A Night In The Forest

When we left Bamboo it was five o' clock in the evening. The sky was overcast and grey but there was no threat of any imminent rain. It was just getting dark. Our destination was Lower Sinuwa. They said Sinuwa was at least two hours from there. I knew two hours for a Nepali would mean three for me. This means I would have to walk for at least two hours in the dark, assuming it would get dark by six. I checked for the torch in my pocket. It was there. A rechargeable cycling torch. I did not know exactly for how long its battery would last. I thought, hopefully, that it was perhaps four hours. I have cycled Calcutta's streets with it but never walked a forest in a remote part of the Himalayas. 

We were coming down from ABC. Annapurna Base Camp. This part of the trail is through a dense forest. The trail is clear and very well defined with steps almost all along the way. But walking on such a trail is not easy in the dark. Trekkers avoid it unless compelled by circumstances. 

The torch was USB chargeable and I had a fully charged power bank and cable in my rucksack. I had half a mind to take out the power bank and keep it in my pocket, just in case. But with more hope than knowledge about the battery life I avoided opening my bag and started off on the journey. 

I have very high powered glasses. As it is I cannot see too well even in full day light. My peripheral vision particularly is rather poor. The prospect of walking for two hours in the dark of the thick forest with a torch in hand was not very encouraging. But I banished the thought and in my usual style told myself - we will cross the bridge when we come to it. My only solace is that this part of the walk is over well defined stone paved trail. There are hundreds of steps. Going up and down. But it is not a dangerous trail where you have to be cautious about every step you take. I have already walked on this trail while going to ABC.

I feel just a bit nervous when I come to a bifurcation on such trails. So far I have always followed the other trekkers to decide which of the two trails to take at such junctions. But I also know that in such trails usually both the trails lead to the same main trail. One might be a tad longer but easier, the other shorter but perhaps a little more steep. So no matter which one I chose I wouldn't get lost. But I also knew that in the night there wouldn't be too many hikers to follow. Despite knowing all this one still feels a little anxious when one is alone in a dark forest.

Most of the trekkers had stayed back in Bamboo. We could not as we had no booking there. Ours was in Lower Sinuwa. Plus our porter had gone ahead without bothering to wait for us.

I concentrated on the walk ahead. Aditi and her son Aditya, my fellow trek mates, started with me too. Aditi had taken out her head-torch and wore it. It didn't occur to me what Aditya might use. I later found that he used his mother's head torch and Aditi used her mobile phone. Incidentally, my mobile phone had just two percent charge. Because the previous night at ABC I charged only my power bank as they allow only one gadget to be charged for free. The mobile is useless in such places except when you retire for the night and they share their wi-fi password with you. It didn't occur to me that I might need to use it as a torch some time in evening.

We had been walking for 9 hours when we started off from Bamboo. We were coming down from the Annapurna Base Camp. A friendly guide Ramachandra Adhikari, who was accompanying a Korean trekker, booked us very kindly in a tea house called Preeti Lodge in Lower Sinuwa. So we have got to reach there. 

It was not so desolate when we started. I kept walking at a slow but steady pace. Around 5.30 it got quite dark. I was wondering whether to bring out the torch when a group of Nepali trekkers behind me switched on their torch. I could see the trail quite clearly helped by their light through my legs. They were obviously quite fast. I tried to keep pace with them and walked ahead of them till about 6 pm when one of them said - "uncle, do you have your own torch?" I said yes and they said, "then can we go ahead?" It was so nice of them to be so polite. I said yes of course. But mentally I wanted to say, please stay with me. 

I let them go ahead. I could see their light for some time and then it got totally dark. I couldn't even see my hand. Now I brought my torch out from the left pocket. I had two walking sticks in my two hands. I held the torch in my left hand and kept the stick on that hand parallel to the ground. So essentially I was walking with one stick only. 

Initially the light was bouncing back off the thick fog that had engulfed the forest. But that soon cleared and the path was quite easily visible. I must say that my 400 lumen torch has a beautiful strong wide beam. If it lasts long it is a great torch to cycle or walk with. It is just that it is not made for walking in the Himalayas.

I have a Pretzel head torch. But I did not bring it on this trek because I don't like its faint beam. I never thought I would need to do night walk here. I took the cycling torch along, as I do for most of my trips nowadays, for using in the night at the hotel in case I needed to go to the loo or to find something in the bag or bed etc. I love it actually and keep it with me all the time. I have a Black Diamond head torch too but it is damaged due to battery leak (Duracell's most expensive battery). It had a fantastic beam but it's ruined.

At certain places on this walk I had to change hands for the torch to be able to use the left stick. This was because the stones were arranged in such a way that you needed support on the left hand side. But I kept a steady pace. I never stopped anywhere. I hardly ever stop while walking, or cycling or driving or riding a motorcycle. That's the way I am.

I crossed quite a few streams over planks. I walked very slowly looking very carefully at each step. I did not want any misstep. And I did not want to take a wrong step outside the main trail. The thought of wild animals didn't cross my mind, to be honest. I am sure such jungles would have a lot of leopards and black bears. But it didn't occur to me that they might attack me. They could have. Yes. 

Was I at any point of time afraid or scared etc? I was concerned but I was never really afraid. Did I pray? Yes. I always do when in trouble. And I was most definitely in trouble. Walking alone in a dark forest with a torch that you don't know how long it might last is not an easy thing to do. 

But I knew this trail is well defined and frequented by hundreds of tourists and porters every day. So there was no such danger that I might get lost and die of hunger and thirst etc. 

I was telling Mother Annapurna "help me get to my mother". Preeti is the name of the lodge where we were going. That is also my mother's name. And somehow it gave me peace to think I was walking towards my mother's safe lap from Mother Annapurna's lap (Annapurna Base Camp) where I was in the morning.

I also remembered the famous Tagore song that my mother taught me to sing in such difficult situations. বিপদে মোরে রক্ষা করো এ নহে মোর প্রার্থনা / বিপদে আমি না যেন করি ভয় . A rough literal translation is like this - it is not my prayer that you please guard/save me from danger. I pray that may I not be scared off by danger. 

This is such a fantastic thought. In a dangerous situation if you get scared then you have lost the battle against yourself. You will not have the courage to do even ordinary things. Just ensure that your courage is intact. Fear is in our mind. If you think about all that can happen then you cannot take a single step. I just kept walking with a torch in hand. I thouhgt about nothing. If I came face to face with a bear or a leopard I do not know what I would have done. But I did not think about them. If I thought about them I could not take any step forward.

I never allowed myself to become a prisoner of my fears or anxiety. I did not do anything extraordinarily courageous. I have never actually done such a thing. I just walked alone on a well defined forest trail in the night with a torch in hand. I could've been very timid and refused to walk in the night. What I mean is there are courageous people like soldiers running through a hail of enemy bullets and then there are timid people who are scared by unknown enemies or dangers that do not even exist. But there is a middle point where I belong. I am neither very courageous. Nor very timid. I weigh the risks and always take a calculated risk where the odds of success are very high. I would never run through a hail of bullets. 

I made another prayer on the trail - let my legs not lose their strength. That was very important. Climbing millions of steps throughout the day is not easy. And towards the end of the day at my age and fitness levels my strength comes down. I did not wish to reach the end of my endurance before reaching the hotel. 

At around 7ish I could see some lights in the distance. That must be Sinuwa. The last stretch towards Sinuwa was actually level and a pleasant walk. I had made a video of this stretch during day time while going towards ABC. I shall see if it can be shared here. 

Before long I reached Sinuwa and met a Bengali trekker who I had met two days ago at MBC. He was sitting on a bench by the road side and asked me if I had met one of their friends on the way. Apparently he has a bad knee and had fallen behind. I said I did not meet anyone on this stretch from Bamboo in the last two hours. I didn't see anyone sitting by the side of the road or anything. 

He seemed concerned. I said my friends were behind me and should be arriving soon. I did not really know how far behind me they were or when they might arrive. (We were told that later that night a couple of them went back, found him somewhere on the trail struggling alone and escorted him back. They reached in the middle of the night.)

I rested for some time in the well lit Sinuwa (it felt like an oasis in a desert) and regained some strength before starting my walk again. I asked how far lower Sinuwa was and someone said - about half an hour. All of it downhill. It had taken us one hour while climbing up. Going back should be quicker.

Charged by the sight of some light at last and some human company I started once again in right earnest. 

My torch has a rough indicator about its battery strength. The white switch first turns amber and then red and then it would be dead. But before that the beam itself would get shorter. Soon after leaving Sinuwa the switch turned amber. I ignored it and kept walking. It turned red quite quickly. Actually on the well lit roads of Calcutta when I ride my cycle I don't really care to look how long it takes for amber to turn red. But here it happened pretty soon. And soon after quarter past seven my torch went dead. 

It was pitch dark all around. I could see no light. Neither of Upper nor of Lower Sinuwa. I was somewhere in between. I immediately sat down in the middle of the trail. I knew exactly what to do. I took the sack off my back. Opened it and pulled out my rain coat, my rain pants and the small towel which were on top. I kept them on the stones of the trail. Then I found the small Deuter waist bag. Pulled it out. Opened its chain and fished out the power bank. I also brought out the cable. I had to make sure it was the cable for the torch and not of the watch. The heads were different. 

I had to struggle a bit to engage the USB ports and get the cable connected at both ends. One to the torch and the other to the battery. These are not so easy to do in that Himalayan darkness. Try doing it with your eyes closed and you would know. And it's a type B cable. 

The problem with my torch is that when it is getting charged, it cannot be used. Not like a phone that you can use for surfing or talking when it gets charged. I sat there in the middle of the road looking at the red button. This was an indicator that it was getting charged. When it was fully charged it would turn blue. The red light was the only source of light for me. I looked at it intently because I had nothing else to do. My other source of light was in my watch. I checked it. It was 7.25. I decided that I would charge it for exactly five minutes and then walk again. I must keep moving. I cannot be sitting in this darkness forever charging my torch. 

I don't know how many times I checked my watch in those five minutes. At home I leave it overnight to charge and don't have any precise idea how long it takes to fully charge it. Here I thought I would see how far I can get with five minutes' charge.

Mentally I was laughing really, that Lord you are taking all sorts of tests of me. All that is left for me to battle is a rain now. Luckily that did not happen. I don't remember how many times I looked at the watch during those five minutes but when it turned 7.30 I got up. Switched it on to find the light adequately strong. I picked up all that I had taken out and kept on the stones, put them back in the sack, closed its mouth, slung it on my back and started walking again.

I was unusually calm about the whole thing. There was no panic. No fear. No nothing. I knew exactly what needed to be done and kept doing them one by one. Presently I needed to walk again which I did. Suddenly I stopped with a start. There was a grey something a few meters away from me. I realised it was a grey mule, standing across on the road, guarding my way. There was hardly any space left for a walker like me. I chose to cross it from the tail side because it was facing the slope of the mountain. 

I told it in Bengli "sor sor" - move away. It didn't bother but at least didn't kick me back. Soon after crossing it I found yet another mule standing. This was a brown one. And as I was calculating how to cross it the torch went dead again. 

I checked that it had lasted me exactly seven minutes. But now I could see a light in the distance. I realised the presence of these mules meant there were humans close by. I sat down on the road once again and connected the power bank. This time it was in my pocket. Now it occured to me that I had seen a milipede on the trail in the morning and they might be present here due to the dung that these mules produce. But no matter how hideous they look they are generally not poisonous.

I got a little impatient and reasoned that if five minutes of charging gave me light for seven, three should be enough for me to reach that source of light. Meanwhile, the mules, being aware of a human's presence between them were shaking their head and making a sound from  their bells. I wanted to get out of here as soon as possible. So I stopped charging after three minutes and started off again. In such situations these three minutes seem like an eternity.

I realised there were a number of mules standing on the trail. I crossed them one by one and reached the house (whose light I could see for some time) before the torch could die again. I kept the rucksack on a stone bench. Charged the torch. Ate a couple of biscuits that I keep for extreme emergencies. Poured a new packet of Electral in a bottle of water and drank it.

I realised this was perhaps the local transporter's house. His portico was full of gas cylinders. He probably transports them by mule from Ghandruk and those mules on the trail are obviously his. A girl arrived on the scene and I asked her how far Lower Sinuwa was. 

She sounded like an angel when she said, "actually this is Lower Sinuwa, where exactly do you want to go?" I said to Preeti Lodge. She said, "oh it's close by. Less than five minutes".

Sure enough I reached in five minutes. On this side of the house there was a locked iron gate before which a couple of huge cows were sitting and chewing the cud. You have to climb a small stone wall beside the gate and cross it. 

I guess it was just a little past eight o' clock when I saw our porter Sanjay standing outside the hotel. I wanted to get angry with him for ditching us and flying off on his own. But he is so honest with his confessions that you can't really stay angry with him for too long. So I quietly and happily took the room that was offered and started waiting for Aditi and her son. 

I got very anxious about them now. Honestly I didn't have the legs to go back in search of them. I thought of sending Sanjay with a torch because I suspected that they might have run out of battery and were probably sitting by the road side in the dark. But I took pity on him. After all he also walked the same distance and with a considerable load. So I chose to wait it out for a bit more.

After about nine Sanjay gave me the happy news that he could see two lights in the distance. Sure enough it was the mother and son duo. They arrived at around half past nine. Aditya had five blisters on his foot and could barely walk any more. Next morning he discarded his shoes and walked from Lower Sinuwa to Samran - the final leg of the trek - in his flip-flops. 

So that is the end of the story. By the way, the lodge in Lower Sinuwa was not Preeti. That was full and they arranged for us in Sherpa Lodge which was very nice. So I didn't get to sleep in my mother's lap really :)

Here the evening ended in one of the most surrealistic ways imaginable. I sat in the dining hall with a German guy and his Nepali friend (who also lives and works in Germany) and watched on their phone a Manchester United match followed by one of Arsenal's. This is what globalisation and communication has done to this world.   

 

Bastar Dussera - '23

The four of us outside Roma Resort - Sunabeda

Whenever I visit a new place, mentally I tell myself - this is just a short recce, I will come back again and explore this place in better detail with more time. I promised this to myself during our Bastar trip of 2017 when we chanced to see the unique festival called Bastar Dussera. Before that I had no clue about it. We had gone to Chitrakoot falls near Jagdalpur town where we were thoroughly bored by the lone water fall. I mean for how long can you stare at a waterfall? On our way back we decided to spend a day in Jagdalpur town - the ex-capital of Bastar. It was the day of Nabami and we realised that Dussera is celebrated very differently here with a huge tribal participation. 

We were fascinated by the tribal mela (fair) that was on outside the royal palace. Tribals were selling their own hand made things to other tribals. Mostly hand made iron tools for daily use in an agrarian society - sickles and knives of various kinds for use in the field or kitchen, axes of various sizes, spades of different types etc. There were many sellers selling tribal drums of various sizes and shapes - they were attracting the maximum crowd of other tribals. The buyers were checking out the drums by playing them and the combined sound of all the drums was something quite unique. 

There was hardly any decorative handicraft type items for sale because the fair was not meant for urban outsiders like us. In fact we were perhaps the only urban outsiders in that fair that year. And evidently tribals don't use handicraft as decorative pieces. Everything that was available had some utility value to them. 

I bought a small tribal drum as a memento and Monisha bought some unique handmade cotton durries/sataranchies from sellers who came from neighbouring Koraput. We still use them on our divans or on the sofa etc. I have never seen anything similar anywhere else. 

In short - we loved the fair. We also went inside the palace complex and saw some tribals sitting around with doli type things - wooden structures to carry their idols. We were told there will be a big event in the evening related to the Dussera. There was a huge chariot waiting outside the palace and we were told that this moves around the villages of Bastar over 75 days and its journey ends in the town around Dussera. Apparently it starts from the famous Danteswari Temple in Dantewada. 

We were very tired and didn't go out to see the evening programme. Also we would be starting the next morning for the long journey back to Calcutta so we didn't want to tire ourselves out and went to bed early. But I loved the tribal fair and told myself I would come back another time after educating myself better about the Dussera.

I am quite fascinated by the tribals of India. Perhaps becuase of the mysteries associated with their unique societies. We know nothing about them. And there is so much to know. Apart from their various religious beliefs and practices or languages there are so many other socio cultural aspects of their life that is totally unknown to us. Their identity of each sub-tribe is often expressed through the way the women make the bun in their hair, their ornaments like nose rings, the way they wear the saree or the different tattoos they wear on their bodies. I am very curious about these things but have no idea how to learn about them. 

Bastar, in case you don't know, is a very tribal area in what is now known as Chattisgarh (36 forts) state. It shares the border with another very tribal district of Koraput in Orissa The name Bastar sends a chill down the spine of many Indians because it is grappling with a very violent ultra Left terrorist movement for a long time now and many people have died in this movement, particularly policemen and politicians whose convoys have been mercilessly ambushed several times in the past. Tourists are generally not specifically targetted but you could always get caught in a cross fire or your vehicle might get blown up by accident due to mistaken identity. 

This is the reason why not too many tourists come to this region and very rarely by car from Calcutta. I have done this two times now. In fact that slight tension at the back of the mind keeps me motivated :) I remember crossing the jungle between Bongaigaon and Gaylegphug in an army vehicle. This was during the peak of Bodo movement and the remains of an ambushed army truck used to lie on the way side that had killed more than 20 soldiers. We always knew that a similar fate was a possibility for us too. 

Except for seeing a lot of commandos with automatic rifles marching up and down the jungle roads of Koraput and Bastar I have never felt threatened here.

This year we made up our mind to revisit Bastar and see the Dussera in better detail with more time at our disposal. But we ended up experiencing a lot more than just the Dussera. Let me jot down the day by day experiences. 

First the route. 

Our Route Through Four States (Bengal, Orissa, Andhra, Chhattisgarh)

We stuck to the route that we had taken earlier. Go down the highway that goes to Chennai up to a point in Andhra called Chilikapalem (this is a little before Vizag) - on the way you will be crossing Kharagpur, Bhubaneswar, Balugaon, Berhampore etc. Turn right from Chilikapalem and go straight to Jagdalpur via Razam, Salur, Sunabeda, Koraput and Jeypore - the last two being old tribal towns of Orissa. One can also reach Koraput via a diagonal road from Berhampore and via Rayagada, I have never taken it because it's a state highway. In comparison my route goes along the four-lane national highway for a longer distance and is perhaps faster. But the diagonal route might be more interesting through tribal villages. I might explore it some other time. The state highways of Orissa are often much better than the national highways.

The route we took is an approximate journey of 1000 km from Calcutta one way. We broke it up into two stops. Day one's drive would be from Calcutta to Barkul on the bank of Chilika lake where we would spend an extra day. Next is the drive from Barkul to Sunabeda in Koraput district where again we would spend a day. Next we would go to Jagdalpur (via the towns of Koraput and Jeypore) where we would spend three nights. It is possible to drive straight from Barkul to Jagdalpur, as we did last time, but we wanted to break it at Koraput and explore the surroundings. So we took 3 days to drive to Jagdalpur. 

Incidentally we came back in two days driving from Jagdalpur to Barkul on day one and Barkul to Calcutta on the next day.

On the way up we planned our exit from Calcutta in such a way that we would reach Jagdalpur on the day of Ashtami, so that we get to see the spectacle on Navami (or Navratri as the North Indians call it).

Day One - Calcutta to Barkul - 18th October, 2023

Our friends and travel partners Chandra and Shoma came to our house in the early morning of Chaturthi in their car. They were travelling pretty light. We had loaded most of our luggage in the vehicle the previous night. So we took off almost as soon as they arrived. I am mortally scared of Pujo jams of Calcutta even early in the morning. Because I have suffered several times for hours in the wee hours of the morning, while trying to get out of the city during the Pujas. But this being just Chaturthi, the frenzy had yet to reach that level. We got stuck for about 20 minutes or so before the Satragachhi bridge and the rest of the way had no surprises for us.

Shoma had brought some delicious home made cake. Monisha had home made ruti and chicken etc. We reached Barkul pretty comfortably around late after noon. We were booked in the OTDC hotel there and had a fantastic time in the evening among the four of us just chatting and exchaning ideas. This was Chandra and Shoma's first multi-day car trip. So they were pretty excited about it.

Incidentally, we found several small hotels have now come up on either side of the lane that leads to OTDC Barkul. So now there is quite a choice for stay there. However, the OTDC property is the only one that offers a view of the lake from most of its rooms.

Day Two - Rest Day in Barkul 

We spent the next day in Barkul literally doing nothing. I had kept this day as a rest day for my friends because I wasn't sure how they might react after a day-long car ride. They were pretty cool and had no fatigue or body aches etc whatsoever. So we just spent the day listening to the fascinating stories from Chandra's life as a poor young man in Calcutta, trying to eke out a living against all odds while studying art at a government college. Life takes a different meaning altogether when you hear such stories and this blog is perhaps not the right place for me to recount those stories. Those who may not know, he is now one of the leading painters of India.

Day Three - Barkul to Sunabeda 

In the night we got a few eggs and potatoes boiled by the kitchen staff for the next day's journey to Sunabeda. This was converted into a delicious breakfast in the backseat with pepper, salt, chillies and a dash of lime by the Bhattacharyyas on the backseat. We crossed Ichhapuram to enter Andhra. Chilikapalem is a dot on the highway from where we took a right turn towards Razam/Salur. By the way, there is a new flyover here. You have to take the exit from under the flyover. There is no road sign telling you all this. If you want to ask anyone ask them to show the way to Razam. I still don't use Google maps for navigation on the road. I use these good old methods of asking people around.

I must say that the amount of urbanisation that has happened along this route, particularly around Berhampore is simply mind boggling. What used to be vast open fields up to the horizon is now a township with modern buildings all around. The Tatas have set up a new steel plant here.

Crossing Razam was a breeze compared to our previous experience when we had faced a massive, unruly jam at a crossroad within the town. Thankfully that seemed like a thing of the past. The next significant town is Salur where we had lunch in 2017 from a tuckers' Dhaba. Now I found Salur has a bypass which we took. The Eastern Ghat starts after Salur. It's a beautiful landscape here. The roads are just as winding as any in the Himalayas. But the hilly portion (ghat section in Indian terminology) is not very long. 

Apparently Salur used to be a beautiful sleepy little town with a small Leprosy Mission hospital. When we crossed it six years ago it had already become a dirty, congested town. Now, you don't have to go through it any more which means it has got even more congested for the townspeople. 

We crossed small hamlets like Pottangi and Sunki on the way. They have quite grown up in these six years, it seemed. The next big town on the way was Semiliguda which has grown into a massive highway town complete with a huge Trendz store. We had our lunch here at a very downmarket eatery where all the other customers were local tribals. But the food was fairly decent and extremely cheap.

Later we found there were more upmarketish restaurants on the roadside but we had no regrets. The food was good. 

Sunabeda came almost immediately after this. It's a very small place with a Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) factory where they make fighter jets for Indian Air Force. 

Hotel Roma is our destination here. It's right on the highway. It used to be an OTDC property in the Panthashala category (lower than a Pantha Nivas) and was in a dilapidated condition when we crossed it in 2017. Now it has been taken over by a private entrepreneur called Prabhakar Rao who is trying to revive it and run it properly. He is a middle aged gentleman from Koraput with a flowing long beard and crisp English. He is an ex-finance professional, he said. He has worked in Bombay and England all his life and is now persuing a completely different profession of running a hotel - more as a hobby than with any motive to make big money out of it. When we were there his teenaged daughter was holidaying and helping her father to run the place. She is a college student studying in King's College, England, no less. 

The property is by the side of the highway but in a  very quiet place. The highway being not too busy with trucks etc it is hardly a highway in that sense. There is a small hill just behind the property. The rooms, the balconies and verandahs are huge. We quite enjoyed the place. Of course there were small problems like the bolt or the shower not working etc. But we sort of pardoned Rao, given that it must be difficult to get mechanics for sundry jobs in this type of remote places in India. The lone maid at Roma - Santoshi - was a very sweet and ever smiling lady who helped us carry our luggage up the stairs etc. Incidentally, I always make it a point to carry my own luggage.  

Dinner at Sunabeda was a very simple affair, cooked by Rao himself because his cook had ditched him that day. We asked Rao for his advice on how to spend the next day around Sunabeda. He suggested a trip to the Deomali hills. We accepted it. It's supposed to be the highest point in Orissa. There is another village there called Kotiya, which we could also explore perhaps.

Day Four - Day Trip to Deomali Hills

Next morning, after breakfast we went out in search of Deomali. We had to go back to Semiliguda and onwards to the Kundili haat. It's a large vegetable market on either side of the highway. It is a two-day haat that starts on Thursday and continues till Friday. We had crossed it around Friday after noon while going towards Sunabeda. But even on Saturday when we were going to Deomali there were lots of sellers still hanging around. I have a feeling this might soon become a permenant bazaar. 

From the haat we took a left turn towards the Deomali hills. I must say, the tourism department of Orissa has done a commendable job towards putting up road signages in appropriate places to help drivers. All the major and minor tourist attractions are prominently shown in English and Oriya, making it easy for an outsider self-drive tourist like me to find his way around. One doesn't need to ask anyone for direction to the popular tourist destinations.

We soon started climbing the hilly terrain. The valley was quite wide with beautifully terraced fields with paddy cultivation. Some of the fields had various vegetables planted on them. We stopped at a place in the valley that was looking particularly pretty. The different fields of various shapes in the distance had different shades of green and even yellow. A cool breeze was blowing over the paddy cultivation sending waves that were looking quite enchanting from the top. The sky was a clear and bright azure blue.

To make the scene more picturesque there was a small river ambling through the middle of the valley and we saw two women with baskets on their heads walking in the distance there. It was a picture perfect scene of tranquility. The autumn sky was blue with a few white clouds floating around. We are told the hills of Deomali are rich in Bauxite deposits and mining might start any day. It's a sad thought that we didn't want to think about. Rather, we continued on our journy up the hill. A Niyamgiri like future is perhaps awaiting these pristine hills.

We missed the exit to the Deomali hill top and reached Kotiyar village. It looked more like a tight urban slum than a traditional tribal village with its own architectural heritage. It was a very underwhelming sight. I didn't want to stop or explore the village. The sight just didn't inspire me. We went back in search of the hill top. On the way we saw a road sign pointing towards some water fall. We went in for about five kilometers off the main road and down an even narrower mountain road. The place had an elaborate parking lot complete with a Rs 50 parking fee. Just  as we were entering the area, the vehicle in front of us - a small Maruit Alto from Calcutta (you can make it out from the registration number) - suddenly banged into a parked Creta. The Alto was badly damaged. The driver had a more than six-inch gash on his head and the Creta had a bashed up rear bumper. The man was profusely bleeding and there was blood all over his T-shirt.

All those involved were Bengalis. The driver, the victim and us the onlookers. He claimed his brake had failed. I think he was looking at his mobile phone. Both he and his wife looked totally perplexed. The lady said they were staying in Semiliguda. 

The water fall was quite underwhelming. We left the scene quickly because the situation was about to get tense with the Creta owner getting increasingly angry with the Alto driver. It was a less than one-month old vehicle. Poor guy. 

We soon found out the exit for Deomali hill top and went right in. We had somehow missed it while going up. Entry cost here is Rs 100 per vehicle. We stopped near what looked like an abandoned coffee shop on top of the hill. The hill top is pretty barren with minimal vegetation. Other tourist vehicles were going farther ahead towards the actual top but we didn't go there because it looked pretty croweded there. The hill top is apparently Orissa's highest peak. Having hiked to above 5000 meters in Stok Kangri, I had no intention to climb this particular peak.

There were tourist cottages being made by the government here. And a pleasantly chilly breeze was blowing non-stop. You could see far off into the distance across the valley below. It's green all around with a prominent teraccota coloured road going through the middle of the hills in front. We thought these cottages would make for a fine place for a short stay when finished. Later we learnt environmentalists have stopped the construction over various ecological and cultural grounds. Perhaps rightly so. The cottages certainly looked very cheap and had no connection to the aesthetics of the area. A typical thoughtless government project. We have something similar in Gajaldoba called Bhorer Alo. That's on a grander scale though.

On our way back, as I turned a bend in the snaking hilly road I saw a man sitting by the road side with a heap of fresh white raddishes taken off the fields. His wife and daughter were busy washing a sac full of sweet potatoes. We stopped the vehicle to do some impromptu shopping. I had no clue what dish could be made out of sweet potatoes and raddish. 

We had our lunch at Desia Eco Resorts which was on the way. It was an excellent lunch for us and the restaurant was pretty busy with mostly Bengali tourists despite the area being quite desolate. Some of the parked vehicles had Orissa and some Andhra registration plates. Before settling for Sunabeda we had tried to book Desia but rooms were not available. 

Upon arrival back to Roma we set out to try our own cooking in Chandra's room. The large size of the room helped. From Calcutta we had brought our own portable stove, gas cylinder and basic cooking utensils. They were tried here. My friend Raja had brought the burner for me from England, the gas cylinder was purchased off Amazon. Shoma in her enthusiasm had bought a back up cylinder too. I even brought am aluminium contraption to baffle the wind. All these were put to use in right earnest. Shoma cooked a dish of roasted sweet potatoes which tasted quite delicious. We even boiled a few eggs and potatoes for the next day's journey. 

After our self cooked evening snacks, we had dinner and went to sleep.

Day 5 - Sunabeda to Jagdalpur

Today's journey being a relatively short one, we started a little late after breakfast. On the way came the town of Koraput where we stopped for the ladies to do some shopping at the Orissa handloom store called Bayanika. Here we were told that the small town of Kotpad has some weavers who weave a saree that is known by the name of the town. We had planned to visit Kotpad on Tuesday for the village haat that it is famous for. The sarees would be an added bonus. On the way we stopped at Kotpad to enquire about the location of the haat. The locals showed it to us. We knew we would come back here in two days. 

But before Kotpad we had to cross Jeypore, another ancient town of Koraput, where we stopped again to check out the state owned emporium. When we reached Jagdalpur it was late afternoon. We checked into hotel HAM Residency. 

Annapurna Base Camp - 2024

Annapurna South (7219 mt) from ABC

The information provided here is based on my travel in October 2024. Things might change in future. Please check the current status of the routes and rates etc before you go. Also, this information is valid for Indians only. Western tourists might have other requirements in terms of permits and their costs etc. All prices quoted are in Nepalese Rupee unless otherwise stated.

25th October 2024

I have just come back from a trek to Annapurna Base Camp (ABC) in Nepal. We organised the trek on our own without the help of any agency or any group. We were three of us who went there. The main research was done by Aditi, my ex-colleague, who accompanied me with her son Aditya. Our 3-member team had a porter Sanjay BK of Ghandruk village (I am not sure it should be called a village any more because it looks more like a small town full of hotels and very narrow lanes). 

I am starting off with a day by day break up of the trek so that it is easy for you to plan your journey. After that I will give some advice about what all mistakes we made so that you don't make those mistakes. After that I will give a detailed day by day experience of the trek. Some other information like what to take etc will also be given. 

Itinerary 

The ABC route with all the stops and time taken to walk. The average walking time between two points is mentioned in hours. It is quite accurate for most of us (unless you are very fast or slower than me).

Day 1 (14th October 2024) - Board Mithila Express from Howrah to Raxaul. Train started at around 4 pm

Day 2 - Reach Ruxaul in the morning at around 8 am. Take a toto from the station to the Indo-Nepal border. Take another toto to Birganj bus stand. On the way do the currency conversion on the Nepal side and buy a local SIM card. Rate was Rs 1.6 NC (Nepali currency) for Re 1 IC (Indian currency). SIM card was Rs 400 for seven days with unlimited data. Board bus from Birganj bus stand that started at around 10 am. We reached Pokhara's Prithivi bus stand near China Pool at 8 pm. We checked into hotel A-1 on 9th Street in the Lake Side Area which is about ten minutes by taxi.

Day 3 - Get the permit from the permit office (it was walkable from the hotel). You need to fill up the form with two photographs. Two copies of a self attested identity proof. I gave voter ID card. Aadhaar is also accepted. You have to show them the original also. They will issue a permit with your photograph on it. This is a very important document to be kept with you at all times. 

Take a taxi from the hotel to Banglung bus stand and board a bus to Ghandruk. We reached Ghandruk by afternoon (3/4 hour journey). The bus goes via Nayapool and Birethanti etc. We were dropped on the road about 1 km outside the Ghandruk town and the bus went to some other nearby village. Therefore, make sure before boarding the bus that it is actually going to the Ghandruk Bus Park (that is what they call a bus terminus). We never knew this and had to trek this distance with our full load. 

We checked into hotel Cloud 9 @ Rs 1200 per head per day. We organised a porter Sanjay BK who is from Ghandruk and offered to go with us carrying our luggage. He is not a professional porter and later we found out he did not even know the way. But he was very nice and never ditched us in any way or try to scam us etc. He is a little cracked in the head but a nice guy.  

Day 4 - We walked from Ghandruk to Chhomrong via Jhinu. More than half of this trail is over jeepable road. There is another route to Jhinu but we took the more straight forward route. We lunched at Jhinu (Rs 800 per head for daal bhaat and sabzi) and reached Chhomrong's hotel New Destination in the afternoon. This is the last hotel in the town and well below the Buddhist Gompa there. Before the Gompa, there is a checkpost to register yourself and show your permit. The gentleman there can speak a little broken Bengali. 

Day 5 - Today we walked from Chhomrong to Dovan and stayed at hotel Destination ABC. On the way came Lower Sinuwa, Upper Sinuwa and Bamboo where we had our lunch. The Dovan hotel was also the last hotel of the village. 

Day 6 - Today we walked from Dovan to Machhapuchhare Base Camp (MBC) via Himlaya and Deurali where we had our lunch. Here the owner took payment in IC and even exchanged some IC into NC. But he accepts only 100 rupee Indian notes. Not 50 or 200 or 500. Only 100. We wanted to stay in Deurali but had to push forward as there was no room in the limited hotels there. 

Day 7 - Today we walked only two hours to reach ABC. Stayed at Hotel Sunrise. Just at the mid-point there is a beautiful small lake on the right hand side where one can see the reflection of the mountains. 

Day 8 - Today we walked down from ABC right upto Lower Sinuwa's Hotel Preeti. We walked for 12 hours. Morning 8 am to 8 pm, the last two hours being in the dark with a torch. Lunch was taken at Himalaya where they accepted Rs 200 notes from India. We should have ideally stayed back in Bamboo but we had no bookings.

Day 7 - Today we walked from Lower Sinuwa to Jhinu. Crossed the birdge to Samran and took a reserved Sumo to Ghandruk. There is no shared jeep available for Ghandruk. Only Pokhara jeeps are available on share provided there are enough passengers. It cost us Rs 2500 for the short but very rough journey. In Ghandruk we stayed at Nice View Hotel which is just near the bus park. The rate was Rs 1000 per head per day (shared bathroom). This is a very nice hotel and recommended for its convenient location and excellent view of the mountains from the rooms. 

Day 8 -  We took a morning 8 am bus from Ghandruk to Pokhara. Reached Banglung bus park at 11 am. Took a taxi to the same hotel in Pokhara. 

Day 9 - The hotel owner was going to the bus stand side on his motorcycle. We asked him to book the evening AC bus ticket for us. We reached the bus terminus at 6.15 pm. Bus started at 6.45 pm. Reached Birganj at before 5 am. Extremely loud movie was played in the bus for 3 hours. We took a tonga from the bus stand to Nepal gate and another toto from the Indian side as the border on both sides were closed so early in the morning.

Spent 4/5 hours in the waiting room of the station. Had breakfast at the Food Plaza outside the station. Boarded the Mithila Express at 10 am. 

Day 10 (24th October 2024) - We reached Howrah at around 4 am. Took a taxi and came home.

List of hotels with their phone numbers on the trail as in October '24

Our Learnings - Don't Make These Mistakes

1. Do a proper calculation of all the money that will be needed for the entire trip includng all the bus/taxi fares, hotel costs, guide costs etc and convert all your Indian currency to Nepali currency from the border itself in one go. Don't try to change it at the Pokhara Lake Side money changers or elsewhere. They don't entertain IC. Even if they do the rate is much less than at the border. Money changers operate on both sides of the border at Ruxaul/Birganj. I got Rs 1.6 for Re 1 at the border and Rs 1.5 in Pokhara. Most of us are not used to carrying so much of cash any more. But it is quite safe here. We saw only a few restaurants on the trail where they accept credit cards. We did not try them as we were unsure of the exchange rate we might get. Also these restaurants looked very expensive.

2. Carry only Rs 100 IC notes and preferably crisp new notes. Hardly anyone in the mountains accept any Indian currency. Some do but they generally insist on crisp Rs 100 notes.

3. Near the bus stand in Birganj you will be mobbed by touts who will put you in a Deluxe bus. Avoid it. Deluxe buses are ordinary local buses. Go to the office of any of the bus operators and buy an AC bus ticket. It is slightly more expensive but it saves you from all the dust of the road journey. Also the AC buses are much faster as they don't stop on the way as frequently. Deluxe buses stop every now and then. In an AC bus you avoid the dust of the road which is substantial.

4. Do not travel between Dussera (Nepalis call it Dassain) and Kali Puja/Diwali unless you are going with an organised trek operator who takes care of the hotel bookings. This is the peak holiday season for Nepalis and a huge number of young Nepalis trek these days, putting tremendous pressure on the limited hotel rooms in all these destinations on the trail. So if you are forced to travel during this period try to book the hotels well in advance. Otherwise you might be stranded and may have to sleep in either the kitchen or in the godowns etc. 

I asked the check-post official in Chhomrong. He said on an average every day some 500 trekkers go towards ABC. Presumably the same number comes back. Therefore on any given day you pass some 1000 tourists. Plus their porters and guides. It is an endless stream of tourists on either side. And they are from every corner of the world. We met many other Bengalis, Bangladeshis, Chinese, Taiwanese, Koreans and Western tourists, not to speak of the Nepali trekkers, who were possibly most numerous. We didn't meet very many Indians from other parts of our country. The best trekking season is apparently after Diwali or in April/May. 

5. We bought NCell SIM from the border that worked fine for seven days but NCell did not work in the higher points of the trail (for calling). The hoteliers there were using some other SIM cards. I think T-Cell or something. 

And after 7 days when you recharge (I did it at Ghandruk on the way back) with Rs 110, you get only voice call facility within Nepal or to India. For data you have to buy it online through the phone. I could not understand how that works. Therefore, from Ghandruk to Birganj I didn't have access to data except when in the hotels where they give you free wi-fi as part of the package. 

When you are walking in the trail there is no data in your phone anywhere but the hotel wifis are fairly good. 

6. We chose the package system during our stay at the hotels. This means they charge you a fixed rate per head per day. This gets you a bed (usually a dormitory with multiple beds in a small room), food (very basic dinner and breakfast and two cups of tea), charging your devices and wifi. If you take a-la-carte then everything becomes chargeable and they are quite expensive. The package rates varied from Rs 1000 to Rs 3500 per head per day. At ABC only one device is allowed to be charged free under the package system. The hotels in the lower villages are not so strict about use of electricity.

7. Porter's food is charged at a lower rate - generally Rs 500-700. His stay is free. He is also given free wifi and you could share it from him secretly.

8. If you are in a group of 5 or so, you could perhaps book a taxi from Pokhara to Samrang (on this side of Jhinu) and walk to Jhinu for the night. We started from Ghandruk but while coming back we booked a taxi upto Ghandruk.

9. If you can, please carry a camping stove and basic utensils to cook your own food/coffee on the way. The saving is substantial. 

10. Just before reaching MBC where there is a board mentioning this is MBC, there is a steep stair case going directly to MBC and a left lane that goes straight to ABC. You can take that route also to reach some of the higher hotels of MBC. In case it is very foggy and raining you might miss those hotels. So better to take the stair case to reach the first hotel of  MBC. This stair case is fairly obvious and you cannot miss it.

Valley of Flowers Visited

The Valley of Flowers

Just came back from a successful trek to the Valley of Flowers. It is not only a National Park now, it's a UN declared world heritage site and part of the Nanda Devi Sanctuary. The trek also involved a hike to the world's highest Gurdwara at Hemkund Sahib. That's above 14,000 feet.

If you want to know my reactions in short - it's a beautiful place and quite easy to reach even for novice trekkers. If you have never trekked in life but have reasonable fitness this is the trek you should start with. There are two challenges in this destination. A. Reaching the base can be really difficult as this trek is open during the monsoon months only and the bus route upto Govindghat is full of landslides. One left us stranded for about five and a half hours, the other forced us to detour for about 100 kms extra. If you love the mountains you should make every effort to see it. B. Dealing with the crowds of people going on a pilgrimage, mules, porters and not to speak of the rain can be annoying for many. 

I had heard about this trek (and a few more like Sundar Dhunga or Har ki Doon) sometime in the mid 80s when I went trekking to Langtang in Nepal. This was from a group of other Bengali trekkers. Somehow over the next few decades when I travelled to different parts of the Himalayas, VoF didn't happen to me. The beaitiful valley remained elusive. A few years ago my good friend Ambarish Dutta went to the VoF with India Hikes, which rekindled the interest in me.

After my recent trek from Rovers Point to Lepchakha (an easy downhill hike of about 3 kms) at Buxa Forest in North Bengal where my right knee became very painful and wobbly (I literally had to hold someone's shoulders to come down) I got really worried about my fitness and felt very disheartened that my dreams of going to the mountains more frequently in retirement now perhaps stand shattered. 

I exercised a lot upon return to Calcutta, reasoning in my mind that all my problems with pain are routed in lack of strength. Finally I decided to check the strength of the knees out through a Himalayan trek. As my friend and a doctor practicing in the UK Raja Biswas described it - I was doing a functional test of the knees while I should have got a medical test done first through an X-ray etc.

I chose VoF for this test, given that it's an easy trek. If necessary I can exit from the trek at any point of time without causing any trouble to anyone. I checked India Hikes first. In their typical style, they have a requirement that people above 55 years of age must submit a treadmill test report. I find these not only stupid show offs (as if they are the know-all of treks) but very restrictive. So I switched my attention to Trek the Himalaya (TTH) and booked my trek and tickets etc. If you are interested you can read about the pre-trek part here . It talks mostly about my preparations.

On the scheduled date, that is 18th of July, I boarded Upasana Express from Howrah Station. The trek would start from the TTH office in Rishikesh on 21st morning. I reached Haridwar on 19th around evening. I checked into the first hotel that I could see across the road outside the station. It was a dingy room in the basement that was mine for the night at Rs 500. It had no AC, no windows and no toilet seat also. But I didn't care. In fact I quite enjoyed the El Cheapo experience. I was kind of back to my college days when I would go for such cheap places. I started my first solo trip with stay in the dormitory of the Yout h Hostel of Darjeeling. That cost me Rs 10 per day.

The evening in Haridwar was spent walking towards Har Ki Paudi and coming back and reminiscing about the 1976 trip with my parents and sister. I felt very sad that both my parents were now gone. This was our first and only multi-day and multi-city trip with the whole family. I remember how happy my mother was to be able to bathe in the holy Ganga in the privilege of a private ghat of the Dharamasala we stayed in. In fact I wanted to stay in the same Jaipuria Dharamsala. But no one picked up their phone.

Haridwar is a very non-descript temple town. Unless you are very religiously inclined there is nothing here. For the record, Ganga hits the plains here and starts her journey through the plains of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Bengal.

Of course, I was shocked by the grey water of the river. When we came here in 1976 the water was absolutely crystal clear. However, I was told once the monsoon gets over the water would clear up again.

Next afternoon I went to Rishikesh by a shared auto spending a princely sum of Rs 70 and checked into a hotel across the road from the TTH office which is located in the Tapovan area of the town, so that early morning the next day I wouldn't need to undertake any journey within Rishikesh. 

That evening I met a few of the other fellow trekkers. There were a couple of men who were senior to me but mostly the others were way junior to me. That is how it should be actually. VoF is a beginner's trek. It might be steep but there is no technical climbing involved anywhere. There were several who were seeing Himalaya for the first time. I should actually have done this trek 30 years ago but then better late than never.

I also met Ajay in the afternoon, the TTH tour coordinator, at his office. On my walk down the main road in Tapovan I came across Adventure Axis, a shop selling outdoor gears. I had bought many trekking gear from the guy who runs the shop. He recognised me by name. It's a large shop but not very attractively arranged. 

In case you want to know, I had lunch and dinner at a restaurant called Uttar Dakshin - Madras Cafe. They are very neat and clean well lit and well occupied by customers. They serve excellent South and North Indian food. I mostly had idly and vada and filter coffee in the typical Tamil style.

The Journey Towards the Mountains Starts 

The next morning we started on the bus journey to Pipalkoti. It's a day long journey which was completed in bright sunlight. We were in two mini-buses. A group of 22 split into two buses. I got a single window side seat. On this route try to take the left hand side seat because that's where the river is. On the way came all the Prayags (meaning confluence), starting with Devaprayag where Bhagirathi and Alokananda meet to form Ganga - the lifeline of North India and a very prominent figure in Hindu mythology. 

We followed the fiercely flowing Alokananda via Rudraprayag, Karnaprayag etc. What were once dots on the way to Kedar and Badri have now morphed into full fledged towns.We went towards Badrinath. In 1988 I came down this road from Ghat and saw the tree under which Corbett had killed the "man-eater of Rudraprayag". There was a large stone plaque by the side of the road under a tree. Apparently a fair is still held to commemorate the day. But this time I couldn't find any such thing in the busy town that Rudraprayag now is. I saw a largish building - Corbett Memorial though. This seemed new.

The skies were blue and the white fluffy clouds made you feel like it was autumn. At Pipalkoti we were put up in a hotel and were introduced to our trek leader. She is a young but competent girl from the mountains. Usha Shahi. Our documents were all collected and health check up done in the form of a pressure check. Mine was found to be normal. One of the elderly gentlemen was found to be suffering from high BP. He was given a polite warning of sorts that if it doesn't go down by the next morning he wouldn't go with us.

Pipalkoti is a wide open, green valley with a very small town. It's an important town on the way to Badrinath. I am sure it was a dot on the route to Badrinath in the earlier years. It has a few hotels now. I had some jilebis and samosas from the shop in the town. Wasn't anything great. Though the day was very bright it started raining very heavily from the night. I guess it had rained the whole night in Pipalkoti when we stayed there.

I shared the room with two other senior Bengali gentlemen. One from Tripura - Subrata Roy. A retired banker. The other is Joydeep Roy from Kharagpur. He has taken VRS from BPCL. Later I found them to be rabid Hindutva badi BJP supporters. These people regard us liberals as almost non-Hindus. However, the first night with them was not very unpleasant as I had no idea about their political inclinations then.

Next morning, that is 22nd July, we started for Govindghat in the same bus. We got a bit delayed as the elderly gentleman Venkat couldn't clear the repeat BP test in the morning also. It was apparently still showing 160/90. Unfortunately we had to leave him behind and proceed. He seemed like a reasonably fit person and he himself didn't feel anything. TTH told him that he could wait in Pipalkoti for a day. In case it comes down he could join the next batch of TTH on the following day, which ultimately didn't happen because his BP still didn't come down. I hope he gets a treatment for it when he goes back home.

Within a few hundred meters after starting from Pipalkoti our vehicle came to a stop behind a long queue of other vehicles. Apparently there were a number of landslips ahead that were being cleared.

From 7.30 we waited in the same spot past 8,9,10,11, 12 and then finally at 1 o' clock we could move forward. The slushy area was long and I could understand why it took so long even for two JCBs working in tandem to clear the mud. We crossed a few more rocky stretches on the road very carefully. There was one more hold up before Joshimath. It turned out to be a minor one with just a few boulders lying on the road. Two back-hoe excavators came and simply rolled the boulders down the mountain slope into the river. We saw a crushed vehicle way down the slope fallen on the river bank, perhaps many months ago. Its bright yellow paint was still making it easily visible. Evidently it had fallen in the past and no one bothered to pick up the wreckage. I hope the driver jumped out in time (usually they do) Alokananda here is really fearsome. 

After this came Joshimath. A famous old mountain town before Badrinath and a base for many an expeditions and treks that has now become more famous due to its status as a sinking town. From the bus I saw many buildings that have cracked up. Some have crumbled down. These buildings didn't have any inhabitants. I was told that they have been given shelter elsewhere. I saw a few new buildings under construction as well. Joshimath town seemed more open and sparsely populated than my mental image of it. I had imagined it to be a small hilly town with dingy, narrow, dark and wet lanes. It was anything but that.

It was funny how the government propaganda against this disaster - the current government doesn't want us to think anything can go wrong in their sacred Devbhumi - has worked among the locals. I asked a person in Pipalkoti about Joshimath and he said it's all false narrative to discredit the government. Nothing has happened in Joshimath. I heard the same thing from another person in Govindghat - it's all bull shit. They have perhaps not seen those dangerously cracked buildings. Even if they have, to them what the government wants them to believe is more true than what they can see.

Finally we reached Govindghat. A very small hamlet on the bank of Alokananda. Here one has to cross the fiercely flowing and a much narrower river over a small and narrow military hanging bridge painted in British racing green. There is a Gurudwara by the side of the river and a small market - mostly selling Shikh religious stuff - with a few hotels.

It was already 3 pm. Our plan was to take a jeep from Govindghat to Pulna (the local drivers of Pulna don't allow any outside jeeps or buses to go to their town beyond Govindghat), a distance of only 4 km and then start walking. If we started the walk by 3.30 we would reach Ghangria by 9 ish. The skies stay bright till about 7.30 which means we would need to walk in the dark for about two hours.

However, the local police didn't allow us to proceed. As per a big signboard before the bridge, one cannot go towards Ghangria beyond 2 pm. It was already 3 pm. Our trek leader went to the police station to seek permission from the officer-in-charge but it was flatly denied. They said it was because the road has wildlife like bears and leopards and as such could be dangerous in the night. 

So we decided to stay back for the night at Govindghat itself. We checked into a hotel next to the Gurdwara and had food at the langar inside the Shikh temple. Luckily I got an exclusive room to myself as a few fellow trekkers moved out into better hotels paying from their pocket and free rooms became available for those who stayed back. 

Here I slept alone in a room that thus fell vacant and made myself endless cups of tea with my kettle and tea bags. I had a plate of momos in a shop outside the hotel.

We saw very few pilgrims here and the small market run by Sikhs was mostly empty with only shopkeepers keeping it alive. I asked them why it is so. They said it is because of floods in Punjab. Indeed most of the pilgrims here are from Punjab. 

The Trek Starts - Day 1

Snapshot - Pulna to Ghangria is an 11 km walk over stone paved road with railing and garden benches. Takes about 5 hours. Nothing could be easier than this in the Himalayas. You get porters and mules etc at Pulna if you want. Plenty of water sources are available on the roadside. 

Here is a link to the map of the walk recorded on Garmin. 

 

One leaves Alokananda at Govindghat and from Pulna starts following the Laxman Ganga. The valley here is wide and the river looks beautiful. It's just somewhere betweeen a stream and a river here in terms of size. After registration at the Pulna check post we started our walk. There are a few homestays available in Pulna. There are many porters and mules available too. Our bigger loads were off-loaded to mules here. A few trekkers additionally hired a porter to carry their personal stuff. It's a novice's trek, please remember. 

The trail is very well laid out. It's wide and paved with stones. One doesn't need to be careful with one's steps. It's not smooth but there is no challenge to walk here. There are garden benches on the side of the trail. There is even a railing on the side of the path and shades in various places to take rest in heavy rain. We were lucky that it wasn't raining. It was overcast throughout the four days of our trek but didn't rain very heavily except on the last day. 

Our first stop was near a confluence. I was told the river coming from the left hand side was Laxman Ganga while the one on the right was Kaak Ganga. Our local trek leader - Deepak Singh Rawat - said only Bengali trekkers go in that direction to Kaak Bhusandi lake. As a Bengali I felt rather proud for a change after a long time. These days in such religious places where vegeterianism is worshipped and non-vegetarians are seen as criminals, Bengalis are almost hated. I had one such incident where someone shouted at me for being a "non-vegetarian Bengali". 

Bengalis, once upon a time were respected across the country for being freedom fighters and intellectuals. In such violently vegeterian and religious places our only identity now is our non-vegeterianism. Personally I apprehend the current state-sponsored hatred that is going on against beef eating across the country will soon be converted into hatred against non-vegeterians. I hope to be proved wrong. 

Coming back to the walk - we saw many pilgrims and so called trekkers overtaking us on mules. I think each mule costs Rs 1000. After a long walk of more than five hours through the forested path we reached what looked like Ghangria. There is a very large field that has a helipad run by GMVN and several neatly arranged tents. I have no idea how these tents are booked but they looked better than the hotels in the town. 

Make no mistake. You haven't reached Ghangria yet. You have to walk for a kilometer or so more to enter the dingy town. The town is full of small hotels including a GMVN guest house. We were put up in a two storied hotel named Deepak with a dining hall in the ground floor. The room we got was really small with barely space for 3 beds and hardly anything else. Even finding space for our bags on the floor was a challenge. The bathroom wasn't dirty but could do with a competent plumber. In fact on the entire route starting from Haridwar plumbing seemed like a major issue. 

In the evening we went to check the town out. Essentially a narrow and straight lane with hotels on either side. Each hotel has a restaurant in the ground floor. There is yet another Gurudwara in this town as well. I later learnt that they also rent out rooms. We watched a short documentary on the valley paying Rs 50 per head. Informative but expensive in today's world where everything is available for free on youtube. 

I hardly had any sleep that night because of the loud snoring by my fellow trekkers. And next morning we were ready to move out at six or so. 

Day 2 - Ghangria to Valley of Flowers and Back 

Snapshot - Four kilometers of uphill walk to reach the valley. Took me 3.5 hours. After that you can walk upto 8 kilometers on flat trail in the valley. The trail to valley is very well laid out but narrower and steeper than Day 1.

Here is a Garmin map of the one-way journey 

 

After Ghangria the path bifurcates into two. The right hand side one that is wider goes to Hemkund and the left hand side one goes to the Valley. There is a checkpost here that opens at 7 am. We were told that we must wait at the hotel to hear from an advance team whether the route to the Valley is open (on bad rainy days it remains closed). If not we would go to Hemkund. However, the route was open and we proceeded towards the valley. Just after the checkpost where the entry for us was paid by our agency we entered the sanctuary through a gate.

Before this we had to cross a disgusting mule stand where several mules and porters were trying to find customers. Disgusting because of all the poop all around and their stink. Mules are not allowed in the National Park but for going towards Hemkund or back to Ghangaria. 

A young Nepali porter offered to carry my backpack. I answered him in Nepali and he was more than pleasantly surprised and wanted to know how I knew his language. I gave him a mysterious smile. He kept pestering for my business. I felt rather sad for him. They come as migrant workers from Nepal. Live in extremely unhygenic conditions and go back by October when everything gets covered under deep snow. It's a more than two day journey from here to their home. I wonder how much they make every season. The work is often back breakin as they carry human beings on their back in a basket. I saw two able bodied men using this service.  

It might look obnoxious to us but it's livelihood for them. Daily work is not guaranteed at all but it pays well when they get it. Many in our group used porters to carry their personal stuff. I even saw one of them being carried on the back of the porter in the basket. 

VoF is a UN World Heritage site now as it has been brought under the Nanda Devi National Park. It is my ambition to see all these natural World Heritage sites in India. So far I have seen Manas, Kaziranga, Sunderbans and Western Ghat. I am not sure about Kanchendzongha National Park (that is, whether I have been there officially but Sandakphu is good enough). The Great Himalayan National Park is as yet unseen. 

The path to the VoF is narrower than the one we used on Day 1 but this is also paved with stones. Soon after the gate one starts to see wild flowers on the sides of the path. Different colours like red, purple, yellow and white. I have no idea what their names are. But they are beautiful. Small wild flowers of different hues. Gently blowing in the cool breeze.

We crossed the fiercely flowing Laxman Ganga over a small bridge and climbed up the mountain path. It's more back breaking than yesterday's walk but again nothing technical. It was overcast as usual but there wasn't any rain. We presently reached a mountain stream which had to be crossed over a small bridge and entered the flat valley. At the beginning there is a large overhanging boulder. After this the valley opens up very wide. 

It's lush green all around and despite all the tourists it seemed so serene and beautiful. The valley is some eight kilometers long and there is a river that borders the valley. It's at a little distance. I ended the walk at exactly 5 kms from my hotel and 1 km from the overhanging  boulder. I found a large boulder by the side of the path and sat on it, waiting for our team members to come back. Just looking at the valley and the mountain on the other side is so serene and peaceful. 

Many from our group walked right upto the river. I didn't feel any special urge to see the river. I much prefered to just sit quietly and soak in the beauty of the place. There are a few snow capped peaks that are visible from here on a clear day. But I wonder if anyone gets a clear day here so late in the morning.

This boulder turned out to be a selfie corner for the trekkers. Some people are so obssessed with selfies. They were taking selfies virtually at every step. And in different poses. As an onlooker I found it rather amusing to see how instructions were being given for the perfect pose. Lift the hands a bit. Break a little at the elbow. Keep the head up. One wondered if a Bollywood film was being shot. 

I felt like a complete outsider to this group. I had no one that I could relate to really. There was a German guy Dario. He was quiet like a mute person. He would answer if you asked him a question but he had nothing to offer on his own or any questions to ask. Conversation with such people is impossible. Socially inert, one could say. 

There was another Venezuelan girl (who lives in Denmark), Andreina. She was decent and quite jovial had similar values but I couldn't see her during the trek. Normally they walk on their own. But apparently she later complained to the group leader that no one was there around her in the valley. I didn't think she wanted anyone around her. 

After some time we turned back and traced our way back to Ghangria down the same trail. 

On day 1 I had suffered a little pain in the knee. The pre-patellar bursa I have on the right knee became more prominent but it wasn't anything disabling. On the second day I took no chance and wore the knee cap. I was totally pain free and walked rather confidently. I was particularly happy with the confidence with which I was climbing down. In my earlier two treks of Roopkund and Stok Kangri my descent was rather slow. 

But this time all the exercises for the hip flexors and glutes etc seemed to have paid off. I came down alone rather quickly and as I entered the town I saw a small hotel just opposite to the Gurudwara. Hotel Holiday Inn. I asked them if they had a room. They showed me a decent room at Rs 800. It was better lit and more spacious than the room  I had at Deepak. It even had a thin green carpet on the floor. I immediately decided to take it. Spending two more sleepless nights in that cramped room with all that snoring right next to me was out of question. 

I went to Deepak and brought my bigger rucksack to move into this hotel. There was no other guest in the hotel. They insisted on foot massage. I refused steadfastly. At Deepak someone was hawking hot water and foot massage down the corridor like one was in a suburban electric train. Once again I made myself endless cups of tea.

While I stayed at Holiday Inn I had my dinner at Deepak with the others. I was a lot more fresh the next morning when we started the slow climb to Hemkund. 

Day 3 - Ghangria to Hemkund and Back

Snapshot - Total walk - 6.5 km either way. Five hours to go up. A very back breaking steep climb up well laid out, wide path with lots of tea stops. Full of wild flowers and even a glacier. 

Here is a map of the one-way walk to Hemkund

 

The tenth Shikh guru, Guru Govind Singh had written about one of his previous incarnations when he spent his life meditating in the Himalayas. He described the place in detail and it is written down in the Granth Sahib. About 100 years ago a Sikh devotee went in search of the place and finally found this spot that he thought matched the description of Guru Govind Singh. A Gurudwara was built and it is now the famous Hemkund Sahib. The world's highest Gurudwara at more than 14000 feet.

The road is wide like on day 1 but a lot steeper. Mules are allowed on this pilgrimage trail. I saw many families including youngsters a third my age going on mules. I kept a slow but steady pace and kept walking. This side of the mountain also has lots of wild flowers. I was hoping that I would be able to see the Brahma Kamal and some Blue Poppies. Contrary to what I knew, Brahma Kamals are not found in the VoF because they don't bloom below 14000 feet or so. I was told it was too early to see Brahma Kamals. Mid August is the right time to see them, particularly around the lake.

And sure enough, we didn't get to see any Brahma Kamal. I guess I have to come here again. I did see some Blue Poppies on this trail. But the main highlight of this walk is the sight of a glacier by the side of the road from where a stream flows out. You can see the ice melting in droplets and becoming the fast flowing stream. 

There are many tea stalls along the way. I drank some tea at Rs 30 for a cup and kept walking. I met an elederly gentleman. He is 71 he said. Radhe Shyam Soori from Dehradun. He had retired about 11 years ago from a PSU bank. He was walking in ordinary trousers and a shirt. Like a standard office wear in India. He had ordinary sneakers on. He said his companions including two in their twenties have gone ahead on mules. I soon realised that he knew Bengali. It was amazing, given that he has never lived in Bengal. He learnt it from his neighbour who he seemed to have a lot of respect for. One Dr Raha who was one of the directors at Anthropological Survey of India in Dehradun. 

I told him that I knew lots of third generations non-Bengalis living in Calcutta who don't know a word of Bengali. He laughed at it. 

The Gurudwara in Hemkund can look rather underwhelming. It looks like a lotus of sorts with tin roof. It's right on the bank of a small glacial lake - the Kund. I could see glacial ice all around the lake (in the plains we would call it a largish pond). It was quite cold though not freezing. I found two sardars taking a dip in that glacial water. One of our fellow trekkers, young Shubham Baroi from Andaman was very keen to take one too. But he had not brought any towel. So he went in upto the knees only and quickly came out. 

It was raining most of the time during our hour-long stay there. I took a little khichdi from the langar. It was delicious. They also serve an extremely sweet tea. After spending about an hour or so I started my slow decent down the trail and reached Ghangria in decent time. There was no pain whatsoever in my knees.

The only negative thing about this walk was the use of microphone and loudspeakers at the Gurudwara. They were singing devotional songs that was audible throughout the walk. When one uses loudspeakers in such a serene surrounding devotional feeling is totally lost. But in India we love to make noise. 

Day 4 - Ghangria to Pulna and Farther On

We started our final day's walk early. We were to start by 6. I could hardly sleep as they required us to come for breakfast at 5.30 am. This meant I would need to pack up and be ready by 5.15 am. This in turn meant I would need to start packing by 4.30. Packing the sleeping bag seemed like an intimidating thought. To make matters worse the power went off in the middle of the night to never come back.

My cycling torch came in handy here. It gave me a room full of light for half an hour without a blink. I think it goes on for 2 hours. I had bought a candle in Govindghat but that turned out to be useless, as the light was very little. These are prayer candles and not meant for any practical utility. 

But I packed everything on time and reached Deepak. As usual, we never started at 6 but well after 6.40 or so. The trek down the valley was done in heavy rain. We stopped at a few places. Had tea twice. We reached Pulna and came to Govindghat by jeep.

From Govindghat we boarded the bus to go straight to Rishikesh. It was already well past 12 in the afternoon. Normally TTH takes its trekkers from here to Pipalkoti and then to Rishikesh the next day. As we lost a day in reaching Ghangria we decided to complete this two-day journey in one day.

However, we had a small problem. The road beyond Pipalkoti had a major lanslide zone and we would require to make a long detour of 100 km via Chopta as this section was going to take about a week to repair. This detour road is quite narrow but beautiful. Goes through lovely villages with terraced fields. They were looking beautiful with the soft light of the setting sun. 

Taken off the moving bus

Soon we drove into a massive traffic jam. Too many large buses with pilgrims on both sides caused the jam because it was really a narrow road that cannot accomodate such large buses. The administration was nowhere in sight in that forest. The drivers took turns to untangle the jam. It took about an hour and a half to clear that spot and come out into the empty road. It was already dark and we had 5/6 hours more of driving left to reach Rishikesh. 

On the way two sets of drama happened. A few of our fellow trekkers got very scared by the fast driving of our drivers. They complained to the TTH head office. The drivers got rebuked by their bosses and started driving very very slowly.

I have ridden thousands of kilometers in the Himalayas including in Nepal and Bhutan. I have personally driven in the Himalayas too - in India and Bhutan. And I am a very cautious and careful driver. While I wouldn't drive like these boys were doing, I didn't think they were driving dangerously. Of course I also told the driver to take it easy but complaining straight to the bosses is a little unfair. It is also true that I have travelled for thousands of kilometers in different parts of the Himalayas by bus and am quite inert. 

I think the drivers in the plains drive a lot more recklessly than the mountain drivers. But newbies to these roads wouldn't understand these nuances in driving.

The next set of drama happened when it started raining very heavily. This was around midnight. The two buses pulled up under the canopy of a closed petrol pump. Several fellow trekkers, I found were too scared to move forward in that inclement weather. The drivers also started saying there were a few landslide zones and were reluctant to drive in the darkness. I guess they wanted to take a nap, which is a reasonable need. In fact a sleepy driver is a very dangerous thing anywhere.

After much back and forth discussions and some frayed tempers it was decided that we would stop near a hotel and start early morning. All the passengers in our bus were willing to move forward. The other bus had everyone voting for a halt for the night. 

A few went and checked into the hotel. I thought it would be stupid to rent a room for 3/4 hours only @ Rs 1200. I slept on the floor of the parking lot of the hotel. It seemed a perfectly nice and well paved place for me to sleep. I have absolutely no qualms about such improvisations. 

I was a little upset with the timidity of some of my fellow trekkers. I later realised that they were mostly not only novices in terms of trekking, many were seeing Himalayas for the first time. They are from the drier regions of the country and have never even seen a proper rain. So naturally they got frightened. It is my mistake that I chose such a beginners' trek. Obviously my fellow trekkers in such a trek would be beginners.

Ironically enough the rains stopped when we decided to stop. And throughout the night we saw many vehicles plying in both directions. Going and coming to and from the so called landslide zone. 

Next morning we started again at around five-ish. We reached Rishikesh at seven or so. I spent the day sleeping in a hotel next to the TTH office and came home the next day by plane. I was originally booked in a train after two days. I cancelled it and booked a flight to Calcutta via Delhi.

So there ends my story. Now is the time to plan for the next trek. 

Planning for Valley of Flowers

I finally pulled the trigger on a trek. Just booked a train ticket to Haridwar followed by a slot with Trek The Himalaya for a Valley of Flowers trek. The journey from Calcutta starts on 18th July by Upasana Express (AC 2 tier) at 1 pm. I reach Haridwar on 19th July after a 26-hour journey. I stay for that day in Haridwar - a city I went with my parents back in 1976 and have fond memories of. Next day I go to Rishikesh and spend the day seeing the town around. Next morning, that is, on 21st July our journey starts at 6 am.

Day one is spent entirely on the road going from Rishikesh to Pipalkoti. I am told it's a 9-hour drive. Next day is a mix of drive and trek to Ghangria. The actual trek happens the day after. It's a day trip to the Valley of Flowers and back. Next day is again a day trip to Hemkund Sahib - a famous Sikh Gurudwara. The next day one comes back to Pipalkot (trek and drive) followed by the return to Rishikesh. I am yet to book the return ticket. 

My next priority will be to book the hotels in Haridwar and Rishikesh. For Rishikesh I will ask the trek cooridnator Ajay 7351523841. For Haridwar I am keen to stay at Jaipuria Dharmasala. That is where we had stayed in 1976. I remember it as being very neat and clean with excellent simple vegetarian food. It is right on the river bank with a railing around the private ghat of the hotel to take bath in the river. Haridwar incidentally is a vegetarian city. I am looking forward to its malai. Have to find out some traditional shop for them, like Pagla of Benares.

I think I first heard about Valley of Flowers trek while going to Langtang Lirung in mid 80s. Back then Pindari, VoF and Har ki Doon were popular treks for newbies. In 1998 Monisha and I went to Pindari but the other two remained elusive. 

In February this year I had gone to North Bengal bird festival and happened to hike to Rovers Point from Lepchakha. It's a short but steep hike that took us about an hour or so to cover. While coming down I had excruciating pain on the outside of my right knee. It took me double the time, if not more, to just walk down to Lepchakha. This is the same pain that had affected me during my cycling trip to Darjeeling. 

Of course I was out of practice for a long time and was dehydrated, which perhaps exacerbated the problem. After coming back I have been working on my legs on and off but also wanted to go for a short trek to check out my knees. But this is high monsoon and walking in eastern Himalaya is fraught with the dangers of heavy rain. So VoF seemed like a good choice. Rain here is also a threat but monsoon is the only time for VoF in any case. So I chose it. I am not going to take my long lens. Just the short lenses and the GoPro.

The fact that VoF is now in the UN World Heritage sites list (under the natural category) also helped me pull the trigger. I am very interested to tick off all the sites from that list. Among the natural sites I have only Great Himalayan National Park and this left. The others in the list that I have been to are Sunderbans, Kaziranga, Manas, Keoladeo and Western Ghats. The GHNP can be covered in a trek to Pin Vaba trek. Let me see how the knees behave.

I will now make a list of items to take for the trek.

Upper 

UA t-shirt - 1

Lee full sleeve - 1

Columbia Silver Ridge - 1

Bobby's black full sleeve - 1

Max spare t-shirt - 1

Lower

Blue Kappa - 1

Marmot - 1

Levi's brown corduroy - 1

Grey Slazenger - 1

Warm Garments

Blue Columbia upper inner

Columbia lower

Babusona jacket

Marmot jacket

Columbia rainpants black

Rain jacket (either Chenka's or buy from Columbia)

Accessories

Army cap

Rab buff

Gloves - outer and inner

Sandals Benetton

Inner Garments

Technical wool socks

Teco woolen

Normal sports socks - 5 pair

Briefs - 5

Vest - 3

Toileteries

Soap

Tooth paste and brush

Electric razor

Toilet paper - 1 roll

Vaseline/Nivea - 1

Medicines

Medical kit 

Electral - 10 packets

Electronics

Mobile phone

Charger with both cable types

Power bank

Torch

Watch

Ear phones

GoPro

Canon R7 with macro and normal lens

Equipment

Sleeping bag

Sleeping bag liner

Walking stick

North Face bag

Deuter red bag

Salewa Boots

My final packing list

Sunday, 9th July, 2023

I had almost given up the idea of going to the VoF trek. First there is this constant threat of monsoon and road blocks. Then there is Raja's daughter's birthday celebrations. I wasn't too enthusiastic about joining the trek. I had not even booked the return ticket. I think somewhere on the back of my mind that cloud burst accident is also playing its part. So many people died in that catastrophe. 

Finally yesterday I called up the trek coordinator about cancellation. He said if you want you can always cancel after paying the charges as per our policy (they'd give an 80 per cent voucher for some other trek), but road blocks are not there. All groups are going fine. He also asked me to join the whatsapp group.

After this talk I felt good and joined the wa group. I somehow felt connected and the urge to go got revived. Soon I booked the return ticket. I got confirmed booking only on 29th July. This means I will be reaching Calcutta on 31st July. Will be quite an ordeal to travel for 32 hours by train. Let's see. 

There are a few Bengalis in the group. One of them is a lady Shilpi Chowdhury. It was funny that initially she thought I was way junior to her. I don't know what made her think so. Because I don't have any profile picture of my own in my wa id. It's my mother's face there now. I did it after she expired on 9th May. 

There is another Bengali boy from Andaman. Two more guys are there but they are possibly from Tripura. Not that I always look out for Bengalis in such groups. I much prefer the Bangaloreans or Bombayites. 

Meanwhile, I bought the Columbia raincoat off Amazon, using vouchers. I have no idea how effective it is. Mampu's Marmot I found fits me quite fine. I am in two minds which one to take along. However, I have to check how well it will fit me once I wear the hiking layers. 

I am working on my leg strength and hoping that things will be fine. I am particularly working on the glutes and they have indeed responded positively so far. I have even started doing pistol squats. Not that I can do them perfectly but I am trying. I am sure if I keep at it I should be able to do it perfectly in a month or so. Of course it requires strength but it is more about balance than strength. 

I so wanted to buy the Eric Shipton book on Nanda Devi but it is prohibitively expensive. More than a thousand bucks. Absence of a good, easily accessible public library in our country makes it so difficult and expensive for us. Even the trade of second hand books is in the hands of the unorganised sector.. Very sad. 

July 30, 2023

I am back from a successful completion of the trek. We came down to Rishikesh on 27th morning. On 28th I took a flight to Calcutta from Dehradun and reached the city in the wee hours of 29th. I had cancelled the train ticket. Because otherwise it would involve staying there for two more days and then two more nights in train. In fact I would've reached tomorrow morning. 

I shall be writing a seperate blog about the trek and give the link here.

At Hemkund Sahib. 25th July, 2023