Preparation, Journey and Day 1: Sankri to Seema Village
Day 2: Seema Village to Har-Ki-Dun
Day 3: A day in Har-Ki-Dun
Day 4: Har-ki-Dun to Seema Village and visit to Osla (You are currently reading this.)
Day 5: Seema Village to Sankri and Return Journey
Part 4 (Hike from Har-Ki-Dun to Seema Village and Visit to Osla Village) Begins
Day four of the trek dawned amidst a lot of verve and enthusiasm for most of the trek mates. While I was also upbeat, there was also a tinge of disappointment. A thought of probability of never visiting this particular place in future welled unbidden tears in my eyes. While I was reflecting on the gone days - days filled with absolute grandeur, days that tested your physical endurance and finally the days that made you ecstatic, I heard shouts of Vijay, our local trek leader from outside calling my name and asking me to bring my camera immediately.
Tents laid for a group of 5-6 members:
We came across many trekkers along the way. Surprisingly, many of them were from Maharashtra. I got excited to see an old gentleman hiking on a steep slope who was on the way to har-ki-dun. I struck a conversation with him and came to know that he was Karnal Thorat ageing 76 years and trekking in Himalaya since more than 40 years. He had hiked with Yuvashakti group before. Talking to him was really motivating and refreshing and his fitness transported me to future years seeing myself trekking in Himalaya in an old age. With few chuckles on my face, I bid adieu to Karnal Thorat and marched ahead.
As I was calling to my spouse, she seemed worried and enquired about whether we experienced earthquake or not. Frankly being away from any network or electricity, we were oblivious to the happenings around. So news of another earthquake in Nepal region did not reach to us. Fortunately, our region was not affected at all by it. Vijay, our local trek leader also said that they had never faced earthquakes in their region.
After conversation on the phone, we started our return to Seema village. I was curious to enter Duryodhan temple by opening the gates but couple of YHAI guys who were also in front of the temple advised me not to enter. In their previous visit, local people demanded money from them as they entered inside the temple. Though sounded strange, I heeded to their advice and proceeded quickly to our base camp at Seema village.
Duryodhana Temple at Osla Village which I unfortunately could not visit from inside:
Beautifully carved wooden columns of the temple:
Local ladies which were at first shy but hearing that we were from Vijay's group happily posed for the photo.
Few group members collected some firewood for camp-fire.
Hot dinner was served which I found very energising after hard day's toil. Sick members who were still suffering from loose motions and nausea hardly ate anything. They were really looking to bring end to their ordeal. They really wanted to be in comforts of their homes.
Camp-fire followed the dinner. Tejas broke the ice by singing a nice and funny song which set the tone for the evening after that, everyone started contributing. After a while, cold started enveloping everyone. I preferred to retire for the day in the cosiness of the sleeping bag and gradually slipped away from the group to my allocated room.
Finally, penultimate day of the trek was coming to an end and with the realization that next day would be last day of the trek before the return travel, I drifted off to sleep.
Click here to read Part 5
Day 2: Seema Village to Har-Ki-Dun
Day 3: A day in Har-Ki-Dun
Day 4: Har-ki-Dun to Seema Village and visit to Osla (You are currently reading this.)
Day 5: Seema Village to Sankri and Return Journey
Part 4 (Hike from Har-Ki-Dun to Seema Village and Visit to Osla Village) Begins
Day four of the trek dawned amidst a lot of verve and enthusiasm for most of the trek mates. While I was also upbeat, there was also a tinge of disappointment. A thought of probability of never visiting this particular place in future welled unbidden tears in my eyes. While I was reflecting on the gone days - days filled with absolute grandeur, days that tested your physical endurance and finally the days that made you ecstatic, I heard shouts of Vijay, our local trek leader from outside calling my name and asking me to bring my camera immediately.
I rushed outside with the camera to see what was happening. Couple of mountain goats camouflaged with the same coloured mountain had caught our local guides' attention. Sighting these goats was a rarity and considered very pious. Keen to show these goats to everyone, Vijay asked me to zoom my camera to take some pictures. Unfortunately, as I did not have a telephoto lens, we had to take a picture and then zoom it in the camera to see these animals. Nevertheless, we all were thrilled of these sightings and Vijay told us that we were really lucky to sight these animals.
Check whether you can spot these goats in the below picture:
Check whether you can spot these goats in the below picture:
Morning breakfast was served in the open as weather was warm
due to full sunshine. It was probably one of the most scenic places on the
earth to have your breakfast. Onkar was upbeat in spite of having the tough
time with loose motions where tissue papers were constantly his companion. He
jumped from the rock and asked me to take his picture and I was happy to
oblige him.
We lingered for a while as everyone was getting ready. Once everyone
was ready, we gathered for a group photo outside our campsite and after the
photo session, proceeded towards our second camp at Seema village.
Again, as usual, we had a bright sunshine and pleasant
weather just perfect for walking and hiking. I got the opportunity to click
photos of the area which I had missed two days earlier when we were hiking
towards har-ki-dun in the rains.
Along the way, I came across two ladies who were hiking to har-ki-dun.
They were a group of 5-6 people and they had laid tent somewhere around 1 hr
from har-ki-dun. They were from Mumbai and after a brief chat with them, I
proceeded further.
Tents laid for a group of 5-6 members:
We were walking in good rhythm and as we had to descend at
most of the places, we covered a lot of distance quickly. Soon, we reached to the location where we had halted for lunch while ascending to har-ki-dun two days back.
Hiking in unison necessary to cover large distances in short time:
We came across many trekkers along the way. Surprisingly, many of them were from Maharashtra. I got excited to see an old gentleman hiking on a steep slope who was on the way to har-ki-dun. I struck a conversation with him and came to know that he was Karnal Thorat ageing 76 years and trekking in Himalaya since more than 40 years. He had hiked with Yuvashakti group before. Talking to him was really motivating and refreshing and his fitness transported me to future years seeing myself trekking in Himalaya in an old age. With few chuckles on my face, I bid adieu to Karnal Thorat and marched ahead.
As per natural walking speed and preferences, we already had formed
many groups. I was somewhere in middle and at one point, I saw some of my group
members going in the wrong direction. They had taken the wrong trail and
walking on a trail in the middle of the mountain while the correct trail was at the base of the mountain. They were far behind and was out of reach of my shouts. Luckily, these group members realized
their mistake by seeing few trekkers below and started descending on the
steep slope. Soon, they were back on track.
A small hut along the way was looking like the accommodation in one of the most scenic locations in the world.
A small hut along the way was looking like the accommodation in one of the most scenic locations in the world.
As other members were still behind and I was walking alone for most of
the time, I soon joined Vijay who was perching on the rock waiting for remaining trek members to join. Spectacular waterfall cascading down from the mountain in front presented opportunity for few more photos.
As there was valley on one side, on the opposite side was the world of gigantic mountains.
My photo clicked by Vijay who was the only one whom I trusted to handle my camera and take my photos.
As there was valley on one side, on the opposite side was the world of gigantic mountains.
My photo clicked by Vijay who was the only one whom I trusted to handle my camera and take my photos.
We were close to the camp during lunch time.
As there was no network in the
wilderness, none of us had spoken to family for almost four days. So when I learned
about the STD booth in Osla village, I decided to accompany Tejas as he was
also going to get in touch with Yuvashakti to provide the latest updates. Most of the members returned back to our camp-site at Seema village but I, Vijay and Tejas kept on walking for
about 15 minutes to reach Osla village. On the way, a beautiful
temple of Duryodhana held our attention. We decided to visit it after
finishing our phone calls.
Duryodhan Temple (though this temple is known as Duryodhan temple, local people refuse this fact and say that this is Shiva temple and some Bengali author has wrongly publicised this as Duryodhan temple)
Salute to the artist who have carved out such a beautiful wooden artifact which I spotted on top of one of the houses:
In the advanced world of technology where world is at your fingertips, still there are places where communication is still done using the old way.
A telephone booth only way of communication from this remote area of Garhwal Himalaya:
Group members of Youth Hostels of India were already present in STD booth talking to their respective family members; so I waited outside photographing curious and adorable kids in the village.
Duryodhan Temple (though this temple is known as Duryodhan temple, local people refuse this fact and say that this is Shiva temple and some Bengali author has wrongly publicised this as Duryodhan temple)
Salute to the artist who have carved out such a beautiful wooden artifact which I spotted on top of one of the houses:
In the advanced world of technology where world is at your fingertips, still there are places where communication is still done using the old way.
A telephone booth only way of communication from this remote area of Garhwal Himalaya:
Group members of Youth Hostels of India were already present in STD booth talking to their respective family members; so I waited outside photographing curious and adorable kids in the village.
As I was calling to my spouse, she seemed worried and enquired about whether we experienced earthquake or not. Frankly being away from any network or electricity, we were oblivious to the happenings around. So news of another earthquake in Nepal region did not reach to us. Fortunately, our region was not affected at all by it. Vijay, our local trek leader also said that they had never faced earthquakes in their region.
After conversation on the phone, we started our return to Seema village. I was curious to enter Duryodhan temple by opening the gates but couple of YHAI guys who were also in front of the temple advised me not to enter. In their previous visit, local people demanded money from them as they entered inside the temple. Though sounded strange, I heeded to their advice and proceeded quickly to our base camp at Seema village.
Duryodhana Temple at Osla Village which I unfortunately could not visit from inside:
Beautifully carved wooden columns of the temple:
After lunch, we rested a bit in our rooms. In the evening, I along with Ameya Dandekar strolled near the bridge for doing some photography.
Beautiful river flowing through Seema village:
Beautiful river flowing through Seema village:
Local ladies which were at first shy but hearing that we were from Vijay's group happily posed for the photo.
Few group members collected some firewood for camp-fire.
Hot dinner was served which I found very energising after hard day's toil. Sick members who were still suffering from loose motions and nausea hardly ate anything. They were really looking to bring end to their ordeal. They really wanted to be in comforts of their homes.
Finally, penultimate day of the trek was coming to an end and with the realization that next day would be last day of the trek before the return travel, I drifted off to sleep.
Click here to read Part 5
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