Track Trek - Doodhsaagar

Plan : For all those who complain for time, this is a brief of our plan. Hope this helps.

Day/Date Oct, 2013	Start time	Start Place	Reach time	Dest Place	Transport	Other details
Wed/16	3:30pm	Mysore	9:30pm	Puttur	car	Approx for 20kms after sampajje the roads are bad rest are excellent
Thr/17	10am	Puttur	11:30am	Mangalore	Car
Thr/17	12:50pm	Mangalore(MAQ)	7:15pm	Margoan(MAO)	Mathsyaganda express (only train that was booked)	This is the only train which reaches on time
Fri/18	7:40am	MAO	9:30am	Doodhsagar	Howrah express	Only train towards DS till evening
Sat/19	11:50am	Kullem	1:00pm	MAO	Chennai exp	Train is usually delayed
Sat/19	2:00pm	MAO	8:00pm	Udupi	Mangalore passenger	Not crowded, Fare is just Rs65/- to Mlore
Sun/20	3:00pm	Mangalore	11:30pm	Mysore	Car

My way,  

Having been to all those well planned treks and trips had started getting too monotonous and less fun for me. Doodhsagar was the one followed with this mindset. I posted on my wall to know if anyone out there were interested in joining me in this trek. I & Suhas were still trying to tweak the plan to accommodate it over weekend. Sadly weekends in a spot like Doodhsagar is extremely crowded and I hated to end up in such a noisy & messy situation. So by the time we freezed the weekday trek plan it was late and naturally train status showed big numbers of waiting list. Four of us from Mysore, two of our friends from Bangalore and an interesting bunch of 4 people from Mangalore finally packed our bags.

Wednesday, it must have been late noon we started in our car to Puttur. Me & Raja both being beginners took our sweetest time driving to Puttur by night. It was a very long time meeting Harianna & his wife. It’s always a pleasure being with their company and I was way to glad that this trip gave us time to meet up. After a stomach full of delicious dinner we gave rest to our bodies till morning. Their house is at a higher land than the rest of the houses around, sipping a hot tea in the balcony watching the greenery around make me feels these people are damn too lucky to be there. This also reminds me that my dad and mum too spent their early years of married life in this very place Puttur. Lot of things might have changed but Puttur is still remote-like n fun!

After bidding bye to them we continued in our car to Manglore. On our way, we stopped for Kalladka tea aka KT. It’s a nice technique to pour the tea syrup on a layer of milk and it tastes unique. I mean good :P. We rushed to the Mangalore central station after making an unnecessary trip to the Mangalore Junction station. Dropped our luggage at the station before parking the car at a fren’s place near Urva Stores. Mathsyganda express chugging its way through the green spread on both sides of the track. It was post lunch & we struggled to keep awake in that heat outside, mangalore weather was humid as always. As train gets close to Murudeshwara, Kumta, Ankola, Gokarna and Karwar there is endless greenery, numerous hills, long tunnels and endless water joining the sea close by. It’s definitely a treat to your eyes. The huge statue of Shiva in Murudeshwara is visible from train and with that we can make a guess of close we are to those beautiful beaches. It was close to dusk when the train was passing over Karwar & I loved it, surrounded by hills on the east and the beach towards west. It was spellbinding. We sat near the doors enjoying the sun going down.

Reaching Margoan by 7:15 in the evening, we had to look for a hotel for the night. Heavy bags and tents forced us to take an expensive ride to a nearby hotel. The place looked good but the sight outside the hotel looked like a dumping yard. By the time we ordered our dinner at a Veg hotel, two of them from Bangalore joined us. Managed to get a hot water bath back in our room and had a good night sleep with AC ON.

Tomorrow was fun ... 

Day 3, 4 : Riding on the curves

Next day started early for all. Most of us managed to take bath as we were not sure if we could get a chance till we reached Leh. The homestay charged us very liberally thinking we were students. I guess it was me who went to look for the rooms and no doubt they were sure that we were still college-goers. KaramChandji was on time as expected. Those roads climbing up the mountains were calling. The bikers ready with their gears and we started our journey on those zig-zag road towards Rohtang. Fortunately for the bikers, it was not a sunny day. They seemed to enjoy the ride. Manja slipped off a little while taming his bike climb up on a curve and realized life is not the same as on plains. He learnt the technique soon. A little distance ahead we encountered the first block, a landslide. My mind cribbed thinking about the delay this might lead to and the plan getting upset. But I was wrong, it was soon cleared off and the road was all ours till we stopped for late breakfast at a petty shop on the road side.

It got sunny as we drove over keylong, Jispa, Darchu, Zingzing Baar. And we felt cramped inside the vehicle. Pavan couldn’t resist from riding the bike and he offered some rest to Manja. We soon reached Baralacha La pass. It is a high mountain pass in Zanskar range. After having lunch at a road side hotel we continued our journey. We dint want to stop till dusk or till the bikers wanted to. Our driver made our life very easy even for the back-seaters.  Hats off to his driving skills, he often joked at other vehicles which took its commuters for a roll-a-coaster ride on these roads. He showed us important landmarks on the way and by now he was a part of the group despite the language barriers he laughed at our jokes making us wonder if he was really laughing at the joke or at us :D.

Inspite of many frens suggesting that we should not ride very long on a single day and gain sudden altitude, we did ride up till Sarchu. We were amazed that even at 6:30 in the evening it is absolutely bright days up there. We were cheated when it got dark all of a sudden by 7:10pm around and became extremely cold. Sarchu is plain land with mountains surrounded in all directions. Extremely windy and very naturally it was cold beyond imagination. There are several camps in Sarchu for night’s stay. Charging around Rs600 – 650 per head. The tents were very cozy with an attached bathroom. They provided hot water if demanded and food was not all that great. But all we needed was a warm bed to kill the night. Before getting into the warm layers we took some time to enjoy the deep blue sky filled with stars. The landscape looked dark right below and the sky was lit up here and there with bright stars. Cold breeze forced us get into our blankets and we slept tight. Things were no different the next morning. It was freezing cold. Few among us had headache, vomiting sensation and few felt uneasy as they could not sleep the whole night. They blamed the suffocating tents. Altitude also seemed to be doing its job. We assembled for breakfast which was half toasted bread with jam and butter. It dint help us feel any better but a hot cup of tea was heavenly. We came out and magically we were not feeling cold anymore. Fortunately all were good to go.

The journey started on a sunny day. By now every one of us inside the vehicle were equally tempted to enjoy a ride on the bike and mean while the bikers needed some break. Few stretches were the most beautiful sights to watch and ride and few patches were terrible for the bikers. It was late afternoon we stopped for lunch. KaramChandji made sure that he stopped at good hotels all along. 

After filling our stomach we must have rode for 5-10kms, karamji received a call from hotel we just left. Pavan had left behind his wind jacket with wallet in it. They went back to collect & the hotel owner was humble enough to check for his belongings and clearly mentioned how much cash he had kept in his wallet and safely handed over it to Pavan. She also showed him a bag full of items left behind by people visiting her hotel. That’s the beauty of this place. We were bowled over by their modesty.

Next few hours we rode over few of the best roads laid by Border Road Organisation. The sign boards put up were really interesting and de-stressing. The best one I saw was “Smile please”. It actually made me smile. J Interesting few I can recollect here “Drive Slowly”, “One my curve, check your nerve”, “Darling I like you but not so fast ” :P, “Drive like hell and you’ll be there”, “Are you going for a party? Then y drive so dirty” Really interesting people out there at BRO haa;)

It was close to dusk when we reached Karu from where Leh is just 35kms more. But we preferred spending the night at karu and leave the next morning. The city looked almost shut and it majorly has the army settlements than civilian population. We settled down with the cheapest accommodation as it was a matter of one night. Two huge rooms with lots of dirty beds and blankets spread all over the floor. We were too tired to look for anything better and easily spent a night. Right outside the window, the moon who was close to his full that night was glowing bright in the sky. 

Day 2 : Manali... Day to wallow in nature !

 Time must have been 9:30am, we reached Manali. It was an uneventful journey. Our cab driver KaramChandji was already at the bus station waiting for our call. We left it to him to take us to a good stay outside the busy streets of Manali. After driving a distance to leave the busy crowd behind we reached a beautiful home stay “Apple House”. As the name suggests it was amidst apple and pear trees, bordering at the end of the view were those tall mountains. The house/cottages are designed so beautifully that you feel as if you are part of the wonderful nature outside.

                                                View of the valley from our home stay

A day to wallow in nature, chill out and visit a nearby temple. Manu and Manja had to look for bikes as they were to ride from here. They left hunting for good bikes. We postponed our daily chores till evening when finally we were ready to visit the temple which we had missed during our previous visit to Manali. Hadimba devi temple, a beautiful temple amidst tall trees. A unique structure with several layers of square tombs and a small note on the history of this temple is worth reading. (http://bharmourview.com/himachal-tourism/manali/hadimba-devi-temple-manali ). The temple has a small entrance and you see a cave inside without an idol but a footprint which is worshipped. The pandit serving the Prasad was generous enough to brief us about this temple. Little away is the Ghatotkach temple.

 I was a kid when I watched Roja movie for the first time and by now have watched it countless number of times and this is one place which comes to my mind every time I think of this movie. And the same thing happened when I saw this temple. The scenes shot in this temple started playing in my mind. It was Roja feeling. Such an amazing movie and a brilliant place to shoot it.

After shooting few pictures with the group we strolled in the evening market of Manali. A bust street filled with shops, restaurants, hippies and cool breeze filling your lung. A group of people who carried various colored oil in a kind of custom made bottle holder roamed around the visitors waiting for a chance to do the magic with their oil on your body. It’s a common sight of people getting their tired legs or a heavy head massaged albeit the chaos of market. They seemed to be in no ecstasy. When someone among them asked one of us if he wanted a body massage I wondered how someone would get a body massage done, I mean where … there…. :P 

It was almost dusk when we raced back to our home stay. KaramChandji was a generous man, he offered us tea at his house. We were surprised by the hospitality he presented for a bunch of new faces like us. We accepted the invitation not to make him sad but I personally never wanted to put his folks into uncomfortable situations. But he insisted that we all go. A small family with a beautiful wife and two sons doing their schooling. They were preparing their house for a festival in the village and hence the lady of the house expressed her dissatisfaction for the condition of the house. We enjoyed the world’s best pudina tea (At least for me this was the best) and lil snacks. The super champ, younger son was busy pretending to study while the elder son, her mother said was very studious. He studied in the town and was not around.

Back home, the home stay chef had prepared the best of cuisines for the non-vegetarians while the  rest almost starved with left-over’s of the afternoon lunch. Lil cribbing, we hit the bed soon to start the next day early.

Day 1 : Julley Leh… The journey begins….

Year long discussion, months of planning and a long break will always bring you to the best of a place under the sun. One such amazing place in India is LEH. A must see for every lazy bug like me. So pack your bags and prepare some wonderful coffee as you travel with me to this beautiful place in our own country.

As always we had the list of places to visit, a route map for the same and the rest kept as open points. Rooms were to be looked for after reaching the place. We checked with cab drivers if they were free to give us a ride but nothing was booked. It was not really necessary to book anything in advance other than the train or flights. After having discussed with friends who had previously visited Leh, we had umpteen contacts and all the required information.

                                    Map of the places visited and stayed on our way

The group was big with 9 people having varied interests. Putting across each of our interests, we finally had 2 blueprints to execute the trip. It was like this, all 9 would travel to Manali by bus from Delhi. From here, 7 out of 9 will ride in a cab (Innova) to Leh while the rest 2 will ride bikes right from Manali. Reaching Leh, 4 out of 7 will hire bikes & rest 3 (we girls) will ride as pillions. After going around Leh, the same 7 will continue to reach Srinagar via Kargil in a cab; the other 2 bikers will drive back to Manali from Leh. Quiet a circus, don’t bother to read again if you dint get it. These different plans initially created a lot of friction in the group but were later accommodated.  

Guys got prepared with their riding gears for the road conditions were told to be terrible at few stretches. Like previous trips the last minute shopping was unavoidable and my 0-shopping idea went for a toss. Never mind it is better to be over-prepared than going under-prepared.

So it was Me, Pavan, Kanthanna travelling the length of this vast country by train from Bangalore to Delhi in Sampark kranthi express which will take its sweet 48 hours to reach the capital. We mostly ate, slept and chit-chat with the each other, otherwise plug to some music. Kanthanna and Pavan had brought some really delicious home food which thrived easily for 2 days, keeping our tummies happy. The train journey is very boring for few people especially for those who are new to this mode of transport. So, Pavan who had hardly traveled before on wheels for long had a very tough time. We made all efforts to kill time. Kanthanna would get down at every station and would get back to train only when it departed the platform. On his way he would bring us eatables sold on the platforms at different cities the train had stopped on its way. We probably never felt that the train was in full speed, it would stop at every other city more generously.

Fortunately, all the way from Bangalore till almost Delhi it was raining outside giving us the best views on the other side of the window. When I travel by train I feel like I really have seen this country in full and close. You see the deserted lands where except thorn-tipped plants nothing seems to grow, old dams, cacophony bridges which screams like ghosts when the trains run over them, mountains, homes of poor on the banks of the bridges, mind-blowing views of the rivers below you, the true country of yours unfolds right outside your window. All you asked to do is to embrace it. Isn't this a treat worth experiencing? A nice book in hand will definitely help when your eyes refuses to see anything outside. Music inside your heart never pauses. Also, for me, train journey is so much fun for this is the only time I get to sleep for long hours. There is absolutely no network to call anyone and I love this part more than anything else. It’s just you and your thoughts. If I am not thinking, I am mostly sleeping  :P

                                           Thanks to Pavan for this wonderful collage!!

Two days later, Suhas, Raja, Manoj, Manja, Suma, Vidya flew to Delhi and we finally became 9 at Mandi house, Delhi. The bus from Delhi to Manali was from this place at 6:30pm. This was my second time through this journey. 

Hitting back the roads of Dehradun

Morning was busy with every one getting ready to start an early descent. The kitchen staff were now preparing the most delicious Parathas with Egg Burji. I was so glad I eat egg, the combo tasted so well. The demand & supply was never balanced & naturally a long queue waited right outside the kitchen tent for their turn to get a hot paratha on the plate. Must say I ate greedily! One of the Parathas from Suma's hand got grabbed by the dog battalion and there was roar in crowd feeling sorry for suma or a display of anger for the negligence.  The dogs ran away with it & swallowed within seconds.

The pace of the team to reach the base camp & start their next journey towards different places was high enough not letting us take much break. The group was almost running down the trail. And finally Sankri was visible, not too far on the downhill. On reaching the Base camp, we waited patiently outside the IH office till a hot tea & biscuits came in. Raj Mohan ji was here to welcome us with a clean shave looking much younger than he looked before. The ceremony to distribute certificates started with the crowd cheering after calling out each name who would proudly come up to collect his token of accomplishment from Raj Mohan ji & Bharti.

 Meanwhile our luggage got loaded into the vehicles which would drive us back to Dehradun. The last night we had planned that we would visit Rishikesh & Haridwar. The drive back to Dehradun was much easier with a small nap albeit curvy roads. The tired body made no complaints for the bad roads and slept quietly till it reached the city of Dehradun by night almost at dinner time. We checked into a hotel close to railway station and helped ourselves with food in a ok-ok kinda hotel. After a long time we would be getting to sleep on a bed, dirty though but who cared. Sleep had to win over all odds around. 

The next day was to drive not more than 1 hour to reach Rishikesh. Ram – Lakshman Jhula was since long in my travel list. For its serene ganga following below these bridges, the beauty is beyond consumption. The Sun spared none but it was welcoming. This place as well is crowded with Phirangees roaming in odd colored clothes. Many young lads throw themselves on this river bank drinking alcohol in a place with is otherwise known for its spiritual richness. Numerous yogis have made this place their home and hence considered to be THE place for anyone who is looking out for spiritual growth. Several times in the past I had thought of coming here find a guru to learn Yoga, now I was forced to think twice.

Haridwar wasn’t too far but it was already evening & had to skip the visit to the temple with a hope to  visit these places again. We drove back to Dehradun to catch a night train back to Delhi. We met Danny, Imran & Shimoo in the railway station who had watched Dabaang-2 to kill time in the city that day. We reached Delhi the next day morning around 8AM. Danny & Imran departed to airport while Shimoo had all time on earth to accompany us to Akshardam. Yes! I finally made it to this beautiful temple.

The very first sight of this temple is breath taking. The security was pretty appreciating, me & Suma got all possible strange looks for the tracks and huge shoes we wore. The temple has a long garden stretched out. Cleanliness was prominent at every corner of the temple complex. User friendly boards, audio tapes helps one enjoy every statue and architecture throughout. I so much wish a similar setup in our heritage temples back in Karnataka. It would be so appealing if places like Hampi, Halebidu, belur, Aihole, Patadakalu and many more places having their stories put across in such simple way for everybody to understand and appreciate. Without even our knowledge we had spent close to 6hrs in this place. The story of Swamy Narayan depicted in the form of a movie is so creative. Except for the evening’s musical fountain we missed nothing in this place.

We took an auto back to Nizamuddin station from where me & Suma were to catch Rajdhani express. We both were so very excited about this train journey right from the beginning of this holiday. We had dinner outside the railway station, a uniquely awesome ambienceof this place helped us kill time. Shimoo dropped us near the train & said bye to us from here to catch a bus to Ambala. He was fun to be with & a great company in Delhi.  We occupied the side lower and upper birth and sat there the whole day & night watching the train cutting across the length of this country. We never checked our mobile phones or watches for time. Slept for more than half of the journey and plugged my ears to some good music. Book dint taste me much than sleeping like a lazy bug. I dint even realize that it was the start of a new year when we got down at Yeshwantpur railway station in the morning of Jan 1^st 2013. It’s a Happy wala New Year!! 

On the summit of Kedarkantha

When ever I am writing about the day of summit I am as excited as I am on the day of climbing it. All of us would have had imagined the peak in our own way, and would wait for this day to actually experience it & no wonder the summit is way beyond one’s imagination. It is difficult to capture its beauty with anything be it with words, a camera or your beautiful eyes.

With yesterday’s good night sleep we were full of energy to conquer the summit. With our crampons on, walking on the snow became much easier. With its fine grip it was difficult to fall off balance. The climb started early by 7am. The weather was clear with enough chill to keep us shivering as we reached summit. Initially I managed to walk without my gloves but soon the blow of wind was so quickly made my hands go numb. I then managed to play with my camera with my gloves on. We stopped to see Raj Mohan running on the edges of the mountain and climbing the trees like a monkey to catch signals on his walkie-talkie. He seemed least worried about the steep cliffs and slippery snow, having been on these mountains since his childhood made him feel at home.

Raj Mohan Ji

As we reached the summit, the blow of cold wind increased. Few among us with woodland shoes had tough time keeping away the ice & the wet shoes troubled them for the rest of the day with frozen feet.

The summit was spread wide enough to accommodate all the climbers on it. Right on top a typical arrangement of flat stones in a square on which a trishul was crowned. Few prayer beeds hung on this trishul and Gharwali people being extremely god-fearing will not entertain even the slightest disrespect towards god. Raj Mohan ji on reaching summit, kneeled down and spent some time quiet closing his eyes, moving his lips chanting the prayers. Inspite of being a non-believer of this whole setup, I was feeling good to see someone pray so innocently & the summit offers all its positive energy by just being there.

Few escaped from the crowd to catch some quiet time to embrace the beauty around. While Raj Mohan Ji patiently waited till the last climber reached the top and then took us around naming each peak surrounding us with its altitude, distance of trek & difficulty levels. The list seemed never ending!! The story of shiva being on this peak get its name after him. After all this Q&A seesions, we celebrated our joy clicking pictures and quickly started to get down the mountain back to the base camp.

The snow was very dry not letting us enjoy a good slide. We still managed to slide down short distances at the cost of hurting our back sometimes. Back in Kedarkantha Base camp, a yummy lunch welcomed us. My Schoolmate Mahesh was in the next batch which had already arrived at the KK Base camp. His friends had cursed me throughout their trek for suggesting this trek. I could see their frustration of being in this cold instead of enjoying a nice holiday on their bikes. This was not their cup of coffee.

Wished them luck for the rest of the trek. And we started our descent to Har gaon. Unlike ascent, descent pushes me to the sweeper group. I enjoy this one too. Bharthi got along to add more fun to the descent. We shared a belly laugh imaging sliding down till the Har gaon camp. She had plan to crash land on the snow near the campsite, dust the snow from her body & in full style, get ready to welcome the others while they drag their body towards the camp. :D

Har gaon was a beautiful place to relax after the summit but this was lot more colder and windy than the previous night. We threw the bags into our tents and went straight to get some warmth around the fire. The fire was not lit up yet, troubled few people in the group and I still remember how rudely this guy(I don’t want to mention his name) demanded the campsite person to get the fire ready right away. I felt extremely sorry for Pavan(Raj Mohan ji’s son) for becoming a target. Providing this basic facility itself is way too difficult than we imagine & instead of being grateful we offer no sensitivity for human values. Over the night I saw Pavan & another guy walking into the dark holding huge bottles to bring drinking water for us. My heart sank in pain. When it was impossible for all of us to stay away from fire even for a minute these people are struggling so much for our well being. I can probably not forget Pavan’s helpless face for long time. 

 From left, Pavan & Thirappan Ji.

As the sun went down, the sky changed its color every second. It was mesmerizing to see the nature so beautiful & dynamic. 

Beautifully captured by Kunal

 The cold was too unbearable and the campfire seemed the best place to spend our night. But strangely Snowy & two other dogs kept barking every now & then keeping us wonder if there were any animals close to the camp site. We flashed torch lights into the dark to see nothing but snow all around. As we stood around facing the fire, our back would freeze and forced to turn around to make it feel better. After several rounds of facing and turning back to fire, Danny came up with an idea to stand with your side facing the fire. Ah this one worked. Ghost stories soon occupied the discussions after we ran out of topics to munch on. And finally when it was too late to sit around the fire any longer we went into our tents and locked ourselves inside the sleeping bags. Our dog battalion barked the whole night keeping us almost awake throughout.