Yogesh Sarkar
Administrator
At times life brings you to a juncture where you feel lost and feel like something is missing from your life. I do not know what it is or who it is that I am missing; I just know that I am missing something without which my life now seems incomplete and out of sync. Maybe it is something I have lost or maybe it was something that was never mine or it is something that I am yet to come across and experience. I just do not know; I know just one thing, whatever it is, I have to find it, no matter what. For without it my own existence has become a bane for my soul and when that happens, you have to go out in the search of the Unknown.
I did not know what I expected to find at Gangolihat, but I was looking for something that I can neither define nor maybe even begin to understand right now. I hoped that at the Haat Kalika Temple and during the journey itself I would find what I was yearning all this time or at least begin to understand what it is I need to find. Because I am just sure about 4 things right now and while those 4 things are the most important things of my life and enough to keep me occupied for an entire life time and more, I needed to learn more.
Delhi to Gangolihat
I rarely sleep before any trip, so when I did managed to get some sleep before this one; it came as a pleasant surprise. However I only managed to fall asleep at 1:30am and kept waking up every 45mins, until it was 6:30 and I finally left my bed for good. Maybe humidity was behind my restlessness or maybe it was the anxiety or maybe it was something else, whatever it was, I did managed to get at least a little bit of sleep.
A fall in the morning from standing bike in market was enough to leave me with a slightly bruised ego and elbow. Add that to the pain in the right ankle I had been feeling since last night and things just weren’t looking up for the long journey ahead.
After getting ready it was time for me to visit Canon India office in Gurgaon, so that I could pick up charger for Canon G1x Mark II, which I had gotten yesterday evening for review and the box didn't contain any charger and I forgot to check that while taking delivery. This meant that even though I wished to catch 2 or 3 pm bus for Pithoragarh from Anand Vihar, I had to first visit Gurgaon. Surge pricing in Uber and Taxi For Sure driver filling up CNG before the pickup ensured that I could only leave my home after 12:30pm. After promptly picking up charger from Canon India, it was time to take another taxi to Anand Vihar and I managed to arrive at the bus terminal at 3pm.
I had planned to take bus from Anand Vihar to Pithoragarh and then catch a connecting bus or shared taxi to Gangolihat. However I was pleasantly surprised to see direct bus for Gangolihat standing at the bus depot. Sahil Sethi had mentioned about this bus on FB, but I never tried to find its timing as I wanted to go back to Pithoragarh. I took it as a sign and boarded the bus and got the last 2 seats (before the rear bench) all to myself. Sweating like anything, I waited for the bus journey to begin. However it would be another hour before the bus would start and that left me with nothing to do except scroll through Facebook and eat couple of plain parathas my sister had given to me for lunch.
At 4pm, Delhi - Gangolihat bus began its journey and almost immediately I got treated to its bumpy suspension, made all the more worse due to my seat not being completely held down in the rear i.e. each time bus jumped, my seat jumped above the floor, making me jump even higher.
However all that mattered not, completely covered in sweat and not really wanting to listen to any music, I was completely lost in my thoughts. The farther away from Delhi I got, the more lost I seemed to became. Until around 2 and a half hours later, I got a sign I took somewhat positively, only to realize 15 minutes later that I hadn’t fully read it and it at least appeared more positive than I initially thought. Maybe it was just my mind trying to get back on the positive side or maybe really it was a sign that I needed the most at that time; whatever it was, it worked and I came back to the brighter side, even though darkness slowly started to engulf the road ahead and I was still in a world of contemplation. Though that contemplation did lead to a plan for a concept photoshoot for an upcoming trip and I did contemplate a lot about where my life is at this point in time.
I had traveled on the same road last month, when I had visited Kumaon for the first time. However, after Rampur it seemed to have become much worse and at least for a while I was shaken from trance and tried my best to hold on to the seat. At around 11pm, it was time for dinner in Uttarakhand (just before Haldwani) and I had really delicious mixed veg with roti.
After dinner, journey once again began and after Haldwani, bus finally started gaining some altitude. Best thing was that I could see hundreds of lights illuminating Haldwani like it were a firefly nest, while on the mountains directly behind it, lightening illuminated dark clouds and made beautiful silhouettes of the mountains and just to be the cherry on top, clear sky directly overhead with millions of stars made the whole scene look even more divine and magical. While I loved the old songs being played by the driver, I felt Kumauni songs would have made the whole experience even more magical.
The whole night passed with me holding on to my seat and trying to remain firmly planted on it and trying to give enough legroom to my knee, so that it wouldn’t pain too much. I barely slept for half an hour or so, that too early in the morning and I was woken up by aartis being played by the driver, which was then followed up with Kumauni songs and this lovely view.
Driver was driving a bit rash and almost rammed into a Mahindra Max at one of the turns and then while reversing, almost drove rear tyre on my side, into the cliff. For some strange reason, I stayed calm while other passengers got ruffled big time. Maybe I was too lost or just didn’t care or maybe at some level wanted it to happen. Whatever it was, it wasn’t a one off thing. 15-20mins later on another turn, there was a similar situation and the other driver couldn’t control this time and rammed his brand new max into the bus, breaking one of the headlights. After this the driver drove the bus a bit more cautiously and even honked on turns.
As we drove along Sarayu River, views I could see were even better than what I had seen last month, since the river was clearly visible and had beautiful clear water with greenery all around it. This was the only time I missed not traveling in a car or motorcycle, as I couldn’t stop to photograph the beautiful scenery around me.
As we got closer to Gangolihat, bus started filling up to full capacity and road became bad, which meant both my knees were under assault from the back of front seat and by the time we reached Gangolihat, they were paining a bit. Bus did manage to arrive before time i.e. at 10:30am instead of 11:00am, after traveling for close to 17 and a half hour.
After getting off from the bus, I decided to look for accommodation, as I had to take a bath before visiting Mata’s temple. A shopkeeper directed me towards the KMVN Guest House and I got a room there for Rs. 900 a night.
Click here to read next part ->
I did not know what I expected to find at Gangolihat, but I was looking for something that I can neither define nor maybe even begin to understand right now. I hoped that at the Haat Kalika Temple and during the journey itself I would find what I was yearning all this time or at least begin to understand what it is I need to find. Because I am just sure about 4 things right now and while those 4 things are the most important things of my life and enough to keep me occupied for an entire life time and more, I needed to learn more.
Delhi to Gangolihat
I rarely sleep before any trip, so when I did managed to get some sleep before this one; it came as a pleasant surprise. However I only managed to fall asleep at 1:30am and kept waking up every 45mins, until it was 6:30 and I finally left my bed for good. Maybe humidity was behind my restlessness or maybe it was the anxiety or maybe it was something else, whatever it was, I did managed to get at least a little bit of sleep.
A fall in the morning from standing bike in market was enough to leave me with a slightly bruised ego and elbow. Add that to the pain in the right ankle I had been feeling since last night and things just weren’t looking up for the long journey ahead.
After getting ready it was time for me to visit Canon India office in Gurgaon, so that I could pick up charger for Canon G1x Mark II, which I had gotten yesterday evening for review and the box didn't contain any charger and I forgot to check that while taking delivery. This meant that even though I wished to catch 2 or 3 pm bus for Pithoragarh from Anand Vihar, I had to first visit Gurgaon. Surge pricing in Uber and Taxi For Sure driver filling up CNG before the pickup ensured that I could only leave my home after 12:30pm. After promptly picking up charger from Canon India, it was time to take another taxi to Anand Vihar and I managed to arrive at the bus terminal at 3pm.
I had planned to take bus from Anand Vihar to Pithoragarh and then catch a connecting bus or shared taxi to Gangolihat. However I was pleasantly surprised to see direct bus for Gangolihat standing at the bus depot. Sahil Sethi had mentioned about this bus on FB, but I never tried to find its timing as I wanted to go back to Pithoragarh. I took it as a sign and boarded the bus and got the last 2 seats (before the rear bench) all to myself. Sweating like anything, I waited for the bus journey to begin. However it would be another hour before the bus would start and that left me with nothing to do except scroll through Facebook and eat couple of plain parathas my sister had given to me for lunch.
At 4pm, Delhi - Gangolihat bus began its journey and almost immediately I got treated to its bumpy suspension, made all the more worse due to my seat not being completely held down in the rear i.e. each time bus jumped, my seat jumped above the floor, making me jump even higher.
However all that mattered not, completely covered in sweat and not really wanting to listen to any music, I was completely lost in my thoughts. The farther away from Delhi I got, the more lost I seemed to became. Until around 2 and a half hours later, I got a sign I took somewhat positively, only to realize 15 minutes later that I hadn’t fully read it and it at least appeared more positive than I initially thought. Maybe it was just my mind trying to get back on the positive side or maybe really it was a sign that I needed the most at that time; whatever it was, it worked and I came back to the brighter side, even though darkness slowly started to engulf the road ahead and I was still in a world of contemplation. Though that contemplation did lead to a plan for a concept photoshoot for an upcoming trip and I did contemplate a lot about where my life is at this point in time.
I had traveled on the same road last month, when I had visited Kumaon for the first time. However, after Rampur it seemed to have become much worse and at least for a while I was shaken from trance and tried my best to hold on to the seat. At around 11pm, it was time for dinner in Uttarakhand (just before Haldwani) and I had really delicious mixed veg with roti.
After dinner, journey once again began and after Haldwani, bus finally started gaining some altitude. Best thing was that I could see hundreds of lights illuminating Haldwani like it were a firefly nest, while on the mountains directly behind it, lightening illuminated dark clouds and made beautiful silhouettes of the mountains and just to be the cherry on top, clear sky directly overhead with millions of stars made the whole scene look even more divine and magical. While I loved the old songs being played by the driver, I felt Kumauni songs would have made the whole experience even more magical.
The whole night passed with me holding on to my seat and trying to remain firmly planted on it and trying to give enough legroom to my knee, so that it wouldn’t pain too much. I barely slept for half an hour or so, that too early in the morning and I was woken up by aartis being played by the driver, which was then followed up with Kumauni songs and this lovely view.
Driver was driving a bit rash and almost rammed into a Mahindra Max at one of the turns and then while reversing, almost drove rear tyre on my side, into the cliff. For some strange reason, I stayed calm while other passengers got ruffled big time. Maybe I was too lost or just didn’t care or maybe at some level wanted it to happen. Whatever it was, it wasn’t a one off thing. 15-20mins later on another turn, there was a similar situation and the other driver couldn’t control this time and rammed his brand new max into the bus, breaking one of the headlights. After this the driver drove the bus a bit more cautiously and even honked on turns.
As we drove along Sarayu River, views I could see were even better than what I had seen last month, since the river was clearly visible and had beautiful clear water with greenery all around it. This was the only time I missed not traveling in a car or motorcycle, as I couldn’t stop to photograph the beautiful scenery around me.
As we got closer to Gangolihat, bus started filling up to full capacity and road became bad, which meant both my knees were under assault from the back of front seat and by the time we reached Gangolihat, they were paining a bit. Bus did manage to arrive before time i.e. at 10:30am instead of 11:00am, after traveling for close to 17 and a half hour.
After getting off from the bus, I decided to look for accommodation, as I had to take a bath before visiting Mata’s temple. A shopkeeper directed me towards the KMVN Guest House and I got a room there for Rs. 900 a night.
Click here to read next part ->
Last edited:
waiting for more stories and captures 
