The Mountains Keep Sending the Right People

It was foggy at Dayra Bugyal when we pitched our tent.

Not light fog. The kind that sits on the meadow and swallows everything beyond ten metres. We were sure the Rohru gang wouldn't find us in this.

We were wrong.

But let me go back to where it started.

Janglik — Where Everyone Finds Each Other

We reached Janglik at 9pm on June 16th, after a day of riding through one of the most scenic valleys I have seen. The road from Rohru to Janglik is lined with uncountable waterfalls. I was sitting pillion the whole way — whatever discomfort that brought was completely compensated by the views.

The last kilometre before Janglik, the bike refused to go further. I hitched a ride standing at the back of a passing pickup truck.

We stayed at a homestay — a friend of a friend of Kaka's. The bike was locked on the road itself. Plan was to get it in the morning.

The next day we did get it — through a shortcut, bushes, and a road that apparently didn't exist the previous night.

That morning, a guy named Anshuman started walking with us from Janglik. He was from Chandigarh. This was his second time here. He knew the route. He knew what was ahead.

On the way to Dayra Bugyal, we met four people who had left the previous day but got lost in the jungle — no clear trail, wrong turns, an unplanned night somewhere in the trees. They found the right path and kept going.

We all kept going together.

Litham — Rajma Chawal and a Fire

We reached Litham around 3pm. Waited for Anshuman. He arrived shortly after. We found a good spot and pitched the tent.

That evening — same day — we decided to go check Chandranahan lakes. They weren't far. The climb ahead was steep and direct. We were determined.

What we found was everything frozen. The snowfield hadn't melted yet. The lakes were barely there — just a river where lakes should have been. We took photos at the waterfall anyway and came back down.

By 7pm we were back at the tent.

Anshuman had made rajma chawal.

We lit a fire under a large rock. The four people from the jungle found us again that night. Around the fire, somewhere around 10pm, we made a plan — tomorrow, all of us, Buran Pass summit.

Buran Pass — The One Who Turned Back

We left at 6am on June 18th.

First to the trekking agency campsites at Litham, then onward at 6:45. The mountain was visible from there. We knew what was ahead — snowfield, then more snowfield.

We crossed numerous water streams, hit the snowfield, reached Dhunda in about an hour and a half. Dhunda is the last campsite on this side of Buran Pass. From here you can also reach Gunas Pass, Rupin Pass — all branching from the same high ground.

We made maggi at Dhunda. Left at 8:45am toward the pass.

We took a route that avoided the ice-covered section — saved us roughly an hour. Then came the real climb. Straight up. Three kilometres of loose snow. Every step cost more effort than it should. Your foot would sink, you'd pull it out, sink again somewhere else.

Bich mein Anshuman bhai dheere dheere chal rahe the. Aur phir wo ruk gaye.

He said he'd turn back.

He was moving slower than usual. Something didn't feel right — probably the early stages of AMS. He recognised it. He made the call. He turned around.

That was the right decision. We knew it. He knew it. Nobody argued.

The rest of us kept going. About an hour of climbing and we were at the top.

The Top

There isn't much space at Buran Pass. The pass is narrow — not a wide ridge but a specific point where both valleys open up on either side.

Standing there, you see Uttarakhand on one side and Kinnaur on the other. Both valleys at once.

On the Kinnaur descent — just past the pass, the slope drops almost 90 degrees. Trekking companies use this as a rappelling point. Looking down it, you understand why.

We took photos. We talked. We made a plan for the rest of the day — come down fast, reach Dayra Bugyal, light a fire, wait for the Rohru gang.

Ham log bahut hi jabardast speed se niche ki taraf aaye.

Going down was faster. Your feet sank into the snow but it slowed the descent naturally. Occasional slips. Nothing serious.

Back through Dhunda without stopping. Back to Litham for food — the Rohru gang had already arranged for food to be ready when we arrived. In logo ke har jagah setting hai.

Dayra Bugyal — The Fog and the Fire

We folded our tent at Litham and walked to Dayra Bugyal.

The weather had turned. No sun, but pleasant — the kind of mountain afternoon that asks nothing of you.

Dayra is large. Maybe 30-40 tents were pitched across the meadow when we arrived. We found a corner, set up, and started trying to light a fire.

The fog came in completely.

We were sure the Rohru gang wouldn't find us. Too much fog. Too many tents. No way to locate one specific corner of a meadow in zero visibility.

To our surprise — they came.

They walked through the fog, found our tent, brought wood, lit the fire, and made pulao.

Ham log bahut der tak wahin aag ke samne baithke gapp mare.

That was it really. That was the whole trip in one moment — strangers who became familiar, a fire that shouldn't have been possible in that fog, food that tasted better than it had any right to.

We slept late.

The Rain and the Road Back

After midnight, rain.

We had planned an early start on June 19th. Nobody moved until 10am. The rain made that decision for us.

We folded tents in the wet, started the descent. The path turned slippery quickly. We reached Janglik around noon, saw the temple there, then walked to the nearest road point while Kaka went back for the bike.

By 3pm we were heading to Rohru. By 5pm we were back in Arakot.

What I Keep Thinking About

I didn't plan to trek with anyone on this trip.

Anshuman joined from nowhere in Janglik. The four lost people found the right path and ended up at the same campsites. The Rohru gang materialised through fog at Dayra when logic said they couldn't find us.

None of it was planned. All of it was the best part.

The frozen lakes were disappointing. The summit was worth it. But what I actually remember — rajma chawal at 7pm after Buran Pass, fire under a rock, a plan made at 10pm that actually happened, pulao in the fog at Dayra.

The mountains kept sending the right people.

I don't know how else to explain it.

Buran Pass Trek · June 16-19, 2023
Janglik → Dayra Bugyal → Litham → Chandranahan → Buran Pass → Dayra Bugyal → Janglik
Days: 4