20th October, 2006.Wake up at around 7 am, breakfast and ready to go up and tend to the car. Meet a group of Japanese tourists planning to go up today, last day for the temple to be open, met their Delhi based Indian guide. Met another couple from Mumbai who owns a travel company; they also finished the Kedar trip yesterday and are on the return leg.
The morning is crystal clear, cold n the mountains topped with thick snow; it has snowed pretty heavily yesterday night. Hire a jeep go up to Gaurikund and start the car with a spare battery, turns on first click and no problems thereafter. Drive back to camp, pack up, tank up and are on our way by 12 noon. We’re past the steel bridge, turn left towards Chopta, Ukimath, Dugalbatta and Gopeshwar. Pure mountains and electric cold air; Ukimath to Gopeshwar you see of the most beautiful valleys and ridges, mountains and virgin forests. Practically no living soul for long stretches; better to stock up food and a thermos if you’re on this road. No driving after 5 PM, the check posts close up after 7 PM. We reach Chamoli, 125 Km away, around 4 pm, 3100 fts alt, take left turn towards Badari and are climbing the ghats of Pipalkoti in no time. I come to a straight stretch of 2 km roads, the only straight one where I could use overdrive in about 900 Kms. No words can describe the beauty of Chamoli valleys, river on one side, all shades of green on the hills, sound of the river down the gorge, up ahead the winding roads going towards snow-capped mountains. This could compete to be one of the most beautiful places in the world !!!!!!
Roads are god here on, we make good time towards Joshimath camp site, cross Helag at 5 and reach 4 Dham camp, Joshimath, 174 kms from Guptkashi, at 530 PM, alt. 6150 fts. We get inside the tents, is colder here as the snowing is now continuous up in the mountains. We have the most difficult stretch of 75 Kms tomorrow to drive and if it snows, it could be tricky. Hope for the best and take a tour of the camp. The camp manager is very helpful again and gives us contacts for the temple and draws us a map to travel with timings and complete road information. These guys are pretty organized, they have good contacts and care for their guests very well indeed.
21st October, 2006.
Nidishi’s B’day and Diwali day, the day we were slogging to do the Darshan at Badari. Wake up at 5 AM , wish Nidi happy B’day and much a 5 star bar each to celebrate and start towards the ghat roads. This section has gates from Joshimath, the roads are one way and narrow and the next gate is at Pandukeshwar 23 Kms away where traffic from Badari is stopped and is allowed to cross single file. The roads are too narrow and dangerous for two way traffic and hence this system. Reach the first stop at Pandukeshar in 1 hour and wait 30 mts for the gate to open for going up. The road up from here to Badari is more difficult, narrow, roads carved out of huge overhanging rock sections and prone to landslides. Road work is going on too, some sections are pure hell for the rubber. We had heavy rains and small snow all the way up; the wheels were spinning at place, four 15 inchers are biting for purchase with flying mud and roacks all around. Wonder how the non-SUV guys manage to drive up this section; cruel to the underbelly, tires and the engines!!!! Reach, Vishnuprayag, Hanuman Chatti Ghats and then Badarinath. The temple town is more or less deserted, though they will close only 20 days from now, winter traffic is low here, only someone as crazy as we are or the most devoted pilgrims venture up this far in snow time.
We warm up at the hot water spring and today its Brijo’s turn to fall sick, he’s miserable with the cold and has a banging headache. Find the local contact, fix the special pooja for Diwali and Nidish’s B’day and also Lakshmy pooja and go inside the temple. Thin crowd, we take off shoes and the cold cobble stones are murder to the feet. The socks get wet compounding the problem, we are do a jig trying to keep one feet at a time on the ground; there’s this tearing pain at first, followed with pricking pain and then everything is comfortably numb !!!!! 10 minutes, you don’t feel anything on your soles to ankles, God’s anesthesia is powerful too!!!!The priests inside the main temple are decent, but the ones at Lakshmy temple are repulsively greedy !!!! We go down to Sankaracharya’s abode where the southern priest from Kerala lives, from Trichur, meet him and take his blessings.
We go into the shop of our contact and have life giving tea and soup. We have time to kill till 2 when the gates to go down open up. We drive to Mana village, the last village in India this side towards Tibet. Stop at the car park and pick up a local guide (guy turned out to be a drunk, our children knew more about Mahabaratha and the Ganapathy Gufa than him !!!!!) and he showed us Saraswati river, Bhim Phool and Ganesh Gufa. Since it was getting near gate time, we hurry back in time for the gate to open at 2 pm. Reliance signals are strong and we take time to speak to relatives and friends to wish them Happy Diwali. There’s snow all around the mountains, the local say it has started snowing early and the nights are cutting cold. 
By now the continuous cold and wind is taking a toll on all of us, we’re from warm south and anything below 10 degrees is winter for us!!!! Around 4 degrees, its painful and agony every hour, we’re hanging on hoping this wind would stop.The drive down is better, sun is up whisking the mist away and wonderfully warm. Reach HanumanChatti @ 230, visit the temple and off again. Gate stop at Pandukeshwar for 20 mts and reach back to camp @ 400 PM. Fill up gas and look around for Vicks inhaler for Anu; tried all the medical shops and manage to get it at a Provision shop!!!!! Back to Camp to rest for the day. The kids are busy playing games on the lap top and game boy and we catch up with reading newspapers and magazines.
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