Without New
Experiences, Something Inside of Us Sleeps.
The Sleeper Must Awaken (Copied)
Uttarakhand, as I have mentioned many times, is a place
having plenty of temples and holy shrines. The state has some well-known
tracking sites which always invites the attention of adventurers and trekkers
around the world. Not only this, on the other side, the four pillars of faith
of pilgrims Gangotri, Yamunotri, Badrinath & Kedarnath, collectively known
as “Char Dham” are also
nested in the lap of great Himalayan range of Uttarakhand.
Every year the
yatra for these char dham, commence from the beginning of summers (from Apr onward)
and ends with the start of winters. Traditionally, the pilgrimage begins from
the West and ends in the East (Starts from Yamunotri, then proceeding to
Gangotri and finally to Kedarnath and Badrinath).
We were not
planning any pilgrimage tour but of course were planning for another bike
journey in Uttarakhand. We had heard that the Kedarnath temple is the remotest temple of lord Shiva. So this
time we planned the trip to pay a visit to this holy place.
Travelling is now
not new for us only the places and experiences are. So we now don’t find any
difficulty to plan the itinerary and to arrange the necessary items required for
the journey. This time too, the planning and execution was perfect.
21 Apr-15- Delhi to Haridwar (220 Kms)-
Around at 8 pm, we
all gathered at my flat in J&K pocket Dilshad garden. Naveen, Rajesh and
Amit came from Kalkaji, Delhi. We finished our dinner and by 9:30 to 10:00 PM
we all geared up for this journey of Kedarnath. The luggage was already packed
a day before. It took no time to tie the luggage in our bullets and in few
minutes we were at NH-58 which is the highway connecting Delhi to Uttarakhand.
NH-58 has become
very familiar to us as we use this route to our home in Dehradun. Also many tours
we have done in Uttarakhand itself. After a ride of 3:30 Hrs we reached Haridwar
at around 02:30 AM. Naveen one of our fellow biker, stays in Haridwar itself
and he had arranged our stay for the night at his home. Once in our cozy beds
we immediately fall asleep.
22 Apr-15:- Haridwar to Gaurikund (185 Kms)-
All woke up at
around 07:30 Am, got fresh and with a delicious breakfast, we made our stomach
full, and started the today’s tour towards Gaurikund, the end point of our day long
journey. Days before the journey, we had already booked our rooms in Garhwal
Mandal Vikas Nigam (GMVN) guest house, Gaurikund. The journey today was long
that too through the hilly terrains.
On the way, our 5th
partner “Bharat” joined us for the trip. At Rishikesh the mobile registration
camps were set up by Uttarakhand government. We did our bio-metric registration
there. The government has mandated the registration to keep track of the
pilgrims visiting the char dham, so that the necessary support could provide in
case of any requirements or tragedies.
Soon you left
behind the Rishikesh, the hilly curvy roads welcome you. Biking in spectacular
and lush green views pumps up the adrenaline rush into the body and you will
feel like the best thing happening with you.
Pic:- On the way to Srinagar
At around 1:30 PM
we reached Srinagar and had our lunch en-route to Rudraprayag. The weather has
started getting changed soon after we crossed Rudrapyag and rain started to slow
down our speed. By the time we reached Sonprayag which is 5 kms before the
Gaurikund, it was 9:00 PM. The Sonprayag is the main stoppage for the Kedarnath
pilgrims as this small city has many options for lodging and food. At
Sonprayag, there was barricading done by Uttarakhand police and tourist
movement was not allowed due to possibility of landsliding on the roads ahead in
Night.
As we had booked our
guest houses in Gaurikund, we somehow managed to cross the barricading to ride
towards Gaurikund. However, luck was not with us and just behind 2 kms from
Gaurikund we witnessed the heavy landslide in front of us. Plenty of sludge and
rocks had blocked the passage ahead and more was coming. The creepy sound of
stones striking with each other and complete dark everywhere around us made the
scene very scary. Without wasting time we turned our vehicles and returned to
Sonprayag. Cops were like waiting for us in Rudraprayag, they yelled at us
warned us and then let us go to find accommodation in the city. The time was
10:00 PM and the hotels, lodges all were full due to heavy rush of pilgrims. A local
suggested us to go to Sitapur which is 3 Kms back from Sonprayag. We had our
dinner in Sonprayag and ride towards the Sitapur where we managed to book two
rooms at very cheaper rates (Rs 500 per room) to stay overnight.
23rd Apr-15 Gaurikund to Kedarnath (18 Kms)- -
Today we had to track
towards Kedarnath which is a 18 kms long tough track. Bullets were to be on
rest for next 2 days and our legs had to
do the job. At 08:30 Am we reached Sonprayag where vehicle parking facility was
available.
Pic- At Sonprayag vehicle parking stand
In Sonpryag we
came to know that we have to go through a round of medical tests before
starting the trek. There was a long queue of pilgrims in the medical facilitation
center and we had to wait at least for 1 to 1:30 hrs. At 10:30 AM, the
formalities were completed and after having light breakfast we moved towards
Gaurikund which is the base from where the trekking starts. From Sonprayag to
Gaurikund the 5 kms were traveled through local jeeps at Rs 20 per person.
Now the trekking
has started. Here I would like to remind the fellow travelers that the trek
level is tough with having minor moderate routes and major steep ones. And one
would have to be physically fit to complete this trek or else people also
have the option of Helicopter services upto Linchauli Village which is just 4
kms behind the Kedarnath temple.
Pic (Copied)-
Latest Trekking route map to Kedarnath. The dotted route was the main route
before 2013. After disaster the route destroyed and the alternate route was
developed by authorities.
Having said that,
we also soon realized that this trek is not going to be easy. Each kilometer was
feeling like miles. We did this trek in year 2015 and the place was recovering
from the disaster at that time. There were very few halting places en-route.
Merely 4 kms ahead
we had our first break at Jungle chatti. We took some refreshments, tea &
Maggi here while watching the beautiful scenic beauty around.
After trek of 10 kms
around at 3:00 PM, we were at Rambada where we witnessed the horror of the flood
of 2013. whole village was washed out by this disaster and what remained was
the broken hearts. Lately Army had made a temporary bridge to cross this
village. The main route from Rambada to Kedarnath has been completely destroyed
and the agencies have started to develop the alternate pathways which is
comparatively less tough but the distance has increased (previous length of
this trek was 14 Kms and now is around 18 Kms). We took some rest in Rambada
and moved towards the next stop namely Linchauli which is second last base camp
to Kedarnath and is 3 kms ahead from Rambada.
The feet were
soaring the energy level was going down but seeing the fellow pilgrims we met
en-route was keeping us motivated to trek. I was surprised to see the faith and
confidence of the people going to see kedar baba temple.
At around 5:30 PM
we were at Linchauli. Tomorrow on 24th April was the kapat opening
ceremony of the temple , so, to take fist blessings many famous personalities
like Congress President Mr. Rahul Gandhi, then Uttarakhand CM Mr Harish Rawat
and Kailash Kher etc. were also present in Lincholi which the Helicopter base
for the temple.
Generally, few of
the pilgrims stays in Linchauli and rest march ahead towards Kedarnath base
camp. Like others, we had also planned to complete this last lap as well and
stay overnight in Kedarnath base camp. Both in Linchauli and in Kedarnathh,
Nehru Institute of Mountaineering (NIM) and GMVN (Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam)
have arranged the tents for overnight stay of pilgrims.
While we were
taking some rest in Linchauli, the rain started and NDRF team announced all
pilgrims to halt at Linchauli for the night. Unable to move ahead, the mass
gatherings at Linchauli started having the issue of shortage of tents.
Uttarkashi, a small city in Uttarakhand is my
birth place. The one of the four mountaineering institutes (NIM) is also
situated in Uttarkashi ( others are in Darjeeling, Manali and J&K). I
requested one of the NIM official to arrange for a tent or help to find one. He
took us to one of the tent where 2 pilgrims were already sleeping. We all 5 had
somehow adjusted into that tent but could not sleep due to space issues. Rain
had stopped by now and sensing the shortage of tents, the NDRF personals made
an announcement that anyone who wish to trek to Kedarnath base Camp can join
one of the NDRF team. Despite being fully exhausted, we decided to trek ahead.
The time was 9:00
PM and we were in between the snow clad mountains around us. The temperature
was in negative. The bright shining stars, full moon and snow covered trek made
the path very clear to ascend. This last 4 kms trek was the best thing which
happened with us in this journey. This unique experience of night trekking in
bright white snow is a rare experience one can have.
At around 10:30 PM
we reached at Kedarnath base camp. The NDRF team was way ahead of us and by the
time we reached Kedarnath they may have already went into their tents changed
and slept as well. We were totally exhausted and rushed towards the very first
camp we saw. This was an army camp so we did not face any issue. We had our
dinner and, our beloved Army men set the new tent for us in the snow for night
stay.
24th Apr-15 Kedarnath to
Sonprayag ( 25 Kms)-
The last night was
not easy to pass. We couldn’t sleep properly and kept tossing and turning due
to high altitude breathing issues. In the morning whole body was aching and we weren’t
feeling that good. We were still 1 kms behind from the temple but the long
distant chattering of music, folk songs were clearly audible to us.
We were informed that the
doors of the temple were to be opened at 08:35 AM. We quickly had our breakfast
in the camp (poori Chole and Halwa). And at around 07:30 AM we marched towards the
temple through pathway with feet long side wall snow.
At 8:30 AM we
reached the temple premises and saw the whole new world around there. The
temple was beautifully decorated and there was a huge crowd gathered, be it
local people, folk singers, dancers, sadhus, media persons, celebrity and what
not. This kapat opening day was being celebrated by everyone by their own ways.
The Pradhan priest
of the temple after doing the pooja opened the doors for all. We did the darshan
and then sat there to watch the activities happening around. After spending
some time there, we now started to trek back to Sonprayag. The return journey
was all descending and easy. By evening we reached Sonprayag and stayed there
overnight.
25th Apr-15 Sonprayag to Delhi (
400 Kms)-
Today nothing was
planned only the target to reach Delhi by evening. We started early and took
halt at Rudraprayag for Lunch and started again this non-stop ride. By 3:30 PM
we reached Delhi. With this, an another exciting journey completed and part of
bucket list emptied.
We are so much into the touring and trekking
that the mother nature is our soul now and our bikes are our wings to fly and
dip into the soul.
Regards
Shekhar Saklani
Follow me at:-https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?tab=wj&blogID=1154923416180196786#allposts
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