11 April 2014 - Day 1 - Travelling
Tickets booked, shopping done, bags packed, all set for wonderful days coming ahead. Scheduled train departure at Bandra Terminus was 16:50 pm.My plan was to board a Neeta bus (from Pune to Borivali) at 9 am in the morning reach Bandra well ahead of time (for safe side) watch Ragini MMS 2 then reach Bandra Terminus to board the train. What happened was nothing relevant. Neeta cancelled 9am bus,called me and asked me to board Purple metro bus and reach Hinjewadi. At Hinjewadi other bus to Borivali will pick me up. This bus came at 10:45 am and departed at 11am. Somehow managed to reach Bandra Terminus by 2:30. The rikshawalas think that anyone coming to Mumbai come from Alibaug (are fools) and started quoting Rs 300/- from BKC to Bandra Terminus. Finally one agreed to drop me in Rs. 30/-.
Kedar reached within 15-20 mins from airport and we enjoyed a wonderful(better than low expectation) lunch at BT canteen. Manish, Pallavi, Sham, Beena, Neeraj and Dhyara reached by 16:00. In fact these guys should have reached before us. Anyways no comments.
Then started discussing whether such a train named "Yuva express" really exist. Common dude, we have booked the tickets, then how can you suspect. Still no comments.
Finally train arrived and moved at right time. Sooner we boarded the train the bag of snacks opened up, and we enjoyed some really good Kacchi Dabelis and cakes. Thank you Pallavi.
We ordered Sumeet to bring some Dal Khichadi and Biryani from Surat.
We had booked Sumeet's ticket from Bandra, and were a bit nervous if TC asks where he is. My nervousness went to such a extent that it turned into anxiety. It Seemed - my interest of getting tickets checked was far more than the TC's interest of checking tickets.
Then we had showcase of all the bags and other accessories bought by Kedar. Mind it, they were costing far more than the expected trek cost.
Sumeet boarded the train at Surat. Nidhi and Tani had come to drop him and the Biryani. We had a wonderful dinner Aloo Paratha and lovely biryani and Dal Khichadi. ....Burp... Burp! Now it was time for some really good desert from Gujrat- The flavored milk delivered directly from Amul, Just for us....Burp....Burp.
Good night everyone. See you tomorrow.
12 April 2014 - Day 2 - Still Travelling
Good morning. Welcome tea and some Surati mithai from Gujrat's bakery. And aloo paratha to complete the breakfast. Then we had some bansuri vadan from would be pandit Manish Dharmadhikari and some raag vadan by his shishya Kedar, and bansuri funkan by Rishi(Not that easy to get sound from the Bansuri, It needs a knack).Welcome H. Nizammuddin at 9:50am. Train is right on time. We book some prepaid autos to New Delhi station at Rs. 125/- each.
Plan is to keep luggage in cloak room, have lunch, do sight seeing and come back to board the train.
At cloak room, we understand luggage should be locked. Now being trekkers we have sacks on our back. How to lock them is a big question. Some really good bargaining by Rishi and Manish for buying cheap locks helped. 10 locks for just Rs.17/- each. Then we lock our sacks(one can just imagine all the ways to lock the sack). The person at cloak room after some convincing agrees to accept these poorly locked sacks. We managed to sell additional 3 locks at Rs.20/- each to people in similar situation as we were. Mind it 15% profit just in 1 hour.
One Hour wasted. Now its time for some good Delhi food and lassi. All efforts to search the place for having lunch were in-vain since the food really did not match our expectations. After food part of the group chose to stay at the waiting room(just inaugurated for us), and the rest left for sight seeing/shopping.
Time to board train for Haridwar. Some of the lazy asses just managed to reach the train at last moment. This time train experience was not as good as the earlier one. What we had expected was an Indrayani/Deccan queen kind of experience, and what we got was a local train with Reservations. We had no option but adjust. Expected to reach Haridwar by 19:40 pm, but the train was late by 30-45 mins.
Dhyara showed us some dancing skills and some entertainment from her attracted fellow passengers as well. We met a elderly couple from Garhwal staying in Pune, who gave us information about the current weather and road conditions.
Now it was time to alight the train with so much of luggage and in fully packed compartment. Sham came up with an idea to move the luggage from emergency exit window, and it worked successfully. From haridwar station the lodge was situated very close by, so after listening to rates quoted by local rikshaw drivers we decided to do kadam kadam badhaye ja and reach our Hotel - Ganga Vilas.
We recieve sms from GIO regarding the guide details.
Ganga Vilas - is really descent hotel located in the city and close to Railway station and Har ki Pauri. After refreshing ourselves we moved for dinner to Chotiwala restaurant nearby which serves Mumbai like Punjabi food. On our way some of us bought thermal wear leggings, which may be needed on our trek.
Good night.
13 April 2014 - Day 3 - Moving to Kund
Woke up at 5:30 in the morning. Got ready for the Ganga aarti at Har ki Pauri. Kedar, Rishi, Manish, Pallavi and Neeraj are ready to go. (Sham claims he was ready as well). It had been raining last night, and it still pouring at intervals. As we move out we can smell lovely kachoris, parathas, and tea around, and the recorded bhajans. We skip them, so that we can have them with everyone around. On the way we come across numerous colorful shops. The climate is really divine and pleasant.
Rain is pouring and Ganga is roaring.
We reach Har ki Pauri, and are delighted with so many people taking a dip in cold Ganges water. We have missed the Ganga aarti, but still can see some diyas floating in the water. Had some Photography sessions, and go back to hotel. Now the pour has increased. After reaching back to hotel we start preparing to move.
We reach Har ki Pauri, and are delighted with so many people taking a dip in cold Ganges water. We have missed the Ganga aarti, but still can see some diyas floating in the water. Had some Photography sessions, and go back to hotel. Now the pour has increased. After reaching back to hotel we start preparing to move.
Its 8:30 and the Gio bus has arrived and we get introduced to our guides- David and Hari. They appologise for being late as the got stuck in railway crossing. We apologize as well that we are not ready to move and still have to complete our breakfast :). We decide to take parathas packed with us to have it on the route.
The bus starts moving and gets on the way to Rishikesh. Till now the road looks decent and well covered with trees. At Rishikesh, we get down to get some plastic bags that may be needed if anyone feels like vomitting. The road has already started getting steeper and curvier.
Shivpuri - On our way we come across ShivPuri which is called as heaven for rafting. We could see numerous tents at the camping site and many Rafts into the river. Moving ahead we can see wonderful views of Dev Prayag.
DevPrayag - Dev prayag is one of the Panch prayags(others are Vishnu Prayag, Nanda Prayag, Karna Prayag, and Rudra Prayag). It is the confluence(sangam) of river Alaknanda and Bhagirathi which results into Ganga. The prayags have there own religious importance. DevPrayag is densely populated near the sangam.
From here we move to camp Jayalgarh. It is Gio's camping site and is located on banks of River Alaknanda. The site is really good and only thing breaking the silence is river Alaknanda. Will describe this camp in later part of the article.
We have our lunch, spend some time on the river bank and start moving ahead.On the way we cross Srinagar, Uttarakhand and the dam built around. Here we come across a lovely rainbow. The river valley, in which Alaknanda flows. A road on top of the valley, a small dam on one side, forest around it and a small rainbow below the level of the road into the valley. I have never experienced such a view before.
Ahead on the road we came across Rudraprayag. This is the confluence of rivers Alaknanda and Mandakini. As we move from Jayalgarh to Rudra prayag one can see the devastation that was caused by the 2013 Uttarakhand floods. The roads are yet to come up, the houses are yet to be repaired, and the life is still coming back on track. Still people are helping, courteous and full of energy.
Moving ahead we reached Agastamuni, and the slight drizzle reminded us that most of us did not have ponchos that we may need for the trek. So we jumped out of the bus and started looking for ponchos/raincoats. After very little options at at Rs 400/- and more, we decided to go to a local kirana shop, where we got them(Pannis) at Rs. 20/- so we decide to buy around 2 dozen.
The sun was saying goodby,
and the stars saying hi,
but we still had not reached Kund,
And we don't know Why?
At around 7 when it was dark, we reached Kund. Kund is very small village where Gio has its camp. We had to go downhill to reach the camp, with all luggage around. Thanks Gio had build a concrete road to reach the camp. David and Hari must have heaved a sigh of relief since we had reached safely even though it had grew dark. They allocated us a cozy cottages, and asked us to come for dinner.
After some quick wash we joined upstairs for wonderful dinner and then plan for the next day. We had 2 options - either camping at Deoriatal or come back to camp at kund that night. Hearing about the uncertain weather, we were about to finalize not camping at Deoriatal. Then sham interrupted and asked us not to give reasons of Dhyara. She will be easy at the camp site. So we decided to camp at Deoriatal. After finalizing we went back to our rooms for a wonderful cozy and warm stay. thanks to the bamboo used.
Good night.
14 April 2014 - Day 3 - Trek to Deoriatal and Camping. About 2400m
Being the first day of the trek, we all were awake at 6:30am. We assembled on the breakfast table at 8 am. The Gio guys were ready with camping equipment's loaded on our bus and our lunch pack ready.
The Lunch pack contained - 1 sandwich, 1 banana/ 1 egg and 1 Frooti. One can just imagine what would have been Shams reaction. And this time Beena also joined him. They have truly become ek duje ke liye.
Next time I'm sure Dhyara would have the same reaction. ;)
We had to ensure we have enough water. I forgot my water bottles in the train, so had to search for few bottles with the Gio hotel.
We reached Sari around 9:30. The view throughout this journey was fantastic. At Sari we had a short break of around 15 mins until our equipment's were offloaded from bus and loaded on Khacchars. Till then we took some Photographs around.
We started our ascend and soon we were out of breath. No no, it was not due to rising altitude, but due to our reduced fitness. Someone handed over limlet golis to us. Thanks to them. After 10 minutes of walk we reached a temple of Shiva. This was a typical uttarakhand style temple and had an angaan in front of it. The temple was closed since summer had just started.
After waiting for 10 mins we resumed back on our journey. During this season the climate here is clear and there is usually no rains. But this time climate was showing some deviations with little snowfall and minor rains. The gio guys David and Hari precisely pointed out that we must try to reach top before 12, since the weather starts misbehaving after 12.
During the ascend Dhyara started crying and Shyam had no clue what to do. Useless father! Beena showed strength and patience to handle the girl. It was necessary to keep moving and reach top since the climate change would have made our lives more difficult. And then came Kedar uncle, who was smartly less loaded (thanks to his Decathlon visit), and was more agile than a year back. He took Dhyara and sprinted along with Beena. On the way he was doing all sorts of non sense bad bad, but it was sufficient to keep Dhyara engaged.
After half way was done there was a shower for short duration. But luckily we got a shade. Here Kaustubh and Sumeet got some basic lessons about climbing from David. He advised them to walk slowly as per their normal rhythm in which they are comfortable, and walk as if entire body was moving, and not as if they are pushing their body. This tip of advice proved to be useful for them through out the trek.
During our ascend we could spot many Rhodo dendron Plants.
We reached top at around 2 pm. Deoriatal was welcoming us with a peaceful smile, and we responded back with a smile of satisfaction. The view was truely wonderful. Calm waters of Deoriatal few meters from us and many kilometers beyond it were the peaks of the mountains. The snow clad himalayan peaks! BTW Deoriatal is a lake.
Soon we reached our camping site where the equipment was already available. Soon we were greeted by snow flakes mixed with rain. Our cheaply bought Ponchos came for our rescue. The shower lasted for short time.
After this we had a session of setting our tents, the dining tent and the kitchen tent. We quickly dumped our bags in the tent and assembled to have our lunch packs in our tents. One will not believe that the gio guys have also arranged sitting stools for us.
After our lunch we had a wonderful experience of snow, hails and rain for a short time, one after other.
The Debate hour - With our tummies filled up we had a debate on Adhyatma vs science. Adhyatma group comprised of Kedar, Kaustubh, Manish and myself. Science group comprised of Manish and Pallavi. The Adhyatmis were trying to convince the others that Science was subset of Adhyatma. The Non Adhyatmis were strong believers of science and were asking for proofs for all claims made by Kedar. Each of us was trying to convince people in other group with different strategies and theories. Here we tried to use divide and conquer strategy. The outcome of the debate was that no one was convinced, and we had wasted 1 and half hour in nonsense instead of enjoying the Nature around. Sham and Beena were wise ones and chose to sleep with Dhyara. We finally concluded on a note that if Non-adhyatmis can believe in big bang theory without solid proofs why can't they believe that the theories mentioned by Kedar may exist but we dont have enough knowledge or Patrata to prove it.
Action item on Kedar was to find the way to achieve adhyatma so that we can travel the path of enlightenment in search of proof.
Then Me, Kedar, and Kaustubh had a session of meditation with omkar gunjan and Bhramri pranayam. I should say that I never experienced such a peace before when I practiced meditation. It was only myself floating around. For a very very short time i could achieve a nir vichar sthiti. May be this is the reason why Rishis visited Himalayas for meditation.
Then we had a maggi and some tea, and decided to go for a trail around the lake and into the forest. It was a nice experience.
After we returned back we started feeling cold. We made a bonfire and shared some stories of experience of David about the tigers in the Garhwal and the Kumaun's. Then we had a soup and lovely dinner of Gulab jamuns, roti, paneer ki sabji, rice and Dal.
Then we decided to go for sleep in our tents. Unluckily tent in which me and kaustubh were sleeping was on slope. And we were sliding on one wall of the tent. Good night.
The Lunch pack contained - 1 sandwich, 1 banana/ 1 egg and 1 Frooti. One can just imagine what would have been Shams reaction. And this time Beena also joined him. They have truly become ek duje ke liye.
Next time I'm sure Dhyara would have the same reaction. ;)
We had to ensure we have enough water. I forgot my water bottles in the train, so had to search for few bottles with the Gio hotel.
We reached Sari around 9:30. The view throughout this journey was fantastic. At Sari we had a short break of around 15 mins until our equipment's were offloaded from bus and loaded on Khacchars. Till then we took some Photographs around.
We started our ascend and soon we were out of breath. No no, it was not due to rising altitude, but due to our reduced fitness. Someone handed over limlet golis to us. Thanks to them. After 10 minutes of walk we reached a temple of Shiva. This was a typical uttarakhand style temple and had an angaan in front of it. The temple was closed since summer had just started.
After waiting for 10 mins we resumed back on our journey. During this season the climate here is clear and there is usually no rains. But this time climate was showing some deviations with little snowfall and minor rains. The gio guys David and Hari precisely pointed out that we must try to reach top before 12, since the weather starts misbehaving after 12.
During the ascend Dhyara started crying and Shyam had no clue what to do. Useless father! Beena showed strength and patience to handle the girl. It was necessary to keep moving and reach top since the climate change would have made our lives more difficult. And then came Kedar uncle, who was smartly less loaded (thanks to his Decathlon visit), and was more agile than a year back. He took Dhyara and sprinted along with Beena. On the way he was doing all sorts of non sense bad bad, but it was sufficient to keep Dhyara engaged.
After half way was done there was a shower for short duration. But luckily we got a shade. Here Kaustubh and Sumeet got some basic lessons about climbing from David. He advised them to walk slowly as per their normal rhythm in which they are comfortable, and walk as if entire body was moving, and not as if they are pushing their body. This tip of advice proved to be useful for them through out the trek.
During our ascend we could spot many Rhodo dendron Plants.
We reached top at around 2 pm. Deoriatal was welcoming us with a peaceful smile, and we responded back with a smile of satisfaction. The view was truely wonderful. Calm waters of Deoriatal few meters from us and many kilometers beyond it were the peaks of the mountains. The snow clad himalayan peaks! BTW Deoriatal is a lake.
Soon we reached our camping site where the equipment was already available. Soon we were greeted by snow flakes mixed with rain. Our cheaply bought Ponchos came for our rescue. The shower lasted for short time.
After this we had a session of setting our tents, the dining tent and the kitchen tent. We quickly dumped our bags in the tent and assembled to have our lunch packs in our tents. One will not believe that the gio guys have also arranged sitting stools for us.
After our lunch we had a wonderful experience of snow, hails and rain for a short time, one after other.
The Debate hour - With our tummies filled up we had a debate on Adhyatma vs science. Adhyatma group comprised of Kedar, Kaustubh, Manish and myself. Science group comprised of Manish and Pallavi. The Adhyatmis were trying to convince the others that Science was subset of Adhyatma. The Non Adhyatmis were strong believers of science and were asking for proofs for all claims made by Kedar. Each of us was trying to convince people in other group with different strategies and theories. Here we tried to use divide and conquer strategy. The outcome of the debate was that no one was convinced, and we had wasted 1 and half hour in nonsense instead of enjoying the Nature around. Sham and Beena were wise ones and chose to sleep with Dhyara. We finally concluded on a note that if Non-adhyatmis can believe in big bang theory without solid proofs why can't they believe that the theories mentioned by Kedar may exist but we dont have enough knowledge or Patrata to prove it.
Action item on Kedar was to find the way to achieve adhyatma so that we can travel the path of enlightenment in search of proof.
Then Me, Kedar, and Kaustubh had a session of meditation with omkar gunjan and Bhramri pranayam. I should say that I never experienced such a peace before when I practiced meditation. It was only myself floating around. For a very very short time i could achieve a nir vichar sthiti. May be this is the reason why Rishis visited Himalayas for meditation.
Then we had a maggi and some tea, and decided to go for a trail around the lake and into the forest. It was a nice experience.
After we returned back we started feeling cold. We made a bonfire and shared some stories of experience of David about the tigers in the Garhwal and the Kumaun's. Then we had a soup and lovely dinner of Gulab jamuns, roti, paneer ki sabji, rice and Dal.
Then we decided to go for sleep in our tents. Unluckily tent in which me and kaustubh were sleeping was on slope. And we were sliding on one wall of the tent. Good night.
15 April 2014 - Day 4 - The Descend to Ukhimath.
Good morning. We woke up this morning to see the view of Himalayas in front of us. The Snow clad mountains were in front marked at 12" clock location. The Sun was rising from 2" o clock. We could see the golden tip of the mountains. We could also spot snow fumes. It was a great pleasure to watch the sight in front. Thanks Sham for finalizing to camp at Deoriatal.
We could clearly see the peaks namely - Chaukhamba 4-3-2, The Kedarnath peaks, the kedarnath, The Nandadevi, Bandarpoonch etc.
We could spot many birds around.
Then we had a cup of Tea and decided to go around the lake. We wanted to spot the reflection of the Himalayan range in the Lake. We clicked some pictures over here and reached the base camp for pack up.
Beside having our breakfast and tea we spotted a Fish in Deoria tal. We had some magic tricks by Kedar, with people around interested more in how it is done rather than what he was doing. We packed our bags, folded our tents and started our descend. We would be descending to Ukhimath instead of Sari from where our Bus would pick up, and take us to our lodge in Kund.
Initial phases of our descend were very exciting as we could see the Chandrashila and Tunganath from here. This route is quite long and later we were exhausted climbing down. At around lunch time we were on a meadow and thought that we are almost done. But to our surprise we were just half way done since we had taken a wrong way. Later the descend was painful since we had long distance to travel, the slope was steep, the rocks were big. I was really tired as my foot was paining, and I think I should work on my fitness. Thanks to Kedar as he kept accompanying me and made sure that I was motivated.
After travelling 3/4th of our way down, we reached a Village, from here the road was made of concrete. From here it was like aa ja bhai aaja bhai.
Finally we reached Ukhimath and we were like hurray done. We had some bananas and apples. Kedar had a game of carrom with the locals. He was unable to understand why the locals were wearing sun glasses while playing. Soon a breeze greeted his eyes, and it brought powder on the carrom along with it. All his concerns were answered.
We boarded or bus and left back at Kund. At Kund our lodge was around 500 meters below the road, and We had no strength to climb down. Some how we managed to reach down. We already were late and after refreshment we had little snacks and went back to our rooms. Later we had dinner in the night. We had a discussion about next days plan and should we carry Dhyara along with us. Since we would encounter snow on our way to Chandrashila peak.
We came back to our rooms. Me, Kedar and Kaustubh and had a chat regarding the day, and about few of their extraordinary friends. Kedar shared some of his friend - Anirban stories, which fell never ending. Kaustubh shared story of his genius friend in US, and how did he rescued the neighboring girls in US from a housebreaker who was under drug influence. t was a tiring day and we fell asleep soon. We were not sure if we could climb Chandrashila tomorrow because of today's exertion. Good Night.
16 April 2014 - Day 5 - Trek to Tunganath and Summit Chandrasheela.
Good morning. We are not feeling tired as we were expected to feel. We woke up early and reported to our dining room asap. We had to start early if we want to make up to Chandrasheela peak. Otherwise the climate will devoid us the experience of reaching there.
The plan was fixed- climb as fast as you can.We started our journey to Chopta by bus. Chopta is also called Mini Switzerland and is start of journey to Tunganath/Chandrasheela summit 4000M. As the bus started climbing the ghats of Chopta the size of Rhodo dendron plants was decreasing. At Chopta it was at height of a shrub. We reached Chopta and started our ascend.
Tunganath is one of 5 Kedars, and the sixth one we had brought with us.
It is a pilgrimage center and hence the road was made up of concrete. The road was surrounded by medium forest and soon we reached a meadow. This was the place which really was like mini Switzerland, and we could see snow clad mountains around. We had some clicks and started climbing.
Soon we had snow scattered around us. Mean while Dhyara was uncomfortable and started crying. Also there were mild showers. We took a shade in shop on the way, which is not operational this time of the year. We had lunch from our packs, by the time Dhyara could settle up.
After waiting here for some time we decided to leave Dhyara and Beena with a guide
Now we had to walk on snow, and I had lost confidence since my socks were wet and cold and I could not firm my foot. But I carried on and soon we reached the Tunganath temple.
The Tunganath temple was closed, so we had some pics outside the temple.
Now the weather had started getting bad, and we were sure it was going to play spoil sport. We took a shade in the nearby non-operational shop. We made fire. Dhyara's condition was worsening coz of cold.
We were willing to go to Chandrasheela peak but we unitedly decided to give it up, since weather was worsening and we did not want to go against it.
Soon we were back to shop where we had taken shelter. We had some fire to warm up Dhyara, and shoon she was improving. By the time rain had started and we had to wait for some more time. We had our remaining lunch and then moved after rain reduced.
Within half an hour we were back to chopta. It was around 4-0 clock and we had some tea. Kedar and Sumeet were having a talk with big moustach man who claimed he was Mr Negi. We boarded our bus and moved back to Kund. Just before moving Sumeet lost his smart phone and he could not locate it. He had to leave it behind. By now Dhyara was fit and fine and we were relaxed looking at her. We sung some songs on the way back.
Near Ukhimath, Sham along with Ravi got down the bus as they had vomiting sensation. They came all the way walking.
On reaching Kund we were planning to have a hot water bath like last night, but there were no lights and we had to manage without bathing.
We had some Pakodas for evening snacks, had our dinner at night and fell asleep. Next days plan was to wake up late reach Jayalgarh and relax. River rafting was planned one day after tomorrow.
17 April 2014 - Day 6 - Move to Jayalgarh.
Good morning, we woke up a bit late as it was day to relax, but soon David informed us that we will have to do rafting today itself as rafts will be unavailable tomorrow. So we somehow managed to move quickly and boarded bus to move to Jayalgarh. On our way back we clicked some pics of devastated buildings on the way.We reached Srinagar where rafts were waiting for us. After some initial directions from our rafting guide we boarded 1 raft. One kayak followed us in case of saving is needed. Beena had to miss it as Dhyara was with her.
Rafting was a wonderful experience, and we started with chaos, and finally synchronized our effort. Then few of us had a dip in water on the way. It was a chilling and electrifying experience. It was more chilling when they climbed back to the Raft.
The Raft suddenly started moving fast, and we had no clue why! Soon we realized that the people who had a dip needed some heat, and so they were rowing with all the energy they had.
Now we were tired of rowing, and all wanted to reach the Jayalgar hotel. After reaching our camp site at Jayalgarh we left the rafts, and Sham, Beena, Dhyara, manish and Pallavi did some improvisation of rafting, just for sake of photo session and giving Beena the feel of rafting. You will not find pictures of people who actually did some rafting, but you can find pictures of improvisation.
The camp site at Jayalgarh was washed away in last years floods, but Gio and Himalayan eco lodges had come up with innovative idea of providing delux tents. They were really nice and cozy with attached toilets and bathroom. The tents were full since a big group of students on rafting tour had come around. Kedar and Sham were behaving like Hapaplele people.
We had a nice bath with hot water, had some tea and snacks. Then we played ball with Dhyara. Sham had asked the owner if we can have some fresh fish to eat for the dinner, but the owner said that since it was a conserved area, fishing was not allowed.
So we decided to improvise fishing. Sham was the one with idea, and he did not even care for asking others if he can borrow their shoe-lace for the task. Thanks I caught Kaustubh while removing my Shoe-lace. Luckily I had a nadi, and it was big enough. So we created a fishing rod, tied the nadi to it, attached an open safety pin and a plastic ball at one of its end. We inserted a chana at end of the pin and we all were set for fishing.
In our first attempt the ball that was attached moved away, and we had to tie an empty bottle so that the string can float. We tried hard, but the fishes outsmarted us. The made sure to eat the chana and still not get trapped.
It was dark and we decided to move back to our camp site, since it is risky to be away in the jungle without a guide around.
Our dinner was getting ready, till the time we were having some of the farsan item we had with us. Then we had our dinner.
After dinner, we decided to have a chat in the garden. Throughout the trip we had not had a time to have after dinner conversations. We were either tired or had a pressure of waking up early. Tonight was a different case.
The manager of the hotel was caring enough to ask us if we wanted something, He was expecting a Rum/ doctors brandy demand from us. Or may be a tea or a coffee. But to everyone's surprise we all asked for a Garam dudh and haldi. This proves that if Kedar does not drink daru then no one else is interested in drinking. This also proves that he was the gandi machli in the group which is on verge of becoming acchi machli. Thus he has proved wrong - the proverb - "Ek Gandi machli pure talaab ko ganda bana deti hai.". Instead more applicable proverb should be - "Aammon ko dekhkar Kharbuja bhi rang badal deta hai". ;)
I do not remember much of the discussions we had that night, but after having the discussions of future plans of trek and picnic we decided to have a sleep. Today's was the last day of the trek, and we were feeling satisfied. Tomorrow we would be leaving back for home, where my child is waiting for her father to come back rejuvenated.
Good night.
18 April 2014 - Day 6 - Move back to Haridwar and back home
We woke up a little late since we had to leave by 12. The other group was ready for rafting. They would be having 3 more days of rafting experience. While having our breakfast, we were enjoying kids go rafting. they were really enjoying and doing masti, the way we used to do when we were their age.
We left back to our tents for getting ready and pack our bags. By 12 we all were ready, to have a little lunch. Then we all left by 13:00 to reach Haridwar.
Don't think the trip has come to an end. We had a lot more fun travelling back to Haridwar.
Our plan was simple, reach Haridwar station 2 hours early do some shopping if needed, then have some Kachoris and lassi and then board the train at 18:50.
The bus seemed to be moving on time. We were enjoying back the route we had come by, along the banks of Alaknanda river. And the Ganges at Dev prayag. We took a short break just ahead of Shiv puri, and then moved ahead. We took a small tea break near Rishikesh, where the bus driver got the tyres refilled.
We had almost reached Haridwar and suddenly our tyre exploded. It was already 17:00 and now it was a bit risky since we may reach late. The driver changed the tyere in 10-15 mins. And we were back on wheels. But now the traffic had increased a lot. We were wondering if we could make it.
The driver managed to make it by 17:30 to the railway station. Our shopping plans were already devastated. So we took all our luggage to the platform where the train was expected top arrive. And myself, Kedar, and Kaustubh decided to go and buy lassi and Kachori. Others would board the luggage in the coach.
The train name - Haridwar LTT superfast exp - 12172.
We 3 decided to run to the shop. For our surprise the Kachoris were finished, so we bought some samosas and Lassi in plastic cups. We had to run back to catch the train in time.
We reached our coach and were surprised since the bogie was not specious enough. My and sumeets seat was in next compartment. No one around us was ready to adjust so we dcided that we would go for sleep over there.
Forgot to mention - Last night Kedar was trying to call his friend in Delhi where he was going to stay. But he did no pick up the phone. Kedar was going to get down at H. Nizamuddin for catching the flight to Banglore. Finally we had managed to convince him to come with us to Kalyan. He agreed, but now the problem was his ticket was only till H. Nizamuddin. So we decide we will do some Jugaad with TC.
By now we were settled and it was time to have some Lassi and Samosas. The lassis had spilled over within the plastic pag, so myself and Kaustubh did some bottle fill up session near the wash basin, in order to avoid wastage. Finally 80% lassi was in our bottles, 10% in our stomach and 10% wasted. Good going Ktube.
Nut to our surprise no one credited our effort, instead we were cursed for lassi, as it was a bit bitter. We enjoyed Samosas and lassi and game of playing cards. Then we ordered some food for night. Which was not good at all. Finally we left to sleep. Kedar managed to lie down between 2 seats. Me and Sumeet left for our seats.
In the night Kedar managed the TC by paying fine and getting an extension in the first class. He is a rich man. I'm sure the trip must have costed him atleast twice what it costed others.
Our plan was simple, reach Haridwar station 2 hours early do some shopping if needed, then have some Kachoris and lassi and then board the train at 18:50.
The bus seemed to be moving on time. We were enjoying back the route we had come by, along the banks of Alaknanda river. And the Ganges at Dev prayag. We took a short break just ahead of Shiv puri, and then moved ahead. We took a small tea break near Rishikesh, where the bus driver got the tyres refilled.
We had almost reached Haridwar and suddenly our tyre exploded. It was already 17:00 and now it was a bit risky since we may reach late. The driver changed the tyere in 10-15 mins. And we were back on wheels. But now the traffic had increased a lot. We were wondering if we could make it.
The driver managed to make it by 17:30 to the railway station. Our shopping plans were already devastated. So we took all our luggage to the platform where the train was expected top arrive. And myself, Kedar, and Kaustubh decided to go and buy lassi and Kachori. Others would board the luggage in the coach.
The train name - Haridwar LTT superfast exp - 12172.
We 3 decided to run to the shop. For our surprise the Kachoris were finished, so we bought some samosas and Lassi in plastic cups. We had to run back to catch the train in time.
We reached our coach and were surprised since the bogie was not specious enough. My and sumeets seat was in next compartment. No one around us was ready to adjust so we dcided that we would go for sleep over there.
Forgot to mention - Last night Kedar was trying to call his friend in Delhi where he was going to stay. But he did no pick up the phone. Kedar was going to get down at H. Nizamuddin for catching the flight to Banglore. Finally we had managed to convince him to come with us to Kalyan. He agreed, but now the problem was his ticket was only till H. Nizamuddin. So we decide we will do some Jugaad with TC.
By now we were settled and it was time to have some Lassi and Samosas. The lassis had spilled over within the plastic pag, so myself and Kaustubh did some bottle fill up session near the wash basin, in order to avoid wastage. Finally 80% lassi was in our bottles, 10% in our stomach and 10% wasted. Good going Ktube.
Nut to our surprise no one credited our effort, instead we were cursed for lassi, as it was a bit bitter. We enjoyed Samosas and lassi and game of playing cards. Then we ordered some food for night. Which was not good at all. Finally we left to sleep. Kedar managed to lie down between 2 seats. Me and Sumeet left for our seats.
In the night Kedar managed the TC by paying fine and getting an extension in the first class. He is a rich man. I'm sure the trip must have costed him atleast twice what it costed others.
19 April 2014 - Day 6 - In the train towards Mumbai
We woke up at around 8 and assembled at the place of majority. We had a bakwas tea. With last night experience we decided not to buy anything from the train. So we decided to buy at the next big junction whch was about to arrive. I think it was Bhopal. We had lot many things to buy, so we had to move well planned. The moment train slowed down at the station, we were out of the train to buy stuff. Thanks to mumbai for training us to get down of running train.
We bought lots of things, from lunch, to cold-drinks and water to idli, to sandwiches, and omlettes. Finally we ate all of them though not tasty, but were worth our effort. Then we decided to have a nice afternoon sleep, before Sumeet leaves.
It was time say goodbye to Sumeet as Bhusaval had arrived. And we all got down at the platform to say alvida mere dost. Then we treated sumeet with Bananas, and Wadapav and Baingan rassa. Though the vadapav was bakwaas, the rassa was good. We also had some unpleasantly memorable bhajis. Sumeet would be catching a passenger to Surat from here. Boring journey travelling alone and that too in Passenger, and with smartphone lost. Sigh!
I decided to get down at Nashik road, As I wanted to meet Kshiti at the earliest. At around 8:30 pm Nashik road arrived. It was time to say goodbye to all, as the journey was ending and as a writer this would be end of the blog.
Good bye all, and lets have such wonderful adventures again soon.
Later I caught the bus to pune where I got a horrible sleeping top berth at end of the bus. I decided to sit beside the driver. I reached pune around 3 am, and it took some time to ask Kshiti to forgive me for being away for 10 days. These 10 days she refused to talk with me on phone as she was angry. It was after I said sorry she forgive me and had a wonderful smile on her face.
It was time say goodbye to Sumeet as Bhusaval had arrived. And we all got down at the platform to say alvida mere dost. Then we treated sumeet with Bananas, and Wadapav and Baingan rassa. Though the vadapav was bakwaas, the rassa was good. We also had some unpleasantly memorable bhajis. Sumeet would be catching a passenger to Surat from here. Boring journey travelling alone and that too in Passenger, and with smartphone lost. Sigh!
I decided to get down at Nashik road, As I wanted to meet Kshiti at the earliest. At around 8:30 pm Nashik road arrived. It was time to say goodbye to all, as the journey was ending and as a writer this would be end of the blog.
Good bye all, and lets have such wonderful adventures again soon.
Later I caught the bus to pune where I got a horrible sleeping top berth at end of the bus. I decided to sit beside the driver. I reached pune around 3 am, and it took some time to ask Kshiti to forgive me for being away for 10 days. These 10 days she refused to talk with me on phone as she was angry. It was after I said sorry she forgive me and had a wonderful smile on her face.
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