Travel

2009-10-31T19:54:00.003+05:30

RoopKund

2008-11-11T20:04:00.000+05:30

My last trek to Har Ki Dun in Winters has done given us confidence and now by this I gather decent amount of information about Uttarakhand Trek regions. This time we were looking for the trek which is above 4000 mts altitude and also we should be exposed to some tenting experience. On IndiaMike Arjun post on Roopkund Trek has already become so active and now it is single point of source for all infomation about Roopkund.
So we choose Roopkund and started our study.Roopkund only is a small trek one way 30 Km or so ...when we started out research we found we can go beyond roopkund and cover some other areas as well. Very few have done that.After discussion amongst us we plan to cover Ronti Saddle/Homkund etc.

For people who are not familiar with Roopkund, its a small lake at an altitude of 4400 meters , frozen most time of year ,fed by glaceirs from Mt Trishul.This lake had been famous because of discovery of bones and articles of some 300 peoples. Local peopla has their own tale behind this mystery which connects to local Gods .They have a annual festival for this and once in 12 year they have a meag festival called NandaDevi Raj Jat Yatra. National Geographic has even made a documentary on this 'The Skelton lake' , check on NGC India website about its schedule ..it is broadcasted once in a month or so. Even Wikipedia has a page for Roopkund. Nothing yet has been found that 'who were those people and what they were doing there?'

So here is our plan. Since this is going to be a tough trek where we would be spending 48 hours above 4000 meters , we have to be ready physically. Everybody started spending some time in running/jogging etc .

Now lets introduce to you the team we have:

1) Chitrang Srivastava ( myself leading the team )
2) Kshitish ( we call him KK)
3) Roopesh ( he is most fit guy in our team and ran up/down from hills quiet easily)
4) Asok Sadan (KK Friend...his first trek camera guy)
5) Tarun ( we call him TG, when it comes to hills he is crazy and my all time trek partner)
6) Saurabh ( my friend from NeoMagic..no he hasn't done any trek in Himalayas before but asked me to include the future trek after seeing pics of our earlier trek..he is from Bangalore)

Pindari Glacier Trek

2008-06-08T13:42:00.000+05:30

Day 1 (23rd May) : Delhi - Kathgodam
Day 2 (24th May): Kathgodam - Loharket
Day 3 (25th May): Loharket - Dhakuri
Day 4 (26th May): Dhakuri - Dwali
Day 5 (27th May): Dwali - Phurkiya
Day 6 (28th May): Phurkiya - Zero Point -Phurkiya
Day 7 (29th May): Phurkiya - Khati
Day 8 (30th May): Khati - Dhakuri
Day 9 (31st May): Dhakuri - Loharket - Almora
Day 10(1st June): Almora - Kathgodam- Delhi

Har Ki Dun

2007-02-07T21:43:00.000+05:30

It's year end, I was thinking of celebrating in a trekking way. In first part of '06 I had hardly taken any leaves so all that piled up and it gave me an excuse to go for vacations, plus this year I developed the hobby of trekking . Ever since I saw Prashant's blog of HKD in Feb end , I wanted to do HKD in lots of snow. Normally people do HKD from April-September/October . At the time the greenery of HKD is very enchanting. Have a look here . Local's says it is better than Valley of Flower. We have to come in post-monsoon to believe this. Prashant is a brave man , he trekked alone everywhere. But I dont have that courgage so as always I tossed this plan in my office . I got Tarun from Hardware team who is as enthusiastic as me with belive that every things are possible if planned properly. Next thing is to get a good guide . IndiaMike archive helped so much. This is the best forum for trekking in Indian Himalays . The member are so experinced and you will get information on everything like equipments,gears,guides etc. We get a number of guide Chain Singh Rawat who assure us about the trek possibilty in winters. Now we have plan everything (foods, trekking gears etc) . After some reasearch , we brought Jackets, Sleeping bags, gloves, socks,ruck sack etc from Stikage. Then we prepare a master list which contains every useful items. Have look here. Its really handy for us. Accomodation , we talked with guide, he said it will arranged in GMVN all the way to HKD. According to our orignal plan we intend to do Kedarkanta also that require tenting. So we asked guide to rannge for us. Itinerary : This is not what we had planned. Look the master list , but due to weather and other member fallen sick we have to do this.

Day 1 : New Delhi -DehraDoon (Train)

Day 2 : Dehradoon -Sankri (Taxi)

Day 3 : Sankri - Taluka

Day 4: Taluka - Seema

Day 5 : Seema - Har ki Dun

Day 6: HKD - Seema

Day 7: Seema - Taluka

Day 8 : Taluka-Sankri- Chakrata

Day 9 : Chakrata - Deowan- Chakrata

Day 10 : Chakrata - Mussorie

Day 11 : Mussori -Dehradoon - New Delhi

Courtsey : Stikage

Full Garhwal Map
Har ki Dun on WikiMapia

Guides for HKD Region
Get the Doc file for your planning

Guide for Har ki Dun

2007-01-22T23:05:00.000+05:30

Khajan Singh : He can take you from DDN Railway Station..and take all the way to Sankri..
+919411734579
Chandan Rana:01375234315,09411380818,01373234415,

Day 10 (Sunday : 31st December "06 Chakrata-Mussorie) & Day 11 (Monday,1st January'07:Mussorie-Dehradoon-New Delhi)

2007-01-21T23:27:00.000+05:30

Day 9 ( Saturday : 30th December : Chakrata -Deowan -Chakrata)

2007-01-20T00:12:00.001+05:30

Day 11 (Chakrata- Mussorie)

Day 8 ( Friday : 29th December"06 Taluka - Sankri - Chakrata)

2007-01-19T18:35:00.000+05:30

Day 9 (Chakrata -Deowan- Chakrata)

Day 7 ( Thrusday: 28th December Seema -Taluka )

2007-01-19T15:44:00.000+05:30

Day 8 (Taluka-Sankri-Chakrata)

Day 6 ( Wednesday:27th December"06 HKD -Seema : 13 Kms)

2007-01-09T19:58:00.000+05:30

I woke up at 8 AM, according to our orignal plan today is our explore/rest day at HKD. I went outside sun is up in full bloom , I have to quickly take out my polariod glass as the light from snow is getting reflcted birght .

Valley is calm, Supin river is flowing in gentle pace , chilly winds are blowing , all peaks including Swargarohni I II are all visible , Jamdhar Glacier.

After talking to Chandan Rana we decided that we can't go any further from here (Munindra Tal, Jamdhar glacier etc) as it their will more feets of snows , so lets return to Seema . After break fast we left for Seema at 11:30 AM.

Day 7 (Seema - Taluka)

Day 5 ( Tuesday:26th December"06 Seema -HKD: 13 Kms Trek)

2007-01-09T19:32:00.000+05:30

I woke up at 7 AM, just to check the weather from balcony . It's all cloudy , not agood sign for trek.
I asked porters to prepare hot water . As Tarun is not coming for the final leg ,his condition deterioate he is staying in Seema , we keep aside some food for him and requested a guy to take care of him.
We started breakfast at 9:30 AM , very soon some flakes of snow reached us which snows that it snow fall happening in mountains . Speculations started for last leg, Chandan Rana and other are saying no to HKD ,but we insists .

Pony will not work after Seema , so we hire 3 more porters from Osla village. We started at 10:30 AM . Weather is all coludy no mountain peaks are visible today. After an hour of climb it started snow fall anway we keep marching . At Kalkati Dhar ( 7 Kms from Seema) Guide asked us to return as now the snow fall is heavy and visibility is getting lower. We said no and asked them to keep moving . After Kalkati dhar the path is all in snow , 2 feet deep . Fortunately the woodland shoes we have are very good and they save us from snow getting inside.

Snow fall is getting heavier , with low visibility .We keep on moving it relatively easy as compared to ice to walk on snow . thankfully no ice laden path in route.

Its 3:30 , everybody was hungy on relying on chocolates, no sign of weather getting clear , we keep marching ahead , we dont have any proper lunch , we have to strive on biscuit,chocolates, toffee and glucose .

At 5 PM we finally saw a marking "Welocme to HKD" on a rock. This is the entrance of valley. Weather is getting better, a nice litlle wind is taking clouds away , we saw blue sky finally, sun is welcomming us at HKD . Chandan Rana gave us some prasad kind of stuff .

That moment looks like GOD himself is greeting us at HKD with clear weather .

All were happy to enter in valley looks very beautiful in all snow, Its a life time experince for us to reach here in December end. Its the time for sun set, we clicked few pics . The batteries are draining fastly due to low temperature.

At HKD its 4 feet of snow,the GMVN TRH is another kilometer from the welcome point. Its getting chiller , every body to sit around the fire place. Finally we reached TRH at 6 PM.

We had hot tea , put double jacket , have some boiled eggs and then some chit chat.

I went outside in night and the scene is beyond explanations, the weather is all clear, stars are shining, all the mountains are snow covered , White moon light reflcted from snow looks as if thousands of tube lights are embedded in mountains glowing in dim light . Wind is blowing fastly and the temperature could be around -40 or so .
I tried to capture the moment in my camera but failed to do so .
Anyway here is pic from flickr which can closely discribe the scene.
I asked everybody to catch a once in life time experince outside.

Getting Ready..Girish scared of previous days black ice

Seema GMVN TRH

Moments of Joys !

Local Diety temple..we prayed here for our success..

And moments of agony..guys exhausted with uphill trekk.

At Kalkati Dhar..snow fall getting more and more..

during the trekk

Need break..

snow fall getting denser

signs of weather getting clear

Har ki Dun

Day 6 ( HKD- Seema)

Day 4 ( Monday:25th December"06 Taluka -Seema-17 Kms Trek)

2007-01-09T18:50:00.000+05:30

10:10 AM seems to be perfect time for our start. Every night we slept with a promise to start the next trek at 8 AM . Weather was so chilly that nobody came out of their bed early. then breakfast . Today's trek as the guide said is going to be a bit tough .The normal Taluka-Seema route is broken so we have to trek via Dhatmeer which is on some height . Meaning we have to trek up and then down . The pony and porters goes before us . Initial 2-3 km trek was easy and then the route diverst for Dhatmeer village and the normal Seema route.

At Dhatmeer an accident occured a week agao. A little girl was playing with matchstick and some how it caught fire . Many villagers home got burnt . Government has given some compensation. People are really sad in ths village .

Crossing Dhatmeer we encountered first snow and icy path , everybody was glad to see snow atlast. As usual trek goes like a roller-coaster way up/down , we took some break prepared Glucose , had some chocolates etc . We wern't carrying any lunch .

We met a Dutch couple who was coming from HKD , they told us that they aborth the plan because of deep snow and weather. That scared us a bit but we have firm believe that we can make it .

We met many villagers on the way to Osla(Seema) . In January the path are going to closed due to heavy snowfall so the people are stocking the food items . We asked the way to Seema from them as our guide is accompanying Tarun who was not well and also his speed is slow.

We reached Gangad village at around 4 PM , weather tunred cloudy and according to villagers it might rain/snowfall. We are not prepared for any rainfall so speed-up , some local's say that you would reach Seema around 7 PM. and its gonna dark. So again we speed-up. 500 meters before Seema we faced the longest stretch of ice (bar-glass) . Somewhere it is inclined , it was really diffcult to cross that , some of us hold the mountain side and then put the steps on pebbles .

Finally we reached Seema at 6 PM. It was already dark. Pony and porters has already arrived and they prepared hot tea , a fire place was already up. It was getting chill as the night progressed. Seema is on the opposite side of Osla village. Seema has just a GMVN TRH and few hotel , today it was all deserted as this is not the tourist season. Only rshing water of Supin river is heard in roar.

Their is no news of Tarun, Sanjeev and guide. we thought they might take rest in village in mid. I asked the proter to start cooking meals and reast of us checked-in the luggage in dormitory of GMVN.

After 8:30 PM we heard a whistle ( our way of communication) , tarun and all have finally reached .

Everybody had dinner. End of a tiring day. Tommorow the last and most important league of trek .

Day 5 ( Seema - HKD )

Day 3 (Sunday:24 December'06 Sankri -Taluka- 10 Km Trek)

2007-01-07T22:47:00.000+05:30

We slept with a promise to start the trek at 8 AM but with groups you can't . Their is always some late comer's . The weather is bright and sunny . For all our luggage , the guide say it would take 7 porters !!! , that gonna costs so much per day plus their foods also.
I quickly asked Guide for the Pony. Guide was not in a mood for that, then I decided to go to the village and look for pony myself . Finally I got the pony in 200 per day . We took 2 ponies.

Har ki dun is becoming a very popular trekking destination. Commercialisation has already started lots of agencies trying to take benefit . If you have luggage do take pony , even if you are going in winter you can take pony till Seema although at some places you will find ICE but pony guy will manage. Guides only want to make money. In summers you can take pony all the way to HKD that will be much cheaper .Few NGO's has been etablished . Do take guide if you are going in some off season , their are so many village en-route and you might lost the way.

One more thing I noticed do talk in adavnce these guys are smart they charged you on parav(destination) basis . Suppose you wanna do Sakri-Seema in one day(possible if start at 7 AM) porter will charge you for double .

Ok on travel plans we finally end up with 1 Guide, 2 porter and 2 pony. The first 4 Kms was done by Mahindra Commander Jeep . We started at 10 AM.
Reached Taluka at 2 :30 PM checked-in at GMVN nothing to do . Fortunately Taluka has a functioning dhaba so we had lunch, dinner and again in full gears at around 9 PM.

Starting the Trek

Mssive Landslide broke the Sankri-Taluka motorable Road

Nice Sunny Day for Trek

Some part are diffcult to trek this is one of them ; huge landslide

Rest is easy flat walk; enjoying Govind Forest Sanctuary.

Kedarkanta Peak

Taluka GMVN

Fortunately the dhaba at Taluka is operating so we dont have to open our ration.

GMVN Dormitory.

Swargarohni peaks in evening from Taluka Balcony (380mm zoom)

Day 4 ( Taluka - Seema )

Day 2 (Saturday:23rd December Dehradoon - Sankri by Taxi 220 Kms)

2007-01-07T22:32:00.000+05:30

Not 4 Am but we managed to start at 6 AM . After breakfast it was already 7. We reached Mussorie around 9 AM purchased some left over items .
The path we are gonna take is
Dehradoon - Mussorie- Nainbag-Naugaon- Damta- Purola-Mori- Sankri.
The drive was all along river Yamuna . Between Purola and Mori ,River Tons, One of the major tributaries of Yamuna was flowing and on the both pine trees making driver wondeful. Mori is also a famous rafting spot.We reached Mori at 2 and after some quick lunch we headed for Sankri. We know its getting late . A truck got stuck in a pit causes further delay . Finally we reached at 4 PM and met our guide Chandan Singh Rana. He told us its not possible to go Taluka today as it will be dark pretty soon and it would take atleast 2 hrs to reach so decided to stay in Sankri.

After taking Dormitory in GMVN we looked for other arrangement done by Guide (Kerosene, Stove, vegetables,eggs, utensils and some extra rice, pulses and flour.

It getting chilled by evening ,we did simple dinner and back to beds.This is our first night in hills , and we start thinking whts gonna happen at HKD. Everybody slept in fullgears socks, monkey caps, gloves .

Day 3 ( Sankri - Taluka)

Day 1 (Friday: 22nd December'06-New Delhi - Dehradoon-250 Kms -Train)

2007-01-07T22:20:00.000+05:30

In all total 7 members are finalised .
Me(Chitrang), Tarun, Girish, Sanjeev(Tarun's Friend), Janu(my brother ), CP & VK( my friend
from ST Micro).

We have 3 heavy cartons of foods plus everybody has their own individual luggage and sleeping bags.The centre point was to meet at my home, we booked 2 taxi at last moment seeing that the luggage wont be possible in Auto. Luckily we got taxi and reached New Delhi Railway Station at 3:15 PM. Train is schedule to leave on 3:25 PM. Some how we managed to put our luggage in place and then all set to climb the hills.

We reached Dehradoon around 10 PM , we called our Taxi Driver Khajaan Singh, which we have booked in advance. He came to pick us at Railway station and help us find a good and cheap hotel . We dine quickly and came to bed. Tarun' s plan was to start at 4 AM next day so as to reach Taluka (11 Kms from Sankri) on that very day.

I know its not gonna possible in 7 people ,everybody has their own style to wake up and nobody gonna wakeup at 4AM in winter.

Day 2 ( DehraDoon - Sankri )

Chopta-Tungnath-Chandrsshilla

2006-10-05T21:50:00.000+05:30

Chopta-Tunnath-ChandraShilla

A Background
Our last trip (Valley of flower-Hemkund Trek) was a good experience.That was my first trek and I developed a passion for trekking after that.Passion leads to hunt for more trekking options, after googling on trek on himalayan treks and reading experince of trekkers on orkut travellers and trek community I made some really good friends.In our organization those who are passionate for trek and didn't went for the VoF trek ,repenting and looking for a chance to go for a trek. Then I met Prashant(Almoraboy) somewhere on orkut. He is very motivated trekker.Most of his trek are solo adventure. After reading his blog we select two option Bedni Bugyal or Chopta. Majority opted for Chopta. On 2'nd October we have national holiday and we get a 3 day stretched weekend . Chopta can be covered in this period.
We booked two Innova at a rate of 8.5 Rs/ Km with AC/MP3-VCD player.Finally 11 people were ready for adventure and this time I had some of friends from ST also.

About Destination:

Chopta : What to say it's place in lower garhwal himalays nested with oak forest, alpine meadows and rhodendrons . It can be reached Rishikesh-Deo Prayag-Rudra Prayag - Kund . At Rudra Prayag the road diverges for Badrinath and Kedarnath . One has to take the Kedarnath route.It is even said Mini switzerland of garhwal.Check this .

Tungnath : It is one of the panch kedar .Legends says that after Kurukshetra war , Pandavas felt guilty for killing their cousins for the sake of kingdoms. They then moved to himalays and sought for the blessings of Load Shiva .Lord Shiva is not interested in meeting them they were guilty of gotra hatya (killing their brethren),HE eludes them repeatedly as . Once HE manifest himself as a cow , youngest of pandavas Nakul and Sehdev were expert in calculations .Their calculations said that Lord is somehwere here, at that place only few cows were grazing. Bhima allowed all cows to pass under his leg, knowing that if any one is Lord Shiva, HE wont passed. the same happens, Lord Shiva (disguised as cow) dived into the ground leaving a conical projection (hump of cow ) ,which is now worshipped at Kedarnath. The remaining parts ,the arms appeared at Tunganath, the face at Rudranath, the belly at Madmaheshwar & his locks at Kalpeshwar and together they constitute panch kedar. Pandavs were unable to saw glimpse of Lord Shiva face , which apeared at PashuPatiNath in Kathmandu , Nepal.Kedarnath is also of the 12 jyotirling .Tung means 'highest' ,Tungnath is at the highest altitude of all 5 kedars but ironcally it is easiest to reach.

Chandrashilla:Legend has it that Goddess Chandrama (Moon) had spent a long time here in penance. It is a 360-degree view from the top, and to the north, a great section of the Himalayas are visible. Chaukambha, Banderpoonch, Kedarnath, Nandadevi, Sudarshan Panat, Gangotri, Neelkanth and several other peaks are visible.

Deoria Tal: A lake situated at an altitude of 3200 mts . Legends says its the same lake where Yaksha ask question from Pandavas . One can see the reflection of Chaukhamba peaks on a bright sunny day.

Disclaimer : All the above mytholigical stories are been taken from internet. Any error in the trueness of the same is regretted .You can post comment and I will update accordingly.
As we have only 3 days , the trip is going to hectic .

Day 1 : Noida - Haridwar-Rishikesh-Muni-ki-Reti

Day 2: Muni ki Reti -Deo Prayag -Sri Nagar -Rudraprayag - Chopta

Day 3: Chopta-Deoria Tal-Chopta-Tungnath

Day 4:Tungnath - Chandrashilla - Tungnath- Chopta - Noida

Important Links:

Garwal Mandal : gmvnl.com

Kumaon Mandal : kmvn.org

Uttaranchal :

Chamoli district

RudraPrayag District :

Outlook Traveller :

Maps

India Travel Message Boards

www.indiamike.com

Orkut Indian Trek Communities 1 2

If you have Google Earth you can download KEML ( few Kbs) file of your destination and the openwith Google earth.

http://bbs.keyhole.com/

http://xpdo.in/locations.html

Accomodation arrangements at Chopta:
Negi:09411387925..he has 3 wooden rooms with basic amenities...his brother is in Sari village(Deoria Tal trek starts here)..u can stay here or in Deoria Tal..he will arrange all.

Day 3

2006-10-05T20:14:00.000+05:30

Sunday , 1st October
The Plan : Start early morning trek to Deoria Tal , come back to Chopta and start for Tungnath in afternoon. Ober night stay in Tungnath. We booked a pony to carry ou stuff to Tungnath.
We also asked the pony guys to book 3 room atleast for us in Tungnath.Those guys went multiple time up/down.
We woke up at 6 AM it was chill, it was really a wonderful view of Chaukhamba,Kedarnath while sipping hot view. Sky is bright and clear.

Chopta is said to be the Mini-Switzerland of Garhwal.

The rooms where we stayed, it has attacxhed bath/toilet. The shopkepper provide hot water.

Morning view of Chaukhamba Peaks

Way to Deoria Tal, we have to go down 20 kms and then a cut for Sari Village.

Sari Village: Trek start point, this village has electricity and negi's borther is here . So I put my batteries for charging here.

Trek route and Sari village

Deoria Tal. One bright sunny day,which it was, one can see chaukhamba peaks in reflection.The wind was blowing so the water was moving a hazzy reflection of peaks.

We came back at 2 PM , everybody had lunch some took bath as we sweat so much in Deoria Tal trek.

Tungnath Trek start point. We started at 3:45 PM.

A bugyal on our way to Tungnath. Many time we took short cut .

The most daring pic of the trip. KK have enough courage to have a pose. We barely manage to get there and have a peep at that sucide point.

We reached Tungnath at 6PM . The pony booked 2 Kali-Kamli dharamshala room and a normal room.

Tungnath temple.

This is that one normal room double bed (for 3) and 2 more beds. We ordered the food immediately and we want to go for sleep asap , because next day we have to start around 4 AM to catch sunset from chandrashilla peak.It was very chill must be around 5 C, we prepared a bonfire ,have dinner and went for sleep at 9 PM.

Day 4 : Tungnath-Chandrashilla-Tungnath-Chopta-Noida

Day 2

2006-10-05T18:39:00.000+05:30

Saturday, 30th September
We woke at around 6 ,beautiful calm and peace atmosphere. Everybody got ready by 8 and after having having breakfast at GMNV we left for Chopta at 8:30.We are going to travel
Shivpuri-Kaudilya-Deo Prayag-ShriNagar-RudraPrayag-Chopta.
At Rudra prayag routes separates for Kedarnath and Badrinath.We have to take the Kedranath way and then somehwre near Kund take the Chopta route.

Somehwre in our way.

As we were moving in 2 Innova's we stopped at ChandraPuri (after taking Kedranath turn from Rudra prayag) to look for second innova which was a way behind .At Rudraprayag River Manadkni (orignating near Kedarnath) merge into river Alakhnand (orignating near Badrinath). Chandrapuri is on the side of River Manadkni . Chandrapuri is a nice place GMVN has TRH there, you can go there and enjoy some time in river (as you see we are doing).

We are now on Chopta route. This is the first grassy meadows we encountered, we stopped for some leisure.

Road to Chopta

Finally we reached Chopta at 5 PM, we booked 3 rooms (10 bed) in advance (courtsey Prashant we got the number of the guy from here.)

Sunset @ Chopta

GMVN Guest house closed since 1996

Finally the sun fully set and this is the view.

Evening View,as the night approaceh it started cold.

Bonfire ,finally.

Chopta doesn't have electricity , the shop keppers runs generator for 4-5 hrs.Everybody charge their camera batteries , do keep a multi plug as you may be only few points there.The lodge owner also had a small dhaba , prepare food for us. Unlike other place u need to tell them specifically what u want to eat they cook only that.
Rates are very reasonable evening snack,dinner,morning breakfast and a night lodging cost us 2500 among 11 people.

Chopta-Deoria Tal - Chopta - Tunganath

Day 1

2006-10-05T18:34:00.000+05:30

Friday,29th September

We started from our office (Noida) @ around 6:15 PM. Plan was to reach the over-night destination Muni-ki-Reti ASAP and have a good sleep so as to be fresh for next journey.

Dinner @ MidWay Restaurant (Delhi -Haridwar Highway)

Finally we reached GMVN Rest House ,Muni-Ki-Reti at 12:30 AM. Muni-ki-reti is only 2 Kms from Rishkesh . If you didn't get reservation in Haridwar and Rishikesh you can try here. We have booked(online) dormitory for 100 each bed .Its a good and clean as you can see pic.

GMVN Dormitory

Night View of GMVN TRH

GMVN TRH Reception

Day 2 : Muni Ki Reti-DeoPrayag-SriNagar-RudraPrayag-Chopta

Day 4

2006-10-05T10:33:00.000+05:30

Monday , 2nd October
Plan: Go for Chandrashila , trek down to Chopta and leave for Noida via
Chopta-Gopeshwar-Chamoli-Nand Prayag-Karn Prayag-Gauchar-Rudra Prayag-Srinagar- Deo Prayag - Rishikesh-Haridwar-Noida.

We wokeup at 3:45 AM to capture the sunrise from Chandrashilla peak.It is really hard
to leave the warm bed but we managed it. Yesterday we slept with a plan that everybody will wakeup
,put their shoes on and leave ,no dressing etc is allowed in order to avoid delays.
Some of us didn't went for the this early morning trek.
We left Tungnath @ 4:15 AM .It was completely dark ,only barking of dog is heardand we forget to ask Chandrashilla
trek route yesterday from somebody. Then we remebered Prashant ( A dog guided him all the way).
We then called the dog. He led us ,we carry torches and walk one after another.
After some time we saw some other guys following us .
Finally we reached Chandrshilla at 5:45 AM it is still dark and Sun is about to come.Chilling winds was blowing at the top.
Hardly 15 people were there .

Finally the sun came behind the mountains at 6:15 AM .

Sunrise behind the mounain (see the Hexagon formation)

Shadown of Mountain (see a 3D pryamid formation)

KK make his cam stablised and did a full 12X from his S2 IS and the result is great isn't. This is some area of Chaukhamba Peak's

Panaormic View-1

The dog who guided us in the dark

Chopta-Gopeshwar road(you have to pass a thick jungle)

We met a Australian guy, whose plan is to cover whole uttaranchal in 6 weeks on his bicycle.

Nand Prayag (River Nandakini comes from Mt. Nanda Ghunti to meet the Alkananda)

Karn Prayag(The river Pindar also known as Karna Ganga comes down from Pindari Glacier to meet the Alkananda)

I missed RudraPrayag pics , actually I didn't get the prefect view. Anyway about RudraPrayag
Rudra Prayag:River Mandakini comes down from Chorabali Tal behind Kedarnath to meet river Alkananda at Rudra Prayag

Deo Prayag : Alakhnand and Bhagirathi meets to form Ganga . See the difference in colors of both river. The left one is Alakhnand .

Valley Of Flower Trek

2006-08-20T04:55:00.000+05:30

During the 15Aug'06 week,it was a good opportunity to take a break from hectic work schedule and have some adventure. During that week by taking 3 days of holidays one can enjoy 9 days of holidays 15 Aug(Tue) & 16Aug(Wed) were declared fixed holidays in our organization on eve of Independence Day and Janamasthmi respectively. At NeoMagic ,people were thinking of trek to 'Valley of flower' and we thought its a good time to execute it.Planning started ,my friend Amit Kanodia(we have lots of Amit in NeoMagic!) took the charge and arranged a tour from 'Himalayan Mercury Explorartions'. Finally we were total 8 heads for the trip.The tour arranged a Qualis and Tata Safari.

Day 1(Noida-Haridwar-Rishikesh-Joshimath):
Day 2(Rishikesh-Govindghat-Ghangariya):
Day 3(Ghangariya-Valley Of Flower Trek-Ghangariya):
Day 4(Ghangariya-Hemkund Sahib Trek-Ghangariya):
Day 5(Ghangariya-Govindghat-Badrinath-Josimath):
Day 6(Joshimath-Auli-Noida):

Blog 2: http://magical-trip.blogspot.com/

Las Vegas

Trekking Videos

2006-08-19T10:59:00.000+05:30


On way to Govindghat.


Waterfall during trek to Ghangariya


River Saraswati origin @ Bheem Pul,Mana.


Landslide causes to make a halt. between Joshimath and Pipalkoti


View of Himlayas Range from Auli.


Beautiful lake of Hemkund


Morning from our hotel @ Joshimath


On way to trek to valley of flower

Day 6(Auli-Noida)

2006-08-18T23:26:00.000+05:30

We started for Auli at 5:30 AM , one of our driver went sick.Auli is 13 Kms from Joshimath,

View from Auli

Nanda Devi Peak

Trishul

During winters this slope is used for sking

Sumeru

The broad view from Auli

Land Sliding while return

Going

And Gone !!!

Finally the road is cleared

DevPrayag: Confluence of Bhagiratji(left) & Alaknand(right)

Beautiful paddy fields

Shiv Mandir

Ganges River

Sunset

Day 1(Noida-Haridwar-Rishikesh-Joshimath):
Day 2(Rishikesh-Govindghat-Ghangariya):
Day 3(Ghangariya-Valley Of Flower Trek-Ghangariya):
Day 4(Ghangariya-Hemkund Sahib Trek-Ghangariya):
Day 5(Ghangariya-Govindghat-Badrinath-Josimath):
Day 6(Joshimath-Auli-Noida):

Day 5[Ghnagariya-Govindghat-Badrinath-Mana-Joshimath]

2006-08-17T22:54:00.000+05:30

As per plan we wake up at 4:30 AM , all packing we have already done yesterday, we left Ghangariya
at 7. Descend is relatively easy and we move in pace . At 11 AM we reached Govindghat, now the plan is to look
for our drivers. Mohit looked for all 3 parking but failed to locate.
So we headed for bus station ,which is half-a-mile. At the Bus station we saw our driver , they refused to
carry us to Badrinath so we offload all our luggage and took some necessary items in a bag and headed
for a private carrier who can take us to Badrinath . One can easily find public transport.We reached badrinath
at 1:45, people told the shrine is closed and will open at 3 PM, so we quickly decided for Mana.
After some bargain a taxi decided to take us & back in Rs 200 .

Mana Entrance Gate

Places to see in Mana

Bheem Pul

Legends says that when Pandavas along with Drapadi passing , River Saraswati stops Draupadi to pass accusing her of being not poius( married to 5 men) . Then Bheema put a single rock making the way for Draupadi. The massive rocky structure can tell how strong Bheema was !

Last Tea Shop of INDIA

Legends says that when Vyas was concentrating on narrating Mahabharat to Ganesha a sudden spurt of water (Saraswati) break Vyas concentration, and cursed saraswati to disaapear forever.
Thats why we have mystery behind river saraswati till date.

Rishi Vyas narrated Mahabharat here to Ganesha who sitting approx 200 mts down

In Mana we went to 'Vyas Gufha',
Saraswti Udgam and Bheem Pool, as we dont have enough time we dropped Vasudhra Falls,
Satopanth. May be some we will come back again.
Back to badrinath the gates are open, huge rush .We went to tapt kund (hot geysers) but it was too hot,
barely anybody was taking a dip. I just washed my legs and queud for darshan at 3:25 PM.

Badrinath Temple
River Alakhnanda(one of the main tributary of sacred Ganges)

Badrinath Valley

Nellkanth

Driving in night at hills is strictly prohibited ,last bus to Joshimath will leave at 4:30 PM.Missing that means staying whole night @ Badrinath and ruining the plan.
anyway we got the darshan at 4:10 and quickly headed for bus stand. We catch the last bus at 4:28 PM .

Day 6 : Auli

Day 4 (Ghangariya-HemKund-Ghangariya)

2006-08-16T22:16:00.000+05:30

Hemkund: People say its a very difficult trek Hemkund is 6 Km from Ghangariya.Sikh's last guru Guru Govind Singh in his previous incarnation did meditation here.More can be found on wiki
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemkund
http://wikimapia.org/#y=30699040&x=79618950&z=14&l=0&m=a

We left Ghangariya at around 8 AM. The trek was very difficult ,ponies had made it more.
We take many shortcuts during the trek.The weather was bright and sunny but around 11 it became cloudy. We reached a place enroute 'Hemkund Glacier'. We decided to have some fun. wen to that glacier have some photgraphs and the continue. When it was 2Km some we saw staircases.By that time we were totally exhausted with uphill walk , so we decided to take staircases. That also helps us in avoiding the ponies.Finally we reached Hemkund at 1 PM. Rain has started by now,hughe crowd of sikh pilgrims . We went to Gurudwara ,ate at lungar (hot tea & khichdi).

Sikhs were bathing in Sarovar Sahib .

While descending we decided to visit Badrinath also. It was a it tight as we have to leave early next day from Ghangariya,came to Govindghat with all luggage and then if the our drivers are ready to take us we will go with them otherwise some public transport.
At Ghangariya we finalized all the hotel expenses so that nothing has to be left for tommorow.

Day 5 : Ghangaria-Govindghat-Badrinath-Mana

Day3 -Ghangariya-Valley Of Flower- Ghangariya

2006-08-15T15:38:00.000+05:30

We woke up at 7 Am and after some breakfast and packed lunch we head off for valley .To bath, a hot bucket of water costs 30 bucks.
Plan : Trek to Valley of flower and came back.
Valley of flower: In short a beautiful valley of different species of flower, recognized by Indian Government as National area.Best time to visit is Monsoons.

You need permit for valley of flower. No camping is allowed due to ecological reasons.Valley of Flower is under Nandadevi Biosphere.
The Trek wasn't very diffcult comparing to the one we did yesterday.

Trek to Valley (This one taken by Vivek with wide-angle-lenses )

One relief was there were no ponys so the road was clear and we dont have to stop to give side to pony.We started around 9 Am and reached 11:30 AM .

Some diffcult trek route

Some diffcult trek route in between

Midway we have some rest and somewhere the route was very risky and muddy.With the first sight of valley it looks very beautiful,the cloudy weather was an added compliment to the beauty of the scenery. We decided to gather around 1:30 Pm for some lunch.

The valley is 10 Km long(only 5Km of it is allowed to trek) and 2 Km wide.We decided to trek further.It started raining ,we came prepared for rain .Everybody got their rain coats in action.
We keep travelling as it wasn't raining heavily.

Welcome to Valley !

The Valley


Beautiful valley

Some of the flower we found in Valley of flower

Day 4 : Ghangaria-Hemkund-Ghangaria

Day 2(Joshimath-Govindghat-Ghangariya)

2006-08-14T15:16:00.000+05:30

We woke up around 7 AM ,it was a bit cold and foggy morning.
Plan: Drive to Govindghat and then trek to Ghangariya .
Govindghat : 20 Kms from Joshimath ,enroute to Badrinath. Sikhs begin their journey to Hemkund Sahib from here. Ample parking, few hotels and a Gurudwara.
Ghangaria(Govinddham): After a ardous trek of 13 kms lies a small town ,with some hotels.Ghangariya is located at an altitude of 3000 mts.You will get all type of vegetarian North Indian,Chinesse,South Indian food .Lots of restaurants.Ghangariya is located at an altitude of 3000 mts.

7 AM view from our Hotel at Joshimath

Mountains barely visible

The Zig-zag style road

Route between Joshimath-Govindghat

After breakfast we left for Govindghat around 9 AM. We now have a guide with us.
Govindghat is around 20 Kms from Joshimath and lies on the route to Badrinath.
The road has heavy traffic because both the Hemkund Sahib and Badrinath pilgrimage.We reached around 10:30 AM and then bid adieu to our drivers ,we will them after 4 days.

Construction of road

At Godvindghat

Now we need to look for porters who will carry the baggages.Because of holidyas we find difficult to get them .After an hour effort we got two of them each took Rs 1650.We started the trek around 11:30 AM .Ghangariya is 13 Km and it would take around 8 hrs to reach. we want to reach before evening as their is no raod light.The trek route is heavily rushed and dirty with pony shit.We take frequent break as uphill ascend
seems to be difficult with around 10Kg of baggage on back.After few hours of trek we decided to take a pony
and put all the backpack on it.We feel very relieved after the load went off from our back.
Everybody is moving at their own pace,group have scattered. Finally we reached Ghangariya at 7:30 PM. Ghangariya is a small town and predominantly used as a transit for Hemkund Sahib and Valley of Flower people.

Snowy mountain view during the trek

Ghangariya is located at an altitude of 3000 mts. We have our hotel booked . Hotel was quiet OK. Everybody was tired ,even a slightest movement of body parts
required immense efforts.All kins of foods(Indian,Chinesse,Pujabi,South India) were available.We haven't seen any non-veg food there.
Everybody relaxed in their room ,next day plan was for Valley of Flower

Day 3 : Ghangaria-Valley Of Flower-Ghangaria

Day 1(Noida-Haridwar-Rishikesh-Joshimath)

2006-08-13T23:00:00.000+05:30

We started early morning to avoid the traffic and also to reach Joshimath by end of day. One vehicle picked us(Amit,Girish,Vivek,Raj and myself) , the other one will pick Amit Sethi,Shikha(his wife) and Mohit and then to meet at a common point. After some initial hiccups and road tax clearance we started off.I was feeling very sleep ,since last night I spent just watching television and doing packing. We made a halt a Cheetal and I guessed we stretched the break a little ,I will tell later on where it could have cost us.Cheetal paneer pakoras are good,do give it a try if you passby ,its 45rs one pack (contains 10-12 pieces) .The next stop according to itinerary was Neeraj Bhawan at Rishikesh. We reached there around 1 PM ,the breakfast and hotel was good(We have 1 room for few hours too freshen up).
En route we passed 5 prayag(Confulence of more than two rivers)

Dev Prayag:Alakhnanda (starts from Badrinath) and Bhagirathi(starts from Gangotri) merges to make the sacred Ganges.
After Dev Prayag we constantly moved along Alkahnanda river.Then we reach Srinagar.

Rudra Prayag:River Mandakini comes down from Chorabali Tal behind Kedarnath to meet river Alkananda at Rudra Prayag

Karn Prayag :The river Pindar also known as Karna Ganga comes down from Pindari Glacier to meet the Alkananda at Karna Prayag.
The river Nandakini comes from Mt. Nanda Ghunti to meet the Alkananda at Nanda Prayag.
The river Dhauli Ganga comes from Mt. Dhaulagiri to meet the Alkananda at Vishnu Prayag.
Gircha:

Chamoli:It was 8:10 PM when we reached Chamoli, uttaranchal police told us that between 8 PM to 6 AM vechile are not allowed after this point. Locals also told us about the bad conditions of road. In Mountains ,it can rain anytime and thisis monsoons season.Avalanches can't be ruled out and then we will be in trouble. Anyway the officer permitted us to continue and asked to stay at Pipalkoti,6 Km from here.Their was one morey family ,together we move in a convoy .It was dark and rain has also started but all 3 vechile slowly continued .

Pipalkoti: At Pipalkoti we somehow manged to get through .Joshimath was around 20Km from Pialkoti but those 20Km everybody was quite and calm just seeing the condition of road. Somehow we managed to reached Joshimath.
Everybody was tired from the day long journey ,we had dinner and then went into our rooms.

It was end of a eventful day ,we have to doze off soon as we need to be up early for the next encounter.

Joshimath:
This is one of the four maths established Sri Adi Shankaracharya. It acts as a transit for various pilgrimage Badrinath,Kedarnath,Hemkund, Auli etc.
Wikipedia : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joshimath
WikiMapia :http://wikimapia.org/#y=30672172&x=79586334&z=10&l=0&m=a

Day 2 : Joshimath-Govindghat-Ghangaria

2006-05-25T20:22:00.000+05:30

test

Digital Camera

2006-01-05T08:57:00.000+05:30

Camera invention is one of the most fascination one .Camera fantasize everybody.
If you guys want to buy a camera ask yourself quetion like whats ur budget,you want zoom(optical) , more megapixels.Everything comes with cost so you have pay more for rich features.

Some latest technologies in Wi-fi in camera( Canon Powershot SD430),direct email(Kodak ), MPEG-4 movie camera(Casio Exilim EX-S500).

Before purchasing any camera read the review www.dpreview.com.

Las Vegas

2006-01-05T08:35:00.000+05:30

Las Vegas, often called Sin City, is a famous tourists place.
The most happening place is the Las Vegas Strip which has hundreds of hotels/casinos, based on a unique theme, on both side of strip.
Wiki will tell more about vegas.
Satellite view of Vegas on WikiMapia.

Bellagio(If you guys have seen Ocean's 11 ;this was one of the casino they planned to rob)
This one Paris ;they have created a whole paris city ths street,shops etc.You can go to the top of Eiffel tower by paying $9 and watch the whole city of Las Vegas from top.Bellagio has some water fountain show whose view from top of Eiffel tower.

Half Moon Bay

2006-01-05T08:24:00.000+05:30

Time Pass @ Beach

For the last 3 months I am in Santa Clara,CA (USA) .
I was joined by some of my colleagues from INDIA office.

We planned to visit some beaches on weekend.
Half Moon Bay is the nearest .Attaching some pictures taken from my first Digi-cam Canon S1 Is which 10x magnification .

Just Signed Up

2006-01-05T08:05:00.000+05:30

I think I should sign up ealry ,their are many things in life which you want to share with your friends.Discuss some common interest with outside world.
Ok I am starting at lets see how far I go.

Golden Gate, San Francisco

2005-12-04T23:06:00.000+05:30

Alcatraz(The Jail shown in the movie 'The Rock')

Golden Gate

My Future treks plans

2005-10-11T19:40:00.000+05:30

After reading travelogues/web-sites/magazines ,I wish I could do some of the treks.
So I am listing all my fuure treks.

1) Har-ki-Dun : Dehradoon-Sankri-Taluka-Sema-HKD . spent one full one day go to nearby glacier .

2) Gangotri-Gomukh-Tapovan(Nadanvan,Kalindikhal) Gangotri -Kedartal: Either one can cover all in on long trip or small trip.

3)Roopkund : Kathgodam- Almora - Gwaldam -Ranikhet-Wan-Bedni bugyal -Roopkund

4)Milam : Kathgodam-Munsiyari - Milam and many other glacier.

5)Leh : Manali- Keylong, Sarchu , Leh , Khardongla, Tso Moriri , Pangong Tso , Nubra Valley - Zanskar.

6)Tumling-Sandakphu-Phalut-Rimbik : View of Mt Everest,Kanchenjunga, Mt Makalu,Lathose,Singalila
Pass Trek.

7) Mayali Pass ,Masar Tal, KhatLing Glacier near Gangotri, Theri,Ghuttu

Information

2004-10-14T16:32:00.000+05:30

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