Roopkund Trek - Day 3: Trekking to the most beautiful campsite - Bedni Bugyal (altitude: 11500 ft)

This post is part of Roopkund Trek - An unforgettable adventure!. The previous article in the series is Day 2: Get, Set, Go! Heading to our first campsite - Ghairoli Patal (altitude: 10000 ft).

Unlike my life back home, where I get up with the ring of the alarm clock, I got up by a wake-up call from one of the batch members, Kapil. Going ahead, I realized that I could sleep peacefully as I could always rely on Kapil giving a wake-up call. Kapil, along with Ameya and Vishal was a group working for Nomura in Mumbai. Encouraged by Ameya, they decided to take up this trek. Kapil also deserves a special mention for being the most-energetic member of the batch. All through the trek, even when the ascent was difficult, he used to sing to keep everyone motivated.

Just like the previous day, we got up, freshened up, had our Oximeter readings taken, had our breakfast and started trekking. One thing that did differ today was the number of people who decided to offload their backpacks. From 2 the previous day, it went up to 11 today.

The trek to Bedni Bugyal was relatively easy compared to our ascent the previous trek. The route did vary considerably compared to that of the previous day, as in, instead of forests, we came across a whole lot of meadows.

On our way to the campsite, we stopped at a small Dhaba for having some quick snacks. To find food at an altitude of 11000 ft, in the middle of nowhere, is extremely welcoming. And when I looked at the folks cook food with smoke from the wood burning the eyes, it reminded me the difficulties that the villagers have to go through to make their ends meet!

Perhaps, the second best photograph of the trek was taken here, which was of a flock of sheep grazing in the open meadows, with a shepherd watching over them. The baa of the sheep mingled with the sound of the bells around their neck, even when recollected today, continues to have a very soothing effect.

We continued our trek and finally reached Bedni Bugyal campsite. On reaching there, I was completely speechless and I will let this campsite picture speak for itself.

Covered with green meadows on all the four sides with mountain peaks such as Trishul and Chowkamba visible in the distance, it literally felt like I was in a different world.

Just like the previous day, we did a few stretching exercises followed by lunch. Then all of us relaxed for the rest of the day. Some of them took a stroll and went quite a distance away from the campsite but this was later strongly condemned by the trek lead and the guides as there was the risk of getting lost and Indiahikes was responsible for ensuring the safety of the trek members. I spent a few hours reading the book "Sapiens" lying in the grass before unknowingly falling asleep.

After a quick nap, I got up to realize that it was time for snacks. I had my snacks in the company of two doctors Abeer and Gaurav. Currently working in a Delhi hospital, they were discussing some of the difficulties of the profession. Coming from a family of doctors myself (although I'm not one), I could relate to some of the things that they were saying. There also seemed to be marked differences between how doctors in a private hospital are perceived compared to doctors running their own private clinics. Because of the commercialized nature of private hospitals, doctors in these hospitals seem to be approached by patients with a lot of scepticism compared to doctors running their own clinic, who on the contrary get a lot of respect from their patients.

As we were discussing all this, it was time for sunset, and the sun-rays falling on the Trishul peak made it look as if was covered with gold.

Shortly after snacks, soup and dinner followed. I watched an offline downloaded movie and went to bed relaxed knowing that the next day was a break day.

Go on to the next article in the series: Day 4: Short visit to Ali Bugyal (altitude: 12200 ft).