Part II: Roopkund, Forever!>>>
Part I: The Spirit of the Himalayas
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| The majestic Mt Trisul! |
It has been quite some time since I came back from the trek to the safety of my home, now totally immersed in the mundane affairs of daily life. But when I close my eyes, in an instant I go back to the dizzying heights of the Roopkund, the endless meadows, the daunting slopes running into the bottomless valleys… It seems that my mind is going to stay forever at Roopkund along with the eternal Spirits which resides there… I don’t know whether I would ever overcome the feelings of nostalgia; I would certainly miss the calm reassurance of Kalaam Singh, the wisdom of Inderjit Ji, the wit of Honey Sharma, the good Spirits of my fellow trekkers and many other nuances which are etched forever on my mind and would remain more than a mere reminiscence, which I would be reminded of periodically during the voyage of my life…
The dream of Roopkund began a long time back. Ever since I watched the documentary on Roopkund on National Geographic Channel (Riddles of the Dead: The Skeleton Lake, aired on TV sometime in 2004 or 2005) I was intrigued about the history of the place and mystery of the skeletons. This was a dream trek for me since then. I chose to trek with Indiahikes, a trekking community, and booked June 15 as my reporting date.
Day 0 and 1 – To Lohajung (2320 m)
As it happens, I nearly missed my train, thanks to the ‘all-time reliable’ Delhi Metro! When my parents bid me good bye at Guru Dronacharya metro station at around 9 pm, little did I knew that the next Metro (ie the one which would go all the way to Chandni Chowk) would come after 20 minutes. I was tensed, and looked anxiously at my watch every minute. Finally, with my 11 kg backpack on my shoulders, I dashed the last stretch from Chandni Chowk station to the platform number 11 of Old Delhi Railway Station, from where Ranikhet Express would soon chug-off. I got just 10-15 minutes to catch my breath, locate my berth, and ask some waitlisted passengers, who had happily thought that I had missed my train, to get off it.
Soon enough, the train started. “In just under 7 hours, I would have first glimpse of the mighty Himalayas”, I thought, stretching my tired legs which are not used to running with heavy backpacks. As it crossed the iron-bridge over Yamuna, I thought of Lord Shiva, not knowing that the trek would actually be far more spiritual one than a religious one for me.
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| Ranikhet Express at Kathgodam |
Although I knew I had a long and tiring journey the next day, I could not sleep in the night due to excitement (apart for just a few winks now and then). At last at break of the dawn, one could see faint edges of the Bhabhar Mountains over the horizon. With Goula River in the foreground, it was a magnificent sight to behold! The train finally reached Kathgodam (literally “godown of the timber”) at 5.00 am. After I got down, I quickly took my camera out, which was up till now safely tucked inside my backpack.
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| View from Kathgodam |
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| A beautiful sunrise at Bhimtal |
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| Fruit vendor at Bhowali |
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| Procession at Kainchidham |
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| A remote village |
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| Cloudy sky |
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| Almora town |
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| En-route Kasauni |
At Gwaldam at around 2.00 pm, we had lunch. From here, it was downhill road to River Pindar (which goes all the way to Karnaprayag to conjoin River Alaknanda). After crossing it, a little hamlet of Dewal comes. From Dewal, Lohajung is steep uphill climb of 24 kms – even the strong Maxx cab had to huff and puff its way up to Lohajung!
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| A canopy of Nature |
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| Views en-route Lohajung |
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| Views en-route Lohajun |
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| Basecamp at Lohajung |
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| SJ, Honey and Inderjit ji |
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| Honey Sharma |
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| Sky, the limit |
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| Lohajung view |
After taking some rest and having some snacks, Praveen and I decided to explore the quaint village, so we went to nearby shops and places. Praveen meanwhile bought some utilities for the trek from a local shop. |
| A shop at Lohajung |
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| Attentive trekkers |
At the evening, just before the dinner, we were briefed about the upcoming trek. The other trek-mates introduced themselves: some of them were budding lawyers from Mumbai, others were technocrats from Bangalore. It was a group of young achievers in their respective fields (both passion and profession), be it academics, athletics, adventure or photography.
After dinner, I interacted with some of the other team members of Indiahikes. I was fascinated by one person in particular: he has done Roopkund trek for over an incredible 90 times! When he crossed the 50 times mark, the locals added “Roopkund” to his name as an honour. A living legend indeed! As I prepared to sleep, his words echoed in my mind: “Many mysteries would unfold as you progress through the trek”, referring to the history and mythology of the trek. I wondered what other mysteries the Roopkund hid, besides those skeletons which were the result of a terrible storm which struck some unfortunates around 1000 years back…
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Nanda Devi watched the moon keenly as it appeared to sail the ocean of clouds, wondering how it would look from the world she would leave for just the very next day. She had never stepped out of her palace, leave alone the town. She had hardly seen any other face than that of her father Himawat, mother Nainawati and the two childhood friends Jaya and Vijaya. But tomorrow, her world is going to change drastically.
Being a young girl of around seventeen, Nanda Devi was excited about the new phase of her life. However, she was anxious, just as most of the girls like her would have been in this situation. She drew comfort by looking at Jaya and Vijaya sleeping peacefully nearby. “Will I ever see both of you again after tomorrow?” she wondered. She spent her night twisting and turning, thinking about what the next day would bring.
In her dream, when she finally got some sleep, she saw the Bhoothnath, the God of the Ghosts, with an ash-smeared face and body, five snakes around the neck as an ornament, a clothing of tiger skin and a garland of skulls; coming along with a procession of ghouls and Spirits…
She woke up sweating. Jaya and Vijaya were not in the room – they were busy preparing for the big day. This was the last day of Nanda Devi here, so they left no stone unturned to embellish the palace. She looked out from her window – it was bright and sunny, and so many activities were going on. Suddenly her mother came to her room, smiling reassuringly. “Get ready, Nanda, the groom’s procession has entered the kingdom”. Nanda Devi was bathed in turmeric and milk, and her already glowing body now formed a Halo which surrounded her fully.
A few moments later, the procession of Shiva arrived amidst fanfare. Nanda Devi watched him closely, but was far enough so that Shiva couldn’t see her. Suddenly she remembered the dream of the previous night – he was the Bhoothnath she dreamt about, except that he wore a radiant silk suit, pearl necklace and had a glowing face and a muscular body. The large procession consisted of saints and hermits, birds and animals both rich and poor. The groom and the guests were welcomed by Nanda Devi’s parents and soon the marriage ceremony was underway. The head Baaman (priest) recited the seven vows of the sacred relationship as the bride and the groom walked around the symbolic fire. After the marriage, the fasts were broken and the feasting began. For Nanda Devi, the whole ceremony went on so quickly that she didn’t realize that time has come to bid her home goodbye…
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Day 2: Lohajung (2320 m) to Didina (2455 m)
I woke up with a startle – it was the sound of thunder, magnified by the giant mountains. It was cloudy, and drizzling. The adjacent mountain was no longer visible. It was damp all around, and the sight was no less dampening for our spirits. However, the eternal Himalayas have their own magical way of surprising us mortals: in a few minutes, the rain stopped and in few hours, some of the nearby clouds vanished!
“The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step” (- Lao Tzu). Soon, by 7 am we got ready, and by 7.30 am, we made our first step along the Lord Curzon trail (it is said that Lord Curzon took this trail to explore the higher reaches of the Himalayas). The long and eventful 50 kms journey had now begun…
Two guides accompanied us: Inderjit ji and his son Kalaam Singh. Inderjit ji is the encyclopaedia of the Himalayas – in whichever direction I pointed, he knew the name of the place and the history behind it. He had immense knowledge of the exotic herbs of the Himalayas. He has done innumerable treks – he had over 30 years of experience of trekking and climbing and exploring the Himalayas.
Kalaam Singh, his son, was a young lad of seventeen, who studied in class twelfth at a school near Lohajung. He has to walk 1.5 hours daily from his village (Wan village) to reach his school. During his summer holidays, he played the role of the ‘sweep guide’ (ie the guide who walks last in the line so that no person stays behind). His smile was so re-assuring, his demeanour so patient and peaceful and his composure so calm that the slow-movers (like me!) often felt guilty of holding him up, even though he could have gone far ahead had he not been the sweeper, and thus we would be compelled to walk faster due to the guilt feeling.
“The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step” (- Lao Tzu). Soon, by 7 am we got ready, and by 7.30 am, we made our first step along the Lord Curzon trail (it is said that Lord Curzon took this trail to explore the higher reaches of the Himalayas). The long and eventful 50 kms journey had now begun…  |
| Inderjit Ji |
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| Kalaam Singh |
It was a gradual descent towards River Neel Ganga initially through the forest and then through terraced fields. River Neel Ganga originates from Bedni Kund (in Bedni Bugyal, our 3rd day trek) and some nearby smaller streams. |
| Cobra Lily |
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| Kulling village from a clearing en-route River Neel Ganga |
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| Local children playing against backdrop of village Kulling |
The descent was worrisome for me: Firstly, our next camp at Didina village was at a higher altitude than our base camp, so the more we descend, the more we have to climb back. Secondly, I was not comfortable with carrying backpack, thus I was scared of losing my balance and suffering from a fall. Just as I was thinking of this, I saw ahead some 3-4 trek-mates including our trek leader Honey leaning anxiously over someone. As I reached up to them, I saw that they were leaning over Aditi Gandhi (one of the budding lawyers), who had sprained her ankle and was wincing in pain. This really threatened to end her journey, but her perseverance was greater than the pain: so much so that even with that sprained ankle, she would make all the way to Roopkund! If one has to believe, there are Spirits everywhere – there are both good Spirits and bad Spirits. The catch is there has to be a bad Spirit to recognize the significance and power of a good Spirit. During the trek, one would witness many more “good Spirits” – the Spirits within us and around us, motivating us in every corner; we would come face to face with our limitless power and mental strength which we are not even aware of… We would discover ourselves in the next few days…
We reached the river at around 10.15 am. We had some candies and bananas we were given at Lohajung. We were careful not to throw the wrappers around. The river was serene. Although the water looked inviting, I was too lazy to remove my shoes, so I just sat beside the river banks, gazing at the gurgle of the water.
At 11 am, we got up to move onwards for the next part of today’s trek. After climbing for a few minutes, I realized that I had forgotten my walking stick near the river. I had to return to the shore to retrieve my walking stick – the stick which would save me from slipping during the Descent just after a few days…
It was a steep uphill climb to Didina village. The trek was entirely through forests – full of vegetation, with dried leaves covering the forest trail. In my opinion, this was the toughest stretch of trek in the entire trek route. (The coming days, you get used to it!) It was like the never ending Penrose staircase. The key for me was to concentrate on my breathing, and take a breather only when totally out of breath. Moreover, Mountains provide magical energy which wears off tiredness… when I was too tired, just a look at the majestic mountains would make me feel rejuvenated!
After a gruelling 2.5 hour uphill trek, we finally reached Didina. This is the last civilization on the Roopkund trek. The village comprises of a few huts made of mica rocks situated on terraced farms and forest clearing. Our shelter for the night would be one such traditionally built mica-hut. On the opposite mountain, one could see Kulling village. Didina and Kulling are sister villages. The locals spend 6 months of summer in Didina, while the winter months are spent in Kulling. Towards our far left, Lohajung was also visible. |
| Terrace field, with Kulling village at the background |
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| Mannu |
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| Mannu helping his mother |
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| View from our campsite |
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| Little Mannu also brought some firewood (Pic credit: Aditi Gandhi) |
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| Inderjit Ji lighting campfire |
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It was starry night at Baijnath, where the marriage ceremony took place. It was as if the heavens were also keen to watch the whole ceremony.
King Himawat stood like the mighty Himalayas as his daughter Nanda Devi clung to him, not wanting to let go. Everybody’s eyes welled up as she prepared to leave with her husband. But Nanda Devi was strong-willed and determined, although it was too much of an effort for her to hold back her tears. She didn’t want to form the last image of hers as a weepy girl, but rather as someone with strength and character.
Most of the guests which formed Shiva’s procession had already left. Only his most trusted aides Nandi (the bull), Vasuki (the snake) and some priests remained, who would accompany them all the way to Kailash.
Soon, the arduous journey to Kailash began. They walked through big and tiny villages which were all decorated and lit-up to welcome them. They walked through ups and downs of the hills, crossing small streams and mighty rivers and forests of deodar and pine. The meadows blossomed with all kinds of flowers – it became a kaleidoscope of colours.
Nanda Devi had entered an entirely different realm, away from her cozy palace and familiar faces. She had soon discovered that her husband was indeed the Bhootnath, and thousands of invisible Spirits also accompanied them. It was they who had taken the form of birds and animals which formed the procession of Shiva. However, Nanda Devi no longer felt frightened of them because she discovered that they were all good Spirits. The serenity of the place was such that some of the Spirits decided to stay there forever, to help the humanity for good…
The terrain soon turned rocky. At this environment, there is scarcity of water, since it is available only in the solid form (ie ice). Nanda Devi began to feel thirsty. Since all the water was exhausted, she asked her husband to provide some water. At this instant, Shiva took his Trisul and thrust it on the ground fiercely. The heat generated from the thrust of the Trisul melted the snow nearby which got collected into a crater created by it. When Nanda Devi went down to drink water, the lake (Kund) took the form (Roop) of her own ethereal reflection. She called the lake Roopkund, not knowing that it would be a witness to a terrible fate in the time to come…
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Day 3: Didina (2455 m) to Bedni Bugyal (3570 m) via Ali Bugyal (3324 m)
Today we departed early at 7 am. It would be a long trek to Bedni Bugyal: initially there would be steep climb to Ali Bugyal, then a moderate walk to Bedni Bugyal. In the early morning it was drizzling, now it was just foggy. After breakfast, we bade farewell to the little Himalayan village and began the long hike to the next camp. The climb to Ali Bugyal was just like the steep climb to Didina the other day, but this time my legs have gotten used to it, and moreover I was no longer feeling uncomfortable with my backpack. So I was less frequently going out of breath.
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| Last water point for today's trek |
The climb to Ali Bugyal was through thick oak forest, so pristine and dense that the occasional sun struggled to make its way through to the carpet of dried leaves. We zigzagged our way up, with occasional photography breaks with Arjun, Bhargav and Satish (all of whom came from Bangalore).
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| First view of Ali Bugyal. Inderjit ji already sitting at the top |
As we walked further through the whispering forest, the air became cooler, and the fog became denser. Within no time (although we have been climbing for 3 hours!), the first views of the meadows peeped through the fog. It was the end of the tree line and beginning of Ali Bugyal, the largest high altitude meadows in Asia! As we took a much needed rest, the nearby clouds cleared to give us an insight into vastness of Ali Bugyal. The greenery of the grass rolled on and on into the horizon – and I realized it was so easy to get lost here. As I was lost in my own thoughts, the clouds cleared more and gave us an incredible view of the distant mountains!
We rested here for a few minutes only. Some 15 minutes of walk through the clouds later, we reached the top of mountain we have been climbing. The meadows rolled off three sides of the mountain into the valley. Far below, Didina village was visible, and on the far left on the opposite mountain, one could barely make out the mountain pass of Lohajung. We took a rest here for about half an hour as Kalaam Singh bought us lunch from Didina. |
| View from Ali Bugyal |
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| The cow and a trekker |
At that time, I felt there is no need for a mini-lunch. But once I started, I realized how hungry I was. The sun had in the mean time come out rather stealthily, and I wanted to doze-off just like that cow at some distance. But soon the whistle blew, and another 2.5 hour walk to the next campsite began.
The walk onward was through ups and downs through the green meadows and dozens of dried-up streams. It looked like a giant golf course, which ran acres and acres into every direction. For the herds of animals there, it was like all-you-can-eat buffet! There were little flowers of all colours everywhere: yellow, pink, red, blue – I couldn’t walk without making a colourful painting on the ground! We walked on the left side of the mountain; so on the far left downwards, we could still see the tree line. For the next two days we would not get to see even a single tree…
After about an hour’s leisurely walk, a steep climb began. “Not again!!” I moaned, since I was already quite tired due to the Ali bugyal climb from Didina, not knowing that a few days later, when I would face the uphill task of the Descent, I would be yearning for the steep climbs! |
| Steep clim |
Thankfully, the climb was short and in just 20 mins flat, a flat trail was visible, which stretched on and on, on the left side of the mountain with steep slopes on its left, right out of the sight beyond the distant mountain.  |
| With Litchi juice (Pic credit: Aditi Gandhi) |
The last stretch of walk was very pleasant, with mesmerizing views all around – I would stop occasionally just to soak-in the views. “Aaah, the Himalayas!” I used to exclaim. A flock of sheep grazed happily on the upper slopes at the distance. Thick clouds have now started forming over the mountains, thus we had to rush to avoid the rains. What started with a few droplets had soon become a heavy downpour. Luckily, the campsite started getting visible, but it was still quite further down the slope. So, I had to dash the last stretch (carefully, since it became muddy) to reach the campsite – Bedni Bugyal. |
| Birds eye view of Bedni Campsite (Pic credit: Bhargav) |
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| Crane flies on a tent (Pic credit: Rahul Nadendla) |
The campsite was like a village of tents: around 40 small dome tents and 4-5 large tents and 3 green eco-huts (the bunker-like large huts set up by the forest department for storage or shelter) spread over the place. It was quite colourful atmosphere: yellow, green, blue and red tents laid on the green carpet of grass, with greyish white clouds all around and in the centre a brown muddy patch that was turned into a cricket-pitch! One thing that was common to all the tents was that they had hundreds of black dots on them. When I got near one of the tents, I was astonished to see that those were actually flies with long spider-like legs (called “crane fly”). The crane flies are quite harmless and clumsy, though I was initially scared of them because they looked so much like spiders! We were advised to keep our tents tightly shut to prevent the flies from entering. Praveen and I took shelter in one of the yellow tents which supposedly had lesser crane flies inside it.
It was very foggy, but the rain had subsided for a while. Praveen and I came out of the claustrophobic tent. A group of army personnel from Shasastra Seema Bal (SSB) was also camping at Bedni. They had actually came here as a part of training exercise, and were led by a person who had climbed Mount Everest! We mingled with them as if they were our own long lost friends, and, along with the locals and other trekkers, played cricket, Frisbee and many other games! The rains were sporadic, but the cheer in the air due to frolic of the army personnel was infectious.
In the evening, just before the sunset, just as we were having the mandatory medical tests to check for altitude sickness, the clouds cleared. It was like us being in a theatre called nature, and stage curtains in the form of clouds parted to give a breath-taking view of Mt Trisul! It was the view which we had waited for so long, but couldn’t get due to continuous cloud cover, and it was a view worth living for. People came out of their tents, cameras came out of the pouches and a newfound joviality came forth from the bottom of the hearts. |
| The majestic Mt Trisul! |
Only Praveen, my tent-mate, didn’t come out from the tent. Severe pangs of acidity hit him, something which many people would face in upcoming days. “…as if atom bombs are exploding in my stomach” was his reply when I asked how he felt. And because of that, he ate very little, while I gorged on the delightful Mutter Paneer at dinner, not knowing that I would also suffer from the same pangs of stomach acidity the day after…
In the night, sleeping in the tents was not comfortable to me. It was very claustrophobic – the tent was small and it was very dark. There was no difference between closed and opened eyes. I had to switch on my torch to allow my eyes to adjust somewhere. It was so suffocating that I had to open the flap of the tent and push my head out just to breath in some fresh air. Moreover, it became quite scary at night. At around 12’o clock, I heard sounds of cowbells very close-by, as if the cattle is grazing inside our tent. I wondered – why would cattle graze at this hour and that too very near to a campsite? As I was sitting upright, I recalled what Honey had said, “It becomes quite scary at night…” To ease my fright, I recalled the songs which the locals sang during the campfire that night – the folk songs dedicated to the Nanda Devi.
Roopkund now seemed within the reach! But conditions would be different
and much more difficult… The trek up till now was wondrous, through some of the
densest forests, largest bugyals and loveliest trails. We also got the first
views of the snow and in the coming days, we would actually walk on it! Afterwards
though, we would just be able to survive
some of the most terrifying slips on icy slopes. Also, one of the trekkers
would survive a near fatal horrific fall… In all these events though, some unlikely
friendships would be forged and amazing hospitality would be experienced in the
face of bad weathers. We would discover new Spirits in ourselves in the days to
come. Lastly, we would face the uphill task of the Descent, which would nearly
break our knees and cause painful blisters. The real high-altitude and
high-on-adrenaline trek was to begin just tomorrow, not realizing that at the
end of it, we will leave a part of our mind and Spirit at Roopkund, Forever!
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| To be continued... |
Part II: Roopkund, Forever!>>>
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Blogs from other trekkers in my batch:
> Arjun Haarith: Read his blog for absolutely mesmerizing photographs and great information for trekkers! He has released the Roopkund blog in four parts.
Link: http://arjunhaarith.blogspot.in/
Sources:
> Books:
-Deep in the Himalayas, pages: 61-63
-The Himalayas Playground of the Gods - Trekking, Climbing and Adventures, page 71
> Web:
-http://www.wondermondo.com/Countries/As/India/Uttarakhand/Roopkund.htm
-http://www.roopkund.com/complete-trek-details
-https://www.facebook.com/AmazingYatra/posts/436938693021907
> Articles:
-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shiva
-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baijnath,_Uttarakhand
-http://archive.deccanherald.com/Deccanherald/oct302004/n12.as