Dayara Bugyal, 2020: My First Solo Trek! - PART III

EVERYTHING YOU'VE EVER WANTED IS JUST 1 STEP OUTSIDE YOUR COMFORT ZONE - Robert Allen

Day 1-
23rd DEC 2020: Raithal to Gui
After that little positive self-talk (I had a feeling I would be giving myself plenty of those in the next few days!), we climbed to our first campsite at Gui. There were a few trees and we saw a few birds along the scenic 4km route of moderate difficulty. It was a pretty easy day looking back & a good warmup for the days to come. We reached the campsite situated at an altitude of 9320 ft around 12PM.

We had gained an elevation of 2152ft that day & it was steadily getting coooooold! We had lunch, set up our comfortable & well insulated tents (Oh, what an experience that was! Even the smallest task requiring dexterity was difficult with all the layers we were wearing!) and played games all afternoon. That night was honestly very cold. I couldn't sleep for a long time, even in my 4-5 layers. The bright stars, winking at me in the pure night sky gave me company & I let my imagination soar!

Day 2-
24th DEC 2020: Gui to Chilapata
This day was a hard one for me. The 2nd day mental fatigue was setting in… Even though the trek was just 4km with an elevation gain of about 1000ft, my mind was coming up with excuses & reasons to not have fun. This is where the amazing trek leaders stepped in. Their easy friendship, unconditional motivation & encouragement kept me going. We started seeing a bit of snow now…the vista was turning gradually white. Our breath was freezing as soon as it came out!
We did some yoga once we reached & had yummy hot food. Hats off to our amazing support team who cooked delicious fresh food in such inhospitable conditions. They were also mindful of the environment & made sure to not spoil the natural beauty of the Himalayas with contamination!

We played the game mafia that afternoon & bonded really well. I had always wanted to make snow angels and have a snowball fight the 1st time I saw snow. So, a bunch of us went & did just that & had a ‘ball’! This is what true Christmas Eves should be like! That night we swapped stories and had a fun time. I was sure I was making memories for a lifetime.

Read on for Part IV