Before the US trip, my travel plans were getting changed every week and I just could not go! When I was in the US, mom dad for some reason did not go either! So we decided that we could go as soon as I am back!
We did!
I reached Noida on Saturday and left for Badrinath on Monday afternoon. We took a long break in Meerut where I met Naani after a while. She is not doing well at all these days. Not even able to speak 🙁 I hope she recovers soon! The improvement in her voice and movement was seen after we were back from our trip, so that makes me feel good and better!
The drive was very long and mostly uneventful except the extremely bad roads at a lot of places, 4 pit stops and a forced break at Rishikesh. We had reached Rishikesh at 0300 hrs and there is a restriction on driving ahead on the hilly area between 2030 hrs and 0500 hrs, hence we had to wait before we could move ahead! This forced break was kind of good as it gave our cabbie, Kamal a couple of hours to catch his nap and prepare him for the long 12-14 hour drive ahead!
Pa never stops getting surprised at what all I keep clicking 😛
Some flowers on the one of our pit stops
Just after his bath, praying !I have always respected the hill drivers for their discipline and decent driving, but this time it was very different. All the local cabs seems to be in a rush to catch a train which they had already missed, and were almost breathing down our necks with continuous honking and idiotic over takes ! This was the first time that I have seen such reckless driving on the hills. And I could not help but notice the laaaarge number of cabs as well on the route… The last time when I went to Govindghat with Arobindo, we did not find many cabs on the way, but this time around there was one every five minutes!!!
Thankfully on the way there were no fresh landslides to stop the traffic and we kept moving slowly but with ease. The road condition really got worse after Chamoli, and after Joshimath till Badrinath, it was practically no roads for at least 80% of the 44 kms. This was the toughest part of the entire drive, for us and I am sure for Kamal as well, because even at on single lane paths, we had the assoholotic local cabbies making our lives tough with constant honking and overtaking. We had to stop for the gate system at Joshimath and then there was another forced stop at Pandukeshwar (another gate system for the same reasons as Joshimath)
The Gate time-table at Joshimath
This is from the Panasonic I mentioned in the last post about Badrinath. I like the amount of things in this picture, the boards, the punjabi, the hindi, the jeep, the walking man, the clothes !
One of the chat-wallas at Joshimath gate ! The yummy matar chaat ( very typical of UP)Our second forced pit stop was at Joshimath, where you have to pass through a gate system. The traffic ahead of Joshimath usually travels one way, because of the narrow roads and the tough and dangerous terrain. We waited there for about 90 minutes before the last gate for the day open at 1630 hrs. This is when I finally took my camera out and made an effort to take a few pictures. Rest of the time I was more than happy just enjoying the views and breathing deep, with a few clicks here and there!
One of the old boards of the Mount View HOTel
It took us a good 2.5 hours before we reached the holy town of Shri Badrinath. It was freaking cold already, and I had to brave the chill in my shorts and a shawl (was just too lazy to take out my lowers). We checked into a cheap hotel with the bare minimum facilities. Changed and rushed to the temple for darshan before the doors were closed for the night. It had started drizzling, and it just made it colder! Brrrrr!!!
Papa was the last and lucky one to enter the main temple door after much requests to the priest, while the rest of us (ME, Mom, my two cousins) waiting outside in the compound. The priest then closed the main door of the temple giving Pa and Uncle God some decent time together! He came out after a few minutes and we rushed back to our hotel with wet and freezing feet. The next action item was to have dinner. Shops close early in the small town; however we did manage to eat well at a restaurant nearby. I was very tired and sleepy with the long day and almost slept on the dinner table itself: P I was not even sure of the menu the next morning!!! : P We rushed back to our rooms after dinner and it took me two quilts, my shawl, and 2 minutes to take off to my dreamland.
I was the first one to get up the next morning and this was around 0230 hrs, only to sleep again and wake up around 0500 hrs. I got up and went out of the hotel only to see one of the best views I had seen in my entire life! A majestic mountain with snow all around, overlooking the town in that dark blue morning sky!!! I just could not take my eyes off it. Went back in, took the camera out and just waited for the light to be good enough to take a few pictures. I roaming around in that freezing temperature loving the entire feel of the Indian cold, and the view of the majestic Mt. Neelkanth in front of me. The town was also getting up with people walking around the streets, the tea stalls warming up milk and preparing vegetables, the cabbies trying to start, jump start and fire start (See one of the pictures in the Badrinath set on Flickr) their vehicles.
The first view of the Mount Neelkanth ! It does not look half as good in the picture, as it was in real ! Grand, Majestic, Royal, Larger than Life !
Dew converted to frost and ice over car tops!
Mount Neelkanth after a while with the sun shining bright on it !
Bhagwan Singh, our hotel attendent. Very prompt and quick!
One of the many segregated dustbins for organic/ inorganic waste in the town !
We finally got ready to go to the temple around 0700 hrs. The skies were clear and the temperature was getting better every minute. Had a lovely walk around the temple with the sun shining all nice and bright. I took a few pictures and we were ready to head back home by 0900 hrs.
Way to the temple !
Shri Badrinath Temple
Uttarakhand Police on duty (They were not too keen on getting a picture clicked, but agreed when I told them that I was not from the media but just a photographer)
Another view of the temple!
Natural hot water springs (Tapt Kund) are another attractions of the town. While there must exist a perfect scientific explaination to it, most people are happy believing that its an act of God that hot boiling water comes from within the surface of earth at this high altitude ( over 3000 mtrs from sea level)
Pa again 🙂
Some another temple not too far away ! not sure about its name or relevance!
The usual daily life of any small town. Road side salons for that perfect hair-cut!
One of the many tea stalls; and the tea essentials, Ginger and Cardomom (Elaichi)We left the town around 0930 hrs (There is a gate system for vehicles going back as well and we had missed the gate by some 30 minutes and the next gate was at 1130 hrs). We were still allowed to pass through I guess because the traffic from the other side would take sometime before they bump into us. The rest of the drive was pretty bumpy as expected till Chamoli and got slightly better post that.
Mt. Neelkanth once again with some clouds visiting for breakfast !
The beginning of the long road back home!
View of the National Highway 58 towards Badrinath from Joshimath. The driving distance between the point where picture was taken from and the road below is approx 6 kms. Its the Govindghat ( 22 kms) that is the first town on this road, from where you can trek to Ghangria and consequenty to Valley of Flowers and Hemkund Sahib. Then Pandukeshwar and then Badrinath. The highway ends in the Mana Village which is the last village on this route and is the end of road for civilian traffic.We visited another temple called the Dhara Devi Mandir just before RudraPrayag on our way back, and were at my Mama’s place near Meerut around 0300 hrs after a long drive of approximately 18 hours. Kudos to our driver Kamal who managed to drive for this long, and saved us at least two night halts which I had earlier planned. All in all a wonderful trip.
Bells at the Dhara Devi Mandir
Time for some objective information:
Route : New Delhi – Meerut – Haridwar – Rishikesh(No traffic allowed before 0500 hrs or after 2030 hrs) – DevPrayag (Another check post for night traffic) – Srinagar – RudraPrayag – KarnaPrayag – Chamoli – Nand Prayag – Joshimath(Gate System; Last Gate 1603 hrs) – (Govindghat/Vishnu Prayag/Pandukeshwar) – Badrinath
Distance to Badrinath from Haridwar: Approx 350 kms
Time: Minimum 12 hrs ex. Haridwar (Add buffer for landslides and pit stops and the total off-road experience after Joshimath)
Transport: Many buses from Haridwar around 0400 hrs/ Local taxies run at 11.50-12.50 Rs/Km (plains/hills)
Food on the way: Carry your own biscuits and snacks and water. Decent road side stalls and small restaurants at all major towns enroute
Route very prone to Landslides to plan your journey in non-rainy times
Link to : Badrinath Set on Flickr
Hope you enjoyed ! Please excuse any grammer or other silly english mistakes. The small blogger editing window takes a lot more patience than I have to ensure everything is good in the post ! Relook at a picture you like, when you find an english mistake and let me know of it too, so that I can correct it 😛
