What exactly is “getting high” to you? If you think it is just about sniffing some drug or overloading on alcohol and losing your brain, then that’s a miniscule percentage of pie that you observed. A state of high could be anything from loosing yourself to even gaining complete control over a matter and it could be just about anything that can get you a formal entry to a state where you do not necessarily need drugs. To me, drugs and alcohol are cheap addictions and nothing else. Travel and music are my drugs which get me a wormhole entry to a place where I can be away from hypocrisy, noise, treachery and pain – a small trek leads me to solace in the lap of nature that is unfazed even by the grandest luxuries available to humans.
One such serene locale is Triund which is possibly the shortest un-credited trek in the lap of Dhauladhar range. It’s only 7km trek from Mcleodgang and once you make it here in an hour or so (depending upon your speed) its just lush green meadows on the peak of a small mountain where you have one small shop for all you possible supplies, a guest house to keep you warm or, if you are adventurous like me, you might want to camp outside under the stars.
The trek is short and not that steep and could be easily taken up by any person with average stamina and even has a tea and maggi shop in between which are mostly present everywhere. Once you reach the top, you have only 2 caretakers of the guest house and 1 shop owners – the only 3 residents living there most times of the year and everyone else is a passerby cascaded in time. You can run around all day, click amazing pictures of Snowlion peak which is the easiest accessible peak in India with only 16km of trek or just laze in the grass and let the sun burn you, which is what I opt for mostly.
Around night time the shop owner makes for a comforting set meal of whatever pleases him and builds a campfire near you to keep you warm and serves a meal which tastes better than a lavish 5 star butler-ed meal, although it has no choice but the simple pulse, vegetable, bread and rice gives you a lasting comfort and a great night sleep once you are tired.
If you are willing to make your way ahead of here then head up to Snowlion peak or even Indhira pass which makes for a stunning trek and beautiful experience around the same time of the year.
Guide:-
- Get There- By air Gaggal airport is 22 KM, by train Pathankot is 90 KM, by road Delhi is 510KM (all include around 7 KM of trek).
- Stay- guest house or pitch a tent for budget.
- Eat- the only shop with set meals.
- Good for- short trek, beautiful view and stopover.
So pretty! Love the pictures. Given that you took these pics 5 years ago, I wonder if anything’s changed since then?
A lot has, my photography skills have improved and so has my camera (finally) . as for the place it’s still the same but maybe little more crowded year on year i guess.