Majuli is a large river island in Assam. The island is formed by the Brahmaputra river in the south and the Kherkutia Xuti, an anabranch of the Brahmaputra, joined by the Subansiri river in the north. It is accessible by ferries from the city of Jorhat. Majuli is currently listed as the world’s largest river island.
We started early in the morning from Jorhat to reach the jetty by auto rickshaw. The journey by steamer was beautiful with Brahmaputra river on both sides. There were small islands in the river due to sedimentation where one could see different types of birds. Mostly fishermen lived there. After 2 hours we reached Majuli. The land was full of white sand. There were several Vaishnava Satras or Monastaries in the island. We visited few of them like Aunati, Kamalabari ,Dakhinpath etc. Satras are famous for their different cultural activities.
Gayan Bayan at Uttar Kamalabari Satra
On the way we saw the indigenous hand looms of Assam and traditional tribal houses of the island made of canes and bamboos. The island is full of greenery.The main industry is agriculture, with paddy being the chief crop.
Majuli is famous for its migratory birds. Though I did not go there in the proper season still I saw lots of birds. The natural beauty of the island is unique. There are wet lands and ponds, with ducks and goose. The island is almost pollution free owing to the lack of polluting industries and factories.
Kalpeshwar is the 5th Kedar among the five Kedars. The temple of Kalpeshwar is situated near Urgam village from where Nandadevi peak can be seen. It is at an elevation of 7,250 ft (approximately). There is a very small temple. previously one has to walk 10/12 km from Helang, which is few kilometers away from Joshimath. The beauty of Devgram and Urgam village is still pristine as Kalpeshwar is not as popular as Kedarnath. I visited Kalpeshwar and Tunganath in the year 2018 April. Now a days one can reach directly by car up to the temple of Kalpeshwar, but I had to walk 2/3 km from Urgam Village.
Kumbh Express was 15 hours late. I reached Haridwar at 7-30 in the morning instead of 4-30 PM in the previous afternoon. I had booking at Rahi Motel for one night stay. I did not feel to waste another day staying there. I went to the bus stand directly from the station. The last bus of the day for Joshimath was standing there. The driver was calling out for passengers. I boarded the bus. In the evening when I reached Helang, which was 20 kilometer away from Joshimath, it was 5 oclock in the evening. The sun light at Helang was fading out. I took shelter in a hotel where the road bifurcated for Devgram.
The hotel owner informed that the shared jeeps would come from Joshimath at around 7-30 in the morning. It was 3rd week of April. Chardham Yatra season did not start yet. So there was no rush of pilgrims, except locals. Kalpeshwar is not a very popular pilgrimage like Kedarnath or Badrinath. I took my breakfast early and got ready before 7-30. I kept on waiting. I met a Swiss traveler who came back from Kalpeshwar staying 2/3 days there. He could speak very good Garhwali and Hindi. He informed that Uttarakhand was his favorite holiday destination. I talked to him for sometime. He was going to Anusuya Devi temple from there.
Kalpa Ganga
Devgram is 12 kilometers from Helang. Previously People would trek from Helang. After a long waiting till 12 noon the jeep came. It was full with passengers. I somehow forcefully managed some space for myself, there was no other option. I reached Devgram at 1 PM, Kalpeshwar was 3 kilometer walking from Devgram. I stared walking with a local woman. She lived in Devgram. She informed that she had three sons and two daughters. Sons and daughters were all married. She went to Joshimath to meet her daughters. Their husbands were Jeep drivers. She had some land in Devgram where she grew crops with the help of her daughter in laws. Her sons grazed cattle.
Devgram
When I reached Kalpeshwar temple the bridge on Kalpganga had been broken due to natural calamity, instead repairing it, a motorable road and bridge construction was going on. I visited the temple going downward crossing a temporary wooden bridge. I came back in haste with the fear of missing the last shared jeep to reach to my next destination.
I boarded a shared jeep from Devgram with the intention to go to Gopeshwar. Gopeshwar is a small transit town and the administrative headquarter of Chamoli district. It had not been in my plan previously. But I understood, after staying one day at Helang, that it would not be easy for me to reach Chopta from there getting a seat in the bus or in a shared jeep in the middle of the way, for that I have to go either to Joshimath or to Gopeshwar. Gopeshwar was the better option for me being nearer to Chopta. So I told the driver of the jeep that I wanted to go to Gopeshwar. One fellow, who was in that jeep, heard our discussion and took initiative to stop a jeep on the way that plied between Joshimath to Chamoli so that I could reach Gopeshwar earlier. They transferred my luggage in that jeep. After reaching Chamoli I took another shared jeep for Gopeshwar, which was 25 kilometer away from there.
Gopinath Temple
When I reached Gopeshwar it was almost dark. I asked the driver if it was the destination. He confirmed that it was the market and the taxi stand of Gopeshwar. The person who sat beside me in the jeep asked, ” Are you alone ?” I replied in affirmative. He became agitated and scolded me severely for coming alone and said that I had to come with a male guardian. When he knew that I did not have a male guardian to accompany me he himself took the responsibility and took me to the GMVN tourist rest house. He called the manager and told him to make an arrangement for my stay. After that he advised me to take shelter in the government rest houses always because that would be the safest place for a solo female traveler like me. I felt overwhelmed with his concern about me, as if he was a very close relative of mine. I shall remember him as long as I live.
Gopeshwar is famous for Gopinath temple. In the next morning I visited Gopinath Temple. The manager of the rest house informed me that the only bus for Chopta would start at 12 PM, if I wished to catch the bus I should book ticket from the ticket counter at 10 AM. After having early lunch I went to Chopta by the bus that went to Ukhimath.
Kerala is a very beautiful and tourist friendly state. As soon as the train enters into the state one can find the difference in the nature with green all around and lots of coconut trees. We reached Periyar from Munnar. The road was beautiful with tea gardens on both side and the orange trees with ripe saffron colored oranges among the different shades of green enhanced the beauty. Though I was not well due to my upset stomach still I enjoyed that pleasant scenery. Periyar is famous for it’s reserve forest, lake and spice market.
We went to the lake early in the morning. My son went for bamboo rafting in the forest of Periyar for the whole day. I took a ticket from the counter of the forest department for a boat ride in the lake. It was a pleasant trip. There was a group of local pilgrims, who came back from Guruvayoor temple. They were eating something from cans which looked like jaggery. I became curious and asked them what it was. They told it was the prasadam of the temple of Guruvayoor and shared a part with me. The boat was large. It gave a round through the whole lake. I found some beautiful birds and animals. The weather in the morning was pleasant due to the presence of dense woods.
After the boat ride I went to the market and had lunch. There was a strong smell of spices everywhere. I surveyed the market and bought some cardamom, clove, and black pepper. Though the town was small there were many jewellery shops. People of Kerala are very much fond of gold, and people wear gold without any fear of snatchers. I watched most of the women were wearing more than one gold chains. Kerala is a comparatively peaceful state in India with less crime and hundred percent literacy rate. I found lots of foreigners there. It is famous for its health spas which provide herbal treatments. One can see coffee trees in every lane.
Kerala is not only famous for its natural beauty and cultural activities but also for home-stays and Ayurvedic spas. When I planned for Kerala trip I thought we should stay, at least once, in a decent home-stay to experience their hospitality. So while going to Periyar I told our driver to take us to a home-stay. He had many acquaintances in Periyar. It was peak season being Christmas holiday, so there was a rush of tourists. One of his acquaintances agreed to accommodate us. The room was clean and large.
Our Home stay
Periyar was the last destination of our trip. I had been tired of drinking coffee for more than a week. So I requested the owner of the home stay to give me a glass of black tea. His wife did not know how to make black tea. She did neither understand English nor Hindi, so I explained to her son how to make black tea. After some time her daughter brought a jug of black tea and some sugar in a separate pot. My son and I became very happy and drank the tea to our heart’s content after a long period.
Black pepper plant
We stayed there for two nights and whenever we asked for tea they gave us a jug full of tea and a separate container of sugar. I talked a lot with out hostess and exchanged information, thoughts and views about each others family, tradition and culture. Her daughter was our interpreter. The lady was a very simple but intelligent woman. They had few rooms for guests. All of their guests at that time were foreigners except us. They had a small garden where they grew cardamom, coffee, black pepper etc. She informed that in Kerala people grew spices for their daily consumption in their own garden. Malayalam cuisine is normally very spicy.
At the time of leaving when I asked what would be the charge for tea, the lady of the home-stay thought for a few moments and demanded only fifty rupees, she explained that for making a jug full of black tea she hardly needed a teaspoonful of CTC tea leaves and we took very little amount of sugar. We were happy. We enjoyed the time there very much.
Dzongu is a valley in North Sikkim. This is a protected area for Lapcha tribe, who are the original inhabitants of Sikkim. I had no previous plan for going there. I suddenly decided to plan a short trip during 2018 Durga puja vacation. During Durga puja millions of Bengalis go out for their yearly trips. Sikkim being one of the nearest and cheapest destinations, the rush is maximum there during this period. So I thought to choose a place that is a bit different and not so popular among common people. After taking opinions of few of my travel freak friends I got an idea how to reach there.
I reached New Jalpaiguri by Tista-Tosha express at 3 Am. I waited 2 hours in the waiting room of the station. At 5 o’clock in the early morning when auto rickshaw service started I went to Shiliguri bus stand by an auto rickshaw. I boarded a bus which was going to Gangtok. I told the conductor that I wanted to get down at Singtam, a small transit town. The driver stopped the bus in front of a small bridge on the highway and informed that I have to enter into the town to get a shared jeep for Mangan. When I reached Mangan Taxi stand it was 1 PM, I found a shared jeep for Dzongu but there was no certainty when would it reach there. So I hired a taxi for myself on condition that the driver would help me to get permit from the police station as the DC office was closed during Durga Puja.
There were few villages in the Dzongu valley. I had no idea which village was suitable for stay. The driver arranged a home stay at Passindang village for me. At night I had a nice authentic Lapcha dinner with 2 types of ferns cooked in two different methods, daal, and fried beef with 2 rotis. They were very tasty, I was hungry too, I enjoyed the meal very much. I slept quickly as soon as I went to bed with the symphony of cricket and the sound of the stream that flowed nearby. In the mid night when I woke up I heard that the chirping of cricket had stopped, instead there was sound of rain drops.
In the morning Dzongu looked mystic with clouds everywhere. After breakfast I went to Lingthem monastery by the car of my home stay owner. They had black cardamom plantation field there. The monastery was small. There were few stupas. It was a long way which I had to come down by myself. Though it was quite tiring I enjoyed the picturesque and tranquil views of the villages of green Dzongu valley, river Tista, beautiful birds, butterflies, unknown wild flowers, quash hanging here and there in plenty.
N.B. I stayed in Pasingdang village where there was only one home stay at that time. The village is good but the village Lingthem is in a more strategic position from where the Kanchenjunga view point is very near. Normally tourists stay there. It is almost at the center of the Valley. It is situated between Lingthem Monastery and Pasingdang village. There are three/four home stays in the Village Lingthem and Tingvong. If someone books accommodation, they take required documents and make permit as well as pick up from Mangan and again drop to Mangan.
Tosh is a village in Parvati Valley. It is famous for its natural beauty. I reached Parvati Valley from Kasol via Manikaran. In this trip the weather was mostly cloudy or drizzling. It had been raining since previous afternoon when I reached Kasol. In the morning I was a bit hesitatnt whether I should leave the hotel. I thought it would be better not to waste a day in Kasol but keep on proceeding. So after breakfast I boarded a bus for Manikaran from the front of the hotel. When I reached Manikaran there was only one jeep at jeep stand. I asked him whether he would go. He agreed to go up to Barsiani. But when we started we got few other people for Barsiani and two of them had some work at Tosh. So the jeep driver agreed to go up to Tosh on sharing basis.
When I reached Tosh it was raining with small particles of ice. I managed a room in a hotel very near to the taxi stand for the night halt. The room was good as per my expectation in such a remote place. I kept my luggage there. I could not stay in the room as there was nothing to do except lying on the bed and I did not want to sleep during daytime. There was no electricity too. I was offered by the hotel manager to sit beside the fireplace of the dining hall as I was partly drenched and was shivering with cold.
A man was sitting there, he did look neither elegant nor rich anyway, but I came to know that he owned the hotel and few other hotels also at very strategic points like this one. He and his manager were taking marijuana from a hash pipe ( chillum ) from time to time. Initially I could not realize what they were smoking, but later on I found whoever was coming, taking a puff or two from the pipe in turn. I thought that it was too cold and probably it was necessary to take something for stimulation to bear such cold. Few boys came back after trekking and asked for a browny which looked like a small chocolate pastry. I became quite surprised when I knew each costs 500 rupees.
As it was raining continuously and there was no electricity so I could neither go outside for a walk nor lie in my room for rest. The whole day I sat idle beside the fire watching people having hush or marijuana in different forms or ways. All the boys, came there, were mostly from 20 to 35 years old. They were from Delhi or Chadigarh or Kerala. All of them were sober and very well behaved. I talked with them the whole day. During lunch a group of people came trekking from Barsaini. But they did not stay at Tosh, they had their lunch, and went back again wearing rain coats. Everyone considered it unnatural to come in the rain taking so much risk and hassle and not enjoying the surreal beauty of Tosh staying one night there.
It started snowing heavily at around 6 o’clock. It was a magical experience. In the evening electricity was restored. I ordered my dinner. After dinner, while bidding good night to all, I told the boys in jest that whatever fresh air of Himalayas I had taken from the places before coming to Tosh all became futile after having so much passive smoking. They all laughed in amusement. Next morning was absolutely sunny and warm.
N.B. An appeal : A home stay owner of Parvati Valley expressed his deep regret about the spread and sell of illegal narcotics in this valley which is not only destroying the culture of the natives but also destroying the life of the youth of that area. They are becoming greedy as well as violent day by day and some of them are getting so much addicted to these poisons that they are losing their mental balance. So I humbly request all Himalaya lovers not to promote or encourage this . Go to Parvati valley to enjoy its natural beauty and get addicted to it.
Kugti is not a very famous or popular tourist destination. Kugti pass trek and Parikrama of Manimahesh initiate from this place. Kugti means Karthikeya in local language, the son of Shiv and Parvati. Karthikeya is not as popular deity as his brother Ganapati. There are very few temples of Kathikeya in India. One of them is in the Himachal Pradesh, near the famous pilgrimage Manimahesh. It is 12/14 km from Hadsar. Shared jeeps are available to reach Kugti, but one has to walk 2km to reach the village from the end of the motorable road. Kugti is a eco village.
I reached Kugti at 1PM. I did not have any idea that the motorable road would end 2 km before Kugti village, so I was a bit disappointed. I was hungry and tired after coming down from Manimahesh. I had my lunch from the langar( where food was offered to devotees free of cost) at the entrance of the path which led to Kugti village. There was a small school. They allowed me to use their toilet. I reached the forest rest house which was at the entrance of the village Kugti, walking 2 kilometers with my rucksack on my back.
When I reached I was absolutely exhausted. I found 3 people sitting on the yard eating apples that grew in the garden of the rest house. They offered me apples, they were juicy and sweet. I told them that I desperately need a room there. One of the three persons was from HP police department who was there on duty for the occasion of Manimahesh Yatra and another was from the maintenance department of HP forest rest houses who came to repair the solar heater of that forest rest house.
They had been staying in the two rooms of the rest house that were habitable. Rest of the rooms were in broken condition. The 3rd person was a local and an acquaintance of them.They called the caretaker of the forest rest house from the village, whose house was half kilometer away from the rest house, making a whistling sound that echoed in the mountain. That is the communication only system there.
There was no mobile tower. Both of them were ready to share one room and spared the other room for me on condition that in the morning I would allow them to take hot water from my bathroom because there was no hot water facility in the toilet of the other room. After negotiating with the care taker, I ultimately got the room. I was very happy. The caretaker provided me dinner with roti and rajma curry. Rajma of Kugti is famous for its taste. Kugti is an Eco-village where only organic fertilizers are used for cultivation.
Sri Karthik Swami ji
The next day early morning I started for Karthik Swami temple after breakfast. The way was beautiful and scenic, it was a pristine land full of flowers, butterflies and other small creatures. It was 7 kilometer uphill trek. The last part was pretty difficult for me. People were hardly seen on the way, whenever I met anyone I asked how much distant the temple was, everyone said that it was just behind the next corner of the hill and after every corner there was another corner. Thus I ultimately saw the temple though it was a steep 2 kilometer walk from that place.
For me it took seven hours to reach there. Some times I gave up but I got a companion on the way who kept on encouraging me. The locals also always said it was just few minutes away, behind the hills. But there were several turns. At the end, when I reached, I was too happy to witness Karthik Swamiji and felt myself blessed.
There was a langar where I had my lunch, rice, daal and aloo ki sabji, they offered me two very tasty mung daal ka ladoo also, made of clarified butter, sugar and mung daal . After a sumptuous lunch I went down, coming down was not as difficult as going up. It took 3 hours to reach the village. I was dead tired but very satisfied. Next day after breakfast I reached the jeep stand and caught jeep for Hudsar, that same jeep took me to Bharmour taking few bucks more.
Tosh is a small village in the interior of Parvati Valley in Himachal Pradesh. It was snowing, more like sleet actually, when I reached Tosh from Kasol taking a shared jeep from Manikaran. I got down from the taxi and tried to open my umbrella in a hurry as I was preventing myself from icy cold rain and in this process a spike of the umbrella broke. I put the rucksack on my back and walked forward in search of a shelter. The taxi stand is in front of a bridge on a small stream which is the gateway of Tosh.
I entered carefully because of ice and slush. Just after crossing the bridge I found a hotel. I inquired whether accommodation was available. They informed that they didn’t have attached bathroom. The next hotel on the way was closed. Proceeding forward I found a hotel upward where there were guests taking selfies on the balcony. There was ice and the path was very slippery. I could not reach there. I shouted for help. A person came and helped me to reach the hotel. He was the manager of the hotel.
It was very cold and I was shivering, so the manager told me to sit by the fireplace in their dining hall, and take a cup of tea and then to see the hotel room and complete all other formalities. It was a nice cozy room. I sat there snugly beside the fireplace. There were few people around the fire. Some were guests, some were employees who from time to time came to get the warmth. I saw my room. It was work-ably good. I kept my luggage there, closed the room and sat again beside the fire. There was no electricity.
It rained whole day. People kept on coming and going to have shelter or lunch. Food was tasty, and Israeli cuisine was also available there. I had lunch, afternoon coffee and a tasty early dinner sitting all day there. In the evening it started snowing heavily. Electricity came back luckily. There was nothing much to do. Time to time I went to the top floor to get mobile network and to contact my son and watched the beauty of the snow covered village.
Temple of Jamdagni
In the early morning when I woke up it seemed that the whole valley was shrouded with a thick white sheet of ice. I went out from the room to take a stroll in the village. I tried to roam around. I broke my folding stick in this effort. There was a temple of Jamdagni ( the great sage and father of the warrior monk Parshuram) in the center of the village, I went there, but outsiders are not allowed to enter. With the rise of the temperature the snow on the roofs started melting and fell with thuds. I came back to my hotel with difficulty. After breakfast I left Tosh at 10-30 AM.
I had a strong desire to visit Mayavati ashram since a long time. My father visited the place twice and had unique experiences. I missed the chance to accompany him because of my personal problems. My family is influenced by the ideals of Lord Ramakrishna and were initiated into R K Mission. I am also not an exception. As soon as I planned to visit Kumayun I included Mayavati in my itinerary. To go and stay at Mayavati one needs to get permission from Advaita Ashrama ( Entally, Kolkata ) which is a wing of R K Mission.
I went to kolkata branch of Advaita Ashrama. Initially Maharaj, who is the assigned in charge of booking, was hesitant to give permission to a solo female traveler for stay and tried to dissuade me. After a long argument when the in charge was convinced that I am quite determined to visit the place he informed me about the procedure to book accommodation.
When I got down from Lalkuan express I came to know that the best way to go there is through Berily( UP ), but it was too late to mend. I felt puzzled for some time. Few locals rescued me by giving information. At last I reached Mayavati on time via Tanakpur and Lohaghat.
It had been a unique experience staying there. It was pretty cold in March after a thundershower. Within 3 kilometer periphery of Mayavati there is no village, only forest, leopards are often seen there. We were instructed not to walk alone. The guest house is half a kilometer walk from the ashram. One has to walk 4 kilometers daily up and down to have breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner. The ashram is self sufficient, they produce food crops, vegetables and there is also a dairy farm. They run a charitable hospital where local people come for free treatment. Normally guests are not allowed to stay there more than 3 nights but doctors are allowed to stay more on condition that they have to give voluntary service in the hospital.
Benediction 