Everyone makes holiday plans with friends but we were the lucky ones who actually got to go for one. Ten days, one trek operator, three best friends and the icing on the cake was all this under Rs.23,000!
It starts with when, Pranjali, Aishwarya and I, Ipshita decided to undertake an adventure and trek through the unforgiving terrains of the Himalayas, 15000 ft above sea level to Roopkund –a glacier lake which is also called the skeleton lake due to the skeletons of previous travellers surrounding the lake.
And as though, the fact that 3 girls travelling alone was not enough to worry my parents. I ended up getting a ligament pull 2 weeks prior to the trek and we almost had to cancel it. However, after a lot of rest and doctor’s approval. we three finally ventured onto our journey to take on Roopkund
Stage 1 – Reaching Lohagunj Base Camp
First, we had to fly to Delhi – a place completely alien to any true blue Mumbaikar. Then, we had to figure out the metro lines, change three metros to reach the interstate bus terminal, find our bus from a ridiculous horde, that would then take us to Haldwani, and then from there locate the sumo that would take us to our base camp safe to say everything did not go smoothly and we got scammed into paying rupees 200 to spend 2 hours in a shady room which had paan spits on the walls, flying cockroaches, and an untiled bathroom.
Stage 2 – The Trek
The first day we were supposed to trek 11 km and within 10 minutes I had 2 bruises on my feet. The trek uphill was challenging, well at least for normal people like me, Pranjali, on the other hand, was like the flash trekking through rocks as if walking through a garden!
After that came the part of, putting up the tents and fitting into the sleeping bags which personally is the toughest part of the treks because how claustrophobic they are.However, one of my favorite moments from the trek was when at night 2 am when Pranjali whose bladder seemed to act up at times most inconvenient times tapped on the tent, came rushing back to the tent to put me out of my dazed slumber. You see it was freezing and I was tired, so I, for obvious reasons was quite Reluctant. She instructed me to poke my head out and look up, and when I finally found my specs and did so, I saw the entire sky theming with thousand stars.
It was one of those moments that made you feel insignificant as a race and realize just how infinite and magnificent our universe is. safe to say never have I felt emotional whilst looking at the sky until that day Skimming along the next few days as they passed through endless meadows, snowball fights and enthralling stories from the rest of the group members.
Stage 3- Reaching Roopkund
The temperatures have dropped, its 0 degrees or lower
3 am and we have had just one slice of toast, we start our journey
Approximately 100 people in a line with a torch in one hand and a stick in the other.Its pitch black, the path is slippery and the trail at places was wide enough for only one foot. 2 hours have passed and Roopkund doesn’t seem to be getting any closer.
It starts to snow; the paths get steeper and now we have supplementary one kg crampons on each foot which put additional strain on fatigued and calloused legs. Our determination and patience dwindling we start to question if all of this was worth it But if we have come so far then we will not leave without seeing Roopkund.
So, we push ourselves and finally, we see a Trisula nest to a brick stand which lay next to the pristine white frozen lake with mysterious skeletons at the side. WE HAVE ARRIVED!
The three of us look at each other and we have tears in our eyes. everyone around us is hugging laughing and crying.We finally reached Roopkund and yes …. It was worth it!!
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