Uttaranchal - The land of Miracles. Review on Garhwal

With loads of anticipation we( 4 of us - 2 couples) boarded the Karnataka Express at Bangalore on Dec 23rd. The train reached Delhi 2 hrs late ( on 25th ) due to the heavy fog at Delhi. Luckily we had enough time to catch the connecting train to Haridwar.

The train to Haridwar was the Delhi Dehradun Jan Shatabdi and the 4 hr journey was really cool. We checked into Hotel Sachin International, had a lovely meal at a Punjabi Dhaba and settled for the day, knowing very well that 26th will be a long day !!

Early morning on 26th at 04:00 AM we left for Joshimath by a Sumo. It was a long journey through winding roads which had deep ravines on one side and high mountains on the other. The distance of 278 kms via Rishikesh, Rudraprayag, Srinagar, Nandaprayag and Karnaprayag was absolutely stunning and took around 10 Hrs.

The sad thing is that we people, in order to build wider roads, are blasting the mountains and in turn giving more scope for land slides and soil erosions. At Rudraprayag, we can see the confluence of Alaknanda and Bhagirathi - the two rivers from the Himalaya which come together to form the Holy Ganges. Uttaranchal can be easily termed as the Land of Miracles. Enroute we pass through a place known as Garudatheertha - a stone from this place at our house will ensure snakes are kept away !!! Bhim-Pul which is supposed to be a stone kept by Bhima ( of the Pandavas fame ) when Pandavas were heading to heaven.

The sudden silence and disappearance of saraswathi river ... only to re-appear at Prayag - the place where Ganga and Yamuna meet. All these were part of our journey to Joshimath.From Joshimath we took the cable car at 1530 to Auli. As we got down from the cable car tower, we encountered the cool breeze and there was snow all around !!! The walk to resort was pretty tough through the hill and the snow. The resort is situated right in the hills and the ambience is absolutely wonderful. The rooms that we got has a nice warm heater, in front of which we settled down. At around 1830, the resort had arranged for bon fire and we had a nice time singing songs and enjoying ourselves. The evenings are so cold at Auli most of the people decide that the room is best of all places !!!

The next day morning after a nice breakfast our skiing lessons started. The ski slope was a half an hours walk from our resort and it passed through a small creek and some confirous forest. The first lesson was just buckling on the ski shoes and try to walk a few steps around. Each shoe weighed around 8 kgs and so one can imagine how easy it is to walk with it !!! Once we were accustomed with the shoes we strapped ourselves onto the ski and had a go at the beginner's slope. I seriously dont understand how people say that skiing is a good exercise when 80% of the time you are sitting down !!!

Well...at least that was what happened to me initially when I fell with a thud 'N' number of times. Slowly and steadly after around 3 hrs we were all able to steady ourselves and navigate on the slopes. Its an absolutely thrilling feeling. After skiing enroute to our resort we had a real good snow fight and by the time we reached our resort, the snow was beginning to melt inside our jackets !!! The evening was again very very cold. Had a lovely dinner and retired for the day.

On 28th morning again we had some skiing classes. This time the slop was a bit higher than the day before and we were asked to negotiate turns and twists. This day was much better than the other day and though we fell down many times, it was more enjoyable than the first day. At around 1600 in the afternoon we left for Joshimath. At Joshimath it was much warmer than Auli and we felt as though we found back our voice !!!

After checking into the Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam's guesthousem, we set out to explore Joshimath. A pretty small place, Joshimath had 2 temples worth seeing. The Narsingh Mandir - where the Lord Shri Badrinath resides during winter. The Shankaracharya caves were closed when we reached but we were able to peep through the grills for a darshan of Shri Hanuman. Back in hotel we had a good meal and had a good night sleep.

Early on 29th morning at aroun 0600 Hrs we left for Rishikesh. The journey was very tedious as road repairs were going on full swing. Our car driver was an old person with a very sharp eyesight and he was driving like a man possessed !!! We all said a small prayer when we reached Rishikesh at around 1430. Checked into GMVN Ganga Resort, which was right on the banks of Ganges. A lovely resort which has been wonderfully kept. After freshening up when we approached the reception, the person there mooted the idea of White Water Rafting. Immediately jumped at it and confirmed our seats for the next day morning at 0930 Hrs. Then we walked along the Ganges to a boat stand, crossed Ganges by boat and roamed around Rishikesh. At around 1900 saw that there was Ganga Ji ki aarti going on at Paramarth Ghat and went there. Spent around an hour there listening to the music and singing along with the kids who were practising. Then came walking via Ram jhoola back to the resort. Had a lovely meal and called it a day.

At around 0930 on 30th morning a Tata Sumo picked us up from the resort upto Shivpuri. There we were given lessons about rafting for around 15 mins and then we were abound !!! The rafting was the best part of the entire trip. There were 3 rapids and to navigate on them it was pure bliss. We had the company of another couple from Pune and out of the 6, 4 of us had a good dive into the Ganges as well !!! Drenched to the bones, we came back to our resort, had a great bath and left for Haridwar. The distance between Haridwar to Rishikesh is just 25 kms and we reached in no time. Checked into GMVN's Rahi Motel in front of the station and went on a tour of temples. Engaged 2 cycle rickshaws and went directly to the Daksh Mahadev Temple. After the temple we went to the Har ki Pauri where we sat on the steps and had a long talk. Then had dinner at a dhaba and retired for the day.

Early on Dec 31st left for Delhi on the Indore - Dehradun express. The train is so poor in terms of facilities that we were shocked. Reached Delhi at around 1400 Hrs, lodged the luggages at the cloak room and set off to Palika Bazaar. We didnt spend much time there though we had a lovely Bhel. We then went to Bengali Market where we shopped for a while and then headed to Lotus Temple. After a round of prayer and photos we headed towards Khan Market. Had lovely golgappas at khan market, shopped for a while, had a quick grub of kabab rolls and returned to the station. Checked out the luggage and took the 2115 Karnataka express to head back home after a tiring but fulfilling adventurous trip, with memories to linger on.The land of Miracles- Uttaranchal