Deoriya Tal and Tungnath

March 2009

After a couple of driving sojourns deep into the Himalayas, we decided it was about time that we took one step further and tried trekking, the experience of which many people swear is incomparable! We had little trekking or camping experience, with the only one being Harsh’s single trek to Dodital with a couple of friends, two years ago. Trekking is not a adventure sport per say, neither is it too difficult, all that one needs is the desire to be one with nature, and the rest is taken care of automatically. The experience of visiting places not easily accessible and the tranquility of those places cannot be described in words.

Since it was going to be our first trek as a couple, we decided to pick a route which is relatively easier and would involve a night or two of camping in the open. With this constraint, we started researching on possible treks either in Himachal or Uttarakhand. The first trekking possibility identified was the one to Beas Kund near Manali. However, since we had been to Manali just 5 months back, we chucked that and finally froze on a trek to Tungnath & Chandrashila Peak located near Ukhimath in Uttarakhand. We also decided not to drive this time around for a change, a decision which we regretted a lot later. The trip just did not feel the same, and would have been much more fun had we taken our mountain queen along with us.

The trip got off to a horrendous start, once we boarded the train to Haridwar from Delhi. It was supposed to be a four and a half hour travel, in the middle of night, and we were hoping to catch a wink to be rested for the bus/taxi ride the next day. However, as luck would have it, we were stuck with a bunch of howling kids, making it impossible to relax. Soon after reaching Haridwar, we caught a taxi to Ukhimath and reached by mid-afternoon. A decent room, a nice meal at GMVN followed by a brief afternoon nap was all it took to rejuvenate us. The evening was spent making plans and arranging for a guide cum porter for the trek. As it turned out, snow at Tungnath had not yet melted to provide sufficient camping ground and to add to that water was scarce at the place. So the plan had to be changed to a camping night at Deoriya Tal, a small but beautiful lake located nearby followed by a day hike to Tungnath. We had kept the Chandrashila peak as open, depending on weather conditions and time.

We hit the sack early to be properly rested for the next day. Early next morning, we took a taxi to our drop-off point at the base of the trek to the lake. It was a short but a steep hike to Deoriya, and it took us only an hour or so to reach the top. The track was nothing spectacular being quite close to a village, however the lake at the top was amazing. The lake was surrounded by a small forest, with crystal clear views of the massive Chaukhamba peak. Also visible were the peaks of Kedarnath, including Sumeru and Kedar dome. Far away in the distance, Bandarpooch was visible at times, but the haze played the role of a spoil sport. Afternoon was quite comfortable and did not require any woolens. A sumptuous meal, cooked by an obliging dhaba owner, and we were all set for our afternoon siesta.

There’s little one can do at camp sites, but gaze at the scenery and have never-ending conversations. It can be so relaxing to be away from the buzz of the crowd with the ever interrupting mobiles out of coverage area. It is on such occasions that one really gets philosophical and tries to think clearly what life is all about. Life’s priorities somehow appear to be quite clear and small problems which one faces in one’s daily life simply vanish. These experiences are the ones which really make a trip memorable. The evening was spent reminiscing and reflecting.

The next day, after a lazy breakfast, we decided to climb down and head to Tungnath. The climb from Chopta to Tungnath was quite a steep one though just short of 4km. Being one of the panch kedars, the place witnesses hordes of pilgrims during the peak season. Luckily for us, we found only a couple of them on the way up. After huffing and puffing for a good 2 hours we managed to reach the top. The sight of the ancient temple, minus the rushing pilgrims, was stunning. The tranquility of the place made us extend our halt by an hour, and we cooked lunch on our “little master”, had a nice cup of coffee by the temple and enjoyed the view till we were content. The walk down was strenuous as well primarily because of the steep gradient. One has to realize that while descending, it is the knees which get all the stress and one has to be careful not to over-strain. By evening, we were exhausted and raring to go back to the hotel for a good night’s sleep. Early next morning we caught a bus till Rishikesh, and had a gratifying continental meal at “our hangout” there, Café Delmar by the Laxman Jhula. A taxi till Haridwar and a train ride later, we were back in Delhi by late evening.

Thus, a 4 day, 3 night short trip came to an end. The biggest mistake of the trip was not to take our mountain queen with us. The frequent stops at scenic places, the joy of driving in the hills was taken away from us. However, there were wonderful positives of the trip as well. It opened up the Pandora’s Box of trekking for us, making us realize that it is quite doable and loads of fun. The trek eventually led to our 50km trek to Gaumukh & Tapovan three months later.

Gaumukh & Tapovan

June 2009

We’d dreamed of going on a long trek since quite some time, especially after our immensely enjoyable first trek to Deoriya Tal and Tungnath. This trek was however very short, with just one night of camping at Deoriya Tal, and we now wanted to experiment with a week long, high altitude trek, but not a tough one since it was going to be Aarti’s first. After two months of extensive research, going through the entire Outlook Traveller’s Trekking Guide and discussing with some experienced friends, we finally decided our destination - Gaumukh and Tapovan. A long, high altitude trek, which is relatively easy in terms of the gradient of the trek path – an ideal beginning.

So off we went in the second week of June. Our plan was to make the trip a driving cum trekking holiday, primarily because we hate to travel without our car! We had two huge backpacks, with everything a camper would need – a tent, sleeping bags, sleeping mats, a little stove with extra tiny gas cylinders, a lamp, a compass, all kinds of winter clothes, some ready-to-eat food, and lots of toilet paper!

We left around 12 in the afternoon and after a boring drive to Rishikesh, which we’ve done so many times that we know what the next signboard is going to read, we broke the night there at a friend’s place. The next day, we left his place early at 7am, since we had to reach Uttarkashi before lunch to get our permit from the DFO’s office there. The government declared the Gaumukh area a National Park in 2007 and since then they allow only 150 tourists to enter the park per day, including guides. We’d applied for our permit well in advance from Delhi, and just had to get the paper from their office. It took us about 5 hours to reach Uttarkashi, and about 10 minutes to get the permit. We then set out for Gangotri, another 4 hours away. The road from Uttarkashi to Gangotri is pretty bad, with some dam construction on the way. However, once one reaches close to Harsil, the drive becomes beautiful, with the Ganga flowing next to the road and pine tress all around. Sadly, we couldn’t see any peaks since the weather was bad, with clouds playing a spoilt sport. By the time we reached Gangotri, it was around 5pm. The first problem we faced here was to find a good parking spot for our car, since it was going to be parked there for the next 5 days. After some difficulty, we managed to find the perfect spot, in a corner, almost inconspicuous to the public eye. The next thing was to find a room for the night, and after looking at 2 or 3 dingy ones on the main road, we decided to cross the river and try our luck at the GMVN, which we were sure would be packed, given the peak tourist season. But a pleasant surprise was in store for us, and not only did we easily get a room, we also got the best one, with a direct view of the Gauri Kund, where the Ganga falls from a cliff of limestone rocks. Legend says that it was here that Ganga descended on Earth, falling on Shivji’s matted locks. Our third point of concern was to look for a guide, which too was solved without any effort from our side – we were standing in front of the GMVN, admiring the Ganga, when a guide walked up to us and offered to accompany us to Gaumukh, Tapovan and Nandanvan (we’d planned to go there initially). Kanak, the guide, did not look very impressive, but wasn’t that bad either, and we finalized him then and there. After a simple dinner, we hit the sack early.

The next morning Aarti was quite scared – the thought of walking 14kms in a day had been troubling her since a while, but now that the day had come, she was getting cold feet! Harsh and Kanak were carrying the huge backpacks, with Aarti carrying only a lil tiny bag which consisted mostly of her ‘make-up’!

The trek path, on the right bank of the Ganges, starts at the end of the market and climbs steeply initially. The 2km walk to the first check-post is a cake-walk, primarily because that is when your enthu is the maximum! At the check-post, one is required to show their permit and also register the number of plastic items they are carrying so that all of them are brought back and none thrown away in the National Park. They also charge a deposit of 200 bucks for this. We quite liked this concept, and were more than willing to pay up!

Then the real trek starts… you can now no longer see the Gangotri township and the temple complex, as the path climbs steadily, always next to the Ganga. Since we’d gone in the peak season, we kept passing pilgrims regularly, but not so many at all so as to call the place ‘crowded’. The path was very rocky at places, making it difficult to walk without looking down. There are many streams on the path that one crosses over rickety log bridges which make for great photographs. Soon the Bhagirathi peaks came into view, and dominated the skyline for the rest of our trek. There are no dhabas whatsoever between Gangotri and Bhojbasa, 14 kms away. By the time we reached Chirbasa, the first halt 9 kms from Gangotri where there is another check-post, we, especially Aarti, was dead tired. Chirbasa, or the place of chirs (pines) is a very picturesque place, surrounded by pines, and is a great place to camp. Ideally, one should camp here the first night, but to save on time, most people walk to Bhojbasa on the first day itself. After a quick lunch of cup noodles and instant coffee, and a refreshing nap of an hour, we set out again for our destination of the day – Bhojbasa, 5kms from Chirbasa. This was relatively easy, and by 6:30pm we’d reached there, and set up camp next to the weather department building. Bhojbasa is the widest point of this valley, and is thus also very windy. There are a few buildings here – a GMVN, Lal Baba’s Ashram complex, and some buildings of the weather department. After a basic meal of dal and roti at the Ashram, we tucked ourselves into the sleeping bag and were sound asleep in a minute!

We got late in leaving for Gaumukh the next day due to our leisurely breakfast at GMVN. The 4km trek took us some 2 hours. The trek from Bhojbasa to Gaumukh is pretty flat, but is very rocky, and one has to carefully pick one’s way. One can see the snout of the Gangotri glacier all the way from Bhojbasa, but as one draws nearer, it becomes more distinct and clear and once at Gaumukh, you realize the real magnitude of what you are seeing – Ganga, India’s holiest river, gushing out of a blue and white opening, the mouth of the 26 km long Gangotri glacier. There is so much debris on it that its hard to believe that one is actually looking at a glacier – as one book describes it, ‘chocolate over vanilla’! After marveling at the sight before us for sometime, we again got on our feet, this time to traverse the most treacherous part of our trek yet – the climb to Tapovan.

Till Gaumukh, the trek path is paved and clear, but beyond it, one has to rely on one’s guide or on the pile of stones that the locals keep to mark the route. Starting from the banks of the Ganga, one climbs up, then moves right to cross the glacier, all the time hopping on stones, many of which are unsteady, with only the occasional crevasse reminding you that you are actually walking on a massive glacier!

We were just about to reach the base of the final 1 km steep ascent to Tapovan when two boulders fell on Aarti’s foot and we almost thought that we would not be able to make it! But thanks to Relispray’s magic and Kanak’s expert guidance, we were able to climb almost a vertical mountain in about an hour and a half, and reached the vast meadow just as it started snowing! What exquisite beauty! The Shivling massif rising up in a scoop of scree and snow, the Akash Ganga criss-crossing the meadow, and mighty snow clad peaks all around… if there is heaven on Earth, it has to be here!

After quickly setting up our tent, we trudged up to Mauni Baba’s ashram for dinner. He has been staying in Tapovan for two years now (he stays there for six months and in Bhojbasa for the other six) and has not spoken a word, hence the name ‘Mauni Baba’. He has two three ashrams there, where people who do not carry their tents can stay (that is where our guide Kanal stayed), and all people can eat, tent or no tent! A Bengali Mataji also has an ashram in Tapovan, but for some strange reason, she wasn’t very welcoming. A wonderful meal of dal and rice and Mauni Baba’s special jadibooti chai were the perfect end to an adventurous day!

We decided to stay in Tapovan the next day for two reasons – one, if we spent just one night in such a lovely place, it would be a crime; and two, we were very tired and bruised after two days of strenuous walking and trekking and our bodies desperately needed a break. And of course, our ambitious plan of also trekking to Nandanban seemed like a joke now!

Mornings are always adventurous when you camp – the reason being that you need to find the ‘right’ place for morning activities! There’s always that big tree or a hill which is the best spot, but what do you do at a meadow above tree line?!! Thankfully, we found some huge boulders which saved the day.

After a delicious breakfast of suji ka halwa prepared by Mauni Baba, we decided to venture out and explore more of the meadow. We spent some time clicking the Bhagirathi and the Shivling peaks from all angles, and then walked to a point from where we could see as much as we could of the Gangotri glacier. The view before us seemed surreal…. A vast expanse of snow covered peaks and the Gangotri glacier extending to as far as we could see, with the Bhagirathi peaks right ahead, the melting snow on them gleaming in the morning sun. Wow! We just stood there for a while taking in the magnificence of the scenery before us. Seeing a blizzard coming towards us, we then quickly retraced our steps back to our tent.

In the evening, we walked to the base of the Shivling and tried to also locate the source of the Akash Ganga… didn’t quite find it though! Again, after chai and a meal of dal and roti, we returned to our tent and snuggled into our sleeping bags.

In the morning, after thanking Mauni Baba for his hospitality, giving him some money as gratitude, and clicking lots of pictures of him which we promised to send via our guide, we started our descent – the one thing that we had been dreading since the last 2 days! A steep decline is always more dangerous than a steep ascent, with chances of slipping being much higher. It took us about an hour to reach the bottom of the 1km high mountain on top of which Tapovan is situated, and then another 2 to reach Gaumukh. By lunch we were at Bhojbasa, where we spent an hour and a half relaxing, before starting the final leg of the day to Chirbasa, where we planned to camp for the night. Just as we were reaching there, it started to rain, and out came our green barsatis which we’d bought foreseeing such a storm.

We left early the next morning for Gangotri and were there by 12 or so. We took the path via the temple complex, paying our tribute to Goddess Ganga from the outside, not having the patience or the strength to stand in the long queue of devoted pilgrims to go inside the temple. After a hearty meal at a local restaurant and saying goodbye to our quiet but smart guide Kanak, we drove off to Uttarkashi, where we stayed the night at GMVN. It was good to be back to civilization and worldly pleasures – like a bath and some good food! We reached Delhi the following night.

Our first major trek had come to an end, leaving us all bruised and exhausted and sun-burnt, but the gleam in our eyes and the smile on our faces did not go away for a long long time.

Magical Kinnaur

March 2008

We enjoyed our first road trip to Kumaon so much that when we came back, we went crazy planning for our next trip, and bought all sorts of books, one of which was the Himachal Pradesh Outlook Traveller. While going through this, we kept coming back to one article - the one which described Sangla and Kinnaur in detail. It had been just 3 months since our wedding, and taking another big break from work was not possible - at max we could plan a five day trip, taking advantage of a long weekend. But was it possible to cover a far-way place like Kinnaur in just five days? We had our doubts, but nevertheless packed our bags and set out on another trip, this time to discover Kinnaur.

We left early in the morning, had a grand breakfast of paranthas at Murthal, and then finally stopped at the CCD at Dharampur for lunch. We were worried since our scheduled stop for the day was Rampur Bushehr, another 170 kms or 6 hours from Dharampur. After a hearty lunch and some freshening up, we proceeded towards Shimla. The road after Shimla is very picturesque, passing through Mashobra, Kufri, Theog and Narkanda. We finally reached Rampur somewhere around 8pm and checked into the HPTDC there. We were dead tired and after a delicious dinner, hit the sack immediately!

The next morning was lovely, and we were all geared up to reach Kalpa, a small village which offers excellent views of the Kinner Kailash massif. However, our spirits were soon dampened by the poor quality of the road till Wangtu, due to the construction of some major hydel power projects on the way. However, some parts of the drive on the historic Hindustan-Tibet road were lovely, with the road being cut out of cliffs at many places! We reached Kalpa sometime in the afternoon, after a steep drive of 6km from Rekong Peo, the administrative HQ of the Kinnaur district. The HPTDC here is beautiful, built in typical Kinnauri style! The driveway of the HPTDC was lined with a huge pile of snow on both sides, and our Esteem just about made it inside! And the view! Oh the view! Right in front of you lies the ethereal Kinner Kailash massif in all its glory, all its ragged edges shining in the sun. A sight to behold! We spent the evening gazing at it, and clicking away till the sun went down.

There was no water at the HPDTC, all water having frozen in the taps! We just spent one cold night here, and got ready the next morning to go to Sangla. But not before buying two bottles of local wine from Kalpa! :)

We drove back till Karchham, from where the road bifurcates towards Sangla. This road is pretty bad and quite steep as well, and just when one is starting to wonder where one is going, the wide and open Sangla valley unfolds after a bend, the Baspa riven flowing through it, apple orchards all around, and surrounded by the icy snow peaks that cut India off from Tibet. Its difficult to believe that such a beautiful valley exists at 2700m! We spent some time by the banks of the Baspa, marvelling at how the snow on the banks hasn't melted yet.... and then checked into a dingy little hotel, 'The Baspa Guest House'. In the evening, we went up till the Kamru fort, from which one can see and admire the entire Sangla valley. We watched the sunset here, and then retraced our steps back to the hotel.

In the morning, we had a problem to deal with. Since our car was pretty dirty, we thought of washing the windscreen with our car sprinklers - and whoa! the water froze! We then had to get some hot water and splash on the windscreen before we could finally take off to Chitkul, 26kms away. We were lucky that the road to Chitkul had been cleared of snow just two days back, and that made the drive lovelier, with snow piled up on both sides of the road. We really felt that we were driving to the end of civilization, and when we did reach Chitkul, that feeling was complete. A village with a few houses spread here and there, all covered under a thick blanket of snow, and a closed dhaba with a sign that read 'Hindustan ka aakhri Dhaba' - that's Chitkul for you! One can actually see the road ending here, and if you stare long enough at the huge mountains ahead, you may even get the feeling that you see Tibet somewhere there! We walked on in the snow for a km or so, but then the snow started melting and we could no longer walk properly without our feet sinking in the snow. Reluctantly, we made our way back, and then drove off back to civilization.

Our plan was to return to Rampur that night, but since we were reaching there early, we thought of spending some time at the temple town of Sarahan before halting for the night at Rampur. However, Sarahan stole our hearts, especially the beautiful location of the HPDTC there, right in from of the temple and on the edge of the mountain, that we decided to stay the night there. We strolled around the temple a bit in the evening, had some nice food while looking at the Srikhand Mahadev range from the hotel's dining room, and then soon later hit the sack.

The next day was a long one - a 16 hour drive to Delhi, which got further extended since we stopped for a leisurely lunch at Shimla, roaming around the Mall a bit. We finally reached Delhi around 1am, exhausted like hell, but our eyes bright with the memories of the breathtaking place that Kinnaur is.

The Half-Big Trip

October 2008

Manali had always beckoned me, and with Aarti having been there thrice already, I felt that it was high time that I made the trip as well. It had been a strenuous year, with quite a lot of workload, forcing us to put off our plan for "The Big Trip" (Manali - Leh highway) till next summer. The idea was to simply drive up to Manali and spend our Diwali break there, relaxing and exploring the hill-station. However, wanderlust bitten as we are, we landed up driving up till Baralacha La! Had it not been for my business obligations, we might as well have gone up till Leh. The route that we ultimately took was Delhi - Chandigarh - Swarghat - Mandi - Aut - Kullu - Manali - Palchan - Rohtang - Koksar - Keylong - Jispa - Darcha - Baralacha La - Jispa - Keylong - Koskar - Rohtang - Manali - Solang - Manali - Naggar - Malana - Chandigarh - Delhi.

We started off from Delhi late in the evening after office and without any ho-hum reached Swarghat late in the night. The roads leading upto Swarghat are one of the better roads in Northern India. The next morning we took off for Manali and reached by mid-afternoon. The drive was surprisingly quite smooth, with the average speed on the higher side, enabling us to cover the distance in just under 6 hours.

Manali is quite the global village with hoards of visiting Israeli & European tourists. Thanks to them, it has some amazing cafes which serve delcious food - oy favourites being 'The German Bakery' and 'The Johnson's Lodge' on Circuit House road and Il Forno on the way to Hidimba Devi temple. Apparently, Manali is also known as the honeymoon capital of India, as is evident from the numerous newly married looking couples thronging the mall road! The iconic "Honeymoon Inn" across the Beas is of course their favourite place to stay! When we reached there, the next natural step was to search for a nice place where we could stay put for the next 7 days. This was not as easy as we'd thought it would be! None of the hotels seemed to please us - some were right on the Mall, some dirty, some too expensive! Finally, after a 4 hour search, we eventually ended by staying at Palchan, 10km away from Manali towards Rohtang, at the Whispering Rocks resort. The place was just what we had hoped for, a secluded place, with a nice view and clean rooms, and since it was a low tourist season, we managed to bargain for a massive 60% discount!

I would have to break now to mention more about the two most amazing places to eat in Manali - The Johnson's Lodge & Il forno. The former is well known for it's delicious Trouts while Il Forno's specialty is wood oven baked pizzas. here, on the cover of the menu, you will find a special sign, mentioning that they do not serve ketchup with Pizza. Apparently, the owner, an Italian lady, has spent years explaining to her customers that pizzas are not supposed to be eaten with ketchup. As they say, she is from Naples, and her pizzas are from heaven!

The next day was spent loitering about in Manali, beginning with the customary visit to the Hidimba Devi temple and lunch at Il forno. The high point of the day was the discovery of a small waterfall a km away from our hotel with it's own private beach! It was as if the scene was pulled off 'Cast Away', the movie. We regretted our decision not to bring our camping gear, for the place had excellent camping opportunities. The evening was spent at the hotel drawing up plans to go further towards Leh.

We wanted to catch sunrise at the mighty Rohtang and the only way to do that was to leave very early from our hotel at Palchan. We left the hotel at 4, for which we had to get up at 3, which basically meant that we did not sleep at all that night! After a really cold drive to the top, we reached just in the nick of time to watch what was truly an amazing sunrise. The windy pass was at its pristine best, primarily because there were no littering tourists around! The sight of the sun rising over the peaks towards the east was sufficient to instill warmth in our body and soul. After an hour or so, we decided to proceed towards Koksar, where one enters the Lahaul valley. The landscape becomes absolutely differnt beyond Rohtang. The greenery of the Kullu valley disappears, and is replaced by a brown, barren landscape. We were accompanied by the Chandra river till Tandi, which also has the last petrol pump on the Manali-Leh route. It is imperative to top up the tank at this juncture, lest one wishes to buy sub-standard black market fuel along the way. The confluence of the Chandra & Bhanga rivers at Tandi forms the mighty Chandrabhaga which flows through Udaipur and then towards Punjab and J&K, where it is renamed as we commonly know it, Chenab. The road towards Keylong was good in patches... it is very difficult to make any comment on roads in these areas. The climate forces the road to be tarred over and over again quite frequently, so the same road could be marvelous in May but un-drivable in September! The drive till Jispa was long and bone rattling, as the part of the road was yet to be tarred. We were exhausted on arrival and received quite a shock when we got to know that the only decent hotel at Jispa, Hotel Ibex, was closed for the winter! We were quite disheartened to hear that, however luck was with us as there was another little known guest house, newly constructed, whose owner was kind enough to let us stay. We had reached there at lunch time, and the simple daal, subzi & rice to us seemed heavenly. The late afternoon was spent sleeping & relaxing, a slight drizzle started towards evening which forced us to stay indoors. We packed off early that night, after a light, simple & delicious dinner.

We left for Baralacha La the next morning at 8, looking for Deepak tal all along the way. It is quite strange that this picturesque lake is not marked on the major maps, and since you hardly meet people on the way, it's difficult to know the exact location of the lake. However, as it eventually turned out, it was adjacent to the road and impossible to miss. The scenery here turns from barren to desolate. The next major town is directly Leh, with plenty of army camps strewn in between, which at this time of the year also bore a desolate look. The ascent to Baralacha La starts at Zingzing bar. One can actually see the pass as it criss-crosses to climb up a single mountain, and it takes roughly an hour to cover this stretch. It is here that you actually realize the pains that the Border Roads Organization (BRO) take to build and maintain such roads. The feeling of patriotism comes deep from within and gives a high headed feeling. The mountains cuddle the road and you are one with them here. Thankfully, the road had just been paved at most of the places, thus the climb was not as strenuous as the drive from Koksar to Tandi. As we reached the top, we found the Suraj Tal, which we had eargerly been waiting to see, completely frozen over. As expected, the pass was completely empty, and devoid of even a single living soul. It is here that we decided to finally turn back. A part of us wanted to go on, the Morey Plains, the Tanglang La, the Gata Loops, all beckoning to us, but we knew that it was too big a risk to take at this time of the year. We did know in our hearts that this was just the first of the many times in our lives that we would be standing at Baralacha La!

The drive back to Koksar was uneventful, but the feeling of having covered our dream route at least half way was amazing. We both could not stop smiling for a long long time that day. The night was spent at the only available accommodation at Koksar, a PWD guest house, with Aarti reminiscing of the last time she spent a night at Koksar with her parents, 15 years ago!

After a hearty breakfast of paranthas, we hit the road again back to Manali. The sorry state of affairs at the Rohtang pass during mid-morning is very sad. Trampling tourists, frolicking and littering garbage around the place makes one feel bad for a place with such pristine beauty.

We decided to spend the rest of our days on the trip at "The Johnson's Lodge". This way the delicious trouts would be at a stone's throw distance away from our room! Early afternoon saw us checking into our room, which was luxurious but obviously bang in the middle of Manali. That evening was spent at a quiet waterfall near Vashishtha, an old temple village near Manali. At night, we took a walk downtown Manali to check out the dishes at more restaurants, and what a waste that was! More than money, we had wasted our appetites eating at some random joint, when we could've had a delicious dinner at Johnson's Lodge.

The next day, we planned to drive up till Solang valley, however the crowd there egged us to move a little ahead from there towards Dhundi, on foot. We had taken our "little master", plus had packed lunch from the hotel. A km or so down the road, we took a detour to the river and picnicked for a couple of hours. Later we returned back to Manali to spend our last night there.

We packed our bags early, to leave for Naggar the next day. After a short trip to the Roerich Museum, we moved further down to Bhuntar, from where we took the road further east towards Manikaran. It was supposed to be a short detour, but the road kept on getting more beautiful and so we kept on going. On reaching ahead, we got to know from the locals that there's an operational road almost up till Malana now. For the uninitiated, Malana is a popular village where till some years back, high quality marijuana was grown. This was supplied to Manali as well as exported all the way to Amsterdam! Obviously, since all the activities were illegal, it bode well for the place as it was quite a long hike till there. We took the detour and went close as we could to Malana. Having chai at the base of the 2km trek to Malana that remained, a local came up to us and asked, "you here for some shopping?". The gleam in his eyes made it ample clear what he was referring to - and we politely declined. We then started our drive back, reserving Malana for some other trip. The rest of the evening was taken to reach Bilaspur where we rested for the night.

The next day was going to be a long drive back to Delhi. However, as picked up Varun, a close friend, from Chandigarh on our way back, the drive was fun all the way!

Discovering Kumaon

Dec 2007

It was on one of our trips with friends to Kausani that we'd heard about Munsiyari for the first time - stopping on the side of the road for a break, we'd asked our cab driver what that place was, far far away from where we stood, right in the lap of the snow-clad Himalayas? That's Munsiyari he'd said, the starting point of the trek to the Milam glacier. Ever since then, it was our heart's desire to go there. And we were finally able to fulfil that desire when we got married and went off on our honeymoon on a roadtrip to discover Munsiyari, and Kumaon.

Before the wedding chaos started, we'd planned the rough route that we wanted to take, but had decided to change it depending on our mood. We've realized that the key to a road trip is to plan extensively, but always leave margin for certain uncertainties which are bound to happen. Ultimately, the route that we took on our 12 day trip was: Delhi - Rishikesh - Rudraprayag - Gwaldam - Chaukori - Birthi - Munsiyari - Jauljibi - Dharchula - Askot - Didihat - Abbot Mount - Moradabad - New Delhi.

We started off early morning at 6 from Delhi, stopped for a quick breakfast at Rosette Inn at Khatauli (where we've stopped on every trip since then to have sumptuous panner pakoras and grilled cheese sandwiches) and reached Rishikesh just in time for lunch. The day was quite a drag, the roads dusty, but a drive to the banks of the river just before Rudraprayag and watching the sun go down over the hills made our day! We broke the night at GMVN Rudraprayag, with our room overlooking the confluence (prayag) of the Alaknanda and Mankakni rivers.

Our halt for day 2 was Chaukori. We left the hotel at 8am and stopped enroute for a breakfast of maggi and soup, cooked on our 'little master', the name we have given to our tiny camping stove. The drive till Chaukori was serene, cold, damp and it rained throughout. The colors were vibrant late in the evening at sunset, when the clouds cleared. We eventually checked into our cottage at the beautiful KMVN at Chaukori late in the evening.

The next day we went on an excursion to Patal Bhuvaneshwar, an underground limestone cave temple, around 40kms from Chaukori. We are not the religious type, and the descent into the cave was a bit scary, but still it was fun to hear our guide (we'd hired one at the temple) rattle on and on about how the temple enshrines Lord Shiva and 33 crore gods. Anyhow, we didn't drive around much that day and after a nice evening by the fire, hit the sack early.

Day 4 was the day we'd been waiting for. This was the day that we would reach Munsiyari, the place we'd dreamed to go to since a long time. We set off from Chaukori early morning but when we reached Birthi, which is around 30kms before Munsiyari, we got to know that the road at Kalamuni Top, the pass 15km before Munsiyari, might not be fully cleared of snow. We then decided to stay the night at Birthi, checked into the cute little new KMVN there, and then thought of just driving uptill Kalamuni to see how much snow there was. On reaching Kalamuni, we realized that we could cross it, albeit not easily but it could be done. The idea of Munsiyari being so close and yet so far away was just too much for us. We went back to Birthi, got our stuff which we'd left at KMVN, hired two locals to come with us in our car with shovels so as to clear the snow from our Esteem tyres if they got stuck, and off we went! By the time we hit the freshly cleared road after Kalamuni, it was dark. The next 15kms took us two hours to cover, our car skidded at least thrice on the frozen ice on the road, and our hearts skipped many a beat! While it may have been a rash decision to drive on an icy road in pitch darkness, the thrill that such an adventure gave us was exhilirating! Finally, we reached Munsiyari somewhere around 8pm, and checked into the Zara Resort, which would be our home for the next 3 nights.

I must say the next morning was one of the most beautiful mornings of my life! The view of the Panchachuli peaks from our room and from the roof of the resort was AWESOME! We couldn't have felt more satisfied, having chai and garam garam paranthas on the roof-top and looking straight at the Panchachuli peaks, this was heaven! We spent the day driving to Madkot, 22kms from Munsiyari, where there is a hot water spring. On our way back, we had a small picnic on the banks of the Goriganga river.

On Day 6, we planned a short hike to Masser Kund. While the hike was beautiful, the kund itself was not that great, with the meadow around it covered in melting snow. In the evening, we went to the Nanda Devi temple which is situated in the middle of the Munsiyari meadow to watch the sun go down. No words can describe that experience... when you go to the edge of the meadow, there is no other mountain between you and the Panchachuli and the golden rays of the sun going down on them is a sight to behold! We soaked in the beuaty of that place for a long long time, and then made our way back to our hotel.

We went off the next morning to Dharchula, a town on the Nepal border, and also the place from where the Mansarovar yatra begins. The drive was beautiful, most of it passing through the Askot wildlife sanctuary, with the road never leaving the river. We reached Jauljibi somewhere around lunch, the place where the Gori and the Kali Ganga meet. Thereafter, we took the road to Dharchula, which is right on the Indo-Nepal border, and stopped at a shack on the roadside to have some delicious local fish curry and rice. It was very hard to believe that the mountain on the other side of the river flowing below us was actually another country! Dharchula is a busy little dirty town which didn't please us too much, and we decided to go back the way we'd come. Our next hault was Askot, but there too we didn't find any decent accomodation. It was getting late and we urgently needed to find a place to spend the night, which we finally did at the dingy KMVN at Didihat, 54km from Pithoragarh.

Day 8 was relaxed... we just drove to Pithoragarh, checked into a pretty and clean room at KMVN Pithoragarh, and went out to explore the market and the valley. Although its a proper town and is pretty crowded (it even has a Delhi Public School!), its a beautiful valley, very wide and not on the tourist map at all! We went in the evening to Chandak hill, 7kms from Pithoragarh, to watch the sunset and made some nice doggie friends on the way!

The next day was spent relaxing in our room, with an evening excursion to a nearby temple, which we never managed to reach since the hike was too long!

Day 10 was my wife, Aarti's birthday, so the morning was again spent in our room receiving phone calls! Finally, around 11am, when the phone stopped ringing, we set out to Abbott Mount, 56kms from Pithoragarh, where we'd booked our only luxurious accomodation of the trip - a British cottage. The drive from Lohaghat to Abbott Mount (11kms) is by far one of the steepest I've done, but the cottages (13 in all spread over the hill) are beautiful. Abbott Mount was founded by and named after Mr. John Harold Abbott, an English businessman who wanted to start a hill station for the European community at the turn of the 20th century. Our cottage, called the Abbott Mount Cottage, had four rooms, but we were the only people there then. The cottage was very tastefully decorated and the food was finger-licking good! From Indian to Continental to Oriental, they fed us all!

We spent the seond last day of our honeymoon lazing around the cottage, and went to the top of the hill to see the picturesque church set amidst the forest and an old cricket pitch with an unsurpassed view of the mountains. One can even see Nepal's Annapurna range from here!

Finally, after a delicious breakfast, we left early the next morning for home. After a strenuous drive of 11 hours, we were back in our Vasant Kunj home. We were tired, rather exhausted, but if given the chance, we would have driven right back there and then! While the satisfaction of having seen the mesmerizing place that Munsiyari is and discovering the unknown and tucked away places of Kumaon was amazing, we knew that the wanderlust bug had bitten us and our thirst to get back on the road and continue our exploration of such places would now never be quenched. It was our first roadtrip together, and we knew that there would be many more to come!

The Initiator

The first blog. The first pay cheque. The first day at college. The first day at school. The first bicycle. The first words. The first steps.

I think I have come a long way in life. Each one of these firsts have a different meaning, a certain barrier to them. But once one crosses these barriers, one thinks "Why was I ever afraid of doing it?". I hope days from now when I reflect back, I can say the same.

Each one of these firsts though have an initiator. The firsts words, steps are obviously helped by mum. The first bicycle, dad. The first day at school, friends. The first day at college, more friends. Then colleagues.

What brings me to blogging then you may ask... Well its my wanderlust! More specifically, the Great Driving Challenge. The competition has finally forced the writer within me to come out and express himself. I really don't know how this journey would pan out eventually, but I do hope that even after the competition is over, whatever maybe the result, I continue blogging.

Hey I even got an excellent web-address! One that I will keep for life.