My feet
have some blisters, legs seem like a ton of bricks and most nerves have a
sensation of being. The trek to Amarnath is surely the toughest thing I
had done so far….walking roughly 15 kms everyday on winding roads and
slippery ice…sleeping in the tent with no electricity…..thank God Masi
insisted for the sleeping bag….no bath for 4 days…drank less than than a
bottle of water and ate as little as possible so that I don’t need to
use a loo. The ones that were there made me feel worse not better, so I
didn’t want to go anywhere close.
I have to admit far more
than the religious value of it for me…it held the promise of some
spectacular views, photographic opportunities and yeah the sense of
adventure…was I in for a surprise…plenty…I had stocked up on memory,
batteries, polarizer, close-up kit….but I really didn’t need them or let
me say I just could not use them…..There were just thousands of
people…I don’t think I have seen that many people together…and unlike my
Saturday walks where there are as many cameras as people…..I didn’t see
a single SLR in any one’s hand….throughout the 3 days of trekking and
less than 50 point and shoot cameras…yes, there were people trying to
capture a memory of them being here on their phone cams and you can’t
discount them these days…but what I wanted to say is that I soon
realized that this was no travelography trip……where people would stop
for every frame…..It was hard to get a frame without a human being in it
unless you risked life and no one ever said sorry if they spoilt your
frame.
 |
Lucky birds embracing the cottony clouds
|
 |
My tiny point and shoot could not do justice to the iconic beauty of Seshnag Lake.....it was
raining and I could not gather the courage to take my SLR out...
|
 |
The Holy Trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh
|
About the views itself….it looked pretty and stunning
and breathtaking if I looked up at the snow clad peaks, the blue skies,
the cottony clouds, but I was embarrassed as I looked down as I was
walking on a garbage heap….wrappers, empty bottles and packages, human
and animal excreta all through. I walked on ice for quite a lot of the
way…but its colour was brown and not white.. and as I looked in front I
just found people, ponies, palkies and pithoos jostling for space on the
narrow winding roads where one misstep could be the difference between
life and death.
 |
My
heart bled as I saw this spoiling the pristine beauty at 14,000
ft....on asking also I couldn't find a dustbin....wish we were more
sensitive..
|
 |
A glimpse of the numerous companions on the walk
|
Pithoo… I had mine too…Mushtaq bhai….my man Friday….and
I’m not sure without him I’d have completed this journey and the
Darshan….I was pretty much on my own those 3 days in the company of
Mushtaq bhai…..As most of my friends know….I’m a fairly slow
walker …I’ll walk but slowly…so I was left way behind from the group and
this was not my Let's Walk Gurgaon Group…where I’m never away from the ever smiling faces
and helpful hands of fellow walkers….I
definitely missed you guys and was often tempted to look back….however
Mushtaq bhai did look back to hold my hand on all those treacherous
peaks and troughs and broke many a fall…..fall count was still 5, one
being specially tricky where both of us had a bad one…and it needed a
total strangers’ helping hands to put us back on our feet. I was
beginning to feel pretty claustrophobic standing in the queue for the
Darshan…where almost everyone was fighting with each other….and it was
only Mushtaq bhai’s intervention to find another way to get to the cave
that helped me to get a glimpse of the Shivling that we had all come to
see….and though fleeting it was an interesting sight. I quickly offered
my prayers before I was shoved to the exit by the rush of people, so
this journey was surely an adventure.
 |
Mushtaq Bhai... We all know the general sentiments
towards our Muslim Brethren, but Kashmir is not only blessed with
natural beauty... but also with these beautiful people who are as warm
as any one else.... it was serendipitous that a Yatra with such enormous
religious significance for any Hindu, for me was completed by him... he
accompanied me all the way to the temple and we prayed together to the
Almighty!
|
Am I happy to have done
it…oh yes, no description and stories ever prepared me for what I saw
and experienced…so it surely was a journey of a lifetime……personally I
was unhappy with what I could click….but I often do look for that one
special click that would define the trip for me…and I wasn’t deprived of
that atleast….I did get that one special image….something that would
forever be etched in my memory.....net…net I am glad to be back home and
having done this in one piece.
 |
The
breathtaking beauty of the Himalayas...clicked on the second day of the
trek between Seshnag and Panchtarini....at an altitude of roughly
13,000 ft
|
 |
Game for a Chocolate Vanilla Experience!
|
Route: Delhi-Pahalgam-
Chandanwadi – Seshnag- Panchtarini- Holy Cave- Baltal- Srinagar- Delhi.
3
days of Trekking, Travel time would vary with the mode of transport. It
took us roughly 2 days to reach by Bus to Pahalgam and then I flew back
to Delhi from Srinagar... after spending a day in Srinagar and another
one in Gulmarg ( that's for another post!)
Here’s looking forward to Kailash Mansarovar one day!!
