An En-Route Towards Heaven in The Earth Sarpass

‘’To Move, To Breath, To Fly, To Float, To Gain all while you give; to roam the roads of lands remote; to travel is to live.’’ _Hans Christian Anderson.

It was an evening in December, I have started shipping a cup of hot tea to get refreshments after office and suddenly the mobile rang from one of my best trek mate cum friends, and came to know the planning of our next destiny towards Himachal Pradesh for SARPASS Trekking expedition which made me feel excited and more refreshing on the day coz Sarpass was in my bucket to explore the trails in this beautiful Himalayan region.

SARPASS is one of the most popular and delightful trails of the Shivalik range of the Himalayas. This trail offers an opportunity to enjoy the tremendous beauty of Parvati Valley with Kasol, Nagaru, Biskeri, and Manikaran as its beauty spot. SARPASS is a dream of every trekker to reach once in life.

Trek Grading: Moderate to Tough

Youth Hostel Association of India (YHAI) provides the best accommodation and facilities in camp with affordable trekking fees so, there are always challenges to get an available seat if, you do not book prior. To avoid a lack of seat availability in all programs of YHAI it’s the best way to book seats early or, before 6 months; to ensure that we can get the program booked for chosen dates accordingly, one of my friends Roopa BV from Bengaluru has collected all required documents in a get-together day and booked this program offline in YHAI, Bengaluru office for our group. YHAI has both online and offline booking systems for all states and national-level adventure programs.

We have booked this program in December 2017 for batch – 9 in May’2018 for 10 days & 11 nights.

Though it’s difficult to get long days leave in pvt. sector I took extra 5 days' left to add to this plan to visit my hometown from Pune; I made my best drama and received approval to fly high for long days tour.

Our reporting date was on 9^th May 2018 at base camp in Kasol of Himachal Pradesh. We have planned our meeting in New Delhi, had booked our bus journey from Delhi to Kullu by Volvo AC bus 3-4 months in advance on Redbus.com and boarding point was from Kashmira Gate in New Delhi.

I started Journey from Guwahati to New Delhi on May, 8^th by Air Asia flight. Air Asia has frequent flights between Guwahati and New Delhi and it’s the best service provider next to Jet Airways connecting North-East to India’s capital city.  I reached New Delhi within 2 hrs. and 50 min in morning.  Book your ticket at airasia.com

Our reporting time at Kashmira Gate bus terminus was at 6:00 PM. Once you have more than 5 hrs in New Delhi Airport before reporting time at Kashmira gate bus stand then always prefer the metro train in Delhi because it is cheaper and more convenient than a taxi in Delhi.

If your flight is in the T3 terminal known for both domestic and international flights and your bus is from Kashmira gate then here is a travel instruction:

     1)    Take the airport express line or, the orange line towards New Delhi station.   

     2)    Change Metro at the New Delhi metro station and take the metro towards Samypuri Badli, Yellow line.

     3)    Get down at Kashmira Gate metro station. You will be able to see ISBT from the metro station itself.

Or, if your flight is in T1 or, Domestic terminus and your bus is from Kashmira Gate bus stand then here is an instruction:

     1)    Take a shuttle bus or, feeder bus from T1 to Aerocity metro station.

     2)    Take the Airport express line or, orange line from Aerocity to New Delhi station.

     3)    Change metro towards Samyapur Badli, Yellow line.

     4)    Gate down at Kashmira Gate.

I reached Kashmira gate ISBT before reporting time and found my friends were already reached. This time one of our friends Kalpana from Bengaluru brought her Mama (maternal uncle) for trekking and introduced her to us.

We started the journey from ISBT to Kullu at 7:30 PM (UTC +5:30) and during journey, it was never-ending conversation and enjoyment except for Ajay bhau, he has maintained to keep silent to get sleep. It was Vilas Bhau who disturbed the sleep of Ajay bhau and made everyone sound master inside the bus until dinner time.

A Warm Welcomed by This Lamb: At Kasol Base Camp. 

We reached Kullu at 6:00 AM and felt a chill temperature in the morning. We took a hotel in Kullu for refreshments and after lunch took a local bus from Kullu to Kasol base camp. During this journey, most of the time next to us was the roaring Parvati river and thrilling trails of hills, and mesmerizing views of the Himalayan mountains.

Finally, we reached base camp at Kasol around 04:00 PM. The scenic beauty of the base camp location is heavenly awesome surrounded by rivers, forests, and mountains near by Kasol market. We completed reporting formalities and kept our luggage inside the tent and came out to take out a hot cup of tea served with fried ground nuts. We saw many Himalayan birds like Blue Magpies etc. at base camp. During the ride we were covered full of dust but, it was strictly prohibited to take a bath until acclimatize our bodies at 6,600 feet high. Though we were traveled a lot, not tired and started to play many types of outdoor games and had a lot of fun. At 7:30 PM announced and whistled for dinner and at 8:30 PM we gathered for a campfire as per scheduled. At the campfire we met SP-6, SP-7, and SP-8; at every camp, Groups are denoted in short form based on the name of the program so, here it’s called SP (SARPASS). We enjoyed campfire with Karaoke, dance, and lots of fun and mostly performed by SP-6 on their last night at base camp. For every group they must select one group leader to taking care of the group and for last night at base camp, they must select their host to hostage the program at the campfire. We have selected one of our trek mates Harish Gupta as a group leader and he has received many pet names such as sugar boy, and GoPro bla bla during camping. At 9:30 PM campfire program has been ended as scheduled and the camp leader announced next day's schedule for SP-7, SP-8, SP-9, and higher camp for SP-6. After compulsory drinking bournvita, we went to our tent and fall into tight sleep.

Day -2 in Base camp:

 We woke up at 5:30 AM for tea and were ready to move for exercise. Before leaving any camping, site there is always a rule to count each member in the group and during counting one of our members was missing and camp leader finds out our IITian trek mate Rohit Dorisha inside the tent and gave punishment run around the ground and we have enjoyed his punishment with laugh out loud. As per our guide cum exercise instructor we went to the exercise ground by jogging via Kasol market and we reached half a kilometer. We have tried all exercises as per instruction by guide cum instructor Mr. Thakur. Though he’s Thakur, he has behaved like Gabbar Singh at the exercise ground with a dialogue “Yeh mera tilaka hai, aur yaha jo bhi mein kahunga sunna padega “and he was always ready to give punishment during exercise for mistakes and made the ground like hell. After finishing the exercise with SP-8 we returned to base camp and at the same time SP-7 also returned from acclamation trekking. SP-6 already had breakfast and took their packet lunch to move to higher camp. After having breakfast, we were gathered to wish SP-6 by clapping hands and rousing for SP-6. At 8:30 AM we went for an Acclimatization walk grade -1 and enjoyed the beautiful trees and mountains at Kasol. Warm water was available inside camp so, I took a shower and relaxed till whistling for lunch. At 1:00 PM we had lunch which was very delicious all the time during camping. At 2:30 PM we gathered for orientation and briefing by the camp leader. After this program, we took a rest inside the tent and chatted with our trek mates. This time again I met many new friends from across India and among them, Tulika and Trishita were amazing sis hailing from Mumbai and we always used to chat in Bengali instead of Hindi and English. At 4:30 PM we had tea & snacks served at base camp and went to explore Kasol market or, Mini Israel. Kasol has many Israelis visiting and many of the boards here are in Hebrew language. You will get many recopies of Israel around Kasol and I am sure you will not hesitate to taste of Israel. Despite its positive influence in the development of tourism, Israeli Hippie influenced the generation of Kasol which could be a threat to its culture. We have tasted many and can’t forget that moment when one of our friends started introducing himself as Nepali and speaking Nepali with the owner of Chinese fast food to get extra in quantity and lower in price than original rate of fried Momo plate….  Hahah 😊. We spent more time tasting food and to brought important things like Ponchos, Gloves, etc. We reached at dinner time and received lots of word blasts for delays in the market. After Dinner Campfire was organized; we enjoyed a lot of campfire and shouted one slogan “Fire Fire Camp Fire” and made a crazy moment. After ending the program at 9:30 PM Camp leader has announced for next day's schedule for SP -7 High altitude trekking, For SP-8 acclamation trekking, and for SP-9 and new comer SP-10 Jogging and exercise. After drinking bournvita everyone went to a tent for sleeping.

Group SP-9: At SARPASS base camp, Kasol, Himachal Pradesh

On Day-3 in Base camp:

We woke up at 5:30 AM for morning tea and went for exercise at 6:00 AM to get another lesson from instructor Thakur. We returned at 7:00 AM to base camp and had breakfast at 7:30 AM. After breakfast, we bid farewell to SP-8 for their higher camp. At 8:30 AM we went for Acclimatization walk grade -2 and it was a little bit stiff and long distance compared to grade -1 acclimatization. We did more fun and time pass on this day in the lap of nature at Kasol. We returned at 12:00 O’clock and took a bath. At 1:00 PM dinner was served with the best tasty recipes. After lunch we had more time so we decided to sleep but, due to the sunshine and hot day time we just chat with each other inside the tent. At 3:30 PM we gathered for a scheduled program based on Introduction to AMS & High-Altitude Sickness presented by a volunteer of YHAI doctor about high altitude sickness, do’s and don’ts, and all required information has been shared on this program which was very helpful in higher camp. After completing this program at 4:30 PM served delicious Aloo pakora and tea. As per instruction and schedule, we deposited extra luggage at 5:30 PM and collected tokens to get returned after the trekking program. After 5:30 PM we started cricket inside the camp and some trek mates went shopping or, exploring mini Israel and returned back as per base camp protocol. At 7:30 PM we had dinner and today it was our turn to perform in front of SP -10, SP-11, SP-12, and other staff of the camp. We all sat in first raw and enjoyed Karaoke performed by a senior staff member of YHAI Delhi HQ. We have selected Trishita as an anchor for this program. Before ending camp fire suddenly we heard Garba music and Gujjus run to the open space and performed Garba and we also joined them. At 9:30 campfire ended and announced for next day's schedule for our higher camp and others' normal schedule. After drinking Bournvita we fell asleep.

Me & My Trekking Group during Acclimatization trekking at Kasol Base Camp. 

On Day -4:

We woke up at 5:30 AM for morning tea. We were already prepared for higher camp on day -3. At 6:30 AM we had breakfast and at 7:00 AM we received packed lunch. At 8:00 AM we gathered to move towards higher camp and started walking on claps and rousing voices as wishes from other Groups in base camp. We walked 9 km or, 5 hrs trekking to reach Grahan camp located at village Grahan at an altitude of 7700 feet. Grahan is a small village situated deep inside the Parvati Valley tributaries. During this trekking trail, we found many wild grass flowers and mesmerizing beauty of the village, an ancient Hindu temple with amazing wooden architecture and waterfalls. We reached camp before 3:00 PM and served us welcome drink and met a cool camp leader from Gujrat Mr. Aniruddha Singh Somvanshi at 4:00 PM served snacks and tea. The camp leader has announced that dinner will serve before sunset due to weather conditions and electricity issues. Our friend Shree Laxmi has called the rain before timing due to her arrangement of Chicken curry in a village home nearby camp. Due to bad weather, we had dinner in a hurry and went to a tent for sleeping.

On Day -5:

We woke up at 5:30 AM for morning tea. Breakfast was served at 6:00 PM. The weather condition was still bad and at 7:00 AM we took a packet lunch and moved from Graham camp towards the next camp at Padri. During this trekking trail, we crossed many Rhododendron forests and waterfalls and met sudden rains. Padri is a beautiful site located at an altitude of 9,300 feet which is surrounded by forests with the scenic beauty of snowing mountains. From this camp where the high altitude starts and trails were tuff. We reached this camp at around 3:00 PM which took almost 6 hrs from Graham village. At Padri weather was good. We were welcome with a welcome drink and I got surprised when I found the man as a camp leader from Pune whom I knew. At 3:30 PM we had snakes and tea and after that, we were moved to open ground and explored the toilet was far away from the tent inside the jungle. We had dinner at 7:00 PM before raining and at night the weather was cleared so, it was the best time to capture the milky way.

On Day -6:

We woke up at 6:00 AM for morning tea and explored the open space surrounded by mountains and forests. The weather was very good and we enjoyed the sunlight many trek mates were busy in photo shoot poses. At 8:00 AM we had delicious Chole Bhature for breakfast. We took a packet lunch and started trekking to Mingthatch.

We reached Mingthacth camp at 3:00 PM; This campsite was at an altitude of 11,200 feet and we felt the real taste of high altitude. During trekking, we crossed many stiff mountains, rain, and wind. We were welcomed with a welcome drink we met the angry young man camp leader hailing from Delhi and behaved like a judge on MTV Roadies and we felt like participants of the reality show Roadies arranged at high altitude. We had dinner at 6:00 PM. Though the weather was good we were scared to go toilets coz the men’s toilets were far away down level inside the forest and the camp leader has told us about the threat of wild animals. But we have accepted the challenge to become a roadie with the help of a headlamp coz once you feel the pressure, you can dominate the tiger too 😊 😉 but, did not face any consequences with nature.

On Day -7:

We woke up at 6:00 AM for morning tea. As per the Camp leader’s suggestion, we had fill up more water bottle to carry for next camp due to lack of water access at higher camp. At this camp served us delicious hot Aloo Paratha in breakfast made everyone happier. We took a packet lunch and at 8:00 AM we started our next trekking from Mingthacth to Nagaru camp. We were very excited to reach this camp coz this was located at the highest level of the Shivalik range in this trekking program at an altitude of 12,500 feet and came to know the availability of the mobile network. During trekking on this trail, we crossed many stiff mountain roads, rain, wind, and rhododendron forest. At around 4:00 PM we reached Nagaru camp and were welcomed by camp leader Mr. Himanshu Jaiswal with an interesting dialogue “Mumbai ka …..(something I forgot) aur Mingthacth ka weather kabhi bhi change hota hai”. This guy was the most jolly and friendly camp leader bringing smiles to everyone. It was an amazing or, heavenly beautiful camp surrounded by snow-covered mountains, and the camp leader had shown us one side of the mountain next to the kitchen covered with glaciers used for drinking water and in the kitchen so he had asked not to go there. Here they served a hot cup of tea, a piece of Jaggery, and my favorite Khajur or, Bihari Thekua. After having tea and dessert we enjoyed and cheered for full network availability and everyone started video calling to display their presence at high altitude snow-covering mountains. Thanks go to Jio and Airtel. We had a delicious dinner at around 7:00 PM and they had also arranged Gulab Jamun at camp made everyone happy. After dinner bournvita was compulsory to take before sleeping. The camp leader had suggested sleeping early inside the tent and must leave camp at 3:00 AM before the sun rose to cross the SARPASS trail. At night we could not able to sleep properly due to the tremendous cold.

Our Group: SP -9 Crossing Sarpass Trails

On Day -8:

We woke up at 2:30 AM for morning tea and the kitchen staff had made everything ready on time in the morning. We always should be grateful to those dedicated workers at high altitudes and YHAI for making everything possible. Before leaving we had cornflakes for breakfast and took a packet lunch and started trekking for the next camp at Beskari via the SARPASS trail and Camp leader also accompanied us along with a guide to SARPASS. After reaching SARPASS we gotta crazy to see the amazing blue sky and white ground of snow-covered mountains felt like heaven on this earth. As per suggestion by the camp leader and guide, we have enjoyed more time and captured photos of SARPASS. We spent half-an-hour and started trekking on snow-covered trails which was more adventurous in life. We reached peak of the trail and the only way to reach next route towards Beskari camp is Sliding from peak to down level which was most thrilling adventure. Our guide and sliding professional had helped us and given tips one by one. I did for the first time and did not scare instead of I thought of myself as a bullet and started sliding until auto stop. 😊 After sliding we were walking for half a kilometer on snow and met many pits on this trail finally, we found rocks and green ground where we took a rest and had lunch. After half an hour we were walking again towards Beskari camp crossing wide forest-less plains and finally, we found trees of rhododendron after a while reached a forest area where the camp leader was waiting for us with a welcoming drink and accompanied towards his camp side. We felt very tired on this day and the camp was just like a mirage for us. Finally, we reached and occupied our tent. In this camp, I switch to staying with new trek mates to know each other. I met Rahul Hooda and Amit from Haryana, Abhign Shastri, Akash Sorathia, and Divyesh Bhandari from Surat, Rohit Darisa from Andhra Pradesh, and Mama of my friend Kalpana from Karnataka. We learned the Kannada language from Mama in a tent and had a lot of fun. At camp served us pakora and tea. The camp leader suggested we not sleep inside the tent and asked to explore the wide-open green area; horse riding was also available at this camp provided by villagers. The scenic view was amazing and got awesome when Bakarwal or, Shepherds crossed around the hill with their stockyard. Beskari camp is situated at an altitude of 11,000 feet. At 7:00 PM we had dinner after drinking bournvita we went to the tent for sleeping but, instead of sleeping early we always made fun of. Mostly, Rohit could not get sleep until he plays a game. Till 10:00 PM we all fall asleep.

When I reached my destiny I fall in love with SARPASS.

On Day-9:

We woke up at 6:00 AM for morning tea and after having breakfast and taking packed lunch we started backpacking towards Bhandak Thatch Camp.

We started trekking at 8:00 AM and reached at around 2:30 PM. Bhandak Thatch Camp is situated on a plain ground with green grass bounded by the Deodar and Fir trees at an altitude of 8000 feet where one can take pleasure by playing games in the charming beauty of snowy mountain peaks surrounding the camp. This one is the most and least attractive campsite of this expedition which is also known as mini Switzerland. Here we met the camp leader from the East part of India. We had dinner at 7:00 PM and went to a tent for sleeping, and chatting with trek mates and making fun with Mama of Kalpana was a habit before sleeping.

On Day – 10:

We woke up at 6:00 AM for morning tea. For breakfast, this is the only camp where I got my favorite Maggie noodles and Kheer in breakfast. We took packet lunch and started trekking to Barshani which took less than two hours. During trekking, we crossed villages with many apple gardens and millet farms. Barshani is the road head where trekkers are transported by bus to the Base camp at Kasol via Manikaran. Manikaran is a world-famous tourist spot, the source of the Parvati river where trekkers can enjoy the bath of spring hot water at Manikaran. We reached Kasol base camp at 2:00 PM and met many new batches for Sarpass trekking. Most of the trek mates of our group left on the same day, I and some fellow trekkers decided to finish our closing ceremony after successfully completing the SARPASS Trekking expedition our certificates were distributed after dinner at the camp fire and received appreciation from everyone which brings lots of happiness.

On Day – 11:

After having tea and breakfast I have checkout from base camp towards Delhi from Kasol.

Reached New Delhi in the early morning and Take-off from Delhi to Pune and joined in a busy lifestyle far away from Himalayan.

Our Group: SP-9 At Beskari Camp. Pic Credit: Harish Gupta.

“Backpacking is the best medicine to get rid of stress in life & to get happiness in this world”.

Thank you to all of you for your inspiration to complete my pending article

With Best Regards: 

Diganta Sarma (Digu)