24th October, 2006.Up @ 7 am, breakfast and go up to the terrace; crowded with people for the snow view. It’s a clear day, lo and behold, we could see the snow-caps clearly in the distance, one could look on and on and on to and make a million screen savers. I mount the Sony CS H1 on the tripod and start clicking away, what a photo opportunity of a life time !!!! We see the Trishul and Nanda Devi peaks clearly and many other smaller peaks. Most tourists there are Gujaratis on their vacations post Diwali, which they normally do. Most city folks take off for 10 days + during this time, state celebrates long holidays; you could find foot-loose Gujratis all over the world this time of the year. We meet many families on the terrace and exchange addresses and cards for whatever it’s worth.
The kids and Anu play TT on the garden, have fun scooting around. 1030 we start towards Nainital, 120 kms away. We pass Someshwr, Koshy Bazaar and tank up at Almora bye pass entry. Almora is as beautiful as Chamoli, with lesser hues. In the background you could see the Himalayan range clearly, it’s a nice staying option, but we need to move on. We pass Garam Pani and hook up with friend Kumar who’s on his way from Nainital to Badari on his Scorpio. We look out for his MH registration car, it’s a meet we both have been looking forward to, he’s a road warrior, constantly on the move and a real petro-head. Around 130 we cross after Bhavali and spend time catching up with our log books and sharing info. He’s keen to know the road condition up around Badari and is planning to go around Tehri, Danaulti, Dheradhun and back to Delhi. He’s an encyclopedia on Indian roads and very helpful with what he has. We say adios and head our ways. Reach Naini Retreat around 0300 PM and rest for the day.
Naini Retreat is up on the hills, looking down into the mall road and lake, a tastefully done up property. The very well kept garden, service, the food and the ambience is class; the room we got was a duplex, 2 beds on the top for the kids and 2 on the ground with the room heaters humming away. It’s a huge property and the evenings are abuzz with live music, campfire and lots of holidaying families milling around. We sit in the restaurant overlooking the lake and spend 2 hours on the dinner just watching and listening to the human drama unfolding around us. We hit the bed around 10 PM and watch TV for some time.
On the way down, weather clears up, we could see the Auli ski slopes clearly and the army hospital all in green. The car operator tells us, Joshimath is full of Nepali Regiment personnel, retired and some working, during the pilgrim season, they have the city full with travelers and seasonal businessmen; now it’s almost deserted.
730 am, load up, pack lunch and off on the return leg of the journey. Today’s target is Kasauni, through Karnaprayag, Baidyanath, 190 kms away. The decent is quicker and it gets warmer on the way. Pass Chamoli @ 9 am, stop after we pass Lamgasu for the b’kfst. Stop on the extreme right shoulder with a view to the river and a hanging bridge; sun is shining bright, feels like heaven to get warmed up. Spread a blanket and b’fast on a big boulder, the roti sibji tasted like manna from heaven with lime juice to gulp it down with. We spend a leisurely 45 mts till it becomes really hot and start off our decent through Kakrnaprayag, left turn, cross river and towards Gwaldam. The road takes a new meaning and shape and attitude; river on one side, unspoilt, virgin forests, thin fog sticking to tree tops, local jeep drivers doing Shumi stunts on turns, turns are steering-wrenching, tight and sharp; you need to be fully awake and alert to avoid a head-on from mad on rushing jeeps and small local buses. Nobody uses the horn, nobody cares a hang; one nudge and you can careen headlong into the river, bye-bye world !!!!!!! I thank my senses for fitting the strong, extra-loud, bosch horn which can make anyone jump out of their skin, guess we got our money’s worth between Karnaprayag and Tharali. Many jeep / bus drivers were shocked to hear the horn on turns and respectfully gave way; they were probably shocked more by the fact that someone is using the horn, alien to this part of the country, some glared at me as if at a Martian !!!!!! Anyway, we roll past Narayanbagger, than a 10 KMs stretch of bad roads, Gwaldam, Sirkot and stop at Baidyanath temple. The twists and turns are too much for Nidish, we had to make vomit stops and feed him only Lime juice to stop dehydration. The decent is steep and the brake drums heat up; so the vomit stops are useful to cool them off. The 15 inch rubbers and predictable brakes of the Fusion are reassuring, never had a skid till now and hugs the roads pretty tight too. 
Stop @ Baidyanath temple, the man sized fishes on the river are a sight to see and the 1000 years + Shiva temple is a wonderful piece of architecture. Stretch our legs, do the Darshan and sit in the temple bench for 20 minutes. The kids get their needed break; they’re getting edgy being cooped up the car for long stretches now. They help out with the maps and log book, when that’s over sitting inside seeing23/10 mountains and mountains roll by does take its toll. Anu is hanging in there too, though weary, tired and a little whooshy from the twisties. We start off again 3 pm and reach Kasauni, Sun n snow hotel around 4 pm. There’s no Sun or Snow to view from there in the evening, lots of clouds and fog bolts out everything in sight beyond 500 meters. After the tents and camps the hotel is a welcome change with the room heater going full clip; its like homecoming, we feel like staying indoors and watch TV to catch up with news. Order all meals inside and have a very late night with the telly on.
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!!!!
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.
Wake up at 5 am, its deathly quiet and freezing outside, wake up kids and the guide for the day Dinesh guides us on the road through Sonprayag to Gaurikund, 31 Kms away. We park the car, Dinesh goes hunting for the Dhols; it’s end of the season, most of the Nepali porters are already gone home, the temple will close tomorrow for the season and everyone is in a winding down mode. With great difficulty and lots of haggling, Dinesh gets 4 Dhols and we’re off @ 7 am to Badarinath, what we dreamt for a long time. What we didn’t plan for was the rain, snow and cold; soon its drizzling and a cutting wind plays tune through the trees, few people and horses going up. 
We were surprised to see old people and a few children walking up on foot, 14 kms up hill in this weather, that’s some demo of faith in action. The porters walk in rhythm, climb gamely on and take a break every 30 minutes for a smoke or a chai. We reach Rambada @ 11 am, alt 9000 feet, 7 km away from where we started. 
The rain picks up stronger, and the temp drops to around 6; we’re numb and cover everything except our noses, still no respite. Nidish vomits all his break fast on the hill side and is sick and cold, the porters pick him up on the Dhol and chug up faster, our porters follow through. 12 noon, we see the temple, 2 km away shimmering and the snow capped mountains all around, dare not take out the camera as the drizzle turns into snow, we’re coated with powder sown and the temp drops to 4; I hum Pink Floyd’s “comfortably numb’, we’re beyond thought, the cold has frozen everything, we’re on auto pilot, the posters happy with the exercise to keep them warm and uncaring, they only to want to finish what they started off. 
By 1 pm we reach Badarinath, Nidish is pretty sick by now and starts shivering, we take him up to Panjab and Sindh hotel and order some hot water and empty plastic bottles to warm him up. Dinesh heaps blankets on him and heat him with hot bottles, he’s stopped shivering and starts breathing easy and normal; we take turns at visiting the temple; hardly any pilgrims and have a nice Darshan. We’re all keen to run back and get away from this cold soon as we can; one of the porters lends his camel hair coat to Nidish and they get some plastic sheets to cover him from falling snow. We’re on our way back, exhausted from cold, altitude and the wicked wind, its snowing hard now, every exposed part is wet, the gloves, shoes and the jeans. We get down from the Dhols and try walking to generate heat, that helped us some, we reach Rambada around 3 pm and have hot tea. Most shops are pulled down, few of them operating, tomorrow the temple will close down, everyone will go down to Gaurikund and sit out the winter for 3-4 months. All the iron railings on the walkway to the temple are also being pulled down, say even iron can’t take the weight of the snow in the winter and buckle down. To preserve the railing they are put down flat on the ground; all the roofings rails, tarpaulin covers taken off till Rambada, lest they will crash with the weight of the snow in winter.
Needed to stop for the photo chance and to stretch our legs. Spend 10 minutes strolling around, catching some sun; there’s a chilly wind blowing down-hill following the river, looks like its icing up at the top. Reach Rudraprayag and take left turn to Guptkashi; the wind has turned real cold and we catch raindrops on the windshield; sun is bolted out and by the time we reach Agastyamuni around 12 noon its like a dark evening. Rain pitches in, it turns cold and the heater is blowing away warming the cabin. Thankfully rain clears in 30 minutes and we reach Guptkashi 4 Dham camp around 2 PM, alt around 6000 feet.
Meet Pavan the river guide, helps us on with the life jackets, helmets and the rules. Simple rules for safety and paddle; forward, backward, all down into the raft and stop. River is cold, they say ice melted water is constant throughout year at 10-12 degrees, the outside temp raises and ebbs with the seasons. Pavan sets us up on the rig raft; rig rafts are safer with longer oars and are more stable. We’re all paddling away through choppy water and start hitting the rapids; funny names for them too; good morning, Investment, Black Money, 3 blind mice, little Any, Body Surfing and Shivpuri rapids. We reach the first stop where the kids are off loaded, they will catch up with us downstream through the roads; some rapids are off limits for kids, they’re pissed-off. Me, Anu and Payal are paddling away; some big mama rapids coming up; Return to Sender, Roller Coaster (this one has a big hole down in the middle and needs careful rafting), Tea Off, Golf Course, Club House, Cash Flow and Initiation. We beach mid-stream and pick up the kids for the next few rapids. Soon we’re into Body Surfing, all get overboard into ice cold water; pretty chilly at first, sun shining so its OK if you get back into the raft and row hard, generates heat.
We reach the cliff jump point where Pavan takes us up 25/30 feet rock face from where you jump into the river. Looks easy from river, when you reach the top its like 300 feet down !!!! Payal goes first, Nidish and then Brijesh and me. With a little coaxing Anu takes the plunge too; its an awesome experience; once you jump, it takes eons (so it seems, actually in about 5 seconds you hit water) to hit water and you’re popped up by the buoyancy of the life-jacket. At our take out point near the cliff-jump; they arrange for a great lunch on a platform (later we learn it was a Ghat!!!) and our pick up truck takes us up the roads to Biasi. 1 hour+ and we are at the camp, down the bridge, down the beach we reach camp by 4 PM. We’re thoroughly exhausted by now and want to rest. We have hot Pokodas and tea waiting; kids go in search of rappelling, there’s a 40 feet rock face in the camp. Its sundown again, time for the camp fire; 5 of us sit and crack Sardar Jokes and sing songs till 10 PM and we go off to sleep; tomorrow’s going to be a busy day.
Picked up a guide for 50/- and 2 hours to show us around. Young guy knows his way around takes us through to Swargashram and all the Ashrams around including Ram Jula and the Shiva temple. Lunch @ Chottiwalla, an experience in itself, a painted baldy sitting on a high stool in front of the hotel with his long hair sticking straight up, Chinese style. He was cheesed off when I stood near him to pose for the camera with my clean shaven head to compete with his bald and painted head !!!!!
Drive thro Rishikesh, Shivpuri (the rafting capital of Uttranchal) to reach Biasi and the campsite around 330 PM. There’s this heavenly campsite on the other side of Ganges and a dream like hanging bridge to cross over. We honk the horn pretty hard, sound carries far and wide, soon we have porters from Camp 5 elements picking up the luggage. Lock the car and start the 1 Km trek down to the camp through steep down roads, rocks and boulders, hanging bridge across the river down into the beach site camp. It should be around 500 Mtrs long and 250 Mtrs wide and soon we chuck into 2 tents. There’s a camp brief by Mr. Bist, do’s and don’ts and how to use the toilet tents. There’s glorious white sands all around; soon we realize sand reaches everywhere; everything you wear and everything you eat too!!!! We are at about 1700 Ft and more climbs to come for the next many days.
There’s electricity all around and people are agog with expectations and chanting. Sundown and the Aarti starts; this is something worth seeing. To me it’s, different from Varanashi where it’s more organized, more mechanical and sounds more commercial too; Haridwar is more humane and palpable and a little more personal. After the show is over; we go down the steps into the Ganges and set off the Dhias for the Peace and happiness of the family; they fleece us for Rs.300/- ; well worth it and we fend off circling swamis / gurus and gods men in all sizes and shapes. We run back to the hotel fast as we can shake our legs and are relieved when we see the gates of the hotel. Early dinner, watch TV and crash around 11 PM. We did 206 kms today and are at elevation 982 feet. 
