Prashar Lake Trek starts from the Bagi village of Madi, Himachal Pradesh. The trek is easy-moderate. Prashar lake, an incredibly high altitude lake at a height of 2,730 m (8,960 ft) above sea level.
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How to reach Prashar Lake?
Once you have reached from Mandi to Bagi village, there are three ways to reach Prashar Lake.
- You can either drive or take a bus from Mandi to Prashar lake. But only two buses are available, you can confirm the exact timing from the Mandi Bus stand. A taxi from Mandi to Prashar Lake may cost you around Rs. 2300(one side).
- If you want to avoid the forest route then you can trek from Bagi village to Prashar Lake along the road which is approx 12 km.
- For nature lovers and trekking freaks, there is a shortcut. You can trek from Bagi village to Prashar Lake through the forest trails. It is around 7.5 km(one side) which may take up to 5 hours. Prashar Lake trek is steep and doesn’t have a proper route so better to hire a guide from Bagi village or bring any local with you.
How to reach Bagi Village?
Once you have reached Mandi, you can take a Bus to Bagi village. The bus may take up to 3 hours to reach Bagi village and may cost you around Rs. 50.
Another fastest way is to hire a taxi from Mandi to Bagi village. It may cost you around Rs. 1100 and may take up to 2 hours. It can be a better option for a group.
Note: Bagi and Baggi are two different villages in Himachal Pradesh. We are taking about Bagi which is nearby Prashar Lake.
Also read: Tirthan Valley: These 6 Friends Survived on Serolsar Lake Trek?
Next morning, we went for a quick morning nature walk with my new friends Om and Sakshi. It was a mesmerising view, sunrise and all greenery everywhere. After a while, we decided to just sit on the top of a mountain and watch the sunrise.
Om started meditating and, I and Sakshi gave him some space went a few meters away. After a quick chat, it turned out that she is a roboticist. Because I had done a robotics workshop in my college days so, we found a common topic to discuss.
After a while, I asked about her Prashar Lake trek experience and how did she choose this first solo trek…
Now, the sun rays have come to the campsite and, I just sat on my tent to absorb sun rays. I had lost in birds melodious sound and soft warm sun. This is the beauty of mountains, you get to experience amazing nature and you can actually sit outside under the sun.
After breakfast, we headed to Prashar Lake. I have already shared about the Lake with a floating island and, my Insane solo bike ride experience in my previous blog.
Also read: Parashar Lake Trip: An Insane Solo Bike Ride Story
Apart from the lake, another interesting thing is the Prashar temple. Initially, my friend Om told me about this incredible temple.
Mysterious Story of Prashar Temple
This Pagoda style temple was built in the thirteenth century and legend has it was built by a baby from a single tree.
It is believed that Sage Prashar meditated on the banks of this lake, hence it is named as Prashar Lake. Bhima, one of the Pandava brothers, had created the lake. The story says, after the Kurukshetra / Mahabharat war, Pandavas were returning with Lord Kamrunag.
When they reached this place, Kamrunag loves the tranquil surroundings and decides to live here forever. So, Bheem (the strongest of the lot) rams his elbow on one of the mountains and creates a big dent in the land. This dent became Prashar Lake.
Till now no one has been able to find out the depth of Prashar Lake.
From the morning talk: I had a chat with Sakshi Kakde and, she shared her experience about the Prashar Lake trek story and an amazing story of her first solo travel.
By Sakshi Kakde:
“Do you know what is the best part of working in Delhi NCR? Not the nightlife or the food or the shopping options, but the mountains!”
This is a statement I keep repeating to my friends to make them jealous. (Yes, I am evil!). But seriously, what’s the point of working in north India if you haven’t experienced the dense canopies of Uttarakhand, the mellifluous rustling sounds of the river Ganga and Beas and the mesmerizing view of the Himalayas.
Oh how much I miss the treks and getting sun-kissed (and regretting later)!
It was almost four months after I shifted to Gurgaon for my first job, that I planned to go for a trek.
I was new to the city, so hardly had any travel companion, and I was a bit scared to go solo.
Not that I was worried about getting kidnapped(I can handle that, haha!), but about getting injured in the middle of the jungle.
So, I googled and came across this travel group. “Not a bad idea, let’s try that out”. And believe me, that is one of the best decisions I took.
“Guys, be there by 8 pm near the Akshardham Metro station”, read the first WhatsApp message of the newly formed group. Shoelaces fastened, backpack stuffed and I was ready for my first solo(or maybe pseudo solo?) travel.
I always hate that part of the journey which involves the city routes. The moment we touch the mountain area, I always open the bus window and let the cool(and less polluted) air hit my face.
Finally, after more than 18 hours of a long journey, we arrived at the village Baggi, which is the starting point of the trek. We had “the pahadi chai” with some ParleG and started the trek, yoohoo!
Imagine a situation, where you had a tiresome journey plus its quite sunny outside. Then, you see a stream of ice-cold water right in front of you, what would you do?
I would definitely jump into it. But I had to settle for a splash on my face as there was a tougher journey ahead. The initial trail starts with a water stream and a path full of boulders.
I actually like such trails: I need to focus on my steps and sometimes actually predict how slippery the rock, I am about to step, will be. After this ‘rocky’ stretch of about 500 m, we reached the forest from where the real trek started.
The whole Prashar Lake trek was steep and uphill with dense forest. We had a sherpa with us. As usual, super fast and too difficult to catch up his pace.
He had interesting stories for us: how the route seems to be easy but is actually difficult, how it can confuse an avid trekker as well, how slippery it can get when it snows, and the most important, ‘yaha sher ate hai’(tigers come here).
I patted my back for my decision to not come solo.
It was getting darker. I felt as if the mercury was dropping at an exponential rate. Soon it became so cold, that even after wearing a thick jacket over a thermal, I was shivering like anything. Another reason for that can be, I lack natural insulation.
It was quite dark when we reached a patch of land, that was almost clear of trees and bushes and was quite steep. I was almost in the middle of the uphill.
There were two girls, a bit ahead of me and a few guys at the foot of the uphill. (and the sherpa some 1000 km ahead.) We were talking about the animal skull that we had spotted a few meters back and the possible reason for that animal’s death.
We were using our mobile flashlights to determine our path and then we noticed something unusual, two glittering green eyes, right in front of us.
No wonder, there were loud high pitched screams which sounded similar to “sher” and we all baffled with our heart throbbing before we realized that it was a poor cow. I once again patted myself for my decision to not come solo.
After spending a few hours in the vicinity of Prashar Lake, it was time to say goodbye. I hate goodbyes. The thought of returning to the city’s hustle breaks my heart. Had I gotten an option, I would have stayed right there, forever…
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