Our Kedarnath trip started on the 20th of October, at 4:50 pm. As was planned, we boarded the plane at 5:00 pm, arrived at Delhi at 8:30 pm, and had a wonderful dinner which had been prepared by my mother 🙂 The next day we went off to Haridwar via train, stayed there for one whole day (which was mostly boring, because we just went to see old temples and all religious stuff). I found it very boring because of the fact that we had actually come to tour mountains and go to a place – Kedarnath – at 11,500 ft. – so as to reach the ultimate destination of God, and not to worship mere idols of God!
Anyway, the next day we started off for the next destination – Chandrapuri! The car that we had hired was an Innova. The car itself is good, but the previous day we had got a Tavera, an equally good car, but the condition was extremely poor! That day, however, we got a really nice car. It was almost new! Only six of us would be travelling in such a huge car, so it was quite comfortable. For me, the ‘trip’ started the moment we entered the mountains. Not hills, mountains. I felt refreshed. We traveled for 6 hours, during which we had a nice time admiring the wonderful view of the great green Himalayan ranges!
When we reached Chandrapuri, I was half asleep. When the car stopped with a jerk and I woke up, the sight in front of my eyes was pure bliss! Our GMVN rest house was located on the bank of the river Mandakini, whose serene blue water was flowing by the rest house and making a wonderful sound on the rocks that had been rounded by it! It was a real treat for the eyes. I ran down (the GMVN rest houses have a typical style – the restaurant is located at road level, but in order to go to the cottages, one has to go a few steps down, in this case down towards the river), and entered our cottage. There were a few chairs outside the cottage, but then I saw my uncle pointing out a small gate. Aluminium wires were surrounding the whole compound on all sides. Our cottage was river-facing, and the wires were the only thing between us and the river.
On discovering the small gate, I ran towards it, and to my delight, found out that it was just an entrance into the actual river! There were numerous rocks…
Anyway, the next day we started off for the next destination – Chandrapuri! The car that we had hired was an Innova. The car itself is good, but the previous day we had got a Tavera, an equally good car, but the condition was extremely poor! That day, however, we got a really nice car. It was almost new! Only six of us would be travelling in such a huge car, so it was quite comfortable. For me, the ‘trip’ started the moment we entered the mountains. Not hills, mountains. I felt refreshed. We traveled for 6 hours, during which we had a nice time admiring the wonderful view of the great green Himalayan ranges!
When we reached Chandrapuri, I was half asleep. When the car stopped with a jerk and I woke up, the sight in front of my eyes was pure bliss! Our GMVN rest house was located on the bank of the river Mandakini, whose serene blue water was flowing by the rest house and making a wonderful sound on the rocks that had been rounded by it! It was a real treat for the eyes. I ran down (the GMVN rest houses have a typical style – the restaurant is located at road level, but in order to go to the cottages, one has to go a few steps down, in this case down towards the river), and entered our cottage. There were a few chairs outside the cottage, but then I saw my uncle pointing out a small gate. Aluminium wires were surrounding the whole compound on all sides. Our cottage was river-facing, and the wires were the only thing between us and the river.
On discovering the small gate, I ran towards it, and to my delight, found out that it was just an entrance into the actual river! There were numerous rocks…
…and I knew by the sight of them that they were extremely slippery. Still, I slowly moved forward, placing my feet steadily on each rock, and proceeded towards the river. And, I was right in the middle of the river Mandakini! I steadily sat on a comparatively flat rock…
This was the view just in front of me!
The river wasn’t actually deep, but the force was tremendous, and although I didn’t try, I knew that it would be hard to stand.
While sitting on the rock, I had with me my camera, and my phone. I found it difficult to let even one of the scenes go out of my camera. The crystal clear water created a wonderful sound by clashing on the rocks…
…most people believe this is superficial stuff, and don’t really exist, but I felt that the sound was like pure music. It didn’t have a tone, but the overall effect made it so pleasant to the ear that I didn’t even take out my phone to listen to Yanni. I sat there in a half inclined posture for quite some time, and then as the sun was slowly going down, I took out my phone. I had enjoyed the pure view and the sound of the waters; now I wanted to listen to Yanni. ‘Until the Last Moment’ and ‘Seasons’, along with ‘Truth Of Touch’, made the experience even more pleasant!
After a really long time (not hours though), I opened the camera lens cover and shot a small video of a tiny ‘waterfalls’ – a thin stream of water that was crawling through a small gap in a rock. For an ant, it surely had the effect of a waterfall…
I took a few more shots that day and the next day as well…
