BLUE MAGPIE ADVENTURES

Sometime in the beginning of April 2019, the monthly urge to go for a trek started to bug a few of us, which meant that a plan just had to be made. And as tends to be the case, a large part of the work began long before the trek. This involved not just identifying a suitable trek, but also putting together a group, and arranging for the travel and all required equipment.

The identification of a trek, which at first put us in quite a quandary with a range of different options coming in from people, was eventually done quite easily through some research and recommendations from friends.

The trek which we chose was a 2-day trek to Pundrik Rishi Lake, located in Sainj Valley at the heart of the Great Himalayan National Park. The park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which has a protected status and boasts of rich flora and fauna. Our trek would involve reaching Aut near Mandi in Himachal Pradesh and then trekking from the meadows of Shangarh, passing through pine forests and village apple orchards to finally reach the Pundrik lake.

For once, putting together a group for the trek wasn’t too difficult – since everyone whom we got in touch with was dying to get out of Delhi. A group of Stephanians and Young India Fellows from different batches then came together quite easily to be a part of one trek. Instead, the problem somehow became having way too many people and consequently a persistent fear that the group would be unmanageable (made worse by Paritosh, who couldn’t stop reminding people about everything that could go wrong with such a large group).

Fortunately or unfortunately, a lot of people also backed out at the last minute, which eliminated the problem of an unmanageable group. Our final group consisted of 14 people. Anisha, Sagar and Ambika from YIF 2018; Manreet, Shreya, Ria/Shreya, Sidaq, Banda, Mahima and Vaishnavi from YIF 2019; and Beth, Paritosh, Rishwa and Naomi from Stephen’s.

A lot of work went into organising everything and getting the plan going. Rishwa, who took charge of renting all the equipment, coordinated with everyone to figure out exactly what had to be rented and place the order. I had to book everyone’s bus tickets, which involved constantly coordinating with people to ensure that their tickets had reached them and eventually also rebooking all of the tickets when the bus from Aut to Delhi got cancelled without any intimation from the bus operator. We also had to figure out what all food we would take with us because we didn’t want to get into the difficulty of carrying a stove and cooking on the trek.

Thanks to all the efforts, by the time the bus left from Kashmere Gate, everything had worked out very well. The entire group had made it to the bus stand, just in time, all the gear required had also made it to the bus stand (courtesy Rishwa, Beth and Naomi), and everyone’s tickets were also located. Even the en route anxiety of the bus not stopping at Chandigarh from where the tents had to be collected from Enosh (a super helpful and resourceful college senior) was circumvented because the route that the bus took actually passed his hostel.

DAY 1: Delhi – Aut – Pundrik Lake

The next phase of decision-making began when the bus reached Aut. Here everyone got involved in negotiating with the taxi drivers and the group truly began to come together in classic trek style. The taxi drivers’ knowledge of the trek’s starting point was somehow not in sync with all our research and notes, according to which the trek was supposed to start at Shangarh. Because of that, the decision that we ended up making was a bit of a gamble and there was no way of being 100% sure about where we were going to end up.

We eventually had to walk back from the point where we were dropped off to a dhaba of some sort where we ate Maggi and momos for breakfast. It was over here that we crossed paths with another trekking group, and Paritosh promptly saved their guide’s phone number for us to use in case we needed it.

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After we were done eating, we started to walk in the general direction which we thought would lead us to the right place. Guided by Banda who seemed to have the best idea of where we had to go.

The first day’s trail for the trek was a relatively easy one, with a well-defined path. And the weather was really perfect, with a clear blue sky and sunlight that made the green meadows we walked by all-the-more beautiful. All of us had a great time, talking to each other and taking a good number of pictures. In fact, the walk was so pleasant that by the time we reached the point where a IndiaHikes group had stopped for the night, it was only 4 PM and none of us was in the mood to stop so soon.

All of us decided to carry on till the top, come back and then camp there. At the very least, we would camp at the top because stopping so soon didn’t make much sense. But instead, we ended up straying off the path and walking about 5 km extra. A lady grazing her sheep on the hillside led us back to where we were supposed to go and got us back on track. She was our saviour in that sense, but also the opposite because the path that she took was really slippery and almost everyone fell repeatedly, getting pricked by pine needles and scraped by branches with every fall. Manreet and I eventually just started trying to sit and slide down.

After completing the treacherous path shown by the lady, we carried on walking on the path. By this time, it was getting dark and so we did everything we could to ensure that we made it in time. Paritosh, who was in touch with the owner of a guest house near Pundrik Lake called him multiple times to make sure that we were going in the right direction. Even though the owner’s daughter was getting married, he somehow had the time to answer all calls and check on our status. In fact, he spent a lot of time worrying about our group and sent two of his friends down to locate us and bring us all up to the safety of his guest house.

By the time we reached the guest house, the sky was almost pitch black and everyone was exhausted. Which is why it was a relief that the food was ready for all of us to dive into immediately. The portions that we had been served were huge and it wasn’t clear what exactly we were eating, but no one complained because we were starving, and anything was welcome and delicious at that point.

After our extended dinner, we pitched our tents in the dark and then sat around the bonfire that the guest house employees had started for us. Very soon, the conversations turned into a game of dumb charades, with Banda’s acting calibre by far stealing the show. It was quite amusing to see how he was able to complicate relatively simple movie names, to make the acting a lot more challenging for himself. As the game proceeded, those who were tired/sleepy gradually began to head to their tents to call it a day.

Playing dumb charades by the bonfire

Day 2: Pundrik Lake – Aut – Delhi

The next day, all of us woke up early and made peanut butter and jam sandwiches for breakfast, along with some ‘Khatta Meetha’. Around this time, Vaishnavi also led a small meditation session, taking in the fresh air and the calm of the surroundings. After everyone had freshened up, all of us gathered for a few group photos, taken by Manreet who had become the designated trek photographer.

After the photo session, we were taken by one of the hotel employees to the lake which we had come to see. The lake itself turned out to be a bit of a disappointment because there was no water there. It was located in a marshland which we were told was sinking sand and therefore didn’t enter. But the area was definitely really pretty and that made up for the “lake”.

This was followed by an amazing and stress-free period when everyone basically relaxed. Whether it be washing their faces or playing with the village goats. Around this time, Shreya, Banda and Sidaq also made quite an effort to procure and buy hash from the guest house guy. They spoke to someone from the guest house, who was in touch with someone else, who supposedly had a good stock. But in the end, they had to let it go because it turned out that there was none available on that day. It was pretty tough for all of us to see them that upset.

Unlike while going up, the path downhill was not as much of a challenge. And the few people who had a tough time still managed because the rest of the group members were always there to help them out. Naomi, for instance, never left my side and helped me through almost the entire trek. We had managed to form quite an amazing bond really quickly even though Naomi didn’t seem to understand a lot of what I said.

We also passed the Sainj river when we were almost at the end of the trek and most of the group headed down to sit and chat some more.

After completing the trek, the whole group gathered at a stall to eat Yippee, chips and other snacks. Rishwa also bought a bottle of some sort of local alcohol, which was so mild after adding a little water that it tasted exactly like water.

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Walking from there till the Aut bus stand, we waited at another stall where we could sit, eat pakodas, talk and refer to Splitwise to settle the accounts. Up until this point everything was going as planned. What should have happened after that is that all of us boarded our buses and went to Sonepat/Delhi. But two things didn’t go according to plan.

Firstly, seats had by mistake been booked on 3 buses, instead of 2, with there being only one seat on the third bus. So Rishwa, being the responsible and helpful person that he is, went in that bus.

Secondly, the earliest bus (with 6 seats) got cancelled! With no prior intimation or anything from the bus operator. There were 6 of us from this bus: Paritosh, Anisha, Ria, Beth, Naomi and me. All of us ensured that the Ashoka gang boarded their bus safely. And once they were gone, the weight of the situation that we were in really began to sink in. Naomi and Beth were carrying our tents and Paritosh, Ria, Anisha and I all had jobs to get to the next day. So it was almost funny that we were the ones stranded in Aut. 

Our first step was to call Gopal Bhaiya, a trusty guide in Manali whom we knew from Stephen’s. He gave us some good advice on what we could do. We were very confident that all buses from Manali/Mandi to Delhi would pass Aut. So we planned to find, stop and board one of them. But apparently they don’t pass Aut or at least didn’t on that day. The problem of bus availability was also aggravated due to that particular weekend being a long one and buses being fully packed or getting cancelled without prior intimation. So instead, we took a bus to Mandi, so we could board a bus to Delhi from there.

But that evening turned out to be the one when the Mandi bus stand was basically empty and the only buses there were private ones with no empty seats. We also saw the IndiaHikes gang there, led by a guide who was equally if not more confused and lost than us. Which is when we realised that we weren’t in that bad a state after all.

Finally, we took a cab to Chandigarh so that we would be able to take a bus to Delhi from there. When we stopped for dinner, Anisha and I applied for the next day’s leave because there was no chance that we would be able to reach Delhi on time. Paritosh and Ria had made peace with the fact that they would have to reach office late. And Naomi and Beth who did not have a job yet did not have to worry about that.

CONCLUSION

After finally reaching Chandigarh, we were not disappointed again. There was a proper system to buy tickets and all of us got seats on an unusually comfortable bus to Delhi. We spent the bus journey to Delhi looking back fondly at our experiences of the trek and the extra adventure we had had. After reaching Delhi we congratulated each other on finally making it. And returned to our respective homes/offices – exhausted both from the trek and from the road journey to Delhi.

Overall then, the trek reinforced the following lessons:

1. When in the mountains, planning has a very important role to play. Good planning makes a huge difference, but it’s also important to think fast and be willing to adapt in case of something unexpected happening.
2. When lost in the mountains, maintain your cool as a group and help each other. And ask for help. The people of the mountains always look out for you!
3. Do not take private buses! They’re the worst. Always opt for HRTC (or some other state bus operator) even if you have to change the trek. Because they’re really just the best and lead to a better, more fulfilling life.

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About the Author

Ambika Malik A Philosophy graduate and Young India Fellow from Ashoka University, and an education consultant professionally, Ambika has been an avid trekker since her school days. When not trekking, she can be found cracking jokes, eating pasta, and encouraging people to go for treks.