First Three Days At Base Camp

Day 1 :June 1

We reached Himachal Pradesh, "DEVBHUMI".

From bhuntur to Kasol, went by bus. Narrow roads and wide river, crossing all...


YHAI BASE Camp..  Flags welcoming us...
YHAI!!! After seeing the board, we felt so accomplished. Finally we are at our destination. 11 days from now we will be with YHAI.

YHAI Tents. Our Home For 11 Days :D :D

Kasol, mini Israel of India.. So many shops, for clothes, thermals, hotels, Israeli people, observing all these reached to YHAI Base camp, which is located at the entrance of Kasol.

YHAI board welcoming new and old batches,

green, yellow, red, blue colored flags on both sides of the steps going down to reception,

huge pandal for eating snack, food & discussions,

on the right side washbasins & washrooms,

open ground surrounded by green tents, and from the open ground the magnificent view of 'Pin Pass' Himalayan Mountains!!!

Pin Pass Valley from YHAI Base Camp: Ignited and shining in sunlight

Pin Pass Valley from YHAI Base Camp. Mesmerizing!!!

Pin pass cached all the attraction from visitors there and it was giving different looks every time we look at it.
Covered with fog, ignited and shining in sunlight, darker and rainy. Its each and every aspect was extraordinary. Nd it delighted us every moment.


We arrived early, so we got advantage to visit kasol and manikarn market. Visited manikarn GIRUDWARA, small shops, street shops in manikarn and kasol, did window shopping, and fully utilised 1 day..

In the evening, we came across with other members of SP32. SP31, batch prior to us was preparing camp fire for us to welcome to the base camp & that was very clear : "SP32 will also have to prepare something for SP33".  After dinner & before born vita, YHAI schedules camp fire. SP31 performed very well. They had many singers, actors, so they preformed 'Arnav Bhati's show', 2,3 people sung songs.

And the night begins. Fisrt time slept inside the sleeping bag. I was very much tired bcoz of the long journey from Pune to all the way to kasol, and full day ruming out in the market.

"HUMSE NA TAKRANA TU,WE ARE SP32"
 "SPARTANs, Khet me kya hai?
                           GAhu GAHU GAHU"...

Beautifull River..

Day 2: June 2

Tring Truungg... Trrring.. Alarm rings,
before that I am awake. Its 4.45 in the morning. 5.30 am morning exercise, nd if late, one round to the ground. Unfortunately, I got late nd got punished.


Ready Steady GO!!!
6 Kg weight on your Back..
U can do it!!

Today was our first official day as SP32, After breakfast, we left for a short distance trek with around 5 kg weight in the bag for orientation and acclimatization. We left for our acclimatization walk at 8.30 & reached our destination at 10.00. A very first session conducted by our guide, briefing about the next 7 days plan of higher trek, telling in details the risks, list of Do's & Dont's , his past experience of 9 treks, electing of our group leader Mr. Rahul & Enviornment leader Ms Jeni, a thorough discussion about camp fire, how we are going to perform & the overall day helped us to know each other very well.
All credit goes to YHAI!! The activities we performed everyday were well planned &


First day was very tough for me, never carried that much weight on my back and I was pretty sure I will reduce the weight up to the extent i can. 'coz its important to complete the journey you have started. And I came CoZ I wanted to complete. Trekking Himalaya is difficult, the routes are not simple, they are straight, height ed and different than normal treks, yet far far beautiful.

"Fire Fire, Camp Fire!!" (there's no fire actually ;))

Cheer Harder Guys

Our main task was to prepare camp fire. We had plenty of talented people, singers, dancers, comedy dancers, flute player.. So we performed with full on energy, we had very less time to prepare, but that's the spirit and that's what is needed. How you can handle a situation with minimum availability of resources.
Our slogans were unique :
"SPARTANs, Khet me kya hai?
GAhu GAHU GAHU"...
" HUMSE NA TAKRANA TU,
WE ARE SP32"...

Practising for Camp Fire."Meri Neend Mera chain, muje Lota DO!!" LolZ

Performance : "Balam Pichkari.. Jo Tune Muje Mari"

SP32 performed and cheered themselves, other two batches were silent :(.

They didnt even knew how to cheer. I was very lucky to be part of SP32, All youngsters, all enthusiastic, all in the mood of masti.

Day 3 : June 3

कधी पाउस, कधी वारा उनाड,कधी वादळ, कधी निरागस शांतता,कधी सैरभैर ओल्याचिंब विजा, तर कधी जगव्यापी स्मशान शांतता,कधी अंधुक, मनाला भुरळ घालेल अस गाढ धुक.. तर कधी मोकळ, स्वछ आकाश..

5.00 in the morning. No more alarms to wake me up. I was already awake. I didn't wanted any punishment that day!!! After our morning exercise & breakfast, we left base camp for our today's Rock Climbing & Rappelling session. Some were firstimers, some were professional climbers, some had previous experience. Our guides told the Do's & Don'ts of it. Everybody was dam excited to do it.

Rock we climbed.. Steady & Almighty

Our group leader Mr. mane started the rock climbing & he really did it very well. No mistakes, No Drama & he just did it like a normal walk or everyday activity. All were delighted with such a woderfull start. It was a unique experience for everybody. I first decided to go with Rappelling, as many girls did it & completed it. But when I saw down, OMG.. I was already frightened, told the guide "Darr lag rha hai !!".  & he tightened the rope, hold it in hands & said "Ab nhi lagega :)"
And believe me, that gave me a of courage. I did it & after that only I could dare for Rock Climbing.

Rock Climbing Instructors..

Now it was turn for actual challenging task. I tried to climb half of the rock, but I had no energy left with me & dammit I felt "Bhagvan ne aur thodi height de di hoti to kya jata :P". My hands were shivering,there was still half f the distance to cover & I was not finding any place where I could keep my foot & jump for the next, so after a hell lot of trying I decided to quit. I want to fall!! L L
Tag line of Gunjan. “I want to fall, I m falling J”

After everybody was done with there climbing trials, I tried again & the guide was pulling this time, so I did it, even I was too tired. Everybody was like "Yar, tu kar legi.. Ek aakhari bar kar le try.. That feeling is awesome!!" So I did it again :) :)

We built a great team together, SP32  JJ. “Humse Naa Takrana Tuu, We Are SP32”!!


It was final day at Base Camp, we packed our important things that were needed for next 7 days in YHAI rucksacks & packed rest of luggage to deposit it to YHAI. We were like: pack the luggage, weigh it, unpack it, remove some of the things, again weigh, unpack it & pack it!!! When there was no hope of reducing weight any further then only we stopped the procedure. 5.4 kg, that was final count, lunchbox & water bottles excluded. So in all 6 Kg . We shared almost everything we could, toothpaste, face wash, lunchbox, plate, tumbler, sanitizer, sun cream, medicines, torch, etc.

I Try, I try, I try!!

#Base Camp #All ready for photography.. Yeee!!!

Lining up For Bidding Adieu to SP31..Final Memories @ Base Camp