Me and my friend Amit Burman had been talking, for quite some time, of doing some trek on our own using guides and porters (before going to some backpack trip to Europe or some other place). After discussing several options including Pawali Kanta, we zeroed down on Har Ki doon trek. In connection with our proposed backpack trip to Europe, I spoke to Balbir Singh Dasila who also showed interest in doing this trek. Accordingly, on 14thMarch 2019, which was about two weeks before the departure date, we booked our train tickets to and from Dehradoon as per the common dates suitable to all of us. At the last moment, my nephew (sister’s son) Ayush Jindal also chipped in, who travelled by bus to Dehradoon as he could not get train booking.
Day 0 : 27.03.2019 Wednesday
At about 10.50 pm, I reached New Delhi Railway station by Uber cab. Our coach was B6. Amit also reached at about 11.20 pm. But Balbir got late as his cab met with a minor accident on the way. He made it just in the nick of time and reached inside the train at about 11.45 pm.
At 11.50 pm, our train (Nanda Devi Express) started from .......
Day 1 : 28.03.2019 Thursday (Dehradoon to Sankri)
At 5.40 am in the morning, our train reached Dehradoon Railway station. We came out of the railway station, where we met Ayush who was waiting for us having arrived from Delhi earlier by bus at about 5.10 am. The Bus stand was just next to the railway station.
We looked for a shared taxi to go to village Sankri, our next stop. The pre-paid taxi stand outside the railway station was quoting very high price for the taxi. We made some local enquiries from the autowallahs, who told that lots of taxis are generally parked at a place called Rispana bridge (about 15 minutes away by rickshaw). We also googled and found that taxis can also be hired from the taxi stand opposite Grand Hotel near Prince Chowk (5 min away from railway station).
We took an auto and enquired rates at taxi stand opposite Grand Hotel. Then we went to taxi stand near Rispana bridge and enquired rates there also. Here, the taxiwalla demanded Rs.6000/- for full taxi for going to Sankri whereas the one at taxi stand opposite Grand Hotel was ready to take us to Sankri for Rs.5000/-, both’s vehicles was Mahendra Bolero and were apparently in good condition. The vehicle owner here appeared to be putting conditions whereas the one at Grand Hotel was flexible and even agreed for deducting the money which he will get by taking other passengers enroute !
We therefore returned back to the taxi stand opposite Grand Hotel and hired the Mahendra Bolero taxi. While the driver Arvind Singh Panwar (9634070733) adjusted our rucksacks on the carrier on the top of the vehicle, we took tea and idli at adjoining eatery.
At 7.15 am, we started from Dehradoon. At 8.45 am, we took a halt at an eatery called Eat Well restaurant at Kempty Falls, after crossing Mussorie, and took breakfast. We started again at 9.25 am.
At 10.16 am, we reached Nain Bagh. Here, the driver dropped a boy (he is doing 2nd yr BA in college here) who was picked from Dehradoon. At 11.15 am, we crossed Barnigard. At 11.30 am, we reached a point from where one can view Yamunotri. At 11.40 am, we crossed Naugaon.
At 12.20 pm, we reached market in a place called Purola, which is a small town. Our guide for this trek Ranbeer and his associate/ cook / porter Vikram, alongwith Ranbeer’s young son Rohit (aged about 12-13 years) joined us here. They were coming from their village in Uttarkashi. Here, we did purchasing of our ration for next 5 days which included pulses like dal, rice, flour, spices, tea, vegetables (like onion, potato, tomato, cauliflower, brinjal, cucumber), fruits, kerosene, stove, eggs, etc. (about Rs.2000/-). Besan, maggi and drinks were brought by Amit from Delhi. We also got our photo IDs photocopied here (which we will require for the purpose of entry permission of Forest Deptt to go to Har Ki doon). We were told that earlier, the permit used to be given only at Natewar (quite away from Sankri) but now the facility is available at village Sankri (from where many treks start) itself for the benefit of the trekkers. After Purola, effectively, the mobile signals goes off.
At 12.50 pm, we 4 trekkers and 3 guides/staff started from Purola. We saw many Rhododendron trees on the way by the side of the route. These trees have beautiful flowers, called “Boransh’ in local language, which are red in color.
At 1.50 pm, we reached Mori.
The pristine river Yamuna was flowing on our left for most part of our journey.
At 3 pm, we reached our destination for the day, i.e. Sankri. This is the last motorable point in this region of the State of Uttarakhand. We paid Rs.4700/- to our driver and bid good bye to him.
At Sankri, we were welcomed by the sight of the Boards put up by different trekking companies like Bikat Adventures, Trek the Himalayas, Himalayan Hikers, Go Climb Up, Travel Banjare, The Traveller Society, TrekVeda, IndiaHikes etc.
We checked into Hotel Wild Orchid Inn (in which Amit had stayed earlier on two occasions when he went to Bali Pass and to Har Ki Doon four years ago). After little bargaining, we paid Rs.2600/- for one night (two double bedrooms @800, one three bedded room for guides for 1000). The rooms were neat and clean with neat bedsheet, mattress and blanket and had attached bathroom/toilet in each room (hotel has about 22 rooms, in 5 floors downwards)). Hot water facility was also available. This turned out to be the best hotel here. There are only 2-3 hotels, apart from Homestays.
After freshening up in the hotel room, we roamed around for lunch. We sat down in the eating outlet next to the hotel and took meal comprising chowmein, Momos and tea.
At 6.20 pm, me and Balbir walked down through the village Sankri to have a glimpse of the village life here. We saw a temple here and also interacted with the kids who were playing cricket. Rhododendron (red flower) and Peach trees (pink flower) could be seen in plenty.
Ranbir fixed the banner of Ayurvedic Cancer Hospital (NGO, being run by a Trust, of which I am an office bearer) using nails on the wall opposite our Hotel, which wall had banners of many trekking companies.
At 6.50 pm, we returned to the Hotel. The electricity condition was miserable. It was going on and off, prompting the hotel staff to put on the generator. I put my mobile to charging in my room. I put my Airtel mobile to aeroplane mode as it could not be used for any communication for next 5 days due to no mobile signal. Only BSNL and Vodafone works but the signal connectivity is very poor.
Till 7.45 pm, we all arranged our rucksacks, for our journey / trek onwards to Har ki Doon. Each of us put our essential stuff (which we may need en-route) in one small backpack each, like one small towel, toffees, chocolates, water bottle, one jacket, torch, charger, medicines, toiletries, which we will carry ourselves. The stuff, including clothes, undergarments, slippers, which we will need further on the trek, was put by all of us in separate polythene bags in a big rucksack and handed over to the Guides/porters for carrying on the trek, in addition to the ration packed by them in separate rucksack. The remaining stuff was kept by us in another rucksack and deposited with the Hotel.
At 8.45 pm, after taking drinks in Amit’s room with the guide/porters, we went for dinner to a nearby dhaba called Rinki Bhojnalaya, which is run by a Nepali lady. We had already informed the lady owner in the evening about our dinner requirement. Our dinner comprised of moong dal, gobhi potato subzi, chicken, Roti, and salad of onion and tomato (Bill 770/- for 7 persons). By now, it became cold and a little windy. It also became dark outside, and the hotel staff locked the main gate from inside. So, me, Amit and Balbir walked inside the hotel, instead of going for an after-dinner walk outside.
At 10 pm, we went to sleep.
Day 2 : 29.03.2019 Friday (Sankri to Taluka to Gangad)
At 5.45 am, I got up. The hotel staff named Rajesh helped us by providing hot water bucket (as the rooftop solar heating system could not function due to no electricity, which would otherwise have provided hot water from the tap in the bathroom). It was such a relief to get hot water in this cold weather. We took bath in hot water (which turned out to be our last bath for next 4 days). Balbir, though, bathed in cold water and thereafter did push-ups and surya namaskar in the back open portion of the hotel overlooking the valley and the mountains.
At 7.38 am, we started from the Hotel, in Mahindra Bolero Camper, for our next destination i.e. village Taluka. We had pre-booked whole jeep last night for Rs.800/. We four sat inside the vehicle while Ranbeer, Vikram and Ranbeer’s son Rohit sat in open portion at the back. Soon, Ranbeer also shifted inside as he was feeling cold.
Soon after start from the Hotel, we were made to stop at the check post of Forest deptt. at Sankri. One has to get entry permit for trekking in this region, which is called Govind Wild Life Sanctuary / National Park, Purola (Uttarkashi). The Entry fee per person for 3 days and 2 nights is Rs.150/- per person. For additional days, it is Rs.50/- per day per person. One needs to be accompanied by a local guide for entering this area. The Forest Deptt personnel there tried to create hurdle by questioning the credentials of our guide Ranbeer by saying that he is not a “local” guide. This objection was not valid as Ranbeer is from Uttarkashi and hence is to be deemed as a local guide. At the end, the officer relented. We paid total Rs.600/- (@ Rs.150/- for 4 trekkers) to the Forest Deptt personnel and he made the entry permit, signed and sealed it and gave to us, after keeping photocopies of our photo IDs. He was insisting for keeping originals of our photo IDs but in the end, was satisfied with photocopies only.
The journey from Sankri to Taluka was practically through a jungle. We all were charged and ecstatic, with our bodies gyrating to the jerks of the vehicle treading on a path having rocks and stones and muddy path at some stretches while also crossing nallahs (water streams) flowing across the path, with the local pahari music blowing loudly from the vehicle's music system, in the background.
At about 8.30 am, our vehicle hit a boulder on the path and broke down. While we all came out and waited, the vehicle could not be fixed despite efforts by the driver. It dawned that the vehicle would need extensive repair. Also, we were feeling cold while standing outside the vehicle. So, we decided to walk the remaining distance to Taluka, which was about 3 km away.
At 10 am, we reached Vill Taluka. The village had some very good views. We took meal here in a dhaba. While me, Ayush and Balbir took 2 eggs bhurji each, others took thali comprising of Roti, potato cabbage subzi, rajma and pickel. Taluka to Osla is 13 km and Osla to Har ki Doon is further 14 km.
At 10.45 am, we started trek from Taluka to go to Osla. We rested at a few places. It was surprising to see that there was no shack for tea snacks on the way at this time of the year. We came to know that this year the winter has prolonged and there is huge snow even at this time of the year which is unprecedented and is happening after 28-30 years. This has dissuaded trekkers, and consequently the locals putting up cold drink, maggi and omelette stalls on the way, from coming here who have therefore deferred their plans for this trek for the time being.
After walking for about 3 ½ hours, at about 2.30 pm, we spotted a shack made of tarpuline roof, selling small packets like moong dal, bhujia, maggi. Osla was still 7 km from here and har ki doon was 20 km from here. A small village called Gangwad was 3 km from here. After savouring Maggi here and resting, we resumed trek at about 3.15 pm.
At about 3.55 pm, we reached a dhaba at the beginning of village Gangad. We drank nimbu paani (shikanji) here, which provided much desired relief. We all were tired (partly due to extra 3 km we walked before Taluka due to breakdown of vehicle and partly due to hot sun over our heads). Osla was still 4 km away and the last stretch of about 1 ½ km before Osla was informed to be steep ascent. So, we decided to stay tonight at Gangad instead of Osla, which will also provide us an opportunity to explore additional village, though not many trekkers stay here at village Gangad.
There was only one homestay called Hotel Yes boss here, on the trekking route itself. The owner, a young man called Naresh Chauhan, agreed to give us one 4 bedded room and one 2 bedded room for guides, for total Rs.1000/-, which was a good deal. The rooms had bare facilities - beds with mattress, blanket (rajai), pillow, attached toilet with Indian style seat, one water tanki with a tap kept inside toilet, one solar light in the room. Overall, it was ok. We could also charge our mobile using solar connection ! No one else was staying here.
After putting our rucksacks and stuff in the rooms, we relaxed on the chairs in the open verandah. Our guides made pakoras for us - of brinjal, onion, potato - with tea. Soon, it became cold and we shifted to our room.
At about 7 pm, it became dark and the hotel owner and all local guys closed their shack, left hotel unlocked for us and left for their village (15 min away) blowing local music from their small bluetooth speaker. At 7.30 pm, we took drinks with tomato and onion salad with dhania pudina green chatni prepared and brought by Ranbeer from his home, apart from snacks like bhujia and peanuts brought by me with us.
At about 9 pm, our guide/cook cooked and served dinner to us in our room. Thereafter, the guides left for their room and we four gradually entered into discussions on life and past birth etc. Balbir did a urja board session and pendulum session wherein all asked their queries.
At 12 pm, we went to sleep.
Day 3 : 30.3.2019 Saturday (Gangad to Osla)
At 6.30 am, we woke up. The hotel person had laid a pipeline from some nearby stream, near to the Hotel and fixed a tap on it. We brushed teeth and washed face using this tap.
At 8.45 am, we took breakfast in the open verandah under moderate sunshine and cool breeze. Ranbir cooked aloo parantha for us, which we ate with curd/mattha which we bought from local guy yesterday evening (Rs.200 for one kg), and with green chatni. Balbir meanwhile did yoga. Ranbir put up the banner of Ayurvedic Cancer Hospital on the balcony of the hotel.
At 10 am, we started from the hotel in Gangad and went straight to the nearby village Gangad for sightseeing. It took us 15 minutes to reach there. The village provided good views. The village kids were playing cricket. They have school upto class 10th here, whereafter they go and stay at Purola for further education. There was a temple in the village. In 2-3 houses, we saw ladies weaving clothes on handlooms.
At 11.15 am, we started trek from Vill Gangad to go to Osla. We had trekked barely 25 minutes when we witnessed first snow patch on the trekking path. It was mostly ascending route. We crossed water streams at few places. The last 1.5 km before vill Osla was found by me to be more or less steep ascent, which really pushed my body beyond limits. Infact, within the village itself, it was literally steep trekking as its terrain is undulating.
At 1.45 pm, we reached village Osla and trekked to the House of Mr. Balbir Singh Rana, a friend of Ranbeer guide, and our host in this village. This will be our abode tonight.
I immediately changed the t-shirt as it was all wet from back, due to which I was feeling cold. The good sunshine gave way to shady weather, within no time, which increased chill in the environment. The young lady in the compound was doing warping (part of weaving process on handloom). They generally make woollen shawls and fabrics for their self use. We gossiped while sipping tea.
At 3.25 pm, the lunch cooked by our guides was ready which we took in the kitchen of our host. Kitchen was very cosy with entry through a window sized door. Our lunch comprised Rice and Rajma.
At 4 pm, we went for sightseeing in the village. There is a temple called Someshwar Mahadev temple. Their devi is Maa Kaanda Rani. The legend which we had heard about this village that the inhabitants of this village respect and worship Kauravas and Duryodhan (the mythological characters in Mahabharata), was stoutly denied by the village elders when I posed this query to them. Infact, I could see that they were feeling embarrassed by its mere mention.
Suddenly, snow started falling which lasted for about 15-20 min. We rushed back to our homestay and put on the inners and sat inside our small room which was quite cosy. We savoured packed snacks from my bag, followed by hot ginger tea prepared by Ranbeer and Vikram.
Amit’s trekking shoes got ruptured today, which needed to be fixed urgently for being fit to trek tomorrow to the ultimate Har ki Doon. We enquired but were disappointed to know that there was no cobbler in the village to fix the shoe.
We waited for the shop in the village to open to buy feviquik to paste the broken shoes to make it trek-worthy. We also wanted to buy biscuits, torch, plastic sheet to negotiate trek to Har ki doon tomorrow morning. As per the input received, there was heavy snow (about 5 ft deep) after Kalkatiya Dhaar about 6 km before Har ki Doon. (Kalkatiya Dhaar is a steep ascent of about 1 km midway between Osla and Har ki Doon. The route after Kalkatiya Dhaar is all covered with snow).
We waited for the shop in the village to open to buy feviquik to paste the broken shoes to make it trek-worthy. We also wanted to buy biscuits, torch, plastic sheet to negotiate trek to Har ki doon tomorrow morning. As per the input received, there was heavy snow (about 5 ft deep) after Kalkatiya Dhaar about 6 km before Har ki Doon. (Kalkatiya Dhaar is a steep ascent of about 1 km midway between Osla and Har ki Doon. The route after Kalkatiya Dhaar is all covered with snow).
At 5 pm, we again went up in the village. Good sunshine had emerged again, though it was quite chilly and windy. One could see mountains all around in near vicinity covered partly with snow and partly with green vegetation /trees jutting out of snow. The air after rebounding from these snow clad mountains had become cooler. The village kids were playing while some youngsters were playing cards. Some people, including ladies, were returning from their fields with their cattlefolk including horses, mules, goats and dogs (go-dhuli time).
I noticed that the roofs of the houses were made of slates and they had sloping roofs. Some roofs additionally had tin sheet, to make the roof water proof. All houses were made of wood. Construction of the house using the wood exclusively is in such manner that the entire house remains warm and cosy from inside despite temperature being in extreme minus outside. Every house here is constructed elevated on wooden pillars and ground floor is used for stocking cattles and fodder.
Houses here have solar light. Electric poles are there but I was told that electric supply is erratic and unpredictable. They told that there is no electricity for last 3 days as water pipeline at some place had busted, which runs the hydel power plant. Electricity here is produced by small Hydel power project nearby (calledChilulgad). Electricity has come to this village only recently in November 2018 (after Diwali 2018). Many houses have TV which they can run on electricity as well as on solar power, though none was in operation while we were there.
At 5.15 pm, me and Balbir walked through the village on the path towards Har ki Doon for about 30-40 min. and then returned back. Our bodies were now warmed up, earlier we were feeling very cold due to cool breeze.
Me, Amit, both guides with Balbir Rana sat in a kitchen on elevated wooden floor (very small size entry in kitchen in every house). They made egg bhurji and boiled eggs. They also made arrangement for making cauliflower and onion pakore which will be our dinner today.
(Tomorrow, we intend to leave early about 4 am so as to reach Har ki doon after crossing snow stretch well before the sun melts the snow, otherwise we run the risk of getting stuck in loose snow which can jeopardise our plan to reach Har ki doon by slowing down our speed. Har ki doon is about 14 km from village Osla).
At 7 pm, we all savoured pakore there sitting in the warm kitchen. At about 7.45 pm, we managed to get the village small shop opened for buying a pair of shoes for Amit but unfortunately the shoes only upto No.7 were available whereas Amit being 6 ft tall need at least 10 no. size (he wears 11 No. shoes). Anyhow, we bought biscuits, toffees and candies for tomorrow's trek. We returned to our room and planned and packed our small backpacks for tomorrow, as well as took out some stuff to leave here at Osla, to reduce the backpack weight.
At 9 pm, we went to sleep. Me and Balbir slept in one room. There was one solar light in our room. Amit and Ayush slept in a hall nearby.
There was a covered toilet constructed by the host in his house compound. There was an adjoining washroom for washing hand and for brushing teeth. The host had kept a water can outside, for taking out water, which he had ferried from the village water point, same distance away.
Day 4 : 31.3.2019 Sunday (Osla to Har ki Doon)
At 3 am, we all woke up and got ready for the trek.
At 4.28 am, we started from our homestay at village Osla. It was all dark. We all kept our torches on to negotiate the path. The whole route was laden with thorn trees / plants.
At about 5.30 am, after climbing a substantial height, we reached a spot where there was a long stretch of snow on our trekking path on downhill slope. It was quite risky. Each person very carefully negotiated the same by putting foot in the footsteps made by our guide. However, Amit found it difficult as his undersized 9 number shoes taken from our host Balbir Rana was putting strain on his foot fingers. So, he returned back from there.
After crossing that snow stretch, we walked ahead a little. Our guide Ranbeer went ahead and reported that there is a bigger and trickier snow stretch ahead on the trekking path. So, he decided to go down to the bottom of the foothill through the jungle and then climb up from another hill, to bypass the snow stretches. It was an arduous task. But we had no choice. So we followed him.
We came down to the bottom of the hill, crossed the stream and then climbed a little. Lo and behold ! we reached on the path / route which was coming directly from the village Osla ! Had we come directly on this path from the village, it would have hardly taken us 30 min, but due to going up and down, it took us about 2 ½ hours, thus wasting time and energy. There was small concrete bridge there (about 40 ft long). We met our host's daughter there, going to fields for animal grazing. I decided to quit from here. So, at 6.45 am, Balbir and Ashu with guides went ahead from that bridge while I took the path back to Osla village.
It was about 30 min walk from that bridge back to village Osla. But I walked leisurely, taking the pics of beautiful surroundings on the way which became more beautiful at that particular time as sun had just came out and was behind me.
At 7.40 am, I reached our host's house at village Osla. Amit had also arrived about 20 minutes back. He was delighted to see me. We then gossiped.
At 8.30 am, we were served parantha and omlette followed by tea, by our host. Thereafter, we idled away the time - sometime roamed in the village, then came back to room and rested. However, due to Amit's snoring, I could not sleep, so I sat on the chair in the open verandah under sun and worked on mobile and reviewed the photos of this trip and deleted unwanted ones, and also played songs on wynk mobile app. I also read few pages of the e-book ‘Target’ on the mobile. Meanwhile, ladies of the house sat there in the open under sun and gossiped.
At 3 pm, we went for sightseeing in the village. We then sat with Ujjawal Singh and his wife, overlooking the valley, and discussed generally about life here in this village. He is brother-in-law (saala) of our host Balbir Singh Rana and lives in the adjoining house. He rued that there is no education, no road, no employment in this village. Though there is a school upto class 8 with two local teachers but education is only on papers. He offered us tea. At 4.30 pm, we ate maggi in our room, prepared by the host’s daughter from the stuff brought by us. We then again went out for sightseeing. One shop got opened by our host but sadly, the aloo bhujia and peanuts packets in the shop were all expired. At 6.15 pm, we came back to our room and prepared for the drinks.
At 7 pm, me, Amit and our host Balbir singh Rana took drinks with cut tomato, onion and green chatni and dry maggi, with music playing in the background through my mobile.
At 9 pm, we took dinner comprising Arhar dal and rice, with little green chatni.
At 10 pm, we went to sleep.
As far as Ayush, Balbir, Ranbeer guide, Vikram porter/cook and Ranbeer’s son Rohit are concerned, they reached Har ki Doon at about 2 pm today. After crossing the steep ascent of Kalkatia dhaar, they walked for about 6 km in the snow. At many places, their foot went as much as 3-4 feet deep inside in the snow. Ayush, particularly, had problem in walking in snow on undulating path, as he is overweight being 95 kg and he was too scared of slipping on the snow. Ranbeer emerged as a samaritan and held Ayush’s hand throughout and helped him reach Har ki Doon. It was unprecedented this year that there was so much snow at this time of the year on the route to Har Ki Doon. At Har Ki Doon, they stayed at the Forest Rest House. There was nobody there. Ranbeer had collected keys of the Rest House from the family of Chandram who is the caretaker of this Rest House and living in Osla village. They cooked the food there. There were beds and blankets. They also warmed themselves by burning the firewood available there. Infact, they were the first ones this season to have stayed at Har ki Doon, otherwise only very few trekkers had reached there this season owing to unusual heavy snow and they all went there and returned back the same day. There was a GMVN guest house but it was also locked. Ranbeer put up the banner of Ayurvedic Cancer Hospital on the wall of the Forest Rest House. Their hands and feet had become numb due to getting wet in snow.
Day 5 : 1.4.2019 Monday (Har ki Doon to Osla)
At 5.20 am, me and Amit got up in our small room at village Osla, though I could not sleep properly last night due to snoring of Amit. It was dark.
At 5.45 am, the sunlight came out. I freshened up. I put mobile on charging through the power bank and charged it to 100%. I had to use the power bank as I could not find any facility for charging my mobile in this village (as there was no electricity for last 5 days).
At 8 am, I did pranayam in the open verandah of the house on a mat under bright sunlight. Amit was still sleeping and snoring ! While I finished pranayama, small kids were passing from the verandah to go to the school. They sat and played with me and I asked hindi and english alphabets and counting from them. They were thrilled.
At 9.30 am, we took breakfast - parantha, omlette, boiled egg with green chatni and tea. We then rested. We gosspied with our host Balbir Rana and the ladies sitting in the verandah while enjoying sunshine. Today was our 3rd day in this village. I found the life here in the village too slow and lustreless.
At 11 am, we brought 15 fevikwik from the village shop and pasted Amit’s broken shoe, and waited for it to dry up.
At 12.15 pm, with host Balbir, we went to his godown which, like others, is situated few steps away about 50 ft up from the main temple. There they store their wares and stuff. Handloom was also there. They also do farming there. There were apple trees also. One can have a good view of the village from here. We took pics here, including with host Balbir and his wife.
At 12.45 pm, we went to the village shop again and bought toffees and lollypops and distributed amongst village kids.
At 1.15 pm, we walked towards the end of village towards Har ki doon side. We reached a recently built Homestay at almost the end of the village. It was a good site with good views around. This Homestay is run by a school teacher Jaibeer Singh Rana. It has Western as well as Indian style toilets. Bathrooms are separate. This Homestay has four rooms, with bed, mattress and good quality blankets. The room charge is about Rs.600/- per day and food thali is Rs.100 extra. This is the only proper commercial Homestay here for tourists and trekkers.
About 2.15 pm, the three persons from Kolkata who are staying here since yesterday night returned from Kalkatia Dhaar with their guide. They had started from here about 6 am today and reached Kalkatia dhaar about 11.30 am and started from there at about 12 o clock and reached here at 2.15 pm. We enquired and they told that they did not see any trekker while going to or while returning from Kalkatia Dhaar. We got worried about Ayush, Balbir and guides as they should have returned by now from Har ki Doon. Thoughts of some bad incident having happened with our teammates started crossing our minds.
At 2.50 pm, we walked back and returned to our house in the village. We told our host Balbir Rana that if our teammates do not return by late evening today, then he will have to go with his men tomorrow morning to rescue and fetch our teammates. He agreed, but at the same time tried to allay our fears by saying that everything would be good and they would return by evening.
At 3.45 pm, me and Amit savoured the potato pakore and tea, prepared by the family of our host (using the besan and potato brought by us).
At 4.05 pm, we were delighted to see our porter/assistant guide Vikram and Ranbeer's son. We heaved such a sigh of relief to see them and to know from them that all teammates were safe (otherwise we had planned to send Balbir Rana with some person tomorrow morning to rescue and fetch them in case they did not return by today evening).
At 4.50 pm, I took pic with Ayurvedic Cancer Hospital banner against snow cladded mountains.
At 4.45 pm, Balbir Dasila also returned. At 5.30 pm, Ashu with guide Ranbir also returned.
At 5.45 pm, me, Balbir and Amit went up and stood near the temple which is the most happening place in the village. Balbir made videos with his I-Phone using a Gimbal. At 6.30 pm, we returned to our room. At 7 pm, we started drinks session. Today, our host Balbir Rana is not there as he has just gone to nearby village Pavani (2 km away) to drop his youngest daughter (married few months back) to her in-laws house.
At 9 pm, we all took dinner in the host’s kitchen, which was very warm and cosy. The ladies of the house including their extended family, served us food. We had a brief introduction. It was our last night in this village.
At 10 pm, we went to sleep.
Day 6 : 2.4.2019 Tuesday (Osla to Gangad to Taluka to Sankri)
At 6 am, we woke up. Balbir went for walk in the village while I freshened up. I put my mobile to charging through last charge available in my power bank. It could charge mobile only upto 50% when the power bank went dry. I arranged and segregated my stuff for packing in backpack and that to be put in the porter's bag.
At 7 am, our guides served us tea. At 7.25 am, we gave Rs.750/- to Mr. Chandram, the Caretaker of Forest Rest House of Har ki Doon. He lives in vill Osla. He is the father of Jagdish guide (friend of Ranbeer guide).
At 8 am, our host Balbir Singh Rana returned from village Pavani where he had gone yesterday evening to drop his daughter to her in-laws. We all freshened up. I face-washed today after 3 days (with handful of hot water provided by host from the kitchen !). Balbir did exercise and yoga in the verandah of the house.
At 8.40 am, we took breakfast - Aloo paranthe with curd and egg bhurji. We left all our remaining food articles like pulses, spices, etc with our host Balbir Rana. We paid Rs.2500/- to the hosts for the accommodation for three nights, though I felt it to be too small an amount for the gratitude and service provided by them.
At 9.24 am, after spending 3 nights in village Osla, we bid good bye to our hosts and departed from here, back to Sankri via village Seema, Gangad and Taluka. We decided to return via Seema nearby which is infact a little longer route, so as to have a feel of a new place.
It was all descent upto the suspension bridge over the river. Many trekkers going to HKD via this Seema route, passed by us near the bridge. Ashu was very slow particularly during the descent.
Seema has 3-4 buildings with sloping roof and few houses which all appeared to be empty and lifeless. These buildings are, as I understand, of Forest deptt and GMVN. There is old shiv mandir here. On occasions like Diwali, people of Osla village come and worship here.
From Seema, it was an undulating path, not much ascent not much descent. The path had snow patches. Few water streams /jharnas came across. The path is along the main river.
At 10.40 am, we reached the junction near main suspension bridge over the river. From here, one route goes to village Osla (which we took while coming to Osla) and one route goes to Seema (which we took today) to Har ki Doon. We spent 10 min here. Nearby is hydel power plant in a small house like structure.
At 11.40 am, we reached Hotel Yes Boss in Gangad (where we had stayed while en-route to Osla). We rested for 30 min here and took shikanji and also savoured gola kulfi made of snow !
At 12.40 pm, we reached a maggi point. Amit, Balbir took maggi here while I took Britannia’s flavoured milk. We rested for 30 min here.
At 2 pm, we reached near the bridge at the bottom of river. After resting for 15 min here, we touched the surface of the river, and then again climbed up.
At 2.50 pm, we passed by IndiaHikes camp near the cemented bridge over the river. We three relaxed by the side of the river by taking out our shoes and sitting on the rock, and rested here for about 25 min.
At 4 pm, we reached Taluka. Here, we sat in the same Bhojnalaya and took meal.
At 5 pm, we started from Taluka in a Taxi (Bolero Camper). At 5.40 pm, our vehicle broke down on the way as its engine's nut came out. The driver tried his best to fix the same but could not. Finally, as a jugaad, he took out a rope and tied it to the engine at one end and with the vehicle’s roof carrier at the other end, so as to support the engine, and drove. It worked ! I was surprised to notice a Duster car going on this rickety path from Sankri to Taluka ! At 6.30 pm, we started again.
At 6.45 pm, we reached Sankri. We gave Rs.800/- to taxiwala. We met Ujjawal Singh there. We checked in the same hotel : Wild Orchid Inn. We collected our extra luggage lying here and adjusted the same in our rucksacks. We got the same three rooms. The hotel was almost empty, with no other guest staying. I took bath using the half basket hot water given by hotel person. At 8.15 pm, we had drinks session.
At 9.30 pm, we had dinner at Rinki Bhojnalaya (run by Nepali lady). I took gobhi parantha with butter and tea while others took chicken and roti.
At 10.20, we returned to the Hotel. At 11 pm, we sent to sleep.
Day 7 : 3.4.2019 Wednesday (Sankri to Dehradoon to Delhi)
At 6 am, we got up. We availed the facility of hot water in the bathroom through rooftop solar plant. We got ready and packed our luggage.
At 8 am, we took breakfast in nearby Rinki Bhojnalaya. We settled the account of the guides (paid them Rs.1200/- per day for guide and Rs.800/- per day for the porter/cook, thus Rs.2000/- per day, in addition to the bus freight to and fro from their home in Uttarkashi to Sankri). At 8.45 am, our guides took leave, they are leaving by 9 am bus from Sankri to Uttarkashi. (There is another bus which starts from Sankri at 8.30 am and go to Dehradoon).
We booked Ertiga cab for Rs.6000/- from Sankri to Dehradoon railway station.
From 9.30 to 10.15 am, we roamed in the village and took pics. The hotel owner’s son Pramod Rawat (9456549564) discussed for Rupin pass and Barasu pass.
At 11 am, we started from the hotel in Sankri to Dehradoon, in Ertiga. Our driver was Kalyan singh. He informed that Mobile signal will come in Natewar. We passed through Sankri, Natewar, Mori (Natewar Mori Hydro Electric project by SJVNL), Purola, Naugaon, Damta.
At 2.45 pm, we stopped at Damta for lunch. I was feeling headache and feeling of vomiting, due to circular zig zag travelling on mountains and hot air. I popped up Avomine tablet. (This worked wonder for me and soon, my condition became better).
At 3.40 pm, we started again.
At 4.50 pm, we reached Kempty Falls, near Mussorie. We halted at a restaurant called Green Restaurant and took food – Uttapam, coffee, Amul Milk, Nimbu masala. At 5.35 pm, we started again and reached Mussorie at 6 pm.
At 7.10 pm, we reached Dehradoon Railway station. It was such a transformation from the lustreless and hard life of village to the glistering jazzy life of a city.
We went to the cloakroom of the railway station but they refused to keep our rucksacks. Their explanation was that they can keep only those luggages which are having lock (the charges were, as I remember, Rs.50/- per piece). We therefore walked to a hotel nearby, across the road, called Hotel Restaurant (having food outlet at the ground floor) and took a small basic room for keeping our rucksacks, for Rs.300/-. The room had a toilet. We kept our luggages there, took lassi at the ground floor, hired a battery rickshaw and reached PVR at Pacific Mall, Dehradoon at 8.15 pm. We viewed the movie NOTEBOOK here starting at 8.20 pm. We took tikki chole, bhelpuri, popcorn etc. during interval. As soon the movie was over, we hurriedly hired an auto rickshaw and reached the hotel at 10.50 pm. We collected our luggage and walked and reached railway station at 11.05 pm. Our train (Nanda Devi Express) was parked at Platform no.1. The scheduled departure time was 11.30 pm.
At 11.30 pm, the Nanda Devi express train started. While we were in coach B1, Ayush was in coach B3. About 1 am, we went to sleep.
4.4.2019 Thursday
At 5.30 am, our train reached New Delhi Railway Station. We four parted. Me and Ayush hired a Ola cab and reached home at 6.10 am.
Thus, another memorable trip came to an end…
It costed us about Rs.56k for the whole trip ex-Dehradoon (including everything), which came to about Rs.14k per person.
Tips for Har Ki Doon Trek (Uttarakhand) :
1. There are many trains from Delhi for Dehradoon. We took Nanda Devi Express train. The train number is 12205 (Delhi to Dehradoon) and 12206 (Dehradoon to Delhi). The train starts from New Delhi Railway Station in the night at 23.50 pm and reach Dehradoon Railway station the next morning at 05.40 am. The distance is 305 km. On return journey, the train starts from Dehradoon Railway station in the night at 23.30 pm and reach New Delhi Railway Station the next morning at 05.20 am.
2. How to reach Sankri : For going from Dehradoon to village Sankri, one can take State roadways bus or hired taxi or reserve whole taxi. Taxis are generally Mahindra Bolero, Maruti Ertiga etc. The distance is about 180 km. Taxi takes about 7 hours from Dehradoon to Sankri, via Mussorie and Kempty Falls. Bus takes even longer. The taxi charges about Rs.4500 to Rs.6500/- (depending upon season and bargaining) one way, for the whole taxi. However, taxis also ply on sharing basis, which charge about Rs.600/- per person/seat. Most of the route is zig zag mountainous route. It is advisable you pop up anti-vomiting medicine like Avomine before starting for Sankri, if you have such issues. The same charges and situation applies while returning from Sankri to Dehradoon. Better / comfortable vehicles like Maruti Ertiga also ply, which charges a little higher.
3. Road upto Sankri is motorable. From Sankri to Taluka, it is jeepable path on which 4x4 vehicles and heavy duty vehicles like Mahendra Bolero Camper ply.
4. Sankri is also the base / focal point for going to many other treks like Kedarkantha, Bali Pass, Rupin Pass, Barasu pass, etc.
5. For going from village Sankri to village Taluka (this is jeepable path about 11 km, which is covered in about one hour in the vehicle), vehicles like Mahendra Bolero Camper (5 persons including driver sit inside while remaining persons and stuff are kept in the open at the back) are available at Sankri which ferry the locals and the trekkers throughout the day. The charges for hiring full vehicle are about Rs.800/-. The vehicles often break down on this path, which is full of boulders, mud etc. After Taluka, the only option is to trek.
6. The mobile signal practically goes off a little after crossing Purola. There is no worthwhile mobile signal at Sankri. Only BSNL and Vodafone works but the signal connectivity is very poor. So, its better not to expect any mobile signals after Purola. No mobile signal at all after Sankri.
7. While electricity is there at Sankri, but electric supply is erratic. People depend upon solar panels, for lighting. Same is the position at villages Taluka, Gangad, Osla. Osla is the last village en-route to Har ki Doon. Osla was electrified in November 2018 (by setting up small Hydel power project about 2 km before village Osla, near a place called Seema) but electric supply is erratic here also.
8. It is better to charge your devices at Sankri or before that. At Osla, which was electrified recently in Nov 2018, there was no electricity for last about one week due to bursting of iron pipe in hydel power plant, which was welded by staff, by shifting heavy generator with the help of villagers to that spot, only on 1.4.2019.
9. About accommodation, at Sankri, there are 2-3 Hotels and guesthouses, which charges anything from Rs.500/- to Rs.1200/- per room. Hotel Wild Orchid Inn is apparently the best hotel (though I could see only 2-3 hotels there). We paid Rs.800/- for 2-bedded room and Rs.1000/- for 3-bedded room here. GMVN guest house and Tourist Rest House is also there. Homestay in village Sankri can also be availed, I was told.
At Taluka, only facility for stay is Homestay in the village. Trekkers generally do not stay at Taluka.
Village Gangad is en-route from Sankri/Taluka to Osla. There is one small simple hotel (Hotel Yes Boss) at Gangad on the trekking route itself, while Homestay can be availed in the village which is about 15-20 min walk from there. Trekkers generally do not stay at Gangad.
At village Osla, there is a Homestay recently built by village teacher Jaibeer Singh Rana which has Western as well as Indian style toilets and has about 4 rooms. Its location is very good, facing the valley and the snow clad mountains. It is at the end of the village, en-route to HarkiDoon. There is one more Homestay in the adjoining. In addition to this, one can enquire if any village person is ready to host them for a reasonable price. We stayed at the house of Balbir Singh Rana, who was earlier a trekking guide and did treks as guide with our guide Ranbeer and is now engaged in farming in the village (though he left it to us, we paid him Rs.1000/- per day for 2 rooms plus accommodation for our guides. He also allowed us to use his kitchen for cooking).
At Har Ki Doon, there is Forest Rest house and GMVN guest house. Charges for Forest Rest House are Rs.750/- per night. Its caretaker Chandram lives in Village Osla (his son Jagdish also conducts treks as a guide). Other than this, there is no facility for stay at Har Ki Doon. Most of the Trekkers generally go from Osla to Har ki Doon and return back the same day, without staying at Har Ki Doon. The trekking company like India Hikes has put up a camp just before Kalkatia Dhar (which is mid-way between Osla and Har Ki Doon). Kalkatia Dhar is a steep ascent for about one km. After Kalkatia Dhar, the snow path starts where one has to walk on snow for about 5-6 km to reach Har ki Doon.
10. The route is like this : Dehradoon à (180 km/7 hr by road to) Sankri à (11 km/1 hr by jeep to) à village Taluka à (9 km by trek to) village Gangad à (4 km by trek to) village Osla à (14 km by trek to) Har Ki Doon, and back.
Sunil Goel
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