DALHOUSIE Yhai TREK

DALHOUSIE TREK '06 by Dhaval 

 31st December – 1 January 

HAPPY NEW YEAR! All set. As the clock needle crossed 12 at midnight and I started packing my bag for the trek. I wanted this trek to be the perfect opening ever of the New Year. As I spent the night packing my stuff, the duo of Sanjay and Atul had a couple of quick swigs at their own private function. Nevertheless, there we were, on Mumbai Central platform, ready to take on 2006 in full gutso. We boarded the Swaraj Express train from Mumbai Central at 6.45 am on 1st Jan ‘06. The day went past like a breeze. Needless to add, by the time it was night we had crossed the cozy states and were chugging into the cold, rather freezing ones. Luckily we had sleeping bags and we managed to stay warm enough. But from the next day morning till the time we reached Pathankot, sun was as rare a commodity as pure love. And it remained so till we reached Amritsar on the 11th. 

 2nd January ’06 

 The train reached Chakki Bank, our station, in the afternoon around 2 pm. We alighted the train dressed as someone who’ve just made a success of cross-Antarctic tour. Our bags were already light as most of the warm wear was on our bodies. We took the 3.30 pm bus from Chakki Bank to Dalhousie. Guyz, the adventure starts now… the moment we boarded the bus. The driver of the bus was a pakka Surd. And the conductor was yet another pukka Surd. That makes one deadly combination of duo-Surds. There was another group of 3 (two guyz nd a gal) reporting for 2nd Jan batch, a batch prior to us. One guy and the gal went out to eat something. Think that the cold made their minds numb and so they decided to go to some obscure place outside the bus station to eat. Here the two Surds kept getting mad by the moment because of the delay. 

After the great drama that ensued the bus finally took to the road. Half an hour-45 min. into the journey and the bus halted at a tea stall to provide some respite for the shivering souls. We three immediately located a tea stall and gratefully stated gulping down some hot tea. Along with it were garma garam bhujias. As it was getting very cold outside we went a bit inside the open stall. After our fill when we came out, we literally froze. No no… not because of the cold, but because to our horror we found out that our bus was no longer there. The bus had simply left us behind. Welcome to Punjab Tourism! 

But the bigger problem was that our luggage that had three cameras and the cash was still in the bus. Thus began the Big Chase. We immediately hired a taxi and started chasing the Bus. But we soon found out that catching up with a bus driven by a Sardar driver is next to impossible. On top of that our taxi fucker purposely drove slowly so that he can take us as further as possible. So finally we reached Dalhousie at around 8.00 pm. And the damages?? Rs. 700/- for the taxi. Luckily we got back our luggage as the bus driver and conductor decided to spend the night in Dalhousie owing to heavy snowfall there. But the moment we reached Dalhousie we could clearly sense that we’re going to have a gr8888 10 days ahead of us. It had already snowed there. We were all excited as we walked through 3 inches of snow to our hotel. The hotel called ‘Day and Night Hotel’ was just 5 min. from the bus stand. The peak season rates displayed were Rs.1000/- per night but we bargained and checked-in for a cool Rs.300/- (one of the many advantages of travelling off-season) First thing we all did was station ourselves in front of the only heater in the room. After we were sufficiently warm and with our sensory organs back on track, we did the first natural thing. Order for some booze in the chilly weather. Had a great candle-light session that night. Two pegs and our cold had vanished. A hot dinner of dal and rice followed and we retreated in our cozy room that sheltered us from the heavy snowfall outside. 

 3rd January – TREK OFFICIALLY BEGINS DAY 1 

 We woke up around 6 am to experience one of the most beautiful morning of our lives. Throughout the night we could hear sounds of chunks of snow falling on the roof and on the ground. When we stepped outside the hotel, the sight was simply unbelievable. The whole ground, roads, roofs was covered in a thick blanket of fresh snow. Standing there, it suddenly struck me where all the beautiful pictures on the picture-perfect post cards come from. Our hotel waiters were all fast asleep in the biting cold. That means we had to venture out for tea. A welcome outing. We immediately strapped on all our winter gear, took our ponchos and set out on our first few steps in the snow. 

Mannnn what a feeling that was, passing cars covered in snow, snow on the doorsteps, snow on the roof, snow on the trees, snow on the railings. Snow everywhere. Finally snow in our shoes too. We went to a dhaba and had some delicious breakfast of garma garam Paranthas and tea. Fully charged, we decided to take a walk. It had started snowing lightly. Looking back, Dalhousie looked similar to the conditions in the movie ‘Black’. We took the route that leads to NHPC. Mesmerizing is the word. The road was nowhere to be seen. Forget vehicles. And there we were three men, clad in our ponchos, enjoying our walk with only the sounds of the nature to accompany us. After a good 2 km walk we met a local. He was a retired army man who worked for NHPC (National Hydro Power Corporation). He told us that the snowfall which was 4-6 inches deep now was merely the warm-up. According to him and many others to follow, by February the snow touches a height of 8-10 feet. And we froze again. All the while we thot that we were experiencing heavy snowfall and this local comes and tells us that this is nothing. Then came a piece of advice. Never venture out at night. If you have to, do so in groups of three or more. Unless one wishes to come face-to-face with a hungry bear. Hearing that we quickly retreated our steps back to the comforts of Dalhousie city. Then we went to the Youth Hostels. We met Mr Chauhan who was the Base in-charge and he invited us to have lunch at YHAI. Since today was neways our reporting day we agreed. Also we had to check out by 12 noon. We did some essentials shopping, mostly woolen, collected our luggage, had our lunch at the same dhaba and proceeded to officially check in for the YHAI Dalhousie Trek ’06. 

A reminder guyz. The trek is yet to begin. All that you read above was just the prologue. As soon as we enrolled, we were allotted a room. Basically bunk beds. Around 18 beds in one room. We took the top 3 beds. There was a toilet attached to the room as well as a common toilet meant for a floor i.e. 3 rooms with 54 beds capacity. The consolation was that we got hot water at the basin and for bathing. But who wants to bathe in such cold conditions and with such airtight morning schedule. In the evening, after tea, we collected our essentials. Two blankets, a sleeping bag, an inner sheet and a trekking sack. All provided by YHAI. That same day in the evening was the campfire at the base camp. The concept of campfire at YHAI is a bit different (for those who haven’t been to a YHAI trek). Burning of wood is not allowed as YHAI believes in doing its bit to be eco-friendly. A candle is lit by the Camp Director to denote the beginning of the campfire and it is extinguished when the campfire ends i.e. 10 pm. Our batch no. was DW_16 (Dalhousie Winter Trek Batch no.16). Today’s campfire was supposed to be organised by our previous batch DW_15 who were due to leave for the trek the next day. We had a nice time, with some truly brilliant performances by some co-trekkers. The campfire ended with a mug full of steaming Bournivita. And we snuggled in our sleeping bags, bracing for yet another early morning start the next day. That’s the end of Day 1 (Reporting Day) of the trek. 

DAY 2 of the Trek Acclimatization Day 

 Mobile alarms started ringing as early as 5.15 am. The first was my alarm. Tho the bed-tea timing was 6 am everyone was skeptical of getting up so early and alarms kept ringing literally every 5 min. till 6 am. Dot on time came the bed tea. By that time half of the trekkers were still in their sleeping bags, and the other half were in the toilet either brushing, shitting or shaving. All shivering, doing everything but bathing. 7 was the reporting time for the morning exercise. We trotted till Subhas Chowk, a popular spot in Dalhousie which was 2 km from the hostel. Sanjay, Atul and myself were already acclimatized to the weather b’coz of our previous day’s walk so we enjoyed more. After a 20 min exercise session at Subhas Chowk we all returned to the base camp. Breakfast greeted us and we relished the eggs and porridge. Next followed bidding bye to DW_15 batch who were due to leave on trek at 9 sharp. This was immediately followed by our Acclimatization walk. We had to fill our sacks with the 2 blankets provided and a full water bottle. Basically getting used to carrying weight. The walk was to a place called ‘Panchpula’, located some 3 km. from Dalhousie. 

We went by the so-called road, coz the road was all covered in snow. On our way we were treated to some breathtaking scenery. Snow-capped peaks with clouds as their blanket. Tall trees, beautiful scenes of houses situated on mountaintops far away et. al. We reached the place, Panchpula in an hour and a half. As our instructor told us, the peculiarity of the spot where we were sitting was that sunlight touches base for not more than 5 mins. on any particular day. And when the winds start blowing, it’s not possible to remain put on that spot for more than 5 mins. As it is, without the wind it was already chilly. So no one dared to imagine the place with strong winds. After a brief formal introduction of every member we headed back. A group leader (Bhavesh) and a Co-coordinator (Nikhil) were also elected by a unanimous decision. Something about our batch. We were 41 in total of batch DW_16. Fathom this. 80% of our batch was from Mumbai. Out of which 80% was made of Engineering students. And 100% of those were from Mumbai. So it was a Mumbai majority in Himachal Pradesh. In the evening Chauhan briefed us about the trek to follow. Because of the heavy snowfall at the upper peaks our route was to be altered. Instead of the cross country, mountainous terrain, we were to walk by the road. Mountains during winter can be a dangerous proposition. And with the first break of sunlight, as the snow starts hardening and melting as it happened in our case it becomes as slippery as oil on tar. But because of the road route, now our distances increased by 3-4 km on an avg. per day. Now we were to cover 35 km in 3 days. That was a bit dampener but only till we set out on the trek and realized that going by the mountain route is really not a good idea. 

Then followed the normal set of instructions. Don’t expect the same facilities at the higher camps. Don’t act as individual groups but gel with others. No shorts allowed. No alcohol allowed (not even brandy and no rules bending even for females). Cigarette smokers were to smoke at 50 mtrs. distance from any of YHAI camps. Sounded a bit tough but what the heck, we all had better things to look forward to like the trek, than to worry about anything else. Today, it was our batch’s turn to organize the campfire. Maharashtrians, more so Mumbaiites being in overwhelming majority, it opened with the song ‘Jai Jai Maharashtra mazha…’ After some cool performances by the .15 gang of guyz from St Agnello college, Mr Chauhan concluded the campfire with some of his trademark ‘shayaris’. Our batch earned the distinction of conducting the best campfire of all the groups so far (with only one group more to go) Soon after, we buried ourselves into the sleeping bags, anticipating an exciting day ahead. 

DAY 3 of the trek Dalhousie to Kalatop 

We were supposed to leave the base camp and proceed to the higher point by 9 am. I must mention here that one consistent characteristic of our batch, courtesy girls, was being late. And YHAI is the epitome of discipline. When our batch didn’t leave by 9.15 am the Base Camp leader sunaoed us as to how ours was the first batch that has breached discipline. Everyone listened patiently, as if no one cared. However, by 9.20 am we were making way through slippery snow towards our first destination Kalatop. Something about Kalatop. Kalatop is the same place where the lovely film ‘1942-A Love Story’ was shot. Besides that, the peculiarity about Kalatop is its name. ‘Kala’ means black and ‘top’ means top. Put together, it’s a black top. The reason is quite practical. The jungle of deodhar trees is so dense that you can see the sun beyond the trees but the sunlight doesn’t reach the ground. The result, freezing cold conditions. Add to it winds that blow at speeds. Believe me you, there’s nothing as bad as winds in snowy condition. Even a gentle breeze penetrates your monkey cap and hand gloves. Enough to send a chill right down to your toes. And if you get wet in such conditions, then be prepared to brave out a tough night, one that you’re sure to remember for your entire life. 

We were lucky not to experience the terror winds at Kalatop but nevertheless, the whole route was simply amazing. Also in snow, with your woolens on, trekking can be quite an experience. The moment you start walking you feel hot and start sweating buckets. But even 5 min. of halt, after 3 hrs of non-stop walking, is enough to freeze you to the bone. One thing that all our guides and instructors kept warning was never remove your jacket in snow, however warm you might feel. You may not realise it but the sudden fluctuation in body temperature when it comes in direct contact with the cold can be quite destabilizing. Never mind, our first halt was at a place called Lakadmandi. We had our packed lunch out there. Peppered with ‘red chutney’ provided by Sanjay, the lunch tasted better than a buffet spread at 5 star joints. On the way towards Kalatop comes a key Air Force base, called ‘Dayankund.’ It houses the radar tracking system for the entire Northern section. We had plans to visit the Air Force base which was 3 km from Lakadmandi but since it has snowed quite heavy in the area the road route was closed. The guide was also reluctant to take us there as it was too risky and so we had to drop the plan. After some fun sliding in the snow, we proceeded towards our first night halt. 

We reached Kalatop camp around 4.00 pm. The camp site was simply out-of-the-world. Two wooden cottages located on mountain cliff. You sit in the corridor and simply keep gazing at the marvelous range of snow-capped mountains straight in front of you. You sip tea sitting there, you eat dinner sitting there and you also shit there. All the while, the majestic mountains in your view. That evening was were fortunate to witness one beautiful sunset. And the path towards the sunset point was where we had a swell of a time. It was like the mountain had steps on it. And because it had snowed heavy there you could easily jump 6-8 feet down from one step to another, and land on the soft cushion that the snow created. It was absolute bliss as we jumped our way down. After dinner and campfire, we locked ourselves in the warm comfort of our cottage. Only to realise in the morning that the roof had a big hole. In the morning there was more good news waiting for us. The temperature at night had fallen to -2 deg. Lucky for us, there was little or no wind. The entire hilly area was infested with wild bears and other animals and so venturing out at night was strictly prohibited. If anyone had to, then only in groups. Thus ended the first wonder-packed day of our trek. One thing I forgot to mention here. We learnt to wash our dabbas and utensils with snow. Since the cold water instantly numbed your fingers, snow was a preferred means to wash dabbas. And to our surprise, quite effective too. 

DAY 4 of the trek Kalatop to Khajjiar 

After the dot-on-time bed tea at 6 am and breakfast that followed, we were ready to head towards our next destination Khajjiar. But late as ever. Again a customary lecture followed as how this batch had the worst time discipline. And again, courtesy girls in the batch. Around 8-8.30 am we left Kalatop and started our march. Today we were supposed to go only by road as the jungle was out of bounds coz the snow had started melting. And as I mentioned earlier, it becomes very very slippery when the snow first hardens and then melts. On our way we saw bear pugmarks left, right and centre. Our guide told us that our previous batch was fortunate enough to spot a bear in the wild. For a good half an hour they were clicking photos of the bear who was standing on a high cliff right above them. For the next couple of hours, I spent my time looking up in the mountains, trying to located a bear. But that was not to be. We had to first head back to Lakadmandi and then take a detour from there towards Khajjiar. Khajjirar is popularly known as Mini Switzerland. It has a huge ground, more of a glacier. What makes it comparable to Switzerland is the dense cover of deodhar trees that rise high to compete with the mountain tops. The Khajjiar glacier is surrounded by such majestic trees on all four sides and mann what a sight that is. No camera can capture the beauty as good as our eyes can. And no words can do justice to its magnificence. When it snows, the whole ground has a thick cover of snow. Though we couldn’t see that lovely sight, the simple thought made us realise its beauty. 

By the time we reached Khajjiar it was 4.30 pm. We had touched an altitude of 8300 ft. The only place worth seeing in Khajjiar, after the glacier is an ancient temple. It’s probably one of the rarest temples in India that houses the wooden carvings of all the five pandavas together. After a visit to the temple we went to our camp. And we were greeted with yet another out-of-the-world view of the snow-capped mountains. The hotel rooms we were staying in overlooked the same mountains. Directly behind our camping site was a beautiful temple of Shiva. Still under construction, famous personalities like Rajesh Khanna and Lata Mangeshkar have donated to this temple and their names are carved in stone there. The temple site has a mammoth Shiva statue that’s 81 ft. high. And the statue is located in such a way that the backdrop is the mountains. Now that’s a heady mix of scenic beauty. Truly amazing. Here the camp leader informed us how difficult it is to procure wood for even heating water. Cutting or even taking wood of a fallen tree is a legal offence all over Himachal Pradesh. That explains how we saw numerous trees that had fallen all through our trek route. The trees can rot but no one is allowed to touch them without permission. That’s one really positive step that Himachal has taken. Apart from banning plastic bags in the state, a rule that is openly flouted by the locals themselves. This time, the hotel rooms were smaller and we had a great time amidst the confusion that ensued in trying to accommodate 15 guyz in one room. Breathing, rather snoring into each others ears. Feet within cms. distance from the one sleeping below, that was the scene. But the unexpected positive outcome was that the room became much warmer because of the crowding. And we had a peaceful night’s sleep as the wind whistled outside. 

DAY 5 of the trek Khajjiar to Mangala 

We woke up to a bright day staring in our face. The sun had come out. That meant a more slippery road ahead for us. The guide had already warned us about the first hour and a half when the night dew settles on the snow and makes it ultra-slippery. As per him, if we manage to navigate the first hour in the snow then the rest would be a cakewalk. My adhesive tape had adored the feet of many femme fatales. Today we were to embark on a steep descent of almost 4000 ft. From 8300 ft to less than 4000 ft. The sun was in its elements today. Luckily we encountered snow only for the first one hour, as anticipated by our guide. Then it was only mountains and mountains and mountains all around. But everything fell perfectly into place. There was sunlight but no snow. That meant little or no threat of UV rays harming your eyes. So no need of wearing protective goggles. And that meant we were able to enjoy the scenery with naked eyes. The climb down was fun, though steep. On our way we encountered many small clusters of huts, forming a neat settlement. The highlight of our descent was the kids that dotted the landscape. At every settlement small kids greeted us with delight and a smile spread wide across. Amidst shouts of ‘Hello Uncleji’ and ‘Namaste Uncleji’ they happily posed for photographs. At one point we met an old lady who showed us four generations of her family. All at one place, together. And just try to imagine, that old lady, easily in her 70s and as nimble as a deer, effortlessly glided down with us till the base. The kids carelessly wandered on the mountains, choosing the steepest of edges to run around. 

What to say about the ‘pahadi’ girls. No words are enough. It’s like beauty is their godmother. She graces them in every feature. A picture-perfect face. A fairy like complexion. And an hourglass figure. And believe me you, that’s an understatement. We met one such fairy at a settlement. However eager we were to capture her in our camera lenses, we had to coax a lot to make her look up for even a second. Ultimately we succeeded. And we continued our descent with reluctant steps. We came across a rich diversity of flora along the way. Bright red leaves. Snow-white tiny flowers. And green leaves with razor sharp, needle like thorns on their surface. Wish we had some knowledge about them. On our way, we had our lunch in a school compound. A school nestled in the mountains, at a height of around 6000 ft. There we had yet another heavenly lunch, peppered with red chutney. Then onwards, for the next 3 hours, Sanjay, Atul and myself increased our pace and descended non-stop till we reached Mangla village. We reached Chamba at around 4 pm. Already waiting down for over half an hour was our 62 year old co-trekker. A retired Lt. Col. from the Army Engineering core. He had fitness and energy levels that’ll put to shame a young guy in his 20s, like me. The 62 year old gentleman was the first one to touch the base camp, way ahead of the 40 younger participants. In fact there were quite a few inspirations, at least for me, in our batch. The first two were Sanjay and Atul themselves. The former 45 years old while the latter 47. Then there was a 61½ year-old Bengali babu who was had retired from the Indian Railways. Then a 40+ aunty from Delhi whose determination was worth commending. Though with a walking stick, at times the guide carrying her sack, always last, but she successfully completed the trek. Then there were a couple of Gujju guyz, one of them 38 years of age. Guess every trek has its own inspiration stories. Our group surely had its fair share. Everyone suddenly seemed to have shifted into relax gear on touching the base camp at Mangla. 

The 3 day trek was officially over. We had covered a total of 35+ km. Enjoying every bit of it. We were a bit sad and disappointed that our romance with snow had ended, and so soon. That evening everyone decided to go to Chamba, a marketplace known for its chappals and a lovely Laxminarayan temple. We could see Chamba in front of our eyes from our base camp. It seemed to be at a distance of barely 10 min. walk across the fields. But what we didn’t see from that angle was a deep valley that separated the two villages. It was a good 8 km ride from Mangla to Chamba. After visiting the temple and some token shopping, the college group from St Agnellos and us three decided to treat ourselves to non-veg fare. After 6 in the wilderness, chicken simply melted in our mouths. After our satisfactory fill, we returned. There too we lived up to our reputation and reached a good 15 min late than the cut-off time. This time I’ll blame the food and not the girls. As usual a customary dress-down lecture followed and we were allowed in with a stern warning that the bus next day will leave at 8 am sharp. Without any delay. We slept sound, while snow capped peaks kept flashing in front of our eyes throughout. A deep imprint was already registered in our brains for good. 

DAY 6 – Curtains Mangala to Dalhousie 

To everyone’s surprise, we all parked ourselves in the bus a good 10 min before the scheduled time. YHAI had hired a state transport bus. Masti, hungama and singing echoed in the bus till we reached Dalhousie. On the way we stopped at a dam, an NHPC project. We reached Dalhousie around 11 am. When we reached Dalhousie on the 1st Jan, Dalhousie was under a thick blanket of snow. Today, there was hardly any snow to be seen. The face of Dalhousie had changed completely within a couple of days. Then followed the mandatory filling of feedback forms. I think most of them aired their honest views about YHAI and the trek. Because soon afterwards a verbal duel ensued between the oldest (Delhi) and one of the youngest females (Mumbai) in the group. Frankly wonder, who was more immature amongst the two. And no points for guessing, the reason was pretty silly. Most of the members had to hurry up their packing as the bus to Pathankot was due to leave at 1 pm. Most of them had to skip their lunch in the process. Judging from our trek- trip where we visited Dalhousie, Pathankot, Chamba, Dharmashala and Amritsar, the bus frequency in the North is quite less and erratic. Also most of the times, the bus drivers and conductors scare passengers about bus timings because they want their bus to be full. Again there’s a very interesting reason to this. At least on the Dalhousie-Punjab route all the so-called state transport buses are owned by individuals. There’s a board with names of bus owners put up at the stand. So every bus owner thinks about his personal interest first, unlike pure State Transport buses for whom it doesn’t matter. Most of the times this purposeful misinformation campaign spreads panic among travelers. Neways, so finally there were only a few of us left back for lunch. 

Sanjay, Atul and myself decided to stay back at the Youth Hostels for the night and for once spend time at our own leisurely pace. The charges were bare minimum. Just Rs.60/- per head. That day we went for an evening walk to Subhas Chowk and that made our day. I witnessed one of the most beautiful sunsets of my life there. Never before had I seen the sky basked in such a multitude of hues and colours. We were feverishly trying to push our cameras to the maxim, trying to capture the scene as close to the real. Then we went for a stroll to Gandhi Chowk, a further 1-1/2 km from there. Soon we realized that we three were one of the handful people left in the market. And the time was barely 8 pm. The market was absolutely deserted. Day really ends early back there, especially in the winter. We reluctantly made our way back to the Youth Hostels and prepared for the second leg of our journey which was if not more, equally exciting. To Dharmashala and Amritsar. But that’s another story altogether. Thus ended our memorable trek of Dalhousie’06. 

May I add, Dalhousie is one place that’s best experienced than read about. Best visited during off-season than during peak time. And your journey best left unplanned than match it to the clock. When I look back, not even one week after it’s over I realise that I enjoyed every moment there. Not even once did the thoughts about work, or professional life touch my mind. I had gone with two people, almost twice my age. But never felt out of place or rather they never let me feel out of place. Met quite a few interesting personalities during the six days. Some smart, some shy, some aloof, some funny, some egoistic as*es, some wonderfully helpful, some youthfully old, some with beautiful faces while others with beautiful minds and heart… But one thing common was, DW_16. Now, I am completely brainwashed by nature. And this is just the beginning. Inspired by this and made worthwhile by YHAI and my co-trekkers, I plan to do many more such treks in the future. For now, I leave you with a personalised slogan ‘ek ke baad ek, Trek ke baad Trek… chale chalo’ 

Ciao, Dhaval

My Dalhousie experience (Published in DNA Newspaper on 25th January 2006)

https://www.dnaindia.com/speak-up/report-dalhousie-best-visited-unplanned-off-season-1009612