At Camp Himalayan.......... by Ankit

This is what my friend Ankit had to write about our trip

My review :By Ankit
Day 1
On the first day, mom, dad and I came down from our apartment to the bus at around eight o'clock. It was a night journey.
We were delayed reaching the camp by about 4 hours because of the driver who was driving like a snail. When we got there then we met Sumit uncle and we told him about the journey. We had lovely apple juice.

After we talked for a few minutes we went to our rooms. After freshening up I went to Kabeer's room and we played name-place-action. Then Kabeer and I took pictures of a few birds. I didn't get any but Kabeer got quite a few. There was a yellow billed blue magpie who made us chase it above the camp and then below and then above again.

Later all of us went for a walk to see the temple and the sunset. I got nice pics of the sunset. Then we came back, had dinner and slept.

Day 2
The next day we went to the national park. Well not exactly the national park we only managed to reach the entrance ! We started by the bus and from a point got off and got on to jeeps and after a point again got off and started to walk. It was quite a long trek but it was fun. We went down to a river bank near the entrance to the national park and ate lunch. There was a very nice waterfall over there. And we came back to the camp freshened and then had dinner and slept.
Day 3
The next day we went for "river walking" near Sumit uncle's house. We left by bus and then we got of a little before his house and start walking along the river the river. It was tough but fun. There were many big and slippery stones so my pants tore. It tore very badly. When we got to Sumit uncle's house to my relief my mother had got an extra pair of pants. After spending fifteen minutes in Sumit uncle's house we started walking along the river again. There it was even tougher and I fell quite a few times so I was totally wet. Then we came back to a place where Gopi bhaiya had got us lunch. After lunch our parents went to Bahu to see the sunset.
We went to the camp. We waited till our parents came back and when they came back we had dinner and slept.
Day 4
We went to Jalori Pass. We went by bus and then we got off at a place and started walking. When we got there we saw a very beautiful view from there. It was great fun. After seeing the fort we came down half way and ate lunch that Hem Raj bhaiya had got. When we got down we ate Maggi at a dhaba. Then we got back freshened up had dinner and slept.
Day 5 (THE FINAL DAY)
On the last day we had breakfast and left for home. We had lunch in Highway Treat instead of having at Highway Restaurant where we were supposed to have lunch. We had dinner at Nik Bakers in Chandigarh. We had trouble finding it. After that we got on to the bus and it was night so half of us slept. In the end we reached home 6 hours late.

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Thanx Ankit for writing & i hope we will have many more trips like this together !!

A song for you........... hope you like it !!

Camp Himalayan.......... with the Grey Himalayan Bulbuls

Had lovely sightings of these Bulbuls, they were so pretty as usual !!

Camp Himalayan........... goodbye for now !!

Well all good things in life have to come to an end............... i guess !!

We left the next day morning after breakfast saying very fond farewells to Gopibhaiya, Hemrajbhaiya and Sumit uncle.

After a long tiresome trip (17 hours) stopping only at a Highway dhaba for lunch and at Nik Bakers, Chandigarh for dinner we reached Delhi finally at 2:30am !!

Now after a couple of days at home.............. 'am off to Mumbai to be with my cousins for a couple of weeks !!

Camp Himalayan........... to Jalori Pass

I had to wake up early again as we were going to Jalori Pass. The drive again was very pretty through shrubs of Wild White Roses & Blue Iris's

We started off and I kind of dozed of on the way but suddenly I wake up with my mother saying: Stop, Stop, Stop to the driver. I got to know it was some kind of a yellow bird she had seen on the road. I then saw it in the tree and it was awesome. I got some pics but they are not totally clear but we all remembered the unique beak. We got back in the bus and I took out the bird book and tried to identify it. It was a black and yellow Grosbeak (male and female).

We reached Jalori Pass and trekked up to Raghupur Fort. It was a tough trek though Ankit and I had done it during the school trip. We spent a lot of time there and we had lunch, trekked back to Jalori Pass and drove back to the Camp where we were greeted by a storm.

We had dinner and went to sleep- our final night in the mountains. (Sigh !!)

Camp Himalayan ...... Thirtan River

Imagine after such an exhausting walk,

to be able to find a spot like this where one can dip one's feet in freezing water

& also actually have a sumptous lunch

It was just awesome.....................

Camp Himalayan........... to the Great Himalayan National Park

I cannot believe it.............

We are going to go to the Great Himalayan National Park today and were all set to leave at 8:00 am with packed lunch and all. Gopi bhaiya and Hemraj bhaiya the caretakers of Camp Himalayan came with us. We went till Gushaini in the bus as then the road became too narrow for a bus to go.

We hired a Sumo which went for another 2 kms of motorable road. We then began our trek

to the gate of the Great Himalayan National Park which we thought ( by mistake) was close but actually it turned out to be a long uphill 7 kms walk. The walk was really beautiful through the forests & next to the Thirtan river. But it was exhausting. But when we reached it was really wonderful, as we had lunch on a rock perched in the Thirthan River. It was one of the most beautiful spots one can ever imagine.............................

There was a huge pool and a big waterfall with a water spray cooling us each time there was a breeze. We finished lunch and went on through the gate of the Great Himalayan National Park just 10 meters in and came back out as we had a long way to get back. We saw a lot of birds on the trek- Barbets, Bulbuls, Flycatchers and some Raptors.

On the way back we stopped at a Rainbow Trout fish farm, it was cool and some of the trouts were huge. We reached back at camp at 6pm and had a bonfire with soup and a yummy dinner.

I had a bath and finally sleep......................

At Camp Himalayan...................

I've been to Camp Himalayan before for a school trip & i had thoroughly enjoyed it & had the time of my life.

So this time i was going with my parents, my cousin sister from Mumbai & my friend Ankit and his parents (my grandmother was going to come too but unfortunately she fell ill & did not feel up to the long journey). We set out from Delhi at 8:00pm. We were going in a 9 seater private bus we got really late getting out of Delhi because our driver didn't take the proper route to exit from Delhi. Infact we took 16 hours instead of 12 because of the cartoon of a driver who was driving very slow & he did not know how to drive in the mountains. My father infact wanted to drive many a time !!

Well, we at least reached our destination- Camp Himalayan at 12:30 pm the next day. A Himalayn Griffon swooped below our eye levels as we entered the camp. We met Sumit Uncle and talked to him for a while and went to our rooms. One of the first things which stuck me was that the camp was looking totally green compared to last time i was there because then it was winter and all the apple trees were bare. Whereas now it was summer !!I remember from the lounge I could see all the cottages clearly but now most were submerged in greenery.

We had lunch at 2:30 which was really good especially the daal.

All the parents went to rest but Ankit and I went around the camp with our camera's watching birds. We saw a lot of small birds and we were trying hard to get a clear picture but they kept moving & were so busy all the time (though we finally did and i even found a nest the Grey Tit was using).

Then suddenly the Yellow Billed Magpie popped out of a bush. I call this bird the chalaak dada because it flew up the mountain so we chased up the mountain trying to get a photo and then before we can do anything it happily swoops down the mountain above our heads as if to say "goodbye slowpokes" while we are standing there helplessly. Later when I didn't have the camera, it was sitting on the apple tree next to me happily. But when i do have the camera it flies away.

We finally got our parents up from their slumber and went for a walk which was quite nice. We went around the village we saw the fields full of Jowar, Green Peas, Garlic & Potatoes.

But it started raining and a storm was brewing so we had to hurry back. We had a real good dinner & went back to our rooms and slept well in the lovely mountain.

Infact i am quiet- happy to be here.

Also infact i cannot wait for tomorrow, because we are trekking to the Great Himalayan National Park !!

To Camp Himalayan. Once more !!

14th May was our last day at school before the summer break, tomorrow we leave for the Camp Himalayan................... yet again !!