Day 9: Trek from Biskeri Thatch (11000 ft) to Bhandak Thatch (8000ft) 10kms – 6hrs

The trek was coming to a close and we were looking forward to checking out Bhandak Thatch and a cricket match there. We had been told that a bat and ball is available there. We started in the morning without our guides who were late in arriving. We were given directions and as the path was quite prominent, we started on our own, with the co-leader leading the way. One member had been hurt and was being helped by his mates. Soon we found the guides making their way up. They crossed us and went on to the camp to report before coming back down and meeting us at the first rest point. 

We continued our trek down towards Bhandak Thatch. The path passed through a stream which had a very steep approach cut through stones. After a few trekkers had gone down the stony almost vertical path on their own, the guides strung a rope with knots spaced around a meter or so on it. Rest of the trekkers rappelled down to the stream bed and we crossed a log bridge to our lunch point. 

 

Biskeri Thatch

From here, the trek continued through beautiful meadows and streams and we rested a lot, taking pictures. 

The last leg to the camp was a steep uphill path which caused some fatigue. However, we were happy to reach the camp which was based in a large meadow. Soon we had a cricket match going which turned into two matches. 

We had a bonfire without a fire in the late evening, after dinner and almost everyone took part by singing songs, dancing and all of us had a lot of fun. Finally we called it a night at around 10 pm and went to bed.

Day 10: Trek from Bhandak Thatch (8000 ft) to Barshani Road head (7400 ft) (5km, 2hr) head, transfer by bus to Kasol and checking out.

 As we prepared to depart from Bhandak Thatch, it started raining in the morning and by the time we started on the downhill path, the mud was wet and slippery. This made progress very slow and since we had surrendered our sticks while sliding down the snow from Sar Pass, this made it more difficult for the trekkers.

We made our way down slowly and soon it became clear that catching the 10 am bus from Barshaini bus stand was out of question for most of us. Although we had been told by the camp in-charge that there are hourly buses yet we would find out that the next bus was at 1200 hours. 

The path went down and down and was quite steep. It took us 2 hours to get down to relatively easy slopes from where we made good progress. However, the road was still quite some distance away. We approached a village and walked through it on concrete path. We passed a water mill and a stream when it began raining heavily again. 

Another 20 minutes took us to a dam construction site, where we crossed the river on a bridge and climbed up to the motor-able road. We soon reached the Barshaini bus stand where we waited for more than an hour to get the bus at 1200 hours for Kasol. Several of the trekkers got down at Manikaran. 

I had a bus to catch at 6 pm, from Bhunter so I carried on to Kasol Base Camp. I collected my luggage, filled in a chcek out slip, deposited the rucksack and sleeping bag liner and filled in a feedback form before I was given my certificate. I had my lunch and climbed upto the road where I caught a bus to Bhunter. Next morning I was back in Delhi, richer by a lot of friends and a wonderful experience.