कालका-शिमला पर्वतीय रेल – एक अद्भुत सफ़र
घुमक्कड़ी की शुरुआत तो हमने धार्मिक यात्राओं से ही की थी, लेकिन जब से घुमक्कड़ तथा अन्य वेब साईटों पर यात्रा वर्णन पढने का…
Read More06 Jun
To 13800 ft and back on foot – Sar Pass – I
The Sar Pass Trek itself is for 11 days with 3 days at base camp, 4 days climbing and 3 days descending and breaking on the last day. It costs around Rs. 3000/- per head including accommodation in tents at all base camps, Rucksack, Sleeping Bags and food for the entire 11 days (Vegetarian). Participation is very heavy averaging about 55-60 per group at the rate of one group per day for 30 days.
So, I duly made my bookings got the necessary permissions from the Office and patiently waited for D Day. In the mean time preparations were on in full swing – medicines, winter wear, rain wear and most important – Shoes. I did so much research on shoes to wear – Hi Tec, Action, Bata Hunters, Merrel, Woodlands – There were so many brands and so many recommendations on so many websites. I finally zeroed in on Weinbrenner from Bata and I was not disappointed.
Kasol is located about 30 km from Bhunter which incidentally is the airport nearest to Kullu. Any of those numerous Volvo buses from Delhi to Manali will drop you at Bhunter. From there an hours ride to Kasol which is just 5 kms before Manikaran. The camp is located just outside of Kasol with the Parvati river flowing right beside it. The camp is made entirely of tents. There are bout 18-20 tents for the participants, Ladies on one side and gents on the other, A big lounge tent, Reception tent, Kitchen tent and the Camp Directors and other camp staffs tent. The only permanent buildings are the toilets. Each tent is large enough to accommodate 14 individuals – bit of a crush actually but the company is really good.
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Ride to Kibber
ad astra per aspera
which literally means, “a rough road leads to the stars” and this pretty much came true for us when we started our ride from recong peo to tabo. recong peo was a let down. i am being honest in my criticism…it was a disappointing place and the only thing that was worth remembering is the sight of the mighty kinnr kailash. I am feeling blessed to have seen it.
post recong peo, we were heading towards Tabo. en route we stoppd at nako and we were simpy bowled over by the place… the place was so quite and peacful…
we had a sumptuou tibetan meal followed by a hot cup of tea. here we also fulfilled one of our long pending wishes- tieing prayer flags on our bikes..so each one of us picked up a prayer flag and tied it to our bikes. the old lady at the shop told us to write our names in the flag. we also met this vry nice kid by the name of Ajay who ofered to take us on a guided tour of the nako lake and the monastery..
Solo Travel, Himachal Tribal Circuit – Lahaul Valley
During this stretch, a car had a flat tyre in the middle of a stream. The traffic had halted and the passengers of our bus, helped in changing the wheel. We started crawling forward, for being blocked once again by the same car, which was ahead of us. This time the car got stuck in a stream having big boulders. Again the passengers and staff of the bus came to the rescue of the car. Stones were planted strategically in front of the car tyres to provide some friction and the car was literally lifted out of the stream by the passengers.
We descended to the valley at Batal and from there we moved in the valley, literally on the river bed up to Chatru, which was our mid-day meal stop. Trekkers going to Chandratal from Manali or Keylong can stay here overnight. Chatru was the smallest village I have seen in terms of population, with a population of just 20 people. In fact there are no houses here, just 3-4 eateries catering to needs of the entire spectrum of passengers.
Solo Travel, Himachal Tribal Circuit – Spiti Valley
Next morning brought a very pleasant surprise. In the morning, I was having tea in the hotel balcony, clicking pictures of the serenity of Spiti valley. One youngster arrived in the compound of the hotel on a bike. It took me a while to recognize that he was one of the two boys from Mumbai whom I had met three days ago at the time of land slide traffic hold up near Karcham. Thus far, I was thinking that the bikers must have turned back from Nako village, where the road was totally destroyed. I was curious to know, how they had crossed that stretch. He [Alok} informed me that when they reached Nako village, being a Sunday, there was no BRO labor at Nako. So, they took a night halt in Nako village and next morning, with the help of BRO labor, they lifted their bikes across the steel girder. Hats off to these adventurous souls.
In Kaza also, I had to hire a car for visiting Key monastery and Kibber village [highest altitude village in the world- accessible by road}. In these valleys, government buses to remote villages go in the evening and return early next morning. Thus, 4-5 hour trip by car would take two days by public transport. We went about 7 kms. on the highway towards Manali and then took a right turn uphill for Kye monastery. It is an old monastery some 15 kms. from Kaza and the uphill road is good. But this monastery is not considered as important as Tabo and Dhankar monasteries by the Buddhists. The monastery is in much better shape, compared to the Dhankar monastery.
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Doing nothing in Fagu, beyond Shimla
I must tell you readers about Fagu-which is 23km away from Shimla (and 3km from Kufree) is a great place for doing nothing and morning walks among apple and potato fields. Fagu is ,situated on the Hindustan Tibet Road at a height of about 2500 mts. We drove through Chhotta Shimla,and other crowed parts on to the road to Wildflower Hall and Kufri, stopping on the way to enjoy the fantastic views. You go thro the Victory Tunnel to CHHOTA SHIMLA- part of Kannaur Shimla, through Sanjauli,,cross another tunnel, through wooded forest toward KUFRI which is about 19 km from Shimla ,thro KUFRI by-pass and Fagu is 3km from Kufri on the Hindustan -Tibet road. It took us about 90 minutes, in our Skoda to reach the hotel of HP Tourism — Peach Blossom. Its a small village with only few small typical shops selling essential, nothing else. But the place is dotted with Apple gardens, terraced fields, potato fields etc . There was another group of People from Mumbai–all senior citizens, enjoying the place. We went down the hill though the apple gardens and fields. you can literally walk for hours- surrounded by Himalyan range so close,you could almost touch it. We were lucky that during our stay from 3rd April to 5th April, it became very very cold and we could see fresh snow falling on the peaks, and the whole area was totally covered by low clouds for hours.
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केदारनाथ यात्रा 2014 – सोनप्रयाग से केदारनाथ।
रामबाड़ा पहुँच तो होश उड़ गए। सिर्फ रामबाड़ा नाम के अलावा पर सही माने मे कुछ नहीं बचा था। अभी मैं मंदाकनी नदी के बाएँ ओर चल रहा था लेकिन रामबाड़ा बाद आगे का पूरा रास्ता जिस पहाड़ पर बना था वो पहाड़ पिछले साल ढह गया था। सीधा बोलूँ तो रामबाड़ा बाद प्रशाशन नया रास्ता बनाया था। नए रास्ते पर जाने लिए बाएँ ओर से मंदाकनी को एक पुल के जरिए पार करके दाएँ ओर जाना था। और अभी तक इस पुल पर काम चल रहा था।
कितने भयानक रूप से जलजला आया होगा। रामबाड़ा का नामोनिशान मिटा दिया। मेरी पिछली यात्राओं मे मैं और मेरा साथी यहीं पर विश्राम किया करते थे और पेट भर पराँठे खाया करते थे। यहाँ पर रात को सोने का इंतज़ाम भी हुआ करता था। ऐसी ही मेरी एक यात्रा मे केदारनाथ के दर्शन से लौटते वक़्त हमने रात के 2 बजे यहीं रामबाड़ा पर एक दूकान वाले से विनती करके कुछ खाने की पेशकश की थी। उस वक़्त उसके पास सिर्फ आलू की सब्ज़ी थी। हम उस साल 6 दोस्त गए थे। सभी भूखे थे हमारी हालत पर दुकानदार को तरस आया और बोला कि चलो ठीक है अंदर आ जाओ और पहले चाय पी लो तबतक मैं आटा गूँद देता हूँ। गर्म-गर्म रोटी और आलू की सब्ज़ी खाकर मज़ा आ गया था। तो मेरा ये वाक्य सुनाने का तात्पर्य यह है कि रामबाड़ा अपने आप मे एक सम्पूर्ण कसबे की तरह था। जहाँ पर यात्रा सीजन मे लोग हजारों की संख्या मे होते थे। यहीं पर खच्चर स्टैंड भी हुआ करता था। लेकिन इस बार सब खत्म। जो पहली बार गया होगा वो कल्पना और यकीन अभी नहीं कर सकता कि रामबाड़ा पर कैसा कहर टूटा था।
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केदारनाथ यात्रा 2014 – गुप्तकाशी से सोनप्रयाग – भाग 2
पता चला कि सिर्फ ब्लड प्रेशर की जाँच हो रही है। मेरा नंबर आया डॉक्टर ने मेरे BP की जाँच की तो मशीन ने 110/140 दिखाया। डॉक्टर ने कहा इस इसाब से तुम आगे यात्रा पर नहीं जा सकते। मैंने मायूस होकर डॉक्टर से बोला इतनी दूर से वापस जाने के लिए नहीं आया हूँ। उसने कहा टेंशन मत ले यार। मैंने फिर से बोला कि अकेले ही ड्राइव करके आया हूँ इतनी दूर क्या यह वजह हो सकती है वो हँसने लगा बोला तुम थोड़ी देर बैठ जाओ 30 मिनट बाद फिर से आना। मुझे टेंशन हो गई थी मैं बाहर गया और सुट्टे पर सुट्टा लगाने लगा। 30 मिनट बाद फिर से मैं जाँच के लिए गया तब भी मशीन ने 110/140 ही दिखाया। डॉक्टर बोला भाई ये तो गड़बड़ है मैं अनुमति नहीं दे सकता। आखिर मे डॉक्टर ने मेरा शुगर की जाँच की शुगर 135 निकली। शुगर ठीक थी। उसने जाँच केंद्र बंद करने से पहले 6 बार मेरे BP की जाँच की थी पर मायूसी के अलावा कुछ हाथ नहीं लगा। उन्होंने अपना सामान समेटा और चल दिए। डॉक्टर के एक सहयोगी ने मुझ से पुछा गुसाईं जी आप तो पहाड़ी ही हो तो ये क्या चक्कर है। मैंने बोला मैं तो समय-समय पर रक्त दान भी करता रहता हूँ कभी भी मुझे दिक्कत नहीं आई क्यूँकि रक्त लेने से पहले भी हमेशा BP की जाँच होती है तभी मैंने उसको बोला आज मैंने सुबह से सिगरेट बहुत पी ली है। वो एक दम से चौंक कर बोला भाई यही तो दिक्कत है यही कारण है कि BP ठीक नहीं है। उसने बोला अब और सिगरेट मत पीना और खाना खाकर सो जाना। मैंने खाना मे दाल, रोटी, सब्ज़ी, सलाद लिया और अगली सुबह पाँच बजे का अलार्म लगा कर सो गया।
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केदारनाथ यात्रा 2014 – नॉएडा से गुप्तकाशी – भाग 1
श्रीनगर कुछ देर मे आने ही वाला था अब जाकर कुछ ट्रैफिक नज़र आने लगा था। महिंद्रा बोलेरो, टाटा सूमो, लोगों की पर्सनल गाड़ियाँ सटासट दौड़ रही थी। किसी पर बीजेपी तो किसी गाडी पर आप(आम आदमी पार्टी) के। तभी एक पुलिस वाले ने हाथ दिया, मैंने सोचा हो सकता है दिल्ली कि गाडी और अकेला सवार है कहीं ये सोचकर रोक रहा हो। मैंने गाड़ी रोकी, एक पुलिस कर्मी मेरी तरफ़ आया और दूसरा गाड़ी के आगे खड़ा हो गया। मुझे डरने की कोई लोड नहीं थी गाड़ी के कागज़ पूरे थे।
पुलिस वाला – कहाँ जा रहे हो ?
मैं – केदारनाथ।
पुलिस वाला – अकेले ?
मैं – हाँ।
पुलिस वाला – बड़ी हिम्मत है।
मैं – बस जि मूड़ कर गया।
दूसरा पुलिस वाला – क्या आप मुझे श्रीनगर तक छोड़ दोगे ?
मैं – मोस्ट वेलकम। आजाओ।
How I got the real flavour of Switzerland
On top of all this it had started drizzling, I still remember the walk. With my phone serving as the music player and torch and the hood of my rucksack as a pseudo rain coat, I walked across the dark pathways hearing distant bell tinging which was coming from nearby farmland. I walked across “cows” and saw “PRIVAT” sign board, and heaved a sigh of relief after meeting the hosts.
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Kashmir in winter – Covering Pahalgam, Srinagar, Sonmarg and Gulmarg in 5 days
We playfully had snow fights in the Gurudwara after that Amby pushed us guys to the Golf Course and we got warm with hot tea in Golf Course. After lunch, we checked out from the hotel and left beautiful Pahalgam city for Srinagar.
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A Yatra to Takstang Monastery
Here winds are blowing strongly, carrying everybody’s prayer with it and bringing blessing for all- truly a heavenly experience. We enter into the monastery. There are small temples inside, each of them with images of Buddhist deities. The smell of incense fills the air, a divine atmosphere altogether. We are now near the Tiger’s Nest, a small board indicating that, the cave where the Guru Padmasambhava meditated. We peep into the cave one by one and feel great to witness such a sacred monastery.
On our way back down we stop in the cafeteria for our meal. But they charge Rs.460/- per head for buffet lunch, of course a vegetarian meal, so we remain happy with a bottle of cold drink at Rs.60/-. It takes less than an hour to get down. We thank God for blessing us with the opportunity to witness such a sacred place, to view such an architectural wonder and to accomplish the YATRA once in this life.
We are driving to Chelela Pass, the highest motorable roads in Bhutan which locates between the Haa and Paro valley. We are passing continuously through oak trees, at times glimpsing wild fowls with long tail feathers and free roaming yaks, then through snow capped roads climb slowly to the Chelela pass. A milestone placed along the road indicates the highest point on Dantak Road at an altitude of 3988 meter above the sea level. We see a perfect white Himalayan Mountains view from here.
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