[laluks]

Day 6
27th September 2012

There is chopper service to Kedarnath. Published rates were about 8K for a round trip, we could only haggle it down to 6.5K. Further if the weather is bad they will cancel the service. So we decided against it. We saw one landing at least every 5 minutes with 6 pilgrims on board. Nice business


This is where you land. Temple is 1.5KM from here.


This is where you reach with a pony, around 700m to the temple. We reached Kedarnath by 09:00AM. That is 3 hours to the top by Pony.


Places of interest near Kedarnath for trekking


Direction boards are helpful


Sadhus at Kedarnath




The Puja Shopping Street at Kedarnath


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[laluks]

Day 6
27th September 2012

Some pictures of Kedarnath
















Me and my BIL had a nice Darshan and Puja at Kedarnath. The Shiva Pinda is one of the 12 Jyotirlingas of Shiva. When I stepped out of the temple the peace that I had in my mind and the happiness that I felt is really beyond description.

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[laluks]

Day 6
27th September 2012

The Glacier behind the temple


Udak Kund




Gamer and Jeep Captain at Kedarnath


A panorama


A tributary before River Mandakini is formed




If you don't like pony ride you can opt for this mode. But I was pained at seeing this.


Nice waterfalls dotted the area




I walked back from Rambada to the base. I took 70 minutes for the 7 KMs of trek back. Reached the base by 14:30 hours and went to the hot water spring for a refreshing bath. All the tiredness and pains from the walk vanished and I was again energetic. After a good lunch we started from Gaurikund and drove to Rudraprayag for the night.

We reached Rudraprayag by 20:30 hours and got us all a nice room. The team had dinner together and retired for the day. Next day we were to drive to Badrinath.

[laluks]

Day 7
28th September 2012

We woke up to see the confluence from our balcony


Rudra Prayag - The confluence and the Temple


Confluence of Alak Nanda (to the front) and Mandakini (to the back of the temple)




Our Cars


BolBolero, Jeep Captain and KSM-Vtec ( at the driver seat )


By 08:00AM we started our drive for the day


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[laluks]

Day 7
28th September 2012

We reached Karna Prayag


Confluence of Pindar (front) and Alak Nanda (from under the bridge)


People offering prayers at the confluence


BolBolero silently takes the beauty to his memories


Alak Nanda calmly flows ahead


Badrinath is another 116KMs


We reached Nanda Prayag


Confluence of Nandakini (front) and Alak Nanda (back)


BolBolero and KSM-Vtec happy to see the prayags


MS's Punto at Nanda Prayag


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[laluks]

Day 7
28th September 2012

We were inching slowly towards Badrinath


















By 13:00 hours we were 38KMs from Badrinath


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[laluks]

Day 7
28th September 2012

We crossed Alak Nanda


We reached Govind Ghat - An interesting base from which you can go to Badrinath, Valley of Flowers or Hem Kund Sahib


Roads deteriorated considerably and the last 20KMS to Badrinath was a real torture to the hatch backs and sedans.




But we were compensated with nice views




We reached Badrinath Bus Station by 15:00 hours




Keep this number - this is the number of the mechanic at Badrinath Bus station. He will come to your rescue in his bike and repair the car. He has diesel also


Some information for you


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[laluks]

Day 7
28th September 2012

After a long time I saw the blues of the sky - Mera wala blue






I saw Badrinath Temple at a distance







Alak Nanda and the settlements on her banks




See the smoke coming from the hot water spring


We had a bath in the hot spring water and had Darshan at Badrinath


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[laluks]

Day 7
28th September 2012

I saw this cutie at Badrinath




She came with her mother


And offered her prayers at Badrinath


Mana Village is another 3 KMs


We started to Mana by 16:45 hours




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[laluks]

Day 7
28th September 2012

We reached Mana - The Last Indian Village by 17:00 hours


BolBolero at Mana


Team Mates trying to get a picture with a Soldier


There were a lot of bikers


KP missed his Ninja


We were welcomed to Mana


The points of interest at Mana


We went in search of Saraswati Dham


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[laluks]

Day 7
28th September 2012

Saraswati Dham




River Saraswati coming through the mountains




The river falls into a deep pit and a bit overflows towards Keshav Parayag where it joins Alak Nanda. It is believed that Saraswati flows underground and joins Ganga and Yamuna at Prayag in Allahabad. It was very very emotional moment to have seen Saraswati River in my life. Even an illiterate knows about Saraswati as the gupt (invisible) river.

Saraswati flowing towards Keshav Prayag


Keshav Prayag - Confluence of Saraswati (front) and AlakNanda (back)




Bhim Pul - This bridge was built by Bhim for Draupadi to cross the river




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[laluks]

Day 7
28th September 2012

We went to Ganesh Gufa

Ganesh Gufa is below Vyas Gufa.Vyas Gufa is where Vyas Rishi used to sit and Ganesh Gufa is where Shri Ganesh Bhagwan used to sit while Vyas Rishi was dictating the great epic Mahabharat to Shri Ganesh Bhagwan.The idol here is made of stone.

Setting sun started to light up the mountains




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[laluks]

Day 7
28th September 2012

We had coffee at the last cafe at the Indian Border


We shared some light moments too


We started back at 18:00 Hours


We bid the bikers good bye


Delhi was very far


Setting sun painted the clouds




by 20:30 we reached Joshimath and got us some rooms. We ordered nice hot dinner and the team had dinner together.

Char Dham is completed with out any hitch by the grace of God. I was very happy and was thankful that I could complete the Char Dham visit this time. A few days ago the place was quite unpredictable with heavy rains and landslides.

Tomorrow the team will split. Having completed Char Dham akaush, MS and CK will start their return journey. My BIL will too.

The others BolBolero, Jeep Captain, AP and JP will continue onwards to Lucknow, since some of us had flight tickets back from Lucknow.

We decided to have a slow and comfortable drive the next two days visiting Auli and Nainital on the way.

By midnight we bid the returning team mates goodbye and safe journey and crashed for a good nights sleep. Any ways tomorrow is a lazy day.

[A.G.The Rambler]

Originally Posted by laluks

Day 6
27th September 2012

There is chopper service to Kedarnath. Published rates were about 8K for a round trip, we could only haggle it down to 6.5K. Further if the weather is bad they will cancel the service. So we decided against it. We saw one landing at least every 5 minutes with 6 pilgrims on board. Nice business

Your pictures reminded me of my trip there 12 years back in the month of June. There was no helicopter service then. We reached Gaurikund at 12 o clock at night and it was raining like cats and dogs. Next day we trekked till Kedarnath and it was difficult. It was raining heavily and the raindrops pierced like needle. There were land slides and we had run in that terrain to save ourselves from the falling rocks. All the roadside shops were closed down or under rocks. We could not see anything. By the time we reached there our body had become numb and i was not in a position to undo my buttons even. The temple there in Kedarnath was waterlogged much above our ankles. The water was freezing cold and it send shivers down the spine. There was shortage of food. We saw dogs being swept away into the gorge by the heavy flow of water. We were not allowed to come down to Gaurikund the next day as the situation was very bad. But at the end of the second day, the gods looked up and it had snowed. It was almost a full moon night and what a view, we were mesmerized by the glitter of the moon light falling on the peaks. The next day when we were coming down, it was a treat for the eyes, it was clear sky and excellent vistas all around.

Just wanted to share my experience.

Excellent pictures from your end as usual. Very nice !

[laluks]

Day 9
29th September 2012

We woke up to a lazy morning. The other team mates had already left towards Delhi.

The Sky was cool


Clouds too


Jeep Captain all set for the drive


We drove towards Auli. The rope way is not functioning since 2 years


Roads were narrow




We found some soldiers


The views were beautiful




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