WANDERLUST

Trip to some less touristy places around Madgaon, Goa : January 2012

2012-02-08T11:46:00.000+05:30

I and my wife visited Goa (on our way to Hampi) during the third week of January 2012. We have been often visiting Goa mainly for attending some ceremony in our family temple. Normally, these visits will culminate in to covering the familiar sight-seeing places like beaches, temples, churches, and river cruise at the cost of repetitions. On this occasion, we decided to explore some less touristy places around Madgaon which was our transit base on our way to Hampi via Hospet.

The afternoon SpiceJet flight reached Dabolim on schedule. A pre-paid taxi engaged at the airport (Rs.700/-) dropped us at Margoa Residency, Madgaon where we checked in (Rs.1500/- AC double bedded room). After lunch at the restaurant, we hired a local taxi (Rs.1000/-) for visiting Casa Araujo Alvares Mansion, a heritage house and adjunct Ancestral Goa in Loutolim village, which was about 10 kms south of Madgaon.

Casa Araujo Alvares Mansion, Loutolim

The mansion is about 250 years belonging to Alvares family which has now been converted into a treasure-house of artifacts and precious items to keep alive the customs and traditions of Goa. Maendra Alvares, the 5^th generation of the Alvares family is the brain behind this project as well as Ancestral Goa. Although the house is not in the same grandeur as Braganza Mansion in Chandor village which I visited later, I liked its ‘down to earth’ displays devoid of the arrogance of money power. I rate this place as a ‘must visit’ for those interested in the heritage tourism.

I am not going in to the details of the house as they are already in this link : Casa Araujo Alavres Mansion .

Visiting Hours : 9.00 a.m. to 1.00 p.m. – 2.00 p.m. to 6.00 p.m.

Tours every 15 minutes

Entry Fee : Rs.100/- per person with a free English/Hindi speaking guide.

Some pictures below :

Casa Araujo Alvares Mansion

Family Chapel inside Alvares Mansion

Old telephone instrument in Alvares Mansion

Some displays in Alvares Mansion

An oil painting from Europe

Dinning Room

Sitting and Ball Room

Ancestral Goa, Loutolim

Ancestral Goa is a theme park depicting Goa’s culture and traditions and a brain child of Maendra Alvares. As we came out of the reception room, a statue of Lord Parshurama with a bow and arrow reminded of the legend according to which Goa was created by shooting an arrow in the Arabian Sea from the Shayadri mountains. Some of the sights inside Ancestral Goa are Art Gallery and Handicraft Center, Casa da Dona Maria, Anand Lotlikar's Ghor, the feni distillery, Legend of Big Foot, The Farmer's House, Cross, Spring and Rakandar, the Fisherman's House, Escola da Musica, Tinto - the village market, Taverna - the country liquor shop, Goan Artisans, Mirabai Sculpture, Big Foot Dance Floor, Bird Habitat, Spice Yard and Rubber Plantation.

For details see the link : Ancestral Goa

Visiting Hours : 9.00 a.m. to 1.00 p.m – 2.00 p.m. to 6.00 p.m.

Entry Fee : Rs.50/- per person

Camera fee : Rs.20/-

No guide is needed as visitors once enter the area, the commentary gets started automatically explaining the displays. The commentaries are available in English and Hindi.

Both these places require at least two hours to explore them fully. Since we had some time before it got dark, we decided to visit Benaulim beach which we had not seen in all our earlier visits. The beach is located about 6 kms from Madgaon and it is comparatively cleaner and less crowded than Colva beach. We had a great sunset view over the Arabian Sea before returning to our hotel room.

Some pf pictures of Ancestral Goa and Benaulim Beach below :

The decorated gate to Ancestral Goa

Display of Parashuram with bow and arrow soon after the entry into Ancestral Goa

A typical goan village house on display

The imprint of a legendary foot

A single rock carved sculpture of Meera Bai.

Baunolim Beach

Sunset at Baunolim Beach

Next day, after breakfast, we hired a local taxi for whole day (Rs.1500/-) to take us to our family temple at Madkai, near Mardol. After finishing our religious part of the trip, we were to come back to Madgaon for lunch and then proceed to Chandor village (15 kms east of Madgaon) for visiting Braganza Mansion, the most talked about heritage house in South Goa. Somehwere near Ponda, our driver suggested that we consider visiting Sahakari Spice Farms about 2 kms from Ponda which, according to him, was worth a visit. The entry fee was Rs.400/- per person which included a welcome drink, 45 minutes of guided tour of plantations and a buffet lunch. It was already getting warm and we had ample time at our disposal to cover the Braganza Mansion. So we agree to his suggestion as spending some time under the cool atmosphere of plantations with buffet lunch was making sense.

Sahakari Spice Farms, Cuti, Ponda

Sahakari is the owner’s surname. After taking tickets (Rs.400/- per person), we were directed by a Farm employee to an inside gate arch where we were welcomed by two ladies with garlands and vermilion. We were seated in a shack like restaurant for a welcome drink of tea made of lemon grass, ginger and colve with cheese biscuits as the accompaniment. In the meanwhile, we were allotted a guide to take us on a plantation tour. The tour lasted for about 40 minutes after which we were brought back to the restaurant for buffet lunch. The lunch was preceded by serving free of charge 30ml of cashew feni. There were both vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes prepared in Goan style. The lunch was good. There are other items available in the restaurant for which one has to pay for them.

There was no restriction as to how much time one can spend in the farms. One can simply relax under many shack like structures near the restaurant or take a further walk in the farms. A stream is flowing through the farms where there are options for elephant wash and rides at extra charges. We did not go for it but found that many foreign visitors went for elephant wash and rides.

I had been to a couple of plantations trips in Kerala. So there was not much novelty in this trip. But what I liked most about Sahakari Spice Farm was that they conducted the trip in a professional manner. Even if one is not interested in Plantation tourism, I will recommend this trip, especially for those visitors who are passing through Ponda, just for lunch and relaxation for a couple of hours to avoid harsh mid day sun light.

For details see the link : Sahakari Spice Farm

Some pictures of Sahakari Spice Farm below :

Entry into Sahakari Spice Farm

Some of the Farm employees double up as Goan folk dancers.

A Spice Farm guide explains to the visitors the details of farming of some of the spices.

Some birds by the side of a stream which passes through Spice Farm

Coffee bean fruits

Vanila plant

Colve flower

Elephant washing in the stream.

Washers are 'rewarded' with a shower through the elephant trunk

Ganesh made from the coconut shells on display at Spice Farm shop

Braganza Mansion, Chandor

Barganza Mansion is located in Chandor village, 15 kms east of Madgaon. As soon as we reached the gate of the house, an old lady came out to receive us and to take us to the first floor on a wide wooden staircase. The house is now divided into two wings. The West wing is now owned by Menezes Bragnaza family of which the old lady is the matriarch of the family. The East wing is owned by Pereira Braganza family.

Once we passed through many rooms of the West Wing, the furniture and fixure styles, the types of various antique collections, some oil paintings bear the influence of European lifestyles. The heavily carved rose wood furniture was made by the local artisans. Some of the windows are made up of laminated oyster shells that are found in abundance in the Goan beaches. The floors of the Ball Room is made of Italian marble, the glasses in some of the gothic style windows are from Venice and the chandeliers are from Belgium. The Ball Room looks like to be an attempt to replicate the one of those rooms in Versailles Palace near Paris. The highlights of West wing is the biggest private library of around 5000 books in English, Portuguese, and French. All in all, the West wing rooms shows the aristocracy of the highest order. Since last 2 years, photography in this wing has been prohibited.

The East Wing rooms are almost exact replica of the West Wing except that it is less grandeur and opulent in terms of maintenance of the rooms, collections of antiques, the style of furniture as compared with its West wing counterpart. This may be one of the reason that photography in this wing is allowed.

There is no entry fee but the owners expect a donation of Rs.150/- per person for West Wing and Rs.100/- per person for East Wing. Photography is prohibited in the West Wing which is more opulent than the East Wing. Before visiting the place, it is advisable to know before one proceeds to Braganza Mansion whether the owners are in the Mansion. Otherwise the Mansion is locked.

Telephone Numbers: West Wing: +91-832-278 4201, East Wing: +91-832-278 4227

Again for those interested in heritage tourism, it is a ‘must visit’ place.

Some of the pictures of Braganza Mansion below :

Braganza Mansion

This was used to be a dinning room but now houses some antique furniture

Coloured glass panels on the door leading to a balcony

One of the side rooms to the Ball Room

Ball Room with Belgian chandeliers

Close up of chandeliers

One of several such sofas with gold plated designs

Close up the Ball Room with gothic style doors leading to other rooms

Heavily carved bed made of rosewood

Carved chair made up of rosewood with family initials

Conversation sofa in the Ball Room. This sofa is also called lovers' sofa as the couple can sit on this sofa facing each other.

Goa has so much to offer in terms of its heritage houses. I have now decided that in my all future visits to Goa, I intend to cover many such heritage houses, some of which are becoming accessible to the public.

More pictures here.

My Blog List

2012-02-04T16:25:00.000+05:30

Trip to Mysore-Somnathpur etc. Feb.2012 (Scheduled)
Trip to Hampi : January 2012 (blog under construction)
Trip to some less touristy places around Madgaon, Goa : January 2012
Trip to Tarkarli Beach and Sindhudurg : December 2011 (blog under construction)
Trip to Tripura - December 2011 (blog under construction)
Barak Valley Express - A Scenic Train Journey : December 2011
Khonoma Village in Nagaland : December 2011 ( blog under construction)
Hornbill Festival in Kisama Village, Nagaland : December 2011 (blog under construction)
Photoblog of Trip to Kohima-Dimapur: December 2011 (blog under construction)
Photoblog of Trip to Bodh Gaya-Patna-Pawapuri-Rajgir ; November 2011
Photoblog of Trip to Allahabad-Sarnath-Varanasi : November 2011
Kaas Plateau of Flowers-Koyna Lake - A Revisit : September 2011
Pateshwar - An Offbeat Shiva Temple Complex : September 2011
Photoblog of Monsoon Trip to Saputara : August 2011
Trek to Bagini Glacier-Changbang Base Camp-Kanari Khal : June 2011
Pench Tiger Reserve - A date with collarwali tigress and her five cubs : May 2011
Raju's Guest House - A Second Home
Trip to Chindi-Karsog-Shimla : April 2011
Trip to Tirthan Valley - Three days of pure bliss : April 2011
Winter Snow Trek to Dhakuri Pass-Chilta Top-Bajling Bugyal : Feb. 2011
A Day in Banganga - A Photoblog : December 2010
Winter Rambling in Garhwal : December 2010
A Short Trip to Goa : November 2010
Photoblog of Trip to Dapoli : October 2010
Trip to Valparai-Top Slip : October 2010
Kodaikanal - A Revisit : September 2010
Monsoon Trip to Kas, Sajjangad, Thoseghar in Satara - September 2010
Wildflowers of Nanda Devi Outer Sanctuary

Trek to Nanda Devi Outer Sanctuary (Dharansi Pass) - June 2010
Trek to Kuari Pass Via Auli - June 2010

Twin-trek to Kuari Pass and Nanda Devi Outer Sanctuary - June 2010
My Cincinnati Days: Oct 2009-Jan 2010
Visit to US Air Force Museum - Janaury 16, 2010
Trip to Mammoth Cave National Park - November 28, 2009
Trip to Toronto - Oct. 28-31, 2009
Trip to Niagara Falls, Ontario, Ca -nada - October 31, 2009

Fall Colours in Parks around Cincinnati, Ohio - October 2009
Darma Valley Villages - The Migration Conundrum
Trek to Darma Valley : Part-2
Trek to Darma Valley : Part-1
Trek to Darma Valley-Panchchuli Base Camp - July 2009 : The Details
Trip to Ankola, Gokarna ,Murudeshwara - May 2009
Trip to Nilgiri - April 2009
Trip to Munnar-Thekkady-Alapphuza-Kochi : November 2008
Trek to Roopkund - June 2008
Trip to Kumaon - November 2007
Trip to Jaipur, Udaipur, Pushkar, Kumbhalgarh and Ranakpur - February 2007 (under construction)
Trip to Paris, Versailles, Riems Champagne - September 2005
Trip to Switzerland - June 2005
Trip to U.S - October 2004
Trip to U.S. - September 2003 (under construction)
Trip to United Kingdom - September 2001
Trip to Chamonix-Mont-Blanc :Septembe 2001
Trek to Panwalikanta-Trijuginarayan-Kedarnath : October 1999
Trek to Kalimath. Kedarnath-Vasuki Tal, Tungnath : October 1998
Trek to Manimahesh Lake - August 1996
Trek to Kuari Pass (Ghat-Tapovan) : September 1995
Trek to Har-ki-Dun and Ruinsara Tal - August 1994
Trek to Adi Kailash - September 1993
Trek to Panch Kedars - September 1992
Trek to Valley of Flowers, Hemkund and Kedarnath - July 1990
Trek to Gaumukh -Tapovan and Yamunotri : May 1989
Trek to Amarnath Cave - A Revisit in July 1987
Trek to Chandrakani Pass - June 1986

Trek to Pindari Glacier - October 1985
Trek to Amarnath - July 1984

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Barak Valley Express - A Scenic Train Journey : December 2011

2012-01-03T21:00:00.321+05:30

After the end of our week long stay in Kohima, our plan was to move to Imphal by road (NH39, 140 kms). After completion of the Manipur trip, we were to travel to Aizawl ( for Mizoram trip) by road. The continuation of Kohima-Imphal road blockade and the resultant problems in Manipur made us to skip our Manipur trip and to think of alternative options of travelling to Mizoram and Tripura. KS suggested that we cover Dimapur-Lumding-Silchar by train, stay overnight at Silchar and depart for Aizawl ( or Agartlala to be decided later) by early morning bus or share Sumo. The Lumding-Silchar route was described as one of the most scenic journeys on Indian railways.

There are two Express trains which runs from Lumding for Silchar on a meter gauge track - Barak Valley Express which is a day train and Cachar Express, an overnight train. Although Cachar Express would have suited us the best in terms of timing ( no need to stay overnight at Lumding) and the comfort ( having one 2AC sleeper coach), we decided to travel by Barak Valley Express to enjoyed the scenic beauty of this route during the day time. A Google search on Lumding-Silchar route gave us some discouraging news. This route was the frequent target of militant groups based in Cachar and North Cachar Hill districts (now renamed as Dima Hasao district). Lumding Division of North-East Frontier Railway faced the highest incidences of militant attacks during the last 3-4 years. The latest incidence was in October 2011 when a train driver and his assistant driver were kidnapped by the militants for ransom. Train services on this route were frequently suspended after such incidences. Nonetheless, we made reservation for Barak Valley Express as an option to be exercised after ascertaining the ground realities. After the completion of our week long stay in Kohima, we took a share taxi to Dimapur (75 kms, Rs.200/- per head) and boarded the afternoon Jorhat-Guwahati Jan Shatabdi Express for Lumding. After reaching Lumding, we were happy to know that trains to Silchar had been running normally.

After staying overnight in Lumding ( Hotel Global, 1 km from the station @ Rs.1500/- double bedded room with AC, TV , clean linen, clean bathroom and the excellent home made Bengali food for dinner), we arrived at Lumding railway station on a pre-booked auto early morning to catch Barak Valley Express scheduled to depart at 06.15 hours. The train was already stabled on the platform, perhaps in the last night itself when it arrived from Silchar. The coaches looked very old. Our sleeper coach was in a very pathetic condition. The water from the storage tank located above the toilet was heavily leaking making coach floor wet. Many of the coach’s lights were not working properly. Some electrical wires were hanging and in some cases, without insulation. In my view, our coach ( and probably other coaches of the train too) was ‘sick’ in the railway’s terminology which meant that the coach was not fit for a normal train journey. The train’s conductor told us that though the scheduled time of arrival at Silchar was 18.45 hours, this train was always late in reaching the destination. Calling this train as an express train was a misnomer. As per railway schedule, it stops all the 30 railway stations on the way and takes more than 12 hours to cover a distance of 215 kms.

The train left Lumding Junction sharp at 06.15 hours as scheduled, auguring well for our hope that the train would reach Silchar with a minimum delay. A Silchar based Bengali family of four with a baby was sharing the six berth cubicle with us. We were happy that we both had got window seats to get a ring side view of the passing landscape. But as it often happens in train journeys, they requested us to allow them to occupy our window seats so that his mother and his wife could help in taking care of the baby. We agreed for forgoing one of our window seats for them. They gave us a good company till our final destination. The elderly woman of the family who used to eat paan (betel leaf) almost every hour reminded me of my mother who also used to eat paan regularly during our umpteen train journeys. All other passengers appeared to be from the seven sister states of North-East.

Barak Valley Express about to chug out from Lumding Junction. The train left at its scheduled time of departure at 06.15 a.m.

An early morning view from our coach of the landscape not far away from Lumding

Broad gauge line under construction on Lumding-Silchar section. The braod gauge line is expected to be completed sometime in 2014.

The paddy fields very close the meter gauge line on way to Langting railway station. The groundwater level in most of the places in Cachar district is very close to the surface. Hence farmers are able to grow rice 2-3 times in a year.

From Lumding, the first 2-3 kms of the meter gauge line ran parallel to the broad gauge track going towards Guwahati, after which it gradually turned to the left. The terrain on both side of the track was, more or less, flat. The recently harvested paddy fields which had turned brown on both sides of the track surrounded by vegetable farms and fruit orchards presented a nice contrast. We arrived at Manderdisa, our first railway station on this route. The platform was full of vegetable and fruits vendors sitting in a single row. A few of the train passengers were seen buying vegetables and fruits in bulk. Apparently, fruits and vegetables here must be much cheaper than the ones available in the local markets. This scene was repeated in almost all the subsequent railway stations. The train was supposed to stop for only one minute but it had stayed on the station for longer time, the usual problem with a single line route.

From Manderdisa, the landscape was, more or less, the same for the next 2-3 stations – the harvested paddy fields, the vegetable farms and fruit orchards with occasional view of water tanks/lakes just to break the monotony. After a while, the landscape changed a bit and the paddy fields were fewer, replaced largely by bamboo forest, wild banana plantations and grass type long creepers. The train passed through narrow passages at some places and here the chances of being 'kissed' by the stems of bamboo trees and grass like creepers was 'bright' if one lent out from the foot board of the train. The train stopped at Lanting station for some time until a freight train arrived from the opposite direction on a loop line. Stacks of bamboos were waiting to be loaded on a freight train.

Bamboos kept ready for loading on a goods train.

Apart from hilly terrain, numerous sharp curves like this one on the Lumding-Silchar route restricts the train speed and therefore this train takes over 12 hours to cover just 215 kms of the journey.

Barak Valley Express coming out from one of 37 tunnels.

The general compartments of the train were now crowded and some passengers entered our reserve compartment with unimaginable luggage – gunny bags filled with piglets and even they may contain dogs and fox kids as one fellow passenger told me. Another passenger entered the compartment with a big log door frame which he stacked near the toilets. Stacks of bamboos hanged outside most of the compartments. The Bengali family sharing the berths with us ensured that none of such passengers would crowd our bay.

When the train reached Maibang railway station, surprisingly, no tea/coffee vendors had come in our compartment. So we had puri-bhaji and tea from one of the platform vendors. The puri-bhaji was tasty and KS had one more helping of the same. Not satisfied, we had a few of big slices of pineapple seasoned with chilli powder and salt at the next station. Our eating spree ended with one big wild banana each at Lower Haflong station and that sealed our appetite for the rest of the day.

As our train was on its way to Lower Haflong station, the terrain gradually became hilly with dense forest on both sides of the track. At many places The train track had sharp curves and upward sloping gradients. At some places, the boundaries of the forest were so close to the track that we could touch the tree stems from our window seat. The train passed through many lanky bridges over the streams that seem to originate from the surrounding hills. The frequency of train passing through tunnels also increased. All these factors resulted in train running at a slow speed, some time as low as 10 kms per hour as we saw the board showing the speed restriction. The slow speed of the train gave us more time to enjoy the nature and beautiful sceneries. The forest cover looked green and dense all over the places and there were many streams flowing from the hill side though it had not rained here for a long time. The scene reminded me of my train journeys to Goa on the Konkan Railway.

A hill made up of many layers of rock formations on Lumding-Silchar route.

There are numerous rail bridges over the streams such as this one on Lumding-Silchar route.

Barak Valley Express crossing one of numerous rail bridges over streams. The bridge under construction (on the right side) is meant for laying broad gauge line.

One of 37 tunnels through which Barak Valley Express has to pass thorough before reaching its destination.

Lower Haflong station with many vendors, mostly women, selling vegetables, fruits and other household items, looked more as a crowded bazaar than the railway station. From the platform, we could see Haflong Hill, the only hill station in Assam and the head quarters of North Cachar Hill district ( now renamed as Dima Hasao district), located on a mountain top, about 5 kms from Lower Haflong railway station. From here onwards, the route was a hardcore hilly terrain, with many tunnels, bridges and sharp curves which meant slow train speed. Also, the route passes through one of the most sensitive areas in terms of militancy. With the depleted conditions of most of the coaches and the old diesel engine which looked more like a steam engine if the quantum of smoke it emanated was of any indication, the train may not be fit to run on its normal speed. I could now appreciate as to why the train takes more than 12 hours to cover a distance of 215 kms from Lumding to Silchar.

The railway has to run the passenger and freight trains on this route as it is virtually a life line for the inhabitants of lower Assam, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura. Most of the essential commodities are transported to these states through this route. The other option – Limding-Silchar road has been in bad shape for years and locals say that the train is not only economical but also it is comfortable mode to travel.

Lower Haflong railway station. The crowd on the platform is more of sellers than the passengers.

Virtually all railway stations on this route are mini bazars where locals sells fruits, vegetables and other household items. This one is the scene on Lower Haflong railway station.

Haflong hill station (on the top of the mountain) seen from Barak Valley Express.

A close of a few houses in Haflong

As the train left Lower Haflong, the vegetation became thick. There were bamboo trees and wild banana plantations everywhere with the bushy type creepers all along the periphery of the forest on the right side of the track with Barak river on the left side. A lot of dust cloud was seen on the other side of Barak river probably emanating from the road construction work going on for four lanes east-west corridor. There was no trace of the work relating to laying broad gauge line until we reach close to probably Badarkhal after which had resumed. First I thought that due to hill section, the work had not been undertaken so far. But now it appears that the proposed broad gauge line will bypass the most scenic section of the existing meter gauge line by a chord line. It will be a good idea if the railway authorities retain the meter gauge line between Lower Haflong and Bandarkhal and run tourist trains in the season for the visitors to enjoy the scenic beauty of the hill track.

Although our train was now moving into sensitive areas, there were no armed police escorts in the train. However, a small contingent of armed police was present in all the railway stations. I understand that there are armed police contingents regularly patrolling the vicinity of the tracks and that train engines operating on this routes are all bullet proof. In fact, the sensitive part of the journey was the most scenic with thick forests, high hills and numerous streams flowing from the hills. The clear blue sky gave a ting of a bluish colour to the mountain tops. It was unfortunate that this beautiful place was also the perfect place for militants to plan for a ambush and hide. Except at Jatinga stations, I did not notice inhabitations near the railway stations in the hill section of this route except a few houses of railway staff.

Our train reached Jatinga station in the late afternoon. As far as my memory goes, this was the only railway station in the hill section were village was close to the station. The village was perched on a high hill and looked beautiful with well laid down houses in the midst of thick vegetation. Our train stopped here for a long time as an incoming goods train was to pass. So we had time to wander on the platform. There were not many vendors on the platform nor the passengers to board the train. In fact, I feel that locals come to the railway stations just before the trains approach to have some diversion from their otherwise mundane day to day activities. Jatinga is known for the mass suicide by flock of birds every September by plunging into the fire lit by villagers.

Jatinga railway station. The place is famous for flocks of birds committing mass suicides during every September by plunging into the fire.

Jatinga village seen from the railway station.

A close up of Jatinga village.

The landscape of our train journey beyond Jatinga remained, more or less, the same – dense bamboo and wild plantations forest close to the track, high mountains, journey through number of tunnels and Barak river on to our left. Although the weather was pleasant throughout the day, I was tired of sitting in the train as we have already spent more than 10 hours in the train without getting any chance to take some rest ‘horizontally’. Also, the sun was about to set in and it would soon be getting dark. So there was not much motivation left to be in the train and I was now eager to reach our destination as early as possible.

Adding to our misery was the news about eruption of violence in Silchar due to kidnapping of a doctor and the imposition of curfew in the whole town. One of the fellow passengers suggested us to get down at Badarpur Junction, our next station and take the next day’s early afternoon passenger train to Agartala. The idea was worth considering but soon we came to know that there was some tension in Badarpur town as well due to Silchar incidence. We decided to stick to our earlier plan. In worst case scenario, we could spend the night at Silchar railway station either in the retiring room or in the waiting room.

Our discussion was interrupted by a vendor in our compartment selling Jaal Moori ( puffed rice mixed with onion and seasoned with mustard oil and masala powder). It transpired that KS was very fond of this snack which he used to eat regularly during his Kolkatta days. I was not impressed by this snack when he told me that it was seasoned with mustard oil. A small helping from KS's plate made me realised that this snack was indeed yummy and it was one of my favourite evening snacks when my mother used to prepared as an accompaniment to our evening coffee. The difference between Jaal Moori and our puffed rice snack was that we used coconut oil and sambhar powder for seasoning.

After Lower Haflong, the train route passes through the dense forest on one side and the Barak valley on the other side. The forest consists predominantly pf bamboo trees and wild banana plantations.

Bamboo stacks are being kept ready to be loaded on an incoming passenger train at Mailong Disa station

This is how bamboo stacks are being loaded on a passenger train.

When we reached Badarpur Junction, it was 6.15 p.m. and the train was already late by 1:30 hours. Here, almost half of the train passengers alighted probably after hearing the news of curfew in Silchar. There was an official halt of 25 minutes here as the train engine was to be detached from the front side and attached to the back side of the rake for taking diversion to Silchar. The train started from Badarpur Junction at 6.45 p.m. for a 30 kms of journey to Silchar. The train was running smoothly until it reached the outer signal of Katakhal Junction, two station before Silchar. Here the train was stranded for nearly one hour without any way to know as to the reason. It was cold and the dim light inside the compartment gave a depressing feeling. The bright moonlight outside, however, created some heavenly atmosphere. It was only when one train from the opposite direction came on a loop line that our train started. We reached Silchar at 09.30 p.m., nearly 3 hours late from the schedule time of arrival. Having spent nearly 15 hours in the train, we needed a comfortable night stay in a good hotel and we stayed in Hotel Borail View, stated to be the best hotel in Silchar (Rs.1500/- double bedded AC room) .

Badarpur Junction. From here one meter gauge track goes to Silchar and another goes to Agartala. This picture was taken while travelling on Silchar-Agartala passenger.

We reached Silchar 09.30 p.m., nearly 3 hours late from the schedule time This picture of Silchar railway station was taken on the next morning.

Retrospection

I now realised that after a gap of more than 30 years, I have travelled by a meter gauge train, the Barak Valley Express. My last meter gauge train journey was in December 1980 by Vaighai Express from Egmore to Madurai. The journey on Barak Valley Express relived me of the train journeys of my younger days when I used to get down at every station wherever the train halted, to walk on the platform and get to know many things happening around. Though as per schedule, Barak Valley Express was supposed to stop at all stations just for a minute except at Badarpur Junction where official stoppage was for 25 minutes, the train stopped for much longer period at all the stations and that gave us more than enough time to take a round on the platform and make interesting observations. Even the slow speed of the train was a blessing in disguise as it gave us more time to watch the beautiful scenes and landscapes.

Travel Tips

Barak Valley Express have all unreserved II class general coaches except one sleeper coach which can be reserved through PRS. A window seat will give the passenger a ring side view of landscape and scenery from the train. Window seats of unreserved coaches get occupied as soon as the train is stabled on the platform. Reservation of berths in the Sleeper coach well in advance is a better option for improving the chance of getting window seats and for relatively comfortable travel.

As per the feed back I got from many regular travellers, Barak Valley Express is regularly late, some time as many hours late as 4-5 hours. Furthermore, the train services on Lumding-Silchar section get suspended whenever any militant ambush happens on the route.

There is no pantry car attached to the train but the food items like puri-bhaji, buns (soft bread), boiled eggs, jaal moori ( puffed rice) and fruits like oranges, pineapples and bananas will be available on most of the stations en route. It is advisable to carry mineral water bottles as they were not available on the stations nor the cold drinks during the time we travelled.

For those for whom the time is not a constraint and are wary of travelling for the whole day, they can break journey at Lower Haflong station. Haflong Hill is about 5 kms from the station and it is the only hill station in Assam. They can board the same train the next day. The most beautiful and enchanting scenery on this route is between Lower Haflong and Bandarkhal stations.

Photoblog of Trip to Bodh Gaya-Patna-Pawapuri-Rajgir : November 2011

2011-11-21T18:39:00.001+05:30

[In continuation from Photoblog of Trip to Allahabad-Sarnath-Varanasi ]

We left Varanasi by early morning Poorva Express and reached Gaya by 10.00 a.m. to be in time to perform the last and the most important sequence of the Shraddha ceremony. The ritual took almost remainder of the day. Next day, we shifted from the priest’s house to Ajatshatru Hotel, near Gaya railway station (Rs.600 to Rs.750/- per double bed room with geyser, TV, western toilet ) to have some flexibility in catching an early morning train to Patna. In the afternoon, we hired a Sumo (Rs.900/-) for a half-day trip to Bodh Gaya. Our day and timing of the visit were wrong as the main Mahabodhi temple was out of bound for tourists as some VIPs from abroad ( we were told that a prince from royal family of Thailand was having an exclusive pooja at the temple) and the earliest time the temple expected to be opened for tourists was around 8.00 p.m. So we had to be satisfied with viewing the Mahabodhi temple complex from outside the gate. Some of the other country’s Buddha temples were also out of bound for tourists due to 3-day ‘Offering of Robes to Venerable Maha Sangha’ ceremony. We could see Tibetan Karma temple, Namgyal Tibetan Monastery and Maha Bodh Vihara. Because of the Buddhist festival and Diwali holidays, Bodh Gaya was crowded with domestic tourists and pilgrims from south-east Asian countries and there was a festival like atmosphere all over the place. As a tourist, one would need a full day to see Mahabodhi and other country’s Buddha temples in Bodh Gaya.

Next day, we boarded an early morning Inter-city Express for Patna. Our visit to Patna was more for the convenience of catching a starting train back to Mumbai than with to do with sight-seeing interest. However, having reached the vicinity of some of the important tourist places around Patna, we had decided to spend a couple of days more in Patna to make a trip to Nalanda-Rajgir-Pawapuri. After reaching Patna, we checked in Hotel City Centre (AC double bed room @1600/-, 24 hours hot water, TV, excellent food in its restaurant), near Patna railway station. In the afternoon, we took a round of Patna City and spent some time in Golghar and Gandhi Maidan. Unfortunately, Patna museum was closed by the time we reached there and also we could not reach the other side of Ganga river due to massive traffic jam on the road bridge over Ganga.

Next day, we hired Bolero (Rs.11/- per km) and Indica (Rs.8/- per km) to visit Pawagiri-Rajgir-Nalanda. The vehicles booked through the travel desk of the Hotel a day before, did not turn up at the appointed time of 7.00 a.m. The travel desk had to arrange for other vehicles. With one hour lost in this process and a shorter daylight, we could do only Pawapuri and Rajgir as the counter for entry tickets to Nalanda ruins was closed by 5.00 p.m. It was most disappointing for all of us for not able to visit Nalanda ruins. On a hindsight, we felt that we should have travelled direct to Rajgir from Gaya for sight-seeing and after taking an overnight halt at Rajgir, we could have gone to Patna the next day evening after covering the remaining portion of tourist places.

The roads in Gaya, Patna and the tourist circuit of Pawapuri-Nalnda-Rajgir were far better as compared with that of Allahabad-Sarnath-Varanasi. Also, this time there was no fear psychosis in travelling and taking a walk in the night in Gaya and Patna as compared with what I had felt during my last visit to Gaya in 2000. In fact, an orderly in our Gaya hotel told me that in earlier time, he dared not venture out to reach his home after the end of his shift at 11.00 p.m. He would invariably stay back in the hotel and go to his house the next morning. Now he says that there is no such fear and he goes home every day after the end of his shift at 11.00 p.m.

Some of the pictures taken during our visit to Bodh Gaya-Patna-Pawapuri-Rajgir have been uploaded below with captions.

Roof travellers on a bus going towards Bodh Gaya.

The road to Bodh Gaya

Statue of Great Buddha, Bodh Gaya. It is the tallest Buddha statue in India having a height of 80 feet. Being the Hindu month of Kartik, there were more tourists and pilgrims including those from Sri Lanka and the far east countries.

Face of the statue of Great Budha in Dhyan Mudra.

A giant brass vassel for lighting candles below the statue of Great Buddha.

Statues of 10 Great Disciples of Buddha stand around the Great Statue of Buddha, four of which can be seen here.

Karma Tibetan temple, Bodh Gaya.

The top of the Tibetan Karma temple

A chorten inside the Tibetan Karma temple

Paintings and frescoes on the pillars and ceilings of Tibetan Karma temple.

Frescoes on the walls of the Tibetan Karma temple. In the top middle, is a mural of the Guardian.

Fresco on a wall of Tibetan Karma temple.

Fresco on the wall of Tibetan Karma temple

There was a festive mood at the entrance of the Mahabodhi temple on the occasion of Katina Chivara Pooja ( Offering of Robes to Venerable Maha Sangha). Mahabodhi Temple was out of bound for tourists for the day as a special pooja was being performed by visiting VIPs from Thailand.

Mahabodhi Temple, Bodh Gaya seen from outside the gate.

Tower of Mahabodhi Temple.

Small stupas adorn the roof of the Mahabodhi temple.

Two Thai bhikshus going towards Mahabodhi temple for offering of robes.

Statue of Maitreya Buddha. in Tibetan Namgyal Monastery.

Frescoes on the walls of Namgyal Monastery.

Rangoli of Kalachakra (Wheels of time) inside Namgyal Monastery.

Kalachakra (Wheels of Time) painting on one of the walls of Namgyal Monastery.

Monks inside Tibetan Namgyal Monasteries, Bodh Gaya.

Buddha statue inside Mahabodhi Vihara

Frescoe depicting the Mahaprinirvana of Buddha on one of the walls of Mahabodhi Vihara.

Gateway to Mahabodhi Vihara (Rest House for pilgrims) decorated with flowers on the occasion of Offering of Robes ceremony.

Colourful lanterns were seen at many places in Bodh Gaya on the occasion of the Katina Chivra Pooja ( Offering of robes to Venerable Maha Sangha)

Harmandir Sahib, Patna which is one of the four holiest Sikh shrines. This marble structure was built by Maharaja Ranjit Singh.

Golghar, the landmark of Patna. The silo was built by Britishers in 1786 to store grain during famines that used to occur regularly in those days.

View from Golghar.

View of Ganga river side from Golghar.

One of the two spiral stair cases of Golghar.

Aradhana Jain Mandir, Pawapuri.

The white marble Samashoran Jain Temple. Here Lord Mahavira delivered his last sermon. Entry to the top of this place is permitted only with puja robes.

Roof travellers on a Mini Van going towards Nalanda.

A horse cart overloaded with passengers outside Jalmandir entrance, Pawapuri. Horse carts are the main mode of transport and one can see hundred of these carts plying on Pawapuri-Nalanda-Rajgir road.

A horse with 'micro braid' hair style seen near Jalmandir entrance, Pawapuri.

Entrance to Jalmandir, Pawapuri. Jalmandir is a marble temple surrounded by a rectangular pond full of lotuses. This is the place where Lord Mahavira attained salvation.

The marble arches of Jalmandir leading to the pond.

A lotus bud in the pond of Jalmandir.

Lutus in Jalmandir pond.

Unidentified flowers in Jalmandir pond.

Jalmandir pond is also full of fishes. Here a couple of fishes make merry of corn thrown by one of the visitors.

The pond of Jalmandir.

The connecting bridge to Jalmandir.

The backside view of Jalmandir.

A long queue for rope way to Vishwa Shanti Stupa, Rajgir.

The chairlift rope way to Vishwa Shanti Stupa, Rajgir.

Vishwa Shanti Stupa seen from the complex.

The Stupa have four Golden coloured Buddha idols on its four side. This idol is one of them.

The second Buddha idol.

The third reclining Buddha idol

The fourth standing Buddha idol.

There are lots of langoors in the Vishwa Shanti Stupa complex but they did not bother tourists.

Rajgir Kund temple

Picnic spot with swimming pool adjunct to Rajgir Kund complex. The entry fee is Rs.25/- per head.

Photoblog of Trip to Allahabad-Sarnath-Varanasi : November 2011

2011-11-18T10:34:00.001+05:30

This family trip to Allahabad-Varanasi-Gaya was undertaken mainly for conducting shraddha ceremony ( a socio-religious ceremony performed for deceased father, grandfather and great grandfather and mother, grandmother and great grandmother) at these three places. It is expected that every Brahmin would visit at least once to Prayag (Allahabad), Varanasi and Gaya in one trip for performing sharddha ceremony for the salvation of the ancestors’ souls. Since the ceremony was required to be conducted in the forenoon, we stayed in our designated maths where these rituals were to be performed. We had afternoon free for doing some sight-seeing before embarking on to our next destinations in the mornings. As we realised later, the afternoon slot for sight-seeing was not sufficient to cover even the important tourist spots as most of these spots used to get closed by 5.00 p.m. In the milieu, we missed going inside Dhamekh Stupa area and the Archaeological Museum at Sarnath. Since I had seen these places in 2000, I have no regret except that I lost opportunity to shoot these places with a digital camera.

The roads in the old city areas of Allahabad and Varanasi were in pathetic conditions. Even Varanasi-Sarnath road which are frequented by international travellers was in bad condition at least halfway. Added to the traffic woes was the cattle population on the road which seems to be competing with pedestrian in every artery road. I even noticed that a few of the cattle shades were right on the road blocking the lane! One can easily get caught in a traffic jam in Allahabad and Varanasi at any time as it happened with us. So we had build in sufficient cushion in planning the journey back to railway stations. Since our journey to the next destination was early mornings, we took hotel rooms near the railway stations for the overnight stays.

A special word about Varanasi. Being a religious city, I always felt that there was nothing much to do here for tourists. My two day’s stay in this city made me realised as to how wrong I was. It is a mind boggling place where spirituality and commercialism coexist side by side. The real Varanasi is hidden behind narrow streets and small alleys. And to get a feel of the real Varanasi, one has to take a long walk through numerous narrow streets and alleys where, pedestrians, cows and two wheelers compete with each other to move on. Each of these narrow alleys has some architecturally superb buildings with their own history. There is a strong possibility that one may get lost in these alleys but I am sure that those who have time and inclination to know more about these alleys, would not mind as this would give them an opportunity to know more about some of the interesting views and subjects to capture in their camera. In any case, those who get lost in the alleys would be pleasantly surprised that they have, at last, made it to one of the numerous ghats at the banks of Ganga.

The pictures uploaded below cover Allahabd-Sarnath-Varanasi with detailed captions on some of the pictures. Photoblog relating to our visit to BodhGaya-Patna-Pawapuri-Rajgir is being constructed separately.

First halt at Kashi Math, Allahabad. The view of rail bridge on the left and the road bridge on the right from Kashi Math. Allahabad was formerly called as Prayag. It was captured by Mughals in 16th Century and renamed as Allahabad.

Jetty at Allahabad Fort from where boat rides are to be taken to visit the confluence of Yamuna with Ganga rivers( far end in the background). This is called as Prayag, the place for holy bath during Kumbh Mela.

Thousands of migratory seagulls travel from Australia to this place on the onset of winter. This is one of the major attractions of boat rides in Yamuna river during the winter months. In the background is Allahabad Fort.

There are constant 'landings' and 'take-offs' of Seagulls in Yamuna river.

A Seagull 'soft lands' on Yamuna river about to pick up his food.

Jetty for boat journey to the confluence of Yamuna river with Ganga river called Prayag. In the background is Allahabad Fort built by Emperor Akbar in 1583. The ramparts of the Fort is covered by creepers. The 3rd century BC Ashok Pillar which was brought from Kausambi has been kept in this Fort which is now a military garrison and not accessible to the public.

The confluence. Yamuna river (greenish colour) in the foreground meets Ganga river ( whitish colour) at the spot in the middle with two whirlpools. Actually, it is more like a 'T' junction with Ganga flowing from left to right (top) and Yamuna flowing from down to up direction (bottom). Third river is the mythical Saraswati river which joins Ganga at this spot but is not seen.

Pilgrims performing rituals on the boats at the confluence of Yamuna and Ganga rivers. Being the Hindu month of Kartik, the pilgrim crowd was quite large lending a great atmosphere of religious fervour. There was a heavy traffic jam of boats putting boatmen to problem in maneuvering their boats from the confluence to the Jetty.

Offering of flowers at the confluence.

Anand Bhavan, Allahabad. Anand Bhavan was owned by Motilal Nehru, the father of Jawaharlal Nehru in the 19th century. Jawarharlal was born here. It was donated to Government of India in 1970. Now it is a museum managed by Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Trust.

The dome of Anand Bhavan

An evening shot of the lawn of Anand Bhavan.

Colour portrait of Kamla Nehru, Jawahar Lal Nehru's wife in one of the rooms of Anand Bhavan.

One of the rooms in Anand Bhavan where Congress Party's meeting used to take place during the Independent movements.

An unusual shape of ceiling fan in one of the rooms of Anand Bhavan

Picture of Motilal Nehru with his wife Swaroop Rani and a young Jawarharlal Nehru in one of the rooms of Anand Bhavan.

Young Jawaharlal Nehru with his sister Vijaylakshmi Pandit.

Colour portrait of Motilal Nehru in one of the rooms of Anand Bhavan.

Backside view of Anand Bhavan.

Unidentified flowers in the Anand Bhavan complex.

Jawaharlal Nehru in cricketing attire during an exhibition cricket match. Photo displayed in a museum in Anand Bhavan complex.

A photo showing Jawaharlal Nehru meeting Albert Einstein at Princeton, New Jersey, USA on November 5, 1949.

A photo of Jawaharlal Nehru meeting George Bernard Shaw at Herts, England in May 1949.

A photo showing Jawaharlal Nehru with Kamla and Indira Gandhi as a kid on display in the museum.

A heron on a railing at Allahabad railway station yard.

One of the many narrow alleys for visiting Brahma Ghat in Varanasi. Compared with my visit in 2000, this time these alleys were clean devoid of cow dungs.

Buddhist temple Mulagandhakuti Vihara at Sarnath

Statue of Gautam Buddha in Malgundha Kuti Vihar temple, Sarnath.

Murals inside Mulagandhkuti Vihara temple.

One more murals inside Mulagandhkuti Vihara temple.

On way to Dhamekh Stupa. When I visited this place in 2000, there was no entry fee for visiting this stupa. This time, the authorities have put railings for restricting entry by tourists.

Dhamekh Stupa close up. The Stupa is 128 feet high with 93 feet in diameter. This is the spot where Gautam Buddha delivered his first sermon after attaining enlightenment. At the far end left is a Jain temple.

Incriptures on Dhamekh Stupa

A close up of inscriptures on Dhamekh Stupa

A giant bell with inscriptions under a golden coloured arch near Mulagandhakuti Vihar temple in Sarnath.

Buddha statue in a Chinese temple, Sarnath.

Laughing Buddha in a Chinese temple, Sarnath.

A night shot of entrance to Birla temple in BHU compass. Photography inside this temple is not allowed. The main deity is Shiva in lingam form.

A family undergoing mass mundan (freshly shaven head) ceremony at Brahma Ghat.caption

Boats at Brahma Ghat waiting for pilgrims for Ganga river cruise. We paid Rs.440/- for a full boat (Rs.,40/- per head) for 3 hours boat trip from Brahma Ghat to Lalit Ghat and back. The boat was arranged by Kashi Math Sansthan where we stayed.

Brahma Ghat. In the background is the Kashi Math Sansthan - one of the maths of Gowd Saraswat Brahmins where we stayed for conducting religious ceremony.

A wide angle shot of Jathar and Raja Gwalior Ghats with Aurangzeb's Mosque in the top background.

Panchganga Ghat. In the background is Aurangzeb Mosque. On the right is Gokarn Partagali Jeevottam Math.

Zoom shot of Aurangzeb Mosque

A zoom shot of stone carved windows of a building near Jatar Ghat.

Ganesh Ghat build by Peshwas in 1807.

Bhosle Ghat

Open semi round balconies of Bhosle Ghat building.

The submerged and tilted Shiva temple in front of Scindia Ghat.

Manikarnika Ghat

A temple behind Manikarnika Ghat.

The bamboo baskets hanging in front of a temple are in fact the lanterns which are lit in the night during the Hindu month of Kartik (Diwali month).

Funeral pyres burn almost through out the day at the creamation ghat near Manikarnika Ghat. Hindus believe that a cremation done here would lead to the moksha (escape the cycle of rebirth).

A boat carries wood for funeral pyre to the burning ghat.

Lalit Ghat, also called Nepali Ghat where we alighted from the boat to walk down through alleys to Kashi Viswanath temple. This ghat was built by the King of Nepal.

A narrow path leading to Kashi Vishwanath temple.

A snake charmer sitting in a alley leading to Kashi Vishwanath temple.

Ganesh temple on way to Kashi Vishwanath temple.

A rail bridge over Ganga river.

An unusual growth of Banyan tree trunk at Brahma Ghat gives an impression of Lord Ganesh's trunk

Kaas Plateau of Flowers-Koyna Lake - A Revisit : September 2011

2011-10-09T10:39:00.000+05:30

I had visited Kaas Plateau of Flowers- Shivsagar (Koyna) Lake-Thosegar Falls-Chalkewadi in September 2010. After perusing the pictures of the trip, my wife said that she missed the opportunity to see the wonderful sites, particularly Kaas Plateau and Sajjangad. Since the flowering season on Kaas Plateau was about to end, I promised her that we would visit Satara during the next flowering season. After ascertaining that the mass blooming of wildflowers has already began for the current season, we decided to make a visit to Satara during the third week of September to replicate the last year’s trip.

We boarded Koyna Express at Dadar which took about 7 hours to reach Satara at the schedule time of 4.00 p.m. We engaged one of the autos lined up outside Satara railway station for Hotel Radhika which we have booked about a fortnight back. It took about 20 minutes for a 15 km ride to reach our hotel and paid Rs.120/-. After freshening and a cup of coffee, we decided to take a stroll outside since the weather was pleasant. In the meanwhile, we firmed up the hiring of an Indica car for 2 days @ Rs.1750/- per day from Raj Tourist Centre, the same agency from whom we had hired the car last year. We took an hour’s round walk of about 3 kms via Powai Naka- Raviwar Peth-Malhar Peth-Shaniwar Peth. We had a dinner at Hotel’s restaurant where they served only vegetarian thali (Rs.100/-). My wife liked the thali fares which was a mix of Gujarati and Marwadi food though I would have preferred a la carte menu.

First view of Kaas Plateau of flowers after getting down from the car.

White mini ball like wildflowers - Tuberiferum

Next day, after the breakfast of Kaande-Pohe and Dosas in the Hotel’s restaurant, we started our journey for Kaas Plateau of Flowers (25 kms from Hotel) at 9.15 a.m. We were earlier advised by the hotel manager that it would be better to reach Kaas Plateau early morning to avoid rush and also the heat as day progresses. But our driver assured us that being a week day, there would not be much rush also the weather was pleasant. Once we were out of Satara city and on the Kaas road, the things changed dramatically. The plateau starts after Yevateshwar Hil where there is a Shiva temple by the same name. Both sides of the road were lined up by yellow flowers (Sonaki and Smithia) when we were about 15 kms distance from Kaas. Last year, I had not seen such mass blooming of Smithia on the road sides. This gave an indication to us that we may be able to see the mass blooming of Smithia on Kaas Plateau as well. The entire drive on the plateau was very scenic thanks to monsoon greenery and the two lakes – Urmodi and Kanher on both sides of the plateau. We reached Kaas at 10.00 a.m. and noticed that there were already about a dozen cars parked just before the tapped area of Plateau of Flowers. We could, however, get a vacant parking space just before the tapped area thus avoiding a walk. Earlier, our driver had told me that when he came last Sunday morning, he got parking 2 kms before the tapped area of Kaas Plateau and cars were parked on both sides of the road starting from the Kaas Lake side. One can imagine that there would be thousands of visitors on the Kaas Plateau on Sundays during the peak flowering season.

A carpet of pink and purple Balsams and white Tuberiferum

Utricularia purpurascens with Tuberiferum.

Micky mouse looking yellow wildflowers - Smithia

We first ventured into the plateau on the right side of the road going towards Kaas Lake – the same spot which we had visited last year. There were pink Balsams all over the places mixed with white mini table tennis ball like flowers (Tuberiferum) and micky mouse type yellow flowers (Smithia). It appeared to me that the density of wildflowers at this patch was a bit on a low side than what we saw last year. As we walked further away from the road towards the valley side, coverage of wildflowers with higher density became more pronounced. Now we were moving in the clusters of different varieties of wildflowers – pink and purple Balsams, white Tuberiferum, yellow Smithia violet Manjiri and sporadic Karvy. Last year we could not see much of Smithia , violet Manjiri and Karvy. In between, we came across some solitary wildflowers concealed in the midst of Balsams such as purple coloured Cynitis. As we were almost walked one km away from the road side, we saw another patch of big plateau full of pink and purple Balsams and white Tuberiferum. From a distance it looked like as if a large multicoloured carpet had been laid down on the plateau. We did not visit the spot which I guessed to be about one km further from us. Instead, we took a left turn towards the mud road which goes to Mahabaleshwar. However, there was no change in composition of wildflowers on this patch and we could not spot any new varieties of wildflowers. Also the coverage of plateau with wildflowers was not as dense as we saw on the earlier spot.

A multi-coloured carpet of wildflowers

Mass blooming of pink and purple Balsams

Wideflowers - Karvy

After crossing the mud road that goes to Mahabaleshwar, we decided to explore plateau left of the road that goes to Kaas Lake. We noticed that most of the patched where there was a vast expanse of pink and purple Balsams and white Tuberiferum was out of bound for the visitors. I remember last year, we strolled on this patch and in my view, and it was the most densely covered patch of wildflowers. As we were walking towards parking area, we saw that other side of the left plank of plateau adjunct to the prohibited patch was kept open for visitors. We soon walked towards this patch just to have a cursory look. In reality, we strolled here for more than an hour as we spotted some more varieties of wildflowers such as Abolima-Murdannia, violet colour Balsams, Indian arrowroot (Curcuma angustifolia) and Magenta Ipomea which we had not seen on the right side of the plateau.

Wildflowers Neelwanti - Cyonitis

Wildflowers - Abolima Murdannia

The weather was pleasant throughout our outings with gentle breeze blowing across the Kaas Plateau which made macro photography a bit difficult. Sun played hide and seek for most of the time. Compared to last year, this time, the visitors to Kass Plateau were disciplined ones walking on the prescribed laid down path. I counted at least six forest guards present around the core wildflower areas of the plateau as against two last year to ensure that visitors do not enter the tapped area of wildflowers plateau and vehicles and two wheelers do not enter the prohibited areas of the plateau. The plateau looked much more cleaner than what we saw last year of litters and broken bottles.

Indian Arrowroot - Curcuma angustifolia

Jambhali Manjiri - Pogostemon deccanensis

Our next stop was Kaas Lake, about 2 kms further from the Kaas Plateau. This two kms stretch was sporadically lined up by somewhat taller pink Balsams plants which I had also seen on both sides of the road to Kanheri caves in SGNP every year during monsoon season. The lake is located on a beautiful setting at the foot of the plateau surrounded by hills and forest. This lake supplies drinking water to a part of Satara city.

Kaas Lake.

After spending about 15 minutes at the shore of Kaas Lake, we proceeded to Bamnoli village located at the shore of Shivsagar (Koyna) Lake. Due to monsoon season, boat cruise for only 3 destinations was in operation – Dattatraya temple, Triveni Sangam and Tapola village and that too because it was a sunny day. Since I had taken boat cruise to Triveni Sangam last year, we opted for Tapola village. We had intended to have a lunch break at Bamnoli village before taking a boat cruise. Our driver, however, suggested to take lunch at Tapola village where there were better food options than in Bamnoli. Generally, the boat accommodates 6 persons but there were hardly one or two groups of tourists around and they were not interested in boat cruise. Hence we had to hire a full boat for Rs.450/-. It takes about 30 minutes each to and fro Tapola with another 30 minutes allowed to roam in the Tapola village. After that for every one hour or part thereof of wait, the charge is Rs.200/- per hour. Tapola village is located north-west side of the Shivsagar Lake from Bamnoli. It took about 30 minutes to reach the shore of Tapola. There were many motorised boats and scooters for water sports idling at the jetty since it was a week day. The boatman took us to Nisarga Restaurant just 2-3 minutes walk from Tapola jetty. Since it was already 2.30 p.m., we settled for missal and paav bhaji which were tasty. Though paav bhaji was customised for local taste, still I liked it for a change. After lunch, we proceeded towards jetty for return trip. It took about 40 minutes to complete the return journey to Bamnoli jetty probably due to strong wind force.

Shivsagar (Koyna) Lake. Behind the boat is Tapola village

Play of lights on a small hillock near Tapola village.

Tapola village jetty

After about 15 minutes of stroll in Bamnoli village, we commenced our return journey via Kaas Plateau. I had intention to take one more round on the Kaas Plateau but decided against it after seeing a long line of cars/buses parked on the road which had reached about 1 km from the tapped area of the wildflowers plateau. So it appears to be a prelude to the week-end crowd expected on the next day. Before returning to our hotel, we visited Yavateshwar temple.

Bamnoli village jetty.

We had planned for a trip to Sajjangad-Thosegar-Chalkewadi the next day. However, we decided to drop Thosegar-Chalkewadi in favour of Pateshwar-Mahuli Sangam-Sajjangad. For details of this trip, please read my blog here.

Pateshwar - An Offbeat Shiva Temple Complex

2011-09-30T12:47:00.001+05:30

I had never heard of Pateshwar until I read Milind Gunaji’s book Offbeat Tracks in Maharashtra sometime in 2009. I added this one in my wish list of places to be visited. As it often happens, we tend to give less importance to the nearby interesting places under the mistaken notion that they are so close that we could visit any time and most often, that time does not come. I have been living in Mumbai since 1951 but I visited the famous Babulnath temple in south Mumbai for the first time only in May 2009 whereas I visited Himlayan shrines of Badrinath and Kedarnath umpteen times.

Pateshwar is located 14 kms from Satara. After reaching Degaon village via the MIDC road, a 4 kms drive of which 2 kms are through a narrow ghat road takes to the road head one km before Pateshwar. From here, one has to walk to reach Pateshwar temple complex. The temple complex is revered by the people of Satara and its adjoining villages. But they visits this place only during Shivratri and Mondays of the Hindu month of Shravan. Rest of the year, the place is almost deserted except for the priest and two other persons who stay in the Mutt throughout the year.

On way to Pateshwar

Last year, I and my friend Srinivasan had visited Satara to see Kaas Plateau of Flowers, Thosegar, Sajjangad and Bamnoli but could not fit in Pateshwar in our tight schedule. This year, I decided to make a revisit to Satara to see once again the Kaas Plateau of Flowers, Bamnoli, Sajjangad, Thosegar falls and Chalkewadi, with my wife who had not seen these places. Somewhere on our way to Kaas, we decided to drop Thosegar falls and Chalkewadi in favour of Pateshwar. I am not a very religious kind of a person but over a period of time, I have started believing that some of the shrines can be visited only after getting a divine call. The same driver of our hired Indica car who was not very receptive to our idea of visiting Pateshwar last year, was more than willing to take us to Pateshwar this time. So we seem to have got a divine call to visit Pateshwar this time.

Statue of Ganesh accompanied by Riddhi-Siddhi, his wives just after the start of the walk.

View from the ridge on way to Pateshwar.

We started for Pateshwar early morning from Radhika Hotel, Satara and after crossing NH4 via sub-way, we took the MIDC road to reach Degaon village. From here, it was 4 kms of drive on a narrow road of which 2 kms was the ghat road to reach a point where the road ended. Our driver had earlier told us that he had taken a couple from Mumbai to Pateshwar a week back but after walking a few steps, they felt that it was too secluded for their comfort. They were afraid that, being a dense forest, some wild animal may pounce on them. So they turned back despite the assurance from our driver that the place was safe and there were no cases of wild animal attacking the visitors. With this background, we commenced our walk initially on a straight path. The moment we walked past the first curve, we felt that we were really in wilderness with no one around us except some butterflies and a couple of exotic birds making frequent sorties.

Wildflowers - Malabar Delphinium on way to Pateshwar

Wildflower - Vegna vekcilata on way to Pateshwar

After climbing stairways made of rocks, we reached the ridge. Halfway on the stairways, there was a small temple of Lord Ganesh accompanied by Riddhi and Siddhi, his wives. Once on the ridge, the path became once again straight. From the ridge we got a beautiful valley view of MIDC on the one side and rural Satara on the other side. After about 100m walks, the path entered the dense forest mostly of teakwood and banyan trees giving us a welcome relief from the strong sun. It was a pleasant surprise for us to come across a variety of wildflowers on either side of the path. The most prominent on the valley side was a line of Malabar delphinium – a purple coloured wildflower. My wife helped me in spotting some of the wildflowers which we had not seen or missed them during our visit to Kaas Plateau of Flowers the previous day.

Ancient pond in Pateshwar. At the far end is Sadguru Govindanand Maharaj Mutt

Stairway to the main Shiva temple, Pateshwar

After about half an hour, we walked past a square shaped pond partially covered with lotus flowers. Just opposite of the pond was Sadguru Govindanand Maharaj Mutt. But the main Shiva temple was nowhere to be seen. Then we noticed that an old man in saffron dhoti was going towards stairways right of the pond. We followed him and met him halfway. He seemed surprised to see us. He looked very old (may be in 80s) and his voice was very feeble to fully understand as to what he said. I guess his name was Giri. He was the priest of the main Shiva temple and he was on his way to conduct pujas. During my brief talk with him, he discouraged me from taking pictures saying that in that process, we may overlook the beauty of this place and also miss the intricately carved statues. I told him that I take pictures of beautiful places such as this one to enable me to revive my memories of such visits when I am not in a position to revisit such places due to old age. He did not respond to my answer which meant that he saw merit in this argument. We followed him and it was only after reaching the top of the stone stairways, we could see the main Shiva temple.

The main Shiva temple, Pateshwar

Intricately carved Nandi of the main Shiva temple

The moment I was in the court yard of the temple, I fell in love with this serene and peaceful place. The temple was surrounded by dense forest from all sides. I would not have imagined that we would be in solitude in a place which was just 14 kms from Satara city, 7 kms away from hustling bustling MIDC and just 4 kms away from Degaon village. I felt like spending the entire day of solitude to get a feel of the place. The temple was stated to be constructed some time in 16^th century AD. The intricately carved Nandi facing the temple was housed in a Mandapam typical of Shiva temples. The main temple was in a slightly depleted condition but some of the stone carved statues adorning the inner walls of the temple as well as in two small temples in the court yard were in good condition.

The statue of Sheshashayee (Vishnu) adorniong the inner wall of the main Shiva temple

The statue of Mahishshur Mardini in a small temple in the court yard of the main Shiva temple.

The rare four headed Shiva statue in the court yard of the main Shiva temple

After conducting abhisheks of the shivling inside the temple followed by the aarti, the priest left the temple not before guiding us for our visit the eastern side of a cluster of smaller cave like temples, about 200m from the main Shiva temple, which were supposed to contain one crore of shivlings of different sizes. As we were walking through a narrow slushy path covered with the overgrowth of tree branches, I saw a dark brownish snake of about 5 feet in length crossing the path just 3-4 feet from me. I guess it was Dhaman (rat snake). Later, our driver confirmed that the place was infested with Dhamans, the docile and harmless variety of snake. After a walk of about 100m, we came across 2 small temples housing shivlings of various sizes placed on platforms. Unfortunately, we could not enter these cave like temples as they were flooded with water. We had to satisfy ourselves by seeing these shivlings only from outside. I am sure that some snakes do reside in these cave like temples.

A platform with many thumb sized shivlings inside one of the cave like temples in Pateshwar

A huge shivling decorated with numerous thumb size shivlings in one of the cave like temples

A stone plaque with numerous thumb size shivlings inside one of the cave like temples.

One of the pillars in a cave like temple decorated with stone carved serpent and small shivlings

After a walk of another 100m, we came across a relatively bigger temple located almost underground except for the entrance. This temple had also intricately carved Nandi facing the sanctorum housing thousands of shivlings of various shapes - from thumb size to as high as 5 feet tall. In one of the two smaller cave like temples, there was a large and tall shivling of the height of about 5 feet. The shivling was decorated with numerous small shivlings of not more than thumb size. We also saw some stone plaques placed on the cave walls fitted with numerous small shivlings. On our rough estimates, we must have seen at least around ten thousands of shivlings. Eariler, one of the inmate of the Mutt had told my wife that one bag of rice will not be sufficient to place a single rice on each of the shivlings in the cave like temples. While this may be an overstatement, the fact remains that there are so many shivlings in these temples that one can easily lost count of them. All these temples also housed some unidentified stone carved statues .My guess is that they may be of some sages.

A huge shivling decorated with thumb size shivlings in one of the cave like temples

A stone plaque with unidentified statues inside a cave like temple

It was pitched dark inside all the cave like temples. At one of the temples, I almost fell in the mini pond located in one of the corners of the sanctorum. Luckily, I could balance and stand in the pond with knee deep water. The small pond roughly of the size of 2x2 feet collects water from the seepage of the cave walls. Probably, in olden days, the water from the pond was used for conducting daily abhisheks of shivlings. I suddenly remembered that I had torch in my pouch – a habit I have developed since my trekking days. But still the torch light was not sufficient to minutely observe the carvings. Another handicap was the absence of a knowledgeable guide. As of now, nothing is known as to who constructed these temples and about the artists who sculptured the Nandis, the statues and shivlings.

A shivling with trimurti kept outside a cave like temple.

At the end of our trip, we felt most happy that we could visit such a awesome place by sacrificing our planned visit to Thosegar and Chalkewadi. These temples are archaeologically important but as of now there does not seem to be any caretaker for them. Fortunately, there is not much of vandalism here as very few people visit this place.

Our next and the last destination of the trip was Sajjangad but our driver suggested to spend some time at Kshetra Mahuli ( also called Mahuli Sangam), the confluence of Venna and Krishna rivers, which we agreed. The place is hardly 5 kms from Satara off to Satara-Pandarpur road. There are four main temples on the banks of Krishna river – two on each of the sides. On the west bank of the Krishna river are Kashi Vishweshwar temple and Sangameshwar temples and on the east side of the river are Someshwar and Rameshwar temple. This place is also called ‘Dakshin Kashi’ and all the religious ceremonies conducted at Varanasi are also conducted here. Unfortunately, due to less time at our disposal, we could see only 17^th century constructed Kashi Vishweshar temple. Those interested in the temple architectures may require at least half a day to see all these temples and some smaller temples also. In fact, if we get a chance to visit Satara again, we would definitely spend more time here to see the temple architectures in detail.

Krishna river at Kshetra Mahuli with Rameshwar temple in the background. It was sad to observe that Krishna river was used as a dhobi ghat and the stairways leading to Rameshwar temple as drying place.

Kashi Vishweshvar temple on the banks of Krishna river

Sangameshwar temple on the banks of Venna river at Kshetra Mahuli

After finishing lunch at Sayali Restaurant at Powai Naka, we commenced our last destination of this trip – Sajjangad. Since I had already seen it last year, I sat down near the Swami Ramdas Samarth Mutt and let my wife have the round of temples. Thereafter, we went to the famous table top located behind the temple complex. The views from the table top were great as usual. Compared to the last time when we had visited in the morning, this time the afternoon sun fell directly on the valley giving a great photo opportunity. One of the regular visitors to this place had told me that the valley remains green throughout the year because of the Urmodi dam water. After spending about an hour or so, we returned to our hotel not before buying some Kandi Pedhas from Latkar Sweets located near Powai Naka to take back home, the sweet memory of our trip to Satara.

Table top of Sajjangad

Valley view from Sajjangad table top

More Pateshwar pictures.

Photoblog of Monsoon Trip to Saputara - August 2011

2011-08-20T10:33:00.003+05:30

Taking advantage of an extended week-end in August, we decided to make our annual monsoon trip, this time to Saputara, a hill station on the border of Maharashtra and Gujarat state. Personally, I don’t like to visit such places during week-ends as they get crowded to the hilt and in the milieu, peace and tranquillity are lost. But taking in to account the convenience of younger members of our family, the trip had to be organised during one of the week- ends.

Dangs district map. Saputara is at the southern most tip.

Saputara (986m) is located in the southern most part of Dangs district of Gujarat bordering Nashik district of Maharashtra. The shortest route from Mumbai is via Thane-Nashik-Dindori ( 265 kms). The other route from Mumbai is via Godbundar-Vapi-Dharampur (328kms). Earlier tourists from Mumbai used to prefer Godbundar route to avoid a long traffic jam in around Kasara Ghat on way to Nashik. On the other hand, Mumbai-Ahmedabad road (NH-8) was a four lane road up to Vapi (may have been extended now) facilitating faster journey. The Thane-Nashik road (NH-3) has now been upgraded to four lanes including the Kasara Ghat and thus this route is now shortest both in terms of distance and the travel time.

We commenced our road journey from our house at 8.30 a.m. After taking about an hour each of the halts at my daughter’s place in Thane and my borther-in-law’s house in Nashik (for lunch), we reached Saputara at around 5.00 p.m. But for these halts, we would have covered the distance to Saputara in about 6 hours. We faced heavy rains sporadically up to Igatpuri and occasional rains thereafter till we reached Saputara. Despite heavy monsoon rains, the road conditions were good except a few small patches where we had to negotiate potholes. The landscape changed dramatically once we crossed Gujarat Border check post. The entire Saputara was covered with clouds and mists. We checked in Gujarat Tourism’s Hotel Toran (Rs.1200/- per day with vegetarian breakfast and lunch or dinner included) which we had booked about 3 months in advance. Both the room and bathroom were clean and spacious. Hot water was restricted between 6.00 and 10.00 a.m.

Our main purpose of annual monsoon trip is to relax and visiting tourist spots is secondary. During our two days stay, we visited Saputara Lake and Museum which is located on either side of Nashik-Surat road which cuts across the main market area. Hence this places was densely crowded with week-end tourists and cars. We noted that other than about 100m radius of market place, rest of the Saputara was comparatively free of crowd even during the extended week-end.

Next day, the continuous heavy rains with gusty winds which started some time early morning, restricted our outside movements. Nonetheless, after breakfast we made an attempt to visit Governor’s Hill Table Top – 2 kms from our hotel. On the way, we enquired about the operation of the ropeway connecting Sunrise Point and Sunset Point which, to the disappointment of the younger lots of our family, was suspended due to heavy rains and gusty winds. We reached the Table Top but the heavy rains and gusty winds forced us to retreat after waiting for about 30 minutes in our cars. After visiting Nageshwar Maharaj temple located just behind the Saputara Lake and lunch at Chitrakoot Resorts ( good Gujarati Thali) we returned to our hotel rooms. In the evening, when rain had subsided, we visited Boat House side of the Saputara Lake. Seeing a big queue for boating, we discarded the idea of boating and instead proceeded towards Saputara Monsoon Festival Shamiana where Laser Show followed by a Tribal Dance programme was to take place at 7.00 p.m. Both these programmes were conducted beautifully. After dinner at our hotel’s restaurant, (Gujarati Thali, not as tasty as that of Chitrakoot Resorts), we retired to our damp beds.

The next day, we checked out from Hotel Toran at 9.00 a.m. and started our return journey to Mumbai. The weather was cloudy but rains had stopped. So we decided to take our last chance to see the valley view from Governor’s Hill Table Top. Again, the clouds and mist cover over the valley prevented us to see anything except that we could see the entire expanse of Table Top with more bhutta (Corn) vendors, a couple of tea stalls and horses/camels for rides. Just we were reaching the top of Governor’s Hill, the cloud lifted from the valley briefly during which time we were pleasantly surprised to witness an almost 360 degree beautiful valley view from the top of Governor’s Hill.

We started from Governor’s Hill at 10.30 a.m. and after taking an hour’s lunch break at a Food Court in a Mall in Nashik, we reached Mumbai at 6.00 p.m.

My impression about Saputara and suggestions

This was my first visit to Saputara and that too in monsoon. One of the problems in visiting hill stations, especially in the western ghats during monsoon is that there is dampness in hotel rooms due to high humidity. Even bed sheets and blankets get dampness and I for one surely feel uncomfortable to sleep in these conditions. A better option would be to visit such places during the fag end of the monsoon i.e., second half of September when one may get to see both the sun and rains. It is better to avoid visiting Saputara during week-end not only for avoiding crowd but also for the fact that during this period, hotel tariff is about 30 per cent higher than that of week days. In fact, it may not be necessary to book hotel rooms for week days’ visit. In my view, Saputara Tribal Museum, Governor’s Hill Table Top and Saputara Lake are not be missed.

Once in Saputara, there are lot more things to see in the adjoining areas than simply visiting the points. Since 90 percent of the population of Dangs district consists of tribal population, it will be interesting to observe their customs, traditions, costumes, jewelleries and paintings by visiting the surrounding villages. There are trekking possibilities, nature walks and forest camping in and around Saputara. In my view, one can easily spend a week in Dangs district to explore it fully making Saputara and Waghai as the bases though the latter is not as good as Saputara in terms of infrastructure.

If I were to make a revisit to Saputara in future, I will take Mumbai-Nashik-Saputara route and spend 3 days in Saputara to explore nearby places by walk. Thereafter I will move to Waghai (50kms) further on Saputara-Surat road and spend two or three days in Waghai. After visiting Gira Falls and Botanical Garden which, I heard, houses many varieties of trees( including, bamboo trees) and cactus, I will move to explore the nearby tribal villages and Vansda National Park. I will return to Mumbai via Vapi-Godbundar to make a circular trip.

I had visited Matheran a couple of times during monsoon. So a comparison between Saputara and Matheran is in order. Matheran is tucked away from the main road and vehicles are not allowed inside. Saputara is located bang on the busy Nashik- Surat State Highway and there are roads to take the vehicles up to the points of tourist interest which are barely 2-3 kms from central place. The forest cover over Matheran is more denser than that of Saputara. In fact in terms of flora and fauna, Matheran, in my view, scores over Saputara. There are more staying and food options in Matheran than in Saputara. Having said, Saputara has not yet become as touristy as Matheran. Despite extended week-end time, I was pleasantly surprised to observe that there were no noisy and drunk revellers in Saputara during our two days of stay, unlike in Matheran ( also in Bhandardara and Malshej Ghat in Maharashtra) during week-ends. The main reason could be that Saputara may not be a preferred destination for boozers as prohibition is in force in entire Gujarat. There are warnings prominently displayed in hotels that liquor consumption and card playing are strictly prohibited. There were a few restaurants with bars just outside the Gujarat border.

During our two days of stay, photo opportunities were limited due to heavy rains and fog like situations. Nonetheless, I took some pictures defying rains and clouds though results were not the best. Pictures are uploaded below.

Ojhar dam backwater seen on way to Saputara.

Maharashtra-Gujarat Border Check Post. Saputara is just one km from the check post.

Road to Echo Point/Sunrise Point engulfed in cloud as we reached Saputara in the evening.

Valley view from our hotel room which was momentary as soon the entire valley was filled with rain clouds.

Our family group on way to Saputara Lake through a short cut path.

Saputara Lake in the evening.

Nashik-Surat Road cust across the main part of Saputara. From here, all major points of tourist interest are within 2-3 kms of distance.

The decoration at the main centre of Saputara Monsoon Festival - July 30 to August 30, 2011.

One of many pictures of Gujarat Tourism on display during Saputara Monsoon Festival.

The early morning view from our hotel room.

Another early morning view from our hotel room.

A lone Bhutta vendor dares heavy rains with gusty wind at the Governor's Hill Table Top.

Two children dares heavy rains and gusty wind for a horse ride at the Governor's Hill Table Top.

The inside view of Saputara Tribal Museum.

One of many Varli paintings on display at Saputara Tribal Museum.

One of many tribal ornaments on display at Saputara Tribal Museum.

Tribal Ornaments on display at Saputara Tribal Musuem.

Tribal masks used for dance drama on display at Saputara Tribal Museum.

Nageshwar Mahadev temple covered in rain cloud. The temple is located just behind the Saputara Lake.

View from Nageshwar Maharaj temple.

Valley view from Nageshwar Maharaj temple.

Viewing galleries of Saputara Lake during rain.

Boating in Saputara Lake - a late evening view. Both pedal and roving boats are available.

Entrance to Laser Show and Tribal Dances. These take place only on Saturdays/Sundays during Monsoon Festival.

A glimpse of Laser Show.

A glimpse of Tribal Dance. Unfortunately the focus light on the stage went off and the show continued with a limited back-up power.

The effect of gutsy wind on the trees at Governor's Hill.

View from Governor's Hill

On way to Governor's Hill View Point

Governor's Hill View Point.

In our third attempts in two days, we could have a glimpse of the Valley View from Governor's Hill, that too a patch of valley for a few seconds. This one is the zoomed shot.

In our two days' stay, the operations of rope way was suspended due to heavy rains and gusty winds.

There was all round greenery through out our road journey. This was on Nashik-Igatpuri stretch.

Trek to Bagini Glacier-Changbang Base Camp-Kanari Khal - June 2011

2011-07-08T06:30:00.005+05:30

The idea of undertaking this trek germinated during our Nandadevi Outer Sanctuary (NDOS -Dharansi Pass) trek in June last year when we noted that more trekkers were going for Bagini Glacier-Changbang Base Camp trek than the NDOS trek. My friend K Srinivasan (KS) was keen to do this trek as our next full-fledged trek. The plan for the trek was finalised in April 2011 when we got the dates from our guide, Sohan Singh Bisht (Sonu) for the second half of June 2011. At one time, we had thought of doing the twin-trek combining the Bagini Glacier trek with Chenap Bugyal trek but Sonu suggested that Chenap trek could be attempted separately by taking a somewhat longer but interesting route starting from Helang and ending at Marwari (near Vishnuprayag) for which more days were required than the usual 5-6 days. So we dropped the idea of combining Chenap Bugyal trek with Bagini Glacier trek.

I was fascinated by the descriptions of sceneries on trails to Kanari Khal (Pass) and Kalla Khal and was keen to combine these two passes with our proposed Bagini Glacier trek. I discussed with Sonu about our doing Kanari Khal and Kalla Khal treks. While Sonu was confident that we would be able to complete Kanari Khal trek, he was not sure about our capabilities to undertake Kalla Khal trek. So we dropped the idea of Kalla Khal and finalised the 9-days’ easy paced itinerary for Bagini Glacier-Changbang Base Camp-Kanari Khal trek.

Though my current Weinbrenner shoes ( without ankle support) was still going strong despite logging more than 250 kms of treks (including one snow trek), we bought a new pair of trekking shoes with ankle support since we had to trek about 10+10 kms of rocks/boulders strewn path. It turned out to be a good investment as without the ankle support, we would have run the risk of twisted ankles on the rocky patches.

We arrived Delhi by flight in a hot and sultry afternoon, boarded Massoorie Express on the same night and reached Haridwar the next day early morning. Our intention was to get a share jeep to Karnaprayag for an overnight stay and reach Joshimath the next day in the forenoon. The share jeep was available for a direct journey to Joshimath @Rs.350/- with only the back seats being available. We saw a couple of GMOU buses bound for Joshimath/Badrinath parked opposite Rahi Hotel but they were already full. In the meanwhile, the sky was getting overcast and the thundershowers looked imminent as strong cool breeze replaced the sultry weather. Under such a situation, we thought it was better to be inside any bus which would take us towards Rudraprayag side. We finally got 8.00 a.m. GMOU bus bound for Ukhimath via Rudraprayag. The bus journey was smooth though it rained heavily for an hour or so. After alighting at Rudraprayag, we found to our dismay that not a single share jeep was available for Karnaprayag (or beyond). Since most of the buses bound for Joshimath would have direct passengers being the peak yatra season, the possibility of getting seats in such buses was remote. So we hired a jeep for Karnaprayag @Rs.1000/- ( The driver of the jeep ultimately took from us Rs.700/- as he could get six passengers for Karnaprayag @ Rs.50/- per passenger).We reached Karnaprayag at 4.30 p.m. and checked in to GMVN (@Rs.800/-) for an overnight stay.

GPS track of the trail to Bagni Glacier-Changbang Base Camp-Kanari Khal. Courtesy : K Srinivasan

Next day, we walked some 500m towards the new bridge over Alaknanda river where buses and share jeeps going towards Joshimath stop. The GMVN Manager had earlier cautioned us that due to peak yatra and marriage season, the local people were facing difficulties in getting buses or share jeep going towards Joshimath. He advised us to take the first available bus or share jeep proceeding towards Chamoli/Gopeshwar and take another bus/share jeep to Joshimath from Chamoli. He was correct. Only a couple of share jeeps were seen on this spot and we got into the first one bound for Chamoli (@Rs.50/- per head). At Chamoli, we got another share jeep bound for Joshimath @Rs.60/- per head. We reached Joshimath at 11.00 a.m. as planned and checked in to Hotel Chandradeep (@Rs.600/-). Sonu, who had returned from Bagini Glacier trek in the previous day, came in the afternoon and took our photocopies of PAN cards and the medical fitness certificates (if required, we being in the age group of 60+) for getting permission from the DFO’s office for the trek. [In fact, it is more of getting fee receipt than the permit ]. We decided that if Sonu managed to get the permits by evening, we could proceed to Jumma the next day morning. In the evening Sonu informed us that due to non-availability of the concerned officer, he may have to go back to DFO office the next day morning to get the permit in which case, we could leave for Jumma around 10.00 a.m.

Day-1 : Joshimath-Jumma ( 44 kms by Jeep)-Ruing village (2800m, 3 kms trek)

Sonu came to our hotel around 8.00 a.m. in a MAX and the good news was that he could manage to get the permit early in the morning. After rearranging the loads, we proceeded in the MAX to Jumma, the road head for the start of the trek. On the way, we picked up provisions and vegetables etc. which was already packed in the previous night. Effectively, we left Joshimath at 9.15 a.m. The road up to Jumma was in mixed condition – the newly laid two lane road up to Dak was smooth. After Tapovan, the road was in moderate shape followed by once again an excellent road in around Suraithota. At around midpoint between Suraithota and Jumma, the mud road of about one km length was almost in level with Dhauliganga river. In rainy season, this patch of road would surely be under water by rising water level of Dhauliganga. Thereafter the road was mostly in bad condition till we reached the road head to Ruing village which was about 2 kms further to Jumma village. We reached the road head around 11.15 a.m. We spent about 30 minutes for our mule to arrive and rearrange the load to be carried between one porter and the mule. There were already 6-8 trekkers who had been waiting here for the transport to take them back to Joshimath after completion of their treks and our MAX came handy to them without wasting much of their time.

Road to Malari somewhere between Suraithota and Jumma is almost in level with Dhualiganga river

Suspension bridge over Dhauliganga connecting Jumma with trail path to Ruing.

After crossing the suspension bridge over Dhauliganga, the well laid 3 kms trail of a mix of moderate climb and straight walk passed through forest all along Dhauliganga river. It was a warm sunny day with temperature hovering around 28C. We reached Ruing village (2800m) around 1.30 p.m. We were to stay in Panchayat Ghar (House) but a meeting of the Gram Panchayat was in progress during which it transpired that the villagers were not in favour of allowing trekkers to stay in the Panchayat Ghar anymore. They were suspicious that the caretaker of Panchayat Ghar pocketed the money collected from trekkers. According to Sonu, the caretaker had never taken money from him whenever he stayed in Panchayat Ghar with his trekking group. So we set up our tents in a nearby meadow overlooking Malari road. The strong wind blowing over the meadow resulted in taking somewhat longer time to set up the tents.

After lunch, we took stroll around the meadow and observed that there were some wildflowers already in bloom. The meadow was covered with a sporadic bunches of Himalayan Thyme ( wild ajwain flowers). We also spotted some birds though we could not capture them all in our cameras. After dinner, we retired for the day in a pleasant temperature of 18C.

Dhauliganga river with Malari road seen from Ruing Campsite.

A pair of Oriental Turtle Doves seen at Ruing campsite

Day-2 : Ruing-Dunagiri ( 3610m, 8 kms trek)

We got up to a sunny morning at 6.00 a.m. with temperature showing a pleasant 14C and to the chirping sound of some unidentifiable birds probably sitting on some tree tops. After a sumptuous breakfast, we commenced the trek to Dunagiri village at 8.15 a.m. The well laid trail was mostly through forest. The comfort of this trail was that every moderate climb was followed by a level walk and this trend continued until the last two kms before Dunagiri village. We came across varieties of wildflowers on both sides of the trail. The pre-monsoon showers seemed to hasten the process of wildflowers blooming ahead of time. In fact, we devoted much time in taking pictures of wildflowers some of which had to be taken from risky spots. As usual, Sonu was the one who helped us in identifying some of wildflowers and also helped us in taking pictures from the tricky spots. We also saw some colourful birds.

Bagini stream seen on way to Dunagiri

The trek path carved out of debris of landslides on way to Dunagiri village

An unidentified bird seen near Dunagiri village.

The scary part of the trek was the one km stretch – 2kms before Dunagiri village - which passed through the landslide zone alternating between steep climb and equally steep descend. The landslides happen every year and it is mainly on account of sliding glaciers from the Nandikund Pass side whcih bring with them the debris of mud, stones and rocks.The original trail was destroyed by one such massive glacier slides a few years ago when about 200m long trail was washed away creating a deep artificial gorge making it impossible to repair. The forest department has made an alternative trail over the debris of landslides which at some places are narrow requiring help from porter/guide to negotiate the path. A look at the top of fragile mountains gives an impression that hundred of rocks and boulders are waiting to roll down on the path any moment. Devendra Singh, mule man told us that though occasionally, stones, rocks and boulders fall on the trail, but there has not been a single instance of villagers, trekkers and goats/sheeps getting injured on account of rock/boulder falls. Nonetheless, this one km of trail is a potential rock fall zone and it is advisable to cross this stretch in one go with eyes and ears open without waiting for rest or photo shoots. The last one km of trail is a level walk on a cemented pavement. We reached Dunagiri village around 3.00 p.m. We got Panchayat Ghar (House) for stay @Rs.200/- per day.

Dunagiri village.

Dunagiri village consists of about 50 houses of which many seem to have been abandoned. Kanari Khal and Nandikund Pass form the backdrop and frontage respectively, to the village. Hathi Parvat (north face) can be seen from the southern side of the village. There is not a single shop in the village and the basic requirements of the villagers are met from a shop in Ruing village. For substantial requirements, villagers have to go to Tapovan or Joshimath. The village has a satellite telephone booth and also two solar-powered street lights. The village has electricity but due to transmission lines damaged by some tree falls, the village has been without electricity for quite some time.

Camping in Dunagiri village is not allowed but one can camp at the outskirt of the village. Surprisingly, the concept of home stay has not yet caught in the minds of the villagers – both in Ruing and in Dunagiri. GMVN is constructing a Tourist Rest House about one km away from Dunagiri village in a very scenic spot. The TRH is expected to be functional by the next summer season. From the design of TRH, it appears that it is directed towards the higher end of the tourists/trekkers though as usual there will also be dormitory accommodation for backpackers.

Early morning sun rays reflect on the sky from Dunagiri ridge.

GMVN TRH under construction (left) seen from Dunagiri ridge.

Day-3 : Dunagiri-Langatoli (3800m, 3kms trek)

As usual, we got up early morning to a sunny day. KS faithfully reported that the early morning temperature was a pleasant 13C. Since it was only 3kms of trek, we were in no hurry to start the trek. Being sunny day, some of the village women came with their heavy woollen items such as blankets, rugs to wash at the water source which was just behind the Panchayat Ghar. There were a few cemented pits in which village women poured warm water with some detergent added and soaked woollen items inside these pits. After some time, the women jumped inside their respective pits to press the soaked woollen items with their feet again and again to squeeze the dirt out of them. They told us that even with sunny weather, it would take at least two days to get them fully dried. We found this method of washing woollen items interesting.

We started from Dunagiri at 8.45 a.m. for Langatoli. A gradual climb of about one km led us to the top of a ridge after which it was a gradual descend to the true left bank of Bagini stream. There were some scary moment as some stretches of descend were steep and on a narrow path with equally steep slope going down to the Bagini stream. From the ridge, we could see Trishuli, Hardeol and Purbi Dunagiri peaks. It was our first time to see these peaks. Once we came down from the ridge to Bagini stream, most of these peaks were eclipsed by the white cloud formation and high mountains.

Trishuli peak seen from Dunagiri ridge.

A bridge over Bagini stream as we came down from Dunagiri ridge.

After crossing a cemented bridge over Bagini stream, we followed the trail to the right for Langatoli. The trail to left goes to Kanari Khal. After a gradual climb all along the true right bank of Bagini stream, the trail went through some rocky patches after which we reached a small meadow known as Langatoli campsite. We saw a good varieties of wildflowers on this trail as well. Though only 3kms of trekking was involved, it was not an ideal weather for trekking as the unusually warm and sunny weather made us a tired lot. We were surprised to note that at 11.15 a.m., the outside temperature was 31C at an altitude of 3800m!

Our tent was even hotter and we felt as if we were sitting in Delhi. It was not possible to sit inside the tent nor was it comfortable to sit outside tent under a scorching sun. Then KS came out with a solution which he had used successfully in Chennai during summer months. He took out his bath towel, got it dipped in ice cold stream water and covered the face with towel. This had a salutary effect on him as I could hear him snoring! In the afternoon, cool breeze brought down the temperature to a pleasant level. The warm weather seems to have made the favourable condition for cloud formation as we could see some snowfall over Trishuli and Hardeol peaks and rains at the Upper Bagini areas. However, it did not rain in Langatoli though the area was covered by mist in the evening which continued in the night.

Hardeol seen from Dunagiri ridge.

Purbi Dunagiri seen from Dunagiri ridge.

The location of Langatoli campsite was beautiful. The meadow was skirted by Bagini stream and a spring water stream which later joined the Bagini stream. From here, we could see Trishuli and Hardeol peaks on the north-eastern side and Hathi Parvat (north face) on the south-west side. We could see the Dunagiri ridge from where we descended to cross Bagini stream.

Langatoli Campsite.

Day-4 : Langatoli-Garud Base Camp (4484m, 7 kms trek)

In the previous day, we had decided to start the trek to Garud Base Camp at 6.00 a.m. with packed lunch to reach as close to the destination as possible before the weather becomes warm. Also, Sonu had told us that we must cross Garud stream on the way well before noon as the water level can rise due to melting of glaciers as day progresses. But in the Himalaya, whatever we propose, the nature disposes. It rained for over one hour early morning starting at around 4.00 a.m. Although rains abated around 5.00 a.m., the entire area around Langatoli as far as our eyes could see was engulfed with fog and mist. Personally, I was ready for departure on the schedule time of 6.00 a.m. even under such weather condition as I felt that it may not rain anymore. But Sonu felt that it was better to assess the weather for another hour or two before we were sure that it was not going to rain. His worry was Garud stream on the way where water level could rise rapidly if it rained heavily. Furthermore, the visibility itself was poor as waves of mists and ground fogs continued to cover the area.

Bagini stream partially covered in mist early morning.

The landscape on trail to Garud Base Camp.

At around 7.30 a.m., Sonu decided that if it did not rain, we would commence our trek to Garud Base Camp at around 8.00 a.m. notwithstanding the foggy and misty weather condition. Accordingly, we departed the Langatoli camp at 8.00 a.m. The first one km of trail was through a grassy ground full of shrubs all along the true right bank of Bagini stream. Thereafter the trail was a series of climbs and descends through rocks and boulders. Halfway through the trek, we crossed Garud stream comfortably as the water level was still low. Thereafter a mix of gentle climbs followed by level walk on the rocky and boulder strewn path led us to Garud Base Camp at around 1.00 p.m. The trails on the rocky and boulder strewn stretched were not well marked but the cairns on display at some strategic places, especially at every turn made it easier to negotiate the trail without much difficulty. There were couple of camping sites with water sources in Lower Bagini Glacier region. In fact, some trekking groups pitch their tents in one of these campsites bypassing Langatoli campsite.

Surprisingly, even on the rocky patches, we saw many wildflowers plants growing from the accumulated soil on the rocks and boulders. We came across occasional small grassy patches covered with carpets of wildflowers.

Wildflowers on way to Garud Base Camp

Crossing Garud stream halfway to Garud Base Camp.

Although almost entire trek route was full of rocks and boulders with occasional muddy hills on either side of the trail, I realised that even the rocky patches, bereft of any greenery, could be equally scenic with multi-coloured rocks and stones all over the places punctuated by sporadic 'bouquets' of wildflowers. The mass blooming of wild ajwain flowers (Himalayan Thyme) in trek route with its fragrance spread over the trail seems to have a positive impact on our nostrils and lungs as we did not feel any breathing problem on 4000m+ altitude. Throughout our trek, the weather continued to be misty and foggy but this enabled us to complete the trek without getting tired.

On way to Garud Base Camp.

A series of cairns on trails to Garud Base Camp is the only way to know that we were on the correct path.

Lunch break - starting with soup - some 3 kms short of Garud Base Camp.

Our porter and mule man who had gone ahead, actually pitched the tents some 500m before Garud Base Camp assuming to be the campsite. Sonu wanted to move the tents to Garud Base Camp ground as the spring water source was very close to this campsite. But a mild showers deterred him from moving to the Base Camp. In the afternoon, I walked about one km towards Changbang Base Camp side. Just opposite our campsite was the Upper Bagini Glacier covered with layers of moraines. I could see at least 3 snouts of Bagini Glacier. Some 500m ahead was the actual Garud Base Campsite almost fully covered with yellow wildflowers. Pitching tents here would have crushed many wildflowers. As weather started deteriorating, I briskly walked back to my tent when it started raining. The rain continued until evening when sky on the southern side opened up and sun made its first appearance for the day. Soon a rainbow appeared over Upper Bagini Glacier signifying the end of the rain for the day.

Carpet of yellow wildflowers on way to Garud Base Camp.

Cairns mark for Upper Bagini Glacier View Point just short of 1 km to Garud Base Camp.

Upper Bagini Glacier with one of its many snouts seen from Garud Base Camp.

Sonu came to know that two trekkers out of a group of 12 trekkers from Bengal who had started from Dunagiri in the morning, had some altitude sickness and they had been continuously vomiting. He visited them at Lower Bagini Glacier Campsite and it appeared that the group would abort the trek and return to Dunagiri the next day morning. It transpired that the group had covered Jumma-Dunagiri in day-1 and Dunagiri-Lower Bagini Glacier in day-2 resulting in too fast a gain in altitude.

Night was very cold at Garud Base Camp with temperature at 5C. So far during this trek, I was using my sleeping bag as mattress but in this campsite, I had to get inside the sleeping bag to overcome the cold night. Both of us had disturbed sleep.

Our tents seen from Garud Base Camp - some 500m from this point.

Carpet of wildflowers covering the Garud Base Campsite.

A rainbow over Upper Bagini Glacier. In the background is Rishi Pahad.

Day-5 : Garud Base Camp- View Point Ridge (4726m)-Shem Campsite ( 5+9=14 kms trek)

It was a lovely moonlit night ( a hindi film lyricist would call such a night reshami andhera (silky darkness). KS got up around 2.00 a.m. to view the moonlight scenery and to click some peak pictures under moonlight. Unfortunately, he could not get the peak pictures as they were eclipsed from the moonlight by some tall mountains. I got up at 4.30 a.m. to see the peak view under moonlight. While the sky was clear over the peaks, some mists coming from southern direction (Langatoli side) were threatening to swarm the place. At around 5.00 a.m., the first sun rays fell on the top of Hardeol peak and slowly the sunlight covered other peaks as well. We clicked many pictures of sunrise view of peaks. For the first time, we could get the clear view of Hardeol, Rishi Pahad and Sai Minal peaks. However, Hathi Parvat and Ghori Parvat were still covered under the mist.

Early morning sun rays on Hardeol peak.

Hardeol peak after sunrise.

Carpet of yellow flowers with Hardeol (left) and Rishi Pahad (right) in the background.

We were lucky that the mist coming from the southern direction were lifted from the strong easterly wind preventing their move towards peaks located at the north-easterly direction. Taking advantage of this, we decided to proceed to Changbang Base Camp without much delay. We started from Garud Base Camp at around 7.00 a.m. The first two kms of trek was mostly a plain walk with some minor climbs. We were actually walking on a vast meadow located on the true right of Upper Bagini Glacier. After crossing 3 minor streams, we reached Changbang Base Camp. There was a helipad on the meadow. While we could see now clearly Kalanka peak, Changbang peak still eluded us as it was blocked by a black mountain on the true left side of Upper Bagini Glacier. To view Changbang, Trishuli West, Trishuli Main and Rishi Kund, we had to climb a stone and rock strewn ridge which Sonu called as View Point ridge.

Leaving behind Garud Base Camp for Changbang Base Camp.

Looking back, we found Hathi Parvat and Ghori Parvat ( both north faces) coming out from mist.

Walking on a wast meadow before reaching Changbang Base Camp (left below the ridge).

We continued to walk on the meadow, a part of which was now covered by a carpet of purple wildflowers ( Primulas) before our steep climb to the ridge started. So far, we had not faced breathing problem but once we started ascending the ridge, we had to stop after every 10-15 steps to regain our normal breathing. It took about 45 minutes to climb the View Point ridge. We could now clearly see Trishuli West, Trishuli Main and Hardeol on the north-westerly side, Rishi Pahar, Sai Minal, Kalanka and more importantly Changbang on north-easterly side. We considered ourselves extremely lucky to get a short window of a clear sky to view these peaks as we noticed that by 10.00 a.m., all these peaks were fully covered in white cloud and mists. And this continued throughout the day as we reached our next camping site at Shem in the evening.

Cairn marking the Changbang Base Camp. In the background is Rishi Pahad.

Purple wildflowers (Primulas) on the Changbang Base Camp meadow. Rishi Pahar in the background.

The first 'darshan' of Kalanka Peak from Changbang Base Camp meadow.

Trishuli West (left) and Trishuli Main (right) peaks seen from the base of View Point ridge.

We started our return trek to Garud Base Camp around 10.00 a.m. when all peaks were covered in the mist. We were fairly fast to reach Garud Base Camp in about 1-1/2 hours. As per our itinerary, we had provided for an overnight stay at Garud Base Camp more as an ‘extra day’ to take care of any eventuality such as bad weather depriving us of peak views. Since we had seen all the peaks from View Point ridge, we decided to move to set up the camp as close to the base of Kanari Khal pass as feasible. After lunch at the Garud Base Camp, we commenced our return trek in a cloudy and misty weather. In a way, the weather condition helped us to complete the trek without getting tired from the warm weather if it was to be a sunny day. We reached around 3.00 p.m. at a beautiful campsite called Shem Kharak, about one kms ahead of Langatoli campsite towards Kanari Khal base. There was some communication gap between Sonu and his porter in that the tent was pitched on a ridge opposite Dunagiri village while Sonu meant Shem Kharak. This was soon sorted out and the porter and mule man brought back our loads to Shem campsite.

First glimpse of Changbang peak (right) as we climb the View Point ridge. On the left is Kalanka.

Cairns marking the View Point ridge. Upper Bagini Glacier can be seen on the left.

Rishi Pahad reflection in Rishikund seen from View Point ridge.

Some rest at View Point ridge.

A zoom shot of Changbang from View Point ridge.

Day-6 : Shem Campsite-Kanari Khal (4150m)-Garpak (3340m, 13 kms)

The light rains which started around 10.00 p.m. in the previous night continued sporadically until around 4.30 a.m. We got up to an overcast sky with fog and mist covering the ground. Fortunately, it did not rain and we commence the most difficult part of our trek to Kanari Khal around 8.00 a.m. hoping that the weather would clear after some time. The conventional trail to Kanari Khal is a descend which goes very close to the true right of Bagini stream ( the same route we came from Dunagiri to Langatoli) until it meets the tri-junction bridge over Bagini stream after which it is a steep climb to Kanari Khal. The other route is through a short cut to the right of the conventional route requiring some moderate climbing and boulder hopping before it meets the main route about 4 kms before Kanari Khal. Although the short cut trail was not well marked, the advantage of taking this route, as we noted later, was that we started the trail with a gradual climb. As a result, we had to cover relatively lesser part of the steep climb to Kanari Khal. The conventional trail starts with a descend up to the bridge over Bagini stream followed by a somewhat longer steep climb to Kanari Khal.

Our campsite known as Shem Kharak, about 1 km ahead of Langatoli towards Kanari Khal trail.

Steep climb to Kanari Khal begins here.

Kanari Khal saddle seen in the background.

The steep climbing portion of the trail was narrow ( 1-2 feet) with a steep slope on the valley side. A couple of years back, it was a goat trail with space sufficient to put just one leg at a time to trek. Later, the Forest Department widened the track to the present width. Sonu would go on reminding us not to look towards valley while climbing as one may get vertigo type feeling. He would also advise us to take the support of tall grasses that grew on the cliff side. These tall grasses were so strongly embedded in the soil that even if we used both hands to remove them from the soil, they would not budge even a millimetre from the soil. Since the entire trail was above the tree line, we had to stop quite often to get our breathing normal before moving forward. Kanari Khal saddle was looking closer to us as we climbed but in reality it was far off as we were climbing on a zig zag path. At last at 12 noon we reached Kanari Khal. This time, luck was not in our favour as the cloudy and misty condition continued to prevail throughout the day. What we missed was the rare opportunity to view Purbi Dunagiri and Dunagiri Main (west face) peaks together from Kanari Pass apart from missing Lampak peak. But we got the amazing views of a deep green valley in which Bagini stream looked like a white line and also of Nandikund Pass. From Kanari Khal, trail to the right goes to Kalla Khal while the trail to the left goes to Garpak village. While Kalla Khal was totally covered in mist, we could see Garpak village from the top which gave us an idea of the extent of steepness in descend to Garpak village.

About to reach Kanari Khal.

On Kanari Khal.

Bagini stream (left) looks like a thin line from Kanari Khal. On the opposite ridge is Dunagiri village.

Nandikund Pass seen from Kanari Khal.

We spent about 30 minutes on the pass during which we ate our packed lunch. After walking over two ridges full of woldflowers, it was a 4 km of steep descend all the way to Garpak village. As warned by Sonu, the descend was much more tricky and difficult than the climb. Apart from the narrow track, the path at some places, particularly at hairpin bends, was slippery because of loose soil. Here again, Sonu reminded us not to look towards valley and to take the support of tall grass at the cliff side while descending. We noted that we took more time to cover 4 kms of descend than 4 kms of climb. Throughout the day, Sonu kept himself in the middle, walking on the edge of valley side while KS was in front and myself in the back so that in case we required some support, he was available to both of us. I could see some tension on Sonu’s face as it was really a risky proposition to trek on a narrow path with a steep slope on one side for oldies like us. Fortunately, there was not even a minor mishap during the trek.

Carpet of wildflowers on Kanari Khal

After a walk over the ridge, steep descend to Garpak village follows.

Steep slope on the valley side on a narrow path to descend.

Garpak village in view (right) but it still far off. On the left is agricultural fields.

By the time, we reached the outskirt of Garpak, we were completely tired. My calf muscles and toes were in pain. To avoid worsening of toe pain, I started walking with my weight on the sideways of my feet rather than on the toes. KS was telling me that my walking style was that of Charlie Chaplin in silent movies! We reached Garpak at 4.30 p.m. Our tents were already fixed in the compound of the primary school. As we sat on a parapet wall of the school, we could see Kanari Khal saddle and we patted ourselves that we have been able to successfully complete the Kanari Khal trek. As KS pointed out, for the first time during this entire trek, we noticed the existence of our feet, legs, calf muscles, back and shoulder as they were all in pains. But the joy and satisfaction of completing the trek in which we touched 4700m+ altitude and successfully negotiated the Kanari Khal put the pain in oblivion. Sonu had a sigh of relief after successfully completion of our Kanari Khal trek. He was so overwhelmed by our success that he jokingly told us that we could as well proceed to Kalla Khal from Garpak and catch the jeep from Malari for Joshimath instead of from Jumma via Ruing.

Garpak village

The cemented path from left goes to Ruing while that of right goes to Garpak.

Day-7 : Garpak-Ruing-Jumma-Joshimath (8 kms trek, 41 kms by road)

Garpak is a small village consisting of 10-12 houses. The village has one satellite telephone but unfortunately it was out of order. Sonu had banked on this telephone to contact the Max driver for our pick up at Jumma for Joshimath drop. So we were resigned to the uncertainty of getting into jeeps coming from Malari side for Joshimath. We left Garpak at 8.00 a.m. for our last leg of trek. After passing through a narrow ally of Garpak village, there was a steep descend of about 1 km to a bridge over Lampak stream. Thereafter it was more or less a straight walk all along Lampak stream until it joined the Bagini stream in mid-way. We rated this 5 kms of trail as the best in terms of natural beauty in terms of dense forest and Lampak stream giving us company with its different moods. After crossing a wooden bridge over Bagini stream followed by a small section of climb, we reached Ruing village. Luckily for us, Sonu got know that one of the villagers was proceeding to Joshimath in his Maruti Omni parked in Jumma. So he negotiated with him for Joshimath drop. After Ruing, it was all gradual descend to Jumma.

Lampak stream fall somewhere between Garpak and Ruing

Crossing a fragile wooden bridge over Bagini stream on way to Ruing.

Ruing villagers.

We left Jumma at 12 noon in Omni. The first hurdle for Omni was crossing a stream overflowing over the stone filled road about one km before Jumma village. After some anxious moments at the stream crossing during which a big stone hit the undercarriage of Omni, rest of the journey was smooth and we reached Joshimath at 2.30 p.m. We checked in to Hotel Chandradeep for a night. In the evening we booked our tickets for Haridwar on GMOU bus (@ Rs.250/- per head) leaving at 4.00 a.m. the next day

One of the interesting conversations KS and myself had while doing Langatoli-Garud Base Camp and Kanari Khal-Garpak portion of our trek was that considering our age and some slowdown in our capacity to trek, we should now concentrate more on trips to off beat places coupled with some soft short treks instead of undertaking a full-pledged trek involving moderate to difficult conditions. This was our feeling when we were trekking at 4000m+ altitude. Sitting in my house in Mumbai in near sea level altitude, now the feeling is Ae Dil Mange More Treks!

More pictures on the links below:
Full set of pictures of Bagini Glacier-Changbang Base Camp-Kanari Khal Trek

Pictures of Wildflowers on TrailsTo BaginiGlacier-Changbang Base Camp-Kanari Khal