JK's Diary

Date: 28^th December to 30^th December, 2006
Photographers: Shrish Tewari & JK

Planning

It all started when we realized sometime in October that if we apply for a four day leave in December we would end up with a good 10 days off. This is something which Shrish and I wanted for a long time. A well deserved break for me as I was about to quit work and pursue MBA. For Shrish, he desperately needed it to get away from office politics and have sometime for himself.

After doing a bit of Google (re)search, Shrish came up with this place called Auli. At the very first site I decided to go for it. There were two reasons: First, the snow and second, it had adventure sports (Skiing and Trekking). Our minds started to waver after seeing the price tag that was put up on the net. Hardly there was one package available with a 4 digit price tag per head. We were even thinking of making an international trip at that cost or shift plans to Kulu – Manali. Later we realized that its now or never. One never knows whats gonna happen after another couple of years, Married Kids what not

Now that the place is finalized, we decided to figure out alternatives to bring down the cost. As bachelors trained by SRM Engg. College Hostel, survival instinct is now sort of in our blood. This made us comfortable to the fact that, we should not have too much of a problem adjusting in any kind of a place. Ticket to Delhi from Chennai was booked in Indigo Airlines in October itself to ensure we dont change our minds.

Long way to go – Delhi

Majestic Bus Stop, Bangalore.
22^nd December, 2006 21:30 hrs

My bus journey to Chennai started and the adventure too seemed to have kicked off here itself. All buses to Chennai had arrived except my 10:15pm bus. It arrived at around 10:55pm and I leftBangalore only at around 11:40pm.

Near MGR Engg. College, Chennai.
23^rd December, 2006 07:20 hrs

My Hutch phone refused to activate roaming and I had to figure out a way to call Shrish as I didn’t have his address 🙂 By now Shrish had already started to wonder if I am going to make it to Chennai or not. Had a good breakfast in his place and left for the airport just to realize that we were already running late. Called up Indigo Airlines to hear a good news that tele-check-in facility is currently not available with them and their counter closes at 10:30am. To add to this, there were quiet a few road blocks on the way which was getting us tensed a bit more.

Domestic Airport, Chennai.
23^rd December, 2006 10:26 hrs

Just made it to the airport and we were given a good news and a bad news. The bad news is that our flight was delayed due to fog in Delhi and the good news is that it will not be cancelled. 11am flight kept on getting delayed every 30 min till about 3.30pm. It was worth the wait. The air hostesses were simply amazing. The best part was, there was a cute female sitting right next to us and she was an air hostess too for some other airline 😉 Rock n Roll!!!

Comesum, Delhi.
23^rd December, 2006 20:20 hrs

We decided to go to Comesum 24hr fast food restaurant near Nizamuddin Railway station as it would be convenient to catch the 11pm train to Dehradun. Sat in the open air (the temp. was around 4 to 5 degrees) and had some spicy Chinese food to warm ourselves a bit.

Dehradun & Mussoorie

Mussoorie.
25^th December, 2006 14:00 hrs

Reached Mussoorie on 24^th and made all necessary travel arrangements. On 25^th, we went to Mussoorie and saw the ice capped peaks at a distance waiting for us eagerly. Trust me; the road leading to Mussoorie from Dehradun was terrible. Very steep and very bad turnings. Hardly one proper hair-pin bend. My poor small intestines, I know they are in a tangled state but this time they were put to its limits. I wouldnt be surprised if they did a few 180 degree turns inside my stomach, on the way and back from Mussoorie. Desperately needed a days rest before we headed for the next place.

Danolti snowfall

Danolti.
26^th December, 2006 11:15 hrs

We just landed at Danolti and asked a passer-by how far is the main market area of Danolti? He showed the stretch where our car was parked and said its only this much. Hardly a kilometer stretch of road. So for having gone all the way, we decided to see some pine trees, have lunch and leave for Chamba. Hoping to see something good there at least. I should say it was pure luck and timing on this day. We had our lunch and returned to the cab, the driver said its likely to snow here anytime so its better to wait for an hour or so. We decided to wait and in a few min. it started to snow heavily. We knew it was worth making this trip after all. At least for this one experience.

Way to Auli

Chamoli.
28^th December, 2006 19:35 hrs

Dehradun ` Hrishikesh ` DevPrayag ` RudraPrayag ` Chamoli. The mountains here were no where close to the ones we see in South India. Each one was huge, Majestic and standing with a pride of its own. Indescribable creations of God. One can hardly see the foot hill and the peak of the mountain at the same time. Through out the journey, the ice-capped peaks were teasing us at regular intervals keeping us awake throughout the journey. We were hardly able to close our eyes. During sunset time, the layer of mountains taking different shades was another breath taking sight.

As rock blasting was going on to widen the roads for 2008 Asian games, the roads were closed from 8pm till 5am. We decided to halt in Chamoli and checked out a couple of places. The first one was called Hotel Heaven. This guy has all facilities including TV. First he took us to a small match box size room and said this one is with TV. Shrish and I looked around and we were not able to find any TV, so we asked him where it was. He pointed towards the ceiling and showed us a TV almost as big as the room hanging on a stand from the ceiling. Unfortunately, I dont have a snap of that here.

Finally we went to a place called Badrinath – Kedarnath Samithi, constructed and maintained by the temple trust for pilgrims. For just Rs.100/- per day, you get a big clean room with all facilities except hot water (the most important thing). Anyway, we were in no mood of having a bath at close to sub zero temperature. 🙂 After all what are deos for?

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Auli

Auli.
29^th December, 2006 12:35 hrs

We reached GMVN (Garwal Mandal Vikas Nigam), the place where we had booked a hut for Rs.900/- per day. The same hut you see on the top right corner of this page. An excellent hut with all facilities including hot water and TV. We decided to skip lunch and trek a little before the sun sets. A good 2.5kms trek drained all our energy that day. Every time you see the mountains from the ski slope, you just cant refrain yourself from taking a snap. Its very very addictive.  They look different every time you see.

29^th December, 2006 19:00 hrs

After sunset, sitting in front of our room, under the clear sky and moon light, completely absorbed in the quiet surrounding, admiring the beauty of the never ending ice capped Shivalik range at 12000+ feet the sight was indescribable. When my friends used to say certain things cannot be captured in a camera, I never understood what they exactly meant by that but now I have experienced it myself. This is one among them.

To break the silence we had an excellent neighbor. We nick named her Travel India. Trust me, I couldnt stand the non-sense this female was uttering to an old man. It became a little interesting when she started to give website addresses too and at this point, I couldnt control myself and started to record whatever crap she was saying in my cell. According to her, if you have not heard of this place called Kaza, you are not a true nature lover.

When I said cell, my Sony Ericsson K750i was a life saver. The digital camera I have, Canon S1  IS (with 10x Optical zoom) let me down when the image capture circuit was rendered useless. All the snaps you see here in this site were taken in Shrish and my cell. Thanks to Sonys K750i. The pictures had come up with decent clarity.

30^th December, 2006 08:45 hrs

We went to the ski slope led by our Ski instructor, Dinesh. Had a nice practice session for around an hour and a half. After which we hit the ski slope where 2008 Asian games would be held. With my experience in roller skating a bit, I didnt have much of a problem balancing. But Shrish had a little tough time, every time he gained some speed. 🙂  I do have a video of him falling. 😀

We had our lunch and left Auli at around 3:45pm.

Return Journey

3Kms before RudraPrayag.
30^th December, 2006 19:15 hrs

In a stretch of around 20kms, we would have crossed at least 5 villages and in none of the villages, there was light or a candle burning or signs of people moving around. It was a little strange. We decided to stay in Rudra Prayag and were praying that we should have some light there at least. Just 3kms before we reached RudraPrayag, there was a landslide and a big boulder had hit a container lorry and blocked the road. This incident had taken place just a few min. before we reached that spot. Luckily, the ITBP (Indo Tibetian Border Police) and Highway Patrol along with the local public had managed to move the boulder and get the traffic moving. A pic of the container lorry has been uploaded.

We finally reached RudraPrayag and were searching for another GMVN rest house. Believe it or not just before we got there, we found the same Badrinath – Kedarnath Samithi here also. We picked it up for the same Rs.100/- and spent the night in peace. Pic of the room has been uploaded too.

DevPrayag

DevPrayag.
31^st December, 2006 10:15 hrs

This is the place where the two rivers Bhagirathi and Alaknanda meet. After this point, the river is called Ganga. We went down to the sangam to collect some water and eventually drank some too. Trust me, it was damn clean. Tasted like pure mineral water.

Near Hrishikesh.
31^st December, 2006 11:45 hrs

Our cab driver was asking if we would be interested in going for rafting, but unfortunately we didnt have enough energy left to go for it. We wanted to get back to our office in one piece.

Byasi.
31^st December, 2006 15:30 hrs

There were a number of villages we would have crossed. None of the villages would have stretched for more than 500 meters to a Kilometer. Its like we enter the village and even before we realize, we would have crossed the limits of that village. One of the villages was called Byasi. We had our lunch here. Six rotis, two bowls of Dal, two bowls of Subzi, freshly cut mooli, onion chutney and pickles,costed us just Rs.26/-. Hard to believe?

Dehradun.
31^st December, 2006 18:00 hrs

We reached Dehradun with lots of good memories and snaps to show share with everyone.

New Year Party

Our New Years Eve party was in Hotel Madhuban, Dehradun with Shrish, his parents, his sister and family. It was one rocking place. Everyone was on the dance floor dancing and hardly anyone was able to walk steadily out of the dance floor. I did my authentic dance step a couple of times, danced till my body cant take anymore. This was my third most memorable New Years even in succession. Previous one (2006) was in Hiranandani, Mumbai and 2005 in US.

Overall Experience

This was one memorable and adventurous trip. Those who think India is a place where there is nothing much to see or nothing very beautiful, must go to this place. You will change your views for ever.