March 2017 — Hand-picking treks — planning the extravaganza.
Except for the evergreen peaks of the western ghats, I had never fantasized anything beyond — until Aarabhi proposed a Himalayan trek. Since we were anyway bound to trek the Himalayas, I wanted to up the game by choosing one that was at least moderately difficult. I also wanted to experience snowfall. After browsing through the lists, Pangarchulla Peak trek with ‘Trek The Himalayas’ sounded a great plan. Aarabhi, Aahiri, Nanda, Manasa, and I booked our slots on the 31st of March for the 20th-25th of May Batch (Aarabhi and Aahiri are Manasa's cousins. Nanda is Aarabhi’s friend). And then planning the logistics started, resolved to get the best experience out of our trip, we explored ways to find the most exciting route and places along the way. We booked our flights, trains and made notes of the itinerary.
We had months to prepare for the trek. Manasa and I went to the gym regularly, walked long distances, and browsed tonnes of tips, videos, and photos on the internet in the hope of making our trek a comfortable one. We weren’t sure if any of our preparations were enough at all.
The 19th of May — Bangalore to Delhi — Caught in the bylanes of Delhi
Manasa and I caught the overnight bus on the 18th of May from Mangalore to Bangalore. Aarabhi and Aahiri boarded the airport shuttle from Mysore, and Nannda hired a taxi from Bangalore city to reach the airport. We all arrived at the Bangalore International airport well ahead of our scheduled 10.30 am flight to Delhi. I pressed my forehead on the oval window throughout the flight, staring outside, until I heard the announcement, “Ladies and gentlemen, we have begun our descent into Delhi. Please be seated and fasten your seat belts. The temperature outside is …”.
We took the metro from the airport to the New Delhi Railway Station, shoved our rucksacks in the cloakroom’s locker, and headed out into the city with our day-packs. Since we had a train to Haridwar the same night, we had time to explore only some parts of old Delhi. The ride in the electric tuk-tuk from the railway station to the Red Fort introduced us to the traffic. The Red Fort was off the time limits to enter. We walked through the streets to Jama Masjid. Delhi kept its promise it made to me in the photographs, videos, and texts. The places were noisy and chaotic as they can get, but still, few places were frozen in time, depicting that we were in old Delhi. The streets were lined up with shops and eateries presenting an entire spectrum of colors and aromas. Hawkers and pushcarts jammed the road, one could spot bicycles to 6–8 wheeled vehicles around the same junction, shoulder to shoulder crowd, the dust, and the smoke raising created hazy surroundings. We enjoyed our stroll through the market area, and we were rescued by the map numerous times from getting lost in the gullies. Failing to find the Paranthe Wali Gali and trying to resist our temptations to try street food — Aahiri, Manasa, and I gulped some Gol-Gappe at Chandni Chowk that only took minutes to upset our stomach. The other two made a wise decision not to try anything that seemed apt. With an uncomfortable stomach and having nowhere to go, we head back to the railway station to get some rest.
The Rs 300 per hour per person at the AC lounge seemed luxurious after what the streets offered us, and just the thought of the AC train to Haridwar lulled us to a comfortable nap. We stretched our legs on the coffee table, tried to sleep recollecting our day on the streets. Our comforts soon disappeared when we found out that our reserved seats were not confirmed. It was 11.35 pm, with no seats available on the Nanda Devi Express, by which we were supposed to reach Haridwar. And now, we were stranded in the railway station. Outside the railway station, the busy city was rolling out the mattress for the night. Close to midnight, there was no option to catch a bus. In the city of strangers, difficult to trust anyone, had to choose to hire a taxi to Haridwar. Spending half-hour, enquiring with our broken Hindi, we booked a taxi- on Uber. To our relief, our taxi driver was the best we could find. He allowed all 5 of us and our rucksacks to stuff into his taxi without any questions. I faintly remember the 2 am traffic jam on the highway and grew anxious about the delay. I sat in the front and watched the road through the night, all the way till Haridwar.
Was this the adventure we sought?
The 20th of May — Saying hello to Haridwar — fear of missing our scheduled pick up — winding roads, gauges, valleys, and rivers of Uttarakhand — News of a landslide broke before we reached Joshimath.
The cold morning welcomed us to Haridwar. We brushed our teeth above a sewer in the bus stand, just like the locals did, hoping to find a clean bathroom to freshen up. With the sleepless night behind us and the untidy experience of the morning chores, we sipped tea and waited at the railway station.
The organizers picked us on time at the railway station, and we left the city pretty quickly. We could spot several mountains at the horizon, and in the coming hours, we went through many of them. The lower altitude presented vast green vegetation, and the peaks had tall trees. We breathed the fresh air, soaking the sharp sunlight while we went through the winding roads. We looked down at the terrifying gauges, spotting the ‘Panch Prayag’ or the Five Confluence (Devprayag, Rudraprayag, Karnaprayag, Nandaprayag, and Vishnuprayag are the Panch Prayag, spotted in the same order from Haridwar to Joshimath). The rivers and their tributary at the bottom created small islands, and the delta formed the flat land adjacent to the rivers. The cobalt blue sky, the sharp-white bright sunlight, the tall mountain peaks dodged the light creating a darker patch of shadow, the crystal clear water, and the tall green trees all presented a vivid contrasty scene that I had never witnessed before. We slept on and off, woke up now and then to acknowledge the rough road and to look at the passing scenery.
We were often stuck at short traffic jams up in the hairpin curves that dissolved in minutes. The last one that was the result of a landslide held us on the road for hours. We relayed our safety to everyone back at home. We were getting twitchy at the last jam until our organizers negotiated us out of the traffic jam assuring the cops that we were only heading to Joshimath and not any further. We felt safe at the lodge feeling the hard ground under us. Much relief came from the serene surrounding of the place.
The trek leader introduced himself and briefed us about the trek. Our group had 17 people, each of us had our turn to introduce ourselves.
Continued in Part-2…
