Roopkund -Tales from a Distant Land..

Aug 16
Wan --> Bedni Bugyal

The trees are Vanquished..Grass Everywhere!
The climb begins .. Towards Roopkund.
We wake up , sip on tea and talk about the day ahead. Its cold and rainy. Stand outside GMKV and look at Wan. Such a pretty village. Well spaced houses on terraced hilltops. No litter anywhere.

To get to Bedni , we trek uphill through coniferous forests .. The entire stretch is about 10-12 kms. The sooner we get started the better as the weather around these parts is unpredictable and tends to worsen as the day wanes.

After a quick warm up, we breakfast on honeyed Cornflakes, buttered toast , omelets and leave. Its still raining outside. Hoping for some sunshine. Chandan leads the way this time... He has to be the fastest trekker I've seen, Effortlessly negotiating the trail.

He sets the pace and the group follows. Its a steep steep climb. Little more adventurous with my camera this time around. Get some good shots.

Learnt two very important things about breathing. Never breathe with your mouth something I was unconsciously tending to do. Pace your steps with your breathing so that you don't stop.

Once I got the knack of this it got so much easier.

We stopped at Garhoni Pathal and had some lunch. Though I was hungry wasn't able to eat much. Munched on an apple and half a sandwich..
We resume the trek.. Now comes the steepest part of the climb.. Breathless by the time we reach the top... We see the end of the treeline.. The kingdom of Grass emerges into view.. the trees are vanquished.. As green as green can get!!

Chandan points to the Himalayan Blue poppy, pretty little flower found in these altitudes.
The Japanese mountaineers are said to have a tradition of breaking into song and dance every time they spot one of them..

The walk is beautiful..Bedni Bugyal emerges into view.. We walk past the first camping ground..
Bugyal am told means meadow in Hindi..
Finally we reach our camping ground.. A stone house which am told is GMKV emerges into view.
Its still drizzling and our mules haven't arrived. So we sit here and have some hot tea. Theres a satellite phone installed, so make some calls home..

The regular chimes from the bells signal that our mules are close.. Once they get here we go about pitching tents.. First time for me! Our Kitchen tent comes up first.. Then the four man tent which doubled up as a dining area during our stay ..And then the two man tent for the girls..
Neat work!

We are now more than 3000 m above sea level.. 3354 m to be precise..
We will stay here another day to acclimatize.. I love the sights and sounds of this place..
Nature is always in harmony with itself. We can now see the peaks Trishuli and Nangagundi in a distance..
Well only for a short time, then the clouds decide we've had enough for the day and we have a white out!
Walk around taking pics and the cold wears off..
An early dinner and we retire to our tents.. Feels a little odd sleeping in such a small space. The sleeping bag requires getting used to.. But Exhaustion from the steep climb plays its part and am asleep.

Luv
Meena

Roopkund - Tales from a Distant Land..

Aug 14
Rishikesh --> Loharjung

6:00 AM Wide Awake as the Bus Rides into Haridwar.. Religion and Sanitation are not exactly the Best of friends ..At least here in India..
The bus driver decides on behalf of all the passengers that we would like to have a dip in the Ganges and stops by the River Bank.. Starts offloading the Luggage..
Puzzled expressions all around .. Finally the group fights back and he agrees to drop us at the Bus stand...

Driving through one of the Villages

A Suspension Bridge

Devprayag - Confluence of the rivers Alaknanda and Bageerathi

One of the many Rivers along the way

Traffic Queuing up, waiting for a landslide to be cleared

We reach the Bus Terminal .. Get some tea..
Now how do we get to Rishikeh.. There doesn't seem to be any buses... !..
We Finally take a Shared Auto... Close to 9 people Squeezed in with all our Luggage.. Its not too bad.. What matters is we get to our destination.. How seems inconsequential :)

A TATA Sumo waits for us.. We meet the rest of the crew here..
Our Guide, Chandan Singh.. The Cook, Ramachander.. Our Driver, Girish..
We Breakfast at a pretty place by the Riverside.. And we are off to Mundoli..
Little way into our journey, We have our first encounter with a landslide..
Its Raining and Landslides are pretty common around here.. Scary!..
The Rains make the heat bearable..Beautiful Drive along the Ganges..
Love the sights of Bridges appearing into View.. They bring Life and Sustenance to the people here..Lifelines to Everything !
Confluences... Of Ganges... Her Tributaries.. Fascinating!.. Watching the Colors merge and then flow as one..
As we wait for the third landslide to be cleared , we stop for tea..
Take some pics of the Traffic jam that's ensued..Its one long Drive.. Drive past Mundoli .. Into Sleepy Loharjung.. Into the Darkness.. Theres no Power here..
Our trek begins here..
For the night we stay at the GMKV guesthouse.. Dinner at a small shop.. With a TV..
Listen to the locals discussing Swine Flu :).. Dispensing Wisdom!

Time to go to bed.. Am Excited.. Tomorrow We start our journey to Roopkund ..Am asleep in couple of seconds..

Luv
Meena

Roopkund -Tales from a Distant Land..

Aug 15
Loharjung-->Wan village ------- Wan-Derstruck!!

Slept like a log last night.. Warm sheets..
Loharjung is at a height of 2134 m( close to 8600 feet). Nights can be chilly. A tiny pass in the mountain to the Wan valley , my first encounter with Loharjung was in the dark.. And I only saw one side to her.. Little did I know that this one street pass perched on the mountain would be transformed with activity in the morning

View from our Guesthouse in Loharjung

Morning comes .. Am still lazing in bed sipping on tea when I hear the sound of children singing...
So rush out with my camera.. Remember just in time that its indepencence day..
I see school kids marching through Loharjungs narrow street (the only one there was) to the beat of drums.. Quiet a sight!..Looks like they are walking on clouds :)

Local School Kids being part of the Independence Day Celebrations

Independence Day Celebrations

Ready in record time.. Light Drizzle outside.. Bianca says we will have to trek in the rain..Something I've never done before and I'm wondering how thats going to be.. Defer to her judgment..
Breakfast at the tiny shop..Double Omlettes .. Hot tea, a great accompaniment especially in this part of the world..
Our Bags arrive later. The mules ferry them across.The team leaves...

The stretch from Loharjung to Wan is about 15 kms. A Extremely Pretty walk with Breathtaking landscapes, Green stretches, Carpetted hilltops..
Am a little worried aout taking pictures.. Its raining and I dont want to ruin my lens. We touch Roopkund only next week and I still dont know if my battery will last that long. Bianca has already warned me that the battery sometimes get depleted because of the cold.. Am told its a good idea to keep my camera close maybe inside the sleeping bag at nights.. Forewarned is Forearmed :)

As we climb higher..Views open up.. The stretch is flat for most part though... No steep climbs.. Wan floats into view at around 1:10 Pm.. We stay to take some pics and then walk into the village.

Some Pictures of the Family which invited us for Tea - in Wan

As we take a break I stroll around taking pics. The rain has stopped.. Theres this pretty village home right round the corner and as I aim my camera , a little child calls out to me..She wants her picture taken.. So I oblige.. Soon theres a gathering.. Am invited inside for tea..
They ask me if I'll send them pics.. and very emphatically declare that visiting tourists dont usually send pictures once their treks are done..
They Follow this declaration with an ernest plea to send pictures once again..

Kids in Wan

I take down the address.. Insist that they write a pincode.. Theres some discussion amongst them on what the right pincode to Wan is..
The rest of the crew arrives.. We sit in the courtyard..

View of Wan

Kids in Wan

Typical family.. The Women are back after collecting grass for the cows.. They tell us about their lives there.. The pretty lady making tea tells us she lost her husband four years back in an accidental slip on the hillside..
Shes so young .. Am thinking to myself..

Local Women going about their Daily Chores

A typical Wan Household

We are asked for medicines.. There are no medical facilities anywhere here..
Theres a little girl of about 14 whos running a temperature and her worried mother wants to know what can be done.. Dr has a look and gives them some from our kit..Soon everyone wants to be treated :) .. Aches and Pains, Dreaded Fevers, Rotting teeth..every ailment you can think of.. We tell them we are short of supply and promise we will return if we have anything left from our trip. As we move on am left thinking about the disparities in society. A Doctors presence and mdeicines was something I took for granted. It never occured to me that there were those for whom this was a luxury, maybe a novelty even.

We decide its time to make a move.. Theres still a small stretch we have to cover.
The GMKV guesthouse is further away.. So we climb higher and finally it emerges into view.
Our Luggage hasn't arrived. So we snack on Energy bars and wait..

Once the rest of the team arrives, we have Maggi and hot tea..
Dry our clothes.
Place our chairs outside and talk into the evening.. Tomorrows stretch is going to be a stretch we are told.. An arduous 10-12 km climb to Bedni Bugyal..
Today's Height Gain wasn't much. Wan is at a height of about (2439 m). We don't see much of a temperature difference here..

We crash for the night!..Wanderstruck! :)

Luv
Meena

Roopkund - Tales from a Distant Land..

Aug 13

So This is Delhi..!

5:10 AM - Am up before the alarm .. Fresh!.
As I switch the geyser on, I decide I have a lil more time to myself..
So lie in bed and do a mental check of everything... I'm ready I decide.
I charge my phone again. Lots of last minute calls last night. Thank God I have a basic model...The battery lasts a lot longer than most fancy phones..

The entire household is up..the other two Venkataramans are heading to Chennai..
Appa makes Coffee.. Cab calls.. Give him Directions..We are on track..

Shower quickly.. Thinking about my next bath.. Wonder how it would be to go for two whole weeks without one.. Not a very appealing thought.. Brush it aside..

Subu drops me off at the cab... Unwieldy bags.. A huge Backpack.. A Sleeping bag.. And a smaller bag.. 3 pieces in all..

Bangalore is at her best in the mornings..She really is a morning person.. :)
We cruise along the roads.. Not too much traffic.. We get to the airport in a hour..
My flight is only at 8:30.. I check in and grab some breakfast.. Really have developed an addiction to Hot Chocolate.. I like the new Bangalore Airport I decide.. Its Shiny and The seating areas are nice and comfortable..
Good to see the sparrows chirping..

Sit down and make my first entry in my journal..

Finally its time to Board the Flight..

We land in Delhi at around 12:30.. Slept through most of the journey.. Spicejet doesn't serve food, so wasn't woken up..

Get my Bags and Call Bianca from Basecamp.. I still don't know who am going to be trekking with..Shes still on the train and asks me to get to Canaughts Place.. Am not too happy..The idea of lugging these huge bags around is not very appealing..
Mentally am wondering if its okay to venture out in Delhi considering how Safe it is... !!
Take a prepaid and get to Canaughts Place..
Delhi is Hot and Sultry and Everything in between..!!!!!... ITS So HOTTTTTTTTT!!!!!!
The Cab is Funny...A Maruthi Van with Lopsided seats .. A Grouchy Driver and Orange turkey towels as Seat Covers.. Makes the heat worse.. Make a Futile attempt to close some of the Windows... Theres Hot Air blowing on my face as the Cab driver decides that his Ferarri really is in shape for as much speed as it can muster... !

We hunt for a Mc Donalds there.. Its too Crowded!..
So settle for a coffee day instead.. Order some lunch.. Devour the Sandwich ..
Decide never to let them grill my Sandwich.. Cold Cheese tastes a lot better.. Go over the itinerary once more.. Only says 10 days.. Are we getting here earlier I wonder.. Make a mental note to ask Bianca once she gets here..
Go easy on my cold Coffee..I have to make this last till Bianca gets here!.. :)..Its too bitter I decide..

After an hour and a half of killing time.. Move downstairs to meet Bianca..We spend sometime on the phone attempting to locate each others coordinates.. Finally we meet..! Shes so young I think to myself :)

We take a Rick to the Youth Hostel. Freshen up.. Grab some tea..
Bianca tells me about Basecamp and her mountaineering experiences..
She also tells we that Swine flu has decimated the group size... With more that half dropping out , there are only three participants now.. I don't know what to think!!.. :)

At 6:30 we take the metro to Kashmir Gate from where we take a bus to Rishikesh..
There doesn't seem to be a system... For Anything.. We are still figuring out how this place works..
Theres a bus later tonight..We are asked to come back for Tickets..
We meet the rest of the gang.. Dr Kelkar and Bobby from Pune..
We have dinner and chat about the trek..
When we get down to buying tickets we are told that its all sold out... WHAT? HOW? WHEN?
Theres no system to reserve tickets, but all the tickets for every subsequent bus are sold out..SOMEHOW!?!?!

We Finally opt for a private bus.. The guy gives us tickets to Rishikesh... After a really crazy night... of sitting on platforms and finally fighting our way to seats we are told the bus will only go until Haridwar... Thats before Rishikesh!?!?!..The Guy wont Budge..
Have to say this... There is ABSSSSSSOLUTEEEEEEELY no INTEGRITY to anything in this place...
There were no numbers on our seat tickets.. The private operator had sold more tickets that there were seats available which meant some people would go without seats.. And every time a bus arrived there was a mad rush .. By what can be called a mob to secure seats.. Everybody would make a dash... Young Old... Everyone!!!
Thats the only way you could get a seat on the bus.. And that's what we did Finally!

Once we are inside the bus, the seats are straight.. Almost 90 Degrees.. No Leg room.. Cramped for space.. We try to steal some sleep.. In vain!... Ah how can I not talk about the Cell Phone Etiquette of this place.. For the benefit of your Co- passenger there were some extremely sweet people who decided to play some random horrible music on their Cell Phones.. For those of you who don't know what its like... Music from Cell Phone is like little men screeching into your ears.. in an attempt to be heard... It drives you wild.. No comments on their Amazing choice of music.. Tastes after all are Subjective...
After telling couple of people to turn off the the music blaring from their cellphones.. I give up...
The Night Stretches on...
It will be better once we get to Rishikesh I decide...

Luv
Meena

Roopkund - Tales from a Distant Land

Aug 12
A day to go.. Our Trek begins tomorrow..Am pouring over the checklist to make sure that I have everything I need..
Lots of hectic last minute shopping.. Tracks, Thermals, and a whole lot more..
I wonder how it would be to live off the suitcase.. oops my trekking bag for an entire two weeks..
Not too sure how I should pack my sleeping bag.. Decide to take it as a separate entity..
Oh o..Cant find my camera charger.. Frantic Search.. Its right there!.. Thank god for that..
Packing really is an art..

Nighty Night!

As the saying goes the journey begins the moment you register for it..

Luv
Meena

Bangalore Mornings.. (The Mundanely Interesting..)

Bangalore Mornings..