Duration : 7 nights & 6 days
Expenditure : Rs. 5500 per person
Route :
Delhi – Haridwar – Rishikesh – Shivpuri – Devaprayag – Srinagar - Karanprayag – Nandaprayag – Pipalkoti – Joshimath – Auli.
Monday, December 24th, 2007
On the evening of December 24, 2007, I left from home at around 7: 45 PM to pick up Gunjan from her office where she was waiting. I had hired a Taxi from Tejpal at the last moment for Rs. 250 for a drop at New Delhi ISBT. Picked up Gunjan from her office and reached ISBT at around 8:45 PM. It was not difficult to find the Uttaranchal Bus Service area and we found the right bus scheduled for departure at 9:30 PM – The HiTech deluxe bus service from Delhi to Rishikesh. It is a good option to reach Rishikesh which is about 240 km from Delhi, and charges about Rs. 250 per person.
The interesting part of the travel was that I slipped my BlackBerry out of its holster, into my pocket so that it does not get stolen while I am sleeping in the night. The moment I did that, some button got pressed and it dialed Home, where our gossip was heard till the next one hour. So this is where our adventure begins!!!
Tuesday, December 25th, 2007
We reached Rishikesh at about 4:00 AM the next morning with plans to start for Joshi Math followed by Auli as the final destination for night stay. We had missed the bus to Joshi Math just 10 minutes back so we had the option to either wait for the next bus coming from Jaipur scheduled to reach by approx. 6:15 AM or to take a shared PRESS Sumo to Chamoli where we could explore more options to reach Joshi Math. We decided the latter and boarded the Press Sumo which started towards Chamoli at around 4:45 AM on this Christmas morning. This route is a bad route, bad route for the car on which you travel and for your lower back, bum, if I can say so and your neck if you take the back seat, which we did (I can still feel the numbness). We had the back seat in the Sumo. These press Sumos will not takeoff until there are 10 passengers and charges Rs. 200 per person for Chamoli. We were jostling 4 sitting in the rear of the Sumo. In the middle seat was a family of 4 sitting, with 2 others accompanied on the sofa. The lady in the middle seat was suffering from Travel sickness and constantly puked during the entire 7 hours journey. Then their little kid started puking inside the Sumo. It definitely was not a good beginning of the journey/vacation. Added to the fun was an Indica with a Registration number of Noida, UP-16-J that followed us for almost 2 hours on this way which definitely worked as strong black coffee and kept me awake for quite some time.
Roughing around in the SUMO we reached Chamoli at around 12:30 PM and had a good stretch at a nearby Dhaba with Tea and Aloo Parantha. Joshi Math is 50 Kms from Chamoli and is around 1.5 hours ride on a shared Sumo which charges Rs. 50 per person. We booked ourselves in another Sumo for Joshi Math and were waiting for the Sumo to be filled with the full capacity of 10. Suddenly by some supernatural calling, which plays a great role in my life, we decided to skip the visit to Auli and go back towards Karan Prayag from where we will leave for Kausani, followed by Ranikhet and Almora. We exited the Sumo and hired another Sumo (Rs. 35 per person) back for Karan Prayag. We reached Karan Prayag in little less than 1.5 hours and walked till the market area where we were expecting to get the next conveyance. We figured out that the last bus for Kausani had left at around 12:00 PM and now we could get a bus only till Gwaldam which was near Kausani and was about another 5 hours of journey. We could either stay in Gwaldam, since there was little chance of getting any conveyance for Kausani by the time we would be able to reach there, or stay here, in KARAN PRAYAG.
We came out of the urge of taking a chance of staying at the unheard ‘Gwaldam’ after I discussed the scene with Rohit back in Noida, whose father was the master mind of the planned route in my mind. Honestly speaking, my poor little backside, dierre to be precise, had started protesting for some cushion. We decided not to stretch it too far and stay in Karan Prayag. I checked a Lodge, just near the place from where we planned to take bus the next morning. Best room was Rs. 200 per night, with cotton beddings, small TV and they also promised some hot water for the next morning. Ok, the plan was to rough it out but it definitely was not to live in a stable. Hence, we decided to check out the reliable GMVN (Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam) Hotel, which was about half a kilometer uphill towards Joshimath. We walked towards the Hotel dragging Gunjan’s bright red strolley bag.
Surprisingly clean, managed, spacious super Deluxe room, was offered to us at the official rate of Rs. 350 per night which would have costed us Rs. 1200 in season, that too, only if we were lucky to find some vacant rooms at that time. Room had a private geyser and an open balcony which had a panoramic view of the high mountains and Ganges making its way through big stones. It was a beautiful site from the balcony. With 7 books in my luggage and a plan to complete them all during the trip, it was not long that we decided to stay here the next day as well and sit besides the Banks of Ganges for a good reading session in sharp sunlight the entire day. It was 4 PM and we wanted freshen up. We relaxed for some time and then went back to the market area for some shopping at around 5 PM. We had to order the food by 7 PM if we wanted to have dinner in the Hotel so we thought of having it outside. We purchased the best liquor in town (8 PM Whiskey, the Chivas Regal of Karan Prayag) and came back after having a nice dinner at the Vegetarian ‘Krishna Hotel and Restuarant’, the best in town. We could see two rivers merging just below where we sat, it was beautiful. It was similar to the scenery and paintings we used to draw as children– A mountain chain with a river from within and sun shining from one side but the hut was replaced by a more modern house hold. After enjoying a perfect evening supper with great tea, we came back to the hotel. I must tell you, the ginger flavoured tea is the best there. Amazing!!! Tired of the long journey, we slept quite early, around 8 PM, with plans for book reading on the beaches of Ganga, the next day.
Wednesday, December 26th, 2007
We woke up at 8 AM in the morning, when I got the first chance to order a Bed Tea, some thing that Gunjan loves to have and I hate to. Though I have to admit, that I loved this part on the entire trip, whenever, it did not result into acidity problem. Now was the chance to cherish what I always wanted to, NATURE. With the tea in the balcony outside and Gunjan still sleeping, I went out and heard after a long time – Birds, chirping. Picking up bits of food from a wall just beneath my balcony area. I could see the Sunlight hitting the mountain in front of me slowly and the river flowing beneath it. It was lovely. I wanted to reach the river as soon as the sunlight touched it, after all it was cold December. By the time Gunjan came out of her deep slumber, her tea was cold. She managed to gulp it down before running to the bathroom while I ordered the breakfast. After I had a round of Aloo Parantha and she had her corn flakes with milk, we were ready to do something that we always wanted but never could. Though we were late by 1 hour, we planned to start at 10 AM but it was close to 11 AM.
We walked down the slippery route down towards the Ganges. What looked like a clean area from up there was not as clean as we wanted. It was Karan Prayag’s Public Conveniences, but I had my eyes set on a clean area and a big rock just protruding into the river as much as is required. Soon, we were on the rock. With the thought that grass is always greener on the other side, I decided to have a look at another rock that was not as huge but we could put our feet in the water. I jumped down from my current position and went to see that rock. It was quite dirty near it so I returned back to start my book reading. Suddenly I realized that the area that I jumped smelled bad; that’s when I realized that I had jumped on shit and my boots had a dense layer of it . The next 15 minutes I was trying to get rid of the smell and clog from the left foot. Finally I took off my shoes and kept it on the rock near me. The rock was cold and sun was bright, so we took off our jackets and kept them below our bum. The next 3 hours, I read, laughed and shared the excerpts from my book ‘Critical Chain - Goldratt’ with Gunjan. We had decided to leave when the sunlight starts diminishing. So we walked out of there for lunch back to our favourite ‘Krishna Hotel and Restaurant’. After a great lunch, we returned back to our Hotel. I tried to continue the book after coming back to the Hotel but could not do it for long coz the sunlight was soon gone. We played cards, rammi, till late with drinks for sometime and decided that we will now go to Auli, back to Auli. We could play only 3 games of which I could win only 1 from Gunjan, for that too she told me that I had cheated. We had drinks till 9 PM and then had food in the Hotel. Planning to get up at 5 AM in the morning and take the first bus for Joshimath at 6 AM, we slept.
Thursday, December 27th, 2007
We woke up at 5 AM in the morning but could not decide who should get out of the bed first. It was cold. So we slept further till 8 AM and checked out of the Hotel after having a great breakfast of Aloo Paratha and Corn flakes. We started to walk downhill towards the area where we would get the Sumo or Bus for Joshi Math. There was a mini bus 2 X 2 that slowed down just in front of us. I tried my luck and asked if it was going to Joshimath. It was. We boarded the bus at 10 AM and started our 3 hours journey for Joshimath. To pass our time we played a game. Antakshari, with English words. We realized that it will end when we get stuck with either ‘E’ or with ‘Y’. I stressed on getting her stuck on ‘Y’ and won, if I can say so? Is ‘Yonder’ a word, I still have to see the dictionary so that I can win a bet. The scenic beauty was mind blowing. I had never seen such huge mountains in my life. They are rightly called the highest mountains of the world, ‘The Himalayas’. Well now something about the road we were traveling on… It definitely did not look like a highway but it was more like a snake track in the hills and we were in a bus which was driving through the snake track… I cannot even explain what I went through as most of the times we thought that the bus is wider than the road and that this is the last day of our lives. We discussed our insurances and figured if they will find way to their owners. Whenever there was a vehicle coming from the front, we were looking how deep we are going to fall down. We had our first stop at Chamoli, where we had half cup of tea, the second half had to be returned so that the bus does not go without taking us. We reached Joshimath at about 1:30 PM. We had plans to stay the night at Joshimath or at Auli, but we had less hopes that we will get a Hotel at Auli. Without thinking much we decided to look for ‘The Brand’ – GMVN Hotel. We asked the nearby people who told us that it was just about 50 mtrs. from where the bus had dropped us. Walking for it, we saw that some localites were selling socks that looked as if they would be able to keep our feet sensitive to touch in the ice that we were expecting to encounter. We purchased two socks and moved on towards GMVN Hotel.
Expenditure : Rs. 5500 per person
Route :
Delhi – Haridwar – Rishikesh – Shivpuri – Devaprayag – Srinagar - Karanprayag – Nandaprayag – Pipalkoti – Joshimath – Auli.
Monday, December 24th, 2007
On the evening of December 24, 2007, I left from home at around 7: 45 PM to pick up Gunjan from her office where she was waiting. I had hired a Taxi from Tejpal at the last moment for Rs. 250 for a drop at New Delhi ISBT. Picked up Gunjan from her office and reached ISBT at around 8:45 PM. It was not difficult to find the Uttaranchal Bus Service area and we found the right bus scheduled for departure at 9:30 PM – The HiTech deluxe bus service from Delhi to Rishikesh. It is a good option to reach Rishikesh which is about 240 km from Delhi, and charges about Rs. 250 per person.
The interesting part of the travel was that I slipped my BlackBerry out of its holster, into my pocket so that it does not get stolen while I am sleeping in the night. The moment I did that, some button got pressed and it dialed Home, where our gossip was heard till the next one hour. So this is where our adventure begins!!!
Tuesday, December 25th, 2007
We reached Rishikesh at about 4:00 AM the next morning with plans to start for Joshi Math followed by Auli as the final destination for night stay. We had missed the bus to Joshi Math just 10 minutes back so we had the option to either wait for the next bus coming from Jaipur scheduled to reach by approx. 6:15 AM or to take a shared PRESS Sumo to Chamoli where we could explore more options to reach Joshi Math. We decided the latter and boarded the Press Sumo which started towards Chamoli at around 4:45 AM on this Christmas morning. This route is a bad route, bad route for the car on which you travel and for your lower back, bum, if I can say so and your neck if you take the back seat, which we did (I can still feel the numbness). We had the back seat in the Sumo. These press Sumos will not takeoff until there are 10 passengers and charges Rs. 200 per person for Chamoli. We were jostling 4 sitting in the rear of the Sumo. In the middle seat was a family of 4 sitting, with 2 others accompanied on the sofa. The lady in the middle seat was suffering from Travel sickness and constantly puked during the entire 7 hours journey. Then their little kid started puking inside the Sumo. It definitely was not a good beginning of the journey/vacation. Added to the fun was an Indica with a Registration number of Noida, UP-16-J that followed us for almost 2 hours on this way which definitely worked as strong black coffee and kept me awake for quite some time.
Roughing around in the SUMO we reached Chamoli at around 12:30 PM and had a good stretch at a nearby Dhaba with Tea and Aloo Parantha. Joshi Math is 50 Kms from Chamoli and is around 1.5 hours ride on a shared Sumo which charges Rs. 50 per person. We booked ourselves in another Sumo for Joshi Math and were waiting for the Sumo to be filled with the full capacity of 10. Suddenly by some supernatural calling, which plays a great role in my life, we decided to skip the visit to Auli and go back towards Karan Prayag from where we will leave for Kausani, followed by Ranikhet and Almora. We exited the Sumo and hired another Sumo (Rs. 35 per person) back for Karan Prayag. We reached Karan Prayag in little less than 1.5 hours and walked till the market area where we were expecting to get the next conveyance. We figured out that the last bus for Kausani had left at around 12:00 PM and now we could get a bus only till Gwaldam which was near Kausani and was about another 5 hours of journey. We could either stay in Gwaldam, since there was little chance of getting any conveyance for Kausani by the time we would be able to reach there, or stay here, in KARAN PRAYAG.
We came out of the urge of taking a chance of staying at the unheard ‘Gwaldam’ after I discussed the scene with Rohit back in Noida, whose father was the master mind of the planned route in my mind. Honestly speaking, my poor little backside, dierre to be precise, had started protesting for some cushion. We decided not to stretch it too far and stay in Karan Prayag. I checked a Lodge, just near the place from where we planned to take bus the next morning. Best room was Rs. 200 per night, with cotton beddings, small TV and they also promised some hot water for the next morning. Ok, the plan was to rough it out but it definitely was not to live in a stable. Hence, we decided to check out the reliable GMVN (Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam) Hotel, which was about half a kilometer uphill towards Joshimath. We walked towards the Hotel dragging Gunjan’s bright red strolley bag.
Surprisingly clean, managed, spacious super Deluxe room, was offered to us at the official rate of Rs. 350 per night which would have costed us Rs. 1200 in season, that too, only if we were lucky to find some vacant rooms at that time. Room had a private geyser and an open balcony which had a panoramic view of the high mountains and Ganges making its way through big stones. It was a beautiful site from the balcony. With 7 books in my luggage and a plan to complete them all during the trip, it was not long that we decided to stay here the next day as well and sit besides the Banks of Ganges for a good reading session in sharp sunlight the entire day. It was 4 PM and we wanted freshen up. We relaxed for some time and then went back to the market area for some shopping at around 5 PM. We had to order the food by 7 PM if we wanted to have dinner in the Hotel so we thought of having it outside. We purchased the best liquor in town (8 PM Whiskey, the Chivas Regal of Karan Prayag) and came back after having a nice dinner at the Vegetarian ‘Krishna Hotel and Restuarant’, the best in town. We could see two rivers merging just below where we sat, it was beautiful. It was similar to the scenery and paintings we used to draw as children– A mountain chain with a river from within and sun shining from one side but the hut was replaced by a more modern house hold. After enjoying a perfect evening supper with great tea, we came back to the hotel. I must tell you, the ginger flavoured tea is the best there. Amazing!!! Tired of the long journey, we slept quite early, around 8 PM, with plans for book reading on the beaches of Ganga, the next day.
Wednesday, December 26th, 2007
We woke up at 8 AM in the morning, when I got the first chance to order a Bed Tea, some thing that Gunjan loves to have and I hate to. Though I have to admit, that I loved this part on the entire trip, whenever, it did not result into acidity problem. Now was the chance to cherish what I always wanted to, NATURE. With the tea in the balcony outside and Gunjan still sleeping, I went out and heard after a long time – Birds, chirping. Picking up bits of food from a wall just beneath my balcony area. I could see the Sunlight hitting the mountain in front of me slowly and the river flowing beneath it. It was lovely. I wanted to reach the river as soon as the sunlight touched it, after all it was cold December. By the time Gunjan came out of her deep slumber, her tea was cold. She managed to gulp it down before running to the bathroom while I ordered the breakfast. After I had a round of Aloo Parantha and she had her corn flakes with milk, we were ready to do something that we always wanted but never could. Though we were late by 1 hour, we planned to start at 10 AM but it was close to 11 AM.
We walked down the slippery route down towards the Ganges. What looked like a clean area from up there was not as clean as we wanted. It was Karan Prayag’s Public Conveniences, but I had my eyes set on a clean area and a big rock just protruding into the river as much as is required. Soon, we were on the rock. With the thought that grass is always greener on the other side, I decided to have a look at another rock that was not as huge but we could put our feet in the water. I jumped down from my current position and went to see that rock. It was quite dirty near it so I returned back to start my book reading. Suddenly I realized that the area that I jumped smelled bad; that’s when I realized that I had jumped on shit and my boots had a dense layer of it . The next 15 minutes I was trying to get rid of the smell and clog from the left foot. Finally I took off my shoes and kept it on the rock near me. The rock was cold and sun was bright, so we took off our jackets and kept them below our bum. The next 3 hours, I read, laughed and shared the excerpts from my book ‘Critical Chain - Goldratt’ with Gunjan. We had decided to leave when the sunlight starts diminishing. So we walked out of there for lunch back to our favourite ‘Krishna Hotel and Restaurant’. After a great lunch, we returned back to our Hotel. I tried to continue the book after coming back to the Hotel but could not do it for long coz the sunlight was soon gone. We played cards, rammi, till late with drinks for sometime and decided that we will now go to Auli, back to Auli. We could play only 3 games of which I could win only 1 from Gunjan, for that too she told me that I had cheated. We had drinks till 9 PM and then had food in the Hotel. Planning to get up at 5 AM in the morning and take the first bus for Joshimath at 6 AM, we slept.
Thursday, December 27th, 2007
We woke up at 5 AM in the morning but could not decide who should get out of the bed first. It was cold. So we slept further till 8 AM and checked out of the Hotel after having a great breakfast of Aloo Paratha and Corn flakes. We started to walk downhill towards the area where we would get the Sumo or Bus for Joshi Math. There was a mini bus 2 X 2 that slowed down just in front of us. I tried my luck and asked if it was going to Joshimath. It was. We boarded the bus at 10 AM and started our 3 hours journey for Joshimath. To pass our time we played a game. Antakshari, with English words. We realized that it will end when we get stuck with either ‘E’ or with ‘Y’. I stressed on getting her stuck on ‘Y’ and won, if I can say so? Is ‘Yonder’ a word, I still have to see the dictionary so that I can win a bet. The scenic beauty was mind blowing. I had never seen such huge mountains in my life. They are rightly called the highest mountains of the world, ‘The Himalayas’. Well now something about the road we were traveling on… It definitely did not look like a highway but it was more like a snake track in the hills and we were in a bus which was driving through the snake track… I cannot even explain what I went through as most of the times we thought that the bus is wider than the road and that this is the last day of our lives. We discussed our insurances and figured if they will find way to their owners. Whenever there was a vehicle coming from the front, we were looking how deep we are going to fall down. We had our first stop at Chamoli, where we had half cup of tea, the second half had to be returned so that the bus does not go without taking us. We reached Joshimath at about 1:30 PM. We had plans to stay the night at Joshimath or at Auli, but we had less hopes that we will get a Hotel at Auli. Without thinking much we decided to look for ‘The Brand’ – GMVN Hotel. We asked the nearby people who told us that it was just about 50 mtrs. from where the bus had dropped us. Walking for it, we saw that some localites were selling socks that looked as if they would be able to keep our feet sensitive to touch in the ice that we were expecting to encounter. We purchased two socks and moved on towards GMVN Hotel.
Bad luck, GMVN was totally booked, so we asked at the reception if they could suggest an alternative place to stay . They said they had another bunglow just down towards the market side, which was the newer, second building of GMVN Hotel. I still wonder, why he did not tell me as soon as he said that there are no rooms available at GMVN. To check out the rooms, we kept the luggage at the older building itself and left for the newer building. The room was good but the rate was high. After living in a Super Deluxe Hotel room in Karanprayag for Rs. 350, a Super Deluxe room at Joshimath from the same Hotel chain at Rs. 950 (Rs. 1500 in full season times) was too much. We had the option of an ordinary room for Rs. 400 or a semi Deluxe for Rs. 500 but wanted to settle for the Super Deluxe itself since it was all new construction and a very clean, big room with the view of high mountain peaks from the balcony. Nothing like Karanprayag though. Their phone was not working and before finalizing we wanted to check if rooms were available in Auli. We got the phone number of Auli GMVN and called them from a nearby public phone, but they confirmed that no rooms were available till January 2. People do want to celebrate their New year at Auli. We had our own reservations paying Joshimath GMVN them right away, we were not able to digest the rate change from Karanprayag for the same accommodation. Half heartedly we asked for our luggage and checked into the Hotel. We tried to then enquire about the Auli ropeway timings. It was near to 2:30 PM, we were hungry and the last ropeway from Auli to back starts at 4:20 PM. We decided to do it the next day. Then we moved to the market outside, just beside the Hotel, to search for ‘good’ food. People around told us to go to Maharaja Hotel and restaurant for the best food in town. Should not have trusted them. I still have a bias towards Karanprayag, best we got, be it location, recommendations, site seeing or Hotel. We got our chances at ‘Chowmein’, that was looking very enticing to Gunjan on a neighbor lady’s plate, which I was strongly against for hygiene reasons. I had agreed to get it only if Gunjan would not waste any part of it regardless of me eating any of it. I ordered a safe Dal and Kadahi Paneer and Aloo Parantha. Gunjan did gave her best shot at the Chowmein and I could manage eating most part of it as well and then moved on to finishing my order. Dal was undercooked and I had to request another tarka to make it edible.
After food, we were still discussing the rate for Hotel so we decided to check out some other Hotels around. The rate for all good Hotels is the same ranging from Rs. 900 – 1200 but not as clean, big and good location as our good old GMVN. Convinced that we have got a good deal we came back happily to the Hotel. Somehow we were tired and felt like having a nap. May be in mountains everyone feels a bit drowsy after certain amount of exertion or it was the cold outside and warmth of the room blower and the nice Mink blanket, that we fell asleep for about an hour. After the nap, the Chowmein started to show its impact on Gunjan’s stomach. She was all over the toilet pot, spilling out the enticing Chowmein with a severe headache having medicines, limca etc. She had Khichri, in dinner and I was on my regular, Aloo Parantha, this time with Egg Bhurji. She was sleeping when I went downstairs to get an extra pair of Quilt, I could never imagine spending such a cold night with a blower and a mink blanket. Downstairs, I heard the news of Benazir Bhutto shot dead, I rushed back to the room and for the next some hours, we were watching television discussing Bhutto and how she was one lady who every woman in our subcontinent looks up to. We slept quite late, 11 PM deciding to get up at 8 in the morning and catching the first ropeway at 9:15 AM for Auli and try to get back by 2 PM incase we want to come back early so we can start back for Karanprayag for stay in the night.
Friday, December 28th, 2007
We got up at 8:00 AM and again were not able to decide who moves out of the bed first. Gunjan had recovered from her Chowmein migrane but she decided to still have a lighter breakfast. I was still onto my Aloo Paranthas. We managed to be out just before 10:00 AM after checking out of the Hotel putting our luggage in their store where some others had put their luggage as well. But we did miss the first 3 ropeway trolleys. We had to walk down about 100 mtrs. to reach the ropeway. We got the 10:50 Am ropeway to Auli, which costs Rs. 400 each for up down. You have to confirm the trip timings back which can be changed only on request which is taken as per availability, which the ticket counter guy set back for 3:00 PM by default. It was scary when I read the statistics for the trolley speed and calculated that the speed at which the trolley can move was just about 100 Km per hour.
Fearing that we will not be able to notice much at that speed, I boarded the trolley and was amazed to see that the trolley did not have any seats with seat belts, but was having just hangers from the roof top that we had to hold with our hands to prevent from accidental sharp movements. I gripped two of them with all the extra strength required when Gunjan would require her husband to support her. To my surprise the speed was quite slow, slow enough that we were not required to hold anything, just enjoy the scenic beauty. It is a beautiful ropeway to traverse. I heard later that it is considered to be one of the best we have in India. It takes us more than 1100 mtrs. high from Mean sea level in just about 22 minutes. We were at the rear of the trolley, which had 25 total people standing in it, so we could see all the downhill that the trolley was covering but not the upcoming hills. There are 10 towers in total that the trolley covers. We saw the army cantonment area at about the 4th tower. As the trolley gained height, we started to see small patches of snow on the mountains, which then changed slowly to a sea of snow. Starting from snow which was of the depth of a hand, it converted to snow that was a feet deep. The 8th tower of the trolley is at the Auli GMVN Hotel (made of wooden huts) and sure there is, and cannot be another Hotel at that place. You gotta see it to believe it. Someone told me that it costs Rs. 6000 per night at this place, but I could not confirm that. The trolley reached the 10th tower and it stopped.
As soon as we came out, there was a bunch of teenagers who started to offer us ski equipment and their training services. Youngest of them was the most persistent one. He was offering equipment at Rs. 400 per hour with trainer charges extra, but after a while he agreed to Rs. 300 per person without any time limitation. Good that I had checked the rates from Joshimath before leaving for Auli. There was no snow outside, just ice, and about two kids were trying to use their hired ski equipment on that. That’s it, I thought, it seems to much to spend for too less worth. Then we climbed up some slippery steps to see the bigger area, where we were to get the training, and the money was suddenly worth it.
We both were soon in the ski trying to control our falls. Gunjan was too conscious to be able to fall, I proudly fell 5 times. The best fall is when it is caused by someone else. I was facing the cliff end of the ski area, with my back towards the bigger ski area trying to take a breath before I take a U turn, and swoosh… came one of the fresh trainee, taking me off my feet. I saved him from getting down the cliff, he was trying to save some money by getting the equipment but not the trainer. There I was on the ice with both the sticks 5 feet away from me and left ski standing in upright position with my leg making a 45 degree angle with the ground and my right ski going away and away from me. Cannot say if I saved him or he spared me. Gunjan got tired early, ski is heavy on your arms as well incase you want to go uphill without wearing them off and if you are stiffening your muscles to stay away from falling. Gunjan went off for a nice tea break with Pakora, and I kept the spirit to recover all the money that I was to give for th
e equipment and trainer. We then had a walk over the snow using the snow shoes that you get at Rs. 50 per pair and met two couples who came from Kolkatta, one of them was Saif who helped us click some good photographs of both of us. The Ski guy gave us a discount of Rs. 50 when Gunjan reminded him how less she actually did use the equipment and services.
We had good omelet with tea before we reached the trolley which was to leave back at 3:00 PM which was delayed because of less number of people, so we waited till 3:30 PM to get back downhill. We tried to see if we can still get back some shared Sumo till Karanprayag, but unfortunately the last shared Sumo to Karanprayag goes from Joshimath at about 2 PM. We did not eat on our way back hoping to get some food at the Hotel from where we had already checked out. We were late for the lunch timings and the Super Deluxe rooms were all sold out. We were offered the Rs. 500, semi Deluxe room which was shady and had no television or blower though we were committed a heater in the room at Rs. 70. We asked incase they had rooms available in the bunglow that was uphill and they could not confirm. So we went uphill to see if the room was available. We got similar Semi Deluxe room which was more spacious, had a better view and had a television in there. But because of the television it was costing us Rs. 500. We checked in to it but could order only omelet toast instead of lunch. We were too tired to go out for lunch and after getting an early dinner commitment from the chef decided to do with the omelet for now. We followed up on the killing of Benazir on the television and rested for few hours. We had realized that to reach back home on Sunday night and for Gunjan to reach office on Monday morning, we should start our journey back for Rishikesh the next day. I finished the remaining 8 PM with no support from Gunjan and acted like a drunkard for sometime trying to create scene inside and outside the room before realizing that it was really cold outside and that it is better to end it and get in the bed so that we can move out early, the next day. I’m sure Gunjan has a lot more to say about my acts!!!
Saturday, December 29th, 2007
We woke up at 5 AM and not able to decide who moves out of the bed first got out at about 9 AM, checked out of the Hotel and got a shared Sumo for Chamoli. Chamoli was the most visited and revisited station of our trip. Gunjan was dreading riding a bus back on the track between Joshimath and Chamoli so we decided the middle seat this time in a shared sumo. We were smart enough today to learn from our own past, though were not wise enough in the past to learn from others experience by looking at the people plummeting for the middle seat in preference to the back seat. Again a waiting time of good half an hour with two middle aged (Gunjan considered them hot) ladies cramped on my left side and Gunjan on my right claiming of travel sickness to get the window seat. They were discussing that NTPC was cutting the mountains and the road for Chamoli was blocked. But we did not take it seriously since there was some traffic coming from Chamoli side. We started back at 11AM. Just about 10 Kms. away from Joshimath on the way back, we stopped and came to know that the road was blocked due to cutting of the mountain. Some people passing by told that it will take 2 hours for the road to be cleaned up but the driver of our Sumo suggested that it will take not less than 3 hours to clear up. With plans to reach Rishikesh, the same day we were confused whether to leave the current Sumo like others were doing, cross the cutting area on foot and then try to get another shared Sumo that was coming from the other side and would retreat now. Our driver wanted to go back to Joshimath. Our decision took all the time we had, not an inch width was left of the road, we had to literary request the cuttings workers to stop so that we can climb the rocks to the other side. We reached the other side of the cutting area, realizing that the last Sumo was leaving. Sometimes what mars people treat as problem looks romantic symphony to people from Venus. Classic example. As I was about to regret our slow decision making, I got a chance to rectify it. I saw a mini Tata 404 truck taking a U turn so I requested the driver to drop us till Chamoli which he bluntly refused. I then realized that it was an army truck and there was a CRPF personnel accompanying the truck. I requested the CRPF Jawan, who after looking at my female company agreed to drop us till Pipalkoti which was still 16 Kms. from Chamoli, and we could expect some shared Sumo from there to Chamoli. Now our trip was starting to get adventurous?
We sat in the back on the truck and started for our journey back, enjoying another of the first time in life thing. We picked up a daily laborer, followed by some local teenagers, and finally bundles of woods for fireplace for the army camp before we reached Pipalkoti, which was the last stop for the truck, 16 kms from Chamoli. We got out of the Truck and thanked the CRPF Jawan. It is really difficult to find a toilet in this region, which makes travel for ladies difficult than for men. We reached Chamoli at around 1:30 PM and got the next ride on a shared Sumo for Rishikesh quite easily. But lack of passengers delayed our leaving back till 2:30 PM by which time we had my favourite Alloo Parantha with tea. Sumo driver was in a rush and stopped only once on our way back for tea, at Srinagar. That’s when he realized that we had a flat tyre. We had good long chats about our past, Gunjan’s Julie, engineering, civil engineering, Message parsing etc. We were expected to reach at 8 PM in Rishikesh, but getting the tyre mended took more time than we had anticipated. We reached Rishikesh at about 9:30 PM. The localites in the Sumo told us that GMVN guest house is available just next to the turn towards bus stand, but we would have to walk till there. We reached GMVN guest house near Natraj Chowk at around 10:00 PM. It was a clean and big Hotel and we got a good Deluxe room for Rs. 700 on first floor, while ordinary room was available for Rs. 500. The kitchen was closing so we had to order as soon as we got inside the room. All plans of rafting were shattered because of cold and lack of time. We had a huge dinner that night before we slept thinking to wake up early for Rishikesh site seeing. Gunjan observed that there was no geyser in the bathroom but we were too tired to talk further so we slept.
Sunday, December 30th, 2007
We woke up at 9:00 AM in the morning. The only bad thing was that the room service was not available on phone and I had to walk to the ground floor to order anything. We had a good breakfast but without egg or omelet. They said that most of the people are on holy trip from here so it is difficult to get eggs in here. My trip’s favorite Alloo Parantha was it then. We started to see around after 11:00 AM. We dropped our luggage at the reception and went walking till Natraj Chowk to get a shared Auto for Rs. 4 each to the market. From there we got a shared Auto for Rs. 10 each till Laxman jhulla. We visited some shops before the Jhulla to purchase some Navratan malla and original sputnik stones. We then managed to reach Laxamn jhulla where Gunjan purchased some atta to drop to the fishes in the river from the center of the Jhulla. Before she could reach anywhere at the mid point one of the monkey snatched it from her. She was frightened by the innocent act of the monkey and did not want to hang around any loose fittings from that point that could attract any more monkeys. We reached the other end of Laxman jhulla and Gunjan got a sudden fit of shopping rage. Somehow, we managed without spending a pie from that point onwards. We walked back towards the Ram Jhulla from a narrow street where shared jeep was the primary mode of travel. I was searching for a public toilet for which I saw a mark saying behind the Choti wala post office. We walked towards the back side of Ram Jhulla thinking Choti wala is the name of the building where the post office is located. Choti walla was actually a famous restaurant behind Ram Jhulla that was established in 1953, which was then divided between two brothers. The specialty of both of these restaurants is that at the entrance there is a Choti walla pandit sitting with a colorful painted face. We had a Choti wala special Thali for Rs. 100 at the restaurant which had brighter Choti walla at the entrance.
We then spent sometime at Ganga beach next to Ram Jhulla before walking back to get a shared Auto back to Market followed by an Auto to Natraj Chowk. It was already 4:00 PM and we managed to get another Auto to Bus stand from GMVN which took Rs. 20 to take us to Bus Stand.
We were told that the only Deluxe bus that goes from Rishikesh to Delhi leaves in the morning, so we planned to take a Deluxe bus from Haridwar to Delhi. We took an ordinary bus till Haridwar and got the 5:15 PM HiTech Deluxe Uttaranchal bus back to Delhi which was expected to reach Delhi at 9:30 PM.
We stopped by a restaurant at the backside of a Reliance petrol pump to have food. We ordered butter Chicken but had to get it exchanged for Shahi paneer due to an insect in our serving. There were Numerous traffic jams on our way back and Gunjan wanted to go to the toilet. She had to wait till we got till Meerut where the bus stopped specially for us so that we could relieve ourselves. Both of us were mute till the time she reached the toilet after a wait of irresistible one and a half hours.
We could hardly sleep but we reached Delhi at 12:30 AM. We got an Auto for Rs. 350 for the risk of taking a Delhi Auto inside UP. It was very cold in the Auto and we got all wrapped up in Gunjan’s mufflers and shawls before reaching home.
It was definitely one of our best trips…totally cherishable.
Copyedited : Gunjan Kataria
After food, we were still discussing the rate for Hotel so we decided to check out some other Hotels around. The rate for all good Hotels is the same ranging from Rs. 900 – 1200 but not as clean, big and good location as our good old GMVN. Convinced that we have got a good deal we came back happily to the Hotel. Somehow we were tired and felt like having a nap. May be in mountains everyone feels a bit drowsy after certain amount of exertion or it was the cold outside and warmth of the room blower and the nice Mink blanket, that we fell asleep for about an hour. After the nap, the Chowmein started to show its impact on Gunjan’s stomach. She was all over the toilet pot, spilling out the enticing Chowmein with a severe headache having medicines, limca etc. She had Khichri, in dinner and I was on my regular, Aloo Parantha, this time with Egg Bhurji. She was sleeping when I went downstairs to get an extra pair of Quilt, I could never imagine spending such a cold night with a blower and a mink blanket. Downstairs, I heard the news of Benazir Bhutto shot dead, I rushed back to the room and for the next some hours, we were watching television discussing Bhutto and how she was one lady who every woman in our subcontinent looks up to. We slept quite late, 11 PM deciding to get up at 8 in the morning and catching the first ropeway at 9:15 AM for Auli and try to get back by 2 PM incase we want to come back early so we can start back for Karanprayag for stay in the night.
Friday, December 28th, 2007
We got up at 8:00 AM and again were not able to decide who moves out of the bed first. Gunjan had recovered from her Chowmein migrane but she decided to still have a lighter breakfast. I was still onto my Aloo Paranthas. We managed to be out just before 10:00 AM after checking out of the Hotel putting our luggage in their store where some others had put their luggage as well. But we did miss the first 3 ropeway trolleys. We had to walk down about 100 mtrs. to reach the ropeway. We got the 10:50 Am ropeway to Auli, which costs Rs. 400 each for up down. You have to confirm the trip timings back which can be changed only on request which is taken as per availability, which the ticket counter guy set back for 3:00 PM by default. It was scary when I read the statistics for the trolley speed and calculated that the speed at which the trolley can move was just about 100 Km per hour.
Fearing that we will not be able to notice much at that speed, I boarded the trolley and was amazed to see that the trolley did not have any seats with seat belts, but was having just hangers from the roof top that we had to hold with our hands to prevent from accidental sharp movements. I gripped two of them with all the extra strength required when Gunjan would require her husband to support her. To my surprise the speed was quite slow, slow enough that we were not required to hold anything, just enjoy the scenic beauty. It is a beautiful ropeway to traverse. I heard later that it is considered to be one of the best we have in India. It takes us more than 1100 mtrs. high from Mean sea level in just about 22 minutes. We were at the rear of the trolley, which had 25 total people standing in it, so we could see all the downhill that the trolley was covering but not the upcoming hills. There are 10 towers in total that the trolley covers. We saw the army cantonment area at about the 4th tower. As the trolley gained height, we started to see small patches of snow on the mountains, which then changed slowly to a sea of snow. Starting from snow which was of the depth of a hand, it converted to snow that was a feet deep. The 8th tower of the trolley is at the Auli GMVN Hotel (made of wooden huts) and sure there is, and cannot be another Hotel at that place. You gotta see it to believe it. Someone told me that it costs Rs. 6000 per night at this place, but I could not confirm that. The trolley reached the 10th tower and it stopped.As soon as we came out, there was a bunch of teenagers who started to offer us ski equipment and their training services. Youngest of them was the most persistent one. He was offering equipment at Rs. 400 per hour with trainer charges extra, but after a while he agreed to Rs. 300 per person without any time limitation. Good that I had checked the rates from Joshimath before leaving for Auli. There was no snow outside, just ice, and about two kids were trying to use their hired ski equipment on that. That’s it, I thought, it seems to much to spend for too less worth. Then we climbed up some slippery steps to see the bigger area, where we were to get the training, and the money was suddenly worth it.
We both were soon in the ski trying to control our falls. Gunjan was too conscious to be able to fall, I proudly fell 5 times. The best fall is when it is caused by someone else. I was facing the cliff end of the ski area, with my back towards the bigger ski area trying to take a breath before I take a U turn, and swoosh… came one of the fresh trainee, taking me off my feet. I saved him from getting down the cliff, he was trying to save some money by getting the equipment but not the trainer. There I was on the ice with both the sticks 5 feet away from me and left ski standing in upright position with my leg making a 45 degree angle with the ground and my right ski going away and away from me. Cannot say if I saved him or he spared me. Gunjan got tired early, ski is heavy on your arms as well incase you want to go uphill without wearing them off and if you are stiffening your muscles to stay away from falling. Gunjan went off for a nice tea break with Pakora, and I kept the spirit to recover all the money that I was to give for th
e equipment and trainer. We then had a walk over the snow using the snow shoes that you get at Rs. 50 per pair and met two couples who came from Kolkatta, one of them was Saif who helped us click some good photographs of both of us. The Ski guy gave us a discount of Rs. 50 when Gunjan reminded him how less she actually did use the equipment and services.We had good omelet with tea before we reached the trolley which was to leave back at 3:00 PM which was delayed because of less number of people, so we waited till 3:30 PM to get back downhill. We tried to see if we can still get back some shared Sumo till Karanprayag, but unfortunately the last shared Sumo to Karanprayag goes from Joshimath at about 2 PM. We did not eat on our way back hoping to get some food at the Hotel from where we had already checked out. We were late for the lunch timings and the Super Deluxe rooms were all sold out. We were offered the Rs. 500, semi Deluxe room which was shady and had no television or blower though we were committed a heater in the room at Rs. 70. We asked incase they had rooms available in the bunglow that was uphill and they could not confirm. So we went uphill to see if the room was available. We got similar Semi Deluxe room which was more spacious, had a better view and had a television in there. But because of the television it was costing us Rs. 500. We checked in to it but could order only omelet toast instead of lunch. We were too tired to go out for lunch and after getting an early dinner commitment from the chef decided to do with the omelet for now. We followed up on the killing of Benazir on the television and rested for few hours. We had realized that to reach back home on Sunday night and for Gunjan to reach office on Monday morning, we should start our journey back for Rishikesh the next day. I finished the remaining 8 PM with no support from Gunjan and acted like a drunkard for sometime trying to create scene inside and outside the room before realizing that it was really cold outside and that it is better to end it and get in the bed so that we can move out early, the next day. I’m sure Gunjan has a lot more to say about my acts!!!
Saturday, December 29th, 2007
We woke up at 5 AM and not able to decide who moves out of the bed first got out at about 9 AM, checked out of the Hotel and got a shared Sumo for Chamoli. Chamoli was the most visited and revisited station of our trip. Gunjan was dreading riding a bus back on the track between Joshimath and Chamoli so we decided the middle seat this time in a shared sumo. We were smart enough today to learn from our own past, though were not wise enough in the past to learn from others experience by looking at the people plummeting for the middle seat in preference to the back seat. Again a waiting time of good half an hour with two middle aged (Gunjan considered them hot) ladies cramped on my left side and Gunjan on my right claiming of travel sickness to get the window seat. They were discussing that NTPC was cutting the mountains and the road for Chamoli was blocked. But we did not take it seriously since there was some traffic coming from Chamoli side. We started back at 11AM. Just about 10 Kms. away from Joshimath on the way back, we stopped and came to know that the road was blocked due to cutting of the mountain. Some people passing by told that it will take 2 hours for the road to be cleaned up but the driver of our Sumo suggested that it will take not less than 3 hours to clear up. With plans to reach Rishikesh, the same day we were confused whether to leave the current Sumo like others were doing, cross the cutting area on foot and then try to get another shared Sumo that was coming from the other side and would retreat now. Our driver wanted to go back to Joshimath. Our decision took all the time we had, not an inch width was left of the road, we had to literary request the cuttings workers to stop so that we can climb the rocks to the other side. We reached the other side of the cutting area, realizing that the last Sumo was leaving. Sometimes what mars people treat as problem looks romantic symphony to people from Venus. Classic example. As I was about to regret our slow decision making, I got a chance to rectify it. I saw a mini Tata 404 truck taking a U turn so I requested the driver to drop us till Chamoli which he bluntly refused. I then realized that it was an army truck and there was a CRPF personnel accompanying the truck. I requested the CRPF Jawan, who after looking at my female company agreed to drop us till Pipalkoti which was still 16 Kms. from Chamoli, and we could expect some shared Sumo from there to Chamoli. Now our trip was starting to get adventurous?
We sat in the back on the truck and started for our journey back, enjoying another of the first time in life thing. We picked up a daily laborer, followed by some local teenagers, and finally bundles of woods for fireplace for the army camp before we reached Pipalkoti, which was the last stop for the truck, 16 kms from Chamoli. We got out of the Truck and thanked the CRPF Jawan. It is really difficult to find a toilet in this region, which makes travel for ladies difficult than for men. We reached Chamoli at around 1:30 PM and got the next ride on a shared Sumo for Rishikesh quite easily. But lack of passengers delayed our leaving back till 2:30 PM by which time we had my favourite Alloo Parantha with tea. Sumo driver was in a rush and stopped only once on our way back for tea, at Srinagar. That’s when he realized that we had a flat tyre. We had good long chats about our past, Gunjan’s Julie, engineering, civil engineering, Message parsing etc. We were expected to reach at 8 PM in Rishikesh, but getting the tyre mended took more time than we had anticipated. We reached Rishikesh at about 9:30 PM. The localites in the Sumo told us that GMVN guest house is available just next to the turn towards bus stand, but we would have to walk till there. We reached GMVN guest house near Natraj Chowk at around 10:00 PM. It was a clean and big Hotel and we got a good Deluxe room for Rs. 700 on first floor, while ordinary room was available for Rs. 500. The kitchen was closing so we had to order as soon as we got inside the room. All plans of rafting were shattered because of cold and lack of time. We had a huge dinner that night before we slept thinking to wake up early for Rishikesh site seeing. Gunjan observed that there was no geyser in the bathroom but we were too tired to talk further so we slept.
Sunday, December 30th, 2007
We woke up at 9:00 AM in the morning. The only bad thing was that the room service was not available on phone and I had to walk to the ground floor to order anything. We had a good breakfast but without egg or omelet. They said that most of the people are on holy trip from here so it is difficult to get eggs in here. My trip’s favorite Alloo Parantha was it then. We started to see around after 11:00 AM. We dropped our luggage at the reception and went walking till Natraj Chowk to get a shared Auto for Rs. 4 each to the market. From there we got a shared Auto for Rs. 10 each till Laxman jhulla. We visited some shops before the Jhulla to purchase some Navratan malla and original sputnik stones. We then managed to reach Laxamn jhulla where Gunjan purchased some atta to drop to the fishes in the river from the center of the Jhulla. Before she could reach anywhere at the mid point one of the monkey snatched it from her. She was frightened by the innocent act of the monkey and did not want to hang around any loose fittings from that point that could attract any more monkeys. We reached the other end of Laxman jhulla and Gunjan got a sudden fit of shopping rage. Somehow, we managed without spending a pie from that point onwards. We walked back towards the Ram Jhulla from a narrow street where shared jeep was the primary mode of travel. I was searching for a public toilet for which I saw a mark saying behind the Choti wala post office. We walked towards the back side of Ram Jhulla thinking Choti wala is the name of the building where the post office is located. Choti walla was actually a famous restaurant behind Ram Jhulla that was established in 1953, which was then divided between two brothers. The specialty of both of these restaurants is that at the entrance there is a Choti walla pandit sitting with a colorful painted face. We had a Choti wala special Thali for Rs. 100 at the restaurant which had brighter Choti walla at the entrance.
We then spent sometime at Ganga beach next to Ram Jhulla before walking back to get a shared Auto back to Market followed by an Auto to Natraj Chowk. It was already 4:00 PM and we managed to get another Auto to Bus stand from GMVN which took Rs. 20 to take us to Bus Stand.
We were told that the only Deluxe bus that goes from Rishikesh to Delhi leaves in the morning, so we planned to take a Deluxe bus from Haridwar to Delhi. We took an ordinary bus till Haridwar and got the 5:15 PM HiTech Deluxe Uttaranchal bus back to Delhi which was expected to reach Delhi at 9:30 PM.
We stopped by a restaurant at the backside of a Reliance petrol pump to have food. We ordered butter Chicken but had to get it exchanged for Shahi paneer due to an insect in our serving. There were Numerous traffic jams on our way back and Gunjan wanted to go to the toilet. She had to wait till we got till Meerut where the bus stopped specially for us so that we could relieve ourselves. Both of us were mute till the time she reached the toilet after a wait of irresistible one and a half hours.
We could hardly sleep but we reached Delhi at 12:30 AM. We got an Auto for Rs. 350 for the risk of taking a Delhi Auto inside UP. It was very cold in the Auto and we got all wrapped up in Gunjan’s mufflers and shawls before reaching home.
It was definitely one of our best trips…totally cherishable.
Copyedited : Gunjan Kataria
No comments:
Post a Comment