It was 16th May 2019. I left my boring IT job and was all set to do which I wanted from very long, go to Kedarnath and also travel solo (both for the very first time). As everyone else was busy with their own shit, I decided to go to Kedarnath on my own. I booked train tickets and started my journey on 31st May, 2019 (day 1).
On day 2, I reached Delhi and took a volvo bus to Haridwar (my first stop). I explored the place for two days before heading over to Rishikesh (my second stop) on day4. Below are few pictures I captured in Haridwar.
After spending two special days in Rishikesh, I was ready for the ultimate part of my trip, Kedarnath. Below are the few pictures I captured in Rishikesh.
And now the actual adventure started. I went to Rishikesh bus stand to catch the morning bus to Kedarnath but after reaching there, I came to know that you have to book the bus tickets online even for state transport buses at least one day prior to journey. But luckily I met a bus driver who gave me a seat in the bus and the journey finally begun. After giving him the ticket charges, I was cashless. But I didn't worry because I was certain that I would get the cash at Sonprayag (a place 22km before kedarnath temple), the destination of my bus. To my surprise, the only ATM machine of SBI at Sonprayag was out of service. I got to know that there's a banker who's giving cash to the pilgrims after online transfer to his account. I went there and asked for 8k cash. As he was running out of cash, I settled down for 4k. After finding a dormitory as rooms were not available due to high rush, I went to sleep.
Next morning, I woke up early, freshened up, had breakfast and then stood in a very long queue of people waiting for their turn of taxi service that would take them to Gaurikund (5km from Sonprayag). After few minutes, one lady came and stood in front of me saying she was standing there. Yes, I was cheated. But I realized this after a while and at that point, I was way behind her and her family. Soon she realized this and called me and made me stand in front of her. She introduced herself and her daughter and other companions to me and soon we became friends. We then went to Gaurikund and started our 17km trek to Kedarnath. It was mostly inline and I lost my breath just after half kilometer. I sat for a minute and then continued. That's what you do when you trek, take short breaks in between. After having an aloo paratha, I was energized again but trekking with a bag of almost 15kg wasn't a joke. I reached Kedarnath base camp (1.5km from Kedarnath temple) at 8:30 PM but they couldn't make it so they took rest before the base camp. Due to low accomodation capacity and large crowd of people, I and others couldn't get anything for accomodation and were helpless to sleep under the sky. I wore all my warm clothes as the temperatures were 1 degree celcius minimum. After having my own eatables and dry fruits as dinner was also finished, I went to sleep.
Next morning, when I woke up and checked my pockets, my wallet was missing. It had all my cash, my cards, my ID, pretty much everything. I was in shock. I searched all over the place, asked people but all in vain. I lost all my hopes of getting my purse back and I had no idea how I'm going back without cash because you need cash there for everything, for food, for packaged water. While I was talking to my father on my phone, I saw those girls of that family crossing me, going towards the temple. I cut the call and stopped them and asked for help. They asked me to join them and I went with them. There was a 1km long queue of pilgrims waiting for their turn. We joined the line. There was a guy named Jitendra with them who had a contact with a pujari at the temple and because of this, we got the oppotunity to get VIP darshan in five minutes, that too free of cost. We had great darshan of the Shivalinga and after giving dakshina to the Pandit which obviously they gave on my behalf as I had no money, we came outside of that area. I asked Jitendra to lend me 2k rupees so that I can reach Rishikesh. After thinking for a couple of seconds, he gave me 2k cash and I promised him to return the money online as soon as I get internet connectivity. He trusted me and after few minutes he and the family left from that place. Yes, they didn't have any whether I am going to return their money or not. As I was having ample cash now, I decided to continue with my plan of staying one more day in Kedarnath to shoot timelapses and capture images. I went to the base camp, booked a bed in dormitory and transferred him the amount as I got the internet connectivity. I stayed for one more day there, amidst the serene beauty of nature having one of the best moments of my life.
Next morning, I packed up my bag and started my return journey keeing in mind some bitter, but many great experiences. Maybe I will never meet that family again in my life but I will always remember them and what they did for me, that's for sure. Even while returning, my pocket was not empty. It was full of experiences and yes, money.
Before signing off, here are few pictures I captured in Kedarnath.
If you've read till here, please make sure that you follow me on Instagram and subscribe to my YouTube channel. Peace.