Since Carl and I had such an amazing time trekking outside of Leh we couldn't resist doing another trek around Dharamsala. We opted for a shorter trek of only one night and two days. The hike started from McLeod Ganj which is above Dharamsala and we headed out of town via an unpaved road. Our first encounter with wildlife was with monkeys feasting on trash from a dumpster. Our guide, Baba, told us to be careful when I was snapping a photo because the "monkey no nice."
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| Monkey no nice |
About 10 minutes later a monkey dog fight was ensuing on the side of the road involving multiple monkeys and multiple dogs. Who knows what they were fighting over but my guess is trash. The monkeys and the dogs were making terrible terrible sounds. I was terrified and started running and shielding myself behind Carl like a true coward. Our guide told me not to worry and not to be scared. Whatever dude. You told me not even 10 minutes ago to be careful and not get too close to a single monkey eating trash and now I'm suppose to not be scared of monkeys and dogs fighting. Whatever dude, whatever. During a rest break Carl wanted more excitement or something so he started asking if there were bears and mountain lions in these parts....apparently there are, goodie!
Higher above McLeod Ganj the trees changed from widely spaced pine trees to densely packed coniferous trees with lots of bushes and ferns growing on the forest floor. As we hiked higher and higher trees began to disappear from the landscape only to be replaced with giant boulders.
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| Pine trees |
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| All those white dots are goats |
Baba and a man who was possibly our porter or just Baba's friend (we couldn't figure it out because there really wasn't that much to port) would sprint ahead of us only to stop every hour for chai at little huts along the trail.
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| Chai break |
We reached our campsite of Triund at 2pm. On the way up Carl pointed out a donkey ahead of us that had speakers strapped to its back. We thought it was strange but didn't think too much about it. Baba set up our tent and made us some fried rice for lunch. Ah the joys of "Princess Camping." All of the pleasures of the outdoors without having to do any work. Baba placed our tent in a "shanti shanti" (peaceful) place because apparently the speakers strapped to the donkey were going to get some use. We asked who and what the party was for but he told us that there was no party....
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| Triund |
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| Living in a cloud |
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| Tea time |
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| Mountains! |
Carl and I played rummy and drank tea in our tent until dinner. Rice, dal, curry and chapati was served in a hut built of rocks and tarps. After dinner it rained and was really windy, but it stopped after 30 minutes. Not long after the rain stopped the music started. The music was pretty loud and bad and we weren't thrilled because it kind of defeated the purpose of camping in this amazing peaceful landscape.
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| Oh hello! |
The next morning we hiked an hour up to Snow Line. We didn't realize what a wimpy hike we signed up for until we got up to Snow Line. Serious trekkers camp there then hike over Indrahar Pass (14,291 ft).
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| Breakfast |
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| The pass is behind us |
We sort of wished we booked a longer hike but since Baba wouldn't stop complaining about how cold it was and how tired he was we thought it was best because a longer hike might have been too much for him. We went a different way down and it was nice to see some new views. Huge magnificent eagles with three to four foot wing spans gracefully soared above us we slipped down steep rocky goat paths.
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| View of Triund from above |
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| The way down |
Carl asked Baba if he went to the party to see if he would stick to his story about there not being a party. Baba is nothing if not consistent. He again confirmed that there was no party, only music and drinking, sounds pretty party like to me.
The trek wasn't as good as Leh but since Leh likely has the best trekking in the world I can't really complain. It was great to spend a couple days in the mountains. The Himalayas are truly amazing, massive, and diverse. I will always love being surrounded by them.
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| Crow pose |
Carl and I got back to McLeod Ganj around 2pm. We found a hotel and got some lunch. For dinner we took a cooking class and learned to make Momos, more on that soon!
