En route to Kheerganga 🏔
It was 7:00 am, as per expectations MC was the first among us to get up. He announced in Punjabi, “Whoever wants to see the sunrise, get up otherwise I am leaving!”. I remember in the Shimla trip, this guy left us and went alone to see the sunrise. But this time I didn't want to miss, so half-heartedly, I came out of bed. And then we all collected and headed for a suitable place to see the sunrise. We remembered a park near the bridge, but that was closed. Although we tried a few alternatives, nothing worked. After all this, we headed to a breakfast stall. Punnu ordered tea and rusk for us. From the stall, anyone could hear echoing of the Parvati river. I was centered on our conversation but the smell of yummy parathas broke it. Yes, I was starving of hunger yet I controlled myself. Before returning to basecamp, we collected some refreshments and water bottles cause our guide asked us to arrange them from downtown.
With quid pro quo, we managed to get ready by 10 am. We already had a shower and breakfast, and now our bags were ready for the trek. We were waiting for the cab which will take us to Barshaini. Barshaini is one of the entry points of trek to Kheerganga. Due to heavy demand and after some wait, we were on the way to Barshaini. With some photo clicks and a pickup of another group, we reached Barshaini by 12 in the noon. When I reach there, I was surprised to see people waiting for us. Nevermind, for the first time people were waiting for me. In our group, there were a total of 20 people, including 5 of us. Although the guide was already by our side. So no worries we will always be going to get more priority.
By 2 pm, we were at our first checkpoint of the trek. Yes, we were en route to Kheerganga. Everyone was cherished and enthusiastic, maybe that was some impact of music or they might be high. We were going to Kheerganga through the Kalga trek. Kalga trek is around 15 km in length and passes through a dense forest. Although it's less steep compared to the other trek which passes through Rudranaag. Still, Kalga trek was known to be tricky trek cause it's hard to remember the route in a forest. But at that time, there were many people with us who were trekking to Kheerganga, if we forgot path then we won't be lost. This scenario will never come cause we had a guide this time. After some rest, we resumed our trek. MC was leading us with the guide, he was having a conversation with the guide. We were doubting, if MC spends 2-3 days more with him then he will surely start work with him. Behind the MC, it was Bhaskar who was following him. Bhaskar was walking in his own rhythm. Sometimes I was in doubt, he might be sleeping while walking. Behind Bhaskar, there were Punnu and Iuc. Both of them were snooping and sharing their stories. And as always I was walking in the last. I was observing them and listening to story of the girl who was just walking behind me, though I don't know her, however, there was no harm in listening.
It had been around 3 hours since we were walking. In that duration, we had crossed:
- two 12-inches wide wooden beam bridges
- a slippery rocky edge, where most people slipped in front of us
- and various obstacles on the path due to a recent landslide
After all this, we experienced a light rain shower. No doubt it made our trek too tough. In various sharp edges, there were boards written in memory of those who lost their lives at that point. Since the trek was surrounded by trees so the voices were echoing, and a water sound of some unknown source was dominating everything. After a few more steps, we were able to identify the source. It was a waterfall and its water stream was damn powerful. We stopped there for some photo clicks. MC and I went closer to the waterfall, and we experienced water was too cold. Its sound was dominating everything, and from there we started to feel chills. We resumed our trek by crossing another big hurdle. This time we crossed a wooden bridge placed over this waterfall stream. It was made up by tying three long wooden logs, without side support.
After walking for around 20 minutes, we finally took a long halt for refreshment. We occupied the best table to sit, from there we were able to experience a beautiful view of the valley. We ordered tea and Maggi for ourselves. The breeze was soothing and chilled. Due to the rain, a pleasant earthy smell was filling the ambiance, and the song “Mitti ki Khushboo” started to play in my mind. We spent almost 40 minutes there. Plus we got a needful rest. Now we were almost 5-6 km away from the Kheerganga and we resumed our trek with more energy.
The sun started to set. And a forest turns gray quickly than a plain region. No one was interested to struggle over a muddy trek in dark. Our guide asked us to walk with more pace so that we can reach to the basecamp of Kheerganga meanwhile he will push other slow movers of the group. So we started to walk faster. Then I realized that I have lost the track of Punnu. He was supposed to meet us ahead but I was unable to locate him. After 30 minutes, I asked my squad “Does anyone know where is he?” I got to know from Bhaskar that he will meet us directly at the basecamp. I was confused about how to react over this. Basecamp was still at least 3 km away. We didn't even know which camp will be ours. We didn't know anything about the place. He went all alone and with limited sources. With this thought, we decided to move fast so that we can reach him before we lost each other completely. All I remember, we were asking everyone to allow us first. And wherever we find a group of people sitting we were flashing torch and calling his name. After 45-50 minutes finally, we took a breath of relief. We found him.
Since we were ahead in our group so we settled at that place. We were waiting for our guide and the remaining group to reach us. We were sharing our experiences and laughing at our stupidity. I was still looking at the sky to get a glance of stars. I heard that from Kheerganga, you will find a beautiful view of stars. Unfortunately that night there were only clouds and chilled breeze. The basecamp was packed with the crowd. I was feeling myself to be in the quidditch match tournament of Harry Potter. As far as I was able to see, there were only people who were babbling or cracking jokes, camps with a bonfire outside, and music. After spending half an hour, the remaining group reached there. And then our guide took us to our second last destination of the trek, our camps. If we were an hour early then we would definitely get the chance to take a bath in hot water spring. We heard a lot that after finishing the trek to Kheerganga when u take a hot water bath all your tiredness and stress will disappear. We didn't have any other choice, so we started to wait for tomorrow's in the hope to experience the magic of a hot bath.
We had our dinner, we played a few rounds of Uno. I don't remember who won or lost this time. But I remember where and how things were that time. Bhaskar and MC were inside and resting. Punnu, Iuc, and I were sitting outside near the bonfire to warm ourselves. Meanwhile, Punnu and I were also finishing our pending businesses. We were sharing the moments of that day and laughing.
When thinking of the day, I was feeling like a king after all the privileges which I received and yes I was happy with this. Also, this time Bhaskar added a different flavor. He gave full support to MC with his PJs and they gave us many reasons to laugh all the time. In Iuc, I found the best gossip partner. We were gossiping all over the way to Kheerganga. We didn't even spare our group members. The trek is worthy and full of adventures. It requires an act of great courage to walk 32 km over a hill, with so many obstacles on the way. An announcement made, and lights outside the camps were closed. And this was a sign that our day comes to an end.
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