Despite this being my 6th one in the Himalayas, I was more anxious about going to Buran Ghati than I had been before any of my treks,.... well, apart from my first one, when I didn't have any idea as to what to expect. The anxiety and nervousness was to such an extent, that it almost matched the excitement and that is saying something, since I had been sold on to Buran Ghati the very time i saw a picture of the pass on the website, about a year back ! Reasons for feeling so ? - The biggest one being not going with Indiahikes. I'd gotten to trust their way of working and their philosophy. ( We had got a little late with the bookings, hence missed the window and got waitlisted. Desperation got the better of us, and with a little research we booked the same one with Bikat Adventures.) - The heat and pollution in NCR had reached the point where any form of outside exercise was not only torturous but also self inflicted damage. ( While yoga had been on for the past 1yr, the
There was only one reason why I had been delaying penning down this account. How can you describe an event that was so beautifully magical and as perfect as it could get, without the risk of not doing justice to the entire experience :) So please bear with this longish narrative ! Preparation : With the regime of yoga & jogging on alternate days, I was hoping that I would not be struggling too much on the Sandakphu-Phalut trek, which was rated “Moderate” mainly because of extremely long walks on the rough & hilly terrain. This one had been on my list since forever, mostly because the idea of walking alongside of the magnificent “Sleeping Buddha” had an intriguing appeal. Day 0 I’d booked my travel to NJP on Kamakhya Exp, which had a slotted departure time of 11:30PM, but was delayed at source by 6 hours. Spent an uncomfortable night at the station, with the wait ending at around 5 AM, when the train finally rolled in. Killed time alternating between sleeping &