A trip more sure than anything in our lives & was an eyeopener to say the very least. ..
We started around 1 am in the night & it was a smooth ride till Dehradun where we halted for around 2-3 hrs to take the much needed nap.
From Dehradun we headed towards Kedarnath all deep dived in beautiful emotions of peace & everything sacred!
The road was smooth till Rudraprayag but the real ride started from there. The road forward was all muddy with construction work going on. It took around 12-13 hours to reach Kedarnath parking lot from Dehradun (which is a lot given the distance of 250 kms).
Early morning we started our journey towards ‘The Mighty Kedarnath Dham’. We took shared taxi from Sonprayag to Gaurikund, where our journey started on foot (some of us took the ponnies though!). To be honest, it’s not anything like the Mata Vaishnodevi trek. Why am I comparing? Yeah! Because I was dumb enough to think that. .. Learning from my mistakes, here’s the ultimate guide for people with less stamina to ace the Kedarnath trek! ;-)
Number one- don’t wait to exhaust & then take the pony because everybody knows how much they are capable of. And to be true, it’s a difficult trek- sign boards say 16kms but it’s nothing less than 23! Second- Be careful even if you are on pony because the trek is full of highs & lows and balancing on a pony is a task! Third- Always wear a layer extra during winters because the weather is unpredictable towards the peak. With us, it started with a fog suddenly followed by rain, hail & then first snow of the season. It was freezing but mesmerising. It took us 6-7 hours to reach at the base camp.
Accommodation is easy during winter seasons & GMNV stays are the best option to bet on. We stayed at the GMNV Nandi base camp 2-3 kms from the temple. The view was phenomenal. You can get a decent cottage for 6 persons at around 3000-3500 with all basic necessities.
We rested for about an hour & then we were ready to attend the evening aarti. It was an unexplainable experience. Beautiful, peaceful, real & truthful. You feel surrounded yet alone at the same time. It is indeed an experience for a lifetime! The temple was all decked up with lights & there was chanting in the air & devotion in the feels. We came back with peaceful mind & fulfilled soul. There are many food stalls to chose from but keep cash because cards don’t work nor does the UPI payments & the ATMs.
The next morning we woke up & headed again towards the temple to again experience the magic.
Few of us went ahead to the Bhairav Temple but few of us just didn’t had the strength to move a muscle.
Post the mighty darshan, to be honest I wanted to stay there only and never come back! But life isn’t that simple & heavenly, so we made our way back to our lodge and after a 10-15 minutes rest we started our journey back to the real world. Make sure you start early because with dusk, the ponnies start running back because they start losing sight and there is increased chance of accidents. It takes around 5-6 hours (varies from one individual to other) at a steady pace with breaks to travel back to the starting point. Once we reached back, we were all so exhausted to even find a lodge & moreover only cash and no cards existence made it even harder. We had to again get some cash at extra rate since ATMs don’t work there and since there were no rooms available at Sonprayag, we had to move further to find one. At about few kms, we found a lodge to snooze off. We ate some delicious dal rice aloo dum and roti & said goodnight to the most peaceful nights of our lives.
Next morning, we were all so tired that reaching Dehradun was a task! But somehow we started and then after crossing the bad roads till Rudraprayag and the never seen before traffic jam on the mountains before Rishikesh; we finally reached home. It took us around 10-11 hours to reach Dehradun from our lodge.
We started our journey to Delhi the other day and reached Delhi in around 4-4.5 hours. This trip was the most peaceful experience till date. Places like these gives you so much to learn, it gives you power, teaches you the value of optimism, makes you realise how small a human is in front of nature, how when it comes to living life- every now and then, it’s important to stop and reflect! When I was at the Temple area, the mountains once visible from far were in front of me; at that moment my thoughts were all blank! It was truly a work of dreams! We are always running for something, but all those things are meaningless when it comes to mental peace. So, surround yourself with good people, spend quality time with your loved ones, do what you love- you have got one life, make the most of it!
Some travel tips:
1. Pack light but don’t forget essentials, medicines like paracetamol, painkillers, crepe bandage, volini spray, etc.
2. Pack warm clothes irrespective of the climate, always carry a raincoat
3. Drink lots of water and stay Hydrated! Oxygen levels decrease as we go up and chances of shortness of breath and dizziness increases
4. It cost around 500-600 INR for a good accommodation on sharing basis
5. Make sure you carry sufficient cash as ATMs ain’t a working thing there
6. Don’t exhaust yourself and avoid trekking post dusk
7. Don’t litter at any cost, use dustbins or just carry your plastics and wrappers back home & then discard
8. No need to book anything in advance if you’re going around winters
9. Enjoy the journey as much as the destination!
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