Kissa-E-Kashmiri - Great Lakes trek, to heaven and beyond

''Ogniviaggio lo vivitre volte: quando lo sogni, quando lo vivi, e quando lo ricordi."– Twitterati

Translating the above quote to English reads, ‘Every trip is lived three times: when you dream of it, when you go, and when you remember it’. The timelines for the said actions for me, is spread across a lifetime. As, we all dream of a paradise almost always, I went there during July 2021 and I will remember it till I take my last breath (if possible even after that).

Travel during a pandemic is challenging enough. But more challenging than that is fighting social perceptions. ‘We are not safe, let’s hide under our bed for the rest of our lives’ seems to be the mood of Kolkata. But life doesn’t take pause anyhow, it flows away. I am happy that my family trusts me, for making the bigger decisions in life and even the smaller one. Hence, even when I commit mistakes, they are solely mine. My leaves from work were overdue and I have never been one to be bothered much about the free ‘Gyan’. Only other thing to convince myself was about the place ‘Kashmir’, the land of everlasting disputes.

Indian media is trying its level best to make you lose all your trusts in it. Unfortunately, there are currently two modes of journalism – one that reports news and another which creates it. The later one seems to be ruling the field now. Hence, I decided to ignore reports such as drone infiltration, regular curfew and whatnots and rather follow my heart.

“Oh, let the sun beat down upon my face / (with)Stars to fill my dreams

I am a traveler of both time and space / To be where I have been

Sit with elders of the gentle race / This world has seldom seen

Talk of days for which they sit and wait /(and) All will be revealed…"

Robert Plant (Led Zeppelin) in his song projected a dreamlike vision, an ethereal and poetic world. Where they converse with the old local prophets to know about the revelations and the coming of the Messiah; As, the sun burns, the sand dries their face. Then gradually the revelation becomes a prayer, an invocation, awaiting a direction. I believe travelling in Kashmir is synonymous to this song, like living in a dreamlike delirium, in a mystical reality. It is so addictive that even after two weeks since returning, whenever I close my eyes I can see myself there – walking along the sun soaked meadows of Sindh valley.

Different parts of my trek amalgamates seamlessly with various verses on this song. As I go along penning down the journey, I will try to show the relation.

I trekked with Bikat Adventures this time. It is a Gurgaon based trekking agency. The batch size was 22, divided into two teams of 10 and 12. Our team (of 10) was headed by a trek leader named Vijay Bisht (from Uttarakhand). Among members I only knew Koushik and Arnab beforehand. Koushik introduced me to Saransh (from his current office, Atlassian) a native of Chhattisgarh (original lineage of Maharashtra) at New Delhi airport. Other trek-mates were: -<Vraj, Mansi> from Gujrat and <Radhika, Nikita, Nehal, Sakshi> from Rajasthan. This was my fifth trek, the most beautiful one and some of the best days of my life. To describe Kashmir, it is a place of thousand emotions, grandeur and love.

IMPORTANT: Most of the pictures added here are clicked by Arnab Dutta and are copyright protected. Don't reuse them without proper permission.

THE JOURNEY

DAY -1: [KOLKATA - NEW DELHI] – 16th July 2021(Friday)

In these pandemic days, flights are getting cancelled at last moment very frequently. Samit advised me a few months before to book only Indigo or Air India flights for Srinagar. But chose the cheaper alternative – Air Asia. It was a wrong decision. After getting rescheduled 5 or 6 times just four days before the journey, ultimately I had enough when Air Asia cancelled all their flights to Srinagar for 16th July and put us to a flight scheduled to depart for 17th at late night. We cancelled with mostly full refund and had to book an indigo one.

It was an evening flight with almost 7.5 hrs. layover in New Delhi. This was the best option available to us cost wise. We also got to know our returning flight of spice Jet got rescheduled too. Having 14 hrs. layover in New Delhi now. Adding to this spice Jet’s cancellation policy is shit. Hence, we had to stick to it.

By almost 11 PM we were at New Delhi. Our next flight for Srinagar was at 6 AM the next day. We waited for Saransh and once he joined, due to all of us having either Master Credit/Debit card could avail the lounge service at New Delhi airport for a couple of hours to enjoy food and a high scoring T20 (cricket) encounter between Pakistan and England.

Some of us fell asleep late night. We had to run a bit to make it to the boarding gate for the next flight within time.

DAY - 2: [NEW DELHI - SRINAGAR - SONMARG (9,186 ft.)] – 17th July 2021(Saturday)

I had a middle seat for Srinagar flight. Hence there was nothing more for me to do except sleeping. Arnab and Saransh had window seats. They spend their time taking snaps and videos from sky as we entered the Kashmir airspace. We landed at about 7:35 AM.

The Srinagar airport is a defense airport with really strict security. I noticed more of it while making the return journey. Its official name is Sheikh Ul-Alam airport.

Sheikh Ul-Alam/Nund Rishi/Sheikh Noor-ud-Din Nooraniwas a famous Kashmiri Sufi saint/mystic/poet, who lived around‎ 1377–1438 AD. He was among the founders of the Rishi order, a Sufi tradition and has an honorary title ‘Alamdar-e-Kashmir’ meaning the standard bearer of Kashmir.

By the time we landed, myself and Saransh had already lost our mobile connectivity. It is important to mention here, till this time only postpaid Indian connections from other states work here. Prepaid connections work only if their SIMs are issued here locally. The airport is a very small one, right after the arrival door there are only two luggage carousel conveyor belts. Each decorated with a welcome message hoisted over a boat replica mimicking the Sikara rides of Dal Lake.

I waited there to spot my friends as they had different seats and entered later than me. After we picked up our check-in luggage (rucksacks) we tried exiting the airport. It is then I saw that before exiting everyone had to show their RT-PCR reports (not older than 72hrs.). We had planned for this beforehand. Hence myself, Arnab and Koushik had to issues. But, Saransh’s report didn’t have QR-Code in it. He was made to take a RAPID test (free of cost) for Covid infection identification. It took all but 10-15 minutes.

I want to keep a note about RT-PCR here for my own interest. It is a laboratory method used to make many copies of a specific genetic sequence for analysis. It uses an enzyme called reverse transcriptase to change a specific piece of RNA into a matching piece of DNA. This piece of DNA is then amplified (made in large numbers) by another enzyme called DNA polymerase. The amplified DNA copies - help tell whether a specific mRNA molecule is being made by a gene. RT-PCR may be used to look for certain changes in a gene or chromosome or for activation of certain genes, which may help diagnose a disease, such as cancer and more recently COVID. It may also be used to study the RNA of certain viruses, such as the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and the hepatitis C virus, to help diagnose and monitor an infection. Also called Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction.

After the formalities were over. We walked outside to find some chairs under a shaded enclosure. We were carrying some breakfast with us from home, this seemed like the right time to consume it :). In the meantime, Koushik called the Bikat team, to know we have to report to Dal Lake Ghat-1 for our pick up for Sonmarg. This was not told to us when we booked for the trek, it seemed really unprofessional. Anyhow we decided not to let it dampen our spirits.

Right after you exit the Srinagar airport, about within 150 meters there is a Pre-Paid taxi booking stand, they asked for Rs 880/- for a ride to Sonmarg for four people. We walked some 100 meters more to find a bus depot. We paid Rs 70/- per head for a Bus journey till Sonmarg about 12 KMs from the airport. By10 AM, we were at Dal Lake.

Our pick up traveler from Bikat came at around 12:10 PM. Till then we sat outside some closed shops and were being constantly haggled by Dal Lake boat owners to book a boathouse. We had to repeatedly make them aware that we are only stopping for our next transport. Close to 11:45 AM we were joined by a few others – Gurmeet from Delhi, a veteran trekker who joined us right after finishing another trek Tarsar-Marsar (Pahelgaon, Kashmir) only one day ago; Vraj, Mansi, and a group of six from the southern states of India. By 12:30 PM, two travelers with us in it started from Dal Lake to Sonmarg. Along the way initially, till Ganderbal, it was mostly paddy fields to our left. After which our view shifted to the beautiful Sindh valley on our right. Nearer to Sonmarg it was mostly tall cliffs. We stopped midway thrice – once for a military checkpoint, second time for lunch and lastly for taking some snaps at a beautiful viewpoint. By 3:30 PM, we were at Sonmarg the “meadow of gold”.

Sonmarg is a hill stations in Kashmir valley. Having postcard worthy setting and towering vistas all around it. We didn’t enter the main village/township. Just before the entry bridge, the travelers dropped us. From there onwards our contact Raul received us and pointed us toward a left going hike for about 15-20 minutes to reach our campsite for the day. I had a plan to try reaching the Thajiwas Glacier some 3 KMs from Sonmarg, but it was already late and our trek leads were yet to reach. Hence decided against it.

We had a brief Team Introduction session after being served with evening Tea at 6:30 PM, which I don’t partake. I was sharing a tent with Arnab, right beside us were Koushik and Saransh. We were exited for the next morning to finally start our trek. Hence after having early dinner we went to bed, sleeping bags were provided though not really needed for that day. Arnab being Arnab, started complaining that his sleeping bag being smaller in width. I reminded him he is Arnab and not Big Show and without further ado went to sleep to enter the land of beautiful dreams.

Before I move towards the tale for our next days. Let’s have a brief idea about what our route was: Sonmarg – Nichnai Camp – Vishansar Camp – Gadsar Camp – Satsar Camp – Gangabal Camp – Naranag. Our trail consisted of mostly meadows, lakeside, fields, passes through sparse forest and some amount of ardent bolder hike.

DAY - 3: [SONMARG – NICHNAI (11948 ft.)] – 18th July 2021(Sunday) ~11 KMs

<paraphrasing>

"...Oh, all I see turns to <gold> / (as the) Sun burns the <green>

And my <voices> fill with <scream> / As I scan this <golden dream>

Trying to find, trying to find, where I've been..."

Our first day in trek was Sonmarg to Nichnai. The green trail under flourishing Sun had a golden hue. It felt enlightening somehow. I was stopping for brief moments to capture the view with my eyes even though it felt for this journey sight is not required.

We had a ~9 AM head start. Initially it was all ascent mostly. We were about to gain more than 4000ft. today. Usually the starting day of treks are easy most, here that was not entirely true. We crossed some shepherd huts along the way during the starting 3Km. The ascent ended after almost 3.5 KM, we reached table top/magi top, also called the Shekdur meadows; It was about 11:45 am. Shekdur is a grassland set amidst Maples, Pine and Bhoj (Silver Birch) trees. There were some local shops/huts selling magi, bread tea etc. A specialty there was ‘Kahwa’, it was my first experience of it.

Sold at a rate of Rs 40/- per glass Kahwa is a Kashmiri alternative to tea. Made with ingredients such as kesar (saffron), spices, flavored with cardamom and infused with cloves and cinnamon - Kahwa is prepared and kept traditionally in a brass kettle. Kashmir being at the central point of the erstwhile Spice Route, may have inherited Kahwa from the Yarkand valley in Xinjiang (present-day China, said origin of Kahwa) during the Kushan empire in the first and second century AD. The word Kahwa in Kashmiri means "sweetened tea".

Kahwa < (Turkish) kahveh (coffee) << (Arabic) “Qahwah”.

An old gentleman was carrying Kahwa in his said brass kettle. When Arnab enquired he said it is called ‘Samovar/Samavar’ locally. Samovar is usually either copper or brass made. The brass Samovars are nickel-plated inside. The old man informed us, his Samovar (like others as well) has a fire-container inside holding live coals to keep the Kahwa hot for longer period. Around the fire-container there is a space for water to boil. The mentioned ingredients are put into the water. The word Samovar has Russian origin ‘самовар’ meaning self-brewer.

After taking some rest at table top, we marched ahead for the next 2Kms this time it was mostly descent with a sine-curve like terrain. By about 1:50 PM we were at an almost plain stretch and decided to take lunch break. We were given some packed dry lunch (roti and supporting dish) while starting from our camp at morning. At about 2:30 PM all of us had started again for the final stretch today. We decided not to step till we reach campsite, a promise which we were unable to keep.

After some 5 KM of variety of terrain, just before you enter Nichnai there is a gradual ascent which ends at the normal campsite. But we didn’t stop there, ours was further ahead.

Nichnai grassland is a massive and rugged meadow. Right before we saw a sight of our campsite we had to cross a stream after removing our shoes to keep balance. The camp was further 100 meters ahead but it took us about 20 minutes more just to recover from the shock of putting our legs within the ice cold water. By 4:30 pm we were at camp. The day was done for except the mundane activities like – stretching exercises, tent selection and off course the early dinner following evening snacks.

The next day was supposed to be another adventurous one, we were all ready and set to go.

DAY - 4: [NICHNAI – NICHNAI PASS (13615 ft.) – VISHANSAR CAMP (12139 ft.)] – 19th July 2021(Monday) ~12 KMs

Kashmir Great Lakes trek or better known the abbreviated version KGL is famous for its lakes. A total seven of them. But we were yet to see one, today I thought that was going to change. Alas! It wasn’t so. The weather last night was cloudy and it started raining for early morning or may be late night when we were deep in sleep. Till about 10 AM there was no respite.

Even during rainfall our normal activities like breakfast, packing of sleeping bags and stuffs was going on according to the suggested timeline as the guides predicted rain will stop very quickly. Once that was the case, the supporting crews worked wonders and within 15 minutes the campsite was all ready to start. By about 10:30 AM we started our long walk initially through meadows.

Today the scenery kept changing very frequently from greener pasture to sloppy snow land and again back to greenery. It took us about 2 hrs. to reach Nichnai pass, following a stretch of 30 minutes long ascent. It was 12:45 noon, we took some rest there and interested people stretched their muscles for photography. What followed is a lengthy slop of slippery snow track. People were carefully crossing this stretch with help of slow, mindful footsteps and trekking pole. Nor do I like carrying pole and by nature neither am I mindful. Hence, I took refuge in my otherworldly dumbness. I sat on the snow floor and glided myself over the stretch using the hands as breaks and legs as gliders. Other members were really bemused to see me do this, only one of them decided to join, I think his name was Ankur, though can’t be certain now.

At about 2:50 PM we had out stop for lunch. Like yesterday, we were carrying packed lunch today too. We were at a wide grassland now; rest of the trail today was mostly descent (sinusoidal to be exact). After a one-hour lunch break we started for Vishansar Lake campsite. As I mentioned earlier, the plan was to visit Vishansar Lake today. But when we reached camp my best guess is, it was 5:15 PM, already really late. Hence we decided to visit the lake during our trek tomorrow. To summarize the trail today was okay-ish except the one near Nichnai pass climb. Then again every pass happens to be so. Our dinner that day included an optional choice of having fried trout fish for additional Rs 200/- per head. Next day we were supposed to visit our first alpine lake –Vishansar. It was going to be the most magical one, only if I knew what the destiny had in its store for us!

DAY - 5: [VISHANSAR CAMP – VISHANSAR LAKE] – 20th July 2021(Tuesday) ~1 KMs

There were rain prediction for 20th and 21st July 2021 in Kashmir. I came to know about this from Gurmeet at Srinagar itself. But didn’t pay this much heed at that time.

Tuesday morning started with torrential rainfall and it continued till 11 AM. It was too late to start trekking for that day as we had some 12 KMs to cover. The trek leads decided to utilize the rest day here. I decided to prolong my sleep cycle by a few more hours.

There was no rain anymore, we were taking small strolls around the campsite divided into smaller groups. Being in the same location for this longer period with no aim to finish walking by any particular timestamp, gave us a chance to connect as a group; albeit sporadically.

We had two independent Bengali trekker near to our camp – Pankaj da, a forty something teacher from Murshidabad, who originally hails from Bangaon and Arghya almost same age as us from Baruipur. They first met during a train journey a few years back and stayed connected through mobile phone. This is their second trek together – the earlier one being at Uttarakhand. I was glad to make these new acquaintances; especially when during an interesting conversation Pankaj da explained the difference between mutton types <Khasi, Patha, Chagol> to us unassuming ‘Sohure Bangalis’ (Bengalis living in town). The next day Arghya did the same for <Himsagar, Fazli, Chousa, Golapkhas> mangoes. This reinstalled an old belief in me that people living in townships (at least in West Bengal) have much more practical knowledge than us.

Disclaimer: Only for mutton loving Bengalis (I am not one of them)

• Khasi: Goats bred for their meat are usually castrated when they are around 6-9 months old. After castration they are known as ‘Wethers’ or ‘Khasi’ in Bengali. Their meats are supposedly more tender. These are supposed to be a cheaper alternative outside of Kolkata.

• Patha: Un-castrated male goat. Meat is supposedly tougher, with a rather strong smell and flavor. In Englishthey are called ‘Billy goat’ or, ‘buck’ or, ‘Ram goat’. Apparently they are pricier.

• Chagol: This is the original Bengali word for ‘goat’. It is preserved for the female goat or ‘nanny goat’ in the mutton markets of Bengal. Other names for it is ‘Doe’ or, ‘Ewe’. According Pankaj da's verdict it is the worst one and bitter in taste. Hence, should be avoided.

Disclaimer: Only for mango loving Bengalis (I am one of them)

• Himsagar - Popular mango cultivar from Bangladesh and West Bengal (India). Yellow to orange in color, fibreless, also known as Khirsapati. Peak season is 2nd week of May to the end of June.

• Fazli - A mango cultivar in Bangladesh W.B. (India). Late maturing available after other varieties, quite large.

• Chaunsa/Chousa - A mango cultivar mainly in Pakistan and some parts of India, was made popular by the Indian ruler Sher Shah Suri while commemorating his victory over Humayun at Chousa, Bihar.

• Golapkhas - Reddish in appearance. Mostly found in Mid-July.

It was almost 2:30 PM, some half an hour after we had finished out lunch, we started for Vishansar lake some 1.5 KM afar.

Vishansar is an alpine oligotrophic lake. The term ‘alpine’ comes from the alps mountain in Europe. Following the geography of lakes in the alps region, around the world any lake situated over 10,000 ft. from sea level is called alpine lake. ‘Oligotrophic’ marks the low productivity of the water body, having sparse source of water. The opposite term is ‘Eutrophic’. I made some rough guesses about the lake’s size at the time, which later I verified to be almost close. Like its maximum length being ~1 km and maximum width of ~0.6 km.

Vishansar is the modified from ‘Vishnusar’. This lake holds great importance for Kashmiri Pundits. In native Kashmiri Vishansar means ‘the lake of Vishnu’. During our stay near this lake, it was surrounded by green lush meadows where local shepherds were grazing their flocks of sheep and goat. The beauty of the lake and its surrounding can’t be put into words to say the least. The lakes are also famous for brown trout fishes (rohita, rui, salmon). Only with prior permission from Srinagar one can engage in fishing here.

To expand on our initial idea about Vishansar Lake, it is the source of Neelum River which flows northwards and then westwards through India along the Line of Control (Indo-Pak).

We stayed about 2.5 hrs. at the lake. Our guides and trek leads had to force us back to camp. We met some other people that day trekking with either India Hikes or Trek the Himalaya teams. Some are here since the last two days unable to move ahead further due to consistent rainfall every morning. It was depressing to hear. But we were still hopeful. Back in campsite we saw the supported staffs enjoying a holiday with card games, hookah and climb standing disc throws. Arnab was gleeful to find such photographic delights.

After a ‘nothing much to do’ day, I was hoping against hope for a brighter tomorrow.

DAY - 6: [VISHANSAR CAMP] – 21st July 2021(Wednesday) ~0 KMs

It was a special day for Muslims around the world. The 10th day of Dhu al-Hijjah month according Islamic lunar calendar, meaning it was the day to celebrate Eid al-Adha/Bakr-Eid, otherwise known as ‘Festival of the Sacrifice’. It honors the willingness of Ibrahim (Abraham) to sacrifice his son Ismael as an act of obedience to God's command. Before Ibrahim could sacrifice his son, however, God provided a lamb to sacrifice instead.

This was an important information to be mentioned for two specific reason. One, Kashmir is a Muslim majority region. Hence, for all of our local guides, porters and other support staffs this day was very pious. Secondly, being a lunar centric calendar, Islamic festival generally falls during full moon days. Hence the photography below (from that night) –

When I woke up morning, it was raining incessantly. Signs were not good yesterday night itself, both weather and team spirits wise. We overheard some chatters about the possibility of the trek being called off. Our trek lead Vijay was suddenly taken ill. But, out local guides Mustaq bhai and Soukat bhai were really helpful. We were informed we would start even at 11 AM if the rain stops. Hence, everyone was ready after finishing all necessary activities. Only thing left was to pack our tent. But, it was not to be. The rain stopped at about 2:30 PM. Starting then meant we would have reached at about 10 PM. But there were a few treacherous trails in between. The scenario though was not all gloom and doom, yet.

Kanger-e-Kashmiri

Kashmiris carry a clay pot with decorated designs circling it. It is filled up with hot embers (burning coal) and placed under their traditional cloths (clock called pheran) to keep the body warm. First one was seen by some members of our group with a local female probably belonging to the Gurjari speaking shepherd tribe. When someone from our helping staff was seen carrying one Arnab asked to Selim bhai (another local guide), what is it? and what is it for?

-“इसको हमलोग बोलते हे Winter Wife”, he retorted.

The response was misogynistic in nature as the meaning later clarified. But, I still don’t blame him for this. As, even in shinning cities we ‘educated’ male by nature are so.

Selim explained, locally this is called Kangri or, Kanger.

It is a body warmer apparatus for winter, about 6 inches in diameter. History suggests, Kashmiris adopted Kangri from the Italians (retinue of the Mughal emperors). In Italy a similar device was known as a Scaldino. Although this claim has many contradictory views too.

I don’t know any Kashmiri personally. But, I can account for the fact that in public life they are really well behaved, polite and well spoken. So the misogynistic word ‘Winter Wife’, seemed more like a cultural thing to me, burden that we all carry. Hence, I had to further investigate this once I was back. What I found is this –

There is famous Kashmiri proverb, “what Laila was on Majnun’s bosom, so is the Kanger to a Kashmiri”. And then there is this verse,

Ai kangri! ai kangri! / Kurban tu Hour wu Peri! / Chun dur bughul mi girimut / Durdaz dil mi buree.

Translated it means, ‘Oh, kangri! oh, Kangri! / You are the gift of Houris (beautiful woman)& Fairies! When I take you under my arm / You drive fear from my heart.’

I was forced to play a game called ‘Killer’ followed by something even dumber ‘dumb charades’ to pass time and through Koushik’s insistence. For some hours our kitchen tent became very noisy, it was a good bonding experience across the group though. Side Note – these games are ‘emotionally dangerous’ and not for the faint hearts like me.

At night while Arnab and others were taking their ‘moon-pics’, we saw a lot of light clouds floating around. Vraj informed he has been in such scenarios before in other treks. The following days are always sunny. It reignited our hopes. Our dinner that day included an optional choice of having lamb for some additional pay. But none of us (team of 10) opted for it.

DAY - 7: [VISHANSAR CAMP – KRISHANSAR LAKE (12467 ft.) – GADSAR PASS (13697 ft.) – GADSAR LAKE (11811 ft.) – GADSAR CAMP] – 22nd July 2021(Thursday) ~14 KMs

22nd July 2021 stated with a sunny morning, no clouds or rain whatsoever. Vraj's prediction

was spot on. A new wave of enthusiasm ran across the group. People felt like receiving a new life. But all was not OK. The horse porters were not ready to march ahead. The leader of the pack was an older gent whose most famous line about everything was “मेरा ३५ साल का एक्सपीरियंस हे” (I have an experience of 35 years). They opined that, Gadsar pass has narrow, snowy and really jagged mountains lining on either side. Which are still wet due to last 3-4 days of raining. It is difficult to walk horses, they may slip and die. They will not take this risk. At least that is what we heard through gossips.

I doubted this though. There were various reasons for my doubt. Firstly, last night we were informed we are moving the next day for sure. Either forward to Gadsar or backwards to Nichnai. As rations were limited and we had only consumed two days here. One was managed as a rest day, next was not. So if there is still rain (i.e. on 22nd) we have to go back. In case of no rain, we all agreed to go forward using an additional buffer day with substantial added pay and taking a chance of missing our returning flights. Secondly, even if we go back (which was the only available alternative) there was still going to be Nichnai climb for the horses. Plus, down spirited trekkers with no real encouragement to walk.

I guess I was proven right when a half fit Vijay gave us the possible choices – 1) let’s all go back via Nichnai, 2) let’s all try crossing Gadsar. But we will leave half an hour after the horses. In case the horses can’t cross, we would have to come back. The decision has to be unanimous and if it is option two, we can’t use the buffer day still. That means tomorrow we will cover the path originally planned for two days in a single day, starting early in morning. Our spirits were high, we had to walk anyhow. Hence, better to try forward than surrendering.

I made a calculation in head. Before starting this trek, I had referred to Bikat’s calendar. They had schedule three KGL trek successively on 10th, 17th and 25th July. Us using the buffer day would have meant the next group being delayed by one day at start. They didn’t want to take that burden. Hence, might have concocted this façade of horse porter grievance to make us walk two days’ route on the 23rd. But this was financially beneficial for us too – no additional buffer day pay and no issues with missing return flights. Hence, we were ready for the challenge.

We started by 9 AM and trekked upwards initially about 2.5 KM in steep ascent. Mid-way we saw Vishansar lake again, this time from side-top view. I had to wait for Arnab to fulfill his ‘photographer’s lust’. By almost 10:30 AM, we were at the top of the ridge from Krishansar lake. Now we had to descent steeply in a trail slope of about 60 degrees to reach the banks of Krishansar. This was our second stopping point for today.

Krishansar Lake is another alpine oligotrophic one, some 1 km from Vishansar, towards its north-west at an elevation of 3710 meters. It has a max length of 0.95 km and max width of 0.6 km. Krishan or Krishna in Sanskrit and Kashmiri means the ‘lake of Krishna’. Wikipedia suggests there is a small stream connecting this lake with Vishansar. In turn they both drain out to give rise to Neelum River. We spent some good 20 minutes there before proceeding with our trek.

Right after the lake, the trail became simpler, a gentle walk through plain land meadows, for only a quarter of an hour. Then we were back to climb. As I neared Gadsar Pass the climb became steeper than any other we had yet faced on this whole trek.

"...Oh, father of the four winds, fill my sails / Across the sea of years

With no provision but an open face / Along the straits of fear..."

The last few minutes before reaching Gadsar pass was really tough. My heart was pumping along those straits of fear. As the horse-ridden porters mentioned earlier, the trail is narrow and jig-jagged. There is snow some 100 meters on both side of the pass. Some slipped marginally, all gasped. But in the end everyone made it. We had crossed some 6 km today up until that point. It was 12 PM, noon.

We stayed on the pass for about 45 minutes, waiting for everyone else to reach. I saw from there, on the other side of the pass, there were a couple of small lakes and peaks visible. Our guide informed me they are on the other side of LOC. The peaks were part of Karakoram range.

We marched ahead, there were majority of path still left for the day to be walked. Some 25-30 minutes of walking, after climbing down from the pass on the other side took us to Gadsar lake. The path in between was filled with beautiful flowers and meadows. Here is where the confusion is. I already wrote down things to see during Kashmir great lakes trek, before starting this journey. It informed me from Gadsar pass one can see the Yemsar lake. Which is the largest lake in this route and if you follow along it for some KMs it’s width grows and it is started to be called Gadsar Lake. Even Wikipedia say, that Gadsar and Yemsar lakes are the same. But none of our guides or trek lead agreed. They said Yemsar Lake is a different trek altogether. We can’t see it in this route. I was bemused. I would like to mentioned here, we were only three groups who decided to go forward with the trek that day. Two from Bikat and one from an organization called ‘cliffhangers’. Rest all of Trek the Himalaya or India Hikes, returned backwards. It was utter frustration for them. Anyhow one of the guides from cliffhanger team said to me back at the Gadsar pass, ‘See that small lake is Yemsar’; pointing to a lake. Arnab took its picture and it is the same shown below.

I got more confused though, when after coming back in the cliffhangers website itself, I found a completely different trek of ‘Khemsar-Yemsar’. Hence, the above picture may be wrong.

Yemsar means the lake of ‘Yama’, the Hindu god of Death. Gadsar in Kashmiri means the lake of fishes. Both lake or, the same lake called by two different name are/is an alpine oligotrophic one. The Gadsar Lake outflows as a stream towards north-west and joins Neelum River. There is another thing which speaks for the fact that Yemsar and Gadsar may have some relation. That is folklore. While near Gadsar lake, the local guides specifically forbade us to go very near to the water while taking picture saying the there is some bad jujus. Some said the water is not fit for drinking, others were saying it is said one should not stay here for long. The folklore is, when in past, shepherds came to graze their flocks here during summers, a Lake Monster (a freshwater Octopus) living on the lake sometimes dragged the creatures from shores by its tentacles. Hence, the shepherds later chose to skip this place. Well this sounded like something very much related with ‘death’ and therefore, Yama and so on ‘Yemsar’ to me. Hence the relation. Now let's see the undisputed Gadsar lake -

I missed writing about one of the most beautiful part of this trek before, the flowers. Almost each day in our walks, the Himalayan garden placed its welcoming mat for us. During my 2018’s trek to Pin Bhaba Pass at Himachal Pradesh, due to our guide Billu ji’s knowledge and enthusiasm, I got to know a lot about Himalayan botany. Interested reader may refer the blog here to read about it in details. Anyhow this trek to has its variety when it comes to flowers. We had still about 8KMs to walk that day, most of it has the below mentioned flora –

• Geum (Geum coccineum) - Pale red petals with shades of white, yellow or, orange. Yellow carpels at its center. Also, called Avens. As a plant it belongs to the rose family. Has it used as Larvae Food.

• Blue poppy (Meconopsis sp.) - This Himalayan species is not closely related to the Welsh poppy. Meconopsis do not produce opium. Hence the name 'poppy' is misleading.

• Potentilla (Potentilla reptans) - It is another plant from the rose family. It has also called cinquefoils and has five finger like petals. Yellow petal with dark yellow carpels. It is used locally for herbal remedy for inflammation and gastrointestinal disorders.

• Gentian (Gentian averna) - They are notable for their mostly large, trumpet-shaped flowers, which are often of an intense blue (or, sometimes white). The genus name is a tribute to Gentius (ruled in 181–168 BC), an Illyrian (Balkan Peninsula near Greece) king who may have been the discoverer of tonic properties in gentians. Many beverages are made with gentian root. Some variety of this species is used to produce gentian, a distilled beverage produced in the Alps. Some species are harvested for the manufacture of liqueurs and tonics. Gentian root is a common beverage flavoring for bitters (alcoholic preparation flavored with botanical matter, bittersweet flavor). Used in herbal medicine for digestive problems, fever, hypertension, muscle spasms, parasitic worms, wounds.

• Hedysarum flowers - Known to be really rare in this region. Though Arnab found these instantly. These are shrubs for Larvae. The color is a mixture of dark and light pink with white shades in between.

• There were lots of other varieties too, I couldn't manage the names of all as of now.

Kustoor Kout

In Gadsar Valley our campsite’s name was Kustoor Kout. We reached campsite by 5:30 PM that day. I tried finding ‘Kustoor Kout’ meaning. Asked some local helpers with no avail. ‘Kout’ may mean a child or, specifically a young boy. But google search failed to provide anything for ‘Kustoor’. The closest I got is ‘Kastur’ - fragrance of Love or, ‘Kastoor’ - a type of bird meaning ‘oystercatcher’; black-and-white shorebird with stout legs and bill that feed on oysters. Quite certain we didn't see any such bird there. Hence, unsure of the actual meaning.

Anyhow, it was a tiring day, specially due to Gadsar pass. But the actual challenge lied ahead. Next day we have to cover two days’ path to save time. But it wasn’t an issue. As, we were happy that everyone made it fine, humans as well as horses. Dinners were getting better. We went to sleep as quickly as it was over. Awaiting another fresh morning, another adventure.

DAY - 8: [GADSAR CAMP – SATSAR LAKE (11482 ft.) – ZAJ PASS (13714 ft.) – GANGABAL LAKE – GANGABAL CAMP (11713 ft.)] – 23rd July 2021(Friday)~22Kms

We were about to start the most physically challenging day on this trek today. Because of the larger distance to cover, we were given two lunches. One with roti, another secondary filler with boiled grams in substantial quantity. We started really early, I noted this time to be 7:38 AM. First we had to ascend from Kustoor Kout to leave Gadsar Valley behind, for the initial 2hrs until we reached the grasslands called Rasbal. Here the land mixes meadows with side walking stone panels. Arnab Said he is hearing a sound of flowing water, although we couldn’t find any waterbody. Later I found out that in Rasbal, a flowing river disappears underground. It took us one more hour to reach the first lake of Satsar.

Satsar Lake was our 5th seen lake in this trek (if I consider that we did saw Yemsar). It is what it means in English, i.e. “seven lakes”. There are seven interconnected small alpine lakes stretching from north to south and over 4 KM distance. Geographically these lakes are natural connector of Tulail Valley and Sind Valley. Satsar Lakes are surrounded with lush green meadows. These water bodies are mainly fed by melting snow. These lakes give rise to a stream which disappears and flows underground in Rasbal. The trail adjoining lakes (basin) were mostly plain and surrounded by a sheet of alpine flowers. We continue our trek through such land for some more time and eventually reached what seemed like a good campsite. On my watch it was 12:02 at noon, when Mustaqbhai informed us they if the days were not lost due to rain, then this would have been our campsite for one day. The place locally is called Megandoab, it was at the foothills of the pass of Zajibal, our next and last challenge.

Climbing atop the pass of Zajibal or in short Zaj pass is no small feat. We had three mountain passes to cover in this trek. Zaj was the shortest one, it should not be underestimated though. The climb up to pass is quite different from the other ones. From the foothills we started traversing across two rocky patches. Then, walked on boulders very slowly to maintain balance and safety. The ascent was tough. After an hour the ascent though rocky patches ended. What left was another ~60 minutes to reach to the top of the pass.

Atop Zaj pass the view is just spectacular. Mt. Haramukh (16870 ft.) can be seen from here right at our face. It is the second highest peak in Kashmir valley, the first one being Sirbal Peak(17175 ft.), some five KMs east of Sonmarg. On Haramukh’s footsteps there lies the twin lakes of Gangabal and Nundkol (pic below). I forgot to mention before that we had our lunch in Megandoab. Hence, there was some 40 minutes of break. But, climbing Zaj pass made us tired, it was already 3:38 PM. Hence, we were asked to take the lunch filler there. Only a few of us obliged. We were there for about the better part of an hour or so. The photo session by group members were never ending. Bikat members also took a lot of group photos there. It is a memory to be cherished. Then it was time for our final stretch of walk that day.

Climbing down the Zaj pass is less challenging. But, still tricky. This section is filled with loose rocks. Hence, slippery. The last few KMs are through meadows. Once the descent was complete, we pass through Nundkol lake to reach our campsite near Gangabal lake. The clock was saying 6:25pm. Two short notes about the lakes here – Nundkol or, otherwise known as Kalodaka Lake, is another oligotrophic alpine lake, having flora and fauna quite similar to that of Satsar. And then there is Gangabal Lake – at the foot of Mt. Haramukh, an alpine oligotrophic lake of 2.5 KMs in length.

These two twin lakes are joined. Gangabal’s water outflows to Nundkol and then via Wangath Nallah to Sind River. We saw some Gurjari (nomad) shepherd huts here. One of whom welcomed us by giving a bottle of milk froth to be shared among willing people. I never turn way using experiences while eating or drinking (if it is not inebriating). Hence, took a large sip. I am sure it was not cow milk. This last basin region was the most beautiful terrain, in our whole trek. It is like the song says, any traveler here listens to the nature’s music. Then the listener enters a trance -

“…Oh, pilot of the storm who leaves no trace / Like thoughts inside a dream

Heed the path that led me to that place / Yellow desert stream…”

Cliffhanger’s team reached very late that day. Almost at 8 PM, it was dark. Our whole support staff was helping them to their campsite by showing lights and extending their helping hands. We had our dinner. Only another day was left.

DAY - 9: [GANGABAL CAMP – NARANAG (7545 ft.)] – 24th July 2021(Saturday)~11 Kms

The end was beckoning, the heart felt betrayed. The mind knew its obligations, but the face gave it away.

This was the last day of our trek, said to be mostly downhill. We were already started to miss this place, our glory days. There was no rush to start early, people were casually roaming around. Finally, after a very light breakfast, our guides and leads asked everyone to gather around. They made two parallel lines of people facing each other. One with all the members of two teams, a total of 22 people. The second one with all the guides, leads and other supporting staffs like porters, cook, helping hands etc. They thanked us for giving them this opportunity to serve. We in turn were taken aback by this generosity in their treatment. I mentioned before, Kashmiris are very well spoken and polite people.

We started at 8:55 PM. At the very beginning, we had to cross a very fast flowing wide stream, by walking over a slender stone panel laid over balancing rocks on both side. For most the guides had to provide support to cross. Then what followed was a brief ascent, followed by an hour long walk through the right hand side of a mountain slope and then some more. At last we entered meadow. It is where the group stopped for everyone to join. So that we could go together as a team for the next 15 minutes to reach the Indian Army Check post. It took some 30 minutes to get our permits and Ids validated. Photography is prohibited near about this region for security purposes.

It was steep descent thereafter. Mostly through beautiful pine forests and a meadow with pretty yellow flowers, till our next stop at another magi point. At this magi point people with postpaid connections started getting their networks after some five days in the wilderness. I made a call back home with Koushik’s help. We had to wait there quite a while for Arnab who was lagging behind providing ‘Social Services’.

From there onwards it was all descent. We four (Koushik, Arnab, Saransh and me) decided to walk rest of the path together while singing songs. It seemed some people are really ahead of us and rest are really far behind. Hence, for a large duration we didn’t see anybody else. Then right before entering the village of Naranag, Soukat bhai crossed us, suggesting we were almost there. Finally, we entered Naranag at 3:25 PM.

Naranag is a tourist village and ancient Hindu pilgrimage site. About the temples I will have to right a separate blog, because it has nothing to do with trekking. Plus, it is an experience of emotion, madness and true grit shown by Arnab which deserves an individual article.

From Naranag we had a Car arranged for Srinagar, pre-booked though Bikat. We reached Dal Lake at about 6:40 PM, there was a lot of traffic on road near about. Hence, the delay.

We stayed at a boat house that night and had to rush for another RTPCR test and at the local market for buying some Kesar (as per Koushik’s wish). Our plan was to order the famous Wazwan from some reputed restaurant. But,it was already so late at night that we had to manage from roadside shops. We pledged to try once again the next time we visit Kashmir.

The next day (25th) was utter hara-kiri. Koushik flight was cancelled. So, he had to manage another one and Saransh flight was three hours earlier than ours. Only Arnab had network connection. In all this, we had to give away the chance of enjoying morning Sikara ride at the Dal lake and visiting the Rozabal, that myself and Arnab had planned.

Anyhow, before I finish, I have a thought –

"...My Shangri-La beneath the summer moon / I will return again

Sure as the dust that floats high in June / When movin’ through Kashmir..."

My interpretation is, by these lines Plant didn't say that there is dust in Kashmir. He may have meant his desire or, will to return to his ‘shangri-la’ (Kashmir) is as strong as the desire of the dust that without fail floats high in June. He wanted to return again to his paradise and so do I. Or, maybe I never left, my soul remains there. I hope to return physically next year again - this time for Tarsar Marsar. Let's see if the destiny agrees.

References:

1. Google Maps

2. Album: Physical Graffiti, Led Zeppelin, 1975.

3. Wikipedia.

4. Milestone Himalayan Series: The Essential Guide, Partha S Chatterjee.