Gandhisarovar from Kedarnath(Part II)

After 15 mints walk, the bite of the cold became less penetrating. Though we continued following the stone embedded narrow path, yet sometimes with an intention to cut the distance, ascended straight along the rocky surface. There were signs everywhere along the road to tell the fact that the road construction was in progress.

On the way

But last 500 mtrs or so, there was no distinct roadways... we had to trek through a bolder zone. When we climbed the last hump, we became spellbound. The majestic Himalayas were observing her reflection on the Gandhi Sarovar.

Gandhisarovar from Kedarnath

We must reach there as early as possible, may be by 8; we decided in our closed door meeting(Plz don't think we had a very confidential meeting!!! we had to close the door to avoid the chilling cold of Kenadrnath.)

3km long route is not so steep, so 2 hours would be fine enough for a very comfortable, lazy walk. So we decided to start around six next morning.But our lady members were pretty reluctant to trek further higher.At least two of them were suffering from ankle problem and blister.So we followed the democratic process and the net outcome was that , we must trek to GANDHI SAROVAR.

Next day, we came out of the warmth of the bulky blankets at 5 in the morning, and we were on our way by 5.45 , covering our whole body under heavy woolen garments. Ratan ,my brother in law, ( eldest of the group)rang the bell of the temple wishing a nice journey. We crossed the river Mandakini and followed the right angel turn from the powerhouse. At 6.10, the first ray of Sun on Mt Kedar proclaimed the start of another pollution free day in the Himalayas.

First ray on Mt Kedarnath 

Gandhisarovar from Kedarnath(Part II)

At GandhiSarovar..

Deoriatal : a less known paradise

"Don't worry sir, main hoon na!" assured Raghubir Singh Negi, the owner of Negi Guest House at Sari village. We have just ascended from Kedarnath after a 14 km downhill trek to Gourikund and then five hours drive to Sari, the base camp for Deoriatal. I was dreaming about spending a moonlit night at Deoria since my first visit in 2003. In this five years I were there twice , but as a day trekker, night spending was still in dreams only.

So, in Oct 2008 , while chalking out the final itinerary, I kept two days for Deoria. My old friend Raghubir was well aware about my "unsatisfied desire". As soon as he came to know that we have two days for Deoria camp he said "main hoon na!" The ladies of the team threw Raghu out and captured his kitchen, boys started to collect wood from the nearby jungle to celebrate our successful trek to Gandhisarovar and myself being pretty relaxed got out of the hut to explore Sari.




Next morning, (Oct 13th, 2008) we started with a "Darshan" of Lord Shiva , my cousin sister prayed for his blessings for a clear weather. The dense tree cover on both side of the stone embedded route, blocked the sunlight, chirping of many known, little known and unknown birds helped to forget about the climb.



Two km trek came to an end soon , the magnificent view of Mt Chokhamba, Trishuli, Kedar and many more was just in front of us. We were at Deoriatal (2438 m).

Reflection of those peaks in the lake was ........ No, my vocabulary is not so strong.... I just can't express that beauty with some cliched adjectives.. You guys will have to feel that from the photographs.











Meanwhile Raghu reached there with tents and chicken. We became very busy with our cameras. After a long photo session when we were just trying to drink the heavenly ambiance till the last drop, "Rabindrasangeet" (Tagore song) in a mesmerising voice came from the nearby jungle. Out of utter curiosity I followed the voice. An aged Bengali lady was wandering with that devotional song which expressed her deepest gratitude towards the nature.

In the afternoon , the sky became covered with cloud making me deeply annoyed. Though the rays of setting sun created dramas in the cloud, I was a bit frustrated.






At around 7 , the full moon took the responsibility of illuminating the valley but the cloud covered the whole range. The chicken curry appeared tasteless to my tongue....... spending night at Deoria in full moon remained partly unfulfilled....