One thing I have learnt, from the mountains, is that the bonds we share there are very strong and pure.
The next glacier we were supposed to trek to, was,Kafni. But we couldn’t go for it due to blocking of the path due to landslides.So we started back.The three Delhi people had different plans and we had to split.
So the three of us spent the night chatting about endless topics and playing silly games.The next day we were together till our first destination Khati.We did not talk anything ,just kept moving through the beautiful path.
The last 3km of the trek were very humdrum. Totally steep uphill.Anchal and I were the first to reach the place. We just sat silent, avoiding the thought of parting with each other.We waited for her dad and brother to come, still with
a hope that the answer would be ‘yes’.But that didn’t happen.Both of us tried hard not to cry and bade farewell with false smiles.But that didn’t work long.She held my hand and tears welled up in her eyes,I felt my eyes wet too.I
couldn’t stop my tears. So I briskly trekked with all my energy and left the team far behind and cried out all at once.I didn’t quite notice that our ‘fastest’ trekker Gowtham bhaiyya was nigh .He started a tête-à-tête, but i was in
no mood to talk so i cut it with one word replys.Gradually I composed myself and walked slowly observing the nature,the clouds,the birds.The last part of the trek was very tiring and painful.The day ended up with my limbs and
heart aching like hell.
‘THE LAST STRAW’
‘Phew!Phew!’,I was panting after an early morning’s, gruelling,70 degrees, precipitous climb.This was the last climb of the whole trek.This time I enjoyed the nature to the fullest and moved very slowly, humming pleasant tunes.
The trek was finally over and we started back to Bageshwar in a gypsy.
We visited the ‘Sangam’,once again, and this time we could make out the striking difference of colour at the sangam point.
This was one of the remarkable wonders of nature.One more was the ‘yesterday-today-tomorrow’ flower.It is yellow in the budding stage,then white and then pink.
In the mountains,bonds become stronger and sometimes inseperable.Thoughts buried somewhere inside you suddenly come out, maybe because of the silence and aloofness.Breezing,gushing and chirping amid the silence, all the
more mesmerized me.
These were the best two weeks of my life.All alone,away from the civilization and very much nearer to the nature and the wilderness enthralled me.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Friday, October 15, 2010
Keep Going!!!
It was a perfect day with the nature .The breezy ,cool and sunny atmosphere made it even more idyllic. Our current destination was Dwali,11 km from our current stay.This time the trek was very smooth and not at all nerve-racking. The hinterlands were very calm in the early morning chill. The most striking path I have ever seen in life till date , was the path from Khati to Dwali. Beautiful streams running all through the conduit, with trickling pure waterfalls ,the chirping birds... amidst all this, Anchal and me walked slowly together,humming pleasant songs all through the way.There was a waterfall which fell upon a rock shaped like the teddy bear head with water just touching its open mouth and overflowing which was something quite interesting and purely natural.We started off to Furkiya our night halt, about 5km, after lunch.It was a very dreary and dicey climb, with serious landslides on the way.We had to cross the landslide by crawling over the terrain with the roots being our bare grip.It was quite adventurous. One side of the sky was clear and the other was flocked by nimbus clouds forming a very beautiful ether making me forget the tiring trek. There was another mountain adjacent to the one which we were climbing ,separated by the Pindari River ,with beautiful waterfalls .All this sceneries looked like the ones I had read about in my childhood fairy tales . We stopped at the end of a cliff and I spread out my arms and felt the affable zephyr touch me like a smooth feather.Our destination Furkiya was extremely glacial about 2 or 3 degrees!!!
‘FINALLYYY!!!!!! THE PINDARI GLACIER’
‘Ouch!’ Someone was waking me up ‘too’ tenderly and my dream shattered.It was 3.30AM and it was freezing outside.It was pitch dark and we started our trekking amidst few dim torchlights!!! 
It was more of a night trek than a morning or dawn trek.But the path was very risky.
I could see my breath in the air.It was still chilled after wearing five layers of thick and warm clothing and gloves. To top it all my shoes got wet while crossing a waterfall and my feet froze and started paining. Slowly dawn broke and the first ray of the sun touched the peak and it was shimmering gold which kept me going!!!
We created a record to be the first team to touch the zero point in three hours (7km).We clicked beautiful photographs near the glacier and slowly made our way back.We stopped at Babaji’s ashram and took his blessings and ‘Tea’!!! Anchal and I trekked back together, sharing a lot of girly things with each other and humming songs together ,forgetting the pain .We were the first ones to reach the point.
Our halt for the day was back at Dwali.Again both of us were together.We had to cross the same landslide again but this time it was even more risky and exciting. We thought we'll be together till we reach back to Delhi.But destiny had different plans...........
It was more of a night trek than a morning or dawn trek.But the path was very risky.
I could see my breath in the air.It was still chilled after wearing five layers of thick and warm clothing and gloves. To top it all my shoes got wet while crossing a waterfall and my feet froze and started paining. Slowly dawn broke and the first ray of the sun touched the peak and it was shimmering gold which kept me going!!!
We created a record to be the first team to touch the zero point in three hours (7km).We clicked beautiful photographs near the glacier and slowly made our way back.We stopped at Babaji’s ashram and took his blessings and ‘Tea’!!! Anchal and I trekked back together, sharing a lot of girly things with each other and humming songs together ,forgetting the pain .We were the first ones to reach the point.
Our halt for the day was back at Dwali.Again both of us were together.We had to cross the same landslide again but this time it was even more risky and exciting. We thought we'll be together till we reach back to Delhi.But destiny had different plans...........
I'll reveal it in my next post!!!
IT STARTS........
I thought this trek to be something like my previous ones.But I was utterly mistaken.This was something
very serious, adventurous, and painful. First started off in a car to ‘Song’,but could not reach the place
due to landslides.So our trek started about 2kms before itself. Two of the Delhi people Archit and his
mamaji and I were together at first and our current destination was Loharkhet.I used to call uncle
Sheikhji due to his appearance.He was quite knowledgeable of different things and his nephew was
cool enough to be with.
We had several rest points in the middle,near beautiful waterfalls which refreshed me from the
scorching sun.It was about 7km uphill tedious trek from Song to Loharkhet.Now,there were a lot of
adventures the three of us encountered. First Archit and me missed the route and guessed up and took
a riskier one and thankfully it was a shortcut to the main one.Then we caught up with Sheikhji and
came to know about interesting facts about the place.The trail which we were following and our current
destination were rich in iron ore in its core form thats why the name ‘Lohar-Khet’.Now the next riskier
thing was that there was no route at one point and we had to climb a steeper terrain with no sand only
rocks slipping over one another.
We managed half of it and found a place for exactly us three to sit.We made ourselves comfortable
amidst the wild thorns.We had pep talks and Sheikhji videographed it amazingly . Finally we started off
and found that the terrain was even more riskier. The terrain was very very smooth and not a single grip
to cling on.I was scared to death which was definitely one of the possibilities.But then I found the one
and only root there for a scarce hold.My palm began burning in a few moments and I could feel my
skin being scraped and was very painful and finally the three of us cried out for help and were just
in time rescued by our Guide Heera jee and our leader Shrivats.This was the most riskiest thing till date.
But this definitely was true adventure and exciting as well. A shiver goes through my spine when I think
of it even now.
DAR KE AAGE JEET HAIN!!!!!
Sitting in the lawn, facing the valley, feeling the cool breeze and bliss of silence ,and writing all this
ohh!!! my heart touched heaven.
We had covered about 2100mts of height.Then in the evening, we started off on a very light trek
towards a place called the ‘Kali Top’ .It was more like a ‘Rishi-muni Kuteer’ in the devotional soaps.
We had a brief introduction which was creatively videographed by Shrivats. Then we warmed up with a
few breathing exercises by Sheikhji and paved way back to the TRH(Tourist Rest House).
NEXT DAY.......
“Breakfast ready!!!” came the call from Shrivats at around 7.15,too late for the schedule.We had a brisk
breakfast and started off to the next destination.This time our destination,Dhakuri was about 11km
steep uphill. Our co-trekker Karthik jee had an upset stomach.So Archit and me slowed down and
helped him with glucose and likes.We rested time to time.
I took a short nap of about 3min on a plain with my cap over my face avoiding the sun.It was very silent
such that I could hear my watch ‘ticking’.Thanks to our ‘Wildlife-Only ‘photographer, Srinivas we squinted
few beautifully shone peaks. Finally we reached Dhakuri and had hot lunch.
The next destination for the day was ‘Khati’ about 7km of mind-numbing trekking.Suddenly I
noticed something was missing.I beset my brain and finally... shit!!! It was my video camera. I got tensed
as there were many precious videos and was praying that my mom should have kept it, and thankfully it
was as I expected.On the way a lady had hurt her arm and our young doctor couple, Lincy and Jason,
treated her arm and gave her a few basic medicines.This was definitely a good sign.After a hectic hike we reached nearer to the place.Amidst all this a herd of sheep came opposite to us frightening me and Anchal, The Delhi ‘School Goer’. We gripped Karthik jee and one of the sheep just landed right away on his foot causing great pain. Finally we reached and halted.The night sky was astounding.It looked like as if there was a blanket cover over the sky with no gap.I gazed the sky and smiled at the stars wishing people up there and they all smiled back to me !!!.I also saw a toothta taara(shooting star).
I drank tea for the first time in life....
The coming episodes you can catch up on my next post!!!
very serious, adventurous, and painful. First started off in a car to ‘Song’,but could not reach the place
due to landslides.So our trek started about 2kms before itself. Two of the Delhi people Archit and his
mamaji and I were together at first and our current destination was Loharkhet.I used to call uncle
Sheikhji due to his appearance.He was quite knowledgeable of different things and his nephew was
cool enough to be with.
We had several rest points in the middle,near beautiful waterfalls which refreshed me from the
scorching sun.It was about 7km uphill tedious trek from Song to Loharkhet.Now,there were a lot of
adventures the three of us encountered. First Archit and me missed the route and guessed up and took
a riskier one and thankfully it was a shortcut to the main one.Then we caught up with Sheikhji and
came to know about interesting facts about the place.The trail which we were following and our current
destination were rich in iron ore in its core form thats why the name ‘Lohar-Khet’.Now the next riskier
thing was that there was no route at one point and we had to climb a steeper terrain with no sand only
rocks slipping over one another.
We managed half of it and found a place for exactly us three to sit.We made ourselves comfortable
amidst the wild thorns.We had pep talks and Sheikhji videographed it amazingly . Finally we started off
and found that the terrain was even more riskier. The terrain was very very smooth and not a single grip
to cling on.I was scared to death which was definitely one of the possibilities.But then I found the one
and only root there for a scarce hold.My palm began burning in a few moments and I could feel my
skin being scraped and was very painful and finally the three of us cried out for help and were just
in time rescued by our Guide Heera jee and our leader Shrivats.This was the most riskiest thing till date.
But this definitely was true adventure and exciting as well. A shiver goes through my spine when I think
of it even now.
DAR KE AAGE JEET HAIN!!!!!
Sitting in the lawn, facing the valley, feeling the cool breeze and bliss of silence ,and writing all this
ohh!!! my heart touched heaven.
We had covered about 2100mts of height.Then in the evening, we started off on a very light trek
towards a place called the ‘Kali Top’ .It was more like a ‘Rishi-muni Kuteer’ in the devotional soaps.
We had a brief introduction which was creatively videographed by Shrivats. Then we warmed up with a
few breathing exercises by Sheikhji and paved way back to the TRH(Tourist Rest House).
NEXT DAY.......
“Breakfast ready!!!” came the call from Shrivats at around 7.15,too late for the schedule.We had a brisk
breakfast and started off to the next destination.This time our destination,Dhakuri was about 11km
steep uphill. Our co-trekker Karthik jee had an upset stomach.So Archit and me slowed down and
helped him with glucose and likes.We rested time to time.
I took a short nap of about 3min on a plain with my cap over my face avoiding the sun.It was very silent
such that I could hear my watch ‘ticking’.Thanks to our ‘Wildlife-Only ‘photographer, Srinivas we squinted
few beautifully shone peaks. Finally we reached Dhakuri and had hot lunch.
The next destination for the day was ‘Khati’ about 7km of mind-numbing trekking.Suddenly I
noticed something was missing.I beset my brain and finally... shit!!! It was my video camera. I got tensed
as there were many precious videos and was praying that my mom should have kept it, and thankfully it
was as I expected.On the way a lady had hurt her arm and our young doctor couple, Lincy and Jason,
treated her arm and gave her a few basic medicines.This was definitely a good sign.After a hectic hike we reached nearer to the place.Amidst all this a herd of sheep came opposite to us frightening me and Anchal, The Delhi ‘School Goer’. We gripped Karthik jee and one of the sheep just landed right away on his foot causing great pain. Finally we reached and halted.The night sky was astounding.It looked like as if there was a blanket cover over the sky with no gap.I gazed the sky and smiled at the stars wishing people up there and they all smiled back to me !!!.I also saw a toothta taara(shooting star).
I drank tea for the first time in life....
The coming episodes you can catch up on my next post!!!
Fable Fairyland Of INDIA -The Kumaon
“Come on ! get up” my heart was calling out ,and i woke up with a start.My phone showed 4.30 AM
It was ‘THE’ day I was longing for over a month, and my journey started.
I never find train journeys interesting except the ones with friends. And this one, even worse 26hrs!!!
It was exactly the time of the Ayodhya verdict and the compartment was totally empty.
Hmmm wait there was one guy, but I guess he was already confused and lost somewhere. My mom was
fast asleep and I was darn bored and was partially occupied with pep talks with my friends just to kill
time. But this time, time was let alone flying,not even crawling. Slowly moving out of the pollution and
traffic noise of the city,the country side was beautiful and all the more blissful. We reached the
Warangal lake, and managed to do a bit of bird watching through the window!
After a long period of boredom we touched the grounds of Maharashtra. Suddenly all the
greenery vanished and an unbroken chain of buildings appeared. Depicting the commercialization or
industrialization whatever you call it. Slowly the view switched into the woods I had been desperately
waiting for.
The train moved faster,but I could feel my heart beat even faster!!!
The view was indeed picturesque,with the setting slight sun raysjust touching the tips of the leaves,
making them shine exquisitely. I could forget the world, glancing out of the window.The pleasant
ambience and the pure green cover added to the charm.
As we moved further the jungle grew even more denser with alim streams here and there
through small polished rocks. I always find the woods wildly beautiful and inviting. Gradually there was
switching of the surroundings again now into a village scene with kids fighting over kites. I adored the
view with some of the most pleasant oldies on my playlist,clear in my ear. We ran across plains and
valleys and found few trodden paths,showing that man had set his foot here too. The farthest things my
eyes could see were trees and only trees. After sometime i had a good view of the sun set,burning red
in colour. While the jungle grew denser i lost track of the sun and it was covered with even taller trees
and sometimes the tunnels blocked it. I could catch a foretaste of the perfect reflections of the trees in
the crystal clear streams. Slowly, it seemed that the grey clouds were forcing a cover over the red
setting sun until I could see it no more.
Finally we reached Delhi and met our co trekkers and bonded well. But we came to
know that there was a problem in the accommodation due to some reasons and our trek should be
postponed by a day.
So,we had to visit Nainital from where we were supposed to go to Bageshwar ,the place
where our trek started.
Nainital-The Nine Lakes
After a night journey to Kathgodam, we started off in a vehicle to Nainital. The drive was quite smooth
and lovable in the company of the extremely pleasant weather. I caught a few best shots of the first rays
of the sun. It stirred my spirits about the trek.Then we paved our way to Bheemtal , one of the ‘tals’.
We clicked quite a lot of ‘Kodak’ moments. I saw a pair of ducks in merry,a very cute site .
I was the youngest in the team and our team called me ‘Baby’. They also had many more names like
‘Dead Weight’ and such synonyms for me.Our next destination was ‘Naukuchyatal’,where we visited a
museum totally dedicated to the kumaon region and was interesting andinformative to a large extent.
The next was the ‘Golu Baba’ mandir, which was one of the most fascinating things I’ve ever come
across.It was believed in the Kumaon that if you wish for something there and it comes true you go and
tie an auspicious bell there as a token of gratitude. Golu jee was the king of the region and was believed
to be very powerful.
Then we started off to the Mall Road in Nainital and I did something that i had never done.It was
called the Flying Fox and it scared the hell out of me.Then it was evening and we went for boating and I
tried rowing it with great difficulty in lifting the oar!!!
I could feel the silence in the ambience and on the banks of the lake there lay the beautifully lit
Nainital making the feeling even more pure.
Then we strolled in the Tibetan street and did some window shopping and then had the special
‘Momos’ for dinner with ‘Frozen Pepsi’!!!Then walked back alone around 9PM in the lonely silence in faint light in the beautiful city.
Now the journey to Bageshwar began. The path had beautiful streams flowing through,with crystal clear water and I could see the river bed from a significant distance.We had lunch
at a place called Kausani.We could have a glimpse of the peaks camoflouged with the clouds making it
all the more breathtaking.
Our next stop was ‘Baijyanath’ one of our national heritages.It was on the banks of the
‘Sarayu’,the holy river on whose banks the Ramayana took place.It was perfect for people to find
themselves in silence, and I was one amongst them. I closed my eyes and felt the cool breeze stroke me
gently and touch me with its faint fragrance .We captured gorgeous smiles in the ruins and started
ahead.
We reached Bageshwar around 5.30.We crossed the ‘sangam’ of the river ‘Sarayu’ and’Gomthi’.
The next day started with a warm ‘mother-daughter’ morning talk and we talked about different things by the riverside.
We were about to start the trek the next morning. I surprisedly came to know that I was no longer
the ‘Baby’ of the team,as we were being joined by three Delhi people, of which one was school going.
But our team still stuck to me being their ‘Dear Baby’.
Watch out for my forthcoming posts for my trek savvies.
It was ‘THE’ day I was longing for over a month, and my journey started.
I never find train journeys interesting except the ones with friends. And this one, even worse 26hrs!!!
It was exactly the time of the Ayodhya verdict and the compartment was totally empty.
Hmmm wait there was one guy, but I guess he was already confused and lost somewhere. My mom was
fast asleep and I was darn bored and was partially occupied with pep talks with my friends just to kill
time. But this time, time was let alone flying,not even crawling. Slowly moving out of the pollution and
traffic noise of the city,the country side was beautiful and all the more blissful. We reached the
Warangal lake, and managed to do a bit of bird watching through the window!
After a long period of boredom we touched the grounds of Maharashtra. Suddenly all the
greenery vanished and an unbroken chain of buildings appeared. Depicting the commercialization or
industrialization whatever you call it. Slowly the view switched into the woods I had been desperately
waiting for.
The train moved faster,but I could feel my heart beat even faster!!!
The view was indeed picturesque,with the setting slight sun raysjust touching the tips of the leaves,
making them shine exquisitely. I could forget the world, glancing out of the window.The pleasant
ambience and the pure green cover added to the charm.
As we moved further the jungle grew even more denser with alim streams here and there
through small polished rocks. I always find the woods wildly beautiful and inviting. Gradually there was
switching of the surroundings again now into a village scene with kids fighting over kites. I adored the
view with some of the most pleasant oldies on my playlist,clear in my ear. We ran across plains and
valleys and found few trodden paths,showing that man had set his foot here too. The farthest things my
eyes could see were trees and only trees. After sometime i had a good view of the sun set,burning red
in colour. While the jungle grew denser i lost track of the sun and it was covered with even taller trees
and sometimes the tunnels blocked it. I could catch a foretaste of the perfect reflections of the trees in
the crystal clear streams. Slowly, it seemed that the grey clouds were forcing a cover over the red
setting sun until I could see it no more.
Finally we reached Delhi and met our co trekkers and bonded well. But we came to
know that there was a problem in the accommodation due to some reasons and our trek should be
postponed by a day.
So,we had to visit Nainital from where we were supposed to go to Bageshwar ,the place
where our trek started.
Nainital-The Nine Lakes
After a night journey to Kathgodam, we started off in a vehicle to Nainital. The drive was quite smooth
and lovable in the company of the extremely pleasant weather. I caught a few best shots of the first rays
of the sun. It stirred my spirits about the trek.Then we paved our way to Bheemtal , one of the ‘tals’.
We clicked quite a lot of ‘Kodak’ moments. I saw a pair of ducks in merry,a very cute site .
I was the youngest in the team and our team called me ‘Baby’. They also had many more names like
‘Dead Weight’ and such synonyms for me.Our next destination was ‘Naukuchyatal’,where we visited a
museum totally dedicated to the kumaon region and was interesting andinformative to a large extent.
The next was the ‘Golu Baba’ mandir, which was one of the most fascinating things I’ve ever come
across.It was believed in the Kumaon that if you wish for something there and it comes true you go and
tie an auspicious bell there as a token of gratitude. Golu jee was the king of the region and was believed
to be very powerful.
Then we started off to the Mall Road in Nainital and I did something that i had never done.It was
called the Flying Fox and it scared the hell out of me.Then it was evening and we went for boating and I
tried rowing it with great difficulty in lifting the oar!!!
I could feel the silence in the ambience and on the banks of the lake there lay the beautifully lit
Nainital making the feeling even more pure.
Then we strolled in the Tibetan street and did some window shopping and then had the special
‘Momos’ for dinner with ‘Frozen Pepsi’!!!Then walked back alone around 9PM in the lonely silence in faint light in the beautiful city.
Now the journey to Bageshwar began. The path had beautiful streams flowing through,with crystal clear water and I could see the river bed from a significant distance.We had lunch
at a place called Kausani.We could have a glimpse of the peaks camoflouged with the clouds making it
all the more breathtaking.
Our next stop was ‘Baijyanath’ one of our national heritages.It was on the banks of the
‘Sarayu’,the holy river on whose banks the Ramayana took place.It was perfect for people to find
themselves in silence, and I was one amongst them. I closed my eyes and felt the cool breeze stroke me
gently and touch me with its faint fragrance .We captured gorgeous smiles in the ruins and started
ahead.
We reached Bageshwar around 5.30.We crossed the ‘sangam’ of the river ‘Sarayu’ and’Gomthi’.
The next day started with a warm ‘mother-daughter’ morning talk and we talked about different things by the riverside.
We were about to start the trek the next morning. I surprisedly came to know that I was no longer
the ‘Baby’ of the team,as we were being joined by three Delhi people, of which one was school going.
But our team still stuck to me being their ‘Dear Baby’.
Watch out for my forthcoming posts for my trek savvies.
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