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It was a tense Curfew time in Srinagar, Jammu – Kashmir. We sitting in
Bangalore, were following the news on Kashmir so closely. It was an unpleasant
sight to see the encounters between J&K Police, BSF and CRPF against the
miscreants. It was worrying us to read about the violence and the deaths that
were happening due to this unrest and we were getting tensed day by day, seeing
no improvement in the situation. You might be thinking, why were we so worried
about the situation in Kashmir while staying in Bangalore. That’s because we
were supposed to travel to Srinagar for our beautiful Kashmir Great Lakes Trek
with IndiaHikes. As the confusions about the situation was growing, there was a
group created in WhatsApp by one of our co-trekker, including all the 7th August
2016 Kashmir Great Lake Trek members. Discussions in the group among the
members helped some to them to back out from the plan and the rest fourteen of
us to follow our instincts and trek Kashmir Great Lakes with IndiaHikes. It was
time for us to take this risk and trek in one of most beautiful places on earth.
Kashmir Great lakes trek, as IndiaHikes mentions “A Photographer’s
Paradise”, was on my husband’s mind from a very long time. After hearing about
this trek from him, I started googling about the trail.
The trek looked interesting and the photos on the internet were really
fascinating. Beautiful valleys with carpet of flowers, snowcapped mountains and
crystal clear lakes were very overwhelming. I started imagining myself being in
the lap of these beautiful mountains and fell in love with this trail.
Finally, last December, we decided to book this trek with India Hikes,
as they were the most sought of trek partners in India. We planned our
holidays, applied leaves in office and booked the 7th to 14th August
batch.
This being my first Himalayan trek, I was all excited. Everyday a new
question popped up in my mind and my googling never ended. This is when I came
across a series of videos by IndiaHikes, “Trek with Swathi”. These videos are
really very descriptive and looks like Swathi has really understood the
heartbeat of every first-timer. Her videos answered almost all my open
questions. I used to discuss about this with my friends to an extent even to
bore them.
Meanwhile when we had started the countdown, in July, we heard the
news, a death of a terrorist in Kashmir and all the incidents that unfolded. We
started following the news every day and Facebook trek group set up by India
Hikes, where we were getting the regular updates about the current situations
in Kashmir. We also received emails from
Prathima (from Indiahikes), who gave us a re-assurance about the safety
measures India Hikes is taking for the safety of the trekkers.
Amidst all these chaos and confusions, we boarded our flight toSrinagar from Bengaluru International Airport on 6th August. After
landing in Srinagar airport, we met the driver, Mr. Firoz Ahmad (A Travel Partner
for IndiaHikes), who gave us a warm welcome. We also met our co-trekkers at the
airport. The drive from the airport to hotel was horrifying. We could see
police and CRPF everywhere and most the roads were blocked. Our driver drove us
safely to the hotel surpassing multiple police-checks. Once we arrived at hotel
we felt bit safe as our hotel was in the army cantonment area. We had to spend
our rest of the day locked inside the hotel because of the Curfew and it was
disappointing that we could not see the beautiful sunset at Dal Lake that
evening.
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| Empty Streets of Srinagar |
7th August:
An Adventurous day in Srinagar
It was a lazy morning as we had no option to roam around Curfew-ed Srinagar.
We were asked to reach Mr. Firoz's place by 2pm. We packed our bags, had lunch
and set out of the hotel after checking out. We decided to walk to his place
which was just 4km from our hotel. As we set out to walk on the streets, we
could hardly find any people. The road ends were guarded by either CRPF or
J&K police. The whole stretch of 4 km, we just got cold stares from the
very few people whom we found on streets. Some people going on two wheelers
stopped just to give a surprised look at us. But we felt good when a Police
Officer looking at out nervousness, said “You can walk safely here. We have
taken care of the situation”. We reached our destination after an hour’s walk.
We were asked to stay there till midnight, as we could not leave to Sonamarg
due to curfew in the daytime.
At 4 pm, few of our co-trekkers knocked our room and asked if we were
interested in joining them for Srinagar sightseeing. Reluctantly we agreed to
join them. But I think that was the best decision we made, it really refreshed
our minds and we got to see the beautiful, still Dal Lake.
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| Dal Lake, Srinagar |
At 8 pm, we were back in the hotel and we were given a briefing about
our trek by one of the trek leaders of India Hikes.
Finally at 3am early morning, we headed towards Sonamarg from
Srinagar.
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| Reading more about Kashmir |
8th August
Sonamarg to Nichnai
At the Sonamarg base camp, we met Mr. Dushyant (a very handsome trek
leader I have seen ;-)). He gave us a very elaborate heads up for the trek. He
also answered many of our questions, cleared many doubts and introduced us to
our trek leader Inderjit (fondly called as Jit). At first look, Jit looked like
a very silent and introvert person. After power nap for a while, breakfast was
served. We had our breakfast, packed our lunch and set off for the most awaited
journey in the Himalayas.
As we started, I was really super charged and all excited. The initial
stretch looked really pleasing and serene. While my husband was busy clicking
photos, I used to feel the fresh Himalayan air all around me.
Myself, Pradeep (My husband), Atul, Sriram we among last ones all the
time.
After many steep ascents and descents, we reached a lone Dhabha, which
served tea, kawa, biscuits and maggi. We were strictly advised not to eat
maggi. We ate our packed lunch there and continued our trek.
At around 5 in the evening, we
reached the campsite at Nichnai. The tents and hot tea were awaiting us. It was
really a very hectic day, as we had a steep ascent from 7800 ft. (Sonamarg) to
11500 ft. (Nichnai) and a sleep deprived previous night.
The cooks at India Hikes really have very good culinary skills. We had
a sumptuous dinner with a delicious sweet dish- fruit custard.
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| Get- Set- Go |
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| Started our trek |
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Kashmiri kids
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| White crystal clear streams of Himalayas |
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| Night life in Himalayas, Nichnai |
9th August
Nichnai to Vishnusar
After a very deep sleep, we woke up at 6, had tea and got ready for
another picturesque day. We had a good breakfast, packed our lunch and started
off.
Our first challenge for the day was the tough Nichnai Pass. It was
clearly visible from our campsite while Jit was giving us a heads up about the
day’s trail. We started off very energetically, but by the time we reached the
pass, all energy was drained out. We rested there for a while and then
continued.
As we started our descent, the flowery meadows welcomed us. Yellow,
pink, purple all over the path like a lovely carpet and it was a thrilling
experience to see such a colorful Himalayas. We had lunch next to a tiny
stream. We reached our campsite, next to the Vishnusar Lake, at around 4 pm.
The view of the lake from our campsite was blocked by a small hill. Even though
we were very tired, we just wanted to catch the glimpse of this lake as soon as
possible.
We had a quick chai and pakodas and headed towards the Vishnusar Lake.
It was a splendid view to witness the sunset in front of this lake. The water
was as clear as crystal. Wish we could drink some but it was icy cold. It was
mesmerizing to see how fast the clouds moved over the Himalayan Mountains. It
was even funnier to see my Husband run with his tripod and camera behind colorful
birds which were melodiously chirping and flying across the lake. We spent
ample time sitting next to the lake, chit chatting with everyone. It was when I
realized that our Bengali trek leader, Jit, was a real talkative guy and had
loads and loads of anecdotes to share.
As sun prepared to set, we
headed back to campsite. Had a good dinner and the sweet for the night was
Gajaar ka Halwa :P.
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| Early morning Breakfast |
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| Briefing session |
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Climbing Nichnai Pass
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| Vishnusar Lake |
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| Gup-shup on banks of Vishnusar Lake |
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| Late evening guests at the tents, Vishnusar Campsite |
10th August
Vishnusar, Kishansar to Gadsar
This was a long day and we started bit early. This day we had to cross
the Gadsar Pass- 13800 ft. Around an
hour’s trek from our campsite, we reached the Kishansar Lake. Kishansar Lake
along with Vishnusar Lake form the first set of twin lakes in the whole trek.
Kishansar was no less in beauty compared to Vishnusar.
Next leg of the trek was the Gadsar pass, which looked easy from the
Kishansar Lake but the climb literally took our breath away. After the steep ascent
on the pass, the view of the twin lakes actually took our breath away.
We started our trek again after filling our eyes with these two
beauties. It started drizzling on our way to Gadsar. The path which was muddy
became slippery and Jit advised us to watch our step all the while during the descent.
It was still drizzling when we reached the Gadsar Lake. We had our
packed lunch watching this pretty lake. But the sad part was that we could not
spend more time here as the rain increased. I still repent for this. According
to Jit, this was the most beautiful lake among all and we missed it. In the middle of the
rains we continued to reach the Gadsar army camp. I was all tired by the time I
reached the camp, but the welcoming smiles of the Jawans there vanished our
pains. We had a little (bit long) chit-chats with those army men and to our
surprise, a soldier suddenly started speaking with us in Kannada, my mother tongue.
It was almost 3 pm, when we reached the Gadsar campsite after making
our registry at the Gadsar army camp. Our camp site was just a stream away from
the army camp.
As we got fresh, I could see the army men near our camp. It was the opportunity and I rushed to my
tent and took out the rakhis which I had bought for the army men. All girls tied
rakhis to them. The happiness in the eyes of the soldiers is what I still
remember. They always missed the rakhis from their sisters as it was tough for
the postman to reach these remote camps.
Finally after a tiring and fun filled day we had dinner and the
night’s sweet dish was Shahi Tukda.
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| Getting the glimpse of Vishnusar-Kishansar Twin lakes |
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| Its all Colorful Flowers in Himalayas |
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| Beautiful Gadsar Lake |
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| On the way to Gadsar |
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| Tying Rakhi to a soldier at Gadsar Camp |
11th August
Gadsar to Satsar
The army jawans at the Gadsar
camp had invited us to their camp for the flag hoisting. Atul, Sriram, Dhruvi,
Premlatha, Pradeep and I woke up at 6 am and went to the army camp. The army
men were very happy to see us. They served us hot tea and also offered,
actually forced us to use their bathroom to get fresh in hot water. We declined
the offer politely but they did not let us go without washing our face and
hands with hot water. It was really nice feeling to use hot water in that cold
climate.
At 7 30 am we reached back to campsite, and could see Jit’s and our
technical guide Shravan’s angry face. They were unhappy that we were late and
asked us to get ready as early as possible. We too hurried to get ready and we
were all set before 8 am.
Jit told us that the trek of the day is the most
beautiful stretch. Actually it was. As we started off, we could see lush green
meadows and white streams here and there. For our surprise, we could see
strawberry bushes on the sides of the trail. Pradeep and I, being fruit lovers,
slowed down just to finish most of these tiny berries. After walking for a
while, Jit asked us to stop to have a view of Mt. Nanga Parbat, but unlucky us,
it was all covered by Clouds. We just clicked few photos there and moved ahead
to reach the Satsar Army camp. Soldiers here were also welcoming and I was
excited to tie Rakhis to the soldiers here as well. Dhruvi, Premlatha, Aditi
and I tied rakhis to the soldiers. Kishor Uncle (most senior trekker in our
group) gave them few sweets. We chatted with them for a while started moving
towards Satsar. Few minutes away from the army camp, we could see the first
lake of Satsar. Satsar is a group of 7 lakes, while we could just see 4 to 5 of
them. Jit told us that during some seasons we can see all the 7 lakes. We had
descended from 13750 feet to 12000 ft. At around 2 pm we reached the campsite,
and we got to have hot lunch at the campsite. After a heavy lunch, everyone had
cat naps. In the evening, we climbed a small hillock near the campsite to get
the view of the valley. It was truly beautiful site, with the clouds moving
rapidly, I could make few time lapse videos. As it became dark, we all got into
the dining tents to play Uno. It was a real fun game and we all enjoyed a lot.
And that night for dinner, it was Dudhi Halwa. It was first time I was eating
this halwa and I can still recall its taste in my mouth.
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| After Flag Hoisting at Gadsar Army Camp |
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| Strawberry trail |
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| Group pic in front of cloud covered Nanga Parbat |
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| Satsar Army Camp |
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| Tying Rakhis to Soldiers at Satsar Camp |
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Satsar Campsite
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12th August
Satsar to Nundkul - Gangbal Twin lakes
It was the boulder day. First few hours of the stretch were all
boulders. Sriram and I almost had a nightmare about it. But I had decided to
walk along with our guide Mr. Saddam , who used always lead the troop. This
time I was all prepared. Like our trek leader always said, “Darr ke aage ‘Jit’
hain!!”. :P like I had decided, as soon as we started, I joined Dhruvi and
Ankit (who used to always be in the front and be the first ones to reach
campsite. Every time, when I used to reach campsite, these two would have had
their tea and would be washing their tea cups :D). I used both hands and took
support of all possible boulders and managed to cross the whole boulder section
along with Saddam ji. For me this was a personal accomplishment, I was very
happy and proud of myself that day :P. Sriram was the last to make to the other
end. Jit was with him till he reached. We all gave a standing ovation when Sriram
reached ;). After few minutes rest, we continued our walk. It was a not so
tiring day and I really enjoyed the walk. We were at 13800 ft., when we got a
surprise view of the twin lakes, Gangbal and Nundkul, at the base of the
Harmukh peak. It was an awesome sight. Its enchanting beauty made me feel like
pausing our trek there. I was almost immersed myself in the view.
The lakes, mountains and the clouds started playing hide and seek game
with us. The Haramukh peak which is 5,142 meters high was behind the thick
cloud cover and we got to know from Saddam ji that Mt. Haramukh was known for
hiding behind the clouds all the time except for early morning. It was
disappointing not to see Mt. Haramukh this day along with the twin lakes but
the hope that we can see this the next day made me a bit happier. Just like the
passing clouds that were playing hide and seek, memories of our discussion for
cancelling this trek due to unrest in Kashmir started passing through my mind.
The question we had before the trek was, Was it worth the risk? But this
stunning view of Twin Lakes just answered all the questions. My Husband and I
just smiled at each other.
Amidst all this, I also made a
quick time lapse to capture the moment with me forever. Everyone else took
their solo, action, standing, sitting, jumping and all possible pics:P.
Nundkul was our campsite and we could see it in front of our eyes now.
I thought that it was an easy walk in the meadows and we would reach pretty
soon. But I was wrong. The descent was pretty tough. But the small streams on
our way, made us forget all the tiredness. We stopped at a stream to have our packed
lunch. Post lunch, in couple of hours, we reached the campsite. Our camp was
next to the Nundkul Lake. We had to cross a wooden bridge to reach the
campsite. As usual I was scared. Jit and Imitiaz ji(our rear guide), helped me
cross it. The
campsite was very beautiful and we could watch the Harmukh peak right in front
of our eyes.
While we had our snacks, Jit announced that the next day would be our
relaxing day and we could explore the twin lakes at our leisure. This
announcement made us relax. Everyone again gathered in the big tent to play
Uno. We never realized time as we were engrossed in the game.
At around 7 pm, just before our lunch, Jit asked everyone to assemble
in the big tent as he had an important announcement to make. The seriousness on
his face put all of us in tension. He enquired about our flight schedules. The
scenario was that, as the Independence Day was approaching, the government had
decided to tighten the Curfew in Kashmir to avoid any unfavorable incidents.
Hence, none of the vehicles were allowed to make movement in Srinagar on that
day. So Jit and his team had decided to cancel of leisure day and planned to
move us back to the base camp the next day, so that we could reach back to
Srinagar on 13th night only. Everyone felt that it was good idea and
agreed to the plan. We were also sad that this beautiful journey was coming to
an end. That night after dinner, which included ‘gulab jamoon’, my favorite sweet
dish. We all played dumbsharads and were chatting till late night.
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| Crossing the Boulders |
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| View of Nundkul-Gangbal Lakes from Zaj Pass |
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| Posers.... |
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| Saddam ji and Imtiaz ji |
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| Nundkul Campsite |
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| View of serene Nundkul Lake |
13th August
Exploring Twin lakes and back to Naranag base camp
As decided previous night, we woke up early, had our tea and headed
towards the Gangbal Lake. Mt. Harmukh was clearly visible now. And we made many
pictures of it. Nundkul lake was looking so beautiful and we had to walk for 30
minutes to reach Gangbal Lake. Gangbal Lake which looked very beautiful from
the ridge top, was actually the dirtiest lake on the trail. This was because of
the many tourists flocking this place from Naranag. The garbage accumulation
actually spoilt the beauty of this place. For next couple of hours, we did some
cleaning activity near the lake and filled our eco-bags.
At around 9, we reached back to the campsite and had our breakfast and
started our descent towards Naranag. All were very sad and I could actually
feel it. No one was ready to end this journey, but we had to.
It was sad day, but the beauty of Himalayas tried to cheer us. As the
descent continued, we could see meadows with pine and maple trees, which grew
denser with every step we took. It was a very steep descent and we had to walk
carefully to avoid the fall. Fortunately, it did not rain that day but if it
had, it would have made our descent a bit tougher and challenging. By the time
we reached Naranag, it was 5 pm. We had food at a small café in the town. Everyone
got busy in making calls to homes. Then we realized that everyone had preponed
their flights to 14th. Pradeep started making calls to the airline
call center and speaking to many agents asking to prepone our flight. But it
was no use. After an hour of his unfruitful effort, I took the matter in my
hands. I made a call to the airlines call center and asked the agent to connect
me to his supervisor. I explained him the situation I was in and requested him
to prepone our flights. Within minutes, our flight were preponed and now we had
much earlier flight back to Bangalore. When I informed Pradeep about it, he
could not really believe it. He actually made another call to the airline to
confirm the tickets. I boasted about the ‘Girl Power’, in front of everyone ;).
After dinner, we all gathered in one single room. Jit and his team
distributed the certificates to everyone. To my surprise, I got 1000 rupees
gift voucher from IndiaHikes team for being a very diligent and obedient
trekker. Pradeep also received a certificate for being an eco-trekker and
collecting most garbage all along the trail. We all forgot our sleep and
discussed about the whole trek, we made fun of many, pulled each other’s legs,
gave funny feedbacks to Jit. We made promises to stay in touch on Facebook and WhatsApp.
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| Tent Life in Himalayas |
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| At Gangbal Lake |
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| Gangbal Lake and Reflections |
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| A Bird called Black Winged Stilt. |
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| Happiness...... |
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| Mom and Me |
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| Crik...crik...cricket... |
14th August
Naranag to Srinagar Airport
Before we even realized, it was 3 am. We all woke up, got fresh and
got into the vehicle which was taking us to the Airport. We dropped Jit at the
IndiaHikes hostel in Srinagar. Bid him a bye sorrowfully. We reached airport at
6 in the morning. We were not allowed in the airport. It was on the footpaths
of Srinagar airport, where we spent the last few hours in the valley of
Kashmir. As the flights started to take off, one after the other from the group
started to leave. At 11, it was the last set of people, Aditi, her dad and
Atul, Pradeep and I, did our check-in and boarded our flights and we started
our journey to our sweet home.
‘All Good things come to an End’. Amidst all these chaos and unrest, I
was able to experience the best of Kashmir and Kashmiris. It was a memorable
trek I had and my blog will not be complete if I do not thank India Hikes and
their brilliant team. To be honest, the only reason for us deciding to do this
Trek amidst the unrest in Kashmir are IndiaHikes team. As much as I love the
way they organized and managed each and everything during the Trek, I admire
the way they started giving the tips for the trek, share useful videos,
connecting the entire group, motivating and providing the answers for all our
questions whenever we asked. Another thing which I can never forget is the
friendships made during the trek. We all were strangers (except my Husband of
course :P) and now we all are very good friends and we are all planning new
treks as well. The experience of speaking to many army jawans was an
unforgettable and I am happy that I could bring that smile on their face with
rakhis. The mighty Himalayan range, colorful flower valleys, lush green
meadows, chirping birds, beautiful
horses, friendly Kashmiris, super IndiaHikes team, tasty food all along,
unforgettable sweet dishes, fun loving group and finally the ‘Great Lakes of
Kashmir’ made these nine days of my life very special.
It was the call of the mountains that took us to Kashmir Great Lakes
and I will be waiting to hear the vibes of the same mountain again….
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| Our wonderful team |
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| With IndiaHikes Team A Small Video which captures the essence of Great Lakes of Kashmir |
