MUSSORIE to MOKSHA - BY SHITAL DESHPANDE
Nagtibba is the
highest peak (around 10,000 feet) in the lesser Himalayan region of Garhwal range
and is situated around 57 km from the famous hill station Mussoorie in
Uttarakhand.
It offers a great trekking experience in the snow clad ranges for first time trekkers.
It offers a great trekking experience in the snow clad ranges for first time trekkers.
While planning the trek we were left with half a day to spend in Dehradun due to the flight availability.
Though Dehradun offers multiple places of tourist interest we chose Rishikesh as it was the easiest destination allowing us to exhaust our last bit of mountain hangover.( yes we were not down ..even after our 3 days of lack of sleep and first timer physical exhaustion !)
The trek was
indeed exhausting and all we craved was a warm, soft bed and good 10 hour sleep. However
we knew that by morning we would be refreshed and ready for action. We booked a
taxi on the last day of our trek with the help of one of the locals who got us
a great taxi deal to set out at 5:00 am.
Dehradun being a
central place for visiting the famous Char Dhamroute (Yamunotri, Gangotri,
Kedarnath, and Badrinath) offers easy transportation (state run buses as well
as private taxis) to the nearby tourist spots like Mussoorie and Rishikesh.
The drive to
Rishikesh (which literally means ‘ Land of senses’)was peaceful and soothing,
driving in the misty early morning light through empty roads and picturesque
forests, almost setting the tone for what we had in store.
Several temples run for miles along both the banks of the Holy Ganga replete with hawkers and shops selling anything between Indian gem stones and handicrafts to cheap plastic toys and food stalls serving everything ranging from desi Parathas to Chinese and even Italian.
However thanks to the early morning hour, when we reached Rishikesh the entire tourist establishment was shut. Barring a few early worshipers and a lone hawker selling tea on a cycle, the entire town was still in deep slumber.
We walked up and
down the famous Lakshman Jhula, an iron suspension bridge, built on
the path, which was
said to have been crossed by Lakshman on jute ropes centuries ago.
The bridge sways
and swings as you walk and my friend thought it was really jittery though it
was fun (since there was no one I even ran up and down couple of times).
Ram Jhula is
also similar bridge slightly bigger than Lakshman Jhula.
I decided to
explore my pious side and walked towards the temples and the religious ghat. The
mood was quite somber because of intense physical exhaustion I had gone through
on the trek and the time spent in solitude. I felt some kind of deep serenity when
I dipped my hands in the holy Ganga and prayed.
As we looked on
the flowing river lost in a reverie, the priests started the Morning Prayer
chants drawing our minds to the tranquility within. Finally we rose from this
trance both us and Ganga Maiyya getting reading for the humdrum of real world
as the prayer closure bells struck.
Another
prominent landmark we went to, typically visited by foreign tourists and
dignitaries, was the ParmarthNiketan,
one of the few places where kids are imparted VedShiksha the ancient way.
Rishikesh also
happens to be “World Capital of Yoga”
with nearly hundreds of yoga centers around every nook and corner of the
promising Moksha through meditation.
You will see a large
number of foreigners thronging these places in search of the much-promised Nirvana ;)
We then took a
stroll along the banks of Ganga traversing along the entire length of Rishikesh. It was a good 3 km walk with a breath taking view of the river Ganga in its
purest form casting many shades of blue, jade and green with the rising sun.
It
was nearly day light and a light crowd of sight seers and worshipers started
building in.
It
was nearly day light and a light crowd of sight seers and worshipers started
building in.
We sauntered
through the market place and settled at a desi food stall serving parathas with alookisabji and piping hot pakoras for a traditional north Indian
breakfast. The food was delicious and we had a hearty meal gearing ourselves
for our journey back.
The rest of the
walk back through the market place was like any other pilgrimage spot and we
hurried our way back to the parking lot.
Driving back to
the airport we were glad for experiencing this quaint yet mystic place
especially at the early hour of the day carrying back with us our tiny share of Moksha and the holy Ganga
safely sealed in our water bottles .
7 comments
Superb...a well spend day and a great idea of time required for the day trip.
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ReplyDeletesuperb!!
ReplyDeletethanks for putting together this great stuff! It all looks so tempting. I would really love to visit this place. Putting together the list of things that would need to carry. I hope you will help!! :) As they say travel is the only thing you can spend money on that makes you richer
ReplyDeleteWould love to read about ur trekking experience too
ReplyDeleteGreat
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