Re: 6 days of winter in Himalayas - Solo - 2015.

Travelogue Approved

Wow. Amazing. Just wonderful...

Re: 6 days of winter in Himalayas - Solo - 2015.

Brilliant teasers! Can't wait to see more.

Re: 6 days of winter in Himalayas - Solo - 2015.

nice.
Is that place in last pic Karnaprayag?

Re: 6 days of winter in Himalayas - Solo - 2015.

Thanks for quick approval The Monk !

----consecutive posts auto-merged-----

Thanks krishna77 ! Will try to complete it soon.

----consecutive posts auto-merged-----

That place is Deoprayag.

Re: 6 days of winter in Himalayas - Solo - 2015.

Amazing pictures man. Can you also post the locations?

Re: 6 days of winter in Himalayas - Solo - 2015.

Sure. First two photos are from Auli and the third one is of Deoprayag.

----consecutive posts auto-merged-----

Part 1 - The Beginning

Before starting the travelogue I would like to introduce myself a little. Describing myself I am not the one zipping and speeding at 120kmph. I respect machines and believe motorcycles are best when it comes to explore places. It balances the fuel and fun well. I term myself as budget yatri. My bike trips are extremely cheap but equally meaningful and I feel good about it. I prefer basic accommodations and eat what locals eat.

I never rush towards my destination as doing so do not let us enjoy the journey. I like to connect those small dots enroute and make a final picture of the journey. Lets start..

Himalayas always fascinated me. I used to wonder of huge mountains and greenish rivers slipping through the deep valleys. I dreamed of shining snow clad peaks standing one behind another and locals busy in their daily routine walking up and down the mountain.

Literature's of mystical Yogis wandering in Himalayas in search of ultimate truth always motivated me. Somewhat with the same intention and to see if I can stumble upon such mystical Yogis this trip was planned.

Itinerary:
Mumbai to Haridwar on train.
Day 1: Get bike from Rishikesh and ride upto GMVN, Gopeshwar. [210km]
Day 2: Ride till Badrinath or closer and rest in GMVN, Joshimath. [141km]
Day 3: Ride to Auli. Ski if possible and rest in GMVN, Gopeshwar. [80km]
Day 4: Ride to Ukhimath. Trek Deoria Taal and rest in GMVN, Ukhimath. [160km]
Day 5: Return to Rishikesh. Visit Ashrams and local sight seeing. [190km]
Day 6: Stay in Haridwar. Attend Ganga aarti and local sightseeing.
Back to Mumbai.

Packing:Mumbai to Rishikesh [Argument with Sanyasi] :

This part was quite eventful. Sleeper coaches were always happening for me. Golden temple mail was crowded as usual. 12-13 army recruits, seemed from Haryana boarded from Gujrat and filled whatever space was remaining around. Their shouting and gali galauj stopped when a well built Sanyasi more like Pierce Brosnan came and sat near us. Shortly one quarter of the coach was attracted with his voice and gathered around us. I was listening him too.

But he kept speaking about the problems. We all knew what sort of problems we have as an Individual and as a citizen. In between he said good people should not run to earn and accumulate wealth. I interrupted him. I said there is nothing wrong in earning wealth. In fact, this is what the dharma of Grihasth (married) is.

It is his duty to generate employment and earn profit by providing quality materials. Later purifying his earning by donation. तन की शुद्धि स्नान से होती है। मन की शुद्धि ध्यान से होती है। और धन की शुद्धि दान से होती है। This is what we are expected to do.

He was hesitating to accept. People started supporting me. Then a good round of discussion started which ended in an argument. He left the seat and never came back. He came across me outside Delhi station. I passed a smile but he didn't cared to smile back. I laughed and went on ...

I met another interesting guy a nuclear scientist from Bihar. Very simple and shy. He worked at Rawatbhata nuclear reactor in Rajasthan. He went on explaining his training, reactor construction, premises, working of reactor, fuel supply management, storage, new inventions and many secrets advising in last not to share.

From Hazrat Nizamuddin railway station hired an auto rickshaw for Old Delhi station as last local departed just now at 19:00. Negotiated the rickshaw for Rs.100. This is the easiest transport from Nizamuddin to Old Delhi especially if you have luggage and don't know Delhi. Rickshaw took 30 minutes but I was not bothered as the connecting train to Haridwar was at 23:45. Reached Haridwar in morning at 05:00.

Boarded state government bus from Haridwar bus stop which is in front of Haridwar railway station. Bus took 40 minutes to reach Rishikesh and charged Rs.35.

Took another rickshaw for Rs.100 from Rishikesh bus depot for Laxman Jhula which is 5km far.
I was to get my mobility from Mountain Fox Adventure, Hrishikesh. Called Ashok ji. He was very prompt to pick up my call at 07:45 in morning. He came to his office on Laxman Jhula road and handed over a good Bajaj Avenger. He was quite helpful in negotiating the deal and accepting my request for a good condition Bajaj Avenger. Recommended for bike rentals and other adventure activities Motorcycle Tours India.


----consecutive posts auto-merged-----

Part 2 - Rishikesh to Gopeshwar

Today's stop was Gopeshwar 220km from Hrishikesh. Luggage loaded and geared up, left the place. Went back to Hrishikesh petrol pump and filled the tank. This was the first time I was riding in Himalayas, so I decided to ride first 25-30 kilometers to get used to the road and bike. Morning was chilled but roads were good.


25 rupees Kadhi Chawal:

Roads turned worst after Devprayag and continued till Srinagar. It was 13:30 and I was hungry. I was looking for some small dhaba. Found one just before the Srinagar town starts on the right hand side of the road.

Kadhi chawal was ready. Every bit was delicious and quantity was much more than what we get in metros. In the 15 minutes discussion he shared how difficult it is to fetch good dahi from near by and other materials.To my surprise he said 'matra pachhis rupye sir'. I was surprised. I gave him 40 rupees but he was reluctant to accept. I was not going to take it back either.



Journey through the Prayag's:

Resuming the journey, I rode through the towns of Srinagar, Rudraprayag, Karnaprayag and Nandprayag. These are whole lot of awesome places. From Rudraprayag straight road goes to Badrinath and left one goes to Kedarnath. At Rudraprayag, Alaknanda from Badrinath and Mandakini from Kedarnath merges to become Bhagirathi.

Devprayag sangam

Roads are pretty good after Srinagar right upto Joshimath with few bad patches in between. Any how riding in the mountains is fun. Throughout the route I was accompanied by gushing river down the road and green pointed leaf trees on both the sides.




Just before the town of Chamoli a right turn down the road goes to Gopeshwar. Gopeshwar 10km from highway, is a scenic and quite hill town with beautiful people around. It was around 18:00 hours when I reached Gopeshwar GMVN. The GMVN rest house is right in the main market opposite to bus depot.

Unloaded my luggage and went inside the office. I was surprised they knew I was Niraj Yadav and they were expecting me by 18:00. Good. I had a booking in Dormitory. It was on the second floor. Resthouse was clean and tidy. Dormitory beds and covers were clean too. Washroom was functional. What else do you want in Rs.110 !!

Started the geyser and took a nice warm water bath. I was the only occupant in the 10 bed dormitory. Order a thali in the GMVN restaurant but it was not that good.

Planned things for tomorrow and went to sleep.

Re: 6 days of winter in Himalayas - Solo - 2015.

Some amazing captures there!

Re: 6 days of winter in Himalayas - Solo - 2015.

Lovely pics.. Keep them coming..

Re: 6 days of winter in Himalayas - Solo - 2015.

Pics are amazing.

Re: 6 days of winter in Himalayas - Solo - 2015.

Thanks pranav.k !!

----consecutive posts auto-merged-----

Thank You Santosh!

Re: 6 days of winter in Himalayas - Solo - 2015.

Some Amazingly beautiful places as well as snaps out there. Pour in with more snaps and info buddy, wait nai horaha aur.

Re: 6 days of winter in Himalayas - Solo - 2015.

Thank You seahorses !! I will try to finish it soon

----consecutive posts auto-merged-----

Part 3 - In the land of Badri Vishal

Opened my day with a shivering bath followed by packing and loading. Tying ropes in a winter morning is what I don't like. It was around 07:00, came down in the GMVN restaurant to enjoy a hot tea. Finishing tea geared myself and left the GMVN. Avenger started with the first hit of self start. Didn't faced any cold start problem throughout the journey.



Reached Joshimath around 12:00 in the afternoon.


Just as I was to start for Badrinath scene changed and dark clouds hid the mountain.

It started drizzling and finally raining. I took shelter under a military ration building.


Two men jumped from a truck which came from Badrinath direction. One guy who seemed army guy very strongly suggested me to return from here. He said roads are bad from here. Chances of getting stuck there is huge since it is raining. They were back just now and its not at all good for a biker that too alone. You wont get help either. I kept quiet. I was ready to take chances. I don't fear being alone.

That interesting guy:

His assistant was silent for all these 15 minutes. He started repeating same words when the first one went inside. But I diverted him by asking questions. From where did he come? What did he do here?

He was standing wearing a long gumboot loose shirt and a worn out trouser. This showed that he was engaged in some kind of labor work. He spoke with a true smile which made his normal words sound funny.

He belonged to a poor farming family in Jharkhand and he was here in search of employment. He said 'हम चट्टान तोड़ते हैं सरजी।' he smiled and spoke.

I asked where all have you been? He said Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Indore, Ludhiana, Imphal, Jammu, Goa, Sikkim, Himachal. A true wanderer indeed. But he loved Nagaland and Malari which is 80km from Joshimath the most.

Malari remains under snow during winters and these people are first to go there and open the roads. Either using JCB or blasting the ice. Kida Jadi. He said its very costly. As the winter comes to end local folks run back to their homes in Malari and start searching Kida Jadi. It resembles worm but actually it is kind of plant. Kida Jadi is valued at rupees 4 lakh per kilogram.

Rain slowed down in 1 hour and by the time these people were gone. Started my bike and left the place.

Towards Badrinath:

Crossing a military iron bridge and landslide zones reached Pandukeshwar, a small village considered important during yatra season. Continued riding ahead.











Witnessed 3 days old Glacier:


On moving ahead I noticed white material between two mountains. It was not as white as snow.
On a corner of the road, saw a boy standing in front of a small temple. He accepted my request to click my photos.

He was from Jharkhand and was positioned here to keep a watch on the JCBs. Pointing at the white substance he said this is glacier. It came down 3 days ago. But they give a sort of warning sound in the valley before coming down. This gives some time to move away from its route.













Bidding him a good bye I moved further. My journey ahead stopped at Lambgadh village. I was informed that roads ahead was covered with 2 feet snow.

Returned Joshimath and went to GMVN tourist rest house. Placed my luggage in GMVN dormitory, I was alone here too After a quick bath went to Joshimath market.

Joshimath is good enough town. Shops are placed on both the sides of the straight long road. Petrol pump is at the end of the town on the Badrinath route. Roads to Auli and Malari goes through Joshimath.

During winters, Badrinathji's idol and palki are shifted in Joshimath.

Pure Vegetarian restaurant and hanging tandoori:

Market was bustling with people. I saw a board which read Pure Vegetarian. I was surprised to see 5 grilled chickens hanging.
I said the owner 'आपका बोर्ड आपके दुकान में लटके आइटम से मैच नहीं करता '. In a rough voice he said 'क्या चाहिए जल्दी बोलो '. Settled for Chow mein. I took another lesson, no Chow mein in Uttaranchal.

Spent my evening walking on the streets of Joshimath and watching the local life.

Re: 6 days of winter in Himalayas - Solo - 2015.

Wow... An amazing travelogue...

Re: 6 days of winter in Himalayas - Solo - 2015.

Nice narration but I think there are some problems with attachments.