Trek from Khajjiar to Mangla-Chamba and back to Base camp

Sunrise from hotel @ Khajjiar

In the early morning, I and Kandarp (KD) woke up late just before the sunrise. Our room itself was a great sunrise point. We all captured great pics of the sun rising behind the mountain from our room. Later, after breakfast and packed lunch, we lined up for counting and began to move towards the next destination (Mangla – in Chamba district) on the 4^th day of trek. This time, the dog didn't came with us and was settled at Khajjiar with his new friends. We then went to Khajjiar grass field which was covered with little snow on the surface of grass. The lake was totally clouded and the view was amazing.

Khajji Nag temple

I then visited Khajji Nag temple where the 5 Pandavas stayed during the Mahabharata era. The temple was like a real temple where you expect complete silence. A pujari offered me some Jal and prasad and after praying for some time, I went to the Khajjiar lake.

View of frozen lake @ Khajjiar

It was mesmerizing view of the lake divided into 3 layers. The surface of the lake was frozen, then it was some clean layer and the fog above it created the 3^rd layer. I took some memorable pics and later joined my friends to eat paratha, sandwich and maggi in one of the shop till others where enjoying their photo sessions.

Towards Mangla (Chamba)

It was then a completely downward slippery path of 14-15 kms towards Mangla. As we started moving downwards, our legs where slipping as the path was full of dry dust. We had to walk very carefully as there was valley on our right side and we were walking on a path which was so narrow that it was required to inform the guy in front if I wanted to overtake him. But, the scenery of the mountains and valleys were the most beautiful here as compared to all the places. The view was appearing magical like a processed wallpaper.

Small Houses on the way

There were many small homes where the local people stayed and watched us with anxiousness as we were from different parts of India all together. Then came a rest point, where I went near the corner of the hill to isolate myself from others and enjoy the calmness and view of nature.

Hill with very less trees

I was very happy to see the God's created nature but disappointed when I saw a hill in front of me where a big area of trees were destroyed and was appearing like an empty hill. I again experienced the disturbance caused in nature by the human development and pollution. There were also many paths broken by the monsoon land sliding on other hills.

Kids in school attending exams

After walking for a long time, we reached to a local school where small kids were writing their exams on the ground outside the school building. When they saw us, some of them came to play with us as we were like a new friends to them. One kid, Akshay, sang a full song of Chennai express movie (Thalaivaa). We then asked each one of them about their Aim. Akshay told us that "main dukaandar ban na chahta hoon" (I would like to become a shopkeeper) while others were aiming for doctors, teacher, pilot, etc. 

School kids (Akshay in center)

Then Nileshbhai (now a very good friend of us) offered candies to many of the students. Finally, they again started writing their exam papers. As we moved ahead, other students were playing cricket. Me, Kandarp and Nileshbhai requested and joined them to face 2-3 balls as it was our first ever experience to play cricket on a high mountain. We all then decided to have lunch there as the villagers were selling very nice buttermilk. After lunch, suddenly, the atmosphere was changing and was appearing like rain will start in some moment. So, our leaders decided to move ahead as we had to cover a lot of distance to reach Mangla.

House of a villager on the way

While we were moving ahead, some local kids and even aged ladies were overtaking us on such a difficult road very easily as they were used to it. I and Kandarp decided to decline faster and reach Mangla as early as possible. Two gujju groups and one police guide were ahead of us. Moving faster for a long time, we finally reached towards them. Others were lagging way behind us. But the guide informed us that this is the only path and you can move ahead to reach Mangla till he waits for others. So we started moving speedily. We were also now used to walking on declined path and were also running at good tracks to cover the distance quickly. Whenever, 2 paths were before us, we used to ask locals for the correct path and proceed. After a long long declined path, we finally reached at the base of the mountain were Mangla was situated. On the way, I and Kandarp heard yelling of too many small kid students in a govt school of Mangla and entered it to have some good pics and videos. We then went towards our last YHAI hostel.

@ Mangla YHAI with Mr. Kishor Vaghela

As we arrived the hostel, Mangla camp leader came to welcome us and said, "Hi friends, I am Kishor Vaghela from Junagadh, Gujarat". Hearing that, we all shouted "Wah Bapu" and were happy like mad guys and also hugged him as we found Gujarati camp leader. We then shared about our journey experience with him. He too was happy to have Gujarati members with whom he can speak his local language after a long time. He was aged 56 years and had came at Mangla after trekking through the same path. We offered him some Gujarati snacks which were available with us. Bapu became like a family member to us. Later, bapu suggested us to go for Chamba visit in a booked taxi. Lastly, he informed us that he runs a Mount Girnar trekking camp at Junagadh since many years where one can experience night stay in the jungle. We all then waited for our late coming friends and finally went to have local tour of Chamba.

Laxmi Narayan temple, Chamba

As all arrived and were fresh, we started our local tour. On the way came the fast flowing Ravi river. The sound of the flowing river could be heard from a long distance. Crossing the river through the bridge, we reached Chamba town and visited the places like Bhuri Singh Museum, Laxmi Narayan temple and local market of the town. There were many other places to visit, but we were too tired and short of time to visit them. Me and KD bought a hand made shawl from a govt recognized shop from the market just for Rs. 250/-. We then bought the famous Lingdi pickle which tasted delicious and totally different from other pickles. It is made up of wild plants and is available only in Chamba. After shopping, we then returned to Mangla @ youth hostel campus.

Camp fire @ Mangla

This time I and KD had decided to attend the camp fire as it was the last camp fire of the journey and we were eager to converse with everyone and listen their experiences. After dinner, camp fire was arranged in our sleeping hall. This time, as expected, the topic was of sharing the experiences (favourite of all). We remembered our amazing trekking experience and shared with each other. This was a "wooooowwwww" moment for us :).

2 KDs (Kedar-left and Kandarp)

I and my friend had decided to gather contact details of everyone of us. After listening all the experiences, we all decided to create a whatsapp group which is active even today. During the camp, Nileshbhai informed us that he was the birthday boy that day. So, we all celebrated for him and he also became a victim to feel our birthday beating. We also clicked a pic of 2 KDs (Kandarp and Kedar) together for our memory.

returning towards Banikhet

Next morning, it was the end of our trek and had to return at the base camp in Banikhet. Bus was ready to pick up. All of us were ready, took our breakfast and gathered for the last count. There was one stop at one of the tourist spot while returning. The spot was heavenly with a view of huge snow-peaked mountains and bluish Ravi river flowing between them. After clicking lot of photos, we then moved ahead in bus – enjoying and singing hindi/gujarati songs.

Tourist spot while returning to Banikhet

Banikhet camp guys welcomed us on reaching there and again, a meeting of the next group was going on when we reached. Certificates from YHAI were given to us for successfully completing our first national trek. After submitting the YHAI rucksacks back to them and swapping our belongings, we were meeting all other friends to say a final bye. We then met Sirji (Chauhan sir) for the last time to thank him for all his informations and precious guidance and promised to meet him again in our next trek.

Previous

Next