There - And Back Again

We made it to Kedarnath -- and back! The starting point was breakfast at Sonu's in Haridwar.

Sonu and Erlend on the breakfastfloor 

Sonu is sales director of the Ands company that manufactures torches and larger light equipments at Haridwar and distribute throughout India. His wife and newborn boy were away to his family in Bihar and he took very good care of us. What a good cook Sonu is; his curry (a subtly spiced soupy – based on yoghurt – dish with drops of deep-fried chickpeaflour sunk in) is very tasty! Haridwar means gateway to the Lord's realm. It is the threshold to innumerable holy sites and places of great scenic beauty in the western Himalayas. When we logged last we were on a day trip to Rishikesh just north of Haridwar.

Erlend in the Ganges at Rishkesh

Trond in front of statue of Netaji Subash Chandra Bose, India's great freedomfighter and powerful leader, at Haridwar

The next day we started for Kedarnath. It was one hell of a trip, we tell you! As if the most twisted driving of those bus drivers wasn't enough ("Licence for highway, not for runway" shouted one of the many evocative road signs along the narrow and most curved mountain road) we were hindered by enormous landslides that provided for a 14 hours drive around the Theri dam and beyond, interesting areas which we hadn't seen otherwise. The Theri is monstrous in size and rather grotesque in its barreness – a vast artifical lake that has shifted villages and rural people to urban districts for the sake of supplying power to New Delhi and other centers. After reaching late in Gaurikund where we stayed overnight at a noisy guesthouse (may the world's producers of good earplugs live long and happily) we proceeded on ponies to Kedarnath, a steep 14 kms climb from 2000 to ca. 3600 meters. A broad stony path winding up through the last stages of  the Shivalik hilly forest that waned somewhere halfway up as the snowclad Kedarnath gradually emerged and graced us with its majestic presence. A wonderful sight! We enjoyed that ascent that beautiful morning very much. Prepared for rain and cold we only had to enjoy a very briht and warm day. Kedarnath once was and still is the seat of Shiva, that great personality, the father of Indian civilization who lived in these parts some 7000 years ago. He taught people good social customs, spiritual practices, music, dance, and medicine that was to become "Ayurveda".  Shiva also founded the city of Varanasi where He stayed during the winter months.

Kedarnath temple 1300 yrs old

After visiting the temple we proceeded a short while into the surrounding green terrain that eventually leads up to the snowclad mountain and found a nice stone with a hollow dip in it shaped just like a comfortable seat on which we sat for meditation. For your information that place is very, very good  for spiritual meditation. It is as if the entire area emanates divinity!

Meditating at Kedarnath

Most visitors stay overnight and take their time and visit some lake, glacier or temple around there. But we had arrived late in India and had to get back to Gaurikund the same day. On the way down in particular we had to admire the guts of numerous pilgrims walking on foot all the way without any previous physical training. It seems their intense devotion, or in some cases we suppose a rather dogmatic belief in karmic consequences, alone drives them. In any case it is mind over matter.

With our ponyman Rakesh on way down,

somehow smiling in spite of scrutinating pain in bottom

Back at the guest house in Gaurikund we could register ponyriders' post-stress syndrom manifested to a great extent in our behinds, and we were sunburnt. But we were elated as to our achievement and bore our pains calmly and with a degree of satisfaction actually. We had been to Kedarnath, the most inaccessible of all main holy spots of any religions! Our somewhat poor physical condition prohibited us from visiting Triyuginarayan village where Parvati and Shiva married. Next day we instead proceeded by bus to Devprayag where Alakananda and Bhagirathi rivers meet, which are to be the great Ganga (Ganges) shortly thereafter. We unwinded at peaceful Pious Ganga guesthouse and could proceed to Haridwar by another bus next day. On the way we were halted by road maintenance and we could see the terrible effects of  rain and landslides. The landslide that had turned us around on our way up was huge and had taken place just moments before we were to pass there. Coming back to Sonu in Haridwar was super nice, and we made the evening even sweeter by providing sugary delicacies for dessert. Next day we bordered the afternoon mail train to Delhi and the ashram which is our main hub for the whole adventure in this country. As we did not get  online there we now write from Thiruvananthapuram where we shall enjoy a long arts festival and other things (particularly sweets, Erlend specifies). More about that soon.