Kheerganga Trek: A Travel Experience with Friends

Dear reader,

It is my first blog. After contemplating a lot about what it should be about, I thought of writing something that brings the wilderness side of me. Those who have seen me might find me a bore. A four-eyed sitting on the front bench usually hiding her face behind a novel. But personally, there has always been a side of me that never settles. Well, I might amaze you in unexpected ways, yet I will be an ordinary face whom you may never look at twice.

Decided then, it's gonna be about a travel experience, a trip I took last year because it brought the biggest smile to my face. Now that I remember it all, It is not easy to take a trip when you are doing an MBA from an IIM. But anyway on 27th Nov, I managed to escape the chaotic world with three other crazy humans and headed off to the most obvious hamlet in Himachal, Kasol. We took a self-drive car from Amritsar; believe me, that is one of the primary reasons that made our trip a helluva fun. So here it goes...my first travelogue about the Kheerganga Trek, the most beautiful and memorable trip, a travel experience with the best set of friends.

It was raining at seven in the morning when the Parvati river could be seen. The view was breathtaking and could give me a glimpse of what lies ahead.

We reached Kasol at 9 and managed to get a place to stay at around 2 km away from the main village which had a splendid view right behind our sleeping place.

We headed straight to Malana village after pleasing our bellies. I'll be honest with you here. Though we were here for Kheerganga Trek, this Malana trek was kind of my first trek. I may be getting slangs from you here for even calling it a trek, but never mind, I am being honest. That one hour had been one of the longest and all I had craved for a second to catch a breath. Somehow, we reached the top and witnessed this native wedding and the folk dance. One thing that excites me the most about a place is its culture. Peculiar as it sounds, natives of Malana consider themselves as pure and would not even allow you to come near their shadow. You should definitely look up the history, you'll be shocked to know the consequences of this!!

After Malana happened, the trip was next level feliz!! The next day, we headed for Tosh and stayed at 11.11_bunkerhouse. It is a very small hostel kind of a place, but it is beautiful. I have never seen so many stars in my entire life, not even from Kheerganga top. Lemme paint the picture for you. It was surrounded by snow covered mountains. There was no moonlight and yet you could see the entire village below you. I was sitting on the wooden logs, all covered with blankets, with my best buddy and counted three shooting stars right there. I would any day visit Tosh again, just to soothe my eyes one more time.

Remember, how I told you I am taking this trip with three crazy humans. Well, no kidding!! On the way, we stopped to see this frozen lake view, all greenish and whitish land out of nowhere. We took the speakers and started dancing on the road with songs playing in the car at full bass of our Etios. Not exaggerating, but after a while, we could see our heads covered with ice pellets. It’s a perfect combination, rain-songs-good high-crazy people.

Since we were steering with randomness, at 3:30 in the afternoon we realized, there is no way we can start with Kheerganga at this time. I mean, that’s what the people said. We took a guide and headed off on our 13kms trek. With a blend of local guide's stories and desi gulp, we managed to reach the snowy top by 9 in the night. Yes, with my turtle speed, that did really happen. And I must say, slipping so many times on those tracks with heart in my hand, was all worth it. The trails of Kheerganga Trek are surreal. It offers you breathtaking views of snow-covered mountains, lush green trails covered with overlooking pine trees, and waterfalls in between that just take you into active meditation mode.

After 9, there's no electricity. So everything was lit by the bonfire in the tent. We glued to it as we almost lost our feet to snow on the top.

An old man was playing flute by the side while we had dinner. No wonder I haven't told you yet. We spent most of our stuff on this thing, Nutella on Roti. Don't judge me but it tastes really good on mountains.

With widened blood-red eyes, we kept each other alive with stories to watch the sunrise. Not everything went perfectly, of course, we slept and missed the sunrise!! While heading back to campus, I knew what made this trip most memorable. It wasn't just the landscape, it was a landscape with faces!!

Cheers,

Jo

Don't forget to take a look at more pictures, here at Snapshots!!