It was just another day when me and Mohammed, my main guide while the trek to the Harmukh Mountain, 5.142 meters above sea level in the Kashmiri heights, stepped into the entrance of the Himalayas.
After an entire day of walk, me and the 2nd guide mounted the tents where Mohammed cooked delicious chicken curry for lunch along with milk and salted tea more famously known as Noon Chai, which apparently helped us to cope up with the altitude sickness caused due to salt saturation in the body. We had an entire week of our own and none other than the picturesque and the essence of Lord Shiva around the beauty of mountains resided there.

Harmukh is a sacred mountain for Hindus, thus being the abode of Lord Shiva itself. Gangabal and Satsar lakes lie at its foot and one can get there after a drive from Srinagar to Arin and after having trekked  for one complete day. Culturally it also enriches a traveler since it passes trough the Naranag Valley and Temple that is devoted to Shiva, believed to be built in the 8th century and is  one of the  most important temples in the region.

Trek was difficult but rewarding. Shepherds are found on the way up, as well a few resting points in which  one can have munchies or something light to eat as it was always  Mohammed’s advice to  ‘never walk with an empty stomach…’