Tarsar Marsar Trek

Day 1: Arrival at Aru village
If you wish to opt traveling with us then a cab can be arranged for the whole team from Srinagar or you can travel on your own to Arun valley. The drive to Aru village is 103 kms and takes roughly 3 hours to reach depending on traffic. The route takes you through Pampore which is famous for saffron, a rare commodity grown in Jammu & Kashmir. We will reach Aru village in the afternoon and check into our tents. Stroll around Aru village and admire the beautiful surroundings.

Day 2: Aru to Lidderwat
After having breakfast we depart as early as possible as the day is quite long. We will carry packed lunch for the journey ahead. We will make our way through Aru village so if you have any last minute purchasing that you need to complete then this is your chance. The initial part of the trek is a steep climb and if it has rained in the past couple of days then the route becomes mucky and slippery. It will take approximately an hour to complete this initial ascent. After the initial part we will enter the deodar and pine forest, here onwards the gradient gets much more comfortable and easier to walk on. After walking under the shade of the forest for a couple of hours, the valley opens up into vast open grasslands with the Lidder river flowing right beside it. On the other side of the river the forest continues on. This terrain stretches on till we have to cross the river to reach Lidderwat. We will break in between for lunch right beside the river where we will find a couple of dhabas as well serving hot and scrumptious maggie and tea. After our break we will carry on ahead towards our campsite. From here it takes a little more than an hour to reach the campsite.

Day 3: Lidderwat to Sekhwas
Our morning will begin with some breathing exercises and yoga to energize us during the course of the trek. After having breakfast we will depart for our trail to Sekhwas. The initial part of our trek starts with a steep ascent starting right from the campsite. As the trail becomes more gradual we cross some more deodar forests and come down onto open grasslands with thick undergrowth. We will even get to see thorny flowers and many small berries growing on these thickets of shrubs. We will follow a mountain stream and eventually cross over using a narrow wooden bridge with no handrails on them. We will get a few uphill climbs on the way and the last bit to our campsite is all downhill on a boulder section.

Day 4: Sekhwas to Tarsar
Today is an exciting day as we will leave for our first lake of the trek, Tarsar. We take an easy start, taking a view of the magnificent valley that we camped at. Our trail ascends gradually today without giving too much stress, but be careful when you start as the area is covered with Nettle Leaves(Bichoo Patta) and they sting and itch causing rashes for a short time period. After leaving the Tree line behind, we reach a boulder section. Even though our trek leader will take but be very careful while crossing this section as you need a rhythm to cross this and then everything becomes easy peesie. Last stretch of today’s trek brings you to vast grassland where you will find thousands of sheep and goats grazing and overlooking them are beautiful snow covered mountains. After reaching Tarsar lake, we are blown as the view is just scintillating as the huge emerald blue lake pleasures your eyes. We camp right beside the lake for the night to wake up to the magnificent view once again.

Day 5: Tarsar to Sundersar via Tarsar Pass
We will wake up early and try to leave as early as possible as the day is long and we have a lot of trekking to do. We will leave our campsite behind and start climbing towards Tarsar Pass. The climb is steep and we zig zag along the steep gradient to climb onto the pass. It takes a little more than an hour to reach the top of the pass. As we reach the top of the pass the view is simply magnificent. On one side we have the whole view of Tarsar lake and on the other side we have a lush green valley with a mountain stream flowing through the middle. After taking photographs and taking a break after making the treacherous climb to the pass we start with our steep descent. The descent is quite tricky as it is very steep with loose rocks making it even more difficult to climb down. After climbing down the steep descent we will cross the beautiful lush green valley that we spotted from the top of the pass and then start our climb towards Sundersar. A steep climb of approximately one hour on boulders and then we will have Sundersar Lake right in front of us. We will camp here for the night.

Day 6: Visit Marsar and back to Homwas
Wake up early because we have lots to do and a long day ahead of us, but it is going to be totally worth it. After an early breakfast we go to the opposite side of Sundersar Lake and start climbing the boulder section to reach the top. After crossing the boulders there is a small gradual ascent we need to cross to reach a saddle like structure from where we can get a birds eye view of Marsar, we do not climb down to the lake as the locals consider it hole and advise strictly not to dishonor their belief. After clicking photographs we come down the same way to our campsite where we collect our packed lunch and started our descent to go back. We mostly take the same route back but we do not climb back Tarsar pass but we by-pass it to reach the trail we taken to reach Tarsar once again. We pass our old campsite of Sekhwas from above and descend down the same route we had taken to reach Homwas. We camp here for the night to make our final journey back to Aru village.

Day 7: Homwas to Aru Village
We start our descent early in the morning and within two hours we reach Lidderwat and start reliving our initial days of the trek. We can stop at the same Dhaba and wish Chachaji goodbye and collect more fair memories of our trek. We make our way down to Aru village where our cabs are waiting to take us back to Srinagar. With a heavy heart and tons of memories we wish our Trek Leader and Support staff goodbye and leave for journey back home.

Trekking Shoes: Decent trekking shoes with a good grip and ankle support are required. Carry no sport shoes.

Clothing: Warm garments, such as three-layer coats, fleece, or down feather jackets, are required. Carry one or two full-sleeved t-shirts. Carry cotton and trek pants ideal for trekking for your lowers. For trekking, do not bring jeans or shorts.

Thermals: Keep top and bottom thermals on hand.

Socks: Bring two or three pairs of sports socks, as well as woollen socks to wear at night.

A headlamp/led torch is required.

Sunglasses: To protect yourself from the sun in the snow, you should use UV-protected sunglasses.

Woolen hats and gloves are also recommended due to the cold weather. Carry waterproof gloves because they will become wet in the snow.

Lunchbox & Water Bottle: Each participant should bring their own lunch box, spoon, and water bottle.

Raincoats/ponchos: Snowfall and rain are prevalent at high altitudes, and it is important to carry a poncho to avoid getting wet.

Documents Required:

a) Registration Form
b) Medical Certificate (signed by a registered MBBS doctor) 
c) NOC form (by trekker) 
d) 2 Passport size photos 
e) Photocopy of Valid I.D. (PAN is not allowed)