There are lots of trek in India but Roopkund has special place in the heart of every trekker. It is also known as mysterious lake or valley of flowers.
I, myself like to travel a lot and mostly adventurous places. In may’17, I went to Roopkund Trek with a group of Pune. It was a week long trek but seemed like I lived years while I was there and some part of me belong there. Off course, I wanted to stay there but that was only possible in my thoughts. Here, I am giving a brief about my trekking experience which isn’t the same as going there but still you can live few moments with me.
So, this wonderful journey started from Kathgodam which is the highest railway station in the kumaon region. All the famous hill station such as nainital, ranikhet, almora are nearby. After one day stay at kathgodam, I left for the Wan village (Lohajung) which is the base camp for roopkund trek. Wan is very beautiful village as much as people there. They were very sweet and humble. Their hospitality left us awestruck as it was beyond 5-star hotel experience. Far away from the tusslings of the noisy city, It was altogether a different experience for me. Surrounded by high mountains, it was like I am in the middle of a large bowl and tasty dish is yet to be poured into it. During my one day stay there, I played with the kids, clicked some selfies with them and started my further journey with lots of memories.
Next day, we left for bedni bugyal which was our first night camp amidst large mountains. Journey till Bedni Bugyal was very thrilling. We passed through deep forest of oak and Rhododendrons fall. There were lots of ups and down and they were reminding us of how small our problems were. For me it wasn’t just a trek but realization of a parallel universe in the mountains. Everything was so relatable. At a height of 11,000 feet we built our small home which was there for just a day and then we are off to a new destination. We were no less than a nomad.
After wonderful night stay at bedni bugyal, next day we headed towards Pathar Nachuni which is at 12,700 feet. Narrow trails, long trees and deep valleys became so familiar as if I belong there. It was a 7-8 hour journey but during that time we clicked lots of photographs and made memories of lifetime. On the way, I talked a lot with our guide about their life and it was not any close to our city life. We promised to keep in touch and try my best to solve some of their problem. With tasty egg curry we ended our day and recharge ourselves for journey ahead.
With lots of energy and eagerness to reach to Roopkund we started our journey towards bagubasa. At a height of 14010, feet snow clad mountains took away all our tiredness. On the way, we visited kalu vinayak which is a popular temple among trekkers. It was like some kind of blessings to handle the harsh condition waiting ahead. About 2-3 km before bagubasa, snowfall started and it was like somebody is showering white flowers on us. Finally, We reached there and set our tent on the surface of snow. That day we couldn’t sleep because of cold. That was the most difficult night on the trek.
Day 5, was the best day as we started very early towards our final destination. Way to Roopkund is a single person trail and we didn’t want to walk on a slippery trail so we started at 3 in the morning. At first, it seemed hard but as we reached close to Roopkund, it was all worth it. From the top, we could clearly see junargali which is the closest point that one could trek to see Trishul and Nanda Ghunti peaks. Although, we could see them from the bottom also but junargali is the place where air is the only thing in between. After sometime, we started our descent towards camp site. Nobody wants to go down but for safety reason we had to go down. This was the end of the trek, but there were still few things left.
After all the excitement and victorious feeling, we started our journey back to pathar nachuni. On the edge of a high cliff, we set up our tents and did some rest after long tirey journey. It was raining while we were coming back which made our journey even more adventurous. In fact everyone was little scared as trails became very slippery. After 2 days, we found cellular network so everyone called their loved ones and shared breathtaking view of Roopkund. With the promise of coming back, we ended our day and already started planning for the next trek in our head.
Last day of trek was little exciting as we got some local prasad from our guide. Greediness for the prasad, made us move faster and we trekked for almost 18 kms in 5-6 hours that too in heavy rainfall. After reaching the base camp (Wan) we all dried up and had lunch. For almost one full day we remained grounded in a house because of rainfall and enjoyed the warmth hospitality of localites. Next day morning, we packed up our luggage and started towards kathgodam with heavy hearts. In fact, our luggage seemed little lighter than our hearts. On a very friendly note we ended our wonderful journey and started uploading some memories on social media which reminded us of same world we came from. Perhaps, mountains were laughing on us for this but we were as we were.
