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Lord Shiva...

|| ॐ नमः शिवाय ||

 Kailash mansarovar Yatra

Trekking today is more fun than ever, lots of trekking companies have emerged and grown over a period of time and those secluded places are no longer that secluded. It’s also easier than ever to book a trek now- Online. Trekking is adventure and adventure is what drives us all. Its challenging, its hard, its rough, its risky and its Rewarding: Raw Nature, Big Mountains, Wild rivers, Brisk winds,  Gigantic Glaciers and Clear Sky with long forgotten Stars receive you to their world. To experience Life beyond life’, to feel and to be a part of it, to find that rare peace and solitude, we trek...

If you felt like this on your last trek then you are really fortunate, blessed and special as there aren’t many who feel like you. There was a time when it took great efforts and preparations to plan a trek, it wasn’t that easy and it wasn’t for all. Trekking today is not only mainstream, its business: alluring and enthralling. The good thing; now we can make a career out of it, the thing which we love to do. With ease of bookings and stay, we don’t need to plan anything but pack our bags and with this, comes the rush. Now folks are going there for outing, folks are going there to meet folks, more folks…

So don’t take it for granted, try to earn it and feel those vibrations, energy and divine atmosphere, seek what sages for thousands of years are seeking. Those heavenly vibrations are generating from their great penance and that’s what made Himalaya Divine. Try to enrich them.

Now leave your baggage and feel this world, you definitely want to get acquainted with them, don’t you? They are your friends and guardians here. So free yourself, see and see more, enjoy, get lost and get liberated…

                                                    हर – हर महादेव ।।

 By Gods Grace I had an opportunity to travel to the  holiest place on earth:  Kailash. I craved going there for long. It was the call of a lifetime and had to be answered and finally the wish was granted.

Back then I was doing a somewhat monotonous job that I wanted to quit badly, but couldn't. It was pure helplessness and to get out of this misery I started to travel, somehow mountains appealed me and I was relieved each time I went, and there my desperate soul could find some solitude.                                                                                                        

The sense of peace and calm you feel in mountains is hard to explain; it’s like meditating, just You and Nature and so many things to ask and listen. "Are we different?"  "No you are also part of me… just need some more rambling here…"

Though there are places where you can go on your own but Kailash is different. First for going there from government side (Uttarakhand Route and now the Nathula too) it’s the computerized draw that decides your fate but ultimately it’s the divine call and it’s all that matters.

Some nice morning on Feb.2014, I saw a bulletin in a leading Hindi news channel about Kailash Mansarovar Yatra and decided all at once. All I had to do was to submit an application form along with a photocopy of passport to the Ministry Of External Affairs. On following month I got a mail from MEA about my selection in Batch 17 and had to confirm it by sending a DD of Rs.5000/.

 For a first timer there are good chances of getting selected through a computerized draw. So I was very happy and immediately applied for a month’s leave and started preparing for the Yatra. Though I had been to mountains before but nowhere close to this height and duration. So I started practicing pranayam, running and doing some exercises.

My parents became a little worried at start as I only told them after I got selected but I managed to convince them and was allowed. It’s very important to take blessings of your parents as it guarantees success. I had to report Delhi on Aug.11 and the date of departure was Aug.15. There were all sorts of formalities like medicals, ITBP and MEA briefings in between.

So I left for Delhi on the night of Aug.10 and reached at Gujrati Samaj Sadan, Civil Lines on Aug.11. Here two big size dormitories are reserved for Yatris free of cost including meals. It looks little awkward at start but you begin to enjoy it soon. It’s a two tier arrangement of beds just like AC II, with your luggage placed all over the aisle. Here too, the lower seats (beds) are reserved for senior citizens. When I entered there were already few Yatris so I acquainted with them and surprised to know that some were repeaters; a fellow was a two timer and became more surprised to meet a six timer.

Those were great fellows to know and talk to and certainly a great source of inspiration and motivation. Some Yatris had their own arrangements and preferred to stay on their own and by the evening most of the fellow Yatris had come. One great advantage of staying at Sadan is you don’t have to worry about anything. You will be briefed about the next day’s programs and schedules well in advance and a bus will pick you up in time.

The next day we proceeded for medicals at DHLI. It consisted of various tests like blood Sugar, PFT, ECG, TMT etc. The reports were sent to the ITBP Hospital and we had to report there the next day.

Here a doctor from ITBP examines these reports and clears you normally unless and until someone having some serious health issues. The third and final day is for completing various formalities at MEA, collecting Forex in case you didn’t have it already and some last minutes purchase. Fellows staying at Gujarati Samaz Sadan can get Forex (at a very reasonable rate from SBI), Chinese Currency and MATRIX sim all at the same place.

On evening of day three, everybody is required to come to Gujarati Samaj Sadan as there is an early morning bus to Kathgodam the next day. Some cultural programs were organized for Yatris by Delhi Government and Kits were distributed. It included a rucksack, torch, rain coat and pants, some puja samagri and books so you can avoid bringing torch and rain coat however Rucksack was a bit heavier so you may consider bringing a good one from home.

And finally the day came we were all eagerly waiting for: Aug.15, the day of departure. After a small Puja ceremony we left with the chants of Om Namah Shivay and Har- Har Mahadev at around 7 a.m. It was a brand new Volvo from U.K. Tourism and our plan was to reach Almora via Kathgodam in the evening. The distance was some 340 kms and everybody was super excited. We were surprised to see many welcome ceremonies en route by various organizations and felt really privileged by their hospitality.

The batch 17 was really an exciting mix of people from all walks of life: religious, bankers, yoga masters, classical singers, army personals, nature lovers and boring ones like me. So our 6 hrs in the bus spent like few minutes and by afternoon we reached Kathgodam, the gateway of Kumaon Himalayas.

      

             In the  hills...

Here we were provided food at KMVN Guest House followed by a photo session and surprised to find some local Media Channels who interviewed some of us. From here we split in two groups in two relatively small buses for onwards journey to the narrow Himalayan roads. The road to Bhovali touches Bhimtal and just bypasses the beautiful lake city of Nainital. From Bhovali the famous Kainchi Dham is just 11 km. It’s the Shrine of Baba Shri Neem Karoli who was the ardent devotee of Lord Hanuman and almost all the old Hanuman Mandirs in North India and Hills are built by him.

                                  जय श्री राम , जय हनुमान ।।

We were lucky to have permissions to enter the shrine as it was getting dark and the shrine is usually closed by then. We left KMVN Guest House around 2:30p.m. and it usually takes 1:30 hrs to reach Kainchi but it was monsoon and some landslide in between caused a traffic jam so by the time we reached Kainchi it was 7p.m. It’s a beautiful temple on the banks of a small hilly river and among five shrines one is dedicated to Lord Hanuman. There is also a small Ashram behind this Shrine where you can stay with prior permissions.

Almora was still 50 kms from here and we were supposed to reach there by 7 p.m. but actually reached at around 10:00, so missed the beautiful views in between. We stayed at KMVN Guest House there and its one of the best properties in Almora. We felt especially welcomed as it was a dormitory in Delhi, though everybody was quite happy there but nobody was expecting such a good accommodation actually. We couldn’t explore the property much as by the time we finished our dinner it was 11p.m. and we had to get up early for the next day journey to Dharchula.

                     Deep in the Himalayas...

Its day six since I arrived in Delhi and our today’s destination is Dharchula, a border town in between India and Nepal separated by the mighty Kali River.

It’s still dark and drizzling as we leave our hotel at Almora at 5’o clock, but soon there is Sun rise and we could see the real beauty of this magnificent town.

 I am sitting next to Priyanshu, from Gurgaon, works in a software industry still very young and full of life. We got a little late boarding our buses at the scheduled time at 5 a.m., the reason being the guy from Unnao Mr. Mukesh Gupta. We stayed as the group of 4 (me, Priyanshu, Guptaji and Vivek) at a big room and got up at 4a.m. and were ready by 4:45 but at that time Guptaji had just woken and, in order to attend the nature’s call he needs a Beedi that took another 5 minutes and by the time he was ready, it was ten past five and this made our L.O. (Liaison Officer) frowned.

We missed Guptaji’s company as he is sitting in another bus with Vivek. As the bus departs so does the dark and the hills begin to unfold themselves in a spectacular fashion. Almora is a small hill station in Kumaon region famous for its breathtaking beauty, tea estates and famous temples of Golu Devta and Nanda Devi. We visited the temple of Golu Devta en route to Dharchula. The Temple is very quiet, peaceful, revered and Golu Devta is worshipped all over the region, and is their presiding deity.

The drive from Almora to Dharchula takes almost 11 hrs and almost all 200 kms is through steep mountain roads and after an hour we stopped at a small KMVN facility for breakfast. It was the tastiest breakfast served in our Yatra and Alu Parathas with Dahi and Achar were simply amazing. It took three more hrs to reach Didihat where lunch was served.

In the bus all sorts of conversation is taking place. Mr. Rajneesh from Jammu talks about Joraver Singh, a man from Punjab who at one time was considered as Napoleon of India, conquered Ladakh and most parts of Tibet and lost his life in a battle there. A Cemetery was built in his honor at Taklakot, which we will be visiting after few days.

 One hour later we reached at the ITBP headquarters at Mirthi for the briefings of various aspects of the Yatra. Mirthi is a breathtakingly beautiful place and here at ITBP we had the most amazing Samosas of our lives. The Tea and snacks were too good to ignore and all events were recorded. We had a group photograph and there is also a small Army shop from where you can purchase some quality stuff like hats, raincoats, gloves etc.

We totally enjoyed our journey to Dharchula. The bus is small and driving not more than 30-35km/hr, the roads are narrow and the terrain keeps on changing, and as we reach closer to Dharchula we enter the landslide zone. The roads are barely there and a lot of mud and stones are coming off the hills may be because of construction work that is now going on rapidly in these hills in the name of development. It’s around 6 in the evening when we reached Dharchula and checked in at KMVN facility.

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