My 4th Kailash Manasarovar Yatra in 2012.

Hi Friends,

I am in the middle of writing my travelogue about my 4th Kailash yatraa. Will update it once I am done.

Regards

Roop Kund Trek, Oct 2012.

We started from Delhi very early and reached Rishikesh before 11 am. Delhi to Rishikesh was comfortable drive in early hours and once we reached Haridwar We took the Road that goes through Chilla forest, I have always enjoyed driving through that road. After the Barrage we continued further and we reached then base of the Neelkanth Mahadev Temple. From here it is a steep climb of about two or more hours and we finally reached the Neelkanth Temple.

The story says that after Lord Shiva chose to have the "Vish" that came after the "Samudra Manthan" and kept it in his "Kanth" (throat) his throat became blue and he felt burning sensation, so he came to this hilltop which is a very cool place and has a cool water spring and the shade of a Banyan tree. Here he felt some relief and established a "Dhooni" (fire), the locals say that same fire is still burning since then. After we finished the Darshan of the Neelakanth Shivalinga, we headed back to Rishikesh where we had a wonderful Arti darshan at Paramarth Ashram, the setting sun behind the huge statue of lord Shiva in the middle of flowing Ganges is mesmerizing.

After a night stay at the beautiful Ganga Darshan Resort run by the GMVN, we started before sunrise for our next destination Karnaprayag where we left our vehicles and boarded a local bus which took us to a small hamlet called “Vaan”. It’s a small and scattered village of local farmers that grow potato and beans. Life in the higher regions of Himalayas is very laid back and it’s always a very pleasant experience talking and living with these honest and caring people.

From Vaan we started our ascent for our first night halt at the famous “Bedni Bugyal” after climbing a difficult ascent of Neel Ganga after Ranakadhar, Bugyal means meadow and very truly that place looks like a heaven for the nomads of these areas who travel with their folks in search of pastures. Form here we could see the Trishul Parvat group, Nanda Ghunti Peak, Chaukhambha, Haathi Parvat and also the Bandar Poonch Parvat very clearly. Bedni is also famous for its biodiversity and also has a lake in the middle called Bedni Kund. Night halt in the tents was another great experience in these sub zero temperatures. Next day we took our tents and headed for the “Bhagwa Vaasa” camp site. En route we crossed Ghoda Loutni, Patra Nachauni and also a small but very pristine temple of Kalu Vinayaka (Black Ganesha). The weather was not very favorable but we reached the Bhagvavasa Campsite before dark. Getting the fiber glass huts was a major relief as another night in tents in such extreme cold conditions would be very difficult for us.

Next day we started very early, actually before dawn for the Roopkund Lake, but due to bad weather and not being equipped with ladder and rope etc. we had to drop the idea of climbing that straight wall that was between us and the remains of some 300 soldiers, that’s now buried deep in fresh snow and the frozen lake waters.

We came back from 300 meters short of the lake. It was a big disappointment. We headed straight for the Bedni Bugyal after we collected our belongings from the Bhagwa Wasa. The weather has already taken a turn and the snow line has further receded down a few hundred of meters than the previous day when we climbed this route. The view on this route is breathtaking and stunningly beautiful. We reached Bedni by early evening and found the owner of the only shop (plastic/ wood temporary shed) was closing his season, no wonder we were late in our attempt and we cant blame the weather. Return from Bedni to Vaan was quick, and the Neel Ganga stretch which was looking impossible to climb was like a cake walk downhill.

We reached Vaan around afternoon and immediately took a cab for Karna Prayag where we spent our night in GMVN guest house and started very early next morning and reached Delhi by next night. It was a wonderful journey, the group was nice, and entire trip was just great. My sincere thanks to Mr Ravi Gupta, F S Nagar, Mr Sahu, Mr Rakesh, Mr Rao, Ms Usha ji and Ms Samitha ji for their wonderful company. special thanks to Mr S S Heera and our Convener Mr Chandan from YHA.