Around the month of October just after the overwhelming Durga Pujas, Soma’s Camps organised a trek to Kheerganga in the Parvati valley region in Himachal Pradesh. To get out of the monotonous city life, this was my best opportunity. And I am overjoyed that I went to this trek. Without a second thought I was on board with 9 trekkers, all extremely excited for the trip! Well, to be honest,at the beginning, we all were a little nervous about the wild forests and the distances that we knew we would have to walk . But like the saying goes, “everything beautiful comes wild and free.” With each day, we were exploring, discovering and creating memories. Travel has taught me one thing and that is to explore destinations without expectations and let the entire journey surprise me in its own way. Not only the beauty of nature but exploring ones own self, and enriching our tired souls with freshness of freedom. It was a 28 km trek, (going and coming back), beginning at the tiny hamlet of Kalga. The rocky and winding trail meshed into bridges made from fallen trees and stones at places. The trek to Kheerganga via Kalga took us through extremely beautiful forests and dells.
The rustic charm of the tiny hamlets on our way to Kheerganga and the scenic vistas lured my tired eyes and the joys of being close to nature knew no bounds!
Amidst everything, the gurgling river Parvati conspired to keep us going. And we did not miss to notice her charms even at places where she came down the mountains in form of waterfalls and seemed to block our trail. Finally we reached Kheerganga in late afternoon.
My first impression of Kheerganga : Soul Soothing ! The fresh air, the clear blue sky, the shades of green rendered me speechless for sometime.
The valley echoes of mystical powers of nature and has lots to offer to the tired souls.
Staying in tents is another exciting part of any trek. This time it was more exciting because, all 9 of us snuggled into one big tent, which was our home for the 3days and 2 nights that were were there. Maggi and tea soon became our best friends.
After the exhausting 14 km trek, we all were experiencing aches and cramps all over, so the bath we took the next day, in the natural hot water pool, felt magical to our sore limbs. Nothing could have been more relaxing !!
We witnessed sunsets from the ‘ayitihasik kartik gufa’, a cave fondly named so, by us. After the sunset all of us would go back to our tents like birds flying back to their nests. Evenings were spent singing, dancing, gossiping, laughing, making fire to keep ourselves warm till night would settle on the mountains with the cold breeze blowing against our faces. It would then be time for some really scrumptious dinner after which we would sit near our tents admiring the beautiful night, the enormous open sky wonderfully embedded by stars !
The third day I trekked down with a heavy heart and a huge suitcase of memories.
We ended the 10 days of adventure with, river rafting. River rafting is undoubtedly one of the most enthralling and physically demanding adventure activities in the world. After receiving directions and safety briefings from our rafting instructor, we geared up, boarded our rafts, and set out for our voyage down the fierce Parvati river towards the Beas river. The adrenaline rush and the excitement experienced while riding the rapids and tumbling down the turbulant water of the fast flowing Beas, was the best part of the trip.
And with the days slowly running away behind the mountains, the trip eventually came to an end. With heavy hearts we parted. From strangers we had become a family in an unfamiliar place, in those ten days.
A big Thank You to Soma ma’am, for giving us the best 10 days of our lives.
Looking forward to more such experiences with Soma’s Camps.