Glow with the Flow (Beas Kund, Himachal Pradesh)

At the top of the climb, we could see only rocks ahead of us. Big boulders, round and lying on top of each other. It covered a massive flat area, probably the size of two football fields. It suddenly seemed like we were on an alien planet, with a completely different topography. Even though we could just walk and hop over the rocks, the sheer size of each rock made it a difficult passage. It was a glacial landform, that had changed the entire landscape of the area a couple of years ago. There was an actual glacier underneath these massive boulders. And as the person we met on the climb told us, there was a “dhalaan” somewhere, which meant the hard ice of the glacier had given away to form some sort of a crater.

We crossed the crater and my heartbeat automatically became faster as the rocks kept falling down the crater, couple of meters away from us. By the time we passed the boulder field, I was tired and my limbs hurt. But the view after it was nothing less than mind altering. A massive flat terrain greeted us, a few meters below us after the rocks. And massive is definitely an understatement! It must have been three kilometers wide, with big waterfalls on each mountain slope and at least two glaciers coming down to the flat valley, all of them together making the river Beas.

Why you should visit: The trek to the origin of the river Beas might not be the toughest himalayan trek but is definitely tricky and challenging. This makes it a good bet for anyone who wants to be in the midst of massive mountains. The sheer brilliance of seeing small glaciers melt and flow to become Beas, one of the key rivers in India, makes every minute on this route worth it.

Things to do: Camp in the woods, watch the sunrise over snow peaked mountains, forget everything and find yourself.

Best time to visit: Summers.

Accessible from: The trek starts from Solang Nalla, also a very popular tourist spot and now an adventure sports hub near Manali.

Something extra: The trek is not the easiest. Be sure to carry a lot of food and have a lot of time. People may say the route can be done in 2 nights and 3 days but that does not apply to everyone.

Narrated by: Bhaskar Goswami, @rivu13 (instagram)