Kailash Mansarovar Yatra - Part 10

Shirkha to Gala - the most beautiful forest trek!

The above names had no meaning for me till I reached Shirkha. Names like Gala, Budhi, Gunji etc. became everything that I wanted from 14th June onwards.

15th June morning, we were all ready by 5 am! The whole group started adhering to time as everyone understood that delay would cost heavy on the whole group, as we witnessed change of weather condition in small time intervals. If it is sunny and bright, that is no guarantee that the day is going to be bright like that; within 30 minutes it will get cloudy and rains might pour; if it is cloudy, it may not mean that it will rain - clouds might go away and Sun might start shining - suddenly it will get very windy and cold - Deepkiran from Jaipur who was in our batch told me that whenever we travel on mountains, we should have absolute humility and surrender to the mountains. In fact, she told me that she talks to the mountains at the beginning of the travel saying, " Aap Narayan ho, aur main Nar! Aap jeethe aur main haari!" with this she covers her head and prostrates to the mountains.  I started saying this and doing Namaskar to the mountains at the beginning of each day - it was obvious that we were at the mercy of the mountains - and the mountains in many ways are Shiva and Narayan! The river is the Shakti and hence salutation to the mountains and river came naturally there.

We were proceeding from Shirkha to Gala. This is a forest route with tall trees and small rivers. Compared to the route that we have to take further, I should say that this was the safest route with no danger whatsoever of falling stones or raging rivers. Forest was quiet except for the sound of some birds and leaves rustling under our feet. As the speed, rhythm and physical capacity of each Yatri is different, within one hour, anyone can find themselves all alone. I was alone with myself, nature and of course Himanshu. That day Bhim Singh did not turn up till late and I thought that it is a blessing as I will not get tempted to take the pony for the travel. We walked through villages, where small children, poor villagers line up to greet us with cheerful "Om NamaShivayah".  I had bought a huge bag of toffee at Dharchula which was opened and I went about handing out these sweets to those sweet children.  The photo above is from the previous day on our way to Shirkha. 

I think it makes sense to carry some pencils, pens, colour pencils, crayons, story books in Hindi for these children. I wish I had known and taken these stuff. Most of the Yatris were giving chocolates and hence they must have got too many chocolates that day. In case, Shiva wants me to go on this Yatra once again, I am sure to carry a bagful of more useful things including sweaters and socks for these children.

The forest route towards Gala made me sing in loud voice - poor Himanshu, and of course God Himself were put through that ordeal of listening to my songs. It was a beautiful experience walking there singing praise of God - as I am very comfortable with Tamil, almost all the devotional songs that I know in Tamil were sung one by one - Himanshu kept quiet and when I was quiet told me that he is not generally a talkative person. We have to climb up the mountain in the first part of trekking today - after some time, Ashish saw me walking and forced me to take his pony and he started walking. My refusal wont be accepted by him and I had to sit on his pony.  We reached some point where KMVN had organised breakfast for us - prepared by a village family there - we ate hot pooris, choley and roti. Tea and Bournvita were always served with breakfast. By then, Bhim Singh turned up with his Pony with an apologetic face!

By now, all of us have learnt to ease ourselves in the open, looking for a nice hiding place without endangering our lives! Luckily, there are small streams of water almost everywhere and hence, cleaning the hands is possible. I was wondering why Hindustan Lever or Godrej did not think of this Yatra as a good advertisement for their hand sanitiser solutions and distribute small bottles to each Yatri at Delhi.  This was one product that I wished I had taken with me, but did not find it being sold anywhere upto Gunji.

Shirkha to Gala is a 14 kms trek. Shirkha is at 8400 feet height above sea level; Gala is 7680 feet height - hence there is a good descent that we have to do on this trek. It is advisable not to take pony on this descent. I realised that descent was easier than ascent for me (there were few ladies who found ascent easier than descent). Himanshu started talking (may be to stop me from singing) and he told me that he studied in Dharchula in English medium school and he is not able to clear Science paper; his wish is to pass 12th standard and get a job in some good call-centre and go around the world! His English was good and he spoke with good fluency in English. I found that his every sentence would start with "Nahi tho" - we got friendly and he told me that his brother Sunil is also a porter who is accompanying another Yatri. 

At some point, I saw another Yatri Kirtidaben from Gujarat walking alone with her porter. She was finding it extremely difficult to walk - so I stayed with her and walked with her for nearly an hour, reducing my speed and rhythm thus giving her encouragement. 

Some more Yatris hailing from Gujarat joined us soon and I started walking at my usual pace and rhythm with Himanshu. Walking alone feels so good at these places; many times I did not want any other Yatri with me and tried to avoid them and walk either ahead or behind a group. Just myself with nature - and of course, Himanshu, just in case I lose my way - was a blessing!

I came across a particular type of plant which looks like snake with its hood up! See these photos...

This stretch was absolutely peaceful, tension-free and beautiful to the core. My lungs must have wondered how come suddenly I am giving them such clean oxygen with no pollution whatsoever! This day was my first experience of walking in the river water, thus wetting my socks and shoes - the feel of the ice cold water soaking the skin was too good and I had no thought as to how I would dry them later - the child in me came out in full force I suppose. I had a very happy joyous trek that day. 

After crossing the river, Bhim Singh will not allow me to walk with the wet shoes and urged me to take the pony, as the camp was just one and a half kilometre away from that river - and we had to climb up - hence, I took the pony and reached Gala camp in a very happy mood and no trace of tiredness!

Thanks to Sachin from Bangalore (seen in this photo) a good friend, for the photos he had taken at each camp-site. Thus 15th June night was spent at Gala guest house of KMVN. The camp attendant there said that a particular herb is very good for people suffering from gas trouble and promised to collect good quantity and give it to us on our return (we had been eating potatoe in every meal and some Yatris were having problem) - but this could not happen, as we skipped Gala in our return journey to Dharchula!

We will proceed to Budhi in the next part - till then, Om NamaShivayah!