17th June,2010 – Mana village & around

As you have read in my earlier post, we reached Badrinath and had Darshan.

Badrinath is at a height of 11,204 feet above msl. It is around 530 Kms from Delhi and the route is Delhi – Haridwar – Rishikesh -Devprayag-Rudraprayag – Karanprayag-Chamoli -Joshimath – Badrinath.  Badrinath route opens in first week of May and is closed for winters after Deepawali.

If going by own vehicle, one has to reach upto Karanprayag or Nandprayag and take a night’s halt. If there are two drivers, one can easily reach upto Joshimathh and stay there, saving one day.

For train journey, the last station is Rishikesh, from where hired taxis, chartered buses, route buses and jeeps are easily available for Badri Nath.

Neelkanth Peak - glittering gold during Sunrise

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Ok this one time, when keeda kata toh hum chal diye Joshimath. Translation : my trip to Joshimath.

Friday night, Bercos gardens, RahulV, fosters and a map. Where and how is being decided at the beer table. Some homework has been done, but we still have to choose a place, based on pros and cons or some quirk of whoever can sway the group. Himachal was ruled out because Rohtang pass was still under snow. Dodital, Hemkund sahib, Yamunotri, Kuari pass…all in Uttaranchal. Election time in UP, we don’t want to get held up by police patrols in the night who would be making sure the goons’ movement before the election day is minimal or only favorites are given a pass. Packing AFTER the eleventh hour(theka band) and collecting everybody from their places makes sure we leave around 1 AM. This has been our standard-operating-procedure for last 34500(approx) trips. Now you should be getting the feeling of reading a very veteran traveller’s blog. Good. Stay in the feeling. Don’t let it go even when I tell you the number might be feet above sea level counted over cumulative trips.

Guide Map of Garhwal Hills