Tapovan - part 2, Kalimath, 4-Dham:Gangotri-Jamunotri-Kedarnath-Badrnath, Vasundhara falls, Bhavishya Badri

Trip to Tapovan & 4-Dhams undertaken between Oct 10, 2007 and Oct 29, 2007.

Day

From

To

Time

PHOTOGRAPHS

Mode

1	Rishikesh	Uttarkashi	10 hrs	Oct 10, 07 : Started 8.30am reached early evening	Bus
2	Uttarkashi			*	Night stay

* Halt for the day... recovering from a bad cold... Sky is blue... yet there has been snow fall just a couple of days back... waiting for the lungs to clear... wondering if the weather will suddenly turn bad and Tapovan will go out of reach again...

Spent the day visiting Nichiketa taal. Some acclimatization... for return journey from Chawrangee khal (height 2310m) to Uttarkashi found no buses/jeeps after 3.30pm... a helpful person gave me ride on his bike... an interesting personality... we exchanged phone numbers, and promised to do a trek together...

3	Uttarkashi	Gangotri	4 hrs	Clear day... Started around noon and reached early evening	Jeep
4	Gangotri	Bhojwasa	7 hrs	Clear day... no signs of clouds or snow... Started at around 8 am at a slow pace and reached around 3pm after a few stops here & there and lunch at Chirbasha... lots of guides around it seems, the only question is whether u can trust them!	Trek
5	Bhojwasa	Goumukh -> Tapovan	5 + 4km : 3hrs	*	Trek

* : Bright & sunny! Shall i spend the night at Tapovan at -10C, that is the question... Last year i had backed out at the last lap on seeing the condition of the route. But since then much water has flown under the bridge... i have walked hundreds of kilometers, on all kinds of surfaces... yet the doubt remains. Anyway i decide to play safe and lighten my backpack by leaving the sleeping bag behind.

Started at around 8am and reached tapovan at around 11am! Wow!! that was easy... there appears to be 2 trek path almost parallel to each other in that last climb of 200mtrs. If the guide wants to scare u and earn extra tips he will take u through the scary slope where the danger of a slip & fall is very real...

I have my first sugar tea there, in a year... I bow to Him for his mercy...

After much soul searching i decided to spend the night at Tapovan. The guide was very helpful, he assured me of getting sufficient blankets/quilts from Matajee... Matajee said there was still time to retreat and go back to Bhojwasa!

So we crept inside the shelter by 6pm... dinner comprised of khidri & the pumkin vegetable that i had helped peel & chopped in the afternoon... it was a moonlight night and surely there will be lots of shooting stars out there in the sky... but frankly i was not up to it. Survival was foremost in the mind pushing away all other thoughts! we spend the night inside that shelter with temperature at -6C... the temperature outside recorded around -10C at 6am in the morning.. with all the clothes i was wearing, i needed to keep twisting & turning to keep the blood flowing! I think i managed to sleep for a couple of hours...

7	Gangotri	Uttarkashi		Met another interesting person... didn't even realize when the 4 hours passed... sometimes when he spoke i could almost hear myself talking... it was kind of a weird feeling... set me thinking... we part at Uttarkashi after tea/snacks...	Jeep
8	Uttarkashi			Lazing around...
9	Uttarkashi	Barkot		*	Bus

* : "Aap fauji ho?" The girl sitting next to me asks.

"nah... why u think so?" i ask her.

She points at my back pack.

"So u think i am a fauji just because i have army shoes & have a backpack?" I tease her.

"personality bhi to faujio se hai..." she laughs

Her friend has fled away with a Nepali guy. "pasand apni apni" she laughs...

She is from Uttarkashi but is still loyal to Barkot where she had lived earlier... so she won't cast a vote in favor of one and against the other when i asked her which town she liked better!

"dekha... maini kaha tha na hamara barkot pura sahar hai" she admonishes me as we enter the town... i agree grudgingly... it has a university too...

"aap se mil ke aachcha laga" i tell her as we part.

"thank you..." she says shyly and she blends away in the crowd, taking a small part of my heart away with her... i wonder how much of it is still left, pumping blood in my body... I been scattering it like this for over three decades now!

	Barkot	Hanumanchatti			Jeep
	Hanuman chatti	Janaki chatti			Jeep

10	Janaki Chatti	Jamunotri -> Damini-> Janaki Chatti	5km + 3km + 8km?	I met this guy on the way up... said he was from Har-ki-doon and had been through most trails around here as a porter. Well, soon we were discussing whether to do a day trek to Sapt Rishi kund or Damini... So i ended up seeing Damini... and before that is the last camping site coming down from Bali pass... good view... nice locale...	Trek
	Janaki Chatti	Barkot	50 km?		Jeep
11	Barkot	Srinagar			Bus
12	Srinagar	Gauri Kund		A dip in the kund... not so warm in the evening...	Bus
13	Gaurikund	Kedarnath	13 km	*	Trek

* : Started out early with another hot dip in the piping hot waters of Gauri kund... And tea... aalo paratha mid-ways at Rambara... reaching Kedarnath around 2pm... I could easily have a darshan & return back, people were hiring ponies to do the journey & escape from the cold! Yet... after spending a night at -10C i am not so worried abt -2C... offering puja here is always so pacifying to the mind & soul... the place had a different attire this time... a virgin white scattered all around... Looked beautiful... i decide to buy another monkey cap...

14	Kedarnath	Gauri Kund	13 km	Wanted to take another dip in the hot kund... but need to move ahead...	Trek
	Gaurikund	Sonprayag			Bus
	Sonprayag	Triyugi Narayan	12 km: 30 min	The evening aarti at the temple is worth visiting... full of devotion and care... the locale is serene & peaceful... afternoon u will find only one way jeeps.. if you wanna return back the same evening u will need to reserve one... or trek back...	Jeep
15	Triyugi Narayan	Sonprayag	5km / 2.5 hrs	A 6' wide village road through forest & villages... the last stretch of perhaps 1km is on metalled road, the shortcut trail this last 1km was overgrown with thorny bushes... perhaps there is another way...	Trek
	Sonprayag	Guptkashi			Jeep
	Gupkashi	Kalimath	12km: 30min		Jeep
	Kalimath	Kali Silla	5km : 2 hrs	Steep uphill... 6' wide path, but washed away at one or two places. Started late at 1pm not realising it is really 5km steep climb! Reaching around 3.15pm	Trek
	Kali Silla	Kali Math	5km : 1.5hrs	*	Trek

* : Started at 3.45 after milk at the shop a little down on the way. two local boys walk down with me, i think they r happy for the company in the forested path... for that matter, even i am... the trail is kind of lonely & densely forested at places... the younger one keeps asking me if i was not scared walking up alone... and brags how he is going to blind the tiger if one attacks them :) they leave me midways as their village arrives... hereon the path is more open & clear...

Pushing myself now... can feel the strain on the knee... but must reach kalimath by 5pm... before it gets dark...

16	Kalimath	Guptkashi		Started out at around 8am...	Jeep
	Gupkashi	Rudraprayag			Bus
	Rudra prayag	Joshimath		Met two interesting people... our paths will crisscross for the next whole week & beyond perhaps...	Bus
	Joshimath	Badrinath		Reached late evening... darshan after a dip in the hot water kund...	Bus
17	Badrinath	Mana	3km	Another dip in the hot water kund, darshan & then breakfast. Afterwards we kinda strolled towards Mana... and then it was too late.. all the jeeps coming from Badrinath side were full... so we walked all the way...	Walk...
	Mana	Vashun-dhara Falls	5km + 5km		Trek
	Mana	Badrinath	3km	We got a nice chauffeured car for 30 bucks!	Jeep
18	Badrinath	Charan-paduka	1 km +1km	Great view... I wish i had gone that side in the moonlight night and took the snap of Neel Kanth... but then i was not carrying a stand either...	Trek
	Badrinath	Joshimath		*	Jeep

* : Difficult to get a conveyance at 9am... better to catch a bus before 6am.

I enquire a policeman for the way to Bhawishya badri which i planned to visit next morning. He checks with his sub-ordinates...

"Where u from?" the constable staring at me, speaking in broken english.

"Kolkata" i say.

"no no... u are not from Kolkata." he informs me.

"how can u say that? Kolkata is a big city and not everyone looks alike..." I am kind of upset.

"no no... u r not from Kolkata" he informs me again.

"well, i am not going to prove it to you even though i can do that in just a couple of minutes. next u will say i am not even an indian!!" i tell him.

the senior interrupts and instructs him to give me the direction. which he proudly gives me in his broken english again... i bow & thank them both and walk on, wondering... even simplicity can be a problem sometimes...

19	Joshimath	Tapovan & 4km beyond	13 km + 4km	Well travelled road, but difficult to get a conveyance in the morning on a holiday. The head for the trek to Bhavishya badri is another 4km further down.
	Tapovan	Bhavishya Badri	5km:2hr + (5+2) : 2hrs	6' wide trail. starting at 11 am. On the way up the path looked deserted & forested, a snake crossed my path and sent me searching for a stick to browse my path before stepping on anything! on the way down it was all concrete steps... there are two trek routes down from the village midways... the concrete steps are harsh on the knees, but more habited... reached down by 3.15pm, don't want to walk another 13km down to Joshimath from Tapovan! That way i will make it to town after 8pm...	Trek
	Tapovan	Joshimath	2km + 13 km		Jeep
20	Joshimath	Haridwar		Oct 29, 07	Bus