We all woke up in the morning when Dhaval wanted to stay back another day. Luckily we had a window without rains to get down but he insisted to stay. Prateek and Prem both knew the weather would turn bad so they were keen on leaving. Dhaval had to agree and we all started our hike back down. I washed some vessels for the Sadhu for the good care and food he served us while living with limited resources himself. Though we climbed down at our own speeds we waited at some place making sure all were together, leaving the place felt very sad but the cold was testing each one of us to the extreme. As we glided down, it started getting sunny with the clouds building up fast too. As we reached Jassu Bhai's place, Dhaval stopped for a smoke while me and Ramesh were hungry to grab some food. After a point we both choose different paths while he reach the room and I reached the market. I rushed myself into a shop to feast on a couple samosas, finished a packet of biscuits dipping in tea and a packet of mixture. Ramesh called to say he couldn't find any food so I parcelled some samosas and bananas and reached the room to rest. I knew it would be difficult to cook dinner later so, I made some Dhal, soya with potato fry and rice before I laid down to rest. Later in the evening we had our dinner and slept like babies.
It started raining since last night and it continues to pour through the day, we decided to rest for a day but it extended to another. All we did was eat and rest. Third day we were all set to leave and as soon as we woke up Dhaval says stay just for another day and leave, as we were also being lazy to start we stayed for the third day. After resting well for two days, we decided to head out and I took Ramesh to a waterfall by the river. Dhaval was supposed to meet at the temple and said lunch can be had at the shelter of Sadhus. Just when we reached the road Dhaval was coming from the opposite side, a perfect timing. We went to the temple to sit with the Babas and smoke a few rounds of Chillum. Pawan Giri the Sadhu in charge had a follower who took care of cooking and cleaning, meanwhile all kinds of yogis, sadhus and aghoris passed by and stayed for shelter and food. After a tasty Dhal and rice, we slowly marched back to the room. I asked Dhaval what do I make for dinner, he said make a sandwich. I agreed.
Being a remote village, we were limited to very few variety of vegetables and groceries. Things that came by road was charged with the transportation so everything was double the cost. I bought some potatoes and cabbage to make a filling for the sandwich and went back after collecting some bread. Dhaval brought a corn that I added with the vegetable fry and I roasted some peanuts for the dressing and it went perfectly well for the sandwich. I stuffed myself with four sandwiches myself while they filled themselves and Dhaval shared a few among the neighbours. Most of the luggage was packed and we were set to leave for Badrinath the following day.
Out of the 68 kilometres to Badrinath, just the first 12 kilometres from Urgam was a slope and then it was almost a constant uphill climb till Badrinath. We had to set our minds to what was coming in the following days and after the climb to Urgam we were pretty much ready for everything. I never picked up speed on the slopes with edges dropping more than 200 feet, I told Ramesh the same and his cycle was built different too. Just after we left the devgram village my slippers cut off, though I had a pair of shoes I felt like walking barefoot. Maybe after the trek for Brahma Kamal on barefoot, there was something that felt better on the body and I remember seeing a reel on a doctor in Africa who didn't use footwear. I decided to challenge myself to see if I can reach Badrinath without footwear. We rode down stress free and then the climb starts. Our plan was to reach Jyotirmath, which was about 16 kilometres from Helang. All we had to do was push each step and we did that because nothing else mattered. Just enjoy the surrounding landscape and take that next step. Weather it's hiking or trekking my trick is to take a step with inhale and another step with exhale, if the surface is flat then I try to take more step while inhaling, try to hold the breath longer before exhaling with another step. Whenever I start running out of breath, I stop to normalise the breathing and continue further. Also I try to inhale keeping the right leg forward and exhale while moving the left leg. Again because I remember reading somewhere that since the liver is on the right side, if we inhale while taking the left step, it stress the liver with a filled lung. So when we inhale with the right step, the lungs takes only as much air as needed not stressing the liver and we exhale with the left step. I don't know how much of this is real but it definitely had worked for me.
After a continuous, push, rest and push routine we managed to climb up 12 kilometres and a few kilometres of riding down would reach Jyotirmath. I knew a Gurudwara where food and rest was taken care so we directly checked ourselves after the parking the cycles. The Gurudwaras were so safe and trusted that we didn't remove all luggage, most of it was left as it is while we only took a small bag with gadgets. After treating ourselves to some free tea, we decided to go out and see what the town has. Upon asking people they guided us to Narsing Temple but before that Ramesh wanted to look for a Mike that worked on his iPhone. After failing to find at numerous places, we decided to go to the temple. A beautiful temple made in the style of the temple in Kedarnath but was definitely a modern construction. After spending some time there, we walked back to rest at the Gurudwara. Ate dinner and rested.
I woke up naturally around 6 am and woke Ramesh up too, after getting ready we were on the roads before 7. We rode down comfortably for about 5 kilometres when the incline path began and that went incline forever. It was only a difference between the degree of inclination but all we did was push till our hearts burst. Grabbed a meal in between and continued to simply push, managing to reach Hanuman Chatti. My legs were about to give up and I was afraid of getting a bubble walking barefoot, just when Ramesh found a perfect camping spot but it was just beside the main market. I was afraid they wouldn't let us stay so I pushed ramesh to request. Turns out the locals were so humble and appreciated our journey on bicycles that they happily agreed. After we put our tents we went to the shop beside for some tea and snacks while we only had to pay for the chowmin while the tea and samosas were paid off by the person who agreed to camp. I was so tired that I slipped to sleep soon, I remember Ramesh calling me for dinner. I denied and tucked back inside the sleeping bag.
Miraculously I was perfectly fine the next morning. My legs didn't show much pain and I was looking good to reach Badrinath without footwear. I washed my face to offer my prayers at the Hanuman temple before we grabbed some tea, biscuits and hit the road. This time we had just about 11 kilometres and the entire patch was the toughest bit of climb as it was to the top of the mountain we had to climb to reach Badrinath. We started early and pushed ourselves to the best since the distance was less and the rest for sufficient. After 6 kilometers Ramesh started feeling hungry but we couldn't find a place to eat but when we reached Badrinath, I suggested we first go take a dip in the hot water springs before eating or we would be hungry again. Before that we had to parcel one of Ramesh’s bag because of his excess luggage, so we did that from the post office before coming to the hot springs. Wow, it simply took away all the pain from our bodies, it water so hot felt really worth pushing ourselves all the way. We spent about an hour at the springs before we got ready and came to the temple. Suddenly with all that crowd pushing and pulling to get a view of the sanctum irritated but I kept my calm and pace to go and witness the sanctum of Lord Badrinath. A feeling of accomplishment with satisfaction felt through me. Both were desperate for food as we got out, again I suggested not to eat around the temple but to get out of the premises for food, he agreed. We came to the bus stand where I found a small shop selling food. I enquired about the rates and he said rice and dhal at 80 rupees. We agreed and he served us a fulfilling meal at that cost. It simply felt complete. Now that the clouds were starting to cover up I said it's better to find a place and pitch our tents before it's late. As I slowly peddled towards Mana, I was trying to get away from the crowd to camp when Ramesh found a spot. He checked the place and confirmed for camping but I was afraid of being chased later. However he said it'll be fine and I agreed. We camped and after about an hour it slowly starts to drizzle, and the drizzle continues without stopping. We tried our best to keep ourselves warm till the evening before heading out for some food. It has been about 12 days without alcohol and I suddenly got this urge to drink. Mana the last village was known for its home brew liquor that even Dhaval suggested that I try. I tried asking people when I was here last year but was denied, still I managed to ask the guy in the hotel where we went for dinner if he knew anything? He said, yes it can be arranged and it brought a lot of smiles in me. He said 150, we paid and I slowly started sipping as he prepared chowmin. The moment alcohol hit my body, I was lit. We packed our food with a plate of momos and sat in our tents to feast on the dinner. I loved the extra spicy food with the sip of liquor and bone freezing cold. Now the thermal layer was on and the layers of clothing multiplied. Ramesh went back to his tent while I feasted on more alcohol and smokes, unaware of the time as the drizzle continues, I cuddled myself into the sleeping bag.
The weather only got worse by the morning, leaving us with the only option, to continue to rest. Both agreed as there was no point going further since we will be stuck in the rains and if we get wet, we will be forced to take a room. Bugger Ramesh even after telling him a thousand times still had not bought a rain gear and it was the day that he was starting to regret. Fortunately he had an umbrella and denied the poncho that I offered him to use. We walked down to have some tea where we ate some paratas and bought some biscuits before coming back to the tents. We had an entire day but there wasn't much we could do in the dropping temperature. I continued to write as he continued to edit his videos as the drizzle continued, dropping snow on the surrounding peaks. Cuddled in our sleeping bags with all warm wears on, we sat in peace taking what the place had to offer.
After a good days rest we visited the Mana village before heading back to Hemkund Saheb. It was all downhill, making me feel like I was on a motorcycle. Because all these years I've only used a motorable transport and now to be on a bicycle it's really a different story going uphill. I stopped to wait for Ramesh, he took sometime to reach. He said he met another cyclist who was returning from Badrinath with a major repair needing on the bicycle making it impossible to pedal. We moved ahead and stopped at the Sadhu who stopped using for tea on the way ahead. The Sadhu called himself and aghori, who lived in Bangalore for about 5 years before he met with an accident leaving him paralyzed below the hip. He begged for a few years before he took up his sadhana to become an Aghori. Had no pain or suffering, was simply more confident than a millionaire and also happy. Living in a small shelter by the road, he lived with two dogs, a grown male and a female. As we continued to talk, this cyclist who couldn't pedal reaches. Turns out he was on the bicycle for the last two years and now he was returning after spending about two months at Satopant, One of the coldest regions behind badrinath. Dinakar Das, a lean guy at his 26 was a Brahmin, who looked to have a very different approach at life.
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