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DACHIGAM MARSAR TREK
Dachigam Marsar Trek : A Unique Trek at your Disposal
Beautiful, unique and unforgettable experience, uniqueness of the Dachigam Marsar Trek.
Overview
You might have undertaken or read about several treks but nothing compares to the uniqueness of the Dachigam Marsar Trek.
Unlike almost every other trek, this trail goes through two valleys, providing you with a beautiful, unique and unforgettable experience. This trek is moderate in nature and involves walking for most of the part, it is not very well suited for beginners/first-timers. This trek involves walking, this walking is going to be at high altitudes, so if you are not an experienced trekker, you will be unable to keep up with this physically demanding trek. With some prior experience at high altitude trekking, you will be able to complete this trek with ease. The peak of this trek is at 4000 metres and it will be week-long trek. You will be starting from Sumbal and end at Dachigam. The trail passes through Marsar Lake. Along your trail you will get to see some very picturesque meadows, some snow-covered mountains of course, and some pretty calm and peaceful streams too. To make it easier for you, we have made a detailed itinerary of your trek as follows.
Route
Srinagar – Dal Lake – Sumbal – Sonmasti – Sundersar - Marsar – Nagbaren – Harwan - Srinagar - Local Sightseeing
Trek Itinerary
Day 1 : Srinagar – Houseboat Dal Lake
The first day marks the arrival of you at Srinagar. Once you arrive at the Srinagar international airport, you will be greeted and received by our personnel. Post that, you will be escorted to your houseboat in the beautiful Dal Lake. It is natural to be tired on the account of air travel. Therefore, once you reach at your houseboat, you can rest. You will take the night off so that you wake up all energised for your adventure that begins the next day!
Day 2 : Srinagar – Sumbal – Sonmasti ( Camp )
On the second day, wake up early and have good breakfast at the houseboat. After that you will begin your road trip to Sumbal (your starting point). This road trip will be a rather long one! Driving almost 6 hours, you will go via the picturesque Sind valley. Along the way you will also come across a beautiful small village, the village of Ganderbal. Once you reach at your destination, you will begin your trek officially. You will trek through some beautiful pine forests and finally set your camp at Sonmasti.
Day 3 : Sonmasti Valley – Sundersar
This day involves some real trekking, so be prepared! You will be trekking through the Sonmasti Valley. This is going to be a long walk. You will have to cover almost 10-12 km and it will take you around 5-6 hours to complete. You will have to cross a mountain range with an elevation of 4000m which will put your physical endurance to test. You will retire for the night at a camp in Sundersar.
Day 4 : Sundersar to Marsar
You will start the day early as it involves another walk. You will be walking from Sundersar to Marsar. You will go through trials and come down gradually to Tarsar Lake to finally reach at Marsar. You will then stay there for the night.
Day 5 : Marsar – Nagbaren (5 hours trek)
This day involves walking for almost 5 hours to cover a distance of almost 10-11 kilometres. You will be walking to NagbarenDachigam. You will have to follow the Darwan River to reach at your destination. Once you reach NagbarenDachigam, you will retire for the night at a tent there.
Day 6 : Nagbaren to Harwan (5.5 hours trek) – Srinagar - 70 minutes’ drive
On the sixth day, you will start coming down the trail. Your destination would be Harwan. You will pass through the DachigamWildlife National park. Once you reach your destination you will start a drive back to Srinagar. You will retire for the night at your houseboat in Dal lake.
Day 7 : Srinagar- local sightseeing and Departure
This the final day of your trek and marks the end of it. On this day, you can, if you wish to, visit and explore some parts of Srinagar. The old town of Srinagar is of particular attraction. After your exploration of the beautiful town of Srinagar, you will be escorted to the airport for your departure. This will officially end your trek and leave you with lot of eternal memories.
Things you should you carry with you to your trek
The Dachigam Marsar trek requires you to carry very limited items with you to the trek. One the reasons for that would be that most part of the trek will be done by the help of horses. So, carrying lesser goods and a lighter bag will be more convenient. In your bag, you should have your essentials like your ID Proof, money etc. If you are coming from another country, carrying your passport at all times is a must. Apart from the aforementioned, you should carry all the necessary things like proper trekking cloths, trekking shoes, a duffel bag. You must also carry sunglasses and s shade hat with you. Needless to mention, you must carry all general medicines and also your personal medicines if you have any specific health condition.
How fit do you need to be for this trek?
Every level of Kashmir trek has a specific fitness regime for it. The Dachigam Marsar trek is a moderate level trek. Ideally, you should start physically preparing for this trek three months prior to the trek. You will be climbing uphill and to prepare for that you need to climb stairs daily as a part of your regime. You can do it sets of 2 on every alternative day. Jogging is must daily. You should jog for a minimum of 15-20 minutes. This helps in keeping your stamina up which will help you feel less tired during your trek. Apart from these, other exercises like sit-ups and push-ups are also a must. 10 push-ups in sets of 2 is good enough. Now, we understand that some people do not start their training before three months.
