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Group in Rumsu, the Starting point of the Trek |
Day 0 : The journey began with a Volvo, the name which is synonymous with
ultra luxury and comfort in India, in the transport sector, and with
safety the world over, from ISBT at 2000 hours. The Swedes it seems have
tailor made these buses for Indian requirements since the whole bag and
baggage of the 13 strong trekking party, which was quite something in
itself considering the rations for 5 days etc., was easily accommodated
along with that of the other co-travellers. The group consisted of
people mostly from in and around Delhi except for the enthusiastic
exception, “dada” who had come all the way from Kolkata to be a part of
this trek. Once aboard the bus and out of the cacophony of the Delhi
city, we had our packed dinners and while some chose to doze off the
rest continued getting to know each other better, way into the night.
Day 1 : The bus dropped us at Bajora (a town which is approximately 3 kms
before Bhuntar) at 8 AM, where a Tempo Traveller was waiting to pick us
up. After loading the luggage literally on top of the Tempo traveller we
drove till Bhuntar, where we took a break in order to break the
nocturnal fast. Next we drove to Rumsu, the starting point of our trek
which is around an hour and half’s drive from Bhuntar. Here we were
handed packed lunch and it was here that we met our guide, the porters
and the three most welcome companions who have made trekking a
possibility for our lot; the three beasts of burden that would help us
carry our luggage through the rugged terrain, the ever useful mules. The
common luggage was loaded onto the mules & we started our trek
exactly at 12pm. The target for the day was Naya thapru, a camp site
around 6 to 7kms from Rumsu. The target was achieved with some effort
and to mark the achievement a bonfire of logs from the jungle was lit up
and dinner was gobbled down around it before entering the havens for
the night.
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First camping site |
Day 2 : A beautiful cool morning, which is a pleasant surprise in these
parts, greeted us as we prepared for the day’s trek. This was a new
experience for even the seasoned trekkers among us. The valley was ripe
with the sounds of the mountain birds and the fresh mountain air was
very soothing and energizing. Snow covered peaks dotted the horizon on
the other side of the valley which made waiting for breakfast also very
difficult. We began the day’s trek immediately after breakfast and after
successfully negotiating a steep climb of around 2-3 hours we reached
the top. The porters arrived with our lunch and we were only half way
through it when it started raining cats & dogs. In a few moments the
scenario worsened and the rain turned into a hailstorm. We took
shelter under a bunch of trees as we waited for the hailstorm to
subside. It was only after half an hour that it slowed down & we
decided to move on. The rain which we had expected to stop in a few
minutes continued till the next morning. We reached the base of
Chandrakhani pass at around 4 PM & pitched our camps there. As it
was freezing cold and still raining outside the dinner was served inside
the tents. All of us slept early with the pitter-patter of raindrops on
the rooftops to keep us company.
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Between first camping site & base of Chandrakhani Pass |
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At second camping site (Base of Chandrakhani Pass) |
Day 3 : To our great relief the rain which had started the previous
afternoon & continued throughout the night, stopped in the morning
& weather started showing signs of improvement. The snow covered
Chandrakhani pass was visible in front of us and we started moving
towards it immediately after breakfast. The weather improved through the
day and the peaks which were invisible due to the clouds in the valley
started appearing one by one. Bright sunshine and clear sky greeted us
at the pass and provided a magnificent, breathtaking view of the
surrounding peaks. Lots of pictures were clicked by the time porters
arrived with lunch which we happily ate while admiring the beauty around
us. One of us had the bright idea of taking advantage of the sunshine
& drying our clothes but the clouds had started gathering in the
valley, where we were headed, so we decided to hurry up & reach our
destination, Nagruni, before all hell breaks loose again. Contrary to
our expectations, the trek to Nagruni was a long one and it was past 5
o’clock in the evening when the last of us reached the camp site, by
which time it had started drizzling again. It had become extremely cold
and while some of us braved the weather to collect wood from the jungle
the rest thought it prudent take refuge in the tents. As the rain
subsided the courageous few again came together to get the fire going
and with it began the party. No sooner had the drinks been taken out
than it started pouring again and thus the party venue had to be changed
to the royal Shamiana, which had been setup keeping in view of such an
eventuality, a learning obtained during previous such endeavours. With
the rain in no mood to give us some respite, dinner had to be taken in
the tents. Surprisingly though the night wasn’t as cool as the evening
which may be attributed to the cloud cover over the valley.
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Second camping site |
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You can see Chandrakhani Pass at the top centre |
Day 4 : Though sleeping is the only thing that we did during the nights,
night in itself has many funny incidents to offer as noted in our
previous treks, so every morning there used to be someone or the other
sharing some incident like “Menace of the Snoring Partner” etc. On this
particular morning somehow there were no interesting happenings and
almost everyone said they had a good night sleep. Though the rain had
stopped the morning was extremely cold and the first thing that we did
after coming out of the tents was starting the fire. The day’s trek was
not a very long one so everyone was getting ready at leisure. We had the
breakfast around the fire and left the camp around 10 o’clock. The trek
was through the farms in Malana which is famous for the Malana cream.
Its aroma was spread over the fields and we were completely intoxicated
by it as we passed through them. The trek was a steep downhill to the
road near Malana Dam that is built on the Malana River. All of us
reached the intended spot by 2 o’clock and from there we took the tempo
traveller back to Kullu. We boarded the overnight Volvo bus from Kullu
& reached Delhi the next morning.
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Chandrakhani Pass |
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Third Camping site (Nagruni) |
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