Up in the Himalayan Range I almost froze to death

DEAR reader,

You are about to witness the extraordinary diary of the camper Raghav Agrawal who has visited the snow leopard adventure camp and has written his daily diary. He shall be describing the camp and telling us what they did over there. He has used very good vocabulary and when I read it I felt like I was there. I hope you like reading it as much as I did!!

                                                                                      Gravityfalls03

Saturday morning you’re supposed to sleep for eternity. Just not today. Quick as a flash of lightning I ran out of my room and got ready. I gobbled my breakfast while my uncle gave me a lecture on the outdoors. After then heaving down a suitcase till the car we were ready to leave foe school. You must be thinking “what is this guy doing! School on Saturday?” That’s right, I was going on a school trip. As we pulled up in the parking lot at school we saw children going in and parents coming out crying. I heaved my suitcase out and hugged my mom goodbye then set out for the auditorium. In the audi I sat for my attendance and then my classmates and I got onto the bus. This was a school trip open for anybody from classes 5 to 8. As we pulled up in front of the airport we got our bags and suitcases and walked hurriedly towards our gate. As soon as we got into the flight I started my book and didn’t realise that our plane took off an hour late. We got our flight to Delhi in which we waited for half an hour and then took off for Dehradun. We got off at Dehradun Jolly Grant Airport in about 45 minutes. On the way I had clicked loads of pictures from the plane of the scenery. It was very nice although it was with a dried up river but it had a lot of geographical features such as confluences and tributaries. We were greeted by the people of the camp in the parking lot and we all sat in the buses that would take us to camp. It was a two hour journey from there to the village of Shivpuri which was just after Rishikesh and was where our camp was. SLA owned four camps which were camp Tusker, Camp Panther, leopard beach and the Himalayan Bear camp which was situated near a river but was destroyed when the stream overflowed. We were staying in camp Panther and we were welcomed with garlands of flowers and we were then asked to sit in the gazebo and we were briefed and given our tents and tent mates. We were three per tent so it was Ishaan Maker, Sujal Attavar and me. We then had our yummy hot chocolate and then were told to get our torches. We were going on a night walk and it was very freaky as we were climbing a hill inhabited by leopards and we were 60 children and were very far away from each other with gaps in the middle. We came back to camp and had our dinner and then went to our tent and were going to retire for the day when all the fifth graders bustled in with food in their hands and I realised we were having our party. We hung a torch on  the lamp and called it the Mafia light as we distributed our food and ate it. This was a sign of a good start.

  Day 2

 We heard the wakeup call at 6:30 and had no choice but to trudge out of the bed and into the cold climate but our spirits were up when we had our hot chocolate. We were then called into the field where I thought we were going to play football but then I saw mats. Ugh!!! Yoga!!!! We chose our mats and then had a 1 hour session of it. We then were told to wear track pants as we were going trekking. We had a 2 minute bus ride and then we came upon a little camp near a stream. We then hiked along the stream for some time and we were surrounded by mountains on all four sides. We then had then cross the stream on just two big logs and I was quite sure that I would have fell into the water. Then we came upon a little hill on which we trekked on an incline and we saw a village. We saw lots of crops and heard the barking deer and we all were relieved as we went downhill as the trek upwards was very steep and tough. We then came upon a bridge from which we crossed the stream again to the starting point where the buses were waiting for us. Upon coming to camp we had lunch and then were told to change into Dri-Fits. We all assembled at the gazebo from which were told we were going rafting and so we all climbed onto the buses. I saw that there were two trucks on which there were rafts and I learnt that these trucks would take the rafts and the gear to the place where we would start rafting and set up everything. We then would raft and these trucks would then go to the place where we would end and take the rafts from there back to camp. So we had our rafting session in which we went through many rapids and we also paddled a lot. My favourite was when we would be allowed to go into the water and feel the cold Ganga water seep through my clothes. When we were done we pulled our raft onto dry land where we also gave back our gear. On the bus ride back the water must have almost ruined the seats but we were going to have to sit on it the next day. Upon coming back to camp I waited as my turn to have a bath would come and by then I had already had two glasses of hot chocolate. After a refreshing bath and snack we were given free time in which I took a nap as I was exhausted. I played many card games with my friends and by then it was time for dinner. Straight after dinner we had our first campfire in which we didn’t roast any marshmallows as some very fat girl had already eaten down two packets of the. Coming back it was already late so we had no choice to sleep or face the consequences.

  Day 3

  What was it with the teachers?! Every day they came and banged our tents at 6:30 and told us to get up. Since we were going on a bigger rafting expedition we were asked to eat well and then we had to get onto the bus. We were going to the confluence of the river Bhagirathi and river Allakhnanda. Most people say that the Ganga started in the Gangotri glacier but actually the river Bhagirathi  originated there and then the river Allakhnanda came from the temple of Badrinath and when they joined the Ganga was formed. It is said to be very holy and all the teachers were filling up canisters of Gangaajal to take home. Our instructor was very kind and allowed us to stand up and maintain our balance and I came first as I didn’t fall down. He said we were going on a 30 kms rafting session and after we finished 15 kms we stopped at an island. They had carried lunch for everyone and so we ate at the island. We ran around for 15 minutes then we had to get back on the rafts as we still had more rafting to do. After another 15kms of rafting we arrived at a beach where we got off to take of our gear and walk up to the waiting buses. It was raining when we reached camp and we all got Maggi to eat. When I came out from a bath I heard Ishaan screaming. He said he couldn’t find his Iphone 5S. we were looking for it for almost four hours. We had no luck but after dinner we got permission to go to sleep at 11:00 and my friends and I played Bluff and had a lot of fun.

  Day 4

Last night we had got permission from our teachers to wake up by 7:30 so we had a sleep in but eventually we had absolutely no choice but to get up from our beds and face the cold. We played football after breakfast but were stooped short as we had to do our next activity. We w =ere sorted into groups and I was in the group that did games first. We were taken to the place where the people of the camp sit but now there were numbers on plates on the floor. We were further divided into two groups and my group was going first. We had to stamp on the numbers in ascending order as fast as we could. The rules were-

So we had a game in ascending and descending order and our team won in des and the other won the asc. We were then called out into the volleyball court and both teams were given a big carpet. We were going to play carpet volleyball. The rules were the same. It was a lot of fun and our team won as the other team had declared. We then had lunch and were then going to change activities. Since we had already done games the children who participated in games were going to do a treasure hunt. We were first briefed about a compass and were told that our two steps were equal to 1 metre. So we had go around with our compass and we had to find the direction and then walk those many metre and find the next clue. Like this we went on and we were the first team out of three teams to find the treasure which was some éclairs. Since we had the whole evening to ourselves we had planned some card games but the teachers then announced that we shall have more games. There were two teams. One was the team that had games in the morning and one that had treasure hunting in the morning. There were two big carpets and we were asked to put the entire team on the carpet and then move it till a certain point without anybody getting off. The other team couldn’t last two minutes and so they all got off and picked up and ran towards the end line. We then had another game in which the entire team had to hold the carpet and walk fast and not run till the finish line. Most of the people ran so the game was over. The last one was the folding game in which we folded our carpet neatly and first while the other hadn’t even started. We were then again free time in which we played cards and then went for our dinner. We again had a campfire tonight and then went to bed. 

 Again we were welcomed by our hot chocolate and then were instantly called for breakfast. After that we assembled and were split into groups like yesterday. The other group was further divided into two and then they went off to do their activities. We all got into the bus and then we were taken to leopard beach. The sand was very soft and there were tents. We first had a volley ball match in which we won and then had tug of war in which we lost. We were then given some lemon Tang and then started out on the real activity. We were divided into many groups and each group was given 2 tubes and 8 bamboo sticks. We were given 30 minutes of time to prepare a raft which would float on water and would be able to hold 4 paddlers. Here is the process-

This is what we did and after having loads of fun we were not happy when we were going to go back to camp. At camp we changed our clothes and hade our lunch. After lunch we split into two groups and the other went down to leopard beach, I was in the group that zip lining first and I am scared of heights so it would be quite an experience. We were called to the zip lining office where we were geared up and wrote the ‘I am not responsible…..’ thing and then we went down to the training ground where there was a wire. We were hooked up and were zipping as we were taught the basic instructions of breaking. We then again climbed the stairs to the top of the building and were asked to stand in a line. I saw many people hooked up and zipping and then finally it was my turn. As I stepped onto the platform everything seemed to speed up and in no time I was hanging in midair. Towards the end I stopped so I had to monkey crawl the way but it was quite an experience. We then hiked up the mountain and I realised I had crossed the Ganga in 400 metres and 80 metres up in the sky. We then were sent back on another line and then it was again my turn. It was quite faster zipping back and I was going sideways and didn’t see the man telling me to brake. I was so fast that I crashed into the speed breaker and I was later on told that I had done 180 deg flip in the air. After everyone was safely gotten back we switched to the rock climbing wall in which it looked very easy but in actual life there were loose rocks and you couldn’t do it completely. Only two people from 60 children were able to do it and after interviewing them they said was very tough and slanting and therefore just by luck they were on the top. After that we were given free time and I miraculously finished a Bluff game in first place. After dinner we all were very tired and so went off to sleep.

Today we were allowed to wake up by 8:00 and so I didn’t lose this chance to wake up completely refreshed and be able to do the next task with ease. By nine we were all ready and were assembled in the ground. They split us into two groups which were classes 5 &6 and classes 7&8. We went first and after a five minute bus ride we reached our trekking ground. It was near a hotel where we started our climb up the hill to the summit. I learned that snow leopard adventures find a trek path and make a tiny road in which we would have to walk. There were gazillion paths but our path was not short but not a very steep climb. I was clicking loads of pictures when we reached the summit half the camera’s memory was used. At the top we ate our packed lunches similar to the lunch that we got on day 3 while rafting. After that we found our way down and we also passed through a small village in which we saw many acres of land devoted to agriculture. We then saw a stream and after pleading with the guide he allowed us to play in the stream. The stream was very mucky and mossy and my foot was green after the play in the stream. After playing we continued our path until we saw a two similar logs and realised we had reached the path where we had came earlier. I thought that we would take the same route but the guide assured us that we would not climb the hill again. We walked back the entire way and then reached the awaiting buses. When we came back to camp we had snax and a shower and then we got free time. Lots of free time and then had dinner. Since my leg was aching I didn’t see the movie with my fellow fifth graders.

    Day 7

Today we were allowed to wake up by 7:00 and then we had hot chocolate and breakfast straight after waking up. After changing into dri- fits we all carried one bottle each. They sorted us into our groups there only and then we set off to the beach as we had rafting today. We were told that we were going to the same place as day 1 rafting and so we should not expect anything new. At reaching the beach we quickly lined up behind the instructors and then clambered on board our rafts. We started out with a rapid and straight after that we were allowed to play survival of the fittest. Surprisingly I was the only person to get up and I was facing the other side when I felt a push and fell straight into the water. I was helped up back onto the raft just in time for the rapid. After this rapid I heard a boy screaming and I saw that the two places in front of me were empty. Ii glanced down to see my friend being pulled down by some very fat girl. I was trying to help him up when suddenly he started pulling me down!! I fell face first into the water and calmed down the boy. We held the rope for a while and floated on our backs and then were hauled up by the instructor.  Closer to the ending somebody from my raft threw their paddle into the water and I jumped in to save it. After getting my hands onto it I couldn’t see my raft but I saw the rescue kayak come my way. He helped me onto the nearest raft and even there I had to paddle. I came onto the beach first just in time to help pull my raft onto land. We again sadly spoiled the seats of the bus but this was one of the last days so we enjoyed the ride. Upon coming to camp I had a bath and lunch and then I went to get ready as we were going to Rishikesh for sightseeing. We first came upon many Yoga places and ashrams and we also bought stuff from the market. After buying stuff we visited the temple and we saw the Ganga Arti. It was dark so we collected our shoes and we sat in our bus and drove back to camp. After dinner we had our last campfire of the trip. In this every grade had to do something and we boys were completely confused what to do and so I gave the starting of the Spanish Silent Folk song in which we just clapped over and over again. After this we spent the rest of the night packing our bags and loading them down.

At 6:30 nobody was awake so the teachers were coming in tents and yanking the blankets of us and then telling us to quickly change and have hot chocolate. At the breakfast table I was applying jam on my bread and then suddenly some people raced pass me and I knocked the jam knife flying as I had been banged into and lost my balance. The jam was everywhere on my clothes and I spent much time cleaning the mess up. After this we loaded our bags into the bus and we quickly checked for any dropped items and said by to the camp and its people. We all were going to the other camp owned by them which was camp Tusker which was in Hardiwar. It was a very long journey and I fell asleep on the way only to be waked up by my buddy at the entrance of the camp. We were all called inside and we had a glass of lemon Tang and then we were briefed about the activities that would follow. We first went for a nature walk where we saw Acacia Trees and many old trees. There were many fallen down trees and the guide explained to us that we were inside a national park and that elephants and other beasts lived. We came upon the Ganga and he explained that the water level would be much higher in the monsoon and that now the river was almost dried up. We came back to camp just in time to see the cycling group come back and we were all very happy to be finally biking. They took us on a incline and smooth paved road but also took us through the parts where there was gravel and many on the bike tyres bursted there because these cycles were not meant for this terrain. When we came back to camp we had our lunch and then we all had to leave. We left for the airport and then sadly had to say good bye to the camp people but we also had a flight to catch. On board the plane I slept through as I was tired and I couldn’t wait to see my mother. When we came back to school from Mumbai Airport I was so happy to see my mother and father. When we reached home I quickly showed them my pictures and told them about my trip as I was too excited to leave it for tomorrow. I also remembered the saying-

“kal kare so aaj kar,

Aaj kar toh kar abhi”