Heading to downtown: It all ends here 🛣

After trekking for around 16 km, I remember, we had a wonderful sleep that night. Early in the morning, our guide woke us so that we can climb to the last destination of Kheerganga, the Kund. We pushed ourselves cause we were waiting for it since last evening and we packed a pair of clothes and started to walk.

The weather was pretty cold, I guess it was somewhere in between 2°C - 4°C. The place was mostly covered by gray-colored clouds, and the wind was urging them to move ahead. A major factor that was missing on the trip was a clear sky. Yet I could not be focusing on the half-empty part of the story, so I shifted my focus towards the half-filled part. After 10 minutes of climbing on a steep surface, we were in front of the Kund. The Kund is a hot water pool near an ancient shiv temple. And from that place, you have an iconic sight of the valley.

After making proper arrangements, we jumped into the Kund. Damn! The moment we entered, time did likely paused and we went idle. The water level was to the neck of Bhaskar and we were no longer experiencing chills. Our eyes stuck to the sight. We were at height and ahead of us there was a piece of land mostly covered with blue-green-yellow colored camps, followed by a series of deodar trees, and at the end, mountains with snow-covered peaks. In the meantime, we were also able to see fluffy clouds passing near us. All this was fascinating and the experience was priceless. After the crowd started collecting there, so we decided to go back. After changing, we visited the shiv temple and then returned back to our camp.

Around 10 am, after having breakfast we started our journey back to the Barshaini. Due to the light rain in morning, the path was turned into mud. We were experiencing many difficulties. Cause of this, the guide took us from another route, which passes through the Rudranaag. We were almost walking in the same formation which we did earlier on the trek to Kheerganga. MC was again leading us. And Bhaskar was walking in a zig-zag motion. Although Punnu was a bit relaxed this time. And I was gossiping with Iuc. In the next 2 hours, we were crossing the Rudranaag village. And there MC found his Sultaan.

Barshaini-Rudranaag-Kheerganga

The Barshaini-Rudranaag-Kheerganga route is mostly preferred by trekkers, cause of its less trickiness as compared to the Barshaini-Kalga-Kheerganga route. Although Barshaini-Rudranaag-Kheerganga trek has steeper climb. It passes through apple orchards and villages. Apart from this, you will observe iconic views throughout the trek. From Rudranaag village, the path goes in parallel to the Parvati river and beauty of the Parvati valley. Also, there are various small waterfalls that cross the path.

In the evening we had our bus for Delhi from Bhuntar. So we were skipping halts and walking at a good pace to reach on time. We bought fresh red apples from a local vendor, at a farm, and they were sweet and juicy. I wanted to pack more, but we don't have space. Since the route was straight and we were aware of the destination, so we were more confident and taking risks. As we crossed through the Nakthan village, we were almost 4 km away from the Barshaini checkpoint.

I remember, MC and I sat near a rock and clicking a few of our photos with a view of the valley. We were talking about the predictions which we made yesterday at Barshaini. We were glad that Punnu and Bhaskar made it with fewer difficulties. Although Iuc surprised us more with her stamina. She made it far better than the other girls of our 20 people group. As we saw a brownish wild lizard, we immediately move away. Then we realized we were way behind from the squad. So we decided to run. The experience of running on a steep trek, where on one side there are mountains and on others a deep green valley is invaluable. The way breeze was touching my face while my heart beating faster, it is a kind of addiction to me. After running for 10-15 minutes, we finally meet the remaining squad, although something was fishy. Iuc was mad at someone(it's still a secret) while Punnu was furious over guide. I was feeling bad for Bhaskar who was suffering in between them. I can understand, it was tough for him to be silent.

At 2:00 pm, we reached the checkpoint of Barshaini. Although the remaining group and our guide were missing. We got to know they were behind us and would take an extra 30 minutes to meet us. We were hungry, so we ordered lunch. As we finished our lunch, everyone reached there. It was 2:45 pm, our cabs were in front of us. We had a bus at 5:30 pm from Bhuntar, which meant we need to leave Kasol by 4:00 pm in any condition. Now the race with time begins. Punnu, MC, Iuc, and Bhaskar boarded to Kasol on a cab. While our guide, 5 members of the other group, and I boarded another cab. After dropping the other group to their basecamp, I was supposed to book a cab from Kasol Taxi booth, which will take us to the Bhuntar. As we moved ahead, we met with an accident. Although we were safe, only the cab's axles were damaged. So the guide and I left the cab and he took me to the Kasol Taxi booth, and from there we hired a cab and then I reached the camp to pick my squad.

We left our basecamp of Kasol at 04:30 pm. Though I already shared criticality to the cab driver and asked him to drive fast so that we can reach Bhuntar by 05:30 pm. MC was sitting on the first seat. On the middle seat, Iuc was on the right, Bhaskar at center and Punnu on the left. While I was sitting on the last and packing my luggage. As we cleared the check-post of Kasol, our driver changed his gear. We started to experience a roller-coaster ride. However, our bags were flying from one seat to another in presence of the gravity. In the next 30 minutes, we were at Bhuntar. Yes, our driver drove with craziness. During these 30 minutes, we defeated a swift car on race. Seriously it reminds me of Fast & Furious: Tokyo Drift, but I never wanted to be its part while sitting on the last seat. I tried my best to pack my luggage, but I wasn't able to change my clothes.

We were at the same point from where we started. It was the Bhuntar Private Bus stand. While traveling from Delhi to Bhuntar, we deboarded at this spot. I didn't realize how quickly my 3 days trip was coming to end. Now again I need to repeat the same office routine. However, I told myself one day I will re-visit this place, complete my checklist, and maybe that time I will be staying for a longer duration.

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