part 2 my north india trip : the journey to the himalayas

// read the part 1 of the north India trip to understand it better//
After the beautiful feeling and memories which i gathered in Agra , we set out to Badrinath!! The most awaited leg of the whole journey.We were joined in by 12 others (family frenz)en route to Badrinath. We had to first go to Haridwar from Delhi. Well the journey to Haridwar from Delhi was one hell of an experience ! I did not think i would reach Haridwar in one piece!All 15 of us boarded the train at 9 pm from the old delhi stn into the train which would take us to Haridwar in 12 hrs.In north India this july-aug time is the "sawan ka mahina" which is the "kaavad" season.People from all over the country throng to Haridwar wearing saffron colored attire carrying the "kaavad"( a bamboo stick with two bottle like things attached on either sides to carry the ganges)to pour on the shiva ling on shiv ratri.So all these kaavad enthusiasts (ticket-less mind u) just rushed into the train sat on places which were reserved(including ours!!)and kept screaming "bum bum bole!!" trust me i was scared to death , they all seemed like these hooligans who would throw us out of the train if we even asked them to move an inch ! A good ticket collector came to our rescue and shooed them away !! But to my astonishment when we reached Haridwar the next day, i saw at least a thousand of those "bum bum bole guys" sitting on top of the train!! I felt the India which these firangi ppl die to see!! i felt the raw side of our country which i had only read about!I could not help but smile to myself at their determination to reach Haridwar without tickets!Nevertheless they did!
From Haridwar we set out on a 2 day journey to the Badrinath shrine. Hold ur breath, 2 days of traveling on the ghat section!! 2 days of traveling on the merciless cum beautiful , ruthless cum heavenly roads to the heaven on earth!(quite literally, well one wrong step & one might reach the "real heaven")The roads were so crooked,curved,steep that my heart would keep missing beats once in a while!The road has a legacy of bad accidents, it carries caution boards saying accident zone every 5 mts.The road is breath taking firstly because the beautiful and equally ruthless Alaknanda river(tributary of the Ganges)is a constant companion throughout the journey uphill, secondly because of the mighty and majestic Himalayas towering upon us and showering stones and boulders every few minutes! One has to be really lucky to go and come back safely.It was a risk we took and we realized that it was completely worth it!
Two days we traveled in our 18 seater bus on those scary roads of the gharwal section of Uttarakhand. We stopped in Karana Prayag for a night , we kept getting stuck on the roads as boulders would block it very often.The efficient Army road -clearing machines are a blessing in that hilly region!The might of Himalayas is truly mesmerizing.If alps is like a beautiful princess then Himalayas is like a strong handsome king!!The river traveling with us is a sight worth seeing.She is beautiful and ferocious at the same time! One would not survive 2 mins if fallen into it!! yes thats how she is!With at least one person throwing up because of the ghat section every hour ,all of us singing songs,praying god , loving the nature ,clicking pictures we finally reached Badrinath after a memorable journey uphill!
Badrinath is definitely a place every single soul who likes nature (irrespective of his/her belief in god) should visit!Its a place rightly called as "dev bhumi" situated 10 000 ft above sea level , where two hills "nar" and "narayan" meet and are separated only by the beautiful Alaknanda.The place is peaceful not crowded, one can actually feel the presence of the power above us. It is home to many sadhus and people in search of spirituality!A hot spring called "tapt kundh" right beside the freezing and crystal clear Alaknanda is a proof of god's presence!Its indeed the heaven on earth.