When Adventure met Faith Part -II ( Helang - Kalpeshwar - Dumak)

Next Day morning we got up around 5.00 AM and got ready by 6.00 AM. We all wanted to start as soon as possible as we were behind the schedule we planned. We had to cover the distance which we were supposed to cover the previous day along with that day’s plan.  Today was going to be a tough day as we have to trek 20 kms in which 12-13 kms will be steep. Today’s final destination was Dumak & our inspirational punch line was “ Thumak Thumak ke chale Dumak”. 

All the inspirational punch lines were created by our Srinagar friend. 

 

 We came out of the hotel and started looking for the driver at nearby restaurants, after 5-10 mins of struggle we were able to trace him and asked him for the departure time ,to our surprise his reply was quick and unexpected- “as soon as the cow will come with his owner from the village”. To pass the time we started clicking the pictures of our surroundings. We waited almost for an hour but the cow did not reach. We requested the driver to pay him extra amount to drop us and he could come back to pick the cow. He accepted our request and agreed to drop us. 

Morning view - Helang 

Finally we started our journey around 7.30 AM on unpaved and narrow road .We were destined that there was no rain otherwise it could have been a dangerous ride for us but the scenic beauty was awesome.

On the way village Lyari

On the way village Lyari

Around 8.30 AM we reached village Lyari which is located at 13 kms from Helang , the motorable road is till this village only. There are 3-4 shops where one can have breakfast here. 

Now next four days we had to walk on foot only. We started our trek from here for Kalpeshwar.  After 1.5 kms we reached Dhyan Badri. On the way we saw Panch dhara.

Panch Dhara.

Dhyan Badri is located in the Urgam valley at the height of 1960 mtrs from sea level. The legend of Dhyan Badri is that King Puranjaya son of Urvashi meditated in Urgam region and established the Temple of Vishnu.

Dhyan Badri

Dhyan Badri

Dhyan Badri

After visiting the temple we continued our journey and reached beautiful village Devgram which is 1.5 kms from Dhyan Badri.Devgram is base camp for Kalpeshwar and Bansi Naryan trek.

In Devgram one can find hotels / homestays that offer accommodation and food at very nominal charges. 

Devgram

Devgram

 On the way we requested a hotel guy to prepare breakfast for us till we come back from Kalpeshwar which is around 1.5 kms.

 

Devgram

Devgram

Devgram

We started our trekking for Kalpeshwar around 9.00 AM ,  soon  we were crossing the lush green  village field which took away our breath as it was an awesome feeling crossing the field.

Devgram

On the way to Kalpeshwar we were  greeted by a huge waterfall from a distance. We clicked some pictures and moved ahead. 

waterfall

To reach Kalpeshwar we crossed the river Kalpganga  by temporarily made wooden bridge, old one was damaged during 2013 tragedy. 

 



On the bank of river we saw rope way which is used in emergency only when the water level increased during monsoon

After crossing the river we have to hike 200-300 mtrs to reach Kalpeshwar.We reached there around 10.00 AM.

Kalpehwar is situated at a height of 2080 mtrs from sea level and considered to be the  fifth temple in panch kedar circuit of lord shiva. Kalpeshwar is the only temple in panch kedar which is open throughout the year.

In Kalpeshwar Lord shiva is worshipped in the form of Hair.

The priest of the temple advised us to visit the temple and by the time he asked someone to prepare tea for us.  We followed him to see the temple through a small cave upon which one can see the image of hair. 

There is a Kalpavriksha tree & local people believed that it fulfils the wishes. It took hardly 10-15 mins to visit the temple. By the time tea was ready, we had our tea and started our journey for Devgram.

Restaurant guy prepared local vegetable kwon as “ligda”which he arranged from his farm only. Food was delicious. After relishing our breakfast we requested him to pack our lunch as we were aware that till village Kalgot  we would not get anything to have , village  Kalgot was around 08 kms from Devgram.

The trek path till village Bansa is good, this is the last village of urgam valley. Bansa village is around 3 kms from Devgram.

Next 05 kms we had to pass through deep jungle and have to follow the path used by the local villagers to  reach Kalgot which is 05 kms away from village Bansa. As we were climbing up altitude was increasing till we reach Kalgot.  

Tough trek :-(

On the way we met a guy who was running homestay in village Dumak .He offered us to stay at his home in Dumak. He said once he would reach Devgram/Helang where mobile signals are available he will inform his brother Manish who will take care of our stay and food.

We had our lunch around 3.00 PM and took some rest.  After half an hour break we continued jungle trek and reached Kalgot around 6.00 PM. 

On our way we got astonished by the unexpected meeting with legendry trekker “Mr. Harish Kapadia” who has written many books on Himalaya trekking.He was camping there with his team. We were quite impressed with his warm welcome and nature. During the conversation we came to know about his family / business and problems he faced during initial days of trekking. He showed us his latest written book by him. 

Mr. Harish Kapadia with Panch Pandav :-)

Next day he was going for Bansi Narayan trek. We spend almost half an hour with him and clicked some pictures with him, and left for our destination Village Dumak. We were really touched by his gesture and warmth. He is so humble in spite of being such a famous personality.

Village Kalgot

Next few kms was steep down , on the way we crossed village Jakhura. Once we crossed the village it was dark and still we were quite far from village Dumak. Our legs were paining and our speed as well as enthusiasm was also fading as we were walking for the last 15-16 kms. It was scary too to walk in the dark as we were still inside the jungle. But we mustered our courage and started walking ahead. 

Village Jakhura

After walking almost a kilometre we saw someone showing torch light to us as a signal. He was Manish who was waiting for us. After seeing him and got to know about him we felt as if we got our breath back. When we reached near him he picked my bag as I was the oldest one and most exhausted and drained outJ.  When I got to know that we had to walk two more kms to reach the village I almost gave up. My hard core and true Ghumakkar friends really motivated me to walk further.

Exhausted

Finally we reached Dumak around 10.00 PM which is located at a height of 2400 mtrs.

After having tea we requested Manish to arrange for hot water for sponging our legs with unbearable pain. One by one we sponged our legs which were quite relaxing.   After some enquiry regarding the village with Manish we had our dinner and went to bed.

Home stay - Village Dumak

Home stay - Village Dumak

Next part Village Dumak to Panaar Bugyal  coming soon…….