Sar Pass | A passage through heaven | Things to know before the trek.

Sar lake | Sar Pass

OVERVIEW

This post will help you to understand a few things before you start your Sar Pass journey. I have shared all the experiences that I encountered on the trip and have noted down all the things we did right and also where we went a bit wrong. A few things you should take care of.
Overall it's just an amazing experience. An experience of a lifetime. You will get to know how I feel about this place while you read this and the next post.
I have hyperlinked the texts wherever required for better understanding and ease of access.

For me, it was like one of those filmy trips in which three friends plan a sudden trip and have the best experience of their lifetime.

It all started when I heard about an organization named 'Youth Hostel Association India (yhai)'. Yhai plans such treks and outings at affordable costs. You should surely visit this website. They generally organize Himalayan trips between May-June. 

Sar "Pass"!! So now what is a 'pass'?  'Pass' is basically a route or saddle point at higher altitudes between mountain ridges, glaciers that are used by local people to cut short their route. They are very important for trade and travel since mountains offer a formidable barrier for such activities. Some passes can be crossed only during a certain span of time due to natural difficulties and other circumstances such as weather conditions, snow slides, wind, temperature, etc. 

Sar Pass is one such pass at 13800ft altitude located in the vicinity of a small town named 'Kasol'. Did this name ring some bells? :P Yes! Kasol, sometimes called 'The Stoners Paradise', the town famous for its high-quality weed. An amazing place with a lively atmosphere, a lot of scenics beauty and abundance of Indian and foreign travellers. Kasol is situated on the bank of Parvati river some 40kms from a famous hill station 'Kullu-Manali'. And 'Bhuntar' being the transit hub between the same. So you can plan your trips accordingly so as to cover both the destinations in a single vacation (Just saying! We had different plans!).

PRE TRIP:-

I mentioned about the sudden trip right? It was so sudden that we were successful in booking the last 3 seats in the batch for us. I remember that the seats were filling fast. Those really were the nail-biting moments.
There basically are 20 batches with a varying number of participants. We have to book seats at least 2-3 months prior or else the batches get full. So, if you are looking for this adventure, then Nov-Feb is your slot to book. You have to get a membership first ( It was around 330 INR) and then you can proceed with the booking.
BOOKED! Now the trek is ONN! Yayy!!

Then there come reservations for flight/train and most importantly PACKING. There is a list of things to carry given in the travel itinerary on the website. It is actually a big list that you must follow to make your life easy on the trek.
Following was my list:-

1. Rucksack
2. Walking Stick (You can find this easily at Kasol)
3. Woolens**, Socks(At least 5pairs), Gloves.
4. Cotton shirts (At least 2), T-shirts (At least 3)- Preferably full sleeves.
5. Track pants (At least 2)
6. Towel, Handkerchief.
7. Sun cap.
8. Shoes (Buy good mountaineering shoes. We bought ours from Decathlon)
9. Steel Mug/ Tumbler, Water bottle.
10. Lunchbox/Spoon** (For packing food en route)
11. Water Purifying tablets
12. Pen Knife
13. Needle and Thread, Spare buttons.
14. Sunglasses
15. Cold creams/ Vaseline/Sunscreen SPF50+** (If you don't want to get really tan)
16. Toilet paper, Paper soaps
17. Hand Sanitizer, Facewash, Toothpaste, Toothbrush.
18. Rain sheets/ Windcheater.
19. Medicines (As per your requirement. Keep medicines for cold, fever and painkillers)
20. Electrol, ORS powder.
21. Chocolates, Mint tablets, toffees.
22. Power bank (10000mAh), Extra batteries for the Camera.
23. Duct tape

I would suggest taking your packing a bit seriously because it helped me a lot and I also have seen people struggle without the properly packed kit. Yes, there will be people around to help you but you surely would not want to be dependent.

Download offline maps of the Kasol area (link provided above) because network might be an issue.

Now it is all set for a 15 days vacation and we are ready for the trip. Excited!

TRIP:-

MUMBAI-DELHI:
I and my friends Abhijeet and Mangesh had to start our journey from Mumbai. So we planned to reach Delhi by flight and from Delhi, we planned to travel by bus till Bhuntar (the transit hub for Kasol). Our reporting was on 28th May so we booked the flight for the previous day i.e. 27th May. We took the morning flight to reach Delhi so that we could get ample amount of time to reach the bus station.

I would suggest you book your Delhi-Bhuntar bus in advance via Redbus or other apps online so that you save your time as well as you might find some good deals. We booked an AC Semi sleeper bus from 'Redbus.in'. We received some 20% discount and the bus was very good and was quite comfortable too. The buses start timing is normally between 5pm and 11pm and the journey is for approximately 12 hours. You would be asked to board from Kashmere Gate or Majnu ka Tilla in Delhi, so reach the location accordingly.

Meanwhile, if you get time in the afternoon you can visit few places in Delhi. We went to see 'India Gate' and it was a really bad idea. It was summer afternoon with temperature ranging from 35-40deg. and also we were carrying our luggage by our side to worsen the situation. You should rather find a local restaurant and try Chole-Bhature, they are amazing in Delhi!

The struggle!

But even in that, we managed to have some fun...

And block some traffic too...

DELHI-BHUNTAR:
We boarded the bus around 5.30pm and left for Bhuntar. The bus journey was nice and comfortable. Seats were properly reclinable with charging points near every seat. We were provided with blankets and a water bottle. The driver stopped our bus at some Punjabi Dhaba somewhere in Haryana. We ordered Chicken Masala and Butter roti and Rice. Ohh that food! Delicious! And you can have a big glass of Lassi after that. You would not want to miss eating at such Dhabas. It's quite an experience in itself. After such a dinner you will wake up directly at Bhuntar next morning. At least this is what happened with three of us. :p

BHUNTAR-KASOL:
There is a to and fro local bus service from Bhuntar to Manikaran and Kasol is en route to Manikaran. Also, there are Taxi/Cab services available. You can choose either of the two based on your comfort and convenience. It just takes 30-40 mins to reach Kasol from Bhuntar costing somewhere around 50INR per person by bus and around 700-1000INR per Taxi/Cab.

YHAI SAR PASS BASE CAMP:
Click on the link to find the pinpoint location of the place.

YHAI Sar Pass base camp signboard can be seen on the left side of the road while travelling towards Kasol. My first thoughts about this place were like "wow! this is something different". It actually is something different. It feels like a camp, a proper base camp with all the tents, mountains at the background and all the people and the sound of Parvati river roaring from just behind the camp.

You have to climb downstairs from the main road and you are welcomed by nice and polite staff at the reception tent where they ask you for five things:-
1. How was your journey to the camp?
2. Your Membership fee receipt. (Take a print out of the same with you)
3. Your Admit card. (Take a print out of the same with you)
4. Medical Certificate ( in the format given by YHAI)**- We missed out on this 'the YHAI format thing'. So had to find a local doctor and get it signed by him.
5. Two passport size photographs.

So this was our journey till we reach the base camp and all the things you should know before you reach the base camp.
All you read was just the preparation for the 8 days adventure that follows.

I will be sharing my whole Sar Pass trek experience in the next post...

Hope this post was helpful...
Please comment and share. Thank you.

Few photos from the trek!