Kashmir Diaries: Chapter 3
- abhisek ghosh
- Aug 23, 2021
- 8 min read
Basmai Valley: Liberating & Divine
The story of Basmai Valley has two parts to it.
The first half of the story starts the next morning, after we reached Parbat Top base camp.
The journey to Parbat top was not something that any of us would like to remember; although, every day is a new learning on a trek, however experienced you may be. So that journey, would go into a different journal. In essence, we endured 10 hours of incessant rain, add a few arduous climbs and multiple stream crossings over makeshift bridges. A trail full of slippery mud, made the climb even more difficult and claimed a lot of casualties. Needless to mention that we all prayed for a clear sky, for our journey the next day.
As if god smiled upon us, as the sun finally shone through the clouds and we all rejoiced in joy. The sky turned an inky blue with scattered clouds like cotton floating around. We started our 7 kms journey towards Basmai valley with an unseen vigour. Our guide, Altaf made the journey fun for us by telling us about his life in the mountains and how his family keeps moving up and down the region as per the season. We were going to climb upto 11000 ft that day, and although our journey started on lush green meadows, strewn with beautiful flowers, the higher grounds had started showing rocks and stones jutting out of the ground. The layers of grass started thinning as we hit our first ascent over small to medium boulders. Our climb from then on was getting steeper and the gradient in some places started to go at an angle of 60-65 degrees. Naturally, we were taking frequent breaks and since the distance wasn’t that far, we were taking it a bit on the easier side. We would take breaks and look back at the trail that we covered. An open valley would always welcome our sight and we would wonder at how far we have come since day one of the trek.
At one point after a hard climb, we awed at the valley behind us as we could see large streams flowing by and in some places ice bridges had formed over the streams. There was a lonely Gujjar hut on the mountain to our right across the distant stream, which looked like a streak of molten silver flowing by. Our trek leader Ayushi asked us to participate in a
wonderful activity, where we find a place and sit for 5 minutes. We weren’t allowed to talk to one another and we weren’t allowed to take pictures. Just sit there and reflect on the wonderful surrounding. I found a curiously flat rock jutting right above the short grass and sat on it, looking at the mountain in front of me. I closed my eyes and after a few moments , all I could hear was the wind, blowing lightly and rustling the short bushes next to me. I could hear the stream flowing way below us. Far away, on the mountain next to ours, I could hear the whistle of the shepherd, tending to his flock of sheep, grazing on the mountain side. I was amused at what all was happening around me, all these things that I was oblivious to just a few minutes back and all I had to do was to sit silently and just listen. As I was experiencing all these activities around me, I felt a movement in my chest, I could feel my heart beating, making me aware of how alive I was. At that very moment, I felt the most alive, then I had ever felt before. In all the commotions of life, we often forget to take a breath and remember that we are alive rather than being bogged down by disappointments, of unfulfilled needs. As I came out of that almost trance like state, I saw everyone in the group had a distinct calmness on their faces. I also saw determination there, the renewed will to look at life differently and to reach our destination.
This was a much needed exercise for us, as what lay ahead was not something that even the horses and mules were prepared for, rest aside us. The terrain was quite rough and one couldn’t see any particular trail to take. We were just trying to keep the person ahead of us in our line of sight. We were walking on a pretty steep slope and we were not walking up or down the slope, we were going around that mountain to access Basmai lake, which made us walk on the slope at an off angle. Not a single footstep was alike and we had to be mentally present in every moment. It was more challenging for the mind than the body.
After quite a strenuous trek for about 45 minutes, we reached a point where a valley lay waiting there. It was a truly breathtaking sight to behold. I stood there for sometime, catching my breath. A huge mountain adorned with glacier like snow patches lay in front of us. A stream, trickling down the mountain, forming a slow flowing river as it hit the valley. The valley itself was covered in grass and lots of rocks spotted the banks of the river. I couldn’t believe that we would be camping there for the night and with every step I took towards the valley, it just got prettier. The grassy plain was becoming bigger and clearer. As I reached the camp finally, I couldn’t help but take in the wonderful sight around me for a few minutes. The flowing river on the side, the green plain, against the rugged mountains in the background was straight out of an adventure tale.
We pitched our tents and stretched our muscles out. We all lay on the grass at the end and the blue sky smiled upon us, with thin layers of clouds floating about slowly. We broke for lunch and prepared ourselves for another climb to the alluring Basmai Lake.
The second part of our story begins now. At Basmai valley, we were already at about 11,800 ft and the Basmai lake(also called Royal Sar Lake in Google) lied at a height of 12,800 ft. We started to walk beyond our camp and follow the stream upwards to find a way to reach the lake. The trail was filled with rocks and stone and there was hardly any trail to follow as such.
We decided to follow our guide closely and after walking about a kilometre, we came across a huge boulder cluster. Our guide went ahead for a recon, as a path was quite impossible to find amidst these boulders. This was unlike anything we had seen till then. One wrong footing and you may slide down a boulder or catch your leg in between rocks and injure yourself quick severely. Observing extreme caution was the key there. At this very point, our team came together as we negotiated that section and helped each other to cross the fast flowing stream, to cross over to the other side.
Once the stream was crossed, we started climbing on a trail that was filled with loose rocks and stones. There was loose dirt everywhere and we all fell in a single line and started climbing. Steep climb on our left and a steep slope on our right going down straight, in to the river. A sight that was beautiful and yet scary enough, to send a shiver down the spine. We slowly and steadily climbed the trail ahead of us, often finding flocks of sheep, grazing around us. Some of them, visibly distressed at us humans, barging into the tranquility of their life. Although the sight around was really beautiful and it warranted a long look of adoration, we were all focussed towards reaching the lake at that point of time.
I was probably the second in line a few meters behind a young trekker in the group called Skanda. I saw him and our guide suddenly stop right on their track and then Skanda took off ahead of us in a hurry. Just as I was coming up the trail, I found a huge patch of ice and snow on my left and to my right was the beginning of the most wonderful water body, that I had ever seen in my life.
I don’t know what happened to me then, I found this overwhelming feeling inside me and tears came rushing down my face as I just stood there and tried to comprehend what I was seeing there in front of me. I stood there for some time, with my eyes closed, tears trickling down continuously. I found some composure eventually and joined the rest of the team. We rejoiced and cheered each other for the achievement and then decided to sit on our own, silently. Post cards were given to those who wanted to jot down their feelings. I went towards the bank of the lake and sat down on a rock.
Our guide’s uncle was passing by the lake, and he decided to say his prayers. He sat down and sang verses from the Holy Quran which sounded so sweet and divine in that surrounding. The lake itself cannot be described in words alone. Tall mountains surrounded the lake on all sides, the water was clear as glass, with a greenish and bluish hue. The lake was absolutely placid and yet, light wind drew ripples on the surface, which made the lake look alive. I took a short walk and sat on a larger rock at a vantage point. As I took in the sight that lied ahead, tears rolling down my face, I felt as if I was getting absolved of all my sufferings, all my guilts, all those thoughts that has done me no good in life. I could feel all those regrets, leaving me and making my soul lighter. There was an innate divinity in that lake and the surrounding area, which reverberated within me. I was filled with gratitude of being able to see and experience something so divine. I would have sat there for 20 minutes and when I looked around, I saw that everyone were sitting on their own. In their own thoughts, and there was absolute silence. The divinity of the lake had touched everyone there.
The lake was so inviting that I decided to touch it. The water was cold, as an alpine lake should be and it was sweet in taste. I sprinkled some water on my face and it was instantly refreshing. Some of us gathered near the bank and we sang a few songs together and simply enjoyed the calm and scintillating surroundings. A group of trekkers went further, till the end of the lake, from where they could see the lake in it entirety.
We started our return, almost reluctantly. The lake was so captivating that some of us wished we had camped there for the night, instead of camping below at Basmai valley. The journey back was a bit sombre. We filled out bottles with the water from the lake. It stayed with us, reminding us of the amazing experience we had. We walked quietly in our own thoughts and reached the campsite eventually. Some of us shared their experience at the lake. We were glad and thankful that we braved that tough a terrain and went all the way up to experience that slice of paradise.
Even today, back to our lives, we often speak about the lake and our experience. For me, that lake was a place of liberation. The lake had such a profound effect on me, that these days, I am usually in a state of calm almost throughout the day. Anything, that used to bother me before, like bad attitude, bad behaviour, unnecessary abrasions dues to differences in opinions; feels like just temporary ripples on a water surface. Eventually dying out, leaving the mind in a blissful state of calm. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity for me, and I will remember this trek for the rest of my life.
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Very well described... it's fun going through the blog....keep it up...