Travelogues

The journey was absolutely smooth and happy with some rough turns though. A quarter of our journey was spent in playing dumb charades and the rest of it in sleeping and talking.

We reached our base camp, Manali, at around 10.30 a.m. on the morning of May 17, 2007. A majestic view from there with the sun light falling on the layered snow on the mountains was absolutely a refreshment for the city-struck eyes. We freshened up, had lunch and strolled till the Beas river.

It was a nice and calm day that ended with an enjoyable game of throw ball and rock climbing. Waiting for the dinner to be served, 18^th was a bright morning with the sun shining happily from the Himalayas. We got ready for the acclimatization walk scheduled for the day. We started off for the 2-3 hours walk with a guide accompanying us. Not used to walking in the mountains, I started panting heavily due to climbing like a zillion stairs in the beginning. Going a little ahead, we encountered a brown snake that suddenly jumped from an uphill and slithered past between Tulsi and Mridu. God! They screamed so loudly that we all got shocked for a second. They gave us the explanation of their scream and we all were thrilled to hear it! Going a little Farther ahead, we found a snow patch that was slippery enough To take us back to the Beas river that was flowing far below. The thought terrified me and made me walk up as slowly and carefully as possible on the patch. The patch was melting down into the stream of water. Taking a little risk, we all walked on the patch and sat there for a while admiring the melting snow. Took some pictures there and walked back to our base camp. The evening was pleasant and got colder when it started raining.

Back at the base camp we played some games and when we were exhausted we had the hot soup being served and then the delicious and much-awaited dinner. It was a long day for us but the ghost stories made us stay awake for a while even after dinner.

19^th was the day when we had to pack and leave for camp 1. We had been told that it is a tough trek till camp 1 and two guides were to accompany the six of us. The way to camp1 was beautiful but a bit tough and long and we reached in 6 hours to camp 1. We were in awe to see the scenery from this camp. Our camps were situated exactly opposite to the breath-taking view of the Himalayas. After crossing all those terrifying paths, the lush green mountain steps that were steep enough to roll us back to Beas, Camp 1 was a refreshing and warm welcome. We could see the eagles and vultures spreading their wings wide to cover the Himalayas with their elegant flight. Towards the evening, our camp leader, Aditya, took us to a shepherd who was accompanied by a 300 sheep and goats. The shepherd liked to be called ‘Daddu’ and filled our glasses with warm goat milk as if welcoming us to an all-together new world. The amazing thing about Daddu was that he had traveled from Chandigarh to this place, 14000 ft above, in 25 days and his plans were to reach Spiti from this point on. It is awesome to know how unconventional some people are in leading their lives. After a warm chat at Daddu’s den, we came back to our camps, had dinner, lit a small bonfire and went to sleep to get ready for the next day. A few of us went for river crossing the other day. Tied with the harness and the rope, swaying in the middle of the two mountains, I caught a glimpse of the massive peaks of Himalayas and it felt as if the mountains were singing a lullaby to me J.

We moved for camp 2 on the same day. Initially, the walk was quite steep, but we carried on and took short breaks in between. I’ll admit that I was the