Jai Baba Barfani Ki!

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!! 

For more pics follow this link on Facebook Jai Baba Barfani Ki 

Coming Soon  - Amazing Andamans!