Travel Blog - Journey, Stories and Experiences

 The day when CP and his wife went to hike to Llama top, I had decided to visit Gartang Gali. A trek used in earlier times to trade between India and Tibet. The highlight of this trek was the end, where golden wooden stairs (around 50) end the Indian side and from where the Tibetan side begins. I started for Gartang Gali at around 11 AM, and CP had already left by then. Ishan's mother said that CP and his wife ate separately in the morning. She was happy to see that, although I did not understand why. Before leaving, I asked Ishan whether I would be able to reach Gartang Gali or not. This was because there are no petrol pumps in Harshil. The last petrol pump one will see is in Uttarkashi, around 60-80 km away. My car showed that it can run 270 km, but these readings are never accurate. I had to calculate the distances beforehand. Additionally, once you are outside Harshil, there are no networks. I had to reach Gartang Gali from Harshil Valley the old-school way, remembering the rou...

 When I arrived at Ishan's house, he already had a booking for 2 days from someone called "CP" starting from the next day. When I asked him to get me a heater, he gave me a hot air fan, which is not that great in temperatures dipping below negative. I saw him using a much bigger heater in his room, and I was confused as to why he did not provide me with that. Later that night, after dinner, we were sitting on the porch looking down at the Harsil valley and Mukhwa village, on which lights were shimmering in perfect sync. "Somebody is putting up a tent there, look!" said Ishan, pointing towards a gap between two mountains. I looked at the place he pointed and could only see a single light there, like a bulb. "How do you know that?" I asked him. "There's nothing there. Somebody has put up the tent, that's why a light is there. I wonder how they will spend the night. It would be so exciting." I saw his eyes shining while he spoke and cont...

 Can you hear the sound of my breath? I am panting. Why? I am walking on a stone-paved trek that goes to Kedarnath Dham. It is not an easy trek, especially when you have weight on you. The cold wind seems to help a lot, but I have a trick. I do not see in the front. I always look down towards the road. This way, I don't know how steep the climb is in front of me. It helps more than you think. The person you see with me, I have named him Saarthi, because he tries to show me the path. I do not need his help. I have climbed up and down this trek more than 5000 times in the past 7 years. I know you are amazed to know my stamina, but everyone says that I am born for this.  I am born to bear the weight of humans on a steep trek to the God whose one of the names is "Caretaker of Animals". I am a mule. An innocent and young mule. Everybody says that I am lucky I don't have to fight for survival every day in the jungles. I do not feel so. Saarthi keeps me company, and I love t...