My First Trip To Himalayas.....

Trip Date  : 03 Dec to 10 Dec 2010

Transport : Train + Bus + Sumos

Who all     : A group of ~70 people (including my family).
                    We were all relatives.. near and far..
                    A few we gotto know during the trip..


Unlike my other trips this one was not planned by me... At first this came as a surprise when I heard that my cousin Satya wanted his 3 month old son's naming ceremony to be held in Uttaranchal. Joshimath the place enroute to the Badrinath is the place where Guru Shankaracharya stayed and also attained enlightenment. This exactly was the destination of this trip. On knowing that this place is very close to Mt.Nandadevi, this definitely thrilled me.. And yes, the company of ~70 family members during the trip.... priceless!! I decided to go for it....

Trip Route:
Bangalore -> Delhi : Train (Sampark Kranti - Nizamuddin Express) : ~2 days
Delhi -> Haridwar : Train (Puri - Haridwar) : 5 hrs
Haridwar -> Joshimath : Mini Bus + a few SUMOs : 12 hrs
Joshimath -> Haridwar : Mini Bus + a few SUMOs : 12 hrs
Haridwar -> Delhi : Train (Haridwar - Puri ) : 5 hrs
Delhi -> Bangalore : Train (K K Express) : ~2 days

I know... looking at the itenerary it does appear that I spent most of my time either on the railway track or the roads.... well the plus point is that, the thought of Himalays and the huge group we were with, made the journey exciting. Though I could not see a lot in and around the place, I managed to get an idea of whats in store for my future trips to this place (yes.. I mean it).

While starting from Bangalore we were quite comfortable with temperature at 20+ degree C. However as we approached Delhi in the early hours of the day, it was quite chilly and we had our first level of cold busters ON (jackets). From there we changed to another train and reached Haridwar.

Haridwar (Altitude: 294 m)


While going towards Joshimath, about 30 mins from Haridwar we hit Rishikesh. Most of us know about its religious importance, but I got to know a few more things..

• This is a great place for adventure sports.. specially white water rafting
• During seasons, skiing, snow-boaring etc can be planned here.
• And if you want to spend your time next to the rivers banks, camping sites are also available. I am looking forward to this sometime..
• Trekking, hiking... etc can also be planned from here.

I would say this is the place where one can STAY and plan other activities. Reason being, there are good hotels, lodges and guest-houses here which will be hard to find as one moves ahead. The next best accomodation is only at Joshimath.

Rishikesh (Altitude: 356 m)

Route to Joshimath is quite exciting, thrilling and yet challenging. This route definitely excites the nature lovers. During most part of this strech from Rishikesh to Joshimath, one side of the road is mountain, other side is a deep valley and a river flowing.. the purest waters embedded in the valley is quite a picturesque landscape. And the challenge is that you gotto be a brave-heart to be moving ahead even after knowing that the edge of the valley starts just 2 inches from your vehicles tyres. When another vehicle comes from the opposite side, the challenge just doubles.. We had an expert driver for the bus, however during such encounters we just kept our fingers crossed watching those inches reduce to centimeters... Gosh!! landsliding is very common in this part of the world... just the imagination of these sequences will run a chill down the spine.. We did face the landslides on a few occassions.. however the maintainance teams work continuously on these routes with JCBs and earth-movers. At max we had to wait for 15 mins at one place. By the standards in this area this was just a very very minor incident of landslide.

Apart from these challenges there are lot more things to see and visit on this journey. We find several prayags (confluence of 2 or more rivers - sangam as we call in india) on the way. From Rishikesh to Badrinath we find 5 prayags (called Panch-Prayags). However till Joshimath we get to see only 4 of them.

Rishikesh -> Dev Prayag -> Rudra Prayag -> Karna Prayag -> Nand Prayag -> Joshimath -> Vishnu Prayag -> Badrinath

DevPrayag: (Altitude: 472 m) DevPrayag lies at the confluence of rivers Bhagirathi and Alaknanda, and thus the starting point of holy river GANGA. DevPrayag is also famous for the much revered Raghunathji temple which was constructred about 10,000 years using massive uncemented stones. However temple and other buildings were destroyed due to earthquaqe in 1803 and was repaired to some extent.

RudraPrayag: (Altitude: 610 m)
RudraPrayag lies at the confluence of rivers Alaknanda and Mandakini. This the where the routes to Badrinath and Kedarnath divides. Joshimath lies on the way to Badrinath. Rudra Prayag is home to many temples which has some myths and legends (lord shiva, mahabharath and pandavas) associated with them.

KarnaPrayag: (Altitude: 730 m) KarnaPrayag lies at the confluence of rivers Alaknanada and Pindari. Pindari river originates from the icy Pindari glacier. It is believed that at this place the lengendary Karna (of mahabharath) meditated and worshipped Sun God (surya dev) and acquired the impregnable protective shield

NandPrayag: (Altitude: 870 m)
NandPrayag lies at the confluence of rivers Alaknanda and Nandakini.

VishnuPrayag: (Altitude: 1372 m)
Vishnu Prayag lies at the confluence of the rivers Alaknanda and Dhauli Ganga. Next to Vishnu Prayag there is a place called "Hanuman Ghat". It is believed that lengendary Bheema (of Mahabharath) met Lord Hanuman around this place. Vishnu Prayag also houses an hydro-electric project.

As we approached Joshimath the glimpses of snow covered mountains which were at a distance sometime ago, started nearing us.

Joshimath (Altitude: 1890 m)

After crossing the first 4 prayags, we reached Joshimath. It was about 8:30PM and we were all very hungry... The chefs who came with us then started cooking and served us food only 2 hrs later. It was very cold by then and we were all fully covered in our warm clothes.. Hot food felt so good in that temp. That night the temp was around -5 deg C. To add to our chill factor, the hotel rooms didn't have any room heaters. We had carried one room heater for the baby boy's room.

Things to remember while planning for a trip to this place:

• Check for the facilities at the booked hotel.
• If possible carry a light weight room heater OR atleast a hot-water pack might help.
• Ofcourse thermal wear is a must have..
• And some moisturizing creams to soothe your skin (vaseline, winter creams.. etc)

Joshimath which was earlier known as Jyothirmath came into existence because of Guru Sri Shankaracharya when he established a math during 8th century AD.

The next morning we had planned to visit some places around. Stationed at Joshimath, there are loads of places to visit around:

• Vasudeva temple when lord Badrinath is worshipped during the winter break of Badrinath temple.
• Lot of other temples around: Narsingh temple the most prominent one, Naudevi, Ganesh, Hanuman, Gaurishankar and others to name a few.
• Auli at a distance of 16 Kms from Joshimath offers winter sports (skiing) during seasons. From Joshimath one can go to Auli by ropeway.
• Gorson-top which is about 2 to 3 Kms trekking distance away from the end of Auli ropeway. This a very beautiful landscape at the top and it also offers a spectacular view of the Mt.Nandadevi and other peaks.
• Nandadevi National Park is about 23 Kms away from here and houses loads of rare flora and fauna. However we need special permissions to enter the central region, and it will also be closed during the winter.
• Visit to Badrinath.. this is one major destination for all the piligrimage trips. Remember, Badrinath temple closes down between Nov to April for winter. Yes, we couldn't visit this place for the same reason.
• Valley Of Flowers: On the way to Badrinath, we need to take a deviation to reach valley of flowers. This is a beautiful place as the name indicates, endless galore of multi-hued blooms. Again visiting this is subject to the same timelines as that of the Badrinath temple (winter break).
• Malari Village: This is around 20 Kms away from Joshimath and this offers very good view of the snow covered mountains Mana peak, Nandadevi... etc
• Vasudhara: 5Kms after Badrinath, we get Vasundhara. It is a magnificiant waterfall to watch and experience. 2 Kms stretch is motorable and the rest needs to be trekked.
• Pandukeshwar: Another temple on the way to Badrinath (after crossing Vishnu Prayag). It is believed that the legendary pandavas visited this place and hence the name.
• Bhavishya Badri: This is yet another temple... but has a prophecy associated with it. It is believed that after certain time, visiting Badrinath will become impossible. As they say, there are certain rock/mountain formations on the way to Badrinath which is shrinking day-by-day. One fine day the entire route to Badrinath will get blocked forever. In such a case, this temple resumes as an alternative to Badrinath, and hence the name "Bhavishya Badri (Future Badri)". Hmmm... that seems somewhat scientific as well. Joshimath the entry point to Badrinath route seems to be located on an ancient landslide and has been slowly sinking further. And with hydro power projects coming up in the nearby areas, prophecy might come true.
• Tapovan: It is located about 15 to 20 Kms on the way to Malari Village and we can find some hot water springs here. Unfortunately we couldn't visit this place.

Since we went to this place during Dec, many of the places were closed and couldn't be visited. However we managed to visit a few temples, Auli and Gorson-top. We took ropeway from Joshimath and landed at Auli end. The views of the snow covered mountains was spectacular. The temp was cold, and yet sun was shining bright..

There was a small restaurant and we ordered for some hot TEA and onion pakodas. Everyone enjoyed the scenic beauty, captured few snaps, munched on pakodas and hot TEA.

Auli is mainly known as a ski-resort. During Jan 2011 world championship is being held (South Asian Winter Games, open for Indians and Foriegn-nationals). Following skiing events will take place:

• Alpine Skiing which will include Slalom, Giant Slalom, and Super G
• Nordic
• Snow-board
• Speed skating, figure skating, ice hockey... etc

You can see the ski track in the above pictures. Another key point to notice here is that in early Dec we didn't see any snow in Auli. However by early Jan snow is very much expected.. atleast for the sake of this winter sports event. But how can we predict nature ? What if it doesn't snow by early Jan ? Dont have to worry about this.... technology has given an alternative. Govt. has procured snow guns and made arrangements for artificial snow. They have built an artificial lake and installed these snow guns along the ski track (you can notice in the first picture), which will be used to produce artificial snow if need be. This was one of the pre-condition to let Auli organize this event.

From Auli, we then planned to trek to the Gorson-top. It was about 2 to 3 Kms trek. It was a steep climb with no distinct walking path. This goes through the woods, next to a small temple and finally we reached the top. One significant achievement was the both my kids made it to the top all by themselves. Shreya had a good company in Keerthana... they both climbed up and down with almost no help at all. Shravya... the little wonder, she climbed almost 95% by herself.. and myself & Deepa had to lift her down-hill.

On reaching Gorson-top, the first feeling was that of windows-xp default desktop image... do you remember the picture of lush green meadows ? Yes that exactly was the scene here. It had partially snowed the previous night and the snow brought joy to one and all... kids made merry.. had a gala time here.


From the top 360 degree view of the landscape is quite spectacular... You gotto see it to enjoy it, feel it.. However, you can get a glimpse of that panaromic view in picture below.

We came down to Auli and took the rope-way back to Joshimath. It was lunch time by then. Post-lunch we headed towards Pandukeshwar which was about 12 Kms from Joshimath. We had to cross the Vishnu Prayag Hydel Power Project to reach Pandukeshwar. Check out the picture below.


Next morning was scheduled for the naming ceremony event. This event took place under the same "Kalpa Vriksha" tree under which Guru Shankaracharya attained enlightenment. The baby was named "Prachanda Vivaswa"... and I hope once he grows up he will appreciate Satya's efforts in organizing such a special naming ceremony.

In all, at Joshimath one can enjoy all the glitters of a typical hill-station and also get to see the stunning sceneries of majestic peaks as well as the serene ambiance of the temples. And, to cover all the places in a single visit.... is just not possible!! Once you start liking the Himalayas (the extreme climates, extreme beauty, serene landscapes.. etc) there can only be very few places that can match up to these levels.

On our journey back, we had a break in Delhi. Our next train was about 9 hrs apart. We switched from Nizamudding railway station to New Delhi railways station, dumped all our luggages at the cloak room and we headed for Akshardham. We took the metro train and we were soon at the Akshardham exit. We lost a lot of time at the queues (for tickets at the metro station, at Akshardham's cloak room where we had to keep away everything including mobile, camera...etc, and at Akshardham's security check). Finally we were inside... It was very nice, the temple was very artistic, great carvings all across, on the pillars, the walls and ceiling... everywhere. Even the boat ride showing the ancient indian culture, and the musical fountain were magnificient.

Then we head back to the railway station catching our next train for the last leg of our the journey to reach Bangalore.

Trip to Wayanad (Rain Country Resort, Lakkidi, Kerala)

Trip date: 01 Oct to 03 Oct 2010 (3 days 2 nights)

Transport: Maruti SX4 driven by myself and my wife

Who all : Myself, my wife, my 2 kids and my parents

This time we absolutely hadn't planned for a trip. Not once, but several times I have noticed that trips which happen without much planning turn out to be much better. This was one such...

30th Sept 2010 (Thursday) was a day which was much in the news... Schools and colleges were closed for next 2 days.. My company was closely watching the situation around... Police had issued section 144 (no crowding in public places).. come 3:00 PM the whole country (India) was glued to TVs.. CRPF and para-military forces were on high-alert in and around Ayodhya.... Yes as you might have already guessed, it was the day when Allahabad high-court was supposed to release the verdict on "Ayodhya Ram Temple" issue.

Since my wife had holiday for 4 consecutive days, she came up with the idea of going on a trip... but I was wondering what would be the consequence of the verdict however I gave her my 50-50 acceptance.. Verdict came... personally I felt it was a good decision by the judges. India reacted in a matured way... we observed the situation till the night and planned for the resorts in wayanad and finally we were 100% sure of leaving the next morning..

Trip Route:

Bangalore -> Mysore -> Nanjangud -> Gundlupet -> Sulthan Bathery -> Kalpetta -> Lakkidi

On the way, we had to pass through the beautiful strech of Bandipur Sanctuary.

Day 1 - 6:30AM - Departure from Bangalore

We headed on Mysore Road and decided to reach Mysore and stop for breakfast there. On reaching Mysore, we took the direction towards Exhibition field, then towards St.Philomena's Church and further.. On the way we stopped for breakfast at Vishnu Bhavan.

Day 1 - 8:30AM - Breakfast @ Vishnu Bhavan, Mysore

Post breakfast we headed on the national highway (NH212 - Bangalore to Calicut) towards Nanjangud. From Nanjangud, we headed in the direction of Gundlupet. Then we hit the Bandipur Sanctuary... it was all green and that stretch was quite beautiful. As soon as we entered the forest there was a sign board "No parking, No Horn (honking), No picnic".... wondered what happens if some vehicle breaks down!!!. Hmm.. on the positive side, roads are good... and unless there is some problem with the car nothing much would go wrong. Look around while you drive through.. if you are lucky you might notice some wildlife.. unfortunately we couldn't... We passed through Sulthan Bathery and Kalpetta. From there our landmark was to find a Coffee Day outlet and further down, a college "Oriental School of Hotel Management". We asked for this college and headed further. We noticed the resort's sign-board pointing left and I could notice it would be an uphill journey. First it was 1.5 Kms of asphalted narrow uphill curvy road.. next ~1.5 Kms was gravel road. Up-hill the road was quite narrow, hardly one car could pass comfortably, but we faced a couple of on-coming vehicles.. yes cross-over was not very comfortable, but barely managed. Finally we reaced our 1st destination "Rain Country Resort"

Day 1 - 1:15PM - Reached Rain Country Resorts, Lakkidi, Kerala

We had a quick glimpse of the nature's creation around. We started shifting the luggage to the cottage.. We had the option of choosing either a "Wooden Cottage" or a "Cottage with open bath". Although latter was interesting for the open-bath option, we found the former to be of different style.. interiors of wooden cottage was entirely made of wood... hmm the name itself says so!!, its location (right in-front of a buzzing stream), adjacent to the dining-hall, the view from cottage, everything made us choose the "Wooden Cottage". Lunch was ready... and we were all very very hungry!! Post lunch we decided to hang around the resort and enjoy the nature's creation..

There were geese (2 of them) around the pool. They were the main attraction for Shreya & Shravya, who were all excited to see the geese from such a close corner.. Yes the geese did pose for me too.. It was getting misty, with a few rain drops here and there....

Kids and Deepa got into the mood of jumping into water.... Hmm.. the water stream right in front of our cottage was quite a fit.. By then it started drizzling, but that couldn't deter our moods.. We got down the stream and played for a while.. shravya too enjoyed .. After playing in cold water under the rain, it was time for hot water bath for the kids... I then noticed little black stuff sticking to shravya leg, tried wiping it off with the towel with no success... with a closer look I was shocked.... it was a leach!!! Luckily it had not yet attached fully... so it came out easily with almost no bleeding. Lucky Shravya...

Day 1 - 8:00PM - Dinner time

Menu: Phulka, mixed veg curry, dal tadka, pineapple raitha, rice, rasam, curd, fruit salad

Later in the night, we played some games with the kids.. they enjoyed all the attention... Soon it was time to sleep. I was planning for some bird photography in the morning... Set the alarm for 6AM.

Day 2 - 6:00AM - Wake up time...

It had rained the whole night and it was stilly misty outside. I could hear birds chirping.... but could notice very few birds.... probably rains played a spoiled sport!!! Deepa and kids woke up by then.. we also got morning coffee/tea. We then went for a walk around the resort..

Day 2 - 9:00AM - Breakfast time..

Menu: Bread-butter-jam, Poori Bhaji, Idi appam, Veg curry, Fruit juice..

Post breakfast it was time for us to go for some sight-seeing..... On returning, the plan was to shift to a new resort which was just next door... So we packed all the stuff, parked our car at the new resort. Hired a car for the trip..

There are quite a few places to look around...

+ Edakkal Caves

+ Kanthapara Waterfall

+ Pookot Lake

+ Banasura sagar dam

+ Wildlife sanctuary

+ Trekking... and .... many more..

However for us, we had seen a few places already (edakkal caves)... and this we wanted to keep it as a liesure trip.. So we just chose 2 places Banasura Sagar Dam and Kanthapara Falls.. First we went to the Dam.... Whats so special ??? Yes this is really special because this is a large dam surrounded by beautiful mountains.. This is a natural dam (minimum construction) which is also called as "earth dam". We also enjoyed boating in the dam, which was great too.. They take us in a speed boat for around the dam, closer along the mountains, its all so scenic and beautiful. I was so busy watching with my own eyes that I absolutely forgot to capture through my lenses...

Day 2 - 2:00PM - Lunch at Udipi Restaurant..

Then we headed towards the Kanthapara Falls... Its a 2 stage water falls.. which are about 100 mts apart.. First one is quite shallow.. but water is very very clear.. Kids can enjoy a lot walking in the water.. Its also possible for us to sit under the falls (it is just about 5 ft high), which we didnt do... coz it had started drizzling. After little walking in the water, we walked towards the next stage.. That was supposed to be a deep water fall... and we were at the top adjacent to where the water would fall from... We couldn't see the depth as it was all very very misty... but still it was a good experience.. under the rains, right next to a water fall... misty view... amazing.. gotto experience it to believe it.

Day 2 - 4:30PM - Reached Orchard Resort

Our second resort... all this multiple hops because of last minute planning.. but no regrets.. it was all good. This was of a different kind, but scenic again. We had a pool in front of the cottage, a water stream on the adjacent, another cottage on the other side of the pool and behind it the mountain range.. check out the picture..

After returning from the falls (all drenched in the drizzle), it was time for some hot hot onion pakoda and tea/coffee. Sitting in front of the cottage and sipping on tea/coffee while it was raining outside.. too hot.. too cool!!

Day 2 - 9:00PM - Dinner time

Menu: Phulka, dal, veg curry, rice...

After the dinner, we were all tired and soon it was sleep time.. Here be clear to specify whether you need veg or non-veg food if you ever visit this place....

Day 3 - 7:00AM - Tea / Coffee

After tea/coffee we went around the resort walking. Here also we had a couple of ducks, which had quite special looks.. Kids again were stuck to them. This time, the biscuits we had taken for kids, they fed them to the ducks... yes the ducks were enjoying a different meal for a change. With my cam in the hands I started searching for birds. My mom also joined me and helped in spotting the birds... It was tough, I could not get too close as I was a little cautious about leaches around.. Tried using the zoom lens, but no luck. But with this trip I learnt a lot about bird photography.. what are the factors that can prevent us from getting good crisp bird photos. May be I can write all that in a seperate post..

Day 3 - 9:00 AM - Breakfast..

Menu: Bread-butter-jam, Grape juice, Poori-sabji, Idli, Sambhar, Chutney, Omlette too..

So many varieties... hmm.. I tasted almost everything nibbling on each of them.. We spent some liesurely time till about 11:30AM (Sunday). Then it was time for us to pack-up.. We started heading back to Bangalore..

On the way back we had a few breaks... here they go..

1. Near Vythiri bridge for some shopping... there is a very good handicrafts (wooden articles, cane baskets, etc) shop near the bridge. For spices there are lots of shops between Lakkidi, to Kalpetta to Vythiri..

2. Sulthan Batheri... Check out "Grand Bakery" which is right on the main road (you will find it on the right side). Lots of varieties of banana chips (atleast 3 to 4 varities).

3. Nanjangud.... Checkout the famous Shiva temple (Nanjundeshwara).. and its my cousin sisters place.. We had a very late lunch (4:00 PM) at my sister's place.. and started from there at about 5:30PM back towards Bangalore..

Day 3 - 8:00PM - Reached Bangalore (R R Nagar, Mysore Road)..

To any other part of Bangalore, you need to proportionately add another hour or more to your itinerary..