WHAT DID YOU DO IN SORANG VALLEY?

(1993)

‘When they were on top,’ asked Sally, after hearing about Everest, ‘Could they touch the sky?’

‘No Sally,’ rather apologetically.

‘Well,’ after some hard thinking.

‘They couldn’t have been very high, could they?’

Charles Evans

(Eye on Everest)

As I returned from a two-week trek to the Sorang valley, in Kinnaur and was piqued by the situation I faced.

‘What did you do in Sorang valley?’ my two sons, Sonam and Nawang asked me.

‘Well we trekked in a relatively unknown area, enjoyed the scenery . . . ’, I was interrupted abruptly.

‘That’s fine. But what did you do there? Did you explore new passes, photograph high and famous mountains, carry out rescue or climb peaks?’

‘Nothing of the sort. We simply enjoyed ourselves.’

‘That means you did nothing,’ Sonam added emphatically in the tone of a person who had been denied a holiday due to my this trip.

I was reminded of an American war movie where a young child persistently asked his father, a World War II veteran: ‘What did you do in the war, daddy?’ But that young child (or Sally) was a far cry from these two strong, vacation-deprived boys of mine. So I sat down to tell them about my trip.

We reached Sarhan (2165 m) via Shimla. The ancient Bhimkali temple was livened up by its backdrop, the view of Gushu Pishu (5672 m) and Srikand Mahadev (5222 m). We started our trek of Sarhan from Chaura, a little ahead on the national highway to Kinnaur. The 14 km to Rupi village (2350 m) took six hours and we settled down at, what someone had called, ‘the best rest house in Kinnaur’. Going through the register was revealing. The first entry logged was on 12 November 1915. H.M. Glover (a contributor to early Himalayan Journals) and Mrs. Glover had stayed here from 22 to 26 October 1916. Their article on the trip appeared in the H.J., Vol. II. G.D. Kichingam was another famous forester who had stayed here in 1922. N.D. Jayal, District Commissioner, Kinnaur, and his wife had paid Rs. 2 for their stay in 1961. In red ink below his entry it said ‘Re 1 refunded by Money Order for excess paid’. Capt. W.F. Chipps had stayed here many times between 1920 and 1930. The charges were 50 paise for officials on duty and Re. 1 for others. Now they are Rs. 10 and Rs. 75 respectively. The only entry relating to mountains was by B.B. Negi (11 July 1974). “Met team from Calcutta ‘The Trekkers’. Claimed to have climbed Kosh hane (sic). Not believable”. Deepak Sanan, the then District Commissioner’s entry here was on 22 October 1992, and below that another entry slyly stated ‘On confidential duty’. We entered our names in the visitors’ book on 14 May 1993 and went about our non-confidential work.

Rupi was a group of four villages, all equally non-cooperative. Our initial inquiry about porters bore no fruit. Finally we saw a mistry (carpenter) working hard near our bungalow. The job of tackling him was taken up by our own Mistry (Kaivan).

‘Poor fellow will now be coaxed into submitting to carry loads,’ Nawang murmured.

That’s exactly what Kaivan did. For the better part of the day he brainwashed the fellow, increasing the bait a little at a time. A visit to the man’s house settled the issue.

The next day the motley party crossed the ridge behind the village to descend into the Sorang valley. For two days in incessant rain we stayed in the thick forest at Dhumti (2650 m; 7 km) and Rakpatang (2840 m; 4 km, the place of the cave). Heavy snowfall trapped us and the mistry gave up. Our porters left us in the cave and scurried home. This rock cave became our headquarters in the valley.

‘But what did you do in this cave?’, I was asked searchingly.

It was evidently the home of a bear. The first evening we saw a black bear on the opposite bank. It ignored us and for almost two hours went about its business as if we did not exist. Next morning a musk deer was sighted and it disappeared as soon as we photographed it. Monal, vultures and other birds freely roamed in the forest consisting of apricot, pine, deodar and juniper trees in the upper reaches. Little else to do, there was nothing we could ‘do’ except enjoy ourselves.

We moved up, just because we had to. Ringvichina (3435 m; 6 km) and Palit (3835 m; 6 km) were camping grounds for shepherds. The ring of peaks, surrounding the upper valley, near Zangshu glacier were steep and challenging. Gushu Pishu (5672 m), Kokshane (5625 m) and the unnamed peak (5695 m) formed a cirque. These peaks are not meant for anyone in a hurry and would test the skills of the best of alpinists. They are a tempting objective if height is not a criteria.

We returned to the cave and then descended straight down along the valley instead of crossing over to Rupi. After walking for two days amidst dense forest, we reached Sorang Dogri (2340 m; 14 km), a small hamlet, and proceeded to Bara Kamba (2000 m; 6 km), a largish village with a rest house. Both the villages were very friendly in sharp contrast to Rupi. We crossed the Satluj and reached the National Highway at Nyugalsari (1400 m; 5 km), ending our nine-day trek.

‘So you did not climb any peaks? Did not even attempt them? What did you do anyway?’ Questions were unending, unanswered.

‘We enjoyed the forest, the wildlife, the views and came back in better health’.

“That’s not ‘doing’ anything anyway”.