Sarpass Trek

Flashback:

Location: Pune Airport lounge
Time: 2200 Hrs IST, December 2006
State: Bored, tired and ratty at flights being interminably delayed

The oddest of times when a person gets inspired and that's what precisely happened. I just realised that I wanted to trek in the Himalayas!

A call to a startled friend, who'se an avid trekker, in bangalore and I had the low down of how to go about it and just then the departure call came in. I took off in high hopes but once back in Delhi, forgot all about it.

Back to the future:

Location: Office
Time: 1000 Hrs IST, 7 May 2007
State:Bored, tired and ratty, for no reason whatsoever

A mail dropped into my mail box and I went into auto mode and opened it and to my surprise I saw that it was from my friend's friend who wanted to cancel his trek to a place called Sarpass, in the Himalayas and inspiration returned in a flash! I just had to go!(to Sarpass i.e. :))

I checked out the Youth Hostel Association of India(YHAI) website and saw that there was a slot availble on 11th and went thru the details. A 11 day trek from 6500 feet to 13800 feet?! boss are you crazy? asked a friend of mine..what?! a 10 day vacation?? how the hell will you manage it? asked another..Words had no effect as I booked myself on the trek online. Next step was to some how convince boss about my leave and to my surprise he gave in without a shot being fired.

May 11th. A hectic day and I was already one day late for my trek. At 11 pm I started out from Gurgaon on a rain lashed night and caught the bus to Delhi ISBT. Travelling continously for almost 21 hours, sleepless, on rickety buses, I reached Kasol exhausted but at first sight of the camp realised that the effort was worth it. The camp was in a fairy tale setting, river Parvati flowing by and hemmed in by snow capped mountains!

That evening, I wandered around camp and was getting to know people from different parts of India. I didnt know then, but I would soon become Chotu and Chutki's(the 2 sweetest kids I have ever met!) "Chikappa"or simply "Su", for the dashing Kandus' I would be "Optic Nerve", for the Royal Jodhpuris, the Chattisgarh studs and the Gujarat gang I would just be Prashanth Bhai! Each one of these people were unique in their own way and mannerisms and we had a great time together!.

I had missed the mandatory 2 days of the orientation and acclimitasation and some how patafied the camp leader (bless her heart) that i was fit and ready to go. The next day was the rock climbing and rappelling course and our two young instructors literally knocked our breath away with their dare devil "commando" rappel down of 80 feet of near vertical rock in less than 3 secs!!

The next day after my first open air roof top bus ride, we started our actual trek and after a long and ardous trek, reached the camp. In the next few days we would face treacherous trails, wateralls by the dozens, thick forests, steep and dangerous climbs, heavy rains, biting cold winds and freezing temperatures. the toughest camp was the mountainous zirmi camp and the frozen Tila Lotni at arnd 13000 feet where the it was literally freezing and even the slightest exposure meant certain frost bite..

The final summit at 13800 feet was breathtaking and after a 2 km slide down in the snow, hurtling at close to 45 KmPh in the snow, and a lovely trek, we reached the next camp, Bhandak Thatch. A special mention here. This was the most beautiful campsite and I can confidently say that even Switzerland will pale in comparison with this ultimate grassland hemmed in by snow capped mountains. after that we were actually sorry that the trek would end soon and I can still remember that look on Chotu's face when we were heading back to base camp when she must have been thinking that everyone now will go their seperate paths and will probably forget about each other. Our group had grown close to each other, total strangers who by a quirk of fate were meant to go through the amazing experiences, in the process rediscover themselves. I'm sure SP11will stay strong and we will meet again. As at the end of the day , as someone said, "what is important is the journey, not the destination"



These memories will indeed stay forever!