A Fun-filled family Trek to Deoriatal, Tunganath ad Chandrashila

 

A few days ago, my cousins from Calcutta along with their parents came to Dehradun. My mother, who works in the Himalayas as an architect had planned a family trek to Deoriatal, Tunganath and Chandrashila for all of us.

On 16th October we set out for Sari village from where we would  trek to Deoriatal. The route crossed the Tehri dam and ran like a snake through the mountains. I had traveled on this route earlier in April this year when I had accompanied my mother to Guptkashi so I knew that we would come across broken roads, wiped out villages, broken bridges- remains of the Kedarnath disaster. But the others had not travelled on this route after the disaster and were horrified on seeing all that.

 We reached Sari quite late in the evening. Next morning as we set out for the trek before dawn,. It was really thrilling to walk in the dark with a guide leading the way in torchlight . I imagined the wild animals through whose home we were walking.

 

We reached Deorital a little before sunrise. The sight of the Himalayan peaks reflected in the clear waters of the lake was so beautiful that it we could not stop admiring it.

We spent quite a lot of time there, having picnic breakfast on the banks of the lake, climbing a watchtower , running about on the rolling meadows.

 Tungnath has the highest Shiva temple in the world. The 4 km trek to this mountain top starts from Chopta and passes through oak forests, green meadows. In the last stretch the tree line just vanishes and it is just rock, rock and bare rock all around.

Tungnath is very high and very cold. We stayed at a guesthouse next to the temple. The moment I stepped out of the room, the famous Himalayan cold pounced on me like a hungry tiger. I hurriedly stepped back and retreated to the warmth of the blankets, refusing to come out again.

But next dawn again we, three reluctant kids were again woken by our parents and we trekked to Chandrashila to watch the sunrise. It was very cold up there, but the sight just before and after the sunrise was such an inspiring sight that I forgot all the discomfort. Here I was at the top of the world, clouds below me and I was looking straight into the face of the majestic Chaukhamba peak.

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It was a wonderful feeling which I have carried back with me to Dehradun.

Landour is languorous and lovely

 After my exams got over we went to  Landour , a small place near  Mussorie, on a one day trip.

Landour is higher in altitude than to Mussorie. The road to that place is steep, but it is tree-lined in some stretches that makes it enjoyable . At a roadside plaque I read that “If Mussorie is the queen of the hills so Landour must be the fairer Princess” I totally agree with the statement.

We had booked at ITM Guest House in Landour which is situated near “Landour Language School.”a  famous British era building. The other landmark is CharDukan   means four shops. Earlier there were four shops, but at the moment I counted that there are five shops. I think we should now call the place Pancch Dukan

In front of Landour Language School

 At Devdar Woods Hotel, in front of the 150 year old deodar tree

Outside the ITM Office there was an unused fighter plane, kept as a model. I possessed for photographs in front of it. This property belongs to the army.

That night, we went to Deodar Woods, which is an old British era structure now converted in a hotel. This place with a high ceiling, sloping roof and fireplace has an interesting ambience. In front, is an 150 year old deodar tree from   where the hotel derives it‘s name.

The hotel is famous for its pizzas and we had them to our hearts content . While we were in the middle of our dinner suddenly it began to rain. We waited for a while for the rain to stop but when it didn’t we set for our guest house with umbrellas. It was an gripping journey- a pitch dark rainy night and three of us moving through the wooded road holding our heart in our hands. I was waiting for a leopard to come out of the jungle and say "Hello" to us, but nothing of that happened. 

Next morning, we went to Sister’s Bazar- the smallest bazaar I have ever seen. There are lesser number of shops that the number of fingers on my hand. We met the owner of the only provision store- Anil Uncle. He is also owner of Devdar Woods hotel and he invited us to his house for tea and told us a lot of stories. 

Now it was time to return home. After a yummy and wonderful lunch at Kalsang Restaurant at Mussorie, we drove back and was soon home.

How I wish I have a holiday like this every weekend.

Banshil - A day with deodars

Another trip to another beautiful Himalayan village- Banshil, located among deodar trees. I will not tell you where for I want to keep the location of the place a secret- it is so beautiful and unspoiled.

The meadows were rolling green and bordered by forests full of deodar trees and birds and butterflies. I saw a common peacock butterfly and heard many birds.
We stayed at a new hut on the edge of the meadows. To get to the place you have to trek about 2km from where the road ends.
The village to which this meadows and forests belong has beautiful Jaunpuri homes. There is small gurgling stream beside the place.
Though the road to the place was bad ( hope it stays that way, so that people do not come and crowd the place), it is just too good- rolling meadows, deep forests, mountain stream, birds, butterflies, morning treks in the jungles, what more can anyone want on a holiday?

 Playing cricket in the evening 

 Pounding grain the natural way 

 Beautiful Jaunpuri Home 

Common Peacock Butterfly 

Bisoi - B stands for Beautiful

 This summer we headed to a  completely unknown place in the Himalayas. It is called Biosi and is famous for the magnificent Mahazu Devtaa temple .

Though the place is only 70 kms from Dehradun, but it is a completely different world. Very cute colorful houses standing tall against the green mountains, the life there is very different from the life in the city. Even the houses were so different . We stayed in one such house. It was beautiful wooden carvings and in the evening we watched a beautiful local dance- Pandav dance.
The food our hosts cooked for us was simple buy yummy- much better than you find in restaurants .
Afternoon I played with the local boys and as night fell, the sky was bright with stars.

 Playing with Bisoi boys 

 House where we stayed 

 Pandav dance 

Trip to Guptkashi near Kedarnath

 At Devprayag

 Crossing Kaliganga at Kalimath  

 Sitting in the fields , reading reading my favorite story book

 At lord Shiva temple Kalimath

 On the banks of Kaliganga

Standing in front of Aryan's helicopter

On the way to Guptkashi

On Saturday morning at   6 a.m.  I and my mother set of  to Guptkashi with Alok uncle. It took about 6-7 hours to reach Guptkashi. On the way we stopped at somewhere Rishikesh for breakfast. We had Alo -Paratha and Dahi. When we went on proceeding   on the road, we saw the destruction made by the 2013 disaster and also saw many bridges broken .We saw the that river, which is coming from Kedarnath had stretched  the valley between the mountains. We had been to Kedarnath in the October 2012 so I could see the difference the disaster had made in the landscape and of course in the lives of the people.

 We reached Guptkashi at 4 p.m. First we ate our lunch at a restaurant in the bazaar of Guptkashi and then we went off to LAL'S Resort where we met M.R FANCIES. When we arrived at the hotel, my mother did some discussion with other uncles whose house had been destroyed in 2013 and was going to be rebuilt.. I had also brought my favorite storybook THE FAMOUS FIVE and wrote one page of some essay competition .After writing I took a nap and woke up at 7p.m. My mother woke me up for supper in the evening and was raining heavily, so we took an umbrella.  A chef served us all the food on a table. They also told us that there was a helipad for going to Kedarnath and also some four pilots living in the hotel for two months continuously. They served us some Fried Rice, Manchurian and some other vegetables. That night, I read THE FAMOUS FIVE for half- an hour. My mother told me about all those people whose houses are going to be rebuilt - she told me there are children who had not gone to school for more than a year for the simple reaosn that their school has been washed away. Hearing this I was sad and stunned. Here I was so unhappy about having to go to school everyday and here these children are  unhappy about not being able to go to school. What contrast. 

The next day after breakfast, I , my mother , MR FANCIES , Alok uncle and two other uncles went to Kalimath. The road was very narrow and badly broken in places. We also saw that a stadium in the valley belonging to the government which had also been destroyed by the disaster.

I was sad on seeing so much of destruction. Can't it had been avoided? Perhaps it could have been, if people had been more thoughtful and careful. But people have become so greedy, they want concrete structures to come up everywhere without caring for the environment.

With a heavy heart, I came back to Dehradun. 

Diwali in the hills

Exactly on 18th night just when my school closed for  Diwali, I set out with my mother for spending a week in the hills. We would be going to 4 places , Mukteshwar ( near Nainital), Odakhan and Talla Ramgarh and Matt Village ( near Almora).

Mukteshwar is at quite at a height and you can see the snow peaks if the sky is clear. Honey Singh Bawa uncle is making wooden cottages beside a stream which is frequented by leopards. Bawa uncle ( everyone calls him Babaji) invited me to stay here for a week and gave me 100% guarantee that I would see a leopard. Next time, I told him.

Here is the famous Mukteshwar sunrise

Bawa uncle's pinewood cottages

Breakfast in the company of the mountains

Now to Odakhan and Talla Ramgarh. B2R is a rural BPO which operates from these two places. I learnt that many employees walk from neighboring villages, up the hill, down the valley and through jungles where they sometimes run into bears and leopards. Some day I also want to work here instead of staying in dusty polluted cities.
This the Talla Ramgarh centre. Can you spot me amongst the employees?

The Odakhan BPO office is located amidst dense jungles. At the guest house where we put up, we were forbidden to step out after dark and before dawn as a leopard had taken a dog from where my hand is pointing not very long ago. Look below.

We had to leave Odakhan without meeting or even hearing of the leopard. Now to Matt village ( near Almora) to the house of Asha Auntie and Louk Uncle ( red house at the back of the picture). You have to walk quite a bit from the road to reach the house, but it was fun
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There too I had a lovely time. See me combining Logo blocks and lunch.

Now it was time to catch the train back to Dehradun. But not before a short stopover at Nainital to do my favorite things- boating .

Durga Puja of 2014- A season of joy

This DurgaPuja I went to Kolkata. I was very excited because I would be meeting my grandparents after a long time, having missed my summer vacations with them as I had to catch up with studies in my new school.

This post is all about Durga Pujas- about the Durga Puja celebrated in the house of Saha Family at Kolkata. It is a lovely puja which is more than 100 years old. I have uploaded some photos so that you yourself can see how beautiful the house is and how the Durga Puja is celebrated there.

Fun time with cousins

One day, we also went to a village called Dhanyakuria. It is about 30 kms from Kolkata.There are many splendid palaces in the village and I was amazed to see so many big and beautiful mansions in a village. The drive was very nice through lush green countryside. I saw jute drying on the roadside.We also stopped to drink coconut water which is found here everywhere.