Part 1 National Chambal Sanctuary is here.
Part 2 Lansdowne is here.
Part 3 Enroute Joshimath is here.
Part 4 Badrinath is here.
Part 5 Auli - Tapovan - Kanchula Kharak is here.
Part 6 Chopta Tunganath is here.
Part 7 Devariyatal (Deoriatal) is here.
Part 8 Kakdagaad Haridwar is here.
Day 7
Auli was planned
in the fore noon and Tapovan in the afternoon for today. Set out for Auli early
with intent to stop at any suitable place on the roadside for a breakfast of
fruits which we were carrying. As we climbed the mountain towards Auli, it
became clear that the haze in the atmosphere at this time of the year will
spoil all our chances of a good view of the Nanda Devi from the top.
Found the route
to be very pretty... a fairly well paved road with quaint houses on the slopes,
most boasting of garden absolutely bursting with flowers that a plains-dweller
can only dream about! Half way up, we came upon a wide-ish stretch of road
where we decided to have our breakfast. What a treat that was to be surrounded
by towering snow-capped peaks all around, the constant chirping of the birds
around and the beautiful town of Joshimath nestled way down on the slope.
Perfect place for a break!
Expectedly,
there was no view from the top... at least not of Nanda Devi. That will have to
wait for another time though Auli had been planned with the express purpose of
viewing the highest Indian peak (Nanda Devi is the highest peak entirely in
India, Kanchenjunga is part in Nepal) from there. The other peaks closer were
visible. Did some birding there... a Red-billed Blue Magpie, Mistle Thrush,
Blackbirds, Blue capped rock thrushs, Verditer Flycatchers being the most
abundant along with the Himalayan Bulbuls.
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| Blue capped rock thrush |
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| Verditer Flycatcher |
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| Grey winged Blackbird (f) |
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| European Goldfinch |
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| Spotted Dove |
Back for lunch
and the set off for Tapovan and the hot springs. The road has been damaged in
portions to the point where driving is a treacherous, laborious experience. All
along the Dhauliganga which flows deep in the valley below are new Hydel
projects coming up completely ruining the beauty of the place. It is now just a
concrete jungle networked with dusty narrow roads where tens of trucks ply for
the construction needs of the corporations and a blatant disregard for the very
fragile ecology of the region. Now one can understand the reason for the scale
of the disaster that hit Uttarakhand this June.
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| Niti Valley |
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| Hydel Projects under construction |
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| Golden fields ready for harvest |
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| Harvested crop |
When we reached
Tapovan, we expected to see some signboards for the Hot Springs but saw
nothing. On enquiry, we were told they are further up the road by about 3 kms. We
rounded a rather sharp bend and abruptly came upon the Sulphur Springs. There
is no signboard there but the smell of sulphur hangs strongly in the air. I was
surprised to actually see the water bubble up through the many vents and boil
over the edges and flow across the road. Some distance away, the natural runoff
from the spring was collecting in a little Kund (man-made) where one can
attempt to have a bath with these medicinal waters. By now the water is just ‘very
hot’ from ‘boiling’ a few metres away. Very
interesting place!
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| Sulphur spring at Tapovan |
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| Hot spring at Tapovan |
Came back to
Joshimath and got busy packing for destination ‘Kanchula Kharak’ tomorrow.
Day 8
A comfortable
0700hrs start saw us leisurely driving towards Chamoli, across the bridge over
the Alaknanda and on towards Gopeshwar, the capital of Chamoli district.
Gopeshwar is at a fair height and the road winds up rather steeply ascending
towards it. The roads are very constricted and at times badly in need of repair
making our progress slow. As we took the road out of town in the direction of
Mandal, Chopta and Ukhimath, we realised that we were probably on the narrowest
roads we’ve encountered on the trip so far.
On the one side of the road was the steep hillside and the other a drop
of maybe ten thousand feet! Very picturesque though and would have been even
more enchanting but for the heavy traffic from the Chardham Yatra (this is the
shortest route between Kedarnath and Badrinath).
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| Car wash point! |
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| Gopeshwar |
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| Road out of Gopeshwar towards Mandal |
The gently
meandering road took us through Mandal and then through very dense forests to
Kanchula Kharak. Kanchula was a forest dept. Musk Deer breeding centre which is
now non-operational. There is not much there but for a very nice bamboo cottage
with two bedrooms and a common dining-drawing area.
On reaching we
realised that there is no provision for meals and one has to drive to Chopta
about 8 kms away for food. Drove there and had lunch at a dhaba which was quite
good. Spent the evening walking up and down the mountainsides around Kanchula
bird-watching and generally getting the feel of the place. The bird watching was very good... lots and lots to explore here...!
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| Touring officers rest house, Kanchula Kharak |
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| Dense forests enroute Kanchula Kharak |
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| Moss laden trees |
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| Royle's Pica |
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| Bar throated Siva |
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| Black throated Tit |
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| Himalayan Monal |
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| Monal |
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| Variegated Laughingthrush |
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| White capped water redstart |
