Rishikesh is a dive into a circus which now could angle for first prize competing with any sport loving country. Entire blocks of hotels built to house only the bravest white water rafters who know no swimming. Traffic jams with mini trucks laden with rafts stuck hopelessly in the narrow streets teeming with leftovers of the Woodstock generation clad in the India uniform that consists of a vest and loose multi coloured pyjamas with uncombed long hair in braids. All I felt was to leave but my brother is a street photographer and I had to scarper as he has this unnerving habit of jumping out of the car and go click happy. As I knew the usual answer would be " But I got a killer shot !! " and keeping the answer in mind I drove like a demented soul out of the mess known as a spiritual city. But I first had to shop for vegetables and I was shocked to see the price half that of Delhi and happily I picked up peas, mushrooms, tomatoes, cottage cheese. *Tip: buy a best food vacuum sealer to save it
You wonder if it's true but there's even a do it yourself Sulabh Sauchalya in Byasi by which I mean totally unmanned to collect the token one to two rupees. Next was our fave stop Kaudiyala which has this nice Monal restaurant but we have miles to go. Lights fading but I felt alert but what lay ahead was a steep twisting climb into only the outer smaller Himalayan ranges from where umpteen boulders have caused serious damage to the macadam which continues upwards past that demented Fagin kinda country dhaba land before one enters Devprayag. This is a popular feeding stop for buses as my three journeys by bus made me stop in this mess. I listened to the blues as my car is steadily ate up the miles when bang came this point where Jesus this road our life line had had a major boulder attack. I could have kept on driving as I was full of energy, vim and vigour but my brother Robi would have no more of the torture of my car scraping past milk vans which were half trucks clanging merrily with empty aluminium cans.
After that nasty water and broken small pebbles with gravel gritting sounds had taken a tiring role with all kinds of vehicles speeding through the Himalayan nightscape , some with dipped lights but most on high beam the goons you talk to with your headlights to dip as you too pack a punch. But in this night huge SUVs turn rock shoulders in what I call very nicely Desi managed as it can be. Hurray these roads I can go on for four more hours as lesser time the next day to Chopta. We stopped immediately on my brother's insistence as he must have been frazzled by the traffic zooming around with no care for life or limb. We chanced upon last May's eating joint with my huge dogs mangling their chappaties in cool yoghurt while I think their simple grub is awesomely boring but you go mushroom packets from Rishikesh market and now I ask him to make real khumbhi pea curry and still pleased with my buy from Rishikesh market hardier veggies like tender potatoes baby carrots broad beans. My body is getting stronger getting out of Delhi. I had been driving late at 8 p.m. and nary a feeling of fatigue. Then my brother hopped over to the other side of the road and he started bargaining for hotel rooms and despite the cavernous rooming house being totally empty the hoi polloi that were acting us the management refused to budge from their Rs 1200 price. I had to drag my brother away as up ahead just before the road turns right and dips down to enter the temple city of Deoprayag aka Devprayag there are these simple rooming houses with rooms offering television and geyser for only Rs 250. Checked into the rooms and rolled out our sleeping bags in our respective rooms as the feathered covers provide an insulation between our mortal bodies and any grime that can be on the beds.
So here I was crossing Kirti Nagar and then Srinagar and halfway to Rudraprayag was this shiny grey restaurant which whipped up omelette and buttered toast and we shared one cauliflower paratha and one cottage cheese stuffed fried wheat bread again called a paratha which we demolished with gusto knowing this was a brunch after which dinner would be only when we reached Chopta. Soon we reached Rudraprayag and despite the many warnings not to venture towards the shorter Guptkashi road that cut off from Kund towards Sari and our ultimate destination of Chopta I ventured forth with trepidation and was stuck behind a diesel truck and after 15 minutes was able to shake him off. Now what did we brothers find but a road that was nothing short of a milk run with the macadam as smooth as can be. I guess the Congress government at Uttrakhand have learned that the most they can do for the people of Guptkashi to Kedarnath is to give them good roads which is the least they can do.
After Rudraprayag town the road takes a left for the Kedarnath road and enters a tunnel and follows the route to Kedarnath and then a right turn to Ukhimath. Chopta is situated 40 kms from Ukhimath and the road slowly climbs through beautiful forested switchbacks and one reaches some shacks where the legend is printed on a signboard Dugalbitta. I continued driving and reached a group of shacks which operated as eateries known to us as DHABAS. I kept on going when my brother alerted me to the fact that Chopta advertised in glowing words in Uttrakhand tourism posters as the Switzerland of India was nothing but actually the string of Dhabas we had just seen. I turned my car and reaching Chopta I decided to look for a hotel while my brother went off to capture the evening glow reflected off the peaks like Kedarnath and Chaukhamba. I got the most decent of them all called Neelkant guest house clambering up a series of stairs passing through an archway which also was the road winding up to Tungnath.
The food that the caretaker Vijay cooked for us was nothing less than spectacular and after eating the sun having gone down we brothers tried capturing the stars which glowed in an open clear bowl like none we had seen for a long time being city slickers. Night drew nigh and with it brought an icy cold and my room was a tomb and I had no other option but creeping into my sleeping bag sharp at 9 p.m. Having driven since morning sleep came in waves and I was soon in La La land but my reverie was broken around 11 p.m. by raucous laughter and curses. Angrily walking out of my room I was met by the caretaker who too was in an inebriated state armed with a glass of whiskey in his hand. On questioning him he replied without batting an eyelid that the people who were indulging in abusive language and were almost howling at the moon were pious pilgrims who were celebrating the closing of the gates of Badrinath. I knew that it was useless arguing as these drunks had come to vent and the screams, and laughs interspersed by vomiting noises continued till 2 a.m.
Next morning two bleary eyed brothers climbed the thousands of temple steps as it wound to Tungnath the highest temple to Shiva in our subcontinent. Climbing to the huge green and ochre coloured temple which was closed this 27th of November I found many snow partridges scurrying for cover and a Pika in local parlance a kind of vole came out of the undergrowth to check me out. A lot of sniffing and scurrying back and forth while I took a video of this totally unafraid creature that twitched it's nose and soon I had to move on towards my goal which was Chandrashila which was another 500 feet above the temple premises. Tungnath temple is situated at 3680 feet on Chandranath Parbat which is reached by hiking 3 kms from Chopta which is situated at 2700 metres from sea level. The temple of Tungnath is revered for the arms of Shiva that appeared here after the Pandavas disturbed Shiva who was in hiding at Guptkashi. The climb to Chandrashila was from 3680 metres to attain a height of 4000 metres having hiked 1.5 kms. Here lay a small temple where they claim Ravana came to pray and Lord Rama after defeating and slaying Ravana came to wash his sins by praying and meditating on Chandrashila . Reaching Chandrashila both brothers went click happy as a 360 degrees panorama opened up revealing on the other side left to right Hathi and Ghori , Barmal which I suspect is Brahmakamal as the peak resembles a lotus flower, Trishul, Bethartoli and the peaks of Sunderdungha valley like Maiktoli, Panwali Dwar, Devtoli.
The picture show that was a sighting of the 17000'ers ended early at 3 p.m as the clouds from the Sari side started spreading upwards borne by thermals on which two vultures soared. When I was coming down the temple stairs a small one year old light brown fleeced cat brushed it's tail against my legs and mewed a greeting which was the universal language for asking for tidbits. I gave it a paratha which Robi did not have and tabby cat tore into it with gusto. Then he rushed ahead into the bushes and then leaped on a tree and I knew he was honing his hunting skills as the place was teeming with birds and mouse hare. Then I took the short cut away from the staircase into the rhododendron jungle and he followed making noises of pleasure as he loved this route and crouched and pounced on make belief prey. Having done that he would look back for approval making mewing sounds. My heart went out to this little furry ball and I reached out and picked him up and carried him under my arm. He stayed quietly and suddenly came to his senses and with a back kick jumped out of my arms with a backwards glance which said " Are you kidding ? I am a hunter not a cat who belongs in one's lap.
Today was the 28th and our second attempt on Chandrashila having left home on the 25th reaching Devprayag by 7 p.m. and then the 26th early afternoon reached Chopta. 27th was our first attempt on Chandrashila and today we prayed that the weather would hold as the Kedarnath side peaks and Chowkhamba shone brilliantly without a speck of cloud. As this trek starts clambering from the dhaba complex that is what Chopta has become with a picture of Harish Rawat the chief minister congratulating them on having placed Chopta on the map of Uttrakhand tourism. No wonder why a resort below called Magpie exclusively used by birders charges thousands of rupees whereas the rooming houses ( yes, what they can be called ) of Chopta can charge only Rs 150 to 500 in season time. Clambering the bell festooned doorway and passing Mr Vijay's Neelkanth guest house on the left the paved road steadily climbs through an oak forest which slowly becomes fir and rhododendron. The story ends with a great sighting for two brothers getting their fill of peaks on both ranges. Happy ending to the Tungnath and Chandrashila attempt despite lack of sleep as we found that night too that Chopta catered to the lowest denominator which was drunks who had a field day displaying freedom which was drinking till they passed out.
You wonder if it's true but there's even a do it yourself Sulabh Sauchalya in Byasi by which I mean totally unmanned to collect the token one to two rupees. Next was our fave stop Kaudiyala which has this nice Monal restaurant but we have miles to go. Lights fading but I felt alert but what lay ahead was a steep twisting climb into only the outer smaller Himalayan ranges from where umpteen boulders have caused serious damage to the macadam which continues upwards past that demented Fagin kinda country dhaba land before one enters Devprayag. This is a popular feeding stop for buses as my three journeys by bus made me stop in this mess. I listened to the blues as my car is steadily ate up the miles when bang came this point where Jesus this road our life line had had a major boulder attack. I could have kept on driving as I was full of energy, vim and vigour but my brother Robi would have no more of the torture of my car scraping past milk vans which were half trucks clanging merrily with empty aluminium cans.
After that nasty water and broken small pebbles with gravel gritting sounds had taken a tiring role with all kinds of vehicles speeding through the Himalayan nightscape , some with dipped lights but most on high beam the goons you talk to with your headlights to dip as you too pack a punch. But in this night huge SUVs turn rock shoulders in what I call very nicely Desi managed as it can be. Hurray these roads I can go on for four more hours as lesser time the next day to Chopta. We stopped immediately on my brother's insistence as he must have been frazzled by the traffic zooming around with no care for life or limb. We chanced upon last May's eating joint with my huge dogs mangling their chappaties in cool yoghurt while I think their simple grub is awesomely boring but you go mushroom packets from Rishikesh market and now I ask him to make real khumbhi pea curry and still pleased with my buy from Rishikesh market hardier veggies like tender potatoes baby carrots broad beans. My body is getting stronger getting out of Delhi. I had been driving late at 8 p.m. and nary a feeling of fatigue. Then my brother hopped over to the other side of the road and he started bargaining for hotel rooms and despite the cavernous rooming house being totally empty the hoi polloi that were acting us the management refused to budge from their Rs 1200 price. I had to drag my brother away as up ahead just before the road turns right and dips down to enter the temple city of Deoprayag aka Devprayag there are these simple rooming houses with rooms offering television and geyser for only Rs 250. Checked into the rooms and rolled out our sleeping bags in our respective rooms as the feathered covers provide an insulation between our mortal bodies and any grime that can be on the beds.
So here I was crossing Kirti Nagar and then Srinagar and halfway to Rudraprayag was this shiny grey restaurant which whipped up omelette and buttered toast and we shared one cauliflower paratha and one cottage cheese stuffed fried wheat bread again called a paratha which we demolished with gusto knowing this was a brunch after which dinner would be only when we reached Chopta. Soon we reached Rudraprayag and despite the many warnings not to venture towards the shorter Guptkashi road that cut off from Kund towards Sari and our ultimate destination of Chopta I ventured forth with trepidation and was stuck behind a diesel truck and after 15 minutes was able to shake him off. Now what did we brothers find but a road that was nothing short of a milk run with the macadam as smooth as can be. I guess the Congress government at Uttrakhand have learned that the most they can do for the people of Guptkashi to Kedarnath is to give them good roads which is the least they can do.
After Rudraprayag town the road takes a left for the Kedarnath road and enters a tunnel and follows the route to Kedarnath and then a right turn to Ukhimath. Chopta is situated 40 kms from Ukhimath and the road slowly climbs through beautiful forested switchbacks and one reaches some shacks where the legend is printed on a signboard Dugalbitta. I continued driving and reached a group of shacks which operated as eateries known to us as DHABAS. I kept on going when my brother alerted me to the fact that Chopta advertised in glowing words in Uttrakhand tourism posters as the Switzerland of India was nothing but actually the string of Dhabas we had just seen. I turned my car and reaching Chopta I decided to look for a hotel while my brother went off to capture the evening glow reflected off the peaks like Kedarnath and Chaukhamba. I got the most decent of them all called Neelkant guest house clambering up a series of stairs passing through an archway which also was the road winding up to Tungnath.
The food that the caretaker Vijay cooked for us was nothing less than spectacular and after eating the sun having gone down we brothers tried capturing the stars which glowed in an open clear bowl like none we had seen for a long time being city slickers. Night drew nigh and with it brought an icy cold and my room was a tomb and I had no other option but creeping into my sleeping bag sharp at 9 p.m. Having driven since morning sleep came in waves and I was soon in La La land but my reverie was broken around 11 p.m. by raucous laughter and curses. Angrily walking out of my room I was met by the caretaker who too was in an inebriated state armed with a glass of whiskey in his hand. On questioning him he replied without batting an eyelid that the people who were indulging in abusive language and were almost howling at the moon were pious pilgrims who were celebrating the closing of the gates of Badrinath. I knew that it was useless arguing as these drunks had come to vent and the screams, and laughs interspersed by vomiting noises continued till 2 a.m.
Next morning two bleary eyed brothers climbed the thousands of temple steps as it wound to Tungnath the highest temple to Shiva in our subcontinent. Climbing to the huge green and ochre coloured temple which was closed this 27th of November I found many snow partridges scurrying for cover and a Pika in local parlance a kind of vole came out of the undergrowth to check me out. A lot of sniffing and scurrying back and forth while I took a video of this totally unafraid creature that twitched it's nose and soon I had to move on towards my goal which was Chandrashila which was another 500 feet above the temple premises. Tungnath temple is situated at 3680 feet on Chandranath Parbat which is reached by hiking 3 kms from Chopta which is situated at 2700 metres from sea level. The temple of Tungnath is revered for the arms of Shiva that appeared here after the Pandavas disturbed Shiva who was in hiding at Guptkashi. The climb to Chandrashila was from 3680 metres to attain a height of 4000 metres having hiked 1.5 kms. Here lay a small temple where they claim Ravana came to pray and Lord Rama after defeating and slaying Ravana came to wash his sins by praying and meditating on Chandrashila . Reaching Chandrashila both brothers went click happy as a 360 degrees panorama opened up revealing on the other side left to right Hathi and Ghori , Barmal which I suspect is Brahmakamal as the peak resembles a lotus flower, Trishul, Bethartoli and the peaks of Sunderdungha valley like Maiktoli, Panwali Dwar, Devtoli.
The picture show that was a sighting of the 17000'ers ended early at 3 p.m as the clouds from the Sari side started spreading upwards borne by thermals on which two vultures soared. When I was coming down the temple stairs a small one year old light brown fleeced cat brushed it's tail against my legs and mewed a greeting which was the universal language for asking for tidbits. I gave it a paratha which Robi did not have and tabby cat tore into it with gusto. Then he rushed ahead into the bushes and then leaped on a tree and I knew he was honing his hunting skills as the place was teeming with birds and mouse hare. Then I took the short cut away from the staircase into the rhododendron jungle and he followed making noises of pleasure as he loved this route and crouched and pounced on make belief prey. Having done that he would look back for approval making mewing sounds. My heart went out to this little furry ball and I reached out and picked him up and carried him under my arm. He stayed quietly and suddenly came to his senses and with a back kick jumped out of my arms with a backwards glance which said " Are you kidding ? I am a hunter not a cat who belongs in one's lap.
Today was the 28th and our second attempt on Chandrashila having left home on the 25th reaching Devprayag by 7 p.m. and then the 26th early afternoon reached Chopta. 27th was our first attempt on Chandrashila and today we prayed that the weather would hold as the Kedarnath side peaks and Chowkhamba shone brilliantly without a speck of cloud. As this trek starts clambering from the dhaba complex that is what Chopta has become with a picture of Harish Rawat the chief minister congratulating them on having placed Chopta on the map of Uttrakhand tourism. No wonder why a resort below called Magpie exclusively used by birders charges thousands of rupees whereas the rooming houses ( yes, what they can be called ) of Chopta can charge only Rs 150 to 500 in season time. Clambering the bell festooned doorway and passing Mr Vijay's Neelkanth guest house on the left the paved road steadily climbs through an oak forest which slowly becomes fir and rhododendron. The story ends with a great sighting for two brothers getting their fill of peaks on both ranges. Happy ending to the Tungnath and Chandrashila attempt despite lack of sleep as we found that night too that Chopta catered to the lowest denominator which was drunks who had a field day displaying freedom which was drinking till they passed out.