#chanderkhani

Base camp Seobagh http://bit.ly/1rlC98a

Upper camps:

1)      Yosgo http://bit.ly/1t0hETX

2)      Behali > Malana http://bit.ly/1ojd2bs

3)      Waching http://bit.ly/ZL0Apm

4)      Nagroni http://bit.ly/1sYJUWU

5)      Crossing Chandrakhani Pass http://bit.ly/1nvNcjD

6)      Nauya Tapru > Rumsu > Seobagh http://bit.ly/1CGasgL

Enjoy Chandrakhani through my friends' eyes & minds, as we all trekked it together:

By SB (in 9 parts) : http://bit.ly/1mSqEsg 

By a #CP17 trekker.

I have almost no memory of the trek route taken to reach this camp site. This is the highest and the last of the upper camps before attempting to cross Chandrakhani Pass. May be the excitement to cross the pass was too much to register the route mentally.

↑ Nagroni: clean tents in pristine location, yet spoiled by trekkers ↓ 

But I clearly remember this camping site. In 2 words, it was sparse & dirty. Dirty made by trekkers, though it was blessed with good landscape of snow & conifers. Tissue papers stuck to the wet mud made a nauseating entry and careful steps. May be the chill & the unfavourable conditions unkempt the camping grounds.

Our co-leader got demoted enroute, order issued by our group leader :)) Actually co-leader was in the front of all the trekkers. His demotion to being the tail-ender evoked surprises from those at the end. After 3-4 days of trekking, we were seeing him 'back' with us. More hilarious was our co-leader's reaction. On being asked the reason, he said he was suspended. Lol.

↑ Soaking in the view enroute to Nagroni ↓ 

This camp site will be remembered for jumps. Directed by my friend Partho & clicked by me.

↑ The director himself! ↑ 

Different poses were acted out in detail by Partho for each of those interested and clicked by me at the acme of their movement.

↑ The rocky stage for the rockstars! ↓ 

The best part of the dinner was the sweet dish of Gulabjamuns. At this height too, YHAI kept its trekkers, content!

Many slept early here by 8 pm, as we had to wake up by 2:30 am. But me and my friend Shivaboy stayed awake for at least an hour after everyone retired to their tents, to stargaze and talk about under the dark open skies.

↑ The grand scenery at Nagroni ↓ 

But preparations to start trekking for Chandrakhani pass were also on the mind. So we thought that its good to go back to the sleeping bags and wait for the dawn. Bed tea followed by breakfast and packed lunch of dry sweets providing high calories, was given to us. And then we sang the happy birthday song for Maya. Cake was cut and aarti for her by Manjusha Ma'am! On a happy note we started for Chandrakhani Pass.

The weather was good and the crossing of the pass is described here in this link: http://bit.ly/1nvNcjD

My next post will show you photos depicting the grandeur of Chandrakhani Pass!

By #CP17 trekker:

Malana River runs by Camp Behali. The constant gurgling of the river and the nearby glacier gave the first glimpses of snow that was to come. The tents were visible to us from a walking distance of an hour!

↑ Camp Behali along a glacier & a river! ↓

We were descending after crossing the legendary village of Malana. The people of this village consider themselves to be direct descendants of the Greek warrior, Alexander, the Great! We also heard that they consider themselves to be pure Aryans. They worship Sage Jamdagni. 4 temples devoted to Him adorn this tiny village. There is a fine of Rs. 2500/- on photographing or touching these ancient religious structures.

The people of Malana speak the language of giants, called 'Rakashashi'. I wish I had recorded as it as our two guides spoke with each other in that language. It sounds gruff and rocky. You cannot make any phonetic connections to languages you understand.

The locals of this village marry within their closed-knit village folks and are good-looking handsome fellows. There is one ATM in the village belonging to Punjab National Bank.

The village litters the Himalayan slopes as there is no garbage disposal and is quite painful to see. The men sit at the village squares, puffing away their time, while the women work in the fields & bathe the children. There is an open-air school and from the top we saw children sitting in groups under sun & shade, taking lessons from their teacher!

↑ The village of Malana consisting around 70 houses ↑ 

We crossed this village uneventfully (without paying fines of any sort). Glad that we had a stern group leader, whose prowess was much needed in times as such. We witnessed the prowess of our co-leader at the snow slide, the tale of which I will share with you, soon.

This route from Yogso to Behali which goes through Malana village had the most boring scenery.

↑ Yet a good scene captured by my friend PS ↑ 

We could always see the tar road on the opposite hill, that connects Malana. The distance this route took was also long and people were hungry enough to ask if the lunch point was nearby, frequently.

↑ Moon above our tents at Behali  ↑ 

19th May 2014, 2:30 am at Camp Nagroni :

The stars are twinkling & the moon is shining brilliantly. The snow mountains look grey & the snow is bathed in moonlight. We wake up for bed tea followed by breakfast and packed lunch.

19th May 2014, 5:00 am at Camp Nagroni :

We depart cheering for the camp leader, cooks & our snow guides - 4 Sherpas, who are so agile that they are known as snow leopards.

The weather is clear. Azure blue skies. Bright & sunny. The ascent is slow and gradual. Our group has a sequence set by our group leader Dr AS N. The Sherpas take us through the snowy slopes. The scenery above the tree line resembles chocolate vanilla ice cream. Breathing slowly & deeply at every 2-3 steps helps. Maintaining silence & avoiding chit chat while climbing uphill in the rarefied atmosphere helps.

At the top, there is a change of our guides & 4 new guides will take us over the other side of Chandrakhani pass.

Chandrakhani Pass resembles Moon’s crescent. From one side, we cross it over to the other side. Our hopes are that the treacherous snow terrain will get over as soon as we slide down the mountains. The snow slides are fun and thrilling. But not following the guide’s instructions will land the the trekker in trouble.

Our lunch is way far off. We can see the makeshift tents, the cooks have made. YHAI provided tea for all of us here. Situated in snow, we have good lunch of our packed tiffins, Maggi noodles & egg omelettes.

But still the snow doesn’t leave us. It continues for the next 3 hours with a total of 5 slides.

At 6:45 pm, we reach Camp Naya Tapru. A total of 13 hours & 30-45 minutes of mind blowing trek.

My toes are ice cubes. I am fed up with snow. I swear not to photograph snow anymore & not to open fridge after reaching home.

As I didn’t carry a spare set of clothes, I am drying the wet ones, as I write this. So long…