(This is where it all started….Sriram, Pranitha and Sham at ZeroG)
What follows is how we went about planning our trip, what we went through and how we emerged victorious!
Planning for the Trip
After we decided that we needed to trek, it was time to get hold of some trek operators and find out where we could go. Being first time trekkers in the Himalayas, we were looking for an easy to moderately challenging outing. There are many sites out there from where you can gather the info on various kinds of treks. After due research on trek operators and the rates they offered, we settled on a organization called above14000ft (www.above14000ft.com) run by a guy called Kaushal. He recommended a trek that was suitable for first timers. The cost after some negotiation came to 1800/- per person per day. After exchanging quite a few mails on it, we finally settled on a 6 day Batal – Chandertal – Baralacha La trek. If you look it up on the net, it a fairly famous trek. And as for it being easy, read on!!
We had planned to leave for Manali on the 14th. Our trek was planned from the 17th to the 22nd of June – 6 days in the Himalayas. We planned to spend 19th in the beautiful valley of Chandertal. Post that there were 3 more days of the trek ending at Baralacha La.
Finally 14th June, the eagerly awaited day, arrived. We arrived in Delhi on the afternoon of 14th. We had a bus to Manali in the evening at 6 pm. The experience with the operator Raj National Express was not great, but I dont think there are too many options on this route. The other options are Himachal State Transport and Himachal State Tourism. Some of our friends took these and they too did not have a particularly good exprience. After a good one hour wait, our bus finally left around 7 pm. After a 16 hour ardous journey, we reached Manali at 10:30 am next day…
Filed under: Travel and Adventure, Trekking | Tagged: Chandertal, Himalayan Trek, Topkogongma
