Chanderkhani Pass - The call of the Mountains Part 8 : Adios to the Mountains and trek to Naggar via Rumsu village
Day 9: Adios to the Mountains and trek to Naggar via Rumsu village and back to base camp at Seobagh.
I woke up not at 5 am like all these days though but it was 6 am today. Temptation to capture the mountains one last time lured me out of my sleeping bag. Our camp was empty with only our cooks doing their work. No one was yet out of their sleeping bag.
By 6.30 am. The first rays of sun had started to cover the snowy mountain peaks. It was sight to fall in love with !!! It was really amazing to see the changing colors of mountains as sun rays tried to cover the whole snow capped mountain. I was looking at surreal beauty of mountains for one last time. The realization sipping in my heart that soon the trek would be over in few hours. It will be time to hug and say good bye’s. Only thing that will remain is memories.
Slowly it was good morning for everyone. All had slept well and looked fresh. Our morning tea was a lazy affair for everyone was looking relaxed. No one was in hurry. People indulged in "chai pe charcha", On chatting with our camp leader, got to know that he was also a Mumbaikar and worked for Indian Navy. His love for mountains lure him every year to become a camp leader for 21 days with YHAI at some campsite. I wish and aim to do the same some day.
Today it seemed none wanted to leave, everyone was clicking pictures with various backgrounds, group pictures were being clicked... these would make its away in Facebook's and Instagrams of the world !!! Lot many profile pictures were to change and tons of sharing will take place once all reach home ..... And why not !!! These were not just mere pictures getting clicked, It was memories getting framed forever.
Finally with heavy heart we were all ready with our backpacks by 8 am, We thanked our guide, cooks and camp leaders for their support and with chanting of Ganapati bappa moraya we started our descend for base camp.I looked at the mountains we had left behind. Those majestic mountains that we had crossed. I bowed to them for our safe journey and hoped that call of these mountains never stop and I keep coming back to wander among them for years to come.
Today it seemed none wanted to leave, everyone was clicking pictures with various backgrounds, group pictures were being clicked... these would make its away in Facebook's and Instagrams of the world !!! Lot many profile pictures were to change and tons of sharing will take place once all reach home ..... And why not !!! These were not just mere pictures getting clicked, It was memories getting framed forever.
Finally with heavy heart we were all ready with our backpacks by 8 am, We thanked our guide, cooks and camp leaders for their support and with chanting of Ganapati bappa moraya we started our descend for base camp.I looked at the mountains we had left behind. Those majestic mountains that we had crossed. I bowed to them for our safe journey and hoped that call of these mountains never stop and I keep coming back to wander among them for years to come.
We started our descending trek with everyone in jolly good mood. We hopped skipped and jumped on the way. We were back in the woods and among those tall conifers. We also
came across few apple orchards on the way.
The sight of small villages built on slopes of the mountains was back. We were nearing the end of our journey.
came across few apple orchards on the way.
The sight of small villages built on slopes of the mountains was back. We were nearing the end of our journey.
We reached Rumsu village around 12 pm. The unique thing about this village is that it's the only vegetarian village in India. We sat in the village square under the shade of a tree for our lunch. It was our last packed lunch.Few of our group members parted from here as they decided to catch taxi to base camp. Our guide also was only till Rumsu and we bid him goodbye. Our journey was simple trek down the hilly road and guide was not needed. After lunch we started our onward journey through the village. Passed by narrow lanes lined with traditional houses. Came across a small school for kids. They were overjoyed on seeing us and lined together to wave goodbye. Some of us who had chocolates distributed it among them.
It took another hour or more for us to reach Roerich art gallery which is again a must see and tourist attraction in Naggar. Dedicated to a Nicholas Roerich - Russian painter, writer and public figure who settled here with his family. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_Roerich. The art gallery showcases his painting of Himalayas and is run by a trust. While Ajay,Shreya and few others visited the gallery and Naggar palace and had whole new adventure along with relishing Trout – a local fish. Shreya’s blog describes their wonderful adventure http://smile4shre.tumblr.com/post/89254102336/a-tryst-with-mightiness-royal-bites-a-trout-story
Six of us were too tired and decided to skip gallery visit and head back to base camp. We walked down the narrow lanes of Naggar, passed through a small village fair where jalebis and local sweet delicacies were being made. Not getting tempted we stuck to our aim to reach base camp as soon as we could.
From Naggar junction we luckily got a empty cab and didn't had to wait for long. On reaching Seobagh we proudly entered base camp like we were victorious and had won a war !!!! Seobagh camp was still the same, Buzzing with activities with people from new batches getting ready for their journey while we had just completed ours. Few of our group members who reached early had already left and we also had planned to skip staying for one more night at the camp. After 10 days of wandering in the mountains, All we wanted was to do was to take a bath !! a HOT WATER bath. Parvesh, me and 2 others collected our luggage as planned and bid goodbye to Seobagh and YHAI for one last time and were off to Kullu bus stand. Kullu being a small town so hotels are not expensive and it was easy for us to find one close to bus stand which provided us with HOT WATER bath facility. Thanks to Vodafone connectivity on the trek, I had forgotten the sound of phone ring and that I also used to carry a Blackberry phone, which unfortunately was now buzzing non stop since I reached Kullu with tons of messages and emails getting downloaded !!! We spend our evening wandering in narrow lanes of Kullu market and I was awake late in night checking on the emails !!!
Next day Parvesh and 2 of them decided to visit Manikaran for they had one more day in hand while I stayed at the hotel and in the evening met Shreya who was now my sole companion till Mumbai. Ajay, Nanabhai, Shiv and others had further plans for Manali and were on their way. Maya gave us company till Delhi from where she was off to her home in Hyderabad while Shreya and I spent half day exploring Qutub complex in Delhi and then returned back home. Our journey had thus concluded happily.
From Naggar junction we luckily got a empty cab and didn't had to wait for long. On reaching Seobagh we proudly entered base camp like we were victorious and had won a war !!!! Seobagh camp was still the same, Buzzing with activities with people from new batches getting ready for their journey while we had just completed ours. Few of our group members who reached early had already left and we also had planned to skip staying for one more night at the camp. After 10 days of wandering in the mountains, All we wanted was to do was to take a bath !! a HOT WATER bath. Parvesh, me and 2 others collected our luggage as planned and bid goodbye to Seobagh and YHAI for one last time and were off to Kullu bus stand. Kullu being a small town so hotels are not expensive and it was easy for us to find one close to bus stand which provided us with HOT WATER bath facility. Thanks to Vodafone connectivity on the trek, I had forgotten the sound of phone ring and that I also used to carry a Blackberry phone, which unfortunately was now buzzing non stop since I reached Kullu with tons of messages and emails getting downloaded !!! We spend our evening wandering in narrow lanes of Kullu market and I was awake late in night checking on the emails !!!
Next day Parvesh and 2 of them decided to visit Manikaran for they had one more day in hand while I stayed at the hotel and in the evening met Shreya who was now my sole companion till Mumbai. Ajay, Nanabhai, Shiv and others had further plans for Manali and were on their way. Maya gave us company till Delhi from where she was off to her home in Hyderabad while Shreya and I spent half day exploring Qutub complex in Delhi and then returned back home. Our journey had thus concluded happily.
My First Himalayan journey was more than just a trek – it was an epic journey where I made so many new friends, anxious and joyous moments that we all shared, We would all walk on different paths in our life and may not come together but our journey will go down the memory lane and will be remembered for years to come. A big hug and Thank you to all till we meet once again some place somewhere.
HAPPY READING…….. I will be back with my journey to a new place soon
Here is one more interesting blogged memories of our journey captured by avid trekker and friend Dr Ajay Pradhan who sowed the idea for this trek.
Yet another interesting blog describing our journey penned down by fellow trekker, companion Dr Shreya Bala who also encouraged me to write my blog.
Nice to read your blog. will be going to this trek this year.
ReplyDeleteWas in need of one information.
At what time the full batch returned to basecamp? asking this because i need to plan my return journey back to delhi on same day.
Hi Bro,
ReplyDeleteWe were at Rusmu village in afternoon around 1pm where the guide left us. You have one option to hire a cab directly at this point if you in hurry. Some of my colleagues did the same.
Else it's a descend of another 1hr 30min to Naggar from where you can get local transport to base camp which is 23kms. I reached around 4pm at Seobagh base camp.
All the best and have fun.
OK... This helps.
DeleteBeautifully written that it almost feels that I'm trekking with you. Thanks for the detailed info on this.
ReplyDeleteI'm planning to do this year. Had couple of questions for you,
What was your fitness levels for this? Did you train for this? What type of fitness training do you recommend.
Is there a must buy list that you can guide me to?
I heard that the quanitity of food given by yhai is not adequate, can you please talk about this?
Looking forward to your helpful answers!
is guide must?????
ReplyDelete