Gorson Bhugyal Trek – Himalayan Green Top and More

Bhugyal, in Garhwal Himalayas, mean ‘green meadows'. With the advent of summer, snow melting along the lower Himalayas, the Bhugyals are aplenty. Such spots have given many an opportunity to our city tourists, the relaxation it offers for their tired soul, clambering out from the rat race of work places. If one has the opportunity of trekking on the Bhugyals, it surely is a bonus. It took a lot of travelling from Mumbai, going via Delhi, Rishikesh and Joshimath, to have a crack at Gorson Bhugyal trek from Auli. We pick up the treads from Joshimath.

Yatris to Badrinath, will more often than not take a break at Joshimath. This town which is winter abode of Lord Badrinath, has a lot to offer to the tourists, in terms of sight–seeing. The Jyotirmath Complex on the sprawling campus has been the seat of the spread of the message of Hinduism by Jagatguru Shri Shakaracharya and is visited by many. The Nrishingha Mandir on down slope is another important place for the devout. The third most important sight invariably happens to be the cable trolley station; which takes one to the all important winter skiing resort of Auli. Having done the obvious at least three times, I was in no mood to repeat it. We gained a day from our Kalpeshwar trek and netting a decent accommodation at Joshimath, it was a win-win situation.

New GMVNL, Joshimath

Jyotirmath, Joshimath

On 2^nd June 2009, we were seated comfortably on chairs, in the balcony of New GMVNL tourist complex, overlooking a mid-sized playfield, where the children were playing cricket, with a back drop of Hathi parvat. We were ruminating, ‘how to have a different angle of view of Joshimath–Auli stretch, other than the one we got from cable trolley.’ After a while, we were unanimous, ‘we can have another net practice with a trek to Gorson Bhugyal, before the real test (or taste) of Hemkund trek!’

We were up much before the dawn at 4.30 am and packed our back packs and took our seats on our rented Amby. Kirti Singh, the driver was up as usual and did not lose much time in negotiating the uphill road to Auli. A 14 km drive through winding road in the hills was so different from a direct cable trolley hanging by the rope. I played in my mind, standing in cable trolley, peering through the half opened window; the people, the cattle, the cottages, the winding trail on bhugyal frame by frame……

My thoughts were interrupted, as we arrived at a point, where the road came to an abrupt end. The GMVNL guest house stood there, large and imposing. We took a vantage position, to observe the sunrise behind the Himalayan peaks. The sky was cloud-less, the Himalayan peaks were clearly visible, but somewhat grey, in the moments before the dawn. After a brief while the bright and dazzling shining ball made a glorious entry, visible in between two Cheer trees. That really set the tone for our days activities.

Sunrise from Auli

GMVNL Auli, Rear View

We climbed the steps to the GMVNL restaurant. There were a few waiters but no tourists in wee hours of morning. We ordered our breakfast of bread toast-butter and tea. The prices were at least double of what one could find at Joshimath. We made some enquiries for guide for Gorson Bhugyal trek. But not satisfied with the reply, we decided to go on our own and made our way to the rear portion of guest house. We made a hop, step and jump kind of a thing and came to a muddy plateau. A huge land mass ahead was being bull-dozed and made flat for some constructional activities. That left a large amount of mud piled up like a mini-hillock. We had tough time climbing those mud-hills before we hit the narrow trail through the meadows. The colorful looking Hanuman temple towards the hill side on left, looked inviting; but we left it for our return trek. On a hillock the lone windmill was possibly providing some alternative source of energy to Auli.Some transparent looking structure on hill top was in all probability green house, for growing exotic flowers and vegetables.

Auli View From Top

Hanuman Temple,Auli

The Himalayan peaks, towards our left was looking as fresh and imposing as ever and would keep us company right through our trek. Four of us set up different paces and decided to have a break at Auli cable car station.

Cliff Top Resort, Auli

Artificial Lake, Auli

Soon we passed by the huge and colorful, Cliff Top Resort, in the scenic surrounding, which served mostly to the Skiing enthusiasts in winter. Now in summer,it appeared sparsely occupied. A few visitors were seated in the front porch and relaxing. From this point onwards, our trek was through the green meadows and a constant gradual upward journey. The absence of horses in this route was a big relief. After about an hour of trek, we reached our first rest point, the Auli cable car station. The place was nice and tidy with a restaurant catering to visitors, seated on chairs, under large colorful umbrellas and viewing the Himalayan panorama. A few scattered dhabas served the tourists as well.

Carble Car Travel

Himalayan Peak

We had some coffee and continued with our upward journey. We were again unfortunate not to get a guide for Gorson trek. We just took the only small hill trail going upwards. After a while we came across forested area with trees like Cheer, Himalayan Oaks, growing in abundance and obscuring our Himalayan view. At some point we came across a meadow; overlooking the Nandadevi peak. Ashok and Sandhya, did not want to continue further and decided to take some rest; whereas Deepak and myself decided to discover the Gorson Bhugyal on our own! About, half a kilometer of walk, brought us to a place which looked like a temple. The Mandir Padiar Devata, was built on a small flat leveled land and the temple was locked with grill gate with no human in sight. Me and Deepak spent some time here, offered our prayers for a safe journey and proceeded. The trees started to clear and it was green meadows all the way up.                                                  

Nandadevi Peak

Mandir Padiar Devta

After some more climb, we reached a spot, with one of the finest view of Himalayas. With no more trail visible any where further, we were eager to know whether we have reached the right place. As luck would have it, a lonely villager was walking down on Bhugyal. When we queried, he nodded his approval.

The green top was certainly best I have seen in Garhwal hills. The grass appeared to be of even length as if God himself has manicured it to perfection! The Himalayan panorama from Gorson Bhugyal is a visitor’s delight. It was our great pleasure to lie on the slope of those green top and gaze lazily at those snow caps. So calm, so serene. It cleanses your soul, the accumulated cow webs in one’s mind and leaves you refreshed. Incidentally, this spot not being frequented by many visitors, environment is spotlessly clean.

Wondering in our thoughts, we did not realize that the time flies; we had to commence our return trek. We took care to retrace our steps, trying to remember important landmarks like, a fallen tree, a huge stone, or the Padiar temple. We did manage to reach, in about half an hour time, the spot where Ashok-Sandhya,had a quiet retreat. In unison we went down towards Auli trolley station. The weather was still holding up. We sat under one of those colorful umbrellas and ordered coffee.

Zorb Ball

Artificial Lake And Himalayan Backdrop

We left for final stretch of down ward trek and came across a huge plastic balloon inflated, with a lot of props inside. This is called Zorb ball. There was a seat mounted inside with seat belt. On enquiry, the person who had remote in his hand explained to us that, a person who wanted to do this adventure sport, need to be seated inside the balloon and the balloon is rolled on with the help of a remote. At the moment, we did not find any one venturing this sport. Still down slopes, an artificial lake has been created and work was in progress. That looked great in the back drop of Himalayas. 

The last part of the return trek was the most difficult one. The huge mud hills created as a result of bull dozer activity looked too difficult to negotiate. As I have experienced, in all my Himalayan treks, it is far easier to negotiate steep slopes upward, but far more difficult to do the same down ward. Here some guidance from a overseer at wok-site became handy. He advised us to negotiate the mud hill where ever the mud was little soft so that the foot will dig in. That way, one will not have the chance of tumbling down! 

We went through the arched gate of Hanuman temple, climbed up the beautifully maintained steps and reached the temple. The view from top was awesome. A few people were seated on floor of temple in meditation. After ‘darshan’, we were back to road adjoining GMVNL guest house where Kirti singh waited in Amby to take us back to Joshimath.

Important information :

1) Gorson Bhugyal trek is 3 km from GMVNL Auli

2) GMVNL, Auli Double room Tariff : Rs. 2000/- per day

3) Cliff Top Resort, Auli, Double room Tariff: Rs. 4000/-per day

4) New GMVNL Joshimath Tariff : Double Room : Rs.1200/- per day

   This accommodation is one of the best in Garhwal

Trek to Kalpeshwar - Easy and Fruitful

 

In Garhwal Himalayas, the religious shrines of Badri-Kedar, Gangotri-Yamunotri and Hemkund, take the cake; the rest, unfortunately, the crumbs. This has been my realisation from last four years of summer treks in this part of Uttarakhand region. Yet some of those unsung places offer you much more than you can get anywhere in Himalayas. One such place, which I discovered is Kalpeshwar, also called Kalpanath.

Legend has it that, the Pandavas sought the blessings of Lord Shiva, to atone for their sins, after the battle of Mahabrarata. Lord Shiva eluded them repeatedly, and while fleeing, he dived into the ground, leaving behind his hump on the surface. This conical protrusion is worshipped as idol in Kedarnath shrine. The other four shrines which are part of Panch Kedar are Tunganath, Madamaheshwar, Rudranath and Kalpeshwar. At Kalpeshwar the locks (hair or Jata) and head of Lord Shiva are worshipped.

Migrating from Mythology to modern World Wide Web, it was not much difficult to tuck in my itinerary of Yatra – 2009, the unsung Himalayan shrine of Kalpeshwar. Our Yatra program was to start from Rishikesh on 1^st June 2009, taking our first halt at Pipalkoti. The next morning we were to drive to Helong and continue further journey towards Urgam village through the new Helong – Urgam road being constructed under Gramin Vikas Yojana. We were to get down at a place called Salna and trek to Urgam village about 5 km away. With overnight stay at Urgam; the next day was kept for Kalpeshwar onward and the return trek. As it so happens, the ‘not so famous places’, do not have ‘up to date’  information even on the web; which we subsequently discovered. Whether, our experience was good, bad or ugly?  

Kirti Singh, our driver of rented Amby, picked us from GMVNL guest house at Pipalkoti, in the early morning and gave us our breakfast halt at Helong, at a name-less, face-less restaurant, which was still under construction; that worked to our advantage. We ordered our breakfast and through window-less structure, had a fine view of the adjoining hills, the distant water-fall, abundant greenery and serpentine road. We got clicking the landscape; wolfed down our breakfast as fast as it came, in the excitement of the morning trek to Urgam and Kalpeshwar. 

  

We hit the Helong – Urgam road in our Amby, amidst a lot of excitement. The dense tree growth on the hill side, the view of distant Urgam valley, filled us with ‘UMANG’ (hope.) We were under suspense, as to, how far the road would take us, before we started our trek. The 11 km road was under construction with bull-dozers scattered across roads. After travelling nearly half an hour, our Amby suddenly, screeched to a halt! Worried we looked at Kirti Singh but he remained nonchalant as usual. The very next moment a four legged animal ran down the hill and jumped from six feet height, in front of our car, and started running ahead along road. What followed was a mini-storm; sheep after sheep taking the jump from mountain side and in unison they moved ahead. Ashok jocularly remarked, ‘We have some company for our Kalpeshwar trek!’ The dust particles raised on the mud track remained suspended in air, making us shut the car windows, waiting it to disperse. I was fortunate enough to have some footage of this ‘stormy’ experience.

‘The more distance we travel, the less distance we shall have to trek,’ that was going in our mind, while we moved on. This being our first trek of Yatra - 2009, we did not want to tax ourselves too much, storing our energy for arduous Hemkund trek. We did not even realise, when we crossed Salna (where we were supposed to start our trek,) and after half an hour of further drive, arrived at a point, where the road abruptly ended. Kirti Singh got down and prepared to light his beedi, while we kept our back packs in the only shop at that place, had some tea, and started making enquiries. As happens at every place in Garhwal, ‘the local habitants are very helpful and honest.’  We were informed that, Urgam village was just one km away. It just left us with 6 km of to and fro trek for Kalpeshwar. A great happening, that made us realise, we had actually gained a day and could do away with night halt at Urgam village. As per the revised itinerary, take an additional day break at Joshimath, to undertake the Gorson Bhugyal trek, as bonus!

Trail to Kalpeshwar

The first time trekkers in Himalayas, Ashok, Sandhya and Deepak were too eager to hit the trail and proceeded along the 100 feet downward mud track followed by decent looking, clean, cement paved track about four feet wide. The clear bright morning, the blue sky, the distant hills with snow scattered on their crown, the terraced fields, dense tree cover of the Urgam valley, had an eye-soothing effect. Deepak, the fittest member of the group, who had done lot of Sahyadri treks, was striding ahead in gusto, followed by Sandhya who practiced a lot for the Yatra treks. The most inquisitive member of the group Ashok, just coasted along taking notes on the way in his mini writing pad.

While on the trail, we hardly come across any villager, let alone any Yatris like us. A few scattered structures were perched on the hill slopes. The first sight of villagers were, an old woman carrying a huge bundle of straws with ripened golden wheat grains on her back. Three bullocks with bells tied around their neck were walking ahead; made a sweet sound on otherwise quiet morning. The old lady was accompanied by a little girl, who smiled sweetly, as we passed by. 

Villager on move

Far from maddening crowd of Mumbai, our first encounter with Urgam villagers made us eager to discover more of this Himalayan village at 6,700’ above sea level. Our trail passed next to some potato fields, with colourful flowers on the plant. Soon, we found two village women engaged in de-weeding activities in the field prior to sowing.

De-weeding

We walked about half an hour and came to the Urgam village boundary. The cluster of single storied cottage like structure, with villagers engaged in various activities, in the front yard, was noticed. Mostly, the threshing of wheat crop was visible. Two bullocks treading on wheat crop including straws was spread on threshing floor, going round and round, and a man also following the same routine. Women were lifting some stacks of wheat straws containing wheat grains and hammering on the adjoining walls to remove the grains from straw. On stone tiled terrace of the cottage the crops like onion and wheat were being dried in this clear sunny day. On the field the ripe wheat grain was being harvested by women by means of sickle, made into small stacks and kept aside. A woman on the road side was making bundle of wheat straw, and throwing it aside, and gave a warm smile as I was busy getting some footage. 

Golden glow

We passed by a single storied colourfully painted Pathik Lodge, where the rooms appeared to be locked. Since we had not decided to spend the night at Urgam, we moved on. Near a cottage, we found a whole lot of cactus bush with beautiful yellow flowers in various stages of bloom. The glorious climate, the abundant water, and fertile soil in this region was evident. The garden, with different varieties of flowers were noticed near most of the cottages. The chirping and cooing of birds were music to our ears. ‘Bird watchers would have loved to hang around a lot more time than we have done,’ I mused. As luck would have it, we had one little brown bird hopping on cement trail ahead of us and managed to spot one multi-coloured bird on the branch of a tree.

Cactus Flowers

We were totally at ease, as the single sun-kissed cement paved track, will lead us to Kalpeshwar. We came across another two storied cottage named Pathik Guest House, with a gentleman seated on first floor open veranda. He greeted us with ‘namaste.’On enquiry we found his name as Rajinder Singh Negi. On searching the net in Mumbai, I came across this name, had a plan in fact, to stay in his lodge, for the night. He explained that he had two guest houses with ten beds. Now with changed plans, we were almost sorry to deprive an opportunity to Mr. Negi, to host us. With ‘Helong – Urgam road getting completed, it will be nigh impossible for people like Mr. Negi to fill his lodge with tourists.’ I sympathised. ‘May be in future trips, I would include one day of stay at Urgam village, just to relax.’

R S Negi

As we came to the end of the village, a roaring sound greeted us. At distance, between some giant trees, a waterfall was visible. We spotted a suspension bridge and realised that we were on right course. As we crossed the bridge, we spent some time enjoying a furious river flowing down stream and breaking into small rivulets.

Crossing the bridge, we took to the small trail consisting of crude steps going upwards the hill. We entered through the colourful archway to the temple with a few bells hanging from top. We rang the bell, entering and walking a short distance, could see a cave like structure. The cave consisted a very simple looking temple, represented the Kalpeshwar. The black cave symbolises the locks or ‘jata’ of Lord Shiva. A pujari, the only human soul around, greeted us. We had our little prayers by turn, amidst chanting of ‘mantra’ by pujari. A chat amongst five of us on the subject of Himalayan shrine followed. Ashok as usual was busy with his notes and we just sat on parapet wall and relaxed.

Near Kalpeshwar Temple

The return trek was leisurely, spent mostly sightseeing. We encountered a group of children with school bags walking to their home, wishing us ‘namaste’ with folded hands. It was nice to note that the light of education was burning bright in this remote Himalayan village. The tidy, neat, clean village with litter-free cement road impressed us no end. In this wheel-less village; not even bicycle or bullock cart were noticed. However the modern day communication is not lacking. The mobile network has certainly connected it to the world. Did I notice a small dish antenna on a roof top? Possibly a TV connection. We hope this beautiful environment of ideal Himalayan village would be preserved by denying access to vehicular traffic. With a lot of happiness in our soul, it was almost noon time when we returned to our base and boarded Amby to resume our Yatra, the next halt being Joshimath.

Kalpeshwar Photo Album 

Important informations :

1) Presently 2 km Kalpeshwar trek starts from the periphery of Urgam village where the motor road on Helong-Urgam sector ends.

2) At Urgam, one can stay at Pathik lodge, Pathik guest house     ( R. S. Negi Sadan ), owned by Rajinder Singh Negi.

Hemkund Trek – Second Time Lucky

 

My first attempt to trek Hemkund in the year June 2008 was aborted due to the collapse of glacier enroute Hemkund and the trail was blocked for three days. We made a course correction and headed for Badrinath. The desire to take one more shot at it continued during summer of 2009.

We arrived at Govindghat on early morning of fifth day of June, to undertake the 13 km trek to Ghangaria, which is base for Hemkund trek. Having done a 14 km trek from Gaurikund to Kedarnath a few times, this trek was no big deal. We comfortably made the distance in 7 hours and checked at GMVNL deluxe room which we had booked in advance. 

Sixth day of June 2009, began as another fine morning. I went to the verandah of GMVNL Ghangaria guest house and found a myriad of colorful turbans in motion. The Sikh community in bulk was striding, amidst chanting of Guru’s name. It was barely 5 am. The four trekkers, Deepak, Ashok, Sandhya and me got ready, with our back packs filled with some eatables and drinking water to hit the cement paved trail for Hemkund.

Gurudwara View, Ghangaria

We passed by Gurudwara, teeming with people; June being the busiest month for Hemkund Yatra. Just ahead of Gurudwara, the Yatris were bargaining with ‘pony-wallas’ and ‘pittoos’   (porters) for their services. Interestingly, the ponies were hired in pairs as one pony-walla took care of two ponies with a rope tied between them. Sandhya decided to take a pony, while Ashok and Deepak took their time in making the arrangements. I took this opportunity and looked around the Ghangaria landscape. The abundant tree cover, the colorfully painted Gurudwara, the roaring waterfall, the view of snow capped hills and the cool and crisp air added grandeur to this place. My chain of thought was broken by a pony passing by and nudging me on my shoulder. “Now onwards, I have to be extra careful about the ponies, lest I get knocked down on the trail,” I said.

Moving ahead of my trek mates, thinking they will catch up with me, I did some photo - shooting on the way. After crossing bridge over river Laxmanganga and walking another half a kilometre, a sign board indicating the direction to Valley of Flowers and Hemkund appeared. I veered towards the right side and become a part of human stream. The beautiful water fall ahead gave rise to several cascades running down towards Ghangaria town. Even after another half an hour of trekking, there were no mile posts to be seen. I decided to calculate the distance traversed by me at the rate of two km an hour; that is my walking speed in the hills with gentle slope. The row of dhabas selling food and beverages, appeared at regular intervals. The cost was prohibitive but all the same they were doing a brisk business. I decide not to sit at any place but take a half minute rest when I felt tired and resume my trek. At that rate, my target was to cover the seven km distance to Hemkund in five hours and spend at least a couple of hours there. As we got higher and higher, the morning became brighter and sky became bluer; even those white clouds became extinct. This was contrary to my expectation of a cloudy and murky weather as per the account of the most of Yatris who visited Hemkund some time or the other. So far so good; ‘Wahe Guru’ was kind to us.

Above Snowline

Yatris enroute Hemkund

At 9 am, I came across a few scattered glaciers. The trail was stone paved now and we had to have careful foot hold to negotiate it. The gradient becomes steeper, forcing me to take frequent rests in between. The trail cut right through the glacier. We were above the snowline. Part of the crystallized snow was on mountain side and a small amount on the other. Yatris poked the snow with their steel plated sticks and got some kind of pleasure at this 12,500’ altitude. There was no mile post to indicate how much distance I covered. I was looking forward to the archway to 1184 steps which would take me right up to Hemkund Sahib. No luck yet. So it had to be the stone paved zig zag path all the way. In panting breath, ‘Wahe Guru’ escaping their lips, Yatris were extracting extra bit of energy to do this arduous trek. A group of Sikh yatris passed by shouting “Jo Bole so Nihal.” I added to the chorus of “Sat Shri Akal.” The landscape, now, was a photographer’s delight with zig zag path and scattered snow giving grandeur to otherwise craggy mountain and tree-less terrain. I was walking in a trance as if there was no end to this path, ‘and I have miles to go before I rest,’ going through my mind. The sunlight was bright; though the cool wind took the heat away but the trekking was becoming tougher. After the umpteen bends, I abruptly came across a mass of people congregating on a flat land. It was 10.30 am by my watch. As I reached the cement wall, the trail seemed to fade away. I was thrilled after realizing that I had arrived at Hemkund Sahib! The shining hexagonal rooftop structure of Gurudwara was majestic and imposing. I thanked ‘Wahe Guru’ for making my trip to Hemkund Sahib possible; my dream destination for the past two years!

Hemkund Sahib

Hemkund Lake

On reaching near the Gurudwara, I found a group of yatris washing the utensils and spoons as a part of ‘kar seva.’ Inside a room in ground floor of Gurudwara, huge vessels filled with ‘Khichdi' was being distributed by ‘kar sevaks’ to the famished yatris. In spite of hunger pangs in my stomach, after having done the seven kms of trekking, climbing nearly 5,000’ in five hours of ordeal, I suppressed my desire and proceeded near the blue waters of Hemkund lake. A large number of people were taking bath in the ice cold water. Some taking dip in holy lake by latching onto the steel chains located at fixed intervals. After spending some time, I came back and stood near a huge gate in ground floor of Gurudwara. Suddenly, a person with two horses come hurriedly, waved me aside and vanished inside. ‘Is there some kind of a stable inside the structure?’ I was perplexed.

Inside Gurudwara

Kar Seva

 As I made enquiries for the entry to Gurudwara, an old Sikh gentleman asked, “Have you done Isnan?” I replied in negative. He hurriedly explained me to have a bath in Hemkund lake and then enter Gurudwara. Back to the lake, I took a brief bath in ice cold water, covered my head with a handkerchief and proceeded towards the Gurudwara. This time I climbed the steps to first floor and entered Hemkund Sahib. The Gurudwara hall was huge and beautifully decorated with tapestry and colored lights. The photos of Sikh Gurus adorned the walls. The accessibility of Gurudwara was facilitated by four doors at four corners. Some twenty yatris were seated on the carpeted floor with blankets wrapped around them. I got down on my knees and bowed near Granth Sahib and offered a brief prayer.

Laxman Temple

The verandah running around the Gurudwara hall, served as a beautiful 360 degree observation post for Yatris. In crystal clear water of the Hemkund, the pebbles, small and large stones were distinctly visible. The seven hills called ‘sapta shringa’ around with saffron flags fluttering on their summits, gave the whole place a divine dimension. At a distance near the bathing area, yatris were taking repeated dips in ice cold water. Some collected the lake water (called Amrit), in bottles to take it to their native place.

After having finished photo- shooting, hunger pangs made me arrive post haste at the Langar. I picked up the utensil and spoon from heaps of the them. The langar food was a plain ‘khichdi’ slightly on the liquid side, but piping hot. It tasted heavenly in the Himalayan destination. Hot tea was also being provided for the yatris. I pushed off, to visit the Shri Laxman temple. The temple is supposed to have existed much before the Gurudwara was constructed with the efforts of Guru Govind Singh’s followers. I took a second helping of the ‘khichdi’ and decided to wait for my fellow trekkers. Seating on the boundary wall, I watched the pouring in of yatris on foot, horses and palkis. This year, the weather being hotter than normal, the entire trail to Hemkund was clear of snow and horses arrived right up to the holy shrine. Hundreds of ‘pittoos’ were seated, waiting for their services for the return journey. Some were perched on the adjoining hill getting a bird’s eye view of the place.

Return trek via steps

Water fall on return trek

At around 11 am, my three trek mates made their appearance. We decided to meet after about an hour at the same place and they disappeared through a throng of yatris. After waiting for good one hour, I decided to make my return trek, by taking a different trail, the steep steps down ward which eluded me while climbing up. The initial few hundred steps were, quite comfortable. I was able to photo - shoot the yatris making their return trek by the zig-zag traditional route, and they looked like ants walking in a single file. I considered myself fortunate for having chosen the return trek through those 1184 steps. After scaling down the steps for about fifteen minutes, a sudden panic gripped me! Those steps suddenly disappeared; instead, heaps of stones of various sizes were placed on the steep gradient. My photographic mode of mind had a sudden demise! A few yatris were coming up huffing and puffing, and that got me thinking. I safely tucked away my camera in back pack and mentally prepared for the ordeal. I doubly concentrated on negotiating the rest of the gradient. With throbbing thigh muscles, and aching toes, I reached the last few ‘would be steps’ and did not find the beautiful arch to the entrance to the steps which existed before. ‘The ravages of nature causes immense damage to the man made conveniences,’ I mused. Thereafter, I became part of the ‘ant-stream.’ Once again I felt terribly hungry and my toe appeared to be in first stage of blister formation. I began walking awkwardly on my heels, to lessen burden on my toes and entered a ‘dhaba’ to have some rest. The piping hot aloo parathas, at Rs. 10/- appeared fairly priced compared to beverages, which were selling at Rs.30/- and above. I returned to Ghangaria, without much incidents, but agonizing toe pain and waited for my fellow trekkers to return.

By 5 pm, all of us met and then our immediate priority was to compensate for those burnt calories! Loitering on road nearby Gurudwara, the loud booming ‘Chole – Puri’ attracted our attention. The ‘Khalsa Daba’ boy was doing double duty of frying puris and shouting to attract clientele. We thought of experimenting with his delicacy and were not disappointed. The Puris were soft and crunchy, Chole was delicious. The piping hot Gulab Jamoons, which we discovered, was a specialty in Ghangaria, did a wonder for our stomach and soul.

We thanked ‘Wahe Guru’ for giving us the wonderful opportunity of Yatra Hemkund, which will be etched in our memory for a long time. With time, we hope that those 1184 steps to Hemkund will be repaired and the arch re-erected, so that Yatris will have the option of trekking their last few kilometres via steps, and arrive at Hemkund Sahib.

Important Information :

1) Ghangaria, the base for Hemkund trek offers decent accomodation in GMVNL guest house which can be booked through its website www.gmvnl.com . Dormitory is priced at Rs.90/- per person and double bed deluxe at Rs.1200/- per room. Some tents were also being put up when we checked out. There are more accommodations in Ghangaria, which cannot be booked on line.

2) Hemkund Yatra is possible from 1st June to 30th September

3) Hemkund Yatra on foot will be easier if traditional zig zag route is taken. Please avoid taking short cuts or those damaged steps in last two kms.

 Sri Hemkunt Sahib Yatra As I Recorded It

Patal Bhuvaneshwar – Heavenly Destination On Kumaon Hills

Sunrise View

9^th November 2011

A good breakfast under our belt, we said goodbye to Munsiyari and left for Patal Bhvaneshwar. Our original plan was to go to an East Kumaon town called Dharchula, at the Indo – Nepal border. We had a course correction after a suggestion from the driver. 

First major attraction on the way at about 30 km from Munsiyari was Birthi Falls, which we had skipped during journey to Munsiyari, due to lack of time and decided to cover the same in our return trip. From road we could see Birthi Falls cascading down from a great height and mighty roar. I had my tripod and handycam and digicam with me for a short trek for about 250 m, through a nicely laid cement track, going up on a gentle slope, surrounded by forested area. The distant landscape with a village came to focus; also a village couple on the neighboring hill arranging straw bundles. 

Birthi Falls

We spend some good half an hour photo shooting from different elevations and angles. Birthi  will rate as one of the very exciting places in Kumaon. 

We arrived at Patal Bhuvaneshwar in the late afternoon. The archeological site of Patal or Hell as it is called, is open from sunrise to sunset and is looked after by Archeological Society of India. A small walk through the mud-track and one arrives at a place consisting of a cottage and an entry gate to the area. The ticket is valued at Rs. 10/- per individual but additional charges of Rs. 50/- are levied for guide for a group. There is no ticket as such, but name and cash amount is entered in a register. The actual entry to Patal is through a small tunnel about 3’ diameter, with a steep downward slope and stones jutting out for grip ; to enter one has to be on all the fours in seated position. A separate dress carried for this adventure is better, since some amount of dust and moisture sticking to cloths cannot be avoided. The main tunnel opens out into many caves, which houses carvings of Gods and Goddesses and a Shiva Linga.  Photography is strictly prohibited at this site. The camera and mobile phones are deposited at the counter. 

Some more drive and we arrived at Parvati Resort for our overnight stay. This beautiful scenic place is surrounded by forested area, with a grand view of Himalayan panorama. The main resort building is single storied, consisting of a few double bedded rooms and a large dining hall. There are a number of cottages owned by the same resort, at a slightly lower elevation surrounded by garden and lawns. 

Parvati Resort

We selected a double room in front corner of the resort building. Being a corner room, it had two walls full of fixed glass windows, to give outside view. From the room bed I could see the lawn with a pine tree decorated with lighting, running along the trunk of the tree. We could even get the view of Himalayan Panorama. Very clean and tidy, I would rate it as one of the best accommodation in Kumaon. 

Parvati Resort

At the dining room just adjoining our room, we had an early dinner. The menu consists of wide variety of Indian and Chinese dishes. I ordered in Hindi for ‘Ek Chicken Choumein’; what I got was Egg Chicken Choumein. The meal was large and wholesome and I did not lose much time in gulping it down.  Evening time getting colder, we had nothing to do and retired early.

We woke up early for our share of Sunrise view from Patal Bhuvneshwar. The many number of Himalayan peaks getting lit in orange hue one after another was a treat to watch. Occasional cloud did hid some of the peaks but overall the weather played fairly well. 

Sunrise View

We had our refreshing hot water bath and a breakfast of Egg Sandwich, washed it down with tea, We got the packing done for full days drive to Haldwani. Waiting for driver to get ready, we had another half an hour to spend in this scenic place. What better activity than to watching birds in the early morning in this forested area. Two Himalayan Bulbuls seated on electric wire and one of them fluttering its wings kept me busy. Observation from dining hall verandah, I could capture the Himalayan Sparrow more popularly called Russet Sparrow. The bird has more colorful wings, neck and head region compared to its city brethren. When I had a leisurely walk on the road adjoining the resort, a yellowish looking bird called Streaked Laughingthrush was found hopping around for picking up food. We missed capturing of the birds at Binsar Sanctuary but to some extent made it up at Patal Bhuvneshwar.  Some of the tourists take a short trek to Tiger Point on slightly higher elevation to get  better Himalayan view.  

Russet Sparrow

Himalayan Bulbul

Streaked Laughingthrush

Our last destination of Kumaon visit completed, I am tempted to say Patal Bhuvaneshwar can have a second name: Heavenly Buvaneshwar.

* Author has created a video on Patal Bhuvaneshwar based on the footages from his Handycam, which can be accessed by viewers by taking the following link: http://youtu.be/uHHVceewmQ0

Munsiyari – A Multifaceted Destination On Kumaon Hills

7^th November 2011 

We left behind Binsar, to head north, towards Munsiyari. Our first halt was at Bageshwar, a busy temple town on the bank of confluence of rivers Saryu and Gomti. Both the rivers of shallow depth, does not give the place an aura similar to any one of the Panch Prayag in Garhwal. From river bank, view of cluster of colorful temples adjoining famous Bagnath temple looked good. 

Temple View at Bageshwar

We entered through the arched gate of Bagnath temple on which is written ‘Om Namoh Shivay’ and came to yet another Shiva temple of Uttarakhand. The compound houses many rooms, including an exhibition room of artifacts, a place where two people were engaged in beating of a large Dhol and a small Nagara shaped drum. A few pilgrims were busy with their rituals in presence of pujaris. After darshan inside temple and spending some time, we came out and did some looking round for our driver, who had a tough time parking the car in the busy market place. 

Bagnath Temple

We continued our road journey, our next halt being at Chaukori, a famous hill station of Kumaon. Since we did not have a night halt at this place, we entered the lovely KMVN complex to see the Panchchuli and other Himalayan peaks on a clear sunlit day. The KMVN consisted of a main building and many cottages with flower beds and lawns all around.

KMVN Chaukori

Driving ahead, we came to a picturesque Birthi Falls, which is a must see sight –seeing place at Kumaon. The huge mass of water cascading down the hill with a roaring sound was little far from road. We had to reach Munshiyari before the evening darkness set in. So, we had a few distant snap shots of waterfall and moved on; planning to spend about an hour on our return journey along the same route. In spite of best efforts of driver trying to negotiate the hilly terrain, at some places the track was a muddy stretch, we were getting late. Dusk approaching with 5 km distance yet to be covered to reach Munshiyari, we came to a clearing free of dense trees and had a beautiful view of Panchchuli Himalayan peaks bathed in flaming red hue. Although, we would be staying full day at Munshiyri, we did not take any chance and shot the video of Panchchuli at sunset.

Sunset View from Munsiyari

When we reached Munshiyari, it was getting dark.  As per our driver’s recommendation, we checked in at Hotel Pandey Lodge. Mr. Pandey, the proprietor, greeted us and gave us an ordinary double room for        Rs. 500/-, which was the best he could offer. “The better and pricey rooms are booked through the hotel website www.munsyarihotel.com,” he said. His clientele are mostly the Bengali speaking Indians and the overseas tourists visiting Munsiyari. Mr. Pandey has picked up quite a bit of Bengali and keeps his presence in the hotel all the time. He claims to arrive in hotel in early morning and leaves by late evening. The presence of the proprietor in the hotel at most of the time, has a huge effect in service, which is the best I have seen anywhere in Uttarakhand.  

Hotel Pandey Lodge

For the first time after beginning my journey from Haldwani, I had a taste of genuine Bengali non- vegetarian food, a chicken curry as cooked in our home style. A vegetarian curry was prepared in mustard paste to go with the Bengali palate.

8^th November 2011

In all the Himalayan destinations, my task in the morning was to don all my warm clothing, shivering in icy cold winds, to watch the sunrise view on the snow peaks. Munsiyari was no exception. There I was on a small terrace in the hotel, with my tripod and Handycam in place, for the glorious day to begin. Soon I could hear loud and excited Bengali voices. We had a mini-Kolkata, with gents, ladies and kids, excitedly discussing the spectacular sunrise views they have seen elsewhere. Some guy had precise knowledge on various Himalayan destinations from where the snow-peaks are seen at their best. After seeing the effect of sunset over Panchchuli peaks, we had great expectation of sunrise view in bright cloudless dawn. However, the rising sun trying to peep in from behind Panchchuli, it became obvious that we would not be able to see the golden glow on them. Instead, we had to be content with the sunrise spectacle  limited to some distant snow-peaks. Having a 60x optical zoom in my Sony Handycam, mounted on a tripod, came in handy to get a closer view and the footages were satisfying.

Sunrise View from Munsiyari

After a refreshing hot water bath, we took to the car for a few km of drive to the entrance of Nandadevi Temple. We passed through the arched gate and walked in a gentle slope up the gradient on a cement track, surrounded by tall trees in a forested area. After 10 minutes, we came to a flat land, unfolding a magic like visual with colorfully decorated Nandadevi temple, small cottages, cows grazing on bhugyal and glorious panorama of Panchchuli and other snow peaks. 

Nandadevi Temple

Some tourists were climbing on Watch Tower to have a better view of snow peaks. After a darshan at the temple, photo shooting to our hearts content, in this scenic place, we climbed the stairs of green painted steel Watch Tower to get another angle of 360 degree vision of landscape and bird’s view of the temple. 

Retreating from the Nandadevi Temple, we came across two villagers, carrying small nagara shaped drums. We requested them to play some Kumaoni beats. To our surprise they obliged. We paid them a small tip and drove a few kms to reach the Tribal Heritage Museum. The museum has a good collection of ancient artifacts, currency, coins, Himalayan Herbs, stones etc. The attendant demonstrated, how in ancient times people rubbed iron on flintstone to produce spark for getting the fire going. He also demonstrated a machine which was used to produce thread from cotton. We had a good look at number of books on Himalayas which were on sale. The visit completed, we had a good view of Himalayas from the Museum gate. 

Tribal Heritage Museum

We were on the way to Kalamuni Top at a distance of 15 km from Munsiyari. The Kalamuni Temple compound, consists of a courtyard, a few single storied structures, serving as dwelling for sadhu sants and the temple with Goddess Kali as presiding deity. As is common in all temples in Kumaon, here also a huge number of bells were found hanging at various locations, contributed by devotees to invoke Goddess Kali’s blessings. After darshan, we stood on the road; a few overseas tourists were chatting away at the dhaba and some shooting Himalayan peaks; however they refrained from entering the temple compound. 

Himalayan View from Kalamuni Top

Back to Munsiyari at the Hotel Pandey Lodge, we just relaxed in the evening, the clouds enveloping over the Himalayas, we were deprived of another photo shoot of sunset view. Thankfully, to my relief, yesterday I shot the spectacle on way to Musiyari. Tomorrow we proceed to Patal Bhuvaneshwar.

* Author now makes available the video shot by himself on sunrise view of Himalayas from Hotel Pandey Lodge, which is a spectacle. Readers can access the following link to view the same: http://youtu.be/051uUMMwXKU