Conquering Dhauladhars

Tucked in quilts at the height of 2975mts with a cup of hot black tea and a spoon of rum to beat the cold while the whole valley is covered in mist, it was hard to believe that it would be 40 degrees plus back home in Delhi. 

A few adventurous souls decided to trek to Triund in monsoons when ways will be dangerously slippery and views hidden due to fog. We were told that the trek is 9kms and will take around 4hrs. Climbing up the rocky path, watching snails and moss on the way for around half an hour we reached Dharamkot. Got an interesting piece of information – the locals here drink these snails with milk for speedy recovery of fractured bones. Glad we were to have finished one eighth of the trek, when someone told us that trek actually STARTS here and that vehicles can come till here. Gathering our courage we started the “real” trek. It had been raining since yesterday and fortunately it was a clear day to start with.

Trekking up the Dhauladhars

The valley looked like a beautiful lady wearing green saree fresh out from bath... hair still wet, drops still resting on her sweet face with red bindi on her forehead. Glad we were to have done this in monsoons. On our right was the diminishing village making us feel we have climbed quite high... but soon we would find ourselves at the foot of another hill that is still to be conquered.

After almost 2 hrs of continuous trek on slippery rocks, passing through lush green Rhododendron and oak trees we all had different pace... some of us much ahead still managing a smile without effort... some struggling with their baggage and thinking why they bought that night dress, could have easily done without it but managing to smile with an effort and some tired to the core talking to every person trekking down and checking how much more they have to climb, their smiles vanished completely. I would not reveal which category I belonged to.

A quick break

Weather was good till now. To our relief we found a tea stall. The moment we stopped there for a quick lunch, it started raining heavily... as if weather God was watching over us. After half an hour of torrential shower it stopped raining. By the time we were reenergized with parathas, juice and chocolate. With even more enthusiasm we started the second leg of our trek. It took us around 6 hrs with breaks from Mcleodganj to reach Triund. 

The moment we reached up there, we forgot our aching toes, hurting back and paining legs.  We were mesmerized by the beauty of nature… standing on a natural green carpet in Dhauladhars with a wonderful view we felt out of this world. We were smiling down at the deep valley while mighty dhauladhars were looking down at us with a smile.

Nature at its best

The sky was clear blue now with white fluffy patches of clouds here and there. It was a perfect day for photography so we started capturing the beauty of the moment on our cameras. By the time we came back to our senses it was almost dark. Preparations started for setting up the camp. Triund is a beautiful camping site in Dhauladhars at an altitude of 2975mts.

Camping at Triund

It was amazing to see the beautiful day turning into gorgeous night. Sun sank deep into the horizon hiding the last gold of the miser sun... Slowly darkness took over the whole valley. We could see nothing but some glittering lights far below… music of silence playing all over.

We felt real proud and precious to be there in oneness with nature!

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Wish I were a bird too...!

I visited Palampur, my home town a few weeks before. We have a beautiful garden with variety of fruits and flowers... starting from Peaches, plum, litchi, apricot, mangoes, guava, pomegranate, papaya, strawberries... Roses, poppy, lily, Pansy, camellia and many more.... you name it and we have it all in our garden. And the garden is frequented by a great variety of birds and butterflies. This time I could actually see the birds in action as it is their breeding season. Various birds like robin and Barbet were busy making the nests for their young ones in our garden... Bulbuls singing and jumping around at times on litchi tree and at times on green grass... fruit trees either having fruits or bloom... sweet fragrance of flowers all around... chirping birds playing around... I could feel the romance in the air. It was no less than living in a paradise for a week.

Papa busy maintaining the garden

My day would start with a sweet call of a small blue bird. I would take a deep breath and head towards the garden to exercise on soft green grass breathing fresh mountain breeze... a look around and mind, body and soul would refresh. By this time even papa would get free from his day to day gardening tasks. We would together read newspaper, discuss subjects worth a discussion and then have healthy breakfast. 

Observing these birds through the day playing and singing and building their homes with such an effort strengthens my wish to be a bird. Male would diligently collect hay to build the nest and the female would observe lovingly. Then the pair would spend time flying around in the garden... on the trees... branches... playfully. How I wish I were a bird too...!

Watering the plants is fun

Evenings would be full of action. That's when maximum birds would be out. After watering the plants we would together start the bird chase. Papa on one side of the garden, Payal, my sis, on the other and me at the backyard. All busy chasing birds and discovering new additions. The ones for whom our garden was home were Bulbul, Robin and Black browed Barbet. The other guests who visited our garden while I was there were Oriental white eye, Purple Sun bird, a pair of Spotted Doves, Maina, Woodpecker and many more whose names I still don't know.  That black and white little bird who would usually come around sunset and sit on the top of arocaria almost everyday,  the blue bird who would wake me up with its sweet voice, that smallest yellowish brown bird who would never sit at one place as if teasing me and not wanting me to click it... They all became a part of my days there.

Robin pair busy preparing their nest in our garage, between a pole and tin roof. What papa's worried about was the young ones of birds will not be able to stand the heat when sun will warm up the tin. So the solution he thought is that he will put a damp piece of cloth over tin so as to avoid direct sun.

Robin

Black browed Barbet these days was busy digging up her nest in a trunk of an old tree. The process of digging it is very similar to how a woodpecker construct his nest. A hole with unbelievable perfectness. 

Black browed Barbet

Himalayan Bulbul I found them the most romantic of all. They would keep playing and singing around almost the whole day around their home and surroundings. 

Himalayan Bulbul

Chasing and clicking these sweet little birds is what I did the whole week and thoroughly enjoyed.

Now I am waiting for the Barbet to lay eggs. I really wanna see how cute li'l ones look and the sight of them being fed by mother bird is worth a visit to Palampur again. 

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