"The land north of Gangadwar
is known to the wise as Paradise Ground. Apart from this land, the rest is
called Earth elsewhere.” ~ Himalayas!
Here is my tale trekking the Himalayas..
Kedarkantha Peak. One such trekking would need lot of planning and dedication
to make it a success with flying colors. But trust me folks, the satisfaction
you get once you are back to your cosy beds and think of all the beauty and
serene mountains you saw, it’s incomparable to all the hardships you took to
trek. Especially in Himalayas!
This is how it started...
After my first real time
trekking experience with my friends to Roopkund, I am kind off addicted to trek
these snow capped mountains. Though I am the least exp’d and amateur in this
world of trekking, it’s HIMALAYAS. You can never be in your cities and jobs
without thinking of it once in a week and crave to see it once again.
My wife and I were thinking
to travel somewhere on leisure and trekking to Kedarkantha struck my mind.
Though sceptical since it is her first such trek if she joins, I just suggested
the plan. Luckily she showed interest and planning started.... First task was
to choose a location. She being a first timer, I couldn’t choose something
tough or challenging. And also we had very less time to prepare on our physical
fitness. After 2 days of Google and various websites help, we finalised
Kedarkantha peak (Easy to Moderate difficulty & 4 days of trekking) which
suited our plan. Then comes the company / group we shall join for this trek, I
couldn’t get slots for our dates in YHAI and India Hikes (reputed groups).
Finally found one group “Himalayan Trekkers” which suited all our requirements.
Trekking, flights, buses, travel bookings were done. Phew! One leap to our
trekking the Mt :)
“Chasing angels or fleeing
demons, go to the mountains.” - Jeffery Rasley
Next comes packing – We
carefully choose not to overload our self. Maintained minimum 4 layers of
clothing and one thick jacket. Gloves, woollen socks, trekking shoes came to
the basics. Thanks to my brother Vinay for lending few things which came very
handy while bag packing. The things to carry were check listed, ticked, piled
in one side of the room just to make sure we do not miss anything.. After all,
we shall be in some remote place of India... fear factor - happens isn’t?
We started on Dec 19th
– Let me be very crisp!! Thanks to my little brother Mohan..
-- Got up early...
packed the rucksack ... took a lengthy bath (we won’t for next 6 days)
- Mohan’s car drove
us to Airport ... reached Delhi
- Now what?
Dammit... our bus to Dehradun was at night 11 PM and we are in Jantar Mantar time passing on the lawn...
- Swati’s
brilliance – Movie ( 3hrs exact passed)
- Took a bus to
Dehradun – Trust me guys, Uttrakhand Volvo’s are good for a night sleep. Dehradun to Sankri starts ->
Rana bandhu a
cabbie drives all of us to Sankri.
Sankri is one tiny village in
the North West Uttrakhand. It ends in one road and that’s the world for the
people in Sankri. I have lot to say on people we met, I have lot of thank you’s
to be written to those wonderful people of Sankri which will come as days pass :)
From left - Myself, Swati, Anirban Deb, Arpan Roy, Anirban Chakladar, Santanu Pathak, Santanu Banerjee
On the 21st
morning in Sankri, batch of 7 trekkers including Swati and myself start off to
climb the peak Kedarkantha along with our guide Chan Singh Rana. Day 1 was
tiring... we exp’d snowy paths, slippery edges, wet mud etc making our climb
little bit challenging. At around 2 PM we reached our first day stop point
“Jula Talab”. And it’s wow.. The Talab (pond) was all frozen; pine trees
covered with snow around the talab was beautiful. We all grouped, acclimatized,
played with other camp members and yes, it was all fun and sleep post dinner
inside our freezing tent at -3 degree Celsius. Uufff that fire outside our camp
area was life.
22nd morning –
Started towards our next stop point. Well, this is bit tricky – reason? More
snow, more slippery, lesser temperatures. But happy moment is we heard our next
camp site “Luhasu” is just 2 hrs climb and it was. Joy moments indeed... Luhasu
is the base camp site for the Kedarkantha peak. Let me explain a bit of this
base camp site. 5-6 ft snow, freezing as
usual, open valley for the chill breeze in plenty, congested due to many people
camping at the same time. It was a long day spent at this place... again that
fire lit outside saved us all. Thanks to Chan Singh, he broke all the rules
according to other trekking groups, still we lived warm that day... :P
23rd morning –
Plan was to start our trek to the peak by 5 AM to avoid the melting snow while
climbing down. All of us woke up at 4 AM and right on time, we started with
small torches in the path to see that majestic peak which we all were waiting
for... travelled from different parts of the country that day just to touch
that tip. It was a great exp to say... -10 degree Celsius.. Moonlight.. 7
trekkers ... snow up to your ankle ... :)
We reached .... We reached
.... see below the view. Man! Didn’t I say in the first – it’s addictive?
In all this rush hush, I had
forgotten one very important task ie: drinking water. This is a vital element
which keeps your body hydrated and also to get acclimatized in the altitude. I
started getting stomach cramps. Swati since day 1 she had bad cold and cough.
Poor she, climbed till the peak with all this.. Seriously a commendable job by
a first timer. And mistake of mine, brought me down so soon.. I started puking
and stomach cramps and added to it hiccups. We both decided, with this
condition we shall not be in the position to camp for a night on the peak (Jula
Talab it was). It’s better take some pain and reach Sankri the same day. After
approval from Chan Singh, we started climbing down. I was scared of my
condition... I couldn’t figure out, was it a food related issue or AMS. Started
our journey to Sankri at 1 PM ...
On the way back to the base
camp, believe it or not, it was one of the most romantic sights anyone can see
in their lifetime. It was just both of us climbing down, huffing puffng with
all the illness we have but outside us, it was a valley, it was a small ice
path, it was full of life, it was snowing, it was marvellous. I tried my best
to click some pictures but we were running short of time. At any cost we should
be reaching the base by 5 PM to avoid darkness and bad weather. However we both
were, the scenic path down of ours is one of the most beautiful I have seen and
I recommend the readers to try it once to be mesmerized.
We reached Sankri at 5:30 PM
due to our slow pace and very slippery track. If you all want to know, in
Sankri there is a man named Rajan who runs a lodge and rents his property to
trek groups. But for Swati and me he was a life saver. No wonder I like people
from Garhwal region – sweet, caring and always ready to help. Once we reached
his place, first thing he did was keep us calm by telling “kuch nahi hoga, aap
tension kyun lete ho... yeh sab toh common hai”. This was something we needed
after a lonely 4 hrs walk and fear of losing out completely on health. He
immediately called a local doctor, arranged for hot water for my hiccups,
tablets, food and neat room with blankets. I love this man and I thank him for
all his being human nature. On a lighter note, I am not sure how this linked...
my body acted weird. I used to drink water, hiccups used to stop, I wanted to
pee and before I even close my zip, hiccup starts.. WTF? I hated this....
however, all went fine later on and by 9 PM we both were having a cosy sleep
with temperature outside 4 degrees Celsius.
Ah! I am so tempted to end
this long story, but how can I miss our journey back and some of my praises to
the people in Uttrakhand’s way of life... how I cherished them all.. :)
One love, One heart, One
destiny.. ~Bob Marley
To keep it short though, we
left Sankri next day ie: 25th Dec by 8 AM, reached Dehradun by
evening 6 PM. A journey filled with pain in muscles, ouch ouch sounds in the
cab, Swati’s motion sickness made her puke 2 times. phew... so much! Well, in
Dehradun our condition is this – No bath for 6 days, tired, big dirty back
pack, muddy shoes, just want to sit somewhere and relax. Our bus to Delhi was
at 10 PM and we have 4 hours to pass time, we thought let’s try sweets and
local street food of Dehradun and also walk a bit closer to bus terminal.
Gulped some golgappas, had sweets, momos and that filled our stomach very much
to survive till morning. Interesting about people there, they extend their helping
hands so much that we so called metro crowd get scared of being taken for a
ride and get cheated. Truly, it’s not that, people help travellers because
every household there is directly or indirectly depend on the travelling crowd
and they have learnt it so well, never kick your own eating plate J Anyway – coming to my experiences, Swati and me were walking on road,
one guy voluntarily calls me up to say “bhai, apko fresh hona hai toh waha ek
dharmashala hai, chale jao.. rooms pe paise karch na karro” (isn’t this
sweet?). While we are walking, to check on the route we stopped by a local pan
shop, an old uncle in his 70’s probably, helped me with route and 500 rs
change. Later, he forced us to take “Vikram” a local shared auto which ply’s
around the city. His version was, why you need to spend money on rick’s and
taxis when you can go in just 20 rs till your bus terminal. Wow feeling!! Crazy
uh, this Vikram driver was another example of being a true professional. Our
ride fare was 17 rs and I gave him 20 rs and offered to keep the change. I
might have got slapped for being so negligent and casual :P he almost fought
with me to collect my 3 rs change back. Oh god! I pray to god, these people
never travel to big cities. They are complete, happy and lovely in their own
way and for us it’s a treat to watch. In metro’s people just want to take
advantage of tourists and here I was treated so well by these people. I was no
one to all of them... I might not see them again... but they made a print in my
mind... thoughts... life! J To conclude, thanks Chan Singh, Rajan, Rana
Bandhu and above 2 unknown people who helped us when we needed in their own
style.
Dehradun to Delhi was a
peaceful drive in the bus, caught up with a room, freshend up our self
completely.. God! Heaven after 6 days. Had a heavy lunch and took our flight
back to home sweet home :)
With this I finish my story
telling on our Kedarkantha trekking, situations we faced and warmth we felt. By
doing all this, I just carried back a refreshed life filled with lots of love
to people and family. I wish to do such travels many many more and keep sharing
my thoughts to my near and dear ones.
Cheers!
“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.” ~ Marcel Proust
