Sar Pass

River Parvathy .Photo courtesy: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ks2d85

 

I finally got myself to write about the longest trek that i have ever done so far. Thanks to YHAI I was able to have a taste of the mighty Himalayas.The trek is pretty famous and happens throughout April-May every year. I came to know about YHAI through a hardcore trekker colleague of mine.Before deciding to go on trek there were lot of information to be gathered (most of which doesn’t seem that important now). I will try and jot down my experiences about trek in a series of posts.

About the Trek

This is a 9 day trek that happens around May every year starting from a place called Kasol , which is about 4 hours drive from Manali. Manikaran a religious place for Sikhs is just 5 kms from Kasol.The first three days there is pretty much no trek and from fourth day onwards till 11th day you are made to trek for few hours a day surviving on diet which is mainly potato and some more potato after that.Apart from potato diet,crowded tents,first attempts by risk taking trekkers on singing,dancing or almost anything that can be called a performance by the enthusiastic audience and organizers with unimaginable free time , there is breathtaking views of Himalayas and an opportunity to test your endurance a little bit.Booking starts pretty early , I did mine atleast 2 months beforehand.The website has minimal functionality but pretty decent and gets the job done.The charges are nominal (actually dirt cheap ,about 3k) . YHAI site has maps , items to carry and everything else that anybody would care to bother. And there are orkut groups where past trekkers try to impress new ones of fairer sex with information overload.

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Reaching and Surviving the Base Camp – Kasol

I took a flight to delhi followed by a bus to Manali.Delhi-Manali route gets spectacular after about 6 in the morning , we get to see first glimpses of the hills.After spending a day at places where nobody apart from honeymoon couples and shop keepers who were chasing them could be seen we took a cab to YHAI base camp at Kasol. It is a 4 hour hour drive towards Kulu, take a diversion after 3 hours when you see ‘Malana Power plant’.

Kasol  is an interesting place. Some say foreigners outnumber desis here . Most of the restaurants serve Israeli food , I don’t know how foreigners happen to find all lovely places in India. I couldn’t find any ultra commercial hotels or restaurants .The ones present is reasonably priced decent guest houses which is good. I heard somewhere Israelis have the perfect blend of eastern and western looks ,I can’t deny it.

More on other interesting aspects of Kasol in future posts.

 

Kasol. Photo Courtesy:http://www.flickr.com/photos/ks2d85