[iampulo]

22.12.2022 | 1640 HRS: As I was busy clearing my office tasks due to year ending in December'22, I got a got from my Friend Maha who is based at Mumbai, asking what are my Year end plans. I said None, he said OK and dropped the call.

24.12.2022- 2022 HRS: It suddenly hit me that why did Maha called me and why isnt there any follow-up. Called him (guess he was waiting for my anxiety). He described the plan and lo, the trip to Ghansali was charted. The route was majorly Panipat-Roorkee-Mujaffarnagar-Haridwar-New Tehri-Ghansali Saurabh stays at Ghansali, Uttarakhand and Akash at Gurgaon.

Odo reading before the journey:


Our route decided was this:


30.12.2022 | 0400 HRS: Akash came to Panipat from Gurgaon via bus. Picked him up and opened the map for this route:

30.12.2022 | 0700 HRS: Reached Roorkee, picked Maha up.

Entering Haridwar!


30.12.2022 | 1000 HRS: Had breakfast at Haridwar. It was a Random stop and turned out to be a delicious one. Aloo Piyaz Paratha & Dahi at Rasoi Dhaba, Haridwar.

Somewhere after Haridwar towards Tehri!




Just before the dam, for pee n puff break!




30.12.2022 | 1300 HRS: Crossed Tehri Dam. the last time i visited here, Saurabh was staying at Chamba, so I could only get to see the bird's eye view of the dam. The dam is highly guarded by CISF. So, we had a prelude conversation with Saurabh about the whereabouts to be detailed to CISF security personnel. Kindly note, for anyone wanting to go north of via Tehri Dam, you must know the exact details, as the security personnel doesn't entertain vagabond tourists!

The Dam is a breathtaking view, which is the confluence of Vilangana and Bhaigirathi(tributaries of Ganga).

The Dam:


My Etios was doing wonders considering that we were three and boot full, and the mountain steep was easy to ascend with 1st/2st gear at U turns traffic or 3rd gear at 40-50 kmph.

Clicks Break!




30.12.2022 | 1400 HRS : craving badly for food, we finally had lunch at local hotels at Peepaldali, Uttarakhand.

30.12.2022 | 1440 HRS: Reached Ghansali, and finally savoured the view admist the vilangana river.

[iampulo]

Day 2:
31.12.2022 | 0700 HRS:
Out of my anxiety about vehicle safety at such a remote place, I did the below three steps as a precaution:
1. Kept the front wheels steered to the extreme right(or left), so that its difficult for someone to remove the wheels.
2. Locked the steering by in that position.
3. Kept one side of the car in a elevated slope(so that its difficult for someone to jack life the car/ sneak easily into the car)
4. Use this cheap trick as a steering and pedal lock (just as a gesture for mental barrier, although the manual locks were cheap)
Image below:




31.12.2022 | 10:00 HRS: With some good food and lots of trash talk, relishing our old Hostel days of our college(AEC Guwahati) the night before we charted a lazy yet relaxed plan for our trip.
This was our trip plan for the day:
Ghansali-Chamiyala-Boodha Kedar Temple-Ghansali




View of Chamiyala:







31.12.2022 | 1115 HRS: Brekafast at Chamiyala. Till now my Etios was performing absolutely fine with no under body hits. I didnot feel any drop in power also.

31.12.2022 | 1215 HRS: Visited Boodha Kedar Temple.

The Legend about of this temple describes it as the place where Lord Shiva appeared before the Pandavas as an old monk (Hence Boodha Kedar) when in search of liberation after leaving their kingdom, someone guided them to meet a old Monk in North at the confluence of two rivers!



The side route towards the Temple.


She graced us-


31.12.2022 | 1300 HRS: Had Lunch. When you are at the hills, definitely give a try to Pahadi cuisine like Fish Rice, Chicken Rice, Curry Rice( The hidden ingredient is Pahadi Masala).


31.12.2022 | 1500 HRS: With some casual driving along these mountain roads back to our home, we stopped at a silent spot along the banks of Vilangana.

Feeling the numbness around:




With the brothers:




What I felt on the steep slope of Boodha Kedar Temple is that, my hand brake was constantly needing to be engaged harder, else the car was slipping. But the worry evaporated amongst all gossips.