ABOVE THE CLOUDS, BELOW THE LAND
(The Travelogue of INMANTEC Adventure club trip to Uttarkashi & Trek of Nachiketa Tal, 15th – 18th August 2008 )
This travelogue has been written by Ritesh Khanna & edited by me. All the photographs are clicked by me. Though its written by Ritesh, yet I refers to ME as he wrote it on my behalf.
It is 2:00 A. M. and I can't resist myself from penning down this travelogue for the sake of adventure, thrills and excitement that were the trademark of this trip. The trip was completely impromptu for all the other three except me & Manu and one could fathom that from the fact that one wasn't sure about the destination is an epitome of it. Well the whole nation had an extended weekend, thanks to 15th august and a travelling enthusiast like me couldn't have waited for a better opportunity to make it memorable.
I had read a travelogue of 'NACHIKETA TAL' and it would have been a complete lie if I said the trekking experience and the photographs of this heavenly isolated place didn't exhilarate me to the limit. I decided the moment only that 'NACHIKETA' wasn't far away. I discussed with 'MANU' and left the workload of extracting true travelling enthusiasts from his college hierarchy. He didn't disappoint me. Manu narrated his friends- Akash(92kg),Varun(82kg) and Ritesh(78kg), his unforgettable tour to 'Ladakh and Leh'. Why I am emphasizing their weight will be revealed later for it bore great significance to the tourney. Manu's convincing power instigated exhortation in them to have a journey with me whom Manu described as sharp troubleshooter who could easily bail out from bizarre situations. OK. . Enough bragging, lets not pervert ourselves and quickly get back to the business….
DAY-1. . . OOPS DAY-ZERO (15th AUG)
It was planned that that the battalion to conquer Nachiketa Tal would leave their respective hostels at 1:00 p. m. and would reach my home around 6:00 p. m. after some shopping for the journey. Thanks once again to the prestigious national holiday and the car fleets combined with the thunderous rainfall, Manu and his colleagues intruded my house in Ghaziabad at 11:00. I was aghast to see these burly 'Homo Sapiens' for I considered Manu to be the heaviest of the person I had known. They were completely drenched with water and their physical condition did suggest that we won't be able to start the journey on the day itself. The first plan had gone woefully wrong. Moreover the monsoon season didn't provide a viable option to go via bike. So it was left onto my esteemed 'ALTO' to do the honor. The bag carrying their clothes and utility items was brimmed with rainwater and had to be left behind. They were rendered complete destitute and I did manage a sarcastic laugh at their pathetic state.
My Drawing room looks a Dhobhi Ghaat :
Testing of newly bought sleeping bags :
The clock chimed 4 and everyone sprang upto their feet. As we had a long day ahead of us for the journey to Uttar kashi is no less than twelve hours . I poured myself a hot tes and then the journey to heavenly land began. The breakfast had been planned at my village FALODA. Instead of following the national highway ,i diverted to `NAHAR KI PATRI` and the zephyr combine with melodious song had all of us enliven. The boys were a bit circumspect in beginning and concealed their thoughts. The beutiful terrain and the peace loving animals did provide some lively pictures to my camera. We reached my village at 7:30 & the 'Paranthas' with butter added ignition to our spirit enroute to the wonderland.
Our pet gave birth to 3 a week back, one of them laying with her :
We bid goodbye & started our journey again. The boys adjusted themselves somehow & were laden with bags & would frequently complain of legs being cramped up & body aches (spare my ALTO for it isn't supposed to carry 380+ weight). Slowly & steadily we crossed Haridwar & entered Rishikesh where THE HIMALAYAS & the clean blue sky, unlike Delhi greeted us & the beautiful sight had all of us down to our knees.
Har - Ki - Pauri looked crowded, so didnt go there:
A beautiful temple between Haridwar & Rishikesh :
The Road from Rishikesh towards Uttarkashi :
My small car showed tremendous guts in empowering steep curves & negotiating hair pin curves that were to be recurring phenomenon in the mountains. The out of world Flora & Fauna didn't give my camera any breathtaking space. Soon we entered the dark clouds that had appeared so distant and the visibility reduced to a few metre & one could feel their hands moist out of car window.
Views of Clouds & mist :
And the Road we traversed :
I once again brought the car to an abrupt halt close to a squirt waterfall & the quadruple posed for some cool pics. I couldn't resist myself admiring the nature's beauty.
Love making in wild :
Few more clicks :
The car roared back again to the road. The two vertical coinciding hands on my clock announced mid-day but the pleasant weather and the dark clouds didn't give a slightest hint . Next we stopped at 'CHAMBA' in Uttarakhand & after some heavy lunch & enquiring about the route to Uttarkashi, we again started our journey. Unfortunately, we took the wrong route, it did waste our precious 2 hours and most importantly our plan to go trekking on the same day had been reduced to shambles. I didn't make an issue of it for it would have dampened the DCEites spirit. The journey continued. . . . . & soon we started travelling along the mighty “TEHRI” … The views were very picturesque and the partial cloudy weather with sunlight at few places added to the flavour.
The clicks enroute
We reached 'Devidhar' at 6 in evening. Everything was going pleasant. So far everyone (the locals) had been ambivalent about the route to 'CHAURANGI KHAL'(the starting point of trek). Some locals guided that there were 2 routes to the starting junction-one directly from 'Devidhar' to 'Chaurangi khal'(42km) and other via Uttarkashi(65km). Obviously we followed the shorter route, en route to our destination. There a student demanded lift to his village. Hats off to my bonhomie(blushing) I offered him one. He somehow adjusted himself inside the car. The car crept upwards. Just when it seemed it had been smooth sailing tragedy struck. The ground clearance of mine car is already low, and the over weights further narrowed it down, a small boulder hit the bulls eye underneath (gear box). The car got struck in 1st gear. I couldn't help myself cursing the boy (or myself). It was a moonless night & we were struck in midst of a narrow road & the frightening sounds of wild forest animals didn't help the cause either. The boy offered a solution that there waz a mechanic in his village which was still 10km away. Caught in no man land I was left with little option other than pay heed to the little one.
The condition of the road :
The car dragged at a speed of 5-7 kmph avoiding stones and boulders and Manu and his friends always at their feet to jump out and clear the path for it seemed to be never ending 10 kms. Finally we reached there and then another thunderbolt struck us, there was no mechanic in the vicinity of the village and the nearest one was in Uttar Kashi which meant another 45 kms, of which 15 kms one the same bumpy track. Somehow I gathered courage, for we could not have kept ourselves stranded on the road with nothing in sight. The journey to Uttar Kashi started. Everyone was irritated to the limit, but that's what we had came for… adventure. Out of blues a barricade appeared, the police check post at Dunda, it wasn't allowed to move forward after 8. Not only did I bail out of the calamity but also won accolades for troubleshooting skills. Moving at snail's pace we explored the reason Uttarakhand government doesn't allow tourist at night. Varun almost pissed in his pants when he saw a fox and we knew there was a lot in store for us. Instinctively everyone rolled up their windows. The average speed from Devidhar to Uttarkashi turned out to be meager 10kmph. Waking the mechanic at night didn't strike a nice chord but we were with no other alternative. The gushing sound of the Ganges was the only source of sound in the frightening and spooky night. Still the mechanic tried his level-best and ultimately conceded which meant the car had to be cured in the morning. The hotel-hunting began. After spending sometime searching on bumpy roads of the town, we finally did manage to locate a hotel that suited our demands and some negotiations with the hotel manager, we abandoned ourselves to the double bed then search for another basic amenity, food started, I obliged a waiter a hefty tip of Rs 100 by his standards to get the mechanic first thing in the morning. Then our backs aching, bodies cramping, we succumbed under our bodily pressures after eating, something (I still cannot make out. . May be because of Vodka haze or maybe because of what might happen to anybody after driving a vehicle for around 400 kms)… starved, ached, desperate for the adventures. . Next in store for us we slept.
( do not watch it till this weekend, there is nothing new going to come up 
....Screw the trend, set ur own trend and show us something to appreciate
