Gagan explored the world of trekking for the first time this march when she did nag tibba trek. Here are the excerpts from her experience of Nag Tibba Trek.
Q .what made you choose nag tibba trek ?
I had heard about the trek from a distant friend. The trek was a 3 day trip which suited people like me who are working. She told me about the scenic beauty and how exhilarating the experience was for her. Hearing all this along with the support that the bikat team provided in terms of safety for solo women travellers, I chose this trek.
Q. How did you prepare for the trek ?
We were asked to exercise a little before the trek. Since I already exercise a little physically preparing my self was not difficult. As for mentally preparing myself, I read blogs, travel stories, saw pictures to brace my self for the trek and the experience.
Q. Do you have any tips on how to prepare for this trek ?
Yes. I think being physically fit is absolutely important for this trek especially for beginners even though it's marked as an easy trek on the difficulty scale. Also strictly adhering to the list of items provided by the Bikat team for packing is very important.
Q. What was the difficulty level of this trek ? Would you recommend it for the beginners ?
Yes absolutely i would recommend it for beginners considering I was a beginner myself when I did the trek. It's an absolutely beautiful trek and being physically fit is an added bonus.
Q. What was the nature of trail on each day ?
We started with an uphill grassy terrain and then slowly entered into a snowy terrain. It was all sunny and then after a point we entered into an area where we could see an expanse of beautiful fresh white snow. That was our base camp. All throughout the trek we came across different terrains from grassy to snowy to trekking in the forest. We crossed areas with knee deep snow , broken trees to forest areas where at one point it was snowing and raining at the same time. There was rain which made the descent very slippery but exciting.
Q. What were the major highlights of the trek for you?
There were many to tell you the truth. Some of the exciting parts were when after the trek we all sat near the bonfire and dried our wet socks and shoes, sang songs, heard awesome trek stories from our guide, my favourite Gajji bhaiya, had chai with hot pakodas. Also one time we were sitting by the fire and it started snowing. I had witnessed snowfall for the 1st time so for me that was a wonderful site. The best was when I woke up and opened my tent, all I could see was an expanse of snow which was some site. Since everyone came solo our experience became more enriched as we got to know and met so many new people which added to the experience.
Q. What was the most difficult part of the trek?
For me our descent from the nag tibba summit was the most difficult as I fell a lot and there was some level of technique required. But this is very individual as many others rolled down the snow mountains without a care in the world and had fun!
Q. Any specific moment while on the trek that is most memorable for you ?
I think the whole experience starting from the bus station at kashmiri gate where we began our journey was a memorable one.
Q. Any advice you have for the first time trekkers ?
As I said before being physically fit is very important if one wants to enjoy the trek along with gearing up to walk a lot, sleeping in tents , adjusting to changes in weather etc. basically stepping out of your comfort zone as that is what makes the whole experience enriching.
