#chandrashilla

After almost 17 hours of travel when we reached Sari village, it all seemed perfect. The misty weather at 7 in the evening with stars as bright as ever up in the sky. Shekhar and I, started gazing at peaks around us, thinking what would it be like to conquer them one day. 

In the night we sat down with Lakhpat Ji to plan our trip. After considering all our options, we finally decided to undertake the Chandrashilla trek, more than 30 km of trekking in 2 days. Not sure of our capabilities, we were ready to accept our failure but we both had a never giving up sort of attitude. 

Next day, at 4 in the morning, I got up all by myself. Yes, all by myself. We got ready to trek in 30 mins and left for deoriya taal. It’s a lake amongst huge mountains. The trek is about 3km but its almost vertical. We took breaks so as to keep the energy levels high. After about 45 mins of rigorous trekking,we were at heaven. It was just Wow. The Himalayas, the bright sun shining, the beautiful lake and large green meadows. I could just stand there and not move for the rest of the day.

After having breakfast with Deoriya Taal, we continued our journey. Our next stop was Roni Bugyal. People generally trek straight away to Chopta, but we being first timers didn't want to rush it and plus we wanted to enjoy and meet more people! It was 8km till Roni and the trek was interesting, amidst the forest we walked and spoke of what life may be. It was out of the world.  We reached Roni at around 2 pm which was amazing. We trekked fast and weren't too tired. Roni was home for 3 families. All of them lived in small jhopdis . We were welcomed by them. They’re were 3 small boys roaming about there. They were enjoying their holidays with their grandmother. We had our share of rest and then came the beautiful evening. We were invited into the hut by the grandmother. She served us tea and maggi. Ahh it was amazing. They grazed cattle there and even cows. A LOT of cows. The kids were really excited to see us and invited us to play cricket with them! Oh boy, was that the best game I’ve ever played. Facing the mountains and breathing the fog. 

We, along with the kids, did a bonfire in the night and had a late night talk about their school and village. We slept early because we had to leave in the morning. At 6:30 am we said our goodbye’s and were on our way to chopta. For this part, time passed so quickly we didn't even get to know. We trekked down a mountain and up the other side. It was a pain in the ass. But that’s what it’s about isn't it. Soon we reached Burj-ghali. This place is 2 km up form chopta. People camp here to go to Chandrashilla and Tungnath( Bhole Nath’s temple). We decided to trek to Chandrashilla the same day. At 1pm we started our trek. For the first time, our shoulders were light and our head was high. Nah, I’m kidding. We’re clean kids. We were sober. We couldn't see the peak from down below. We climbed and chatted and had each others back. In about an hour we reached tungnath decided not to stop and visit the temple on our way back.  

The peak was in sight. we became excited, and in 15 more minutes. We reached the fucking top. We completed our first trek successfully. It was brilliant. 

We started our retreat and visited the Tungnath temple on our way back. I wanted to get some prasad for my dadi because of her religious beliefs. 

While trekking down we saw a place which we thought was worth exploring. Haha yes, It was this ledge. sitting there exploring the area was worth every penny. 

We came back to our camp and left, enjoyed the night. I did some astro-photography and then slept like a baby. 

We returned to Sari gaon the next morning and then paid the expenses totalling 7k in or 3500 each. The cost was nothing compared to the memories we had made. The trip was wonderful and I’ll cherish it for the rest of my life.

Until the next time...

“An Galvanometer is a device- device nahi salle, it’s an apparatus- for detecting electric current” - March 2015. Board examinations had begun, everything was in momentum. The mind was working harder than ever. My Body supported me when I needed it the most. But what kept me going was the ray of hope peeking through the closed door. The liberation that lay beyond that door, the independence and freedom which every kid has dreamed of.  The Examinations passed, as does everything else in life and the adventures began. The frustration of 2 years of sacrifice, the anxiety of the result, the hopelessness of life, the arrogance of a semi-adult- it all added up and there’s nothing but Nature, which can sooth you in the times of your need. It’s unconditional love, heals your soul and takes you to heaven. I had only heard all this, but never experienced it. As and when an opportunity came, I leaped to grab it. My friend, Shikhar and I were equally rattled with life. Where admission to a decent college was his worry, I was worrying about surviving one of the most rigorous colleges in the world. We decided to let the peaks take care of our worries and we planned our first trek -- Chandrashilla 2015.  This was our first independent trip, and we planned it very carefully. Any signs of irresponsibility could have costed us this trip. We first finalized a location- Chopta : A small village in Uttarakhand popular as a tourist spot. We then talked to guide who was referred to us by a friend. Lakhpat Singh Negi, the guide, convinced our parents that we do have a booking at his guest house and that we aren’t faking this trip to drink and get high. 

That is a 17 Km’s journey by Bus. We could only book our first Bus till Rishikesh, as the rest were local buses with no reservation system. And the night of June 1st came and the adrenaline levels spiked up in my body. I had packed my stuff in a pretty,orange trekking bag and was ready to travel and explore. After a 7 hour journey to Rishikesh, we were a tad bit clueless what to do. We were looted by a Auto-Rikshaw driver.We were just settling and he caught us early and we made the rookie mistakes-trusting his words,not bargaining etc.  We came to our senses right after this, took a room and went out a explore Rishikesh for a bit!

After a while we resumed our journey, Rishikesh to Rudraprayag- a 6 hour Bus ride through a mountainous terrain with sharp and speedy turns (I wasn’t scared though as the driver seemed pretty confident). We survived on coke and chips the whole time. We then traveled from Rudraprayag to Sari gaon (Sari Village), which was a 4 hour bus ride- smooth and stable comparatively. We had taken a room in Lakhpat Ji’s guet house in Sari village. 

^ That was our room!