The beginning
26th June, it was a sunny day. Actually there is
nothing to do with a sunny day. I should start from the evening actually. So it
was 26th June evening around 4 O’clock I was eagerly waiting at my
apartment in Uttam Nagar. After some time the wait came to an end and Anindya
da reached my place. So we all set to hit the road. Andis da was hungry as he
skipped lunch. So we went to Dominos and had something. After that our journey
begins in actual sense. We boarded the Metro at around 5.30, destination
Janakpui west, purpose to buy some whiskey and vodka. After accomplishing the 1st
mission we headed towards Kashmiri Gate metro station.
Location ISBT, Hanuman travel agency…..
Me: Bhaiya Haridwar ke liye bus keliye………… do tkt dena..
aage wala dena piche ka mat dena.
Ticket counter wala Bhaiya: haan ji bilkul aage wala denge
ji….. Nikalo haazar rupay…….. Ye lo aaapka tkt, ye bus ka number hai our ye
seat number…. Raaju inhe bus stand dikha diyo.
Raju along with us went to the spot showed us the bus stand near Ritz
Cinema ….
Raju: bhaiya bus 10 baje niklenge yaha se..
10 baje… thet means we have 3 hours in our hand. Discussing
about our journey we headed towards a restaurant named Fast Trax.. Almost empty
restaurant. Me and Andis da sitting on the table, feeling bored and looked at
each other’s eyes….
Andis Da: Pahar Ganjot SAM’S café buli akhon roof top bar
cum restaurant aase….
Immediately we run towards the auto stand.
Anindya da: Auto paharganj jana hai… kitna loge?? 200 rupay
. Aabe pagal go gaya kya.. ISBT mai hun to kya hume bahar ke sumjhe.. yahi ke hai hum…
Suddenly a blue line bus comes and we boarded the bus. Reached
pahargnj and headed towards the rickshaw stand.
Andis Da: Bhaiya pahar ganj main market jana hai kitne?
Rickshaw: 10 rupay…. thik hai bhaiya chalo….
Location Near Sam’s café : Do kingfisher beer strong n chilled
our sath mai French fry.. our sath mai
thora chat massala n piyaj v dena…….
After finishing the 1,1/2 beer each we looked at the watch…
ohhhh shittttt its already 9.30 … run run run…
Anindya da to auto wala: bhaiya ISBT jana hai kitna ??? Auto
wala: 100 rypaye.. chalo bhaiya 80 le lena… jaldi se pohsado…
Auto wala: thik hai bhaiya baith jao..
Location ISBT
Anindya da: bhaiya haridwar jane wale bus gaye kya??
Bhaiya : Nahi nahigaya
wo aage khare hai
Ohhh thank God we reached in time.
In the Bus
At around 11 the bus started to move. Me and Andis da were
on the drivers cabin smoking cigarette and making conversation with the driver
and the conductor.. kaha ke ho? Kaab se chalarahe ho? Rasta kaisa hai. Blah blah… At around 1 we felt sleepy and
returned to our own seat. I wake up hearing someone calling Baba Ramdev’s Name.
Actually we were in front of the Patanjali Yoga Ashram. People were also
laughing hearing the conductor calling the stoppage as Baba Randev.
By the early morning we reached Haridwar. As it was a
private bus it did not go to the Govt ISBT. We called a rickshaw and went to
the bus terminal. Haridwar bus stand is a good one and it has the facility of
toilet and bathroom. After the morning tasks are done Anindya Da went to the
enquiry counter. He returned with the bad news that the only bus that connects
Joshimath to Haridwar has already felt.
So what are the other options? We can wait one night at
Haridwar, but it will not be worthy, we can hire a cab but it will cost very
high.. Suddenly a guy came to us and
asked whether we r going to Josimath? Hey said that they were also on the way
to Joshimath and heard us asking about bus at the counter. They also have
missed the bus like us and planning to book a cab and we can also share with
them if we want.. No question of saying no…
We asked at several taxi stands and travel agency nearby and
finally booked a Toyota Quails. After the tank is filled up we headed towards
the Josimath….
After travelling sometime in the hilly terrain we stopped at
some place and had our breakfast.. The journey begins again after the break.. we
get familiar with each other on the journey itself. The group consists of five
young people. One engineer, two students, one just passed out and the other I
forgot. The guys who were travelling with us didn’t want to have lunch. We had
to say no as the whole group didn’t want to have dinner. Any how they took out
some breads and butter and that became our lunch. Towards the evening we had a flat tyre. While
repairing the tyre we had tea.
At Joshimath
After the day long journey at around 6 PM we reached Joshimath.
It was already dark in Joshimath by that time. Joshimath is a small town located
at an altitude of 6,000 ft in the Chamoli district of Garhwal Division in the
heart of the Himalaya. It is one of the beautiful places with a great natural
beauty. We booked a hotel under Garhwal
Mandal Vikas Nigam. After taking a little rest we started exploring the small
town and its market. As a small Himalayan town the market started to close down
by 8. We had dinner at a restaurant and
returned hotel. After having two pegs of Vodka we slept.
Next morning we woke up and packed our goods and left for
the taxi stand. Suddenly I discovered that the stitches of stripes of my bag is
about to go tear. After getting it repaired in a tailor shop we had breakfast
with aalo parantha and headed towards Govind Ghat. It was around 25 Km from
Joshimath..
A view from the Hotel Roof
Rreal journey begins here…
After crossing the bridge over the river Alakananda we
started trekking towards our destination.
We were carrying two large rucksacks on our back. We had a
very huge amount of cloths, water bottles so our bags were heavy. After
trekking 3 kilometer on the steep track we were tired and we are left with no
other option but to hire a porter. We sit near the trail and wait for the
porter after some time we found a guy named Chandres. Now we are free to track
and click pics as well and Chandres became a guide to us. There are several
small tea stalls along the track, whenever we got tired we took rest along with
tea, cold drinks, maggi etc. after tracking half of the way it started raining.
We had to march ahead in that rain itself. Otherwise it will be dark. We were
trekking in the rain and the cold wind coming from the hills made a special
experience to us. Before dark we reached the small village of Ghangharia. We
booked a hotel room. Though the hotel was pathetic we managed. After having
diner we returned to our hotel and had few pegs of whiskey this gave us the
relaxation that we really need after the daylong trekking.
At Ghangharia
Ghangaria is a small village on the way to Hemkund Sahib, a
popular pilgrimage site for Sikhs about 6 km and the Valley of Flowers, a
national park known for its variety of flowers about 3 km from here. It is
located in the northern Himalayan ranges at an altitude of 3049 meters in Uttarakhand.
It is also known as Govinddham.
We were running out of cash as everything in the area was
much costlier. We had to pay rs 50 for a simple maggi and 50 for a water
bottle. So we decided to cut down our expenditure. We had only that much amount
either we can stay one night more at Ghangharia and track back carrying the
goods by our self or take a porter or and move back on the next day.. finally
we slept without any final decision. In the next morning we decided to have a
quick trip to the Valley of Flower National Park and track back to Joshimath on
the same day.
After trekking a few kilometers we reached the VOF and
entered the beautiful VOF National park. Though the park was full of flowers,
According to the park authority officer it was not blooming much as it was a
rainy season. But it was really beautiful. With lots of flowers the park was
just like heaven.
We returned to Ghangharia and after having some parantha and
chai we started track back towards Govindghat. The rain started again and we
keep on moving in the rain.
Finally after 6 hours of downward trekking we reached
Govindghat. We were exhausted and lake of energy. We eat something in
Govindghat and came back to the main road.
We were wet and waiting at the bus stand there are no bus no
cab L.
All the buses and taxis that came through the way are reserved. Finally we
stopped PWD dumper and moved towards Joshimath.
We reached Joshimath and after getting down from the dumper we
headed towards the ATM. Thank God the ATM was working. After withdrawing the
amount we headed towards the same hotel where we stayed the day before. Seeing
our condition the receptionist ordered some hot tea for us. As we were wet and
our legs were paining because of the nonstop track we were not able to sit. We
asked for a room heater as the cloths in our bags were wet in the rain. But as
it was a govt undertaking hotel they didn’t have that facility but the lady
called some other hotel and managed a room with that facility for us. She was a
very kind lady and she didn’t charge for the tea also.
In the hotel at joshimath
We ordered dinner at our room and we started our whiskey it
works as the medicine after the 26 km of tracking in the rain. We also began to
dry our cloths on that heater .As the night passed we fell into deep sleep… We
planned that we will sleep enough to release our tiredness.
The return journey
Next morning we wake up at around 8 AM. After breakfast we
headed towards the bus stand. There was no bus or taxi towards Haridwar. After
some time one small bus came and shouted chamoli- chamoli. We boarded the bus
and managed to get the last seat of the bus.
After few hours bus journey we reached Chamoli. It was
almost noon so we had lunch in a hotel. We asked the hotel wala how to go to
Haridwar. He said a sumo of press will come from Haridwar and will go back to
Haridwar again we will be able to go in that cam if we were lucky enough to get
a seat. So after some time the sumo arrived and we took the first two
seats. The Sumo started to move.
After travelling few hours the sumo stopped for a break.
Though the weather was clear at Chamoli, it was raining throughout the journey.
After the short break we began again. After few kilometers we had to stop due
to a land slide in the main road. All the traffic came to a halt. The driver
said we had to reach Haridwar anyhow so there is a no claimed graveled road. If
you people agree with that we can take that road. But the sardar ji travelling
with us refused to take the no claimed road and we had to wait. After waiting
for an hour the road was cleared and we began again.
By the time we reach Srinagar it was almost dark. So we
started with the headlight on. Though it was night and the track was hilly the
driver maintained speed. Finally we reached the Rishikesh bus stand and the
sumo driver told us that we will get bus for Delhi from here. Just after getting down from the sumo, a bus
came out of the stand and shouted Delhi Delhi….
We boarded the bus. Bus came through Haridwar and there we
had our dinner.
Next early in the morning we reached the same Delhi ISBT
wher we have started our journey. Next we took an auto and reached home.
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