In one of my earlier post, I told the mythological story about how different parts of the divine guise of Lord Shiva landed in the different parts of the Himalayas which came to be known as Panch Kedars. Out of them, the second Kedar is MadMaheshwar.
It was an evening in Kolkata at my friend Niladri’s house in December 2013. I was on a vacation to my home town for an annual refill of memories that I don’t get to live nowadays regularly. We were contemplating about doing a trek together, but it had to be one that could be done with our families. It would serve both the purposes of spending time together on s trail as well as give a taste of something we haven’t done before (we’ve been to treks individually, but not together). We had to rule out difficult options since our kids were to accompany. I say kids, but it turned out later that they fared much better than some of the adults and enjoyed much more. Frequented routes like Kedarnath were kept out as most of us have been there before. Suddenly, I proclaimed “MadMaheshwar” and Niladri and Indranil (my namesake and friend) agreed. I instantly called up Yashpal Singh Negi (a guide from Mukumath, +91-9720709499 with whom I’ve traveled before) to get some details. It turned out, the trek was for about 32 km (up and down) to be spread over 4 days. One could get ponies on the route. We all were excited though it was still far away (we were planning for October, 2014).
Discussion went on though the next months. My friend Indranil Mukherjee pulled out of the race because of other responsibilities in his family. That came as a dampener as I seriously wanted him on this tour (in 2013, we went to Ladakh together, but he had to end that tour abruptly due to the unfortunate death of his father in law). Anyways, information gathering went on. On my next trip to Kolkata in June 2014, Indranil invited us, the friends and their families at his home for lunch on a Sunday noon and once again MadMaheshwar came up in discussions. I and Niladri tried to convince Indranil and his wife Sudipa that it wasn’t going to be a long trip and the walking too was apparently manageable (even considering the kids). He was ultimately won over and preparations began in full swing. Yashpal provided us contacts of persons out there who would arrange for our stay on the route as well as at the temple guest house at MadMaheshwar.
According to the plan, Niladri and Indranil boarded the Kumbha express from the Howrah station with their families in the first week of October, 2014. Sanjukta’s cousin sister Lily Biswas accompanied them. They reached Haridwar, the next afternoon. That same day, we (me, my wife Anindita, my daughter and the family of my sister-in-law) boarded the Nanda Devi express from the New Delhi railway station at 11.50 PM. That was on the day of Mahasthami of Durga puja (one of the primary festivals in India). Telephonic conversations with Niladri revealed that a vehicle has been booked by them for our next day’s travel. We would be going the place Jakholi, a quiet hill station in the district of Rudraprayag with spectacular Himalayan views in its store. We reached Haridwar railway station at 4 AM and went towards the waiting room. That’s when I discovered that I forgot to bring my 75-200 mm zoom lens. It was a mistake for which no consolation was enough but there wasn’t any point brooding now. In about 2 hours, we got ourselves fresh after performing our daily natural duties. We reconciled with the rest of the group in the vehicle outside the railway station. The vehicle was a mini bus that could accommodate about 17 people. It made its way through the morning streets of Haridwar as shops were opening up. Preparations were on in the shops for the morning tea and snacks. The road went through the forests of the Motichur range of the Rajaji National park. The refreshing smell of the forests closing in from both sides and the slight chill in the air refreshed our minds. It’s been so many times that I’ve travelled on this road (same was the case with my friends) and all the places on this route were known to us like the back of our hands. We crossed Rishikesh and after about 2 hours, we stopped at Byasi for breakfast. We helped ourselves with tea and Alu Parathas. Our journey resumed and we crossed Devprayag, Rudraprayag one by one and reached Tilwara at about 2 PM in the afternoon. From here, our route diverged towards Jakholi from the main route that went to Gaurikund. After crossing the Mandakini river by a bridge, the road moved up the slopes of the mountains on the other bank of Mandakini. The sky was cloudy and as we moved upwards, the chill increased.
We finally reached at the GMVN rest house at 3 PM. Though the Himalayan views eluded us, it was a pleasant afternoon. After we settled in our respective rooms, it was time for some tea with gossip at the rest house. On a clear day, Jakholi offers one of the best sunset views of the Garhwal Himalayas but it was tough luck for us. We had the entire evening at our disposal with friends and families around. The world seemed so beautiful. The rest house was surrounded with a lawn. We wandered around watching the birds chirping. Our kids enjoyed themselves by playing in the balcony, which was wide and opened to the views of the mountains. I called up Yashpal to ensure all arrangements were made for the vehicles that were to take us to Ransi from where our trek was to start. There were talks to visit Kartik Swami temple at a place called Kanakchauri. It was famous for a wide range of Himayalan views from the temple complex. After careful consideration, we dropped the plan and decided to relax at Jakholi before start of our trek. While our families stayed in their respective rooms, we, the three friends, stayed together in a separate room. Time just fled with chats between us and we went to sleep.
The next day was sunny but skies weren’t clear. A few of us went to the local market to purchase the ration for our lunch. We had khichdi (a cooked mixture of rice and lentils with shades of turmeric augmented with fresh vegetables) and omelets for lunch. People just lapped it up to the last bit. Lily di (cousin sister of Sanjukta, my friend Niladri’s wife) enquired about the distance that we were to walk for MadMaheshwar and so did others. While we enjoyed our relaxation at Jakholi, at the back of the minds of some, the trek and its toil kept looming. The two jeeps arrived that night. They were to take us to Ransi, the next morning. We enjoyed our dinner with country-bred chicken curry and rice.
The next morning went mostly into preparations. Bags were being packed and segregated to identify items that we needed to carry during the trek, while the rest were to be carried away by the jeeps to Mukumath at Yashpal Negi’s place where we were supposed to stay for 2 days after our trek. The group divided and boarded in two jeeps and we started on our way to Ransi. The road again went down to Tilwara where we joined the main route towards Kund. On the way we went through familiar places of Chandrapuri, Syalsaur, Kakragaad (we stayed at all these places in our earlier trips) but couldn’t even recognize the places as the landscape had changed drastically after the flash floods of Garhwal in 2013. The only way I could trace Syalsaur was by the sights of the damaged GMVN rest houses by the banks of the river Mandakini whose gorge has widened more than two times than what we saw a couple of years before. From Kund, we left the main road (that went to Gaurikund) towards Ukhimath and after crossing the main Ukhimath town, we finally reached Ransi. It was here where we bid goodbye to the jeeps which went back to Mukumath along with my father in law and the majority of our luggage.
It was 12 noon with the sun out in the middle. The weather was bright, clear and warm. Our sweaters and jackets came off and we folded them across our waists. All of us had a stick in our hands and we started on our journey. For the next three days, we would be on the trail to MadMaheshwar with no link to any form of automobile. The first day’s trek would take us downhill from Ransi to the village of Bantoli. The distance was about 8 km. After Ransi, the trail crossed a few bends and we entered a section which was entirely covered by forest. It was all downhill and we kept going down amidst the shades of trees. The cool of the shade made walking comfortable and the kids went far ahead than us. Waterfalls came down the slopes of the hills nearby, where we stopped by to take snaps before moving on.
The river MadMaheshwar Ganga (Madhu Ganga, in short) gave us company all the way along. The valley was lush green and most of the trail went through forests. It was interspersed by few villages that we crossed. In the villages the forests gave way to terraced fields along the banks. Gradually, as afternoon bore on, the sunshine changed colors to acquire a golden tinge. The fields of Ramdana (a cereal grown in this part of the world) glittered like gold. After the village of Gondar, the trail gradually moved upwards for about 2 km till we reached the village of Bantoli, our place of stay for the day. The last 2 km of ascent to Bantoli proved a bit tiring especially after a downhill walk for the majority of the day’s trek after Ransi. We were offered glasses of water with jaggery after we reached.
Houses on this trail are very simple that offer basic amenities. Luxury is a distant dream in these areas. My sore back started to complain after the day’s walk. Evening comes down very fast in these Himalayan villages. As night fell upon us, dinner was served (chapatis and vegetable curries). Some of us complained about the steep ascent of the last 2 km of the day’s trek, but it was nothing as compared to what we were to face the next day, which was entirely uphill right up to MadMaheshwar for about 9 km. We went to sleep as the Madhu ganga thundered its way down the valley. The next day was supposed to be the D-Day for us. If we could pull it off, the rest was supposed to be a cake walk (or so we thought!).
Break shackles 
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