What is trekking? A personal experience of a trek in the Himalayas.

Hey guys, I've been to the Himalayas three times and every time I go there, it changes me. Here is something I wrote about my recent trek -

In the words of Hira Singh ji, one of my trek leaders on the Brahmatal trek in the Himalayas, “Trekking is not about going to the mountains, coming back and telling your friends and family that Mt. Trishul is above 7000 meters and Mt. Nanda Ghunti is about 6300 meters tall. It’s about knowing the culture in the mountains, it’s about knowing the language of the mountains. Anyone can know the heights of these majestic peaks but it takes a lot to understand the narrative of trekking.”

Just like the end of 2016, I ended 2017 in the Himalayas and started 2018 there. This recent trek of mine offered me inexplicable amount of clarity on my life. Another trek leader, Dushyant sir, said that it is not only the mountain we climb, but we also overcome internal conflicts. It’s true. With every trek I complete, I understand myself better.

Brahmatal is a lake situated at an altitude of 10,440 feet (3182 meters) in northern Uttarakhand. I went up there through Indiahikes, this wonderful trekking organisation. We were a group of around 21 people. The trek started at Lohajung (basecamp) and we trekked to a maximum altitude of 12250 feet (3733 meters). I have nothing but respect for the kitchen staff that worked for us, day and night, to make sure we had sumptuous food and hot water whenever we needed it. It takes so much from you to be above 10,000 feet, to run around for food and water in negative temperatures for people that are only coming there for a couple of nights.

There is something so sublime about the mountains and it is always exciting to think of yourself surrounded by snow covered mountains under happy, blue skies. However, it is not as happy as it looks like in the photos. Treks in the Himalayas are not leisure trips you make just to feel good and get a break from your daily lives. Treks are more than that. The mountains demand you to get out of your comfort zone, there is so much that goes into a trek. It’s about the hours you plan away meticulously. If you don’t plan it well enough, you could miss your flights and trains, if you don’t prepare well, you won’t be able to reach that peak you’ve been dreaming about the past six months, if you don’t pack well, you’ll succumb to the cold and maybe even AMS (acute mountain sickness). So many times during a trek, I have thought to myself – why am I putting myself through so much pain? I could have been chilling by the beach in Goa or completing TV series after series at home. I have doubted myself so much, I have doubted my decisions so much because it’s not comfortable when it is 6 PM and the temperature is already below zero. It’s not comfortable when you cannot feel your fingers even though you’ve worn the warmest gloves you could buy from Decathlon. It’s not a nice feeling when you’re wearing two pairs of woollen socks and heavy trekking shoes but your toes are dead and every time you walk, they hurt like hell. Being the first to be up in the morning to find out that all the water has now turned to ice because it dipped to -8 last night is definitely not a good thing – now you have to wait or break the ice and call for help. It is also VERY easy for you to fall down and twist your ankle – the terrain is so unpredictable. Your head will hurt, you might feel nauseous and you might want to go back home.

But I guarantee you this –

The locals you will meet will never lie to you – the people there are so truthful and transparent. The locals you will meet will always take care of you. The culture will take you in, it will be the most welcoming culture “shock” you would have witnessed. The connections you will make with your trek mates will be things you will find yourself going back to during random moments in the day. The memories won’t bring you sorrow, they make you smile like an idiot in the middle of a busy street. Your summit climb will be with your group but those final ten steps you take towards the peak – you would have made them personally and it will always be a private thing to you. And once you reach the peak, the view will release all your stress and it will be the most rewarding thing ever. The mountains will teach you life. They will show you that there is always something more, something bigger out there. You will see that your fights with your parents or those major ego clashes you have with your best friend from time to time are all petty matters. You will learn. And once you start descending, once you realise that you might not meet these people ever again, you will be sad, but you will let it go and hope you might bump into them in a coffee shop somewhere, or preferably in the mountains. Trekking buddies offer you the best advice and you will always learn something from them because when a person’s basic needs are just food, water and air, (and not the bus to work, not internet for entertainment and not a cellphone for communication) and they are just so content with whatever is around them – they reveal their true selves, raw and pure. Apart from so many things influencing you, you would’ve climbed a very different and difficult inner mountain as well, allowing you to shed a lot negative energy.

And then you come back to your city. As I’ve said in my previous blog post – everything will be the same once you’re back, but something inside you would have changed and that change is all you need. Trust that change, let it guide you.

I miss my trek mates a lot, I wish I could climb mountains with them again and I wish them well. I hope you guys are reading this and I hope we meet again, because sharing food from the same plates and washing them in the ice cold water was not something I would like but I wish I could go back to that now.

Believe it or not, we had nine people studying medicine and one surgeon in our group. I met these two IIT-ians and this this woman whose office is in the same building as Truffles, Koramangala (how cool man) – we made a fine group. I met two women, one from Sri Lanka and one from Singapore. Their first time in India was this trek, I hope they liked our music, culture and food. I met a guy who works for Adidas and we all asked him to get us free stuff from Adidas. The IIT-ians (of course) taught me a little about physics, I told them a bit about journalism and psychology.

I met so many others and it broadened my perspective.

Now I find myself saving up money so I can meet other, different people and exchange stories with them, sitting at the edge of some other mountain.

This is what trekking is about – about connection.