Tour of Uttarakhand - Kakdagaad Haridwar

Part 1 Morena is here
Part 2 Lansdowne is here
Part 3 Enroute Joshimath is here
Part 4 Badrinath is here
Part 5 Auli - Tapovan - Kanchula is here
Part 6 Chopta Tunganath is here
Part 7 Devariyatal (Deoriatal) is here.
Part 8 Kakdagaad Haridwar is here.

Despite the fact that no views of snow clad peaks or reflections were visible in the beautiful emerald waters of the Tal, Devariyatal has been an uplifting experience. We tidy up the baggage in the boot of the car and start out towards Ukhimath in the rising heat of the day. We had had a flat yesterday at Kanchula Kharak and our priority at Ukhimath today is to get it fixed. The mountainous roads with their numerous bumpy landslide areas do not generate any confidence without at least a spare tyre in good condition. 

Mission duly accomplished at the first auto repair guy we see, the bypass is taken to head out towards Kakdagaad without entering Ukhimath. Kakdagaad is a very small settlement just 4-5 kms south of Kund on the Rudraprayag road. A well known birding guide Mr Yashpal Singh Negi has a little place there called the ‘Mandakini Magpie Birding Camp’. It is right on the banks of the gushing Mandakini. This is where we are headed. At the end of our long driving trip, we intend to dedicate the last full day to birding. 

The Camp is reached in quick time... we do not realise it is so very close to Kund. We have not warned them of our lunch requirement so when we enquire about the availability; we are offered Khichadi as the quickest option which we accept with alacrity. This place seems to me to be just a collection of 5 – 6 little dhabas and this camp. A few yards down the road are two small houses. Some of these dhabas are run by the locals, some by Nepali migrants (or maybe they just come in the season time) and one even by a Bengali. There are a number of organised tour buses passing by here during the pilgrimage season and these joints cater to the specific needs of these various groups.

Mandakini flowing alongside our camp

After lunch and a short nap, we are ready to explore the surroundings. Another (Bengali) family is put up in the room just a half level up. The lady is evidently setting out for some birdwatching with camera and guidebook in hand. We tag along quite happily. A hundred metres away is a bridge across the stream which joins the Mandakini here. Right under the bridge is where we are headed. The path which leads us down to the water’s edge is very precarious. All rubble and loose mud which on the steep incline makes us slip and slide all the while hanging onto the (expensive) equipment we are carrying. There is birdsong all around.

Making our way over the small and large stones on the edge of the water, we come to a little space where the water has been channelled away from the main stream into a little pool which serves to attract the small birds for a dip. Taking up positions behind a large boulder, we start our vigil at the ‘swimming pool’ as Negi calls it. We do not have long to wait. Whiskered Yuhinas, White eyes, Western crowned Warblers, Blue-fronted Flycatcher, Black chinned Babblers, Crimson sunbird, Black Bulbuls and a plethora of birds are vying for our attention. An Emerald dove comes along for a dip but shies away on spotting us. There are Black Bulbuls with their juveniles and a juvenile Brown Dipper bobbing away in the water. Plumbeous Water Redstarts are zipping across the water; the Black lored Tits are plentiful; the Verditer is as common as the crows in the plains; the Great and Blue faced Barbets put in an appearance; the Asian Paradise Flycatcher adult male with his glorious streamers is flitting around. I am in HEAVEN! So many of these are first sightings for us and we are absolutely astounded with the variety and sheer density of birdlife here.

Black lored Tit

Blue faced Barbet

Blue fronted Flycatcher (f)

Blue fronted Flycatcher (m)

Great Barbet

Oriental White eye

Plumbeous water Redstart

Russet Sparrow

Whiskered Yuhina

As darkness falls and taking pictures is no longer possible we head back. On the banks is a little stone shaped somewhat like a Shivling. The local folks have added some Trishuls and come down to worship at it. We see a brother-sister pair at the little shrine praying. Their sincerity is visible on their animated faces. We reach them just as they are finishing their evening prayers. They are happy to pose for us.

Evening prayers at the Shivling....

We download the huge amount of data from the cameras, charge batteries, dinner and then bed. Bright and early in the morning, we are off on the guided tour with Negi. We walk towards the bridge where we went yesterday but instead of going down to the stream, we cross the bridge and walk a hundred or so yards up the road. A little path goes down to a foot bridge across the Mandakini which we walk across and birding starts in earnest now. Small Niltava, Spotted forktail, Slaty headed Parakeets, Grey Treepie, Babblers, Prinias... we keep climbing uphill and birding as we go along. It is a slow process but the rewards are stunning!

Grey Treepie

Slaty headed Parakeet

Small Niltava

Spotted Forktail

Verditer Flycatcher

Later we go down the road from the camp and see some more beauties. Wedge-tailed green Pigeons, Long tailed Minivets, we miss out on the White throated Laughingthrushes... The Chestnut bellied Nuthatch is very prompt when Negi plays the call from his cell. A very pretty bird this!

The afternoon is spent exploring the riverside. We see the Crested Kingfisher and the Black throated Sunbird. The Forktail decides to grant us close views and comes along to the water’s edge though on the other bank. The Dipper is happy to have us around. A very intensive day of birdwatching indeed!

Asian Paradise Flycatcher

Black throated Sunbird

Brown Dipper (juvenile)

Chestnut bellied Nuthatch

Chestnut tailed Starling

Long tailed Minivet

Wedge tailed Green Pigeon

A small video of a bathing beauty...

We set out for Haridwar early as we want to spend time and hopefully have breakfast at the GMVN hotel at Chandrapuri. On the banks of the Mandakini, it is said to be one of the best located GMVNs in Garhwal. We are not disappointed. The mellow gurgle of the waters here is so soothing, one can just sit on the banks and feel all the stress melt away...

Mandakini at Chandrapuri

There is not much choice for breakfast. Bread/butter/jam or puri-aloo ki subzi. The puri-aloo ki subzi is delicious. Usually not one of my favourite foods, this one is mouth watering! 

Past Rudraprayag, Devprayag and Rishikesh we reach Haridwar. We have some reserved rooms at an ashram at the Har ki Pauri. Parking in the huge car-parks outside, we walk into the congested lane leading us to the ashram. A quick check in, we deposit our overnight bags and step out the other side of the building onto the ghat. It is a revelation! The Ganga flows roughly 15 metres from the ashram. The ghat is well laid out. We turn right towards the temples and the bulk of the crowd.

Sangam at Rudraprayag - Mandakini and Alaknanda

Sangam at Devprayag - Bhagirathi and Alaknanda

Sangam at Devprayag - Bhagirathi and Alaknanda

Hardly a few yards ahead, I am totally horrified and nauseated by what I see... Place stinking to high heavens, people are relieving themselves not 5-6 metres from the water under a foot bridge! I am ashamed to admit these are... INDIANS!

Up ahead and putting some distance between us and this stink hole, we settle ourselves on a bridge at a vantage point and watch the Ganga Aarti at dusk. The lamps set out in the water glow, bobbing along before vanishing quite abruptly in the fast moving current of the Ganges. A lot of piety around us... a lot of it genuine, some feigned and some totally farcical.

Har ki Pauri, Haridwar for the evening Ganga Aarti

Lamp from the Ganga Aarti

Har ki Pauri, Haridwar

It has been an experience not to be missed. For better or worse, it is one of the holiest places in India but our management of it is woefully inadequate (and I’m being very diplomatic!). Also, it’s time we as a people learn some basic civic sense and take pride in ourselves as well as our places of worship and our country as a whole. I live in hope... 

Dinner is at a small Rajasthani Dhaba with really yummy food. One thing we have experienced throughout the trip is that the food has been consistently good in the small places and not once have we had any tummy upsets. It just reinforces my belief that one must have what the locals have in the places that they patronise... one really can’t go wrong then.

Har ki Pauri, Haridwar at night

We leave very early in the morning to beat the traffic which we have come to dread. Even at 0430 hours, the roads are not empty. We reach Gwalior for the night without incident and then onwards to Bhopal. This road trip has been an amazing journey with much to see and much more to learn! Hope we will do something as enjoyable sooner than later. Till then, BYE...

Tour of Uttarakhand – Devariyatal (Deoriatal) Part 7

Part 1 Morena is here
Part 2 Lansdowne is here
Part 3 Enroute Joshimath is here
Part 4 Badrinath is here
Part 5 Auli - Tapovan - Kanchula is here
Part 6 Chopta Tunganath is here
Part 7 Devariyatal (Deoriatal) is here.
Part 8 Kakdagaad Haridwar is here.

Bidding adieu to Kanchula for the last time in this trip, we wind our way to Chopta. The beauty of this region is unmatched. The pretty meadows, the tall, tall moss-laden trees, the low hanging clouds almost drifting into the houses, abundant rainfall making it a cold and wet biotope which in turn supports an amazing diversity of birdlife and other flora and fauna and is still fairly remote.

A leisurely breakfast later, we embark on the next segment of our trip... beyond Chopta, through Baniyakund and onwards to Saarigaon. Baniyakund is upon us almost immediately after leaving Chopta. It couldn’t be more than 4-5 Kms. Another overflowing pipe at Baniyakund beckons us... carwash time J!

Baniyakund

Taking in the sweeping vistas around, I notice what look like sheep or goat walking up the hillside. Their walk is a little funny and just as I am contemplating their identity... they ruffle their feathers and unfurl wings making me gawk! What I am looking at is a flock of anything between 15 and 20 Himalayan Griffons! Running down to investigate, we notice them flocking at a carcass set out just beyond the little summer hamlet of cattle and goat herders. Also along the way are many woodpeckers and wagtails, flycatchers and warblers.

Himalayan Griffons

Himalayan Griffons

Rufous bellied Woodpecker

Ultramarine Flycatcher

Grey Wagtail

A lazily winding route takes us to Saari through dense forests and the now familiar bright green terraced fields. Saari is at a much lower altitude than Chopta hence the route is descending throughout.

View from Saari turnoff

Saari is a charming little village nestled half-way up the mountainside after which the mountain becomes pretty much vertical further up. We reach the designated BSNL tower at the entrance to the village and duly call our guide with whom we have booked our tented stay at the Tal. I am impressed that without any reminder or any advance, this gentleman has everything ready for us whereas the others I had contacted had not only quoted much higher for our stay but asked for advance also. A simple but tasty lunch and short rest later, we are set to start the walk up.

The trail to Devariyatal goes straight up from Saari with a lot of short and sharp switch backs, climbing far more sharply than the Tunganath route. Also, the Tunganath trail is well paved but this one has large and very loose stones making footholds precarious. Within minutes of starting the climb, I realise how very out of shape I am!! Huffing and puffing almost from the word go; it is slow progress up this demanding hillside. The slimmest excuse is grabbed to take a break...

The path has beautiful flowering bushes and Buran trees all along. We see birds flocking to some bushes just ahead. Our guide offers us berries (called ‘Hissar’ locally) from these bushes which are very like raspberries but yellow in colour. Sweet with a hint of sour, these are delectable morsels. He is a charming storyteller. In the welcome break that is spent catching our breath and munching on these juicy bits, he tells us a little mythological tale associated with these berries.

Burans (Rhododendron) flowers

Hissar berries

It is said that a very long time ago, there was one pujari for Kedarnath and Badrinath. He would do the puja at Kedarnath and then walk across to Badrinath and do the puja there. Only after the pujas would he eat anything. One day, God decided to test him and these berry-laden bushes grew on the route he regularly took. Seeing these berries, the pujari was tempted to eat some. The moment he did so, his fast broke and God became angry that the pandit broke his fast before the puja at Badrinath. As a result, Neelkanth (the snow-capped peak visible just behind the Narayan mountain and the Badrinath shrine) emerged blocking the path from Kedarnath to Badrinath. Nice tale and I can quite sympathize with the Pandit... these certainly are luscious berries!

Looking down upon Saari gaon from halfway up

Blue limbed lizard

A little way up is the temple. It looks very old so I ask Negi when it was built. Apparently, the pujari is an ex-armyman (also a pandit then) who has built the temple some 20 years back but the aging of the structure is completely natural in this harsh climate giving it much older looks.

Temple

With the darshan over, we start the march up again. Two treks in a row have us all (at least the adults) quite tired. Many frequent breaks later, we finally reach the top only to realise that there is still a little more to be covered. Finally we reach the shop cum restaurant at the top from where the Tal is 100 metres away. It certainly takes our breath away... the lake is small and there is no view around whatsoever at this time of the year, however even now the place looks out of a fairytale. The undulating banks of the lake are like the carefully manicured greens at a fancy golf course. The edges are pine woods neatly placed as if demarcating the lake area from the dense jungle of the slopes.

Devariyatal or Deoriatal

Devariyatal or Deoriatal sunset

Our tents at the Tal

Yet another mythological tale this time about Devariyatal.... Legend has it that Deoria Tal was created by Nag Devta when Lord Shiva wanted to have a bath; the Nagaraj Ratneswar Mahadev temple on the banks of the lake bears testimony to the belief. Another one states that this is the lake where the Yaksha asked the Pandavs to answer his questions before drinking the water of the lake.

Sprawled on the banks of the Tal, we scrutinize the few tourists already there. A Bengali group of roughly 7-8 people, a couple of bachelors also looking Bengali though not from the same group and an older couple sitting quietly and enjoying the place without the raucous exuberance of the younger crowd. It is cold up here compared to Saari village and the almost uncomfortably hot climb up. Jackets are out in a jiffy; feels good to be snugly clad.

Just then, a couple of foreign nationals (girls) walk in with an Indian guide. The atmosphere changes and there is palpable excitement especially with the bachelors. Promptly, they are seen chatting the girls up. Even the other group sees it fit to go and get themselves photographed with the girls. Such impositions are embarrassing to watch.

Dusk is a beautiful time... especially in the mountains. The mandatory snaps are taken and Oooh and Ahhh over! We wonder what to do with ourselves without any light since candles are out of the question in tents when our guide comes with an LED lamp. It is really bright and good enough to play cards by. An engrossing evening indeed! In a while he gets dinner for us near the tent. We are very touched by this gesture. We see everyone else has had to go to the shop nearby for food but the ambience just outside our tents, near the water with an almost full moon shining is magical. He has even got the prickly nettle vegetable made which I had asked him about. This unpretentious yet delicious dinner and the exquisite atmosphere of this place will rank right up there as one of the most cherished moments of my life.

We are up before dawn in the hope that some of the misty shrouds have lifted enough to allow us at least a faint glimpse of the famed Chaukhamba. No such luck. To make up for it though, we hear numerous bird calls. Following them we head off towards the forest rest house. An enormous tree on the eastern bank of the lake with some of its branches hanging low over the water seems to be attracting a variety of birds. Many of them are taking turns in splashing around and having a quick bath right at the edge of the lake under the tree. We stand there mesmerized at the sight!

Bar tailed treecreeper

Brown fronted Woodpecker

Grey headed Woodpecker

Olive backed Tits

Chestnut headed Laughingthrush

Chestnut headed Laughingthrush and Himalayan Woodpecker having a splash!

Chestnut headed Laughingthrush

Rufous Sibia

Scaly bellied Woodpecker

Tree with low hanging branches

Verditer Flycatcher

Western crowned Warbler

White tailed Nuthatch

Yellow billed Blue Magpie

Reluctantly, we bid farewell to this most enchanting of lakes. We bird all the way down. This area is a paradise for birds... The Yellow billed Blue Magpie is the most common bird here. It is seen chasing just about every other bird there. It plays catch with some of its mates too. Woodpeckers are everywhere. At least 5-6 species are spotted simultaneously. We dawdle on the way down knowing well that we are nearing the end of our Himalayan sojourn. Reaching the first few dwellings with their typical slated roofs I see the marijuana plant for the first time. Pretty leaves...

Marijuana

Slate tiled roofs

Arriving near the parked car, we bid farewell to our guide who has been an amazing host. Onwards to Kakdagaad for the last halt of our trip...