Char Dham Trip

Finally it happened - Char Dham trip - lots of bumps and hurdles on the way. 

Chota Char Dham (Uttarakhand) includes Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath. It involves lots of strenuous effort,  inclement weather and unpredictable road conditions. Located in the Garhwal (northern Himalayan) region of Uttarakhand, these places are open only for six months of a year. Even these six months are not without difficulties - landslides, cloudy cold weather. The accomodation is average and not to mention the crowd, given the importance as Hindu pilgrimage place.

When I showed interest many wondered - you are too young for pilgrimage. Well my response - better do it when the body allows, rather than wait for old age and then struggle with the effort. Then it was the company. Of the usual crowd of us friends that went on trips together, only two of us were interested. Added to that - the two of us suffered from motion sickness making the road trip a bit dicey, one was lethargic and averse to long on-road travel times, another was particular about the hygiene and these places offered none. The first time we seriously thought of this trip resulted in the great floods. After that the plan put on the back burner. Last year we had been to Dehradun and saw banners advertising helicopter trips to Char Dham. Intrigued we did some research and it sounded good - a bit expensive but was overcoming most of the issues we had. The entire trip which takes around 15 days could be completed in mere 6 days, with least on-road time and avoiding most of the walking/trekking. Might not be the best option for those with religious bent of mind but it suited us. A little more digging and we came across a package offered by Thomas Cook and they assured the best accomodation under the circumstances. The brand name gave us some confidence and we plunged in.

Given the limited availability, we needed to book in advance - almost 6 months. I think this was the only trip that we planned so much in advance. The itinerary was fly into Dehradun, heli to Yamunotri to Gangotri to Kedarnath to Badrinath, night halts each day at the respective places. We were warned by the Thomas Cook that heli rides are not guaranteed - a lot depended upon the weather and army activity being close to the border. We figured it was worth the risk. Booked the package for 4 people.

Day 1: Flew into Dehradun and were met by the vehicle and driver to take us to the hotel for the meet and greet and night stay. A little about the heli ride limitations. The weight was the key issue here. Passengers were supposed to be less than 75 kgs, any extra was to cost extra, luckily for us they averaged over the group!!! And each was allowed only 5 kg luggage. So we had to cut down on what we packed. We went in Sept-end and there was a likelihood of rainy cold weather, so it meant lot of discussions, weighing options and juggling around. Another limitation was the type of luggage - nothing with wheels and given the weight restriction we were better off with back packs. Being the conscientious travellers we bought back packs - waterproof ones and packed very diligently. But at Dehradun, we were given duffel bags by the aviation company and all our efforts and economic measures proved a big waste of time. We were told to repack and leave our luggage at their cloak room. 

Anyway back to Dehradun and our day 1. We were greeted with some bad news - weather was not good and had been like that for the past couple of days, so lots of back logs and no idea if we would be taking off the next day or not. Not being the ones to be deterred by such news, we tried to enjoy the 5-star hotel stay, availing the spa facility and generally relaxing.

Day 2: No heli and no hotel. Apparently the hotel was over booked and we had to vacate our rooms. We were downgraded and shifted to a smaller hotel and had a whole day to waste. There was a mall next door and our friend found Devara (telugu movie) playing, so watched that to kill some time - a movie which we most likely would have avoided even on OTT.

Day 3: Luck favored us and off we went to Yamunotri. Amazing views from the heli, the first glimpses of Himalayan range were breathtaking. 

Reaching the Yamunotri involves a trek of 6 kms, not bad uh? Think again, add to it the mountain terrain, with steep inclines and decreasing oxygen levels. Our package included palki (a wooden chair carried by 4 people) but my friend and I decided to trek and test our fitness levels - a big mistake. Whatever your fitness levels, this trek was not an easy one. I used the palki for sometime, my friend only on the way down and by evening both of our knees had taken the toll and we ended up limping for the next couple of days. 

Luckily we finished our trek and darshan by noon and were flown into Gangotri the same day.  After all that trek, I dont remember much of the Yamunotri shrine, there was hot water spring, and something else ....

The serene Gangotri was very refreshing and soothing.  Since all four of us were tired from the Yamunotri trek and still had two more hectic days ahead, we decided to give the Ganga Arati later in the evening a miss and retired to our rooms.

Night stay at Gangotri, with the same instructions - be ready by 6:30 am, we will take off as soon as the heli is ready.

Day 4: Onward to Kedarnath. There are two approaches to Kedarnath - walk/palki from Sersi or heli from Sersi. Heli from Sersi to Kedarnath is run like a shuttle service, every 10-15 mins there is heli, and a long waiting period. We were told the waiting time could stretch to 2-3 hrs. Luckily for us our chopper from Gangotri was allowed to land directly at Kedarnath, so no waiting for the ride. From the helipad it was little less than one km walk to the shrine. 

A note on the temples here - pathetic maintenance, no proper management, though the crowd was not that heavy there was lot of hussle and tussle. Also unlike other temples, the pujas etc offered by the pilgrims are done at the main idol directly, not separately. So all the more confusion and chaos. We were supposed to be getting VIP darshan as part of the package, I shudder to think our plight otherwise. The Shiva Lingam is supposed to swayambhu ie naturally born, hence is not in the shape we are familiar with. Despite the crowd, it felt peaceful and tranquil. 

My favorite part - the Adi Sankaracharya samadhi, though still in progress it felt really grand.

Stay at Kedarnath was awesome. We were put up at a sort of resort with tent cottages right next to the helipad. Post lunch we were pretty much free. It was a relaxing evening with nothing to do, nowhere to go. A massage guy came selling his wares and all four of us got the much needed leg massages. But due to the frequent flights the entire area was stinking with kerosene smell, I felt guilty of polluting the pristine beauty. I just hope that the government or whoever monitors these rides are taking care of the environment.

Day 5: Off to Badrinath. Once again luck favored us and we could take off on time and went directly to the temple. Again same crowd, chaos and hustle and tussle. Our friends had some ritual to be performed so they stayed back at the temple and we came to the hotel. The rooms were not ready, after waiting for couple of hours and yelling at the staff, we got one room ready. By then our friends returned and he was in a bad shape - cold and fever. We put him up in the room and had our lunch. Later in the evening there was a trip to Mana village - supposed to be the first village of India. But by then our energy levels were low, and with our friend was in bed sick we decided to ditch it and spend a relaxing evening.

For the next day, we had entry passes for Mahabhishekam to be performed at 5 am. We ladies decided to go leaving the guys behind in bed. That was a really wonderful experience. As I mentioned the darshan on the day before was very chaotic. It was compensated by this early morning darshan and puja.  

Day 6: We were told to be ready by 9 am for our ride back to Dehradun. It would be an hour ride from Badrinath to Dehradun and we had plenty of time, since our flight to Hyd was in the evening. We reached to helipad only to be told that there was some army activity going on and the airspace needed to be vacated. Being army stuff - top security, no idea of the time and duration. We were bundled back to the hotel and told to wait. We had vacated the room and the lobby was filled with people like us. Our friend was still sick and was finding it difficult to cope. We just finished a cup of tea wondering what to do next when suddenly our tour operator rushes in saying we got clearance to fly. We were bundled to the helipad and an hour later were safely in Dehradun. Due to the army restrictions, our flight path was slightly altered and we could see Rudra Prayag, Haridwar/Rishikesh from the skies !!!!

We reached Dehradun airport by noon and had 4 hrs on our hand to kill. We decided to avail the lounge facility, hoping for some relaxation. Alas, the lounge was worse than a railway waiting room. Many passengers opted for lounge and the place was jam packed, food was also substandard. After an hour we quit the lounge and moved to the terminal waiting area which was much better - spacious and with better food options.

Overall it was a great trip, no regrets. Despite the initial hiccup, we finally made it on time and didnt have to reschedule our return. The entire experience was made more memorable by the courteous and patient staff all the way. The accomodation was also not that bad. The support offered by Thomas Cook and Heritage Aviations is commendable. 

Given the fact that I made this trip within a month of my chikungunya infection, I am happy I could do it. This gives me hope to revive my wish list - Manasarovar, Amarnath, Vaishno Devi (recent addition) and Everest Base Camp (!!!!!) Always ready to test the limits :-)