AGAR FIRDAUS BAR RU-E-ZAMIN AST, HAMI AST O- HAMI AST O- HAMI AST.
IF THERE IS HEAVEN ON EARTH, IT IS HERE, IT IS HERE IT IS HERE.
When we reached to Nandkol and Gangbal twin lakes yesterday , it was hardly 2:30 or 3:00 pm . Suman had already declared the next day as rest day and we could also see the tents of earlier batch. Now a rest day on a week long Himalayan trek is a necessity if you encounter a bad weather in any of the days...the weather in the Himalayan treks is so fickle , the terrain difficult and the trekking groups so heterogeneous in terms of age and experience that it makes sense to have a rest day so that the trek lead can plan accordingly.
Anyways, the prospect of not walking/ climbing the next day was so alluring and comforting that we instantly forgot the strain n pain of the days walk and set out exploring the area around campsite.Since nothing much was on our mind we were in very basic gear... me wearing chappals , santosh barefoot and none of us had any winter gear, head lamp or torch..
Initially the plan was to cross the overflow stream from the lake and go on the other side where the horses were grazing and to try our rock climbing skills on a solitary rock.....No photos available as we had gone there just like that.... Seeing that the rock climbing needs much much greater flexibility from our body than thought, all of us except Santosh backed out.....Our modern day Spiderman with a bit of help from Suman did manage to conquer the 15-20 feet rock and the joy on his face was to be seen to be believed...
After this mission, I thought of doing a Parikrama of Nandkol lake.Santosh readily agreed but Aashish excused himself....we set out on a round trip thinking that it would not be more than 40-45min affair ....How wrong we were going to be...
We did inquire with our Horseman if the Parikrama is possible and he and his son replied in affirmative, increasing our hopes ......We started quickly and covered the initial 100-150 meters fairly quickly as the track was wide and easy. We met two locals alongwith a Team leader from other camp, trout fishing ( the Lake is famous for fishing).A quick query to them also assured us that the Parikrama is doable...As we moved away from the camp and on the curves of the lake, it started getting a bit tricky. The path was now narrower, slanting upwards with loose rocks and moving away from the bank a bit.My footing was unsteady because of flat hard sole but Santosh was extremely comforatble barefoot. I took the cue and removed my chappals...it was difficult initially with the loose cold stones/ pebbles hurting the feet but after a while it acted like Accupressure.... What was inviting us was the feeder glaciers of the lakes....the melted water had already caused a big erosion of the mountain visible as Gray below the small white streams at the centre.
The water was crystal clear but the bottom was not visible....Even next to the bank it was quite deep....It was calm and extremely Tranquil...Absolute Nirvana....We could have sat there for eternity ,reflecting on the life but ALAS, we were racing against time....Needed to complete the now enormous looking Parikrama before it was dark....
The colour of water was all the possible shades in Asian Paints Colour Book describing Water...Blue, green, emerald, turquoise,aqua blue , acqua marine ...you name it....
As we approached the Half way mark , slowly the reality sunk in ....It was going to be difficult....All sort of Doomsday Scenarios started playing in my mind( Surely Santosh must be having similar thoughts)....We were so far away from the camp site,if anything were to happen to one of us or both then? It was slippery crossing the center stream and its small tributaries.....The Giantness of the Glacier above and the Mountain was dwarfing us....Somehow we crossed the streams and went on the other side....Suddenly there was spring in our steps and without a word we covered the majority of second half in quick time... Here , one more challenge awaited us... Crossing the overflow stream of Gangabal Lake into Nandkol Lake.....The Gradient was steep and water gushing on with great speed....It was difficult to cross it even where it was meeting the lake on somewhat plane ground....The coldness of water was not helping us either. So we were left with no other choice than to follow the stream upwards till the Gangabal lake and hope for a crossing point somewhere near it.... Uphill I spotted one Shepherd and I heaved a sigh of relief when he assured me that there indeed was a stone bridge near the Gangabal Lake.....
कल से हि दीप हम सबके पीछे पडा था कि हम इस लेक में नहायेंगे … तो बस हम सात आठ लोग आ गये किनारे …. पानी को छुते हि जबरदस्त current लग गया … इतना ठंडा पानी था …… लेकिन हम भी कुछ कम नही थे … एक बार जो commitment कर ली तो हम अपने आप से भी पुछने वाले नहीं थे
ग्रुप के सबसे जानबाझ दो लडको ने कुदी मार ली … उनकी हालत देखके हमारे तो उस ठंडी में भी पसीने ने छूट गये …लेकिन फिरभी सब ने अपने अपने तरीके से उस तालाब के बर्फिले ठंडे में और ११५०० फीट कि उंचाई पे नहाने का काम कर हि डाला
We were thinking of some team game when suddenly someone suggested लगोरी ....Now I was totally surprised to find that the game was known to everyone (though under different name) right from Kashmir to Kanyakumari...Literally.
So here we were at 11500 feet in perfect weather on a lush green field, playing Lagori with tennis ball ....It was back to childhood with same competitive spirit. Our team one hands down... but obviously...Just Joking
After warming up with a good Session of Lagori, we played Dodge Ball, Throw ball and many more innovative and improvised games with Football. I must mention here about Hebziba ,a girl from Pune, who showed great enthusiasm and energy throughout. We also made sure that our support staff joined us so that they don't feel left out...It was high energy stuff....invigorating and refreshing.
In all this excitement we did not realize that its already 1430 hrs and we had an hour left to prepare Pakodas. Myself n Santosh got on with the task of cutting the onions and potatoes. We were able supported by Aneesh Chandran who volunteered quietly. Funnily nobody either knew or believed that we were actually preparing Masala Chai n Pakodas for all.. I prepared the batter .After a quick testing session to confirm its upto the mark, we started the frying session where Santosh was incharge. On the other side we had Masala Chai boiling up with Clove, Elaichi masala.... It was a difficult task because we did not have proper utensils....the kadhai was small and Zara even smaller...लेकिन उसी में तो असली मझा था ….
After we were 90% done with frying, we presented our labor of love for the fellow trekkers to savor....And the reactions we got were so good that it made us feel that the effort was worth it....Within no time the empty dishes came back asking for more Pakodas.... We literally had to keep our portion separate similar to what Amitabh does in सत्ते पे सत्ता ….
It was a successful and satisfying endeavor....the one which once again emphasized the great effort by our kitchen staff throughout the trek in keeping us wel fed...
After the deliciously tasty Pakodas and Masala chai we embarked ona sightseeing of the Gangabal Lake. Since myself n Santosh had almost touched it yesterday, we quickly took the longer but safer route while suman tried to cross the stream where it met the lake. He needed to put lots of heavy stones to make a bridge...a novel deed which would help the trekkers coming in next batches.
Now Gangabal Lake is Humongous ...Probably the biggest we have seen throughout....Each lake has its own special beauty and charm while there are now familiar similarities like the bowl formed by mountains surrounding the lake at three sides, one mountain glacier feeding the lake, the lake overflowing into streams etc.etc...
Me n Santosh went on the other bank of the lake and savored the calmness ,beauty n Peace while clicking pics.....The Sun playing Hide n Seek through clouds was creating different hues n colours on the lake...Simply Mesmerizing... Here are some clicks
While returning from Gangabal , I could click Nandkol Lake in a different angle where it resembles a Heart Shape
Throughout the trek I could not get proper Sunrise or Sunset...It always used to be Sunrays falling on the mountains....
Irrespective of whether you are tired or not ,the sight of your camp is the best sight no matter how much natural beauty you have enjoyed.....
Tonight was a CAMPFIRE night and Felicitation night for successful completion of trek...We were all looking forward to it...
Before that as a goodwill gesture and to express our gratitude towards our Guide, Horsemen, Kitchen staff etc. we all contributed some token money to be given to them during Campfire....
We had quite a bit of Surprises in Store for a Campfire Night...
For one, it was actually a Camp Fire with the Locals singing traditional songs, dancing spontaneously around the fire, pulling the trekkers as wel. Many enthusiastically joined...
The sky was full of shining stars....we could spot Satellites , shooting stars n what not...
The Cookie had made a good looking Cake to commemorate successful completion of the trek by the Batch...
During Certificate presentation all were emotional telling the group what they are taking back in terms of memories... Aashish being Aashish was quick to quip " भाई सब लोग इतना कुछ लेके जाएंगे तो यहां क्या बचेगा ??
यहां तक सब ठीक था लेकिन climax अभी बाकी था …सबको अपने अपने certificates मिले थे , केक भी सब खा चुके थे कि अचानक डॉक्टर साब त्रिष्णा कि तरफ देखते हुवे गुस्से से कुछ बोलने लगे ।उधर त्रिष्णा भी जोर जोर से बोलने लगी …ये सब अचानक और जल्दी हो गया कि ग्रुप को चौकने का मौका भी न मिला ....Actually the heated exchange was about तेहजीब और तमीज to be observed by a women regarding her dressing sense....We were shocked, amazed and desperately trying to calm down both of them but with little success...When all of us were thinking कि भाई ये लास्ट में क्या नजर लाग गयी ट्रेक को ?? When almost everyone was sure of such a nice seven days ending on a sour note, we noticed both Dr. and Trishna smiling and embracing.....Ohh what a relief it was.... Trishna later explain that this is called as " Happening"... its a 2-3 minute skit on current burning topic ...sort of short street play....
Whatever it was... Guys you were Amazing...100% realistic...You could give any damn professional actor run for his money ...Too Good...
With this topic on our lips and full stomach and content mind we returned to our tents for the LAST TIME
Tomorrow we would in the Civilization and sleeping on proper beds after seven nights.....
Anyways, the prospect of not walking/ climbing the next day was so alluring and comforting that we instantly forgot the strain n pain of the days walk and set out exploring the area around campsite.Since nothing much was on our mind we were in very basic gear... me wearing chappals , santosh barefoot and none of us had any winter gear, head lamp or torch..
Initially the plan was to cross the overflow stream from the lake and go on the other side where the horses were grazing and to try our rock climbing skills on a solitary rock.....No photos available as we had gone there just like that.... Seeing that the rock climbing needs much much greater flexibility from our body than thought, all of us except Santosh backed out.....Our modern day Spiderman with a bit of help from Suman did manage to conquer the 15-20 feet rock and the joy on his face was to be seen to be believed...
After this mission, I thought of doing a Parikrama of Nandkol lake.Santosh readily agreed but Aashish excused himself....we set out on a round trip thinking that it would not be more than 40-45min affair ....How wrong we were going to be...
 |
| The Lake is Massive-We started from extreme left of photo |
We did inquire with our Horseman if the Parikrama is possible and he and his son replied in affirmative, increasing our hopes ......We started quickly and covered the initial 100-150 meters fairly quickly as the track was wide and easy. We met two locals alongwith a Team leader from other camp, trout fishing ( the Lake is famous for fishing).A quick query to them also assured us that the Parikrama is doable...As we moved away from the camp and on the curves of the lake, it started getting a bit tricky. The path was now narrower, slanting upwards with loose rocks and moving away from the bank a bit.My footing was unsteady because of flat hard sole but Santosh was extremely comforatble barefoot. I took the cue and removed my chappals...it was difficult initially with the loose cold stones/ pebbles hurting the feet but after a while it acted like Accupressure.... What was inviting us was the feeder glaciers of the lakes....the melted water had already caused a big erosion of the mountain visible as Gray below the small white streams at the centre.
The water was crystal clear but the bottom was not visible....Even next to the bank it was quite deep....It was calm and extremely Tranquil...Absolute Nirvana....We could have sat there for eternity ,reflecting on the life but ALAS, we were racing against time....Needed to complete the now enormous looking Parikrama before it was dark....
The colour of water was all the possible shades in Asian Paints Colour Book describing Water...Blue, green, emerald, turquoise,aqua blue , acqua marine ...you name it....
 |
| Crossing the Stream at far end was also difficult due to depth..... |
Light was fading fast and we somehow crossed the stream with the help of stone bridge....Once on the other side ie the side of our Camp site our nerves calmed down a bit....From here to camp was a short walk of 20 minutes and the sight of the Camp from top was extremely reassuring.... Hot tomato soup was waiting for us and thankfully, nobody had noticed us missing for a big chunk of time.... We joined the Antakshari and quickly forgotten about our Adventurous Parikrama.....
It was great to go to bed in tents without worrying about time and distance to cover etc.etc....Tomorrow was REST DAY!!!!
It was great to go to bed in tents without worrying about time and distance to cover etc.etc....Tomorrow was REST DAY!!!!
 |
| This is the Stone Bridge---Our Guide Chouhan Helping the Girls when we went for Sightseeing the next Day |
The rest day started with tea as usual but everyone was relaxed...the trek was almost over ...we just needed to climb down few thousand feet ..thats it....
Suman being Suman, called all of us to fall in ( even on a rest day) to decide the plan for the REST DAY...Can you believe this??? Plan the rest day???
Anyways , it was decided to visit the Gangabal lake in the afternoon leaving us with the morning totally free....He threw a googly though, asking if there are any volunteers for preparing lunch or Chai-Pakodas in the afternoon....Nobody came forward for the Rajma-Chawal lunch but to my amazement Santosh offered to make Chai-Pakodas with Me....It reminded me of the Famous dialogue between Amitabh and Dharmendra....Amitabh, after accepting a seemingly improbable Challenge, cheekily asks Dharamda, भाई मैंने कुछ ज्यादा तो नहीं बोला ना ? to which Dharmendra replies full of confidence "पार्टनर अभी बोल दिया तो बोल दिया ..जो होगा देखा जायेगा
Now making Chai-pakodas was not difficult but to make it for 32 hungry souls with limited resources was going to be interesting.... I asked the main cook to keep the Onions and Potatoes seperate as per his estimate....We were told the time line of 1530-1600 so that we can start at 1630 for Gangabal Lake Sightseeing.....
Anyways, we still had the full morning at our disposal.... I had this long lasting wish of wearing the kashmiri फेरान ever since I saw Chauhan wearing the same.....Now he looked quite Handsome in it and I knew my modelling capabilities but what the Heck....I put it on and got some photos clicked... 
After the photo session Santosh even tried Horse Riding
ग्रुप के सबसे जानबाझ दो लडको ने कुदी मार ली … उनकी हालत देखके हमारे तो उस ठंडी में भी पसीने ने छूट गये …लेकिन फिरभी सब ने अपने अपने तरीके से उस तालाब के बर्फिले ठंडे में और ११५०० फीट कि उंचाई पे नहाने का काम कर हि डाला
So here we were at 11500 feet in perfect weather on a lush green field, playing Lagori with tennis ball ....It was back to childhood with same competitive spirit. Our team one hands down... but obviously...Just Joking
After warming up with a good Session of Lagori, we played Dodge Ball, Throw ball and many more innovative and improvised games with Football. I must mention here about Hebziba ,a girl from Pune, who showed great enthusiasm and energy throughout. We also made sure that our support staff joined us so that they don't feel left out...It was high energy stuff....invigorating and refreshing.
In all this excitement we did not realize that its already 1430 hrs and we had an hour left to prepare Pakodas. Myself n Santosh got on with the task of cutting the onions and potatoes. We were able supported by Aneesh Chandran who volunteered quietly. Funnily nobody either knew or believed that we were actually preparing Masala Chai n Pakodas for all.. I prepared the batter .After a quick testing session to confirm its upto the mark, we started the frying session where Santosh was incharge. On the other side we had Masala Chai boiling up with Clove, Elaichi masala.... It was a difficult task because we did not have proper utensils....the kadhai was small and Zara even smaller...लेकिन उसी में तो असली मझा था ….
After we were 90% done with frying, we presented our labor of love for the fellow trekkers to savor....And the reactions we got were so good that it made us feel that the effort was worth it....Within no time the empty dishes came back asking for more Pakodas.... We literally had to keep our portion separate similar to what Amitabh does in सत्ते पे सत्ता ….
It was a successful and satisfying endeavor....the one which once again emphasized the great effort by our kitchen staff throughout the trek in keeping us wel fed...
After the deliciously tasty Pakodas and Masala chai we embarked ona sightseeing of the Gangabal Lake. Since myself n Santosh had almost touched it yesterday, we quickly took the longer but safer route while suman tried to cross the stream where it met the lake. He needed to put lots of heavy stones to make a bridge...a novel deed which would help the trekkers coming in next batches.
Me n Santosh went on the other bank of the lake and savored the calmness ,beauty n Peace while clicking pics.....The Sun playing Hide n Seek through clouds was creating different hues n colours on the lake...Simply Mesmerizing... Here are some clicks
 |
| The Fellow Trekkers on the Other Bank of The Lake |
 |
| HARMUKH PEAK |
 |
| This Reminds me of SHOLAY |
Throughout the trek I could not get proper Sunrise or Sunset...It always used to be Sunrays falling on the mountains....
 |
| HARMUKH Up close and Personal |
Irrespective of whether you are tired or not ,the sight of your camp is the best sight no matter how much natural beauty you have enjoyed.....
Before that as a goodwill gesture and to express our gratitude towards our Guide, Horsemen, Kitchen staff etc. we all contributed some token money to be given to them during Campfire....
We had quite a bit of Surprises in Store for a Campfire Night...
For one, it was actually a Camp Fire with the Locals singing traditional songs, dancing spontaneously around the fire, pulling the trekkers as wel. Many enthusiastically joined...
The sky was full of shining stars....we could spot Satellites , shooting stars n what not...
The Cookie had made a good looking Cake to commemorate successful completion of the trek by the Batch...
During Certificate presentation all were emotional telling the group what they are taking back in terms of memories... Aashish being Aashish was quick to quip " भाई सब लोग इतना कुछ लेके जाएंगे तो यहां क्या बचेगा ??
यहां तक सब ठीक था लेकिन climax अभी बाकी था …सबको अपने अपने certificates मिले थे , केक भी सब खा चुके थे कि अचानक डॉक्टर साब त्रिष्णा कि तरफ देखते हुवे गुस्से से कुछ बोलने लगे ।उधर त्रिष्णा भी जोर जोर से बोलने लगी …ये सब अचानक और जल्दी हो गया कि ग्रुप को चौकने का मौका भी न मिला ....Actually the heated exchange was about तेहजीब और तमीज to be observed by a women regarding her dressing sense....We were shocked, amazed and desperately trying to calm down both of them but with little success...When all of us were thinking कि भाई ये लास्ट में क्या नजर लाग गयी ट्रेक को ?? When almost everyone was sure of such a nice seven days ending on a sour note, we noticed both Dr. and Trishna smiling and embracing.....Ohh what a relief it was.... Trishna later explain that this is called as " Happening"... its a 2-3 minute skit on current burning topic ...sort of short street play....
Whatever it was... Guys you were Amazing...100% realistic...You could give any damn professional actor run for his money ...Too Good...
With this topic on our lips and full stomach and content mind we returned to our tents for the LAST TIME
Tomorrow we would in the Civilization and sleeping on proper beds after seven nights.....
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