Travel

The day dawned bright and promising after the cold welcome the previous evening. I was up early and took the early bird advantage with use of the single bathroom shared by 4 of us roommates. It was to be the final bath for the next 3-4 days. We set off at approx. 9:00 a.m and after a stopover for 15 mins or so for shopping, we were dropped off a the point that we were to start the trek from. This starting point was about 15 – 20 kms from the hotel we were put up at. Those of us who had paid for the ponies, gave our luggage away to them and we started off, after a few pics for a before/ after shot later. It was sunny and the going was energetic to begin with. There was work in progress for a road being built under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana. Soon, though, we were taken off

read more Pangarchulla – Day 2

Towards the end of April 2017, I set out on my first Himalayan trekking adventure – to a place that I had not heard of more than 2 months prior. Pangarchulla. Honestly, it took me about a month to get the name right without having to look back at the website or my email! To the uninitiated, Pangarchulla is a peak in the NandaDevi Natural Reserve, towards the north of Uttarakhand. It is approx. 5000m above the sea-level and is considered a moderate-difficult trek. The tour guide had it down for a 4 day trek with a couple of more days thrown in to travel between Haridwar and Joshimath. I started off with my backpack weighing in at about 10-12 kgs, from Bengaluru, on a flight to Delhi. An overnight train to Haridwar found me at the station at 4 a.m on the first day of the journey. I walked from the railway station to one of the hotels that

read more Pangarchulla – Day 1

I am on my way to a sacred place. My parents tell me that the trip will be enjoyable. I am excited about the drive – they tell me that we will pass through a forest full of animals like the tiger, deer, bears and leopards. I hope we can sight a few of them along the way. We drive through the forest during the day time. It is hot and all we see are more cars coming down the road. The forest looks deserted and dry, very dry. The disappointment apart, we finally reach our destination – this holy place. We alight and are immediately hit with the confusion and the mass of people! There are people every where milling around on the roads. I am submerged in this sea of humanity. I am a little scared but make sure that I am always around my family. Going away for even a second would mean being lost in this

read more Visit to a religious place – from the eyes of a 7 year old