In July 2017, we finally planned a trip. Who were we? Abhishek, Kamal, Kriti and Shubhu. I had always wanted to travel. When I was a kid, I traveled to various states in Himachal Pradesh for tournaments but hadn’t been able to travel since 2009. So, a group was finally formed: Kamal from Rajasthan, Shubhu from UP, and Kriti from Bihar. It was a strange group, with different people and different tastes and cultures.
We somehow ended up at the bus stand in Sector 43 of Chandigarh, though I don’t remember how we got there. Waiting for your teammates or meeting them before a trip gives you a new kind of thrill. We were all hyped up and let me tell you, it was kind of an unplanned trip in the sense that we did not book any package. The plan was to just go and explore. I did not have very high expectations for the Triund trek, considering it is one of the easy trek, and Kamal and I had watched some vlogs of it, and we were already planning that after completing this, our next destination would be Khirganga (because it is relatively difficult).
We were early and the bus to Dharamshala was late. We started around 12, and Shubhu was enjoying the bus running through the mountains, as it was his first trip to Himachal Pradesh. Kamal had already gone to Manali and Rohtang Pass (a trip that I missed). And Kriti, as usual, did not show much emotion.
We reached the Dharamshala bus stand around 4:30 A.M. We drank some tea and there was no transport that could take us to Mcleodganj this early in the morning (Mcleodganj is a small part of Dharamshala situated in the mountains, while Dharamshala is relatively a plain valley). There were two options: to wait until 7 and take a taxi, or start walking to Mcleodganj. We chose the second option and started climbing the small trail that goes straight to Mcleodganj. It was early in the morning, the temperature was a little cold, and it was a sunny day. The sun was not up in the sky yet, but its rays were spreading far.
On our way, we found a British lady with whom I found out that she had married a Tibetan emigre many years ago. In Mcleodganj, there were many Tibetan emigrants who came there with their spiritual guru, the Dalai Lama, when China occupied it. She told us that they had a son who was traveling the world on a bike in a rally to free Tibet. After some time, we reached the famous monastery of MCG. We had heard that Tibetan bread was famous. I took one, it was very soft but had almost no flavor at all.
Because we came with no planning, we had no idea where the track starts (I still don’t know). We took a taxi to Bhagsunag. It is a small town with some hotels and small hippy markets and restaurants. We were hungry and tired, so we found a hotel so that we could rest a little and we were planning to start the track on the same day. We found a hotel that was beside a swimming pool. We were not able to sleep much, so Kamal, Shubhu, and I decided to take a deep dive in the pool. When we got to the pool, it was sunny, and we checked the water temperature. It was ice cold (later we found out that the water was coming from a waterfall and that the waterfall starts high in the mountains, basically it was ice water flowing down the stream). We jumped in at the count of three, it was super cold and once I jumped in everything went quiet and cold until Kamal and Shubhu lifted me up (both from each arm). The pool depth was 6ft and I am 5’9″, I was barely keeping my nose out of the water standing on my toes. We got out within 5 to seven seconds and then jumped again after some time. It was super refreshing, that’s what we needed.”
We woke up Kriti and had lunch. The food was tasty, or it was just the feel of the surrounding that we found simple rajma and tandoor roti delicious. Now we were planning to start the trek and it was around 2:30. Kamal and I went to a wine shop to purchase some beers and Shubhu got the work to get tent confirmation. Kriti secretly took our picture, one of her hobbies is to take pictures without our knowledge and candidly. When we came back, we got to know that Shubhu was having an argument with the tent booking person. When we got there, we found out that he was refusing to give us tents when he found out we were planning to go on the forest path (and we found out from Shubhu who found out from someone else that there is a more dangerous trail which goes through the forest). The shopkeeper told us that it is a dangerous path and sometimes people get lost (or die) on the forest path so he could not give us a receipt (if we got lost and died, his receipt would be found with our belongings that might cause him some issue).
But Kamal and I looked at each other with glowing eyes and we had already decided that we were going that way (finally something interesting was happening). We all agreed and started the trek toward the Shiva cafe. After some time, we met some people from Delhi who also wanted to go on that path and we all started to trek together, but three of their friends decided to stay at the cafe (which was a good decision for them, considering what was about to happen).
We four and 7 or 6 of them started to climb the trail (I don’t remember the exact count, I am writing this down after almost 5 years). We had only climbed 1 km when it started to rain. We all were standing under a tree and there was one more person, a shepherd with his goats who was going down. The rain stopped and we went a little higher. Now it was clear ground with a sunny sky. There was a small shop, some people ate Maggi there and I guess I took chai. Two tourist couples were also standing there, they were going down. I was wearing a white t-shirt and shorts, that t-shirt was partly transparent due to the rain. I had a small conversation with the couple, and the lady told me that I looked wet and sexy and I was blushing like a small girl. And we started climbing again, there we got one more companion with us, it was a mountain dog with lots of furs to protect itself from the cold. After climbing and looking at the GPS which was showing no way. We reached a ridge and the mountains in front of me were super close. I am from the mountains but even I was mesmerized and had no words. We all sat there looking at that magnificent view. And then the sudden cold wind starts to blow (it was the beginning of a storm that we were about to face). One more person came down rushing and informed us to either go up quickly or go back down as a storm was hitting super fast.
We were sitting on grassy terrains, tall trees were left behind and only small grass on the land was there. Suddenly, the wind started blowing. We decided to continue moving upward. As we were going up, the wind speed started increasing, and finally, it was so fast that we were not able to stand. We were all lying down on the ground (crawling like Spider-Man). To make the situation worse, hailstones also took part in this, and now a windy storm was slowly turning into a hail storm. We were somehow managing, but the guys from Delhi were in real trouble. It was their first time in the mountains and they didn’t even know how to walk on those kinds of tight trails. The situation kept getting worse and it was only between 4 to 5 in the evening, and it started turning black around us. We started helping them, we were holding them by the arms, carrying their bags, and just pushing them to keep moving.
I would say we were very frightened and tired, some people were thinking that they were going to die. Only then, Kamal went ahead to find some shelter. And after some time, luckily, he found some old ruins, kind of buildings, and we all started moving there. It was a one-floor small place where a shepherd used to stay with their animals like goats and cows. The place inside was small, you couldn’t stand inside, it was barely 4 feet around the corners and 5 feet in the center. The roof was made in a reverse V shape like an average Pahadi house. We were all wet and cold. We decided to change clothes.
It was the shelter of the shepherd whom we met in the beginning of this trip after the Shiva cafe. We all sat down there, it was not very comfortable, but we were sitting close to each other because it was cold and waiting for the storm to pass by. Inside, where we were sitting, I lit a cigarette with my lighter. It was a very beautiful Scorpion lighter. And we all took out the eating stuffs that we had and alcohol as well. Kriti had bought Thekwa, a traditional dish of Bihar and we had some cookies and namkeens. We did not take out our beers because it was super cold and we did not have the guts to drink it. We had some Vodka, magic moment and I believe 2 quarters of teachers from Delhi, guys. But after some time, Shubhu started facing some issues with his breathing and he went outside for some fresh air, so I also went behind him.
That is when I saw one of the most beautiful views of my life. It was completely dark outside, because even the lights went out in Dharamshala city, but I saw glowing eyes all around me. Those eyes of animals were shining bright around us as there were many cows and goats around us. Also, now the sky was all clear after the storm, so the number of stars in the sky were infinite. Everyone came out to see that view. We were all tired so we tried to sleep. In the morning we woke up, collected our stuff and thanked the other shepherd, and started moving toward our destination.
While we were talking at night, we found out that after the ridge of Triund, there is a trek of 3 km more till the snow point, where even in July month you can see snow. So, we had already decided that we were going to trek till there. Early in the morning around 9, we reached Triund. We missed the sunrise and famous sunset, but instead, we had another unforgettable experience.
But the story was yet to reach an end. The guys from Delhi thanked us for saving their lives. Many times we asked them if they would like to travel to the snow point with us, but they all were not in that condition. We did some breakfast and our teammate Kriti also decided to stay there. After sitting for some time, Kamal, me, and Shubhu started to go even higher to see snow at the snow point. Shubhu was still not feeling well and was facing a little issue but we kept going and finally, we were just below the snow-covered mountains. On our way there, we were warned by someone that around 2 PM daily weather started to change and we should start coming back around that time as there were chances that the weather might be bad again.
At the snow point, we found some snow and crystal-clear water. I cannot explain how happy we were. We were shirtless there, drinking that ice water directly from our mouths, throwing snow at each other. It was my first time at that much height as well. I was thinking it would have been awesome if we could climb those mountains. Kamal agreed to the same. Around 1:30, the climate started changing again, clouds started gathering again, and we had no power left to spend one more night like the previous one, so we started our return journey but with a little catch. Kamal and I decided to jump from one rock to another not putting our feet on land and we did this for almost 1 Km.
“We were back at Triund, the sun was still up, and it was a warm day. Kamal and Shubhu decided to take a little nap. I was not feeling sleepy, so I with Kriti moved to one side of the ridge. I lay down on my back and put my arm on my eyes to protect them from the sun, and Kriti sat beside me. We started talking to each other, and we talked about many topics. That is when I noticed that a little far, around 200 meters, a girl was also sitting by the trunk of a dried (cut) tree. It looked like she was looking at us, but I ignored her by thinking that she was a foreigner and we don’t exactly know from that far where a person is looking at.
After some time, we decided to go to Kamal and Shubhu as we were getting late and we still had to reach Bhagsunag by night. Just when I got up, two foreigners came to us, and that girl I was talking about was standing between them. They asked us that they were not able to get any signal on their cell phone. So, I informed them they should move a little down, they might find a signal there. They started moving, but the girl kept standing there looking at me. I asked her if she had to go in English as I thought she was a foreigner as well, but to my surprise, she was Indian and she replied in Hindi “Nahi, Aajraatyahi camping Karnihai” (No, tonight we are going to camp here).
After that, we talked for almost 20 minutes standing there, where she told me she was American-born and she had been there for almost 17 years, it was her first time coming to India and she was from Gurgram. We were already getting late, so Kamal and Shubhu were calling me. She asked me to camp there at night, but we had to return that day. I didn’t take her number, and I regret it till now. We started going down this time from the right path, but this trip’s adventures were not coming to an end. We were only 1 or 2 km down, and Kriti’s shoe broke down. Now she was walking barefoot. Because of that, her speed decreased and the gap between us was increasing. It wasn’t easy to walk barefoot on that stone-covered path. So, I decided that we would all walk without shoes so that we had similar pace.
But we were already late and after some time it was dark. We were now moving in between Bhagsu Nag village, but we had yet to see another side of Bhagsu Nag. People there had converted their houses to home stays and foreigners from all over the world stayed there for many months. We asked some of them for a room but they were mostly occupied and we found out that they did not want to give rooms to Indians because they do a lot of bargaining. Now it was almost 9 pm and I was concerned that we might not find a hotel room and we would have to spend the night outside, so I asked Kamal and Shubhu to quickly go down and find a room so that we could sleep, and they did the same. So, Kriti and I were walking slowly and I noticed that two foreign girls were coming up in hikers and we were going down. One of them asked me, ‘How much?’.
I was not sure what to answer. Then a bystander next to us informed them that I was not the one. We reached Bhagsu Nag and Kamal and Shubhu had already purchased a hotel room. Once we reached there, I told Kamal and Shubhu what had happened. We planned that we would go back after we took a bath (Haha). But we were so tired that we were not able to take a single step. After dinner, Shubhu and Kriti were in deep sleep but Kamal and I were not. We took out the beer bottles that we were not able to drink during the trek and one cigarette pack was there looking at us. We drank and talked and talked for many hours about various things that we would do in the future. It was one of the best trips I had till now…”
