All my friends Sonali Singh, Rahul Pramanik, Aritra Chatterjee, Ritoban Chatterjee, Pramit Das & Sahil Pulani reached Dhaula Kuan, where we took our bus to Rishikesh.

Day 2: 29 December, 2020 (Rishikesh to Lohajung)

We reached Rishikesh early in the morning around 4am. It was so cold & we could not wait outside till 10am (as our cab/car would pick us up at 10am), so we booked a room for all seven of us. We took a small nap after that we had some chai. The journey uphill from Rishikesh to Lohajung (basecamp) took us cruising through the mountain alleyways connecting the lower Himalayan belt of Kumoan hills to that of Garhwal. From all the way from Rishikesh to Lohajung via Devprayag, Srinagar, Rudraprayag & Karnprayag, (all celebrated hill stations) with such wonderful scenic beauty of mountains & river. It was a hectic 12-hour drive. It would have been lesser than that but at the start of the drive there was a landslide in the uphill of Rishikesh due to which, we had to wait for some hours.

For the first few hours, the course of our journey was parallel to river Ganga & Alaknanda flowing gusty. Soon Pinder river meets our path.  We reached Lohajung at around 11 in the night, it was freezing cold after that we met our trek guide to our surprise, we had not reached our final destination of that particular day! We had to travel for around 8 more kilometres to another basecamp in village Wan.

After a hectic mountain road journey, we finally reached our base camp i.e., Wan Village! We had our dinner; we were so tired that we slept in our warm beds!

Day 3: 30 December, 2020 (Lohajung to Bekaltal)

It was a bright sunny day but it was still freezing cold, we had our breakfast & were ready all set for the new adventure! We all called up our parents informing them that our mobile networks will go weaker as we hike uphill.

All the morning shenanigans were done by 9 & after that we were all set to leave Wan to Lohajung (which was our actual basecamp). We got all our gears (actually not all some missing & some defective but all in all it was our trek company’s fault).

The Trek Begins! (Lohajung to Bekaltal)

We started our trek at around 12 noon, as we started climbing up, we could barely breathe, this gave us a moment of realisation that how inactive we are in adventure sport or any sport.

As we climbed up, we could see a snacky trail going into the forest. After a short while the forest gives a way to a small village. A little higher, we come across a valley where two mountain rivers (Kali & Pindari) confluence. After 5-6 hours we reached our first stop (Bekaltal), the lake was frozen as it was winters. We were camping in the vicinity by the lake, we had bonfire & a great gala time with the thick oak forests closing in from around.

Day 4: 31 December, 2020 (Bekaltal to Brahmatal)

Me & Rahul could barely sleep, as we did the stupidest thing while staying in a tent & a sleeping bag, we went to our bags with all the (three-four) layers of clothes & we were suffocated & that is why we could barely sleep!

Next time when you stay in tent or sleeping bag, always remember you should wear minimum clothes!

So, the next hiking begins, we crossed the thickets of oaks & rhododendrons over steep slopes for quite some time before finally coming out to a meadow (Tilandi). After which we reached Jhandi top, where we had some Maggie & chai break, we took enough rest, we were thrilled as we could see our Brahmatal Campsite & it was kind of relief to see your destination, it looked as if it was nearby but it took almost one or one & half hour to reach the Brahmatal Campsite. Before reaching there, you will find a ‘Shiva Temple’, do pay your visit & get the blessings of lord Shiva!

We reached our campsite around 4-5pm, we had our lunch & after that we gathered around bonfire, played many games till 12AM, as New Year 2021 would start! (also, it was a full moon day) and it was a wonderful night, we were up till 2am!

Day 5: 1 January, 2021 (Brahmatal to the Summit)

We all decided that we will see the sunrise from the summit to which me, Sonali, Rahul, Sahil & Ritoban miserably failed, because we couldn't wake up as we did not had enough sleep!  So, we started our trek to the summit around 8-9 AM, it was a vertical ascend (which is quite tough). We reached the summit around 11, to be honest it was the best feeling ever, I mean the frustration & pain of trekking, was finally meltdown to such a gay feeling!

So, we had to stay in one of the base camps (Brahmatal or Bekaltal), but we decided to descend on the same day to Lohajung! It was quite hectic to descend all the way back in one single day, but we did it! And reached Lohajung, it was New Year’s Day so we celebrated in our rooms had our meal & played several games and ended up sharing ghost stories & scaring the sh*t out of each other!!

Day :6 2 January 2021

We decided to travel back to my Village in Pauri Garhwal (which is around 500 km from Lohajung), so we planned our next trip or say some peace time in my hometown!

Mythology about Brahmatal

According to the Hindu mythology, the prepossessing Brahmatal is the place where the creator, Lord Brahma did a serious penance. It is said that Brahma ji mediated here for several years. Hence, the place got its name from it. 

Blog Backdrop!

Basically, there were a lot of videos shot for the VLOG but it came out to be (gross)!! And I could not release the vlog from my trek to Brahmatal & here I am, with what I'm good at i.e., Blogging!! It is a lifetime experience & I want to relive it forever, by writing it down makes me feel more happier and it made me feel, as if the visuals were playing in my head and I'm just narrating the story by writing it down!!