Trek - Sweat - Camp – Day 7

The weather could not have been better, the spirit could not have been higher, the legs could not have been more ready. And with a photo taken with Chin and Tek outside the hotel (so that I can remember how I looked like before the start of the trek), we left the hotel at about 9.00.

Just before we left the hotel, we met a group of seven young Singaporeans, both boys and girls. They were there for a mountaineering course, part of their university curriculum programme. When we met them, they had just returned from a 15-day trekking trip. Some of them were still so energetic and bubbly that it looked like they were ready to climb another mountain anytime!

We travelled by car to a house, about 5 minutes drive away. The house belongs to the boss of our tour agent. This is the place where all the camping gears, cooking utensils etc. and any of the clients’ spare luggage are kept. It is also the starting point of the trek.

When we arrived, the horses and the crew (a cook, an assistant cook and the horseman), were already there. I was surprised to see five horses there. One of them is a baby, too young to carry any load but he tagged along to be close to the mother – how touching!

While the crew was busy putting the load onto the horses, and after collecting our packed lunch, we bid farewell to the people we met at the house.

‘Don’t we wait for them?’ I asked Tek.

‘Don’t worry, they will come and catch up with us fast,’ Tek replied.

At 9.30, we left the house, all set for my first trekking trip in India. We started walking, full of anticipation. Without realising it, we were off the road, away from all the houses, traffic and the hustle and bustle of Manali. We found ourselves in a pine forest.

All along, we could see the snow-capped mountains, in the distance, towering over the valley; the same valley we saw the day earlier, except that we were now viewing from a much higher ground.

The weather was beautiful and the scenery spectacular. The trail was relatively steep with occasional flat sections. Soon, we came out of the pine forest into a wide expanse of open rolling hill, flanked by more pine trees all around.

‘We stop here for lunch,’ Tek announced. Suddenly hunger pangs overpowered me. I looked at the watch, it was about 12.30. We had been walking for three hours with few short stops in between, both to catch our breath and to have a quick snack.

As we were enjoying our lunch and chatting away, we heard the sound of bells. I looked to our right and saw that the horses and the crew were coming up from the slope below, a brief greeting as they passed by then continued.

Half and hour later, we resumed out trek.

‘How long more, Tek?’ I asked.

‘Emh, about 1-1/2 hours more,’ came the reply.

It was a hot day, too hot for comfort at times. The occasional wind and breeze eased the discomfort somewhat.

After we had reached the pine forest line and turned to the other side of the mountain, the trail flattened out.

I was enjoying the slow walk along the relatively flat trail with shady trees lining both sides of the path when I saw Tek suddenly stopped, turned around and smiled at us. I did not know why and when I reached where he was standing and looked towards the direction he was looking, I saw our crew members, the horses and a tent!

‘This is it? We have arrived? Our campsite?’ I asked in disbelief. I was expecting half an hour more. I could see the horses roaming and grazing – having their much deserved meal, while the crew members were busy going about their chores – unpacking, setting up stove, setting up more tents, etc.

Tek smiled and nodded, ‘Yes, this is the campsite, your home for the night.’

I was so excited. The place is so beautiful, the verdant field with trees lining the edge of the campsite. Close-by is a stream – our source of water supply. We were at camp 1, called Lambadug, 3,380m high.

I took a deep breath and felt relief that our first day trek was over. I very much looked forward to see what and how camping is like in a foreign land.

Ram, the cook, Sangy, the assistant cook and Jhaba Ram, the horseman started to set up the tent for us. While waiting, we walked about the campsite, taking in the fresh air, more photos and relaxing our tired legs.

With the efficiency of Ram and company, the tent was completed within minutes. We then ‘moved’ in to our ‘new home’, unpacked and ‘dry-cleaned’ ourselves before taking a rest. Later, Chin and I went through the photos on our digital cameras, talking and laughing.

At 4.00, we had afternoon tea at the dining tent and at seven, we had our first campsite-dinner. I really did not expect such sumptuous and delicious food at camp. We had pappadum, tomato soup, curry chicken, paneer (cheese), fried ladies fingers with rice and dessert.

Over dinner, I asked Tek what was the distance we covered for the day and was told about 10km.

Soon, the sun went down, the cold of the night crept in, and the bonfire came to life.

As we were engrossed in getting ourselves warm, little did we realise that the moon had slowly and coyly appeared in the night sky. It was a full moon – Beautiful!

Two ladies, four men, five horses, moonlight, bonfire – that was all we had in the wilderness of Himachal Pradesh, a dramatic state in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent. Silence ruled the night, saved for the occasional snorting of the horses and the chatting of Tek and company.

‘Wao, this is surreal,’ I said to myself.

I was very much mesmerised by what was happening when I suddenly felt the chill. I looked up and saw that the fire was petering out. ‘Time to go to bed,’ I thought; then I remembered, ‘arhn, no bed tonight, only sleeping bag’!

After a day of ‘hard work’, falling asleep was not really difficult. After the initial shuffling trying to find a comfortable position and location (only a layer of canvas sheet, a thin rubber mat and the down sleeping bag separated us from the hard ground below), I was in slumber land.

Nature call, unlike telephone call, was something that one could not ignore regardless of time and condition it came calling. At midnight, I woke up. Thinking that it must be freezing cold, windy and pitched dark outside, I armed myself with my winter jacket and torchlight and staggered out of the tent into the open. Much to my surprise, it was all calm and less cold than earlier of the night, and with the bright moonlight illuminating the campsite, the torchlight became redundant.