Namik to Bajimanian Kharak : ~5 KM, ~6 Hours
The day started with lots of sun and a lavish breakfast. I am always in awe of the kitchen team who cook these delicious food right on time, everyday, without fail, irrespective of anything!
My stiff neck from before the trek had gotten a bit stiffer after the previous night’s sleep. Mohit, a helpful chap, helped ease the knot a bit as we got ready for the day.
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| Yogic Start to the Day - At Namik Campsite |
A Yogic Start :
Suddenly, we saw Rohan dragging some of the mats out of the kitchen tent. He didn’t call anyone but simply assumed a Yoga position. We all lined up like obedient school kids. In no time, we were posing cats and dogs and warriors and breathing through one nostril at a time!
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| 9AM. Our Legs At Work. |
7..8..9 had been the disciplinary mantra of the trek. 7 - we wake up. 8 - we have our breakfast. 9 - we start hiking. And so we did. Right at 9, under the bright sunny Sun, we started marching across the valley towards the upward slope.
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| Faking Candids On The Way... :D |
Kharak near Parava Thor:
This day saw us walking through a lovely forest of ancient Oaks and pines, intermittently opening up to two Kharak-s on the way. The green undulating grasslands of the Kharak were full of wriggly, bendy trunks of trees and awe-inspiring patterns of mushrooms.
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| A Mushroom Colony! |
The air was filled with a chorus of curious birds. We spotted a variety of them, the most dominant being - Himalayan finch (my all time favourite), oriental turtle doves (I think, could be wrong), vibrant woodpeckers and the high flying Himalayan griffons. Piyush had a binocular for bird-watching. But every time I tried using his binoculars to zoom into a birdie that I might have spotted with my naked eyes, I invariably lost track of it. Eventually, I gave up and relied on my gearless eyes only!
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| A beautiful Kharak...so hard to capture the essence! |
Sagar asked me to compare this valley trek with the treks I have done in Nepal. It’s so hard right? Like comparing apples and oranges? Are snowy peaks more thrilling than rolling valleys? Yes. But do the snow peaks have the loveliness of such an infinite greenness? No. Do I love one more than the other? Definitely not. I love the sweet gentle valleys as much as I love the majestic lofty peaks. If one humbles me, the other comforts me to no end. I can never choose. I don’t want to. And I am glad that I don’t have to.
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| Love the ground grazing roots of Rhodos! |
At Bajimanian Kharak :
We reached our destination for the day i.e. our second campsite at Bajimanian Kharak around 2 in the afternoon. It was a cosy space on the curves of the valley, almost a bit on the slope you could say. A tiny stream cut right across the valley. This was the main source of drinking water. I admired the Indiahikes-team’s effort to spread awareness to keep the water sources clean.
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| Just Posing ! |
Bajimanian campsite offered two very unique things -
1) Lovely Peaks : the first bright view of a few snow peaks in this trek. Dang Thyal was the most dominant one; We got a little peek of Nanda Kot too behind a mystic layer of cloud; And also a photographic view of the very curvy and snowy Maiktoli.
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| Nanda Kot...playing with the fluffy clouds! |
2) A Resident Baba! So this Sadhu apparently lives here since Covid. We chatted with him a bit whilst he made some tea. He said he had encountered a bear and he wasn’t afraid to live alone in such a remote place. I found him quite amusing. He sounded so much like us and yet so unlike. A baby owl sat right outside his door. It still had its baby furs and looked very lost. It kept blinking big black eyes but I think it didn’t have vision yet.
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| The Baby Owl |
Nature Walk...
MD, Manish, Mohit (lots of Ms!) and I spent the afternoon idling in the kitchen tent talking rubbish. After a while, Rohan took us for a walk in the forest. This was very refreshing. I got to know about the lichens, mosses, mycilian network, the micro eco system, different kinds of poo (veg and non veg apparently!), the funny holes in the big trunks and so much more! Bonus - I saw two woodpeckers kissing. How sweet is that!
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| View of Dang Thyal from Bajimanian Campsite |
So Many Stories To Tell !
As the afternoon rolled into darkness, we finished our dinner and a sudden story-telling atmosphere got created. Ghosts are always a popular choice in such gatherings. I was asked to tell stories (by now people got to know about the books I have written, courtesy - MD!). I wish I could speak half as much as I can write! Anyway, I declared my incompetence. Manpreet, Sumit and Manish each shared some stories. Finally, Piyush took over. His story telling skill was at a whole other level. He told us stories about his childhood village, a jin (a type of Ghost!) and also strange stories related to his college friend.
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| One more glimpse of the beautiful Bajimanian Kharak |
The night could continue forever. The stories certainly got us in a certain mood for that. However, Rohan kept nudging us to get a good sleep. The next night was about to be a sleepless one. So in preparation for that, we had to retire to our tents. We put a pause to the stories with a promise to resume the next day.
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| To Next Day... |
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