Love at first sight with the Himalayas

Chopta - Tungnath - Chandrashila
Date: 29 December 2006

I was always passionate about travelling, especially in the unknown and unnamed mountains. But never got a chance to evoke the adventurer side of me. The beauty of nature has always inspired me and I feel pity for its destruction being done by human beings. My brother, Deepak and a bunch of friends planned a trip to escape the hectic schedule of Delhi so as to celebrate New Year in peace. People usually go to places like Shimla and Mussoorie as a weekend trip but we all knew which places are worth visiting to get a break from city dreams. We planned a trip to Chopta and Tungnath Temple in Uttarakhand state. I happily agreed, when I was offered to join the group for the trip. Later, I thought that I will get bored with bhai and his friends because of the age difference. But none of this happened, and the company was to die for.

We booked Tata Sumo Deluxe and our journey started from Delhi in the chilling night of 29^th December. There were 6 of us in the cab me, Deepak, Bhupi, Saini, Bhuwnesh and last but obviously not the least, our driver. He was not driver actually, he owned the cab. The driver played a very crucial part in our trip to Chopta. He taught us many things like 'things not to do stuff' in your first trip, you will soon get to know what exactly I am talking about.

So finally our journey commenced with the words “jai bholenath”, we crossed the Delhi border and it was damn freezing night. Thanks to mother that she packed a blanket in our bag (in our absence). It was a relief as soon as we covered ourselves in the blanket. People who are addicted to travelling hardly sleep during the journey, we followed the same ritual.  

Tata sumo

first encounter with the himalayas

Every moment of the journey consists of those special moments which you will cherish even after decades. While traveling you are on your own; free to do anything, go anywhere, and do whatever you want (but don’t hurt the privacy of others). That night was the foggiest night I had ever seen as we could barely see around 2-3 meters ahead. We stopped somewhere around 80kms before Haridwar. There were three reasons that stop by:

• it was very foggy
• one of our Sumo’s headlight stopped working
• another was awfully dim

So we had to stop in order to avoid any accident as trucks were preparing for F1 Race.

We started driving again at 4 o clock in the morning, had a cup of tea at Haridwar and breakfast in Srinagar (Uttarakhand). After having breakfast we took the cab to a car repair shop where the mechanic took nearly 2hours to repair the headlight which still wasn’t perfectly working. We travelled nonstop upto Chopta and carried a few packets of chips, juice, Glucon –D, and chocolates with us. Always carry glucon – d and chocolates whenever you are going for a hike as it provides energy to the body. The sun was setting and we were about to reach Chopta. Travelling on the road 2,500mts above sea level, was an adventure in itself, snow capped Himalayan peaks were distinctly visible. This was my first encounter with the mighty Himalayas. The sun was about to set and our cab got stuck on an icy road 2km before Chopta. Somehow after a few attempts we managed to cross that snow covered curve (a curve to remember). 

the curve

Finally we reached the Mini Switzerland of India – Chopta. It was the most beautiful place I ever saw with my naked eyes till date. 

(Me, Deepak, Bhuwnesh, Saini and Bhupi in black jacket)

Two guys were running a Dhaba in Chopta and took care of accommodation facility. Dying with hunger, we ordered dinner as soon as we reached. The Dhabha owner told us that one married couple in the late 30’s was also staying in another cottage. They came all the way from Kolkata to this remote place and that too in winters, hats off to their guts and adventurous spirit. In front of the bonfire, we had our dinner. The night was freezing and hauntingly beautiful. After seeing an undying interest for traveling in the soul of that Bengali couple, I made a resolution to visit the Himalayas at least once, every year. Rather than luxury beach resorts or naked sun bath in Goa, I seek peace, beauty and adventure in the splendid Himalayan range.

The trip to Chopta and Tungnath Mandir brought many surprises for me some were god gift and other were by our legendary driver and his Dhanno (Cab).

It was hard to get a good sleep because of the harsh winter, and even the most childish thoughts were coming into my mind like “what if the two dhabha owners and the Bengali couple are ghost or dacoits”. I laughed on my stupidity and went to sleep. We woke up early in the morning to capture the spectacular sunrise of the Himalayan range. We cocooned ourselves in good warm clothes but were still shivering with cold. The sunrays were kissing the cliffs of the snow capped peaks; we clicked some snaps while walking down the road because we dare not miss that. I instantly fell in love with the Himalayas, it was love at first sight. While looking down the forest I saw a fox, searching for food I guess. I called Bhupi Bhaiya to click its picture, but maybe I was too loud to make him run away. He might have sensed danger after hearing the tiger’s voice (mine), lolz. 

early morning view from Chopta

The mighty Himalayan range and me

Chopta - Mini Switzerland

Each and every animal respect god’s best creation and is afraid of him, which is human. Only in most strange circumstances animals attack humans. It was great adventure watching the fox free to roam anywhere. You might be wondering “why is this guy feeling so exhilarated over just a fox”. Let me explain when you see animals in a zoo your expression is like “wow I am so much near to them” and you are able to see many animals at one place. But when you see any animal in real roaming with a free spirit, the feeling is completely different and one senses amazement in his/her heart. It is like when you watch a movie in a theater and when you watch the shooting of the movie. When you watch a movie you get to know the whole story, see different characters and locations and it’s a great experience. But when you watch a shooting of a movie you are able to see just one or two shots yet you feel amazed and share it with your friends and families about it for a long time.

 (driver bhaiya on extreme left)

We had breakfast and packed lunch for the trek to Tungnath Mandir from Chopta. We packed our bags with necessary items and started trekking to Tungnath. Our driver also wanted to join, we told him that although it is just 4km trek but quite steep. He joined us and we were also accompanied by a local bhutia dog, after we fed him some biscuits. The Dhabha owner said that the dog normally goes with people right up to the Tungnath Mandir and it was great to have him with us. So finally we commenced our trek by ringing the bell at the commencement point of the trek. The trekking trail was surrounded by oak, deodar and rhododendron trees. After trekking 1km we encountered the snow on the path. It was the first time I saw natural snow. 

The driver got tired after trekking 2km and returned, we told him to take a good sleep because we were to leave after reaching back down to Chopta. Now there were 5 companions and a dog on a mission to walk the snow-covered path to reach the new heights. Nature can be harsh at any moment at such altitude. We were like pandavas and a dog was also walking with us, what we were missing was draupadi ;-). The entire trek was steep and we started taking rest at regular intervals. Last 1½ km was totally covered with 2-3 feet snow. We didn’t carried too much of water with us and biscuits made us thirsty so we fed the dog with most of the biscuits (do carry enough water with you). Initially it was fun walking on the snow but later on it became quite tough for us but believe me it was an unforgettable experience. “When we go through tough circumstances the taste of achievement is priceless”. A person finds the true meaning of life and himself while trekking because when you're trekking your mind is clear and free from all confusions. You have focus, target and powerful presence of life in the form of natural beauty.

the trail to Tungnath temple

At last we reached the highest temple of Lord Shiva Tungnath Mandir set at an elevation of 3,684mts above sea level. Tungnath Mandir is third of Panch kedar, rest are Kedarnath, Madhmaheshwar, Rudranath and Kalpeshwar. Sixth kedar is situated in Nepal by the name of Pashupatinath. The temple was empty and all houses around it were covered with snow. Even though the town was lonely, it depicted sheer beauty. 

Tungnath Temple

The locals stay at Tungnath only from May to October and they usually come down when the gates of the temple are closed. The view of the Himalayan range from Tungnath Mandir was enchanting. We took off our shoes and walked barefooted in the premises of the temple “bhakti jaag gayi thi yaar”. The ancient stones lying there were as freezing as the ice slab. I saw a beautiful brown mouse running behind those rocks and told everyone to take a look at it but they were not able to take a good sight of him, I encountered him twice and was happy, but my brother who didn’t got a glimpse of that mouse said to me that ”it’s no big deal”. 

After wearing our shoes on we started trekking to Chandrashila the summit of the mountain situated at 4000mts above sea level. Chandrashila offers 270 degree view of the Himalayan range. I was leading and mistakenly we picked up the wrong route, the dog didn’t accompany us further and returned. I forgot to tell you but we named him as ‘sheru’. The climb was getting steeper with every step we took. We wondered if we are following the correct path or not, but then the famous quote crossed my mind; 'I chose the path less travelled by'. 

We didn’t bothered to return and head towards the summit, but soon we realized that it wasn’t path, it was a slope of the mountain. The steep climb was dangerous; we gathered all our fears and dumped it with every step we took. After trekking on the thick blanket of snow for 1km we finally saw a yellow flag playing with the wind, it was the Chandrashila peak. We didn’t utter a word after reaching the summit and enjoyed the fascinating views of the Himalayas. This was the moment when I totally fell in love with the mountains, it was an affair to remember. We were standing on the highest point around. You might not find luxury, crowd, and facilities at Chopta like you get in places like Shimla, Mussoorie etc. but the beauteousness of nature from Tungnath and Chandrashila is worth watching at least once in a lifetime. 

After getting allured and praising the beauty of nature we trekked back fast to Chopta as we were supposed to depart the same day. While trekking back, we rolled down the snow slopes. As soon as we reached down to Chopta, a baba asked us how weather was and we told him that the sky was as blue as the ocean. He asked whether anyone saw a mouse at the temple. I was amazed with his question and I gave him a “how did you know” look. “Yes I saw it twice”, I replied quickly in order to solve the mystery. Then the baba told me something that I am not going to forget ever, his words were 'samajh lo Ganesh ji ke darshan ho gaye'. It was wonderful to hear those words from him. 

We had lunch there and started the cab to return so that we could reach Delhi by the morning of 1^st January. The driver bhaiya said, “ab toh new year Delhi mein hi banaoge naa, pahuncha dun raat tak Delhi”, we said – thik hai. He drove the cab like one driving on Jaipur Highway. We told him to slow down a little, because when driving in the mountains you never get second chance to prevent the accident. Some 30kms before Rudraprayag both the headlights of the cab stopped working and we were left in middle of nowhere. We repaired the headlights after reaching Rudraprayag. Wanna know how we covered those deadly 30kms in darkness?? - By following other trucks and we were able to see the road by the tail light of the trucks. Those 30kms were the longest 30kms of my life. But on an all these are the things from which one gets to learn and so as to prevent it from re occurring in future. “While travelling, do focus on the destination but remember it is the journey which is taking you there” so enjoy your trip and learn from it. We drove back to Delhi after the headlight was repaired. 

the empty town of Tungnath

route to chandrashila

chandrashila

rolling stones

Tips:

·         Before booking a cab do confirm that if the cab is properly working and well maintained or not, else your precious time will be wasted.

·         Respect nature and do not harm natural beauty.

·         Bring back plastic bags with you if you are carrying any while trekking

·         Do carry a torch, lighter and match box.

For detailed information about Chopta: http://www.euttaranchal.com/tourism/chopta.php