I boarded an afternoon train from Bandra Terminus to Chandigarh city which took approximately 24 hrs to reach. On arrival, we quickly freshened up and went to explore the rock garden and Sukhna lake. It's a great sculpture garden with a variety of artworks, manmade waterfalls, and beautiful scenery. It gives a feeling of a mini fantasyland with innovative picturesque landscapes. After that, we proceeded to visit the lake, located at the foothills of the Himalayas. It was very well maintained as it's home to many different species of birds. Post that I tried the local glass-bottled lemon-based soda which was so refreshing and much needed in the summer month of May. 

Post that I had my dinner and took an overnight bus from Chandigarh to Kasol. After getting off the bus at7 am in the morning I had to take a local minibus to reach the base camp of my Sar Pass trekking group. It was a 12-day trek in the valleys of Himachal Pradesh. 

Day 1 was quite relaxing and more of an introduction with all other participants and the valley. The entire program included early morning bed tea, healthy Indian breakfast, lunch, evening snacks with soup, and nutritious dinner. 

Day 2 & 3 - Was more about the small trial trek to get our body to acclimatize to the local weather and to get an idea about trekking in the valley. It also included a visit to the Vyas river where I got a chance to dip in the cold Himalayan water followed by some rock climbing and rappelling activities. 

Day 4 - 7 - We started climbing on the top with daily halts at our basic local camps with sleeping bag facilities along with daily campfire and cultural activities. The landscapes and natural beauty which I saw during this period were totally mind-blowing and made me speechless. Local animals, local villages, local people, local food was just out of the world especially the maggie with omelet and hot tea made by the locals during our small stops. Also had fresh milk at some of the local houses and this experience was really awesome. Entering the Himalayan wooden house was so great, the small kids were so cute with their traditional pahadi dress code and cute woolen caps. Every day we were literally coming very close to the snow mountains of Sar Pass, it was like you are at the doors of heaven. But the weather was scary too with unexpected heavy rainfall, snowfall, hailstorm, thunderstorm, and much more but the fire inside us and positive energy of the group kept our morale high. Many of us just slipped and got injured while trekking but somehow we all managed to reach day 8 without backing off from the program. This trip really made me very strong from the inside. Being with those wild Himalayan dogs and then protecting ourselves from mountain bears was a great task. The trek was very well organized.

Day 8 - So the day had come when all were going to reach the Sar Pass point. It was the beginning of snowy routes and walking on that was quite tricky. With all our excitement we finally made it and reached our goal and captured some great memorable moments of a lifetime. I also had my first natural snow gola with a tetra pack of frooti which I had carried along with me, it was just a unique experience. Some of us had also carried the Indian flags and it gave us a great feeling. Post that we took a shortcut by taking two natural snow slides to reach down which was very well guided by our local guide. We all danced and sang till late at night and celebrated this special moment, unfortunately, alcohol was not allowed.

Day 9 - 11 We started descending down and again the beauty during this route was quite spectacular. So many waterfalls in between flowers, birds, etc., were quite amazing. Mountainous water was available in plenty throughout the trek but I always preferred to carry my own personal bottle with me. Getting down from the top was quite easy but sometimes scary too. After a couple of days on day 11, we were supposed to reach back to our camp. In between we visited the Gurudwara at Manikaran, it was quite crowded but we waited in the queue and had the guru prasad langar and also visited the Krishna temple and took a dip in the Himalayan hot water springs. It was a great abode feeling. Post that we headed back to our base camp and packed all our stuff as we had to check out the next day. That night we had a great cultural get-together and made many long-term friends. Today also many of us are in touch through various social channels.

Day 12 - Post breakfast we all hugged everyone as we all were suppose to go back to our respective homes. But the memories of the whole trek was already stamped in all our hearts and minds. It was really one of the best expeditions of my life and today also everything looks so fresh whenever I try to think of those days back in 2010.

I wish I will get another opportunity again in life to visit this marvelous Himalayan range.

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