Journey to the Valley Of Flowers (Phoolon Ki Ghaati) – Episode 2

After a tiring journey from Delhi to Haridwar with tea and Parle G biscuits for our dinner at 2.30 am.
The next day agenda was to meet all other trek members at the Haridwar railway station by 6.30 am.
We woke up at 6 and by 6.45 we were all set to move.
We reached railway station at 7 and had a round of introduction with our diverse trek group where people hailed from Tamilnadu,Mumbai,Delhi,Bangalore.
Had a cup of tea and started towards our destination for the day.

Day 2 :
Agenda : Reach Joshimath.
Distance : 250 kms.
Road Condition : Not very good and Risky due to unpredictable landslides.

Three vehicles were hired and we started off from Haridwar.It was cloudy.
I was visiting Haridwar for the first time.Our trek friends ( two of them) were accompanying us in our vehicle had visited this place a lot of times.

Harki Pauri : The Ganges is so wide (approx half a km long).
After travelling through the plains and crossing the Wildlife sanctuary between Haridwar and Rishikesh.We reached Rishikesh,had heard about this place a lot which is famous for its rafting especially.We continued our journey ahead Rishikesh and we were amidst the Himalayas now with Ganges gushing just besides the road.The roaring sound was enough to scare anyone.
It was breakfast time now.Our driver stopped at a dhaba on the banks of Ganges.

Breakfast :Aloo Parantha with half a packet of butter ,Pickle and Curd
Taste : 9/10
Ambience : 6/10

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After fully loaded we again were back onto our journey.
The road was bad in some stretches due to the landslides.
We went higher and higher and the roads became narrower in some places.
The weather was overcast.Rudraprayag where two rivers meet to become Ganges.An awesome sight it was with water of different colors joining together.

Next Pitstop :For Lunch
Food : Maggi,Aloo Paratha,curd
Taste : 5/10
Ambience : 6/10
Now we realised that we were running late and will not be able to reach Joshimath before sunset.Now a question comes to all our minds :
Why is it necessary to reach Joshimath before it gets dark.
The same question came to my mind too.

Answer:
Its a landslide prone area where landslide can happen anytime with huge boulders rolling down to the roads.Driver said that he will try his best to reach Joshimath.

But the road condition was very bad and the road to Joshimath closes by 6 just before 20 kms of Joshimath.

Level Of Excitement : Very High
Risk Involved : Very High
Pure Adventure.
Now we were entering the Chamoli area.Ok if you have not heard of this place.
Chamoli, the epicentre for the devastating earthquake that ocurred in 2009.
The road was just opened as a landslide had occured a few days back which had closed the main road for few days.

Next question,
What if we get struck in a landslide.I will be experiencing the same in a few days to come.

Its a two way national highway ,after landslide the road becomes so narrow that it becomes hard even for one vehicle to passby.Our vehicles tyre was at the edge of the loose mud with Ganges flowing violently below us.
We reach the Army area from where Joshimath is 20 kms away.We had to reach Joshimath at any cost on the same day.Another surprise was coming our way,it started raining heavily.
Rain is the main reason for Landslide to occur.As the road was closed,driver was a bit skeptical whether to proceed or not as it was very risky to move ahead.He somehow convinced the post guard and we decided to move ahead.For the first time in my life, it was like i am in a battlefield where anything can happen at any moment.

Scenario :Its raining heavily.
A boulder comes rolling down onto the road and we are missed by a whisker.
Silence everywhere in the car.Everyone hoping that we reach safely and if by chance a landslide occurs we will be stranded with nowhere to go.
After the last hairpin bend driver says ‘We guys were lucky’.Everybody breathed a sigh of relief.

So an adventurous,breathtaking ride to Joshimath came to an end.

Stay tuned as the journey proceeds with loads of breathtaking and adventurous experiences.