The trek from Pangu to Sirkha is almost 12 km long and it was a steep climb from about 1200 mts at Pangu to Sirkha at 2560 mts. There were many beautiful villages in between and it took 5-7hrs time to reach there depending on the fitness of individuals. On the way up to Sirkha we were accompanied by a Doctor, Guide and Police officers from UK Police who were very friendly and willing to provide any help you need and would accompany us for the next five days.

Sirkha is a small and beautiful village and the Camp was reasonably good. It was a solid wooden and concrete camp with many toilets and bathrooms so you don't need to worry about these things. Despite odd location and difficulties associated with logistics at these heights they gave us excellent food and all Yatris acknowledged that fact. In fact throughout our stay in Uttarakhand the KMVN arrangements were excellent. They took great care of us and made us feel very comfortable keeping in mind that there were many elderly Yatris and all felt very satisfied.

We reached Sirkha at around 3 p.m. and after lunch slept for one or two hrs and woke to a beautiful evening and some of us decided to have a walk around the village. It’s a small hamlet with beautiful and decorated houses with few shops and one or two eating points. Cell phones don’t work here but land phones are available so all of us called homes and also informed that this facility might not be available at coming halts so they shouldn’t get worried if they won’t hear from us for next few days. It was getting colder so after finishing our Chai and noodles we returned to our camps.

There are five or six big size accommodations at Sirkha and our group of four along with Mr. Krishnakant Soni (Yoga master), Anurag (the Army man), Sri Ram (from North East) and Mr. Sahu (from Odisha) stayed together and it would become a regular practice later. After dinner it’s time to listen to the not stop high pitch singing of Mr. Shastry (from Andhra) and his favorite one was Gulabi Ankhen Jo teri Dekhi.

Shastriji is multitalented; an astrologer, singer, musician, lawyer, cyber law expert and God knows what else. Despite South Indian, knows all Hindi songs and sings like a professional. He is the centre of attraction at every camp and delivers shows after shows, all packed and hit.

I personally enjoyed today’s trek and it was a satisfying one for me as I started it with some doubts. First I returned to Himalayas after a long gap and second wasn’t expecting such a strenuous and backbreaking trek in scorching Sun on the very first day, as we had to start from the Narayan Swami Ashram originally as per the itinerary and was just a six km trek from there, but I finished it quite well and felt good.

The day eight begins with breakfast of Dalia, Tea, Milk and Biscuits and later we will be negotiating a 14 km up and down much harder trek to Gala at 2340 mts. It takes around 7-10 hrs depending on your speed and the food was served mid way at a beautiful village. We started at 5 in the morning and everybody reached around 3 p.m. The beauty of this trek lies in its steep ascents and equally abrupt descents and you are not gaining any altitude at all. It wasn’t like most of the river side trails I had been to where you gradually gain altitudes but here it was like climbing a hill just to cross it, getting down and again climbing another one, though was a well marked route but very exhausting.

There is not much you can do at this camp as it’s rather isolated from nearby villages so we preferred to rest for few hrs and were served tea and snacks in the evening and it was spent listening to the evergreen Hindi songs by Mr. Shastry.

Now after two days of trekking, I felt that the mind was becoming free of constant thoughts. I slept better at Sirkha and Gala than most of nights in the last few years, the inside peace and calm was returning and I could felt myself again. I can’t explain but what I think is anguish that I feel in plains and it fades away when I am in to mountains. You are now a part of nature and just like nature become free, pure and true. Here I can feel life or this is life for me.’