Starting a cult during the hike to Kareri Lake

India – June 2024

You may have read my previous post about the hiking adventure to Triund. This story is about the second part of my trekking weekend with Neha and Abishek. After a short night at a guesthouse in Bhagsu, we share a taxi with Eva from the Czech Republic who stayed in our dorm. She has to catch a bus at Dharamshala Bus Terminal, where we drop her on the way to Kareri Village. The drive is quite picturesque, but we can’t really enjoy it. The lack of sleep doesn’t sit well with my stomach, and Neha already warned us about her motion sickness. The only one who is immune to the 100 curves on the mountain road is Abishek. But after about an hour, we finally arrived at yet another guesthouse, where we inquired before about leaving 2 large backpacks.

The owner also runs a small hut close to Lake Kareri — our hiking destination for today. We order a small breakfast of omelet and toast with Chai and enjoy the peace and quiet of the place for a while. But then it’s time to get our sore muscles back on the trail. Today’s trek is 10 kilometers long, and we will cover about 1100 meters in altitude. However according to Abishek, the climb is much more beautiful, and the ascend is less steep than Triund. This makes me feel a bit more positive and we start the walk along the asphalt road to the trailhead. From here on, we follow the Niyund River, which we have to cross a few times before reaching our destination.

There are not too many other people on the path yet, but the Maggi Stopps are already patiently waiting for customers. The first part of the trek leads through a forest which provides some shade from the ever-so-strong sun, and multiple opportunities for Neha to seek out climbable trees. Under one particularly large one, we take our first trail mix break. Shortly after, we cross the first people on their descent. It’s a guy carrying his cat in a day pack! Neha and I get overly excited and greet him and the four-legged companion enthusiastically.

Soon after, we briefly meet a family who are hiking up to the lake with their cute Himalayan dog. But we decide to take a rest on the rocks next to a beautiful waterfall after re-filling our water bottles from a natural spring. So we fall behind the other people on their way up for now. Much like the previous days, we spend some time discussing various political and cultural topics, to find common and different viewpoints from Indian and European perspectives. Since we all continue to agree on our strong opinions, Abishek mentions the forming of a cult for the first time. This will later become a running joke, with plans about who should have which position and mantras to be repeated.

But for now, we still have a long way to go so we continue our hike. Abishek points out a shepherd’s hut where he received shelter on his last hike to Kareri Lake in wintertime. I’m impressed by Neha‘s excellent physical shape and am glad when we take another break at the quieter river bed about 1 hour later. We enjoy the refreshing cold water on our feet and then tackle the next section before lunch. We already passed a few more Maggi Stops, but none provided the views we were looking for. Finally, next to a small Shiva Temple, we strike gold. Neha orders 1 portion each of plain Maggi and Maggi with egg, and we sit down on a large rock in the middle of the river. Minutes later, the food is brought over and we devour it.

After washing the plates in the mountain stream, we continue on the last section of the hike. Now there are lots of other hikers on the path, and it becomes increasingly more difficult to avoid the groups of young people carrying large speakers. It is here, that we come to the conclusion, that Indian people are allergic to silence. While the only thing we want to hear is the flowing river and the chattering of the birds. We take strategic breaks and admire the views of the slowly narrowing valley with its high pine trees and large rocks.

We also try to put down some mental notes of natural pools, where we want to bathe on our way down the next day. Then, behind the last bend, we are finally getting closer to the lake. But the first thing we notice is the large number of tents already set up between the Maggi huts next to the river. Luckily, Abishek quickly locates the shop run by the guy we reserved the extra tent with. They tell him that there is a space reserved for us close to the hut, but we would rather sleep up at the lake. So we continue to walk through the “base camp”.

However, at the last hut, we are stopped abruptly. The owner says camping at the lake is forbidden and neither can we stay at a spot next to the river we are eyeing after this statement. At this point, we are quite tired, but can also tell that he has the upper hand. So we agree on a plot next to his hut and quickly pitch the 2 tents. With a few extra layers in hand, we finally climb up the last couple of meters to reach Lake Kareri. Despite the number of tents we saw before, there aren’t too many people up here. We walk along the water, looking at the wild horses and sheep grazing on the other side of the lake.

Then we come across the family with the happy Himalayan dog. We chat with them for a while and take pictures with their furry friend. After admiring the view of the (clearly receding) glacier, we head toward the western end of the valley, where we hope to see a magnificent sunset. Sitting on a cliff, we are glad we brought some extra clothes to layer up against the stiff wind. We watch the mountain goats climb all over the scarcely forested, steep terrain across the trench. When we notice that they all seem to be climbing toward us, the sun starts to slowly disappear behind a high peak.

We take a few commemorative pictures together and then follow the crowd back to the camp, alongside the goats who return to their sheds on the other side of the lake. It’s getting dark quickly, but we have to wait a bit for dinner. Abishek & Neha want to take a short nap and tell me to wake them up at 8.30pm. And so I do. Both of them are fast asleep and do not appreciate me telling them to get up for dinner. But after all the exercise, nutrition is important and so we finally head to the place where we got our tents. After all, dinner is already paid for and shortly after sitting down on the floor of the small hut, we are served delicious Dal Makhani with rice.

Someone overhears us talking in English and eagerly joins the conversation. Different from Triund, most of the other hikers are Indian people on summer vacation. But we are tired and soon say goodbye. After a pit stop at the only toilet and a warming rest at the bonfire, retire to our tent. It seems that the rest of the trekkers are either much more energetic or completed the hike in several days. Because they are singing loudly, singing along to their favorite Bollywood songs, and continue to do so for a long while after we fall asleep.

Since we go to bed early, we are among the first to wake up the next day (Abishek 2 hours before Neha & I). We enjoy the quiet atmosphere while we dismantle the tents. With our backpacks packed, we walk down to the sheperd’s hut, where some Aloo Paratha and Chai is waiting for us. After the meal, we return the borrowed equipment and make our way down the valley. The early start means that we can freely choose our bathing spot. A dip of the toe in the glacier water makes me feel better about keeping on my hiking clothes for the swim. With the three of us standing in a circle, encouraging each other to take a leap of faith and submerge in the water, we probably do look like we are carrying out some rite of passage.

Refreshed, we almost run down the hill, with much fewer stops than on the way up. But the weather is better and we cannot say no to some photo opportunities, like yet another temple that has been taken over by a herd of goats. From time to time, we let youngsters playing loud music pass and after only 2 hours, we are back at the first river crossing. By now, our clothes are dried by the sun and we sit on one of the large stones for a bit to eat some leftover trail mix. It’s at this point that Abishek overestimates his abilities and bare feet slides down a slippery rock into a natural pool of mountain water.

Fortunately, he’s wearing quick-drying sportswear and we are not too far from the lodge where we have left our backpacks the day before. On the home stretch, we pass some teenagers who came here on a half-day trip. As their shared jeep takes off, someone tosses a chocolate wrapper out of the car window, which Neha swiftly picks up and throws back where it came from – along with the words: “Please show some more respect towards nature!”. As we have discussed previously, India (as well as many other places in the world) still has a long way to go. But with more people who have the opportunity to experience beautiful places like the mountains of Himachal Pradesh, this movement will hopefully pick up speed.

Very grateful for the decision to have negotiated access to the shower at Kareri Village, we take our time to freshen up and repack our bags. Then the taxi arrives and brings us back to Dharamshala. Luckily, we can enjoy the scenery a bit more during this ride. Arriving in the city, we directly head to the Tibetan restaurant which Neha found online. We order delicious Momos and Thukpa to share. Since we finally have internet connection again, I try to book my bus ticket to Manali for tonight. However, the website tells me that there is nothing available. So we quickly head down to the bus station, only to find out that there is indeed only a seat left on the government night bus.

I book the ticket for around 4 Euros for the 10-hour trip. And then, Neha, Abishek, and I spend the last hours of this journey at a cozy café with juice and cake reminiscing the glorious days we just had and dreaming of the next adventures together.