Dream Trip to the Valley

After checking off a "Dil Chahta Hai" style trip to Pondicherry from my bucket list earlier this year, it was time for my next filmy trip. An organised trek in the Himalayas with a group of strangers (Ilahi plays in the background) – “Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani”. A slice-of-life film with travel as its background is perhaps the best genre ever created.

In the pursuit of visiting all the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in India, Valley of Flowers National Park was next on my list. After much research, I decided to go ahead with India Hikes as the trek organiser (my best travel decision this year).

Together with Nanda Devi National Park, these high-altitude West Himalayan landscapes encompass a unique transition zone between the Zanskar and Great Himalayas mountain ranges. Renowned for its remote mountain wilderness, these meadows of endemic alpine flowers (including the rare Himalayan Brahmakamal) are a true nature-lover's paradise. 

Pushpawati meandering through the Valley of Flowers

Manifestations

The only thing missing from my filmy package was a companion. I rang up all my traveller friends before booking the slot. However, none of them were available. Some couldn't manage leaves from their workplace, and others had financial constraints. Not having found anyone to accompany me until 2 months before the trek start date, I had made up my mind that I would be going solo. However, since I believe in manifestations, I was hoping for someone to turn around. 

It was then when Mudit’s text came - "Jeet tera next trip kab hai aur kahan?" Mudit is my oldest friend. We have known each other since we were 3 months old. After completing his Masters, he was looking for a break. I shared all the travel details instantly & he was onboard! & just like Bunny, I had found my Avi. 

Avi & Bunny sharing a laugh

Itna zaroori hai kya yeh pahaad chadhna?

Like Bunny, I even had a "Kyun jaa rahe ho is kambhakat pahad pe chadhne?" conversation with paapa. Unpredictable weather is synonymous with the climate of Uttarakhand during the monsoons. The horrors of the 2013 Uttarakhand floods perturbed him. Also, a trip in the monsoons hasn’t been lucky for me either. He was insistent that I take this trip in September - when it gets all safe, but of course the valley would not be at its best then.

The news of 9 persons (in a trekking group of 22 people from Bangalore) dying due to hypothermia after getting caught in a blizzard in Uttarakhand, making rounds made matters worse. When this news came out, my parents were in Bangalore. One fine morning, when paapa was cursory glancing through the newspaper, he saw the news and broke it to Mumma, making her a consumer of second-hand anxiety. I had my "CBI enquiry" moment then.

From Silicon Valley to Bhyundar Valley

En route to Karchi (our base camp for 1^st night), we passed by the Panch Prayags and saw the colours merge like never before. For the past 1 year, I have been living a life straight out of Geography and History textbooks. Seeing Ganga emerge upon the confluence of Bhagirathi and Alaknanda was a reminder of geography lessons.

Bhagirathi (green) & Alaknanda (brown)
merge to form Ganga at Devprayag

The route reminded me of the landscape drawing in our childhood - two mountains & a river flowing in between. The omnipresence of this landscape in all of our primary school drawing books speaks a lot about our species. Human beings thrive in the mountains. We are either in the mountains or constantly dream of going there - dreams evident in our art form.

On Day 2, we trekked 9 kilometres from Pulna to Ghangaria and gained an altitude of 3200 feet. After interacting with my trek partner, I discovered that there are more people who don’t just think about travelling but actually do travel! Perhaps, the best part of going on an organised trek is meeting like-minded people fervent about travelling as much as you are. Had it not been the company of these wonderful people I was introduced to on Day 2, the trek would have been fatiguing.

The people who made Phoolon ki Ghaati special!

Summit Day - The day we cried at 15,000 feet

Back in 5th class, when paapa was posted in Siachen, we had gone on a day trip to Khardung La (17,500 feet) along with our unit. Everything that could go wrong at high altitude happened back then. Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) had taken a toll on me. I remember spending my entire time battling nausea while the other kids were playing outside in the snow. This trip left a major impact on me.

Since then, the trepidation within kept me away from high altitudes. Inhabitant of the Deccan plateau for the last 10 years, I did make occasional trips to the Ghats. I even went on a trip to the Shivalik (Jim Corbett & Nainital) last year but nothing beats the upper reaches of the Himalayas when it comes to hiking in high altitudes.

To break my fear psychology, I took on the challenge of scaling Hemkund Sahib - perched at an altitude of 15,000 feet making it the highest-altitude shrine in the world!

Since I was there to overcome my apprehension, I grabbed every opportunity that could swing the difficulty meter needle to the extreme. During the last 1000 feet ascent, I took the route (stairs instead of zig-zag pathway) that we were advised not to take by our trek leader (TL), due to the energy drainage we would have already gone through by the time we reached there. The turnaround time of 1 PM due to the mercurial weather conditions post noon, made the hike more demanding.

Our TL was right. By the time we reached the point of choosing the route, we were depleted on both mental & physical levels. He had mentioned during the briefing that not a single trekker in his batch had chosen the stairs this year. Who would want to wreck their summit experience in the last 1000 feet? For me, this wasn’t just a test of physical capabilities but a mental endurance challenge as well. I wanted to do everything that was designed to break an individual. No doubt that the stairs were daunting but equally rewarding. Much to my surprise, I could witness more flowers in bloom here than I saw in Valley the previous day.

Upon reaching the summit, immersed in the divine energy of the shrine and witnessing the majestic Himalayas set around the Hemkund glacial lake, tears started rolling down everyone's eyes. Each one of us had our own reason to scale the summit. The realisation that we had overcome what initially looked like an insurmountable challenge was a testimony to our indomitable spirit. 

Divine Setting

Personal Transformation in the Himalayas

For someone who likes to have things done in order, a monsoon trek in the mountains is disconcerting. You have no idea of what might happen next. Just 2 weeks before our trek start date, a devastating landslide on NH 7 - connecting Rishikesh to Govindghat (Valley of Flowers trek start point) disrupted the trek.  

I have been a planner all my life. I like to prepare my itinerary much in advance. Kahan ghumna hai? Kahan kahan hai? Kahan rehna hai? Sab kuch! Not a believer of the "40 ke baad I will retire & ..." philosophy, I try my best to make the most of every trip. Since this was an organised trek, the itinerary was prepared by India Hikes. They had given us an option of visiting Badrinath on Day 5 after our descent of 3200 ft. I was all in for this. This was my chance to start the Char Dham Yatra.

However, on Day 4, after our descent from Hemkund, we were informed that due to a landslide on the Badrinath route, the probability of visiting the shrine had drastically reduced. This news would have disheartened the “planner” within me.

The mountains changed me for good.

All that mattered on Day 5 was that I was able to get past my fear. I wanted to cherish each moment of my last day in the mountains by descending slowly and enjoying the conversations with the wonderful people I met on the trek. The realization that soon everything would turn into pictures of my gallery hit me. 

I have purposely started to leave something off every trip so that the “Bunny” inside me doesn’t overtake the “Naina” side. I believe the idea behind a good trip (& also life) is to balance the Bunny & Naina within you. But even today, I do plan my trip in a way that I can enjoy slow mornings at the sunrise point & “Solid Sunset bhi miss na ho!”

The Sunset that made us go crazy!
We were informed that the tiny snow-clad peak that appears orangish-white is
Nanda Devi - India's 2nd highest mountain peak

Pictures I clicked during the trip

Day 0

Divinity of Ganga

Day 1 

Day 2

Day 3

Journey to Hemkund

Day 4

Day 5
People in the Valley

Uttarakhand - The Land of Gods (Devbhoomi)