Himalayas 2021: Har Ki Dun trek

 A trip to Himalayas was always in mind after the previous treks cancellations. It was only a matter of time until the trip got materialized.

It so happened that in the month of September, I checked the Har Ki Dun – Ruinsara Tal trek in Uttarakhand. And after discussing with my friend, Sheela, who was also keen in joining and part of previous trek disappointments, we concluded on the Oct’24^th date. The trek, flights and accommodations were all booked quickly in following days. As we made our plans open to our close friends, few showed interest and eventually booked for the same, including my friend Rashmi.

It was a 8 days trek including 2 travel days to/from base camp, Kotgaon from Dehradun, starting from Oct 24^th to Oct 31^st.

It all seemed a good and safe plan until the heavy rains caused havoc in Uttarakhand and neighboring regions during mid-October, causing some jitters among friends & their parents. The fact that the district we were gonna trek was not greatly impacted brought some cheer and made me hopeful of a successful trek this time.

I reached Dehradun on 23rd morning. On the way to hotel from Airport, I was supposed to meet and tag along with Deepa, one of the trek member from Mumbai who landed almost at the same time. Few of us later found ourselves walking in the Tibetan community in search of Buddha temple and also relishing some nice dishes.

We were already here and the drama, the uncertainty didn’t end yet. At night, we all got a text from the organizers that there is some permit issue going on with district magistrate and forest department. It was due to some unfortunate trek accidents that had happened in other district in the region. However, we were asked to travel to base camp as planned and were assured that all the efforts were being made to resolve it and they were hopeful of a trek without any hiccups.

Day 1: Taxis were arranged and we reached Kotgaon (basecamp for 4 different treks) on 24^th evening after ~9 hours journey from Dehradun (breakfast at Mussoorie & lunch at Mori). And on reaching we were informed that the permit is not yet provided by the government officials and we will have an update the following morning. The uncertainty continued.

The weather was colder than what I was expecting. The organizer has some nice cottages leased out in the vicinity for multiple batches to stay and we were asked to settle in one which wasn’t the main camp.

Day 2: Next day morning, we were told we still don’t have the permission to start our trek. So they decided to take us to a small hike nearby in the village and they would continue to work it out for following day. The plan was to cover the same route despite losing a day.

The hike through the village, passing a bridge and later by a water stream was a good warm up for the group. We had a nice time walking around clicking photos.

We were supposed to get ready the next morning and wait for the update.

Day 3: Unfortunately, the update wasn’t good and we were asked to continue to be at base camp for yet another day.

The camp leader took us to another hike nearby which was little longer than the previous one. We maneuvered through forest area, passing through some apple farms and nearby remote houses to reach a viewpoint. We all took some rest and clicks before returning to camp.

Despite all these uncertainties, I was strangely at ease. It was mainly because I was in the mountains enjoying good weather, having fun with good company.

In the evening we were informed of possible 2 options; they might take us to an altogether different trek (Kedarkanta) or reduce our existing trek’s itinerary to compensate the lost 2 days.

Day 4: Early morning they decided to take the second option as they finally got the permission to take us to Har Ki Dun. That means, the Ruinsara Tal part is removed from the itinerary.

I guess, we were happy considering we finally are walking towards higher camps.

Vehicles were arranged to take us to the Taluka village from where we were starting our trekking. As we were enjoying the ride sitting on top of the vehicles, we stopped. This time, due to road construction. We were blocked for about an hour during which we just passed time by clicking photos with the cattle around if not with other trek members 😊

Once the road was ready enough for our vehicles to pass, we resumed our journey. On reaching Taluka, we immediately started our ascend towards Gangaad village, our next campsite. For next few hours, for about 14 kms, we had some serious ascend in the woods. The river was close enough to provide us the coolness in breeze and the water gushing music.

This was again a cottage accommodation and the temperature was further down. We all spent great time star gazing at night in that cold.

Day 5: The plan was to reach Boslow by evening. Again it was about 13 kms strenuous walk. We encountered some great views of the mountains as we walked through the valley. On reaching the campsite, we were welcomed by the sight of tents. It was colder and at night, the temperature seemed to be less than 5’C. We had some nice fun playing games in the common tent and later star gazing again.

Day 6: Apparently the important day as we walked towards Har Ki Dun which was about 3 kms. Har Ki Dun valley provided us with some amazing views consisting of Jaundhar Glacier, Swargarohini peak (It is believed that Yudhisthir of the Mahabharata was sent to heaven with the dog from this place), Hata Peak and nearby snow covered unnamed peaks. I felt so miniscule standing at that point with all great peaks covering the 3 sides and the remaining being the way in and out.

After spending an hours’ time there, we started our descend towards the Osla village, our next campsite. It was the same route back but a diversion at the end towards the village. It was again a cottage accommodation.

Day 7: Final stretch was walking towards Taluka village from which vehicles were arranged to take us back to the basecamp, Kotgaon. The descend was long but since we were going back, we walked faster. On reaching Taluka, we immediately started only to be stopped again due to the road construction. This time, we were asked to cross the debris to the other side and wait for other set of vehicles to carry us to basecamp. After waiting patiently for about half an hour, vehicles were arranged and we were finally taken to basecamp. The tea and dinner were waiting for us.

There was a small all-hands arranged at night where the organizers presented us with a memento of Har Ki Dun titled fridge magnet.

Day 8: Taxis were arranged to take us back to Dehradun. We started our journey back with some wonderful memories of mountains, people and the satisfaction of having some peaceful time.

On reaching Dehradun, few of us planned to visit a nice restaurant for the dinner together.

Next morning before proceeding to airport, few of us headed towards Robber's Cave, which proved to be an excellent use of our time.

This trek provided me an opportunity to go to great places and meet awesome people with whom I had some quality time discussing varied topics and understanding different perspectives. After all, a trip like this is all about that, isn’t it?!

Book: Into Thin Air

Title: Into Thin Air

Author: Jon Krakauer

Genre: Non-fiction, Mountaineering

Rating: 4/5

"I quickly came to understand that climbing Everest was primarily about enduring pain. And in subjecting ourselves to week after week of toil, tedium, and suffering, it struck me that most of us were probably seeking, above all else, something like a state of grace."

As mentioned in my previous post, my trek to Himalayas was cancelled due to the ongoing pandemic. So in order to find some solace, I turned to the next best thing to be on mountains – read a book about mountains or expeditions.

That led me to this wonderful and fulfilling book, Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer.

A personal account of his Mount Everest expedition and the horrific tragedy that took place in May 1996 where few of the climbers from his group and other groups died in the storm at the top.

The book written mainly to reveal all the events that happened on the mountain on that dreadful day of the tragedy, goes through all other aspects about how expeditions are planned and carried out, the different perspectives and intensions of the climbers coming to the mighty Everest, the life of Sherpas and their beliefs in general. And the author has also penned down about the ongoing problem i.e. the traffic jams being caused on the mountain.

The things which I liked the most was the disclosure of the mental psych of a climber when he is attempting such a big task of Everest summit. Of course, the accident and the details of the people dying during the storm was heart breaking to read. Jon, due to a sense of moral obligation, has gone through a lot of R & D and interviewing different stake holders from his group before writing this book which is apparent when one reads about all the minute details of the expedition and people associated.

At some point, few details of the climbers and events seemed unnecessary but one can excuse the author for that considering the circumstances he has gone through and also who had to relive it while writing this book.

A haunting story which also covers about all the insane risks associated with high altitude mountaineering.

The cancelled Himalayan expeditions of 2020 & 2021

I will have to go back to January of 2020 when my friend and I decided to go for a Himalayan trek. We planned to register for any of the IndiaHike treks, as I wanted to try a new trekking organization apart from the usual YHAI. After careful considerations of the trek duration and available leaves we booked Har-ki-dun Ruinsara Tal trek from Dehradun, Uttarakhand. The trek was supposed to begin during first week of May 2020. However, we all know, the pandemic showed its ugly face and many of the countries including India went on a lockdown and restrictions for many weeks, if not for months. Due to this, even our trek got cancelled. No doubt we were sad but somehow convinced ourselves that it was a good thing. The organizer provided us two options; either to get a refund deducting the processing fees or to collect a voucher, valid for 18 months, which could be used for any future treks. We opted for the latter option.

Fast forward one year. The whole world went through & still going through all the problems caused by the pandemic. Now, the virus was better understood and that was being controlled. Vaccines were in pipeline and there were signs of things getting under control. And then, we started discussing about the upcoming summer trek again in Feb 2021. I badly wanted to have a break and was looking forward for a wonderful trek. After checking the available treks, we booked Deoriatal Chandrashila trek starting from Rishikesh, Uttarakhand. Unfortunately, after few weeks of this, India was hit by the second wave of pandemic. The infection rate again climbed up and to control the situation, many state governments decided to declare curfews and few other restrictions. Undeterred, I still had my plans on. We were supposed to start on Apr 24th to Rishikesh and things were still uncertain w.r.t state-imposed curfews and other arrangements. But on 20th or so, it was informed by the organizers that they have decided to cancel the treks which were starting in next 2 weeks considering the high infection rates in state and city.

I was heartbroken. We all were, as it was our second trek that got cancelled in as many years after booking all the things including flight tickets. I was in the zone, to be in the mountains and having a peaceful time. But that didn’t happen. Again, we might end up saying that it’s all good for all considering the situation and the uncertainties surrounding it. But it was very disappointing.

Hoping we all come out of this pandemic strong and have our ‘normal’ back.

Bandipur National Park & Tiger Reserve Safari

It was quite some time that we hadn't been out on an outing and I was planning for one. And when one of my friends informed me about his plans to visit Bengaluru from Mumbai and popped a question about an outing together, the timing couldn't have been any better. He suggested Bandipur national park safari, and since I had not visited it before, we all decided on it.

I quickly started checking for different hotels/resorts for the stay. There were couple of good luxurious options but based on some good online reviews about National Tiger Reserve cottages, I decided to book it instead. I have penned down the details about cottage booking procedure and details here.

Bandipur tiger reserve cottage area is a huge campus beautifully located inside the national park. That’s why we witnessed many deer casually walking around, resting right next to our stay. Peacocks sang, or disturbed, in the wee hours.

Bandipur being one of the first nine tiger reserves in the country, extends over an area of about 82 sq.kms covering forest area of 3 states Karnataka, Tamilnadu and Kerala. We booked for an afternoon safari and that too in a gypsy/jeep, which was a right fit for 5 of us. The wildlife safari starts from the new campus and is a 2 hours affair where they take us through the designated area of the forest on the set trails. The drivers and the official accompanying are, of course, well trained and explain the things quite nicely.

It actually took us few minutes to realize that we are in an open gypsy in the forest, yes in a tiger reserve, and there is of course a chance to meet a tiger in the open. This very thought when we all discussed in open brought the fear factor.

We were fortunate enough to spot the following animals:

• 5-6 Elephants
• Deer, in abundance
• Barking deer, a very shy animal
• Sambar deer, apparently the largest deer in India
• Peacocks

However, NO tigers ☹. The driver informed that in his morning safari they were fortunate enough to spot 2 tigers. And this information certainly didn’t help us feel any better, in fact made us sadder.

May be, next time.

The safari was of course an enjoyable experience. The rain added a nice touch to the already attractive bumpy ride. My son enjoyed it more.

Bandipur National Park and tiger reserve turned out to be a good destination, surely something to visit again in future.

On our way back, visited the Gaganchukki and Barachukki water falls too.

Bandipur Tiger Reserve cottage booking

 As mentioned in my other post, my friends and my family decided to visit Bandipur National Park & Tiger reserve and have a wildlife safari over the weekend.

I decided to book the Govt. run accommodation that is located inside the national park, instead of booking other available resorts located outside the park gates.

https://bandipurtigerreserve.in/ is the website you can visit to book it online. Please note, we pay the cottage accommodation fees, safari fees along with park entry fees and parking fees at one place and this helps in a way.

This website takes us to https://www.bandipurtigerreserve.co.in/ for reservations/bookings post registration. You get different options to pick a cottage from many options like Gajendra, Vanashree, Chital, Harini etc along with dormitories. Since I was booking it in a short notice, I had only the 9-bed dormitories as the only available option. Only annoying factor during booking process was that the calls to contact numbers provided and emails go unanswered despite trying multiple times, something they need to fix asap. It's very common that someone would want some questions to be answered before booking.

Well, initially I was hesitant to book a dorm considering it’s our first time there and that too with family and friends. I was worried about cleanliness and things but once we reached the place, we realized following things:

• It’s situated in a beautiful location inside the national park. That’s why we witnessed many deer casually walking around, resting near the cottages.
• The campus is huge with no boundary with big bungalow kind of cottages & dorms.
• Dedicated buildings as canteen and reception area etc with very good staff who are ready to explain things neatly.
• Our dormitory having bunker beds was cozy and clean with bathrooms on both sides. (They can however plan to keep the bathrooms posh and sheets cleaner. It was ok but it can be improved. Those who are super particular about sheets, please carry your own ones).
• Breakfast & meal options are limited but they served good food.
• We were not allowed to walk around by ourselves post sunset and were escorted around in electric carts.

Well, to summarize, it’s a very good accommodation for those coming in with families or just with friends.