The Crazy Honeymoon ( Roopkund Trek . Uttrakhand. June 2014. 16500ft)

On our way to the Base camp ,Lohajung . 

Tea plantations.  

The route to Lohajung is all full of such scenic roads 

Almost at Lohajung ( a 12 hour drive from Kathgodam) 

The morning we were to leave @ Lohajung 

Our trek was full of such routes 

At Ali Bugyal 

At Ali Bugyal 

The Bedni Base 

The Bedni Base 

The army training for altitudes. They ran while we walked.  

In the morning of the Bedni to Pathar nauchni trek 

We decided to stay back thanks to my stomach and blisters 

The effort of the trek was worth it 

India is a land of people who love to know what is going on in others life more than their own. Wedding is a hot topic and post my wedding I realized that so was Honeymoon. Immediately after we were married we were asked this question not only by our friends but also by the elders in the family. To everyone’s disappointment we skipped the honeymoon part and directly jumped into the new life that awaited us and got caught up totally. Not because we were really a boring couple but we just wanted to make our first vacation (we treated it like a nice long vacation) well planned and also a little different.

So two months later after we had settled into the new way of life, in the month of February we began searching the internet for options and also to figure out our budgets. We thought of the luxury European trip and then we thought of backpacking to some exotic place. Nothing was matching up to what we thought should be a “landmark” holiday! After many fights and many more budget excels we decided to stick to India.

To our surprise, when we started the research on India and places to visit we had a five year plan ahead of us! Then we started to fight on if we should go to the hills or the sea. Yes we had too many fights and too many discussions before we concluded that both of us loved the North of India. We both wanted to visit the Mountains and live in the tranquility of the place.

We both wanted to go for a trek. We had never done a trek in our lives before so we decided to give it a shot. We chose a moderate / difficult trek as our first trek. We were confident that we would be able to pull this off since we had been hitting the gym since a while. However, there was a surprise in store. A few things to keep in mind for the first timers:

a)      Start making a list of the things that the websites say and the things that you gather from talking to friends

b)      Start preparing for the trek at least 3 months in advance and that includes both physical and mental preparations.

c)       For physical fitness the website for our trek said 4 kms run in 30 mins approx. However, what one needs to keep in mind is that this is ( these points will help you for the walk) :

a.       Not on a treadmill

b.      Should be at an elevation which is close to 60 degs

c.       Mentally one should be prepared for the fact that the roads will not be roads that you see in the cities (we had rocks, dried leaves and pebbles).

d.      It will be sunny and really sunny as the sun on the mountains will be strong and direct.

e.      Start training your mind to drink less water while walking as there will be no restrooms on your way. Also your body tends to become heavy as you drink water and that makes it lethargic

f.        Try to have a day pack with you with basic things like energy bars, towels, some juice or glucose mix, cap, sunglasses etc. This is so because in case you are not able to carry your backpack which will be at least 7 – 8 kgs you can give it to the mules and just carry the day pack

After all the preparation, we set off for our 10 day vacation. We reached Kathgodam on the 31^st of May and stayed at a Government guest house near the station. Next day early morning we started our cab ride of 12 hours approximately to Lohajung. This was the base camp. We reached and realized the temperature difference and also how we were so away from all the luxuries of life that included electricity. Even then it was divine. Peaceful and totally cut off from city life.

On 2^nd June at around 7 am we started the trek. Soon after we had started I realized the biggest mistake of my life that would cost a lot of trouble. My shoes had started to bite so badly I could hardly walk. So first timers please wear your shoes for at least a week before the trek and get used to them. Wear two socks to make them open up and also to make you feel comfortable. Trekking shoes are heavy, bulky and can be really uncomfortable. They are meant to be so as you will be walking on really bad roads and pebbles that need proper grip as you cannot afford to skid on the mountains. So please try and get as used to in them as possible as I had a tough time.

The first day was a mix of assents and descents. You will come to know how much you can push your body on this day as this is when you realize what have you go into. I found this day a tough one as I had no clue of what was ahead. I usually get very jittery if I do not know the end. I am impatient so naturally it added to the anxiety as well. Secondly with the bad shoe issue I had started to lag behind and go slow. Which started working on my mind. Although please note that a trek is a very personal thing so your pace should not be dependent on others. Try to keep a positive mind if you lag behind. Tell yourself that what you are doing is totally worth the effort and more than half the people back home won’t even want to try this – so you are setting an example. Keep yourself motivated and most importantly keep calm. Take the occasional breaks and look around. See where you are and what are doing and how beautiful the world is. You will meet fellow trekkers, talk to them. Basically after a point I realized it was all in my mind more than in my legs. I could hardly feel my legs after a point and trust me its all natural. Your body is not used to that kind of stress. You will have breathlessness and you will feel tired. Everyone feels tired. Don’t stress yourself about your fitness levels once you are at the mountains. Everybody is different and behaves differently at that condition. Even the fittest of the people face issues. So chill. I was about 1 hour delayed from the rest of the group. I had given up on my shoes and my bags and started walking in slippers which were more comfortable. But please do not do that. Once I reached Didina I was exhausted.  When my husband saw me he thought I would die any moment. But I did not. After a good afternoon meal at around 3 pm I slept and rested the rest of the day. Everyone in the group was a little concerned with my pace but I was fine.

We decided to start a little early from the rest of the group the next day. This day was a better trek day. There was a very complicated and long climb which took my energy away totally. With blisters on my feet things were not looking good. Though I enjoyed the trek as this day included walking through a mountain full of forests so the sun was not directly hitting me. I picked up my pace and started walking in that pace with a positive mind. The climb was about 5 hours long. And trust me it was very difficult for a first timer. This was the point when I thought that we should have done a simpler trek than this one. After all that 5 hour long climb, finally I reached Ali Bugyal. It was pretty. I would not have believed the place had I not seen it with my eyes. So green. By now we had covered an altitude of approx 3000 ft. Wow that was an achievement. The walk from Ali Bugyal to Bedni is simpler and nicer. I loved this walk the best. Also there was an assurance that the camp site will be soon near. I also could see my husband walk at a distance. He has been the best on this trek. He did far better than I did. I was hoping I could keep up with him throughout the trek but he was quite fast. J

Once I reached Bedni, I relaxed in our tents. This was the first time in my life I was living inside a tent. So far we had been doing home-stay on this trek, from here on we were to stay in tents. The weather started to get bad. There were very bad rains and oh my god the wind felt like we would be blown away with our tents. For a first timer this will be an experience that either you love or you do not. I loved. The restrooms were a make shift thing and it was so so difficult to even pee! The water was so cold that I felt my fingers will come off! We just stayed inside the tents and tried to stay warm. Me and my husband were just too amazed with the conditions. This was a day of achievement of sorts for me as at one point during the trek I had not thought of reaching Bedni. But please try and reach Bedni somehow. Its so totally worth it and its so beautiful. I was so thankful that I had the mental will and guts to carry on and reach this. We were barely a few kilometers away from Trishul. We were at a height of 12000 ft approx. This is where you realize the potential of your body and how you can push it. I respected my body and made a promise to myself to take care of it. It was just a brilliant moment for me.

Because of all my blisters and injuries, we decided to not continue further. This is because from here the trek gets really difficult with walking on snow etc at a higher altitude. Maybe if I had more guts or was a little bit stronger I would have pushed myself to complete the trek. This last leg somehow did not give me the guts. The only thing I regret is that my husband was also not able to do it as he refused to let go off me and carry on. He said we will come back and do it together. And for his sake maybe I will complete the whole thing one day. So we let the rest of the group carry on the next day while we started to descent. We took a call and climbed down the whole thing in one day which people take 2 days to climb down. We wanted to reach the city / town sooner and figure out if we could go and see some more places. So we climbed down the whole 4000 ft at one go and yes that too was difficult as it had no roads. But I am so glad we did it.

Once we reached the base camp we ate at a local restaurant. Has some awesome chicken curry and roti and felt so good to sleep on beds! Even though we did not complete the trek, there was a lot that we learnt and started to appreciate a lot of common things which we otherwise took for granted. It’s a moment for yourself which will be only for you… so try it out.