Yogesh Sarkar
Administrator
Life is funny and at times conclusion you arrive at, seem to be final and finally gives you the peace and determination needed to go through it. However God has something else planned for you and by each passing moment he grows the seed of doubt in your heart, diverts you from your path and finally takes you on the path where you always intended to go, where he wants you to go and no matter how close you come to what the God didn’t want you to do, you can never do what he didn’t want, because he needs his fools to act certain way, just like the fools needs him to act certain way.
My supposed plan for this trip was pretty simple and straightforward, visit Khalia Top near Munsiyari and for that I intended to board 4:30pm bus from Anand Vihar and thus I booked my cab at around 2:40pm. However it wasn’t until around 3:15pm that the taxi finally arrived with a driver, who seemed quite angry at just about everything. I knew this was going to be pretty close, since I had seen Munsiyari bus leave at 4:15pm once and I didn’t want to miss it.
Chatting with the cab driver for a while revealed that he was from Uttarakhand as well, a village in plains before Nanital. We chatted for a while, I even gave him recommendation for couple of places he could visit in Uttarakhand, since apart from Mumbai, he hadn’t really traveled anywhere else. He too was worried that I was going to miss the bus, so he drove a little faster than usual. However we only managed to reach Anand Vihar at 4:15pm.
I quickly got into the bus terminal and sure enough, bus meant for Munsiyari was missing. So I decided to board bus meant for Dharchula and try and catch Munsiyari bus at Haldwani. No window seat and sitting in the end, I knew this journey wasn’t going to be comfortable and neither will it give me much time for contemplation, since I needed to look out of window for that.
10 minutes later we were on our way and once we entered UP, we got stuck in a massive traffic jam. Heat and humidity was killing me and as minutes turned to hours, I actually contemplated getting off the bus and heading back home. Feeling God didn’t really want me to go on this journey, for I had not only missed my bus, but I was also stuck in an unusually long traffic jam. But I didn’t do it; I stuck to my guns, drenched completely with sweat.
The first toll after crossing Ghaziabad normally comes in after 30-60mins, however today it took us over four and a half hours to reach that toll booth. By the time we reached that dreaded Shivam Tourist Dhaba, I was exhausted and hungry, bus for Munsiyari wasn’t there. Something didn’t seem right, considering it only left 20-30mins ahead of us and shouldn’t have left so early from here, but I still hope to catch it in Haldwani, although conductor wasn’t really sure about that.
Then we hit another traffic jam, followed by diversion near Ramnagar and driver took God knows which route to Haldwani, however it wasn’t until 2:30am that I reached Haldwani, 10 hours after I had started from Delhi, a journey which normally takes 7 hours.
Munsiyari bus wasn’t there, not many options seemed to be present and as the few buses left thee too started to leave one by one, including bus to Dharchula, I looked at God for guidance. For I was now completely lost with my brain seemed to have gone in sleep mode.
One of the buses left standing at bus station was the bus to Dharamdhar, which stopped at Bageshwar and it was the same bus I had seen while heading Nachani and had decided to take the bus to Nachani at that time. Seemed like that it was now time to take this bus so I boarded it soon after that I almost fell asleep, only to wake up before Almora, with bus pulling in for tea with this amazing view of Kumaon. All I could think was, “Oh God, how can I not be in love with what you do?”
After tea it was time to head to Almora and this bus took a different route than the buses I had taken earlier and went straight through Almora town. Since it was Independence Day, we got stuck in another traffic jam.
This gave me a lot of time to think about things and by the time we left Almora town, things were getting clearer and clearer and while landscape I was now seeing was something I hadn’t seen earlier, however I wasn’t really as much interested in looking at it, as I was being lost in my thoughts and writing them down.
Before Bageshwar bus stopped for tea and I finally had something to eat, a paratha and tea cooked over wooden fire, fantastic!
By around 11 I was in Bageshwar, not sure what to do next and with data not working, I called my sister and asked her to check whether Bageshwar Temple or Baijnath Temple was older and she told me it was Baijnath. With a mini bus for Baijnath leaving in a few minutes, I decided to cover Bageshwar Temple next morning and headed towards Baijnath.
Route between Bageshwar and Baijnath was absolutely brilliant and I fell so much in love with it that I decided to cover at least a part of it on foot tomorrow.
Around 12:30 I was in Baijnath, a place I hadn’t even thought about visiting yesterday and here I was standing there, taking my shoes off and getting ready to photograph the temples there, cursing myself for not bringing my Tokina UWA lens.
While the rocky floor of the temple complex burnt my feet, it was an amazing experience exploring the temples in the complex, plus I got a guide as well, who explained things to me in detail, so it was an added advantage.
An hour later I headed towards the KMVN Rest House located around a kilometer from the temple complex and got a deluxe room there for Rs. 850 a night.
I was now in a way completely at peace with clarity to boot and after half an hour or so I got a call from Neha and KP and in the end I was asked to report back to Delhi. There are certain people in our life that we can never say no to, so less than an hour after checking into KMVN Baijnath, I checked out and took a local bus to Garud, from where I was hoping to find a shared taxi for Haldwani.
Unfortunately I got off at the starting off the town, hence had to walk quite a bit to reach the main market, where taxis were standing. I found one which was going to Almora and would then arrange for a connecting one to Haldwani. I told him to keep a seat for me, walked a little bit ahead to withdraw money from ATM and to buy a Fruti, which was going to be my lunch.
After hour and a half, taxi finally started from Garud, I was sitting in the middle of middle row of that shared Sumo, with 3 more people sharing the same seat. After a while, ladies sitting alongside me started puking and while the guy sitting next to me frowned and cursed his luck for traveling in same vehicle as ladies. I couldn’t help but admire the strength of women.
For the lady sitting right next to me was traveling with her two sons, who were really naughty and yet she was managing it all, knowing fully well her health was going to deteriorate once the taxi started and even then, she kept looking back to see whether her sons were alright.
At one point one of her son puked on the rear seat while the little one was handed over to her, for there was no space in the rear. So she had to not only managed a 3 year old sitting in her lap, continuously trying to fall asleep in a twisting and turning taxi, full of people. She was also really sick and kept on puking, trying her best to balance her son, who was no asleep between her legs with part of his head on my thigh.
It is at times like these that one comes to realize how easy and comfortable our lives are, in comparison to what others have to go through, especially mothers to keep their children happen and safe.
The whole drive was a mix of thoughts and emotions, for a person who never really used to like kids much, things seemed to have turned a chapter and kids now appeared cute and innocent, no matter what annoying thing they were doing. Of course I felt bad for the lady and her sons and also guilty for I guess taking up a lot of space in the middle row due to my size.
In any case, couple of hours later we reached Almora and from there, 3 of us guys from the same taxi took a connecting shared taxi from there to Haldwani. This drive was a lot easier, since there were just 4 sharing a sumo for most part and I managed to reach Haldwani around 9pm. En route picked up some Mithai for home and friends, had a small bag of kurkure and fruti, which turned out to be my dinner!
Once there I could spot the same bus to Dharchula I had taken to come to Haldwani, but I was now in mood for some luxury and hence decided to opt for AC Volvo from Haldwani to Delhi. Once inside I felt strangely out of place. I hadn’t taken a shower or changed cloths, I was full of dirt and sweat, sitting in an AC bus with comfortable seats and it just felt all too alien and disconnected. Applied a bit of deo as courtesy for whomever unfortunate soul was going to share seat with me.
En route we just stopped once and while the drive was comfortable in comparison to normal roadways bus, I didn’t really enjoy it that much. After reaching Delhi I took an auto to reach home and arrived there around 6:30am. Having arrived home after 39 and a half hours, during the course of which I had used 1 Uber taxi, 1 auto rickshaw, 2 shared taxis and 5 buses!
A journey where God had taken me where he wished to take me and changed my decision completely, one which I was so much at peace with, less 40 hours earlier!
My supposed plan for this trip was pretty simple and straightforward, visit Khalia Top near Munsiyari and for that I intended to board 4:30pm bus from Anand Vihar and thus I booked my cab at around 2:40pm. However it wasn’t until around 3:15pm that the taxi finally arrived with a driver, who seemed quite angry at just about everything. I knew this was going to be pretty close, since I had seen Munsiyari bus leave at 4:15pm once and I didn’t want to miss it.
Chatting with the cab driver for a while revealed that he was from Uttarakhand as well, a village in plains before Nanital. We chatted for a while, I even gave him recommendation for couple of places he could visit in Uttarakhand, since apart from Mumbai, he hadn’t really traveled anywhere else. He too was worried that I was going to miss the bus, so he drove a little faster than usual. However we only managed to reach Anand Vihar at 4:15pm.
I quickly got into the bus terminal and sure enough, bus meant for Munsiyari was missing. So I decided to board bus meant for Dharchula and try and catch Munsiyari bus at Haldwani. No window seat and sitting in the end, I knew this journey wasn’t going to be comfortable and neither will it give me much time for contemplation, since I needed to look out of window for that.
10 minutes later we were on our way and once we entered UP, we got stuck in a massive traffic jam. Heat and humidity was killing me and as minutes turned to hours, I actually contemplated getting off the bus and heading back home. Feeling God didn’t really want me to go on this journey, for I had not only missed my bus, but I was also stuck in an unusually long traffic jam. But I didn’t do it; I stuck to my guns, drenched completely with sweat.
The first toll after crossing Ghaziabad normally comes in after 30-60mins, however today it took us over four and a half hours to reach that toll booth. By the time we reached that dreaded Shivam Tourist Dhaba, I was exhausted and hungry, bus for Munsiyari wasn’t there. Something didn’t seem right, considering it only left 20-30mins ahead of us and shouldn’t have left so early from here, but I still hope to catch it in Haldwani, although conductor wasn’t really sure about that.
Then we hit another traffic jam, followed by diversion near Ramnagar and driver took God knows which route to Haldwani, however it wasn’t until 2:30am that I reached Haldwani, 10 hours after I had started from Delhi, a journey which normally takes 7 hours.
Munsiyari bus wasn’t there, not many options seemed to be present and as the few buses left thee too started to leave one by one, including bus to Dharchula, I looked at God for guidance. For I was now completely lost with my brain seemed to have gone in sleep mode.
One of the buses left standing at bus station was the bus to Dharamdhar, which stopped at Bageshwar and it was the same bus I had seen while heading Nachani and had decided to take the bus to Nachani at that time. Seemed like that it was now time to take this bus so I boarded it soon after that I almost fell asleep, only to wake up before Almora, with bus pulling in for tea with this amazing view of Kumaon. All I could think was, “Oh God, how can I not be in love with what you do?”
After tea it was time to head to Almora and this bus took a different route than the buses I had taken earlier and went straight through Almora town. Since it was Independence Day, we got stuck in another traffic jam.
This gave me a lot of time to think about things and by the time we left Almora town, things were getting clearer and clearer and while landscape I was now seeing was something I hadn’t seen earlier, however I wasn’t really as much interested in looking at it, as I was being lost in my thoughts and writing them down.
Before Bageshwar bus stopped for tea and I finally had something to eat, a paratha and tea cooked over wooden fire, fantastic!
By around 11 I was in Bageshwar, not sure what to do next and with data not working, I called my sister and asked her to check whether Bageshwar Temple or Baijnath Temple was older and she told me it was Baijnath. With a mini bus for Baijnath leaving in a few minutes, I decided to cover Bageshwar Temple next morning and headed towards Baijnath.
Route between Bageshwar and Baijnath was absolutely brilliant and I fell so much in love with it that I decided to cover at least a part of it on foot tomorrow.
Around 12:30 I was in Baijnath, a place I hadn’t even thought about visiting yesterday and here I was standing there, taking my shoes off and getting ready to photograph the temples there, cursing myself for not bringing my Tokina UWA lens.
While the rocky floor of the temple complex burnt my feet, it was an amazing experience exploring the temples in the complex, plus I got a guide as well, who explained things to me in detail, so it was an added advantage.
An hour later I headed towards the KMVN Rest House located around a kilometer from the temple complex and got a deluxe room there for Rs. 850 a night.
I was now in a way completely at peace with clarity to boot and after half an hour or so I got a call from Neha and KP and in the end I was asked to report back to Delhi. There are certain people in our life that we can never say no to, so less than an hour after checking into KMVN Baijnath, I checked out and took a local bus to Garud, from where I was hoping to find a shared taxi for Haldwani.
Unfortunately I got off at the starting off the town, hence had to walk quite a bit to reach the main market, where taxis were standing. I found one which was going to Almora and would then arrange for a connecting one to Haldwani. I told him to keep a seat for me, walked a little bit ahead to withdraw money from ATM and to buy a Fruti, which was going to be my lunch.
After hour and a half, taxi finally started from Garud, I was sitting in the middle of middle row of that shared Sumo, with 3 more people sharing the same seat. After a while, ladies sitting alongside me started puking and while the guy sitting next to me frowned and cursed his luck for traveling in same vehicle as ladies. I couldn’t help but admire the strength of women.
For the lady sitting right next to me was traveling with her two sons, who were really naughty and yet she was managing it all, knowing fully well her health was going to deteriorate once the taxi started and even then, she kept looking back to see whether her sons were alright.
At one point one of her son puked on the rear seat while the little one was handed over to her, for there was no space in the rear. So she had to not only managed a 3 year old sitting in her lap, continuously trying to fall asleep in a twisting and turning taxi, full of people. She was also really sick and kept on puking, trying her best to balance her son, who was no asleep between her legs with part of his head on my thigh.
It is at times like these that one comes to realize how easy and comfortable our lives are, in comparison to what others have to go through, especially mothers to keep their children happen and safe.
The whole drive was a mix of thoughts and emotions, for a person who never really used to like kids much, things seemed to have turned a chapter and kids now appeared cute and innocent, no matter what annoying thing they were doing. Of course I felt bad for the lady and her sons and also guilty for I guess taking up a lot of space in the middle row due to my size.
In any case, couple of hours later we reached Almora and from there, 3 of us guys from the same taxi took a connecting shared taxi from there to Haldwani. This drive was a lot easier, since there were just 4 sharing a sumo for most part and I managed to reach Haldwani around 9pm. En route picked up some Mithai for home and friends, had a small bag of kurkure and fruti, which turned out to be my dinner!
Once there I could spot the same bus to Dharchula I had taken to come to Haldwani, but I was now in mood for some luxury and hence decided to opt for AC Volvo from Haldwani to Delhi. Once inside I felt strangely out of place. I hadn’t taken a shower or changed cloths, I was full of dirt and sweat, sitting in an AC bus with comfortable seats and it just felt all too alien and disconnected. Applied a bit of deo as courtesy for whomever unfortunate soul was going to share seat with me.
En route we just stopped once and while the drive was comfortable in comparison to normal roadways bus, I didn’t really enjoy it that much. After reaching Delhi I took an auto to reach home and arrived there around 6:30am. Having arrived home after 39 and a half hours, during the course of which I had used 1 Uber taxi, 1 auto rickshaw, 2 shared taxis and 5 buses!
A journey where God had taken me where he wished to take me and changed my decision completely, one which I was so much at peace with, less 40 hours earlier!
