2) Sreekanth
3) Vivek
4) Arjun (Sreekanth's cousin)
The following info is contributed by Sreeki.......
Thursday, 1st June 2006:
Shopping and Packing...... Myself, Arjun, suresh and vivek all went for shopping. We already packed the provisions required, a day before. Today we searched for trekking suit almost for a hour and finally we got a right one. We all met in Arjun's House at 7:00 P.M in the evening, all of us had purchased a Rucksack(80L) and we divided the weight equally to all the rucksacks. Suresh and vivek left to there houses. packing and arranging took a lot of time, in fact myself and arjun took leave from packing at 2:00 A.M in the morning.
Friday, 2nd June 2006:
Traveling the whole day..... Early morning 5:30 A.M city taxi was waiting for us, since we had less time to rest the previous night, we woke up late and eventually taxi had to wait till 6:10 A.M near arjun's house. We took prasadam from Arjun's mom and boarded the taxi at 6:15 A.M. vivek got into the taxi at Tolgate and suresh in Magdi road.
On the way to Airport we suddenly remembered that one among the four sleeping bag had missed out while packing, we were bit worried about it. we were at the airport by 7:05 A.M, Flight to Delhi was at 7:30 A.M, but fortunately we heard the announcement that flight was delayed by 90Min and departure time was rescheduled to 9:10 A.M, suddenly we called one of our friend(Chethan) and asked him to collect the dropped out sleeping bag from arjun's house and reach airport by 8:45 A.M. Thanks a lot for Chethan for timely help, otherwise one of us would have suffered a lot. we all boarded Flight. We reached Delhi at 11:30 A.M. Our next destination was Haridwar,we took a pre-paid taxi service to Nizamuddin Railway station, we had already reserved the Train tickets from Bangalore itself. After Lunch we all boarded to train, unfortunately even the train was delayed by more than an hour (Scheduled departure was 14:15, actual 15:35). we reached Haridwar at 22:30. we rested in a lodge.
Saturday, 3rd June 2006:
Haridwar Local Visit....... Early morning 6:30 A.M we hired 2 cycle Rickshaw for sight seeing in Haridwar, first we visited a shiva temple, where holy river Ganga flows nearby, we all sprinkled ganga on our heads, water was very cold. Next we visited mansadevi and chandi devi temple. We took a cable car to reach chandidevi temple. where as for mansadevi we had to climb around 200 steps. We did it in a record time of 15mins. Both the temples looked alike. It was crowed. After Lunch at say 16:10 P.M we left Haridwar and reached Rishikesh at 17:00 P.m.
Our plan was to contact GMVN (Gharwal mandal vikas nigam- a popular Govt. tourist organization in Uttaranchal) office and speak about the guide and tents for our trek, but when we reached GMVN Office it was already 17:15 and staff had already left for the day and office was closed. moreover next day is Sunday and we had to wait till Monday to contact GMVN. We couldn't afford to wait for 2 days which would spoil our return plan, so we took a decision that we will find a guide either in Ghat or Nandaprayag but not to delay our schedule. That day we rested in Uttaranchal Guesthouse. (300Rs for 4 bed room). We booked the tickets for Nandaprayag for the next day. We repacked all our rucksacks and were ready to go.
Sunday, 4th June 2006:
Travel from Rishikesh to Nandaprayag-Ghat..... We got up at 2:00 AM, freshened up and left for yatra bus stand in Rishikesh, bus was at 3:00 AM. But due to some reason that was canceled and we have to wait for one more hour for another bus to leave, to add to it it was raining heavily too. Finally we got in to a bus ,it was so congested that passengers couldn't sit comfortably, but we had no choice.
On the way to Nandaprayag it was a journey thru the mountains, greens and along the side of Ganga. We reached Nandaprayag at 11:00. As soon as we got down a local guy there identified us as tourist and approached us. He said that he can be guide for our trekking route. We discussed with him and negotiated for the charges that we have to pay. He said that we can start the trek the next day and the same day we can halt at Ghat. He informed to take a jeep to Ghat, we did so, guide was also with us, he led us to a Govt guesthouse, it was very cleanly maintained and very spacious and of course cheap(150Rs for 4 people). Guide told that, for a kuari pass trek we need tents at 2 places so he said he can arrange for it and collected 300Rs from us and left for the day informing that he will be meeting us next day morning 7:00 A.M.
The Guest house was totally surrounded by hills, ganga river was flowing nearby and birds singing made us so relaxed. We chat for some time, now it was dinner time, even though food was available in the village we decided to cook ourselves. Division of the work was like this, myself and arjun are cooks, suresh and vivek took the responsibility of washing the utensils, packing the remaining provisions etc. I perpared chapathi, and arjun prepared rice and rasam. we were all hungry and didn't had a proper dinner since first day, so we blasted our belly that night.
Monday, 5th june 2006:
First Day of trekking, destination- Ramni...... We woke up early 6:00 A.M (here afterwards "early" means 6:00 A.M), freshened up and were waiting for the guide to come. he never kept his words we waited for him till 9:00 A.M and decided to look for a new guide after thinking that we were deceived, just after this thought, there came the guide, he was drunk and chattering non-sense, then and there we decided to quit all business with that fellow. So we enquired with guest house people for a guide for us. They really helped us and finally a guide was set, his name was Mahendar singh.
It was around 10:00 A.M when we left Ghat, we hired a jeep for 200 Rs to a place called "Chefna". Myself and arjun sat on top of the jeep and enjoyed the ride. This route was half dry and half greens, not much scenery. We reached Chefna at around 11:30 AM.This was the last place where we can buy battery/provision or any other commodities. As our guide informed we need to have tents , we purchased a bigger rain proof sheets and rope which could be used as a tent. This was the point where we exactly started to walk.
It was a sunny day, on our back each of us had 16-17 K.Gs of weight. As we walked for a while we were sweating and felt back pain due to heavy weight on our back. Guide told us to hire a mule for carrying luggage, but we refused it. We took 6 long hours to reach ramni. On the way at about 4 pm in the afternoon we had a glimpse of the majestic Hathi parbat. We were dumbstruck . This was our first naked eye view of a snow capped mountain. We clicked a lot of photos and decided to have afternoon lunch at the spot. The whole afternoon our eyes were on the clouds covering the hathi parbat .. every now and then the clouds cleared and we got to view the mountain. The trekking path was full of climbing and not much forest like. Everyone was dog tired. We halted in a school. That day water pipe running to the school was broken and for water we had to walk (infact trek) 1/2 a KM. at 10:00 pm in the night we prepared tomato soup and puliyogre. We realized that if we were to carry the rucksacks on our back it would be too tiresome and phase would become slow than what we planned, so we informed our guide to hire a mule for carrying all our luggage and we will enjoying our trek. no one was in a mood to chat that night, we simply entered our sleeping bags. It was a chilling night.
Tuesday, 6th June 2006:
Ramni to Jhinjipani.......(covered 13 K.M) as usual we got up early, prepared tea and had light breakfast(some wheat stuff). This was quite a long trek. we all enjoyed a lot on this day. we trekked thru deep forest and grasslands. We reached Jhinjipani at around 18:00 pm, The whole Jhingipani consisted of 5-6 houses that's all, there we hired a small room and prepared dinner and rested.
Wednesday , 7th June 2006:
Jhengipani to Sartholi..........(coverd 12 K.M) The back drop of the hut in Jhinji was breath taking. The sunrise from behind the snow capped peak was very beautiful . We clicked a few photos of that sunrise. By this day we were all accustomed to the trek and felt less body pain. Again this was a long trek inside the thick forest with birds chirping all our way. This night we slept in a straw hut. Absolutely far from human civilization and no electricity, it was great feeling. We prepared Dinner (some rice bath) and slept. It was a chilling cold that night. Guide informed us that we might encounter a black leopard or a wild bear in the night. fortunately or unfortunately we didn�t.
Thursday, 8th June:
Sartholi to Dhakwani........(Covered 10K.M) The most enjoyable route till now we had was this route. We reached Dhakwani around 16:30 and there nothing was available for us to stay, so we have to put up a tent (not exactly tent , but tent like). Guide took the responsibility of pitching the tent, it was like 'A' shaped tent. It was the night where we put up a campfire for a while after dinner, again here water was a problem, we had to trek at least 1K.M for water. none of us had any health problems except little body pain until now. Vivek was feeling very restless, he didn�t even join for campfire, he slept off.
Friday, 9th June 2006:
Dhakwani--->Kuvaripass--->chitrakanta--->avali to joshimath(covered ~26 K.M) Since the most highlighting part of the trek is the views from kuari pass, we decided before hand to start our day as early as 5:00 A.M in the morning. More or less we started around 5:30 A.M. Vivek was unable to walk for more than 3-4 steps, he was resting for at least 5-6 min for every 3-4 steps, if it was a usual body pain previous day rest should have cured his problem, but it didn�t.
By this time our guide had already reached kuvari pass and waiting for us, we had another 1 hr trek to reach guide. vivek was unable to walk anymore, myself and arjun moved to kuari pass to call back the guide and halt in Dhakwani for another day till vivek restlessness is cured. Suresh stayed with vivek. On the way to kuvari pass arjun suggested that it is better to take him to avali and reach hospital as soon as possible rather than delaying for another day, i too felt it is the right decision and we proceeded to guide and explained him the situation . we asked him to hire another mule to carry vivek and we informed him that in any situation we should reach avali and eventuly joshimath to treat vivek.
So now guide went back with a mule to bring vivek, in the mean time myself and arjun reached kuvari pass. It was the most wonderful moment in my life, i was stunned by the beauty of Himalayas. I wasn't able to think anything, all my thoughts were seized and just staring at the nanda devi peak. Tears came down from my eyes, i never expected that i will encounter such a speechless moment in this trek. I also saw tears in arjun's eyes, both felt the same. in the mean time suresh and vivek came to us, and i am sure even suresh had also felt the same as we did. Vivek rested for some time there and we started our journey faster than the normal phase as we have to cover large distance than planned.
At around 3:00 PM we reached a place called Chitrakanta, where we were supposed to tent. It would have been the most beautiful stay if We could, but we walked ,walked and walked till we reached Auli, this was the longest trek route of all the days till now that too with out any food the whole day. By the time we reached 1 km prior to auli, it was night, but still we had no option to take rest, we had to walk in the jungle with the torch light, that was a great experience too.
Finally we reached avali at 20:30 P.M, we came to know that all the bus/ropeway to joshimath was closed, but we had to reach joshimath that day itself. Luckily the nearby resort manager arranged a jeep to a defence hospital of ITBP (Indo Tibetian Border Police) a 5 K.M drive from Avli where vivek got first treatment. They said this sickness is due to lack of oxygen at high altitudes, nothing to be worried as such. but still we were not totally out of tension. More over vivek also recovered a little bit after getting oxygen from cylinder. Finally we reached Joshimath at 2:00 A.M and lodged there, every one was tired to their limit(the whole day from morning 5:00 A.M to midnight 2:00 A.M no food and longest trek).
Satuarday, 10th June 2006:
Stay in Joshimath........ morning we woke up late(9:00 ) and had good breakfast and when we came to lodge, vivek was still unable to breath normally, we immediately took the help of the lodge manager and admitted to the govt hospital in joshimath, that day we were in hospital worried about vivek. Every hour he was put a oxygen mask for 10 min. Doctor suggested that he needs to be monitored the whole night and he has to be awake, he also asked 2 of us (me and suresh) to be awake with him the whole night for any assistance he needs. That night we dint even rested for a single moment. Doctor also strictly instructed that he need to be taken to a low altituide place (Rishikesh) as soon as possible, so for the next day morning (4:00A.M) we booked an ambulance (with oxygen facilities).
Sunday, 11 June 2006:
Travel to rishikesh........ since all 4 of us was unable to fit in a small ambulance, Arjun took the responsibility of traveling with vivek in Ambulance till Rishikesh. Myself and suresh took the 4:00 A.M bus to rishikesh. Vivek had reached "Uttaranchal Heart care center" in Rishikesh at 13:30 and got admitted. Myself and suresh reached Rishikesh at 15:30 , and went to hospital after refreshing in a lodge. Arjun decided to leave for Badrinath and Kedharnath the next day. Myself and suresh decided to take care of vivek until his uncle arrives.
Monday, 12 june 2006:
Rounds to hospital and back to Lodge.
Tuesday, 13th june 2006:
Hospital.... vivek's uncle came in the morning, and the whole day we were roaming in Rishikesh.
Wednesday, 14th june 2006:
Ganga river Rafting.... Myself and suresh took leave from hospital and went for Ganga river rafting, it was a 11 k.M ride and had lots of fun, including rapid zones and jumping into the water etc...
Thursday, 15th june 2006:
Dehardhun visit : we left Rishikesh morning and reached Dehardhun at 12:00 noon, we visited Buddha temple and apolo circus. That night we departed for New delhi in mousure express. Vivek left for Bangalore the same day.
Friday, 16th june2006:
Delhi Sight seeing..... Reached Delhi at 8:00 A.M, we visited Qutib-minar, Rajghat, lotus temple and others.
Satuarday, 17th June 2006:
Jaipur : Early mornig we left for jaipur and visited most of the palaces we could. My feeling is, comparatively Mysore palace is much better than Jaipur.
Sunday, 18th June 2006:
Agra fort and Tajmahal... We took a package toor from Southern travels for Agra fort, Tajmahal and Mathura(Lord krishna's birth place).
Monday, 19th june 2006:
Rest day and shopping in Delhi. Arjun joined us in the morning , we roamed around the Delhi and did some shopping.
Tuesday, 20th june 2006:
Departure to Bangalore. we took early morning(7:10) flight to Bangalore.
