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)
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.
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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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
