Generally managers (especially in India) believe that one should not
get any holidays apart from Saturday/Sunday/Statutory Holidays (those too, only
when you don’t have work)! In such circumstances asking a leave without some
medical/legal emergency, without some relatives wedding is like a Non-Bailable
Crime and I have been guilty of it not only once but many a times! And yes, I shall continue to do the same in
future also, as I can’t live without travelling to unknown routes, meeting
people from different culture, breathing the clean and fresh air of some
distant mountains, dipping feet in the cold stream of water.. and the list continues..
As I had recently switched job and
took quite a few leaves when I got married (one year back) I started to think
about the options I had for taking the leave.
After much of brainstorming I decided to try to convince my boss for the
actual reason i.e. travelling. Believe me it was much easier, as I didn’t have
to think of a lie for every counter question he asked. That was an unexpectedly
pleasant start to my trip planning activities..
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Early Morning View at Munsiyari |
This time it was Munsiyari, the
trekkers paradise and we were not going there for trekking! After the June
Floods in UttaraKhand, I had to alter my plan a little, had to drop Dharchula
from my itinerary as the road was completely washed-off especially near
Jauljibi, so I included Binsar in our trip and struck Dharchula off with a
heavy heart, not that I regret it now, as Binsar offered some equally awesome
memoirs to remember.
We started from Delhi on Friday
night, took a train to Kathgodam, from there on we had pre-booked a taxi. Morning 5.30 AM when the Sun was still asleep under the blanket of dark clouds, we
started our road travel.
Total 12 hrs road journey through
the broken roads, water crossings, few distant recent landslide areas,
unmatched mountain views and awesome monsoon weather of hills, a normal drive
through the clouds. We reached Munsiyari at evening 5 PM. If I have to
describe the village in one line than: A small and pretty tribal village with a
daunting view of Snow covered Pachachuli Peak from almost every nook and corner
of the village. You are likely to find a lot of trekking groups as lot of
small & long, easy & difficult treks start from here.
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The distant landslide enroute munsiyari |
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Road through clouds |
Next day morning I woke up early
in the morning, to my luck it was a clear morning with awesome view of the Snow
Cladded Mountains. As the day progressed the clouds come up and cover the
higher peak. The only things to do in munsiyari either go for a trek or just
laze around and embrace the stillness, calmness, and listen our own heart
beating against the cool breeze. For a change I did the later..
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View from our room |
Nandadevi temple is located right in the middle of lush green high mountain peaks and offers some awesomeeeeeee paranomic views of snow covered peaks, The small walk till the temple is through the tall green pine trees. I thought of spending some time at one of the benches but the house flies were guarding the place like anything!
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View from Nandadevi Temple.. though covered under clouds but thats a small price you have to pay enjoy weather that awesome |
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Rainbow on some unknown road @ Munsiyari |
Spent the evening walking around
the village, sitting on the edge of some unknown road, watching the sun-set
behind those huge Blue Mountains having small patches amber-pink clouds. That pristine
sight was captured in my heart for ever and ever!! To have an un-interrupted encounter with
nature, I didn’t carry my camera that evening, to avoid any urge to click the
photograph.
Next day we started early morning
for Binsar accompanied by some heavenly view and landscapes. We halted at Kali
mandir which is supposed to offer some awesome views but by the time we reached
there, the entire atmosphere was full of clouds, though there is no comparison
of such hilly monsoon weather but we were devoid of some spectacular views. We
were walked amidst of clouds, removed our slippers and entered into the old
open corridor of temple of Goddess Kali..
Suddenly, our driver stopped the
car and pointed towards a distant falls and told that is Birthi Falls, from
road it seemed a little far, so we decided that we will walk to have a somewhat
closer look and come back.. As I started walking, my feet started itching to
reach the falls.
There was not a single soul near
the falls or enroute to falls. As we reached near the magnificent and loud
falls. The Cool breeze of air, the water mist, the grey cloudy sky gave a
feeling of rain though it wasn’t. It was totally worth to climb through that
steep and very slippery route, just to experience that surreal environment.
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First Sight of Birthi Falls; I couldn't do any justice while capturing the magnificence but still.. |
It’s not that I haven’t seen huge and magnificent water falls, but
there was something different about this one. Maybe it was the (rainy) weather,
serenity, calmness & stillness, solitude or it was my state of mind, but it
looked Divine!!
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The broken road to Heaven |
While driving to Binsar, we were
accompanied by the Ganges for a long time, also the ‘Sangam’ (confluence) at Bhageshwar
can be easily seen while crossing the city. By the time we reached Binsar the
Wildlife Sanctuary was closed so we headed straight to our resort. The huge
glass window in our room gave an un-interrupted view of the sun-set behind the
snow-cladded white peak..
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Sunset at Binsar |
Early morning we went to the
Binsar Wildlife Sanctuary, while tracking we saw few distant peaks. But could
have the paranomic view of the Nanda Devi, Nanda Kot, Panchachuli, Chaukhamba
and Kedarnath because of clouds, but the track itself was worth an early
morning walk.
After a filling breakfast we
headed to Rahul’s favorite hill station i.e. Nainital, and did some touristy
activities such as boating in Naini Lake, visiting the artificial Caves,
roaming on the mall road, taking a cycle rikshaw ride on mall road (must do in Nainital)
etc..
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The everrefreshing beauty: Naini Lake @ Nainital |
With this pleasant evening our trip was summed
up and we were refreshed to go back to our hectic corporate lives with fixed
schedules, until the next holiday!!
Awesome. U inspire me for my travels ....
ReplyDeleteIts really nice to know that I could help to inspire you to travel.. and btw thanks for the compliment!! :-)
DeleteAnd yes would take your suggestion whenever I Plan for Chopta Tungnath.. Have been longing for since 3 years now but could never materialize..
DeleteAmazing pics with detailed write-up. Like this post!
ReplyDeleteIts always good to hear some nice words from your side!!
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHi Megha, this is a lovely blog. Would you mind if we share it with our followers on www.facebook.com/PureExplore ? We are in the process of developing an app and website dedicated to trekking and camping locations in India. Of course your original link will be given in the blog. Let me know your thoughts! And do 'Like' the page :)
ReplyDeleteHi Karan, please go ahead, you can share this one..
DeleteSurrounded by a tremendous natural life asylum, a home to numerous uncommon creatures, fowls and wild blooms Binsar is a genuinely captivating spot.
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