air, suspended for a while, dillydallying as if lost in thought,
before they touched the ground, only to make way for new ones to join the fun.
Dobhi, it seems is a paraglider’s haven and the sport apparently has picked up
in a big way which was evident from the continuous burst of the winged fancies
in the sky. Flowing beside the campsite is the river Beas and on the first day
itself, we found a beautiful place beside the gurgling waters and sat there
with our feet dipped in its iciness, soaking the tranquility of the scenery. For the acclimatization walk, we were taken to a small hamlet on a nearby mountain. The whole region is filled with apple orchards and we saw a few cabbage plantations as well. ‘Woh ghar dikh raha hai, wahin jaana hai’ proclaimed the guide. Ashwini was disappointed as we trekked on both days and came back but he still didn’t spot the house.
The trek
Jagatsukh to
Tilgan Camp (7000 feet)
We went in a
hired bus from Dobhi to a small town called Jagatsukh from where our trek was
to commence. We (my tent mates) were surprised to see people lined up at the
Katrain market en route to wave to LK though he denies that. The initial part
of the trek wasn’t very exciting as we walked on cemented steps in alleys, the
path meandering between and beside houses.
The latter
part of this short trek was through the forest. All of us were happy that there
weren’t any more cemented steps to tread on. We came across another small group
where we broke for lunch; they had their tent pitched and were swaying as one
of them played one track after another on his guitar – he had a very soothing
voice. As we continued trekking post lunch through the dense pine forest, like
magic, out of nowhere came a beautiful open space surrounded on one side by the
peaks, now being slowly engulfed and shrouded by the blackening clouds, and on
all other sides by the sloped forest. It was picture perfect. Everyone wanted
to stay there. Our campsite was adjoining this magical realm. It started
thundering in a while.
This campsite
will well go into our mental treasures as this was where the invisible bhalu
(bear) was introduced. The bear traveled with us everywhere but we never saw
it. We did brave scorpions though, in the toilets, in and outside our tents. A
special mention to Archan and Alankar who fought the crawling creatures with no
swords or knives but with the most ergonomically and practically designed
weapon – chappals (did I mention, they were LK’s).
Tilgan camp
to Sarotu (8000 feet)
The trek to
Sarotu was a very short one. Again it was through the forest and we reached our
next campsite soon. A sudden musical rendezvous started as we sat on a rock to
enjoy our tea, one member after another joined in and vocal melodies filled the
evening air as the exuberant cotton balls in the sky showed their adroitness in
changing shapes, beguiling us as we failed to concur which arrangement was the
best fit on the canvas. We could see the town of Manali from here.The bear was
lurking around; somewhere.
Sarotu to
Dumdumi (9500 feet)
It rained. And everything changed. Ponchos,
wind cheaters, raincoats, bag covers were out. The trek turned moderate as the
ground turned slushy. People started slipping and falling but we managed, staggering,
helping each other on the way. This was a longer route than the previous two
days and every bit of it was enjoyable, more so for the bit of challenge it
imposed. The rains never left us though it was more of a drizzle. As we reached
the campsite, which was at a considerable height, the Deo Tibba peak felt so
near. It turned freezing cold suddenly; the rains wouldn’t stop. This was the
highest altitude we would trek; we weren’t going to traverse the peak (double
the altitude).
The sky was a
mesmerizing delight. It was something that’s going to be embedded in my memory
forever. It looked like a huge alien spaceship engulfing the skies, inch by
inch, multiple horizons sprouting up with a multitude of snowy fluorescent
peaks rendering it into an artist’s and photographer’s delight.
Dumdumi to
Karabhandari (8000 feet)
Snow, Snow,
snow. We trekked through and on snow, had snowball fights. The previous night
we were hassled about the rains and how difficult it would be to trek today on
snow. The sky got clear, no rains. The highlight of today’s trek was the
crossing of a wide stream. We discovered how difficult it is to walk over ice.
This and the previous day’s hike were the highlight of this trek.
Descent to
Jobri Nalla
Descending is
always tricky, challenging, yet fun. This was to be our last campsite. We
trekked on the decline through the forest and amidst changing sceneries for
almost four hours to reach Jobri Nalla. We had been only in each other’s
company and nature for these few days so it felt disappointing when we saw
PEOPLE, CARS, WRAPPERS close to the campsite. The tents were pitched
overlooking a dam. Everyone’s eyes were fixated on the astounding mountain
before us.
The last day
was another long trek back to Prini and then taking a bus to the base camp. The
highlight was spotting the grand eagle and debating if it was a vulture or an
eagle. It was disappointing to not sight a variety of birds; the only ones I
saw were magpies, bulbuls, mynahs and the eagle. A few of us were fortunate
though to collect eagle’s feathers as souvenirs.
Now for the
trust factor. We had in our midst, a group of 14 visually challenged persons
and quite a few of them were first time trekkers. 4 of them couldn’t see at
all. The guides and a few of us volunteered and helped them throughout the
trek. It would be an understatement to talk about their achievement. All you
had to tell them was to keep their foot left, right, raise, there’s a stone
here, there’s mud here and they followed your instructions and most importantly
their instincts. No-one complained, no-one ever gave up. They fell, they rose.
They showed us their will, they showed us their way. They won. They won our
hearts. A salute to them! A big thank you to Kuldeep, Chethna, Geeta, Anubhuti
and everyone else who never left their hands and helped them in every possible
way to accomplish this feat.
Trekking
teaches you a lot of things. The first day, it was difficult to wake up at
5:30; the next day onwards it wasn’t. The camaraderie you share with your trek
mates, even though for those limited days is priceless. You tend to forget who
you are, you carry less mental baggage. You just BE!Every moment cherished, every moment lived. Thank you YHAI, thank you friends for being part of my life when I lived some more.
Apart from the trek itself and the beautiful lap of nature, what made this trek memorable was:
- the special group and their liveliness
- met great people and made amazing friends (hopefully at least a few will keep in touch)
- the variety! Kids, teenagers, middle-aged and the experienced elderly. A right mix of genders. Helpful people. People from Maharashtra, UP, Gujarat, MP, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar, Delhi, Karnataka etc.
- conversations I had with everyone
- a lower dose of Gujarati. It was an overdose in the last YHAI trek.
- my tent mates, the guffaws at small things, teaming up and conspiring against LK to beat him at ludo
- the teas, breakfasts, lunches, snacks, soups, dinners and bournvita that we had; more importantly the way we had it. It shows that you’re in the midst of good friends when you get to eat 7 gulab jamuns when the restricted quota is only two (than you Priyanka, Kanika, LK and all those who shared)
- can I ever forget the singing sessions? Well I won’t try to! Especially the last day’s morning session in the base camp (thank you Alankar for the music, thank you Kanika, Anubuti and Priyanka for your brilliant vocal renditions)
- the camp fires (Thank you Nilanjana Madam, Titli, Poulomi and everyone mentioned above for sharing your talents, thank you Pillai sir for your sweet speech).
- new lingo learnt – Jhanki, bakar, kantri (courtesy Vakil sahib)
the interminable clatter on politics in our tent(You AREN’T welcome Alankar, Ashwini and Kapil)- Kalu, Snowy, Shruti and a few others
A few tips:
- Kullu, Manali, Dobhi can be reached by bus from Chandigarh (9-10 hrs) or Delhi (around 14 hrs)
- The trek starts from Jagatsukh
- In case you have forgotten to get any trekking equipment, there are markets in Kullu, Katrain, Patlikuhul (all near to Dobhi)
