Tungnath & Chandrashila (June 2018)
I have a new travel partner (my husband) who is a travel enthusiast just like me. We decided to start off our first trek together with Chandrashila (13000 ft above sea level) in our home state, Uttarakhand.
Devprayag, where Alaknanda, Saraswati and Bhagirathi rivers
meet and take the name Ganga.
We drove from Haridwar quite late without knowing the actual distance to Chopta which is the base for the peak as google map showed two places named Chopta, one being closer than the other(original one) We reached Chopta (the wrong one) and realised the original place is still 70 kms away. That was the time we took a stop at Rudraprayag to understand the directions and asked the locals to help us find our destination. After much understanding, left for Rudraprayag, we crossed Agustmuni market which was still affected by the floods that came in 2013. It took us through the heart-rending episode that occurred in Uttarakhand that year and shook both of us. We stopped by Ukhimath to have tea as the temperature was dipping down with the day.
Chai break
at Ukhimath
The drive from Ukhimath to Chopta was very enthralling as we passed through the trees like Oak, Pine, Burans and other Himalayan species. I can describe the drive in three words: serene, dreamy and pure. We were running against the time so came to an agreement to stop 5 kms before Chopta.
Driving amid
the forest on our way to Chopta
The place was a small meadow, owned by retired army personnel being locals of Uttarakhand we requested him to let us pitch our tent on his property, he readily accepted the offer in exchange of few bucks for a night.
Ready for
the night
The sun settled down slowly and the moon peeked out shining bright with dazzling light. We were invited by a group of tourists from Kolkata to join them for drinks before dinner was served.
The night was cold with flawless sky, perfect time to call it a day.
The next day’s agenda was to hike up to Tungnath Temple. We had our breakfast with the view, left for Chopta. After parking our car at the base we carried our tent and bag of essentials. I was doing this trek after many years last being Triund, HP ( 2014) so found it a bit challenging although this was my second time to Tungnath , the first time was when I was a teenager and with my parents. At last we reached the top and pitched our tent next to Hotel Devlok.
We paid our visit to Tungnath Temple in the evening. The temple is one of the five Kedars in Uttarakhand and is the highest Shiva Temple in Asia. 1 km ahead is Chandrashila which we decided to do the next morning as it’s supposed to be done in the morning before the sunrise.
Sujan Singh Rana is the owner of Hotel Devlok and the sweetest person who has been there for more than 15 years, very caring host as he helped us with every possible necessity. Rana uncle even saved some local food ( rai ki sabzi) for us for our dinner. While we were at his small pretty restaurant I asked about the Korean man I met in Tungnath back in 2002 and to my astonishment Rana uncle identified him. The Korean guy used to stay there for months and played flute, clearly he was known as the “bansuri wala Korean” but he was sent back by the forest department, reason is not known. But that was a joyful moment for me to know that Rana uncle remembered him.
The summit’s got a 360 degree view of the mountain ranges and is no less than a paradise. It is said that Pandavas did the ritual of pind-daan at Chandrashila so many people were offering prayers, this makes the place more blessed.
In order to safeguard these Himalayan dogs from wild animals, the locals make them wear these shields around their neck.
We bid goodbye to Rana uncle and while returning to Chopta, met two kids from Bombay who overtook their parents to be with us and told stories of their travel to all the spiritual places they have been to. In no time we got back to Chopta as their stories were truly entrancing.
View from
the top of the temple
Next Stop: Mana Village
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