Winding roads, a bad stomach and Badrinath!

Continued from here.

July 23rd 2012. Day 3

We set off for Badrinath, and then Govind Ghat after breakfast.  I was fatigued, weak, and not hungry at all.  Decided that plain toast and black tea was the wisest solution.  All the others were feasting on aloo paratha, poha, buttered toast, and Archana was freaking out with cheese toast as well!!

I took an Avomin someone gave me - Damayanti I thnk - and was knocked out for most of the trip!!  In between, everytime I opened my eyes, there was the Alakananda gushing away!

The Alakananda.  We followed it faithfully.

The hillsides were green after the July rains.

There seem to be many hydel projects, coming up.  These mountains, this water, so precious to the whole country.  We cannot afford to kill this golden goose.  How disastrous would that be.

Arrived at Badrinath!

Around 2.30, we rolled to a halt at Badrinath, and the air was clrisp and clean, and it was such a relief to tumble out of our Tempo Traveller.

What a tough life in these hills, and even for people like our driver Manmohan life is on the edge, I thought.

One mistake, and we could have been in several of the ravines we climbed over.

It was lunch and the temple was closed, so we went to an eatery with this wonderful view of the temple.  3,300m or so we were at.  Roughly the height of our base camp at Ghangria then!

I ate - guess what - idlies!!  I was eyeing Sonya's makki rotis with sarson ka saag!!  Others had Gujarathi thalis, and other such goodies.  Abhimnayu warned us off the lassi, and Vattsala was most unhappy at this!!

Post lunch we set off across the river, headed for the temple.  At this point I decided to walk ever so slowly.  First of all I had no energy and secondly wth the altitude at 3000m+, I decided it was not going to be very comfy doing anything briskly!!

On the bridge across the Alakananda

Looking upstream...

...And downstream....

...and the captivating peaks and clouds

At the foot of the temple!

Sulphur springs - the ladies' pool

So different from our south Indian ones and thankfully no rush.  I actually did two "darshans"!  I went in, saw the Vishnu in the padmasana pose, admired the large Kuber and Garuda on either side, marvelled at the lack of pushing and shoving and the unrushed atmosphere, came out, did a pradakshina, and then met up with the others.

For some reason, I had the urge to go back in, and I did.  I did not have a special prayer on my lips nor was I filled with any feelings of religiosity, but I marvelled at Adi Shankara having travelled all the way up here, and in some wierd sense I was filled with an undescribable awe.

The temple is open only for six months in the year.  This year it opened on April 29th, and as I write this, landslides, flash floods and heavy rain have led to thousands of pilgrims being stranded at the Badrinath temple, and the Char dham yatra (to Badri, Kedar, Yamunotri and Gangotri) has been suspended, currently.

But there we were, enjoying beautiful weather, dipping our feet in the taptakund - it was hot!!  So, feezing cold waters of Alakananda and scalding hot waters in the taptkund!  Quite amazing!  Badri Vishal ki Jai indeed!

We walked back to the Tempo traveller, and I further drank in the views, relieved that my stomach seemed to be settling.

A waterfall gushed down a cliff

We did not go to Manas, the last Indian village before Tibet, as it was getting late.  The upper fork leads there.

Snows, electricity lines and a guest house too!

Water everywhere

The hotel

So we wound our way down to Govindghat and the Bhagat palace hotel, by 5.30 in the evening.  Our resting place for the night, and the start of our trek next morning!!

All the rooms look out into the valley of the Lakshman Ganga river, and we could see pilgrims and mules returning from their pilgrimages!

All of us were nervous, edgy and excited.

The view

Night came, and Abhimany gave us directions as to what to carry in our backpacks - keep them as light as possible.  The mules would carry our luggage up.  Some stuff that we did not need over the next few days, we left behind with Manmohan in the tempo.

Post-dinner, and disaster in the form of more loosies struck me.  Thankfully, Gapi went across to Shreelatha our doc, and came back with orders from the doc that I was to take two tablets of something she gave me - I've forgotten the name!!  She lectured me on how I should have taken them in the morning itself, chided me for not telling her (though I did think that everyone knew!) and instructing me to keep myself hydrated.  I was very obedient, took the tabs, had a glass of electrolyte and went to bed, wondering wondering whether I be able to walk the next morning or would I have to stay back, or would I need to take the mule to Ganghria.

Read about the trek here.