Day 2(Fri, 21st Oct): Life is Fragile.
Woke up early, I had a good sleep last night and was feeling great. Put all the stuff in the backpack and went to the hotel's food area for breakfast. That's when I met the hotel's owner Gopal Singh, better known by the name "Mr. Kirori Mal", pronounced as Karodi Mal, in his 60's, funny guy and very fond of alcohol. He had a habit of repeating his sentences and then at the same time confirming those from the recipients to check weather they were actually listening to him or not. He also runs an apple and shawl business in the neighboring village. After a brief conversation, I thanked him for providing all information on the trek and bid him goodbye. Janjehli is a very picturesque and tranquil village. This place is endowed with natural beauty, it's got plenty of water streams, lush green surroundings, huge oak, spruce and pine trees, apple orchards, corn fields, beautiful mountain backdrops and what not. A must visit for every nature lover. One can also reach Shikari Devi temple via Budha Kedar cave. But the locals strongly advised not to take that route alone as it goes through dense jungle, the route is tricky as there are multiple trails at some places and its very likely for an outsider like me to lose his way and wander deep into the forest. I started at 9:15 am, the plan was to stay on the road and not take the jungle shortcut which comes at Bhulla. The distance from Sandhya hotel to the temple is 17 kms by road which can be easily covered in 5/6 hours. It gets reduced by a couple of kms if you take the jungle shortcut. I knew I had plenty of time with me, I can go at a snail's pace and would still reach the temple before dark. It was a sunny day, perfect weather for a long trek. Besides, it was my Birthday, so I was very excited.
Some pics of the serene and beautiful Janjehli village.
Village school in Janjehli
Apple trees at both sides of the road... unfortunately the apple season was over in September, so these were all just bald trees.
Corn fields
The rocky path on the left is a short cut, this comes just a few kms after Janjehli. It saves only a couple of hundred meters but its beautiful, so I took it. Soon it would split into two paths, the left one goes to a village and the right one took me back on the road.
Hay is stored in these wooden structures to feed livestock in winters during periods of forage dormancy. They store enough to last 3-4 months.
Some of the last remaining apples, so close yet still out of reach.
I'm glad I took 4 of these and a pack of chips... because that's all I ate the entire day after a parantha and tea in the breakfast.
It seemed like the busiest time of the village, kids going to school, the local market was opened and lots of hustle bustle going on. But as soon as you cross the market, it starts to get calm, deserted and beautiful. The first 9 kms till Bhulla is actually a leisure walk on the road. Reached Bhulla after 3 hours of blissful walk. Bhulla is 8 kms from Janjehli, from here you have the option to continue to trek by the road(8kms) or take the jungle route, which is a couple of kms shorter. Just few hundred meters from Bhulla comes this spot, from where the jungle shortcut begins. Even though the plan was to stick to the road but at the same time there was an opportunity to experience the beauty of the jungle. Having experienced it already in my previous trek(first solo trek) to Prashar Lake, I found it to be very mysterious and fascinating. The calmness of the jungle, it's awe-inspiring beauty, the earthy smell, that surreal feeling of being in a different world altogether was hard to resist. Trekking in forests in the mountains is like an everlasting addiction, there's no alternative to this and there's absolutely no cure to this addiction. And, so I chose to take the jungle route.
Bhulla
Few hundred meters from Bhulla comes this point, the jungle short-cut begins as soon as you cross that tent.
Absorbing bright sunshine while relaxing on a huge boulder in the midst of the stream...feeling blissful.
There's a rocky trail a couple of hundred meters from Bhulla that goes all the way up to the temple stairs. But it gets confusing at few places as the trail disappears and then reappears at some distance and if you're not careful you can end up getting lost in the jungle, which is what happened with me. I was walking leisurely, clicking pictures, enjoying my time in nature, taking plenty of breaks, trying to absorb the nature's beauty and it's goodness all around me. Although, the technology has advanced so much, there're so many devices and cameras available that can help you capture most of the moments, I take hundreds of pictures and videos in all my trips. But pictures and videos will unfortunately never capture the entire experience. And I don't think that there is any device that can, there never was and there never will be. After about 5 kms, the trail ended, but I kept going ahead hoping that it would soon re-appear as it did twice earlier today. I decided that I would continue walking in this direction for a km or so and if I don't find the trail or any villager who can guide me then I'll return to this spot and try finding the trail again. Luckily, about fifteen minutes later, I saw a shepherd with a huge herd of sheep, goats and two dogs. As I went near the herd, one of the dogs came charging towards me, he was only a few feet away when the shepherd commanded him to stop. These tough mountain dogs(Gaddi) can become very aggressive when it comes to protecting the herd from predators or any other kind of threats. All my attempts to befriend him were futile. He kept a watchful eye on me and followed me until I distanced myself from the herd. I had a little conversation with the shepherd about the route. He told me that going back to find the trail would be a wastage of time as the temple was only 1.5 kms away. He advised to stick to this route as this is the shortest way and will take me straight to the temple without having to climb the 600 odd temple stairs. He told me to continue in this direction, there's a stream ahead, you take a left from there, then climb the hill and you will reach the temple in half an hour(by 15:15).
Sheep attack
His words inspired confidence in me and so I went ahead. I kept walking for around twenty minutes and there was no sign of any stream or perhaps there was one and I missed it. I paused for a moment and tried to recollect the route I covered in last twenty minutes and was sure that there wasn't any stream or any water body for that matter. I continued and was hoping to find the stream soon, 15 minutes later, the forest started to get dense. I checked time, it was 15:20, now this was concerning and frustrating because as per the shepherd I would have reached the temple by 15:15. I thought of going back but then I had covered a lot of distance, there was still plenty of daylight left, so I decided to continue for another 10 mins and if I don't find any stream I'll then head back. Soon I found a water body, it was a small pond, dirty and stinking, covered under the thick shade of trees, barred from sunlight. I thought the shepherd must be refering to this one, this has to be it. There was no trail, just dense forest all around and a thick cover of trees above me with little to no light coming through them. I decided to keep walking on the left side of the pond, half an hour passed and there was no sign of temple, of any trail, or of any human. I paused for a moment and looked 360 degrees around me, there was just deep dense forest as far as my eyes could see and it looked the same in all directions, it was then I realized that I've been lost. The forest that looked all beautiful and fascinating just an hour back was now scary and spooky. I started thinking, the route I've taken from the pond have led me to nowhere and that I should not continue with it. But choosing another direction was the hardest part, it was like a puzzle impossible to figure out. When you're in such a situation, you get paranoid and panicked, your whole thought process just diminishes. There was still two hours of daylight left, so I tried convincing myself that everything's going to be alright. So I randomly picked a direction and began walking.
About 20 mins later I reached a dead end. Now, the only option was to climb the hill in front of me. I thought that once I climb this hill, it should give me a clear picture and I should be able to see the temple. So I started climbing, it wasn't an easy climb, it was steep and the grass was slippery. I had to use both my hands and feet most of the time. The backpack which merely weighed 8 kgs felt like a ton and was affecting the climb. There were two close calls, where it was nearly a vertical climb, my feet lost grip and I got dragged a few feet below. Somehow I managed to grab the grass just in time on both occasions and miraculously the grass was strong enough to hold my weight. Because if it had broken, I would have fallen 30-40 feet down below and that could have proved fatal. I finally reached the top but was tired and breathless. And the views from the top were disheartening, it was just a small green patch of land followed by another big hill. Time was 17:00 and soon it would start to get dark, so there was no point climbing any further. Besides, I didn't have the energy left for another steep climb. I was so exhausted that I couldn't stand anymore, I sat on the ground and leaned my back against the tree trunk. For the next 20 mins or so, I was literally drifting in and out of consciousness. There were all sorts of negative thoughts rumbling in my head. "is today my last day on this beautiful earth"... "am i really going to die on my birthday"... "at least I'm dying doing something I love, in my favourite place, Himachal, not many people are lucky to go this way"..."God, if I won't make it out alive today, please take good care of my family"...At that moment, I realized that life is so fragile, I was enjoying the nature's beauty just a few hours ago and now here I'm waiting for my certain death. I looked around, to soak in the nature's beauty one last time. And that's when I saw the Himalayan red fox, it was staring at me from behind the bush just a few feet away. It kept staring for a few seconds and then disappeared. How amazing that was, even in all this chaos, it brought a smile on my face. Sunlight was long gone, the silence of the forest surrounded me and there was dark leaden sky above me. I knew there was still half an hour of light left, I must get up, get down this hill and try finding my way to back to civilization. But the descent was way too scarier than the climb, it was a pretty steep decline and was impossible to walk straight down that hill. So I had to slide myself down, and in the process ended up wounding both my hands.
These pics were taken when I was lost in the jungle.
By the time I descended down it was pitch dark. I did not carry the torch, a HUGE mistake and had to rely on my phone's torch which only had 20% battery left, so I had to use it wisely. I started walking in a random directon, aimlessly and without any hope. After about half an hour I got near a stream and decided to walk beside it. I encountered many small streams earlier today, in and around Janjehli, so I thought if I just keep following this stream, it would take me to some village nearby. But Half an hour later, my body started giving up, I was breathing heavily, I could barely walk and had to stop every few meters to catch my breath. I was exhausted beyond words, it was my mind that decided to stay on and that's what kept me going. I was very dehydrated and desperately in need of water but I had exhausted my water supply hours ago. The source of water was right beside me, generally, the water from the streams is safe to drink, if away from human settlements. But in that darkness, it was impossible for me to know if the water was actually good. Nevertheless, I filled my bottle with it, and would only drink it as a last resort. I must have walked another couple of kms when I spotted this tiny white house and just the sight of it gave me so much relief, you breathe easier just knowing that the worst is all behind you. Soon, I reached the house but it was locked from outside. Just when I was about to break the lock, I saw a high beam of light few hundred meters away, it was coming from a truck. I turned the phone's torch on, started waving towards it and yelled my lungs out. The driver saw me, he slowed and seemed to be stopping, but then accelerated and the truck finally came to a halt after about 100 meters, just before a tented dhaba. I covered that last stretch and reached the dhaba around 8 pm, gravely exhausted and shivering in my own sweat. The dhaba is located at the beginning of the temple stairs. The woman(Ram Pyari) who runs the dhaba is truly an angel. She gave me food, she gave me shelter, she took care of me like her own child. If it wasn't for her I probably wouldn't have survived the night by myself. She stays there from March till November and has helped many like me before.
The white house I spotted, later found out that it was actually a water tank house, about 300 meters below the dhaba.
The rocky trail next to the water tank that took me to the dhaba.
This tent was my shelter that night, where I probably had the best sleep of my life, I slept well over 10 hours, I probably haven't slept this much since I was a child.
Woke up early, I had a good sleep last night and was feeling great. Put all the stuff in the backpack and went to the hotel's food area for breakfast. That's when I met the hotel's owner Gopal Singh, better known by the name "Mr. Kirori Mal", pronounced as Karodi Mal, in his 60's, funny guy and very fond of alcohol. He had a habit of repeating his sentences and then at the same time confirming those from the recipients to check weather they were actually listening to him or not. He also runs an apple and shawl business in the neighboring village. After a brief conversation, I thanked him for providing all information on the trek and bid him goodbye. Janjehli is a very picturesque and tranquil village. This place is endowed with natural beauty, it's got plenty of water streams, lush green surroundings, huge oak, spruce and pine trees, apple orchards, corn fields, beautiful mountain backdrops and what not. A must visit for every nature lover. One can also reach Shikari Devi temple via Budha Kedar cave. But the locals strongly advised not to take that route alone as it goes through dense jungle, the route is tricky as there are multiple trails at some places and its very likely for an outsider like me to lose his way and wander deep into the forest. I started at 9:15 am, the plan was to stay on the road and not take the jungle shortcut which comes at Bhulla. The distance from Sandhya hotel to the temple is 17 kms by road which can be easily covered in 5/6 hours. It gets reduced by a couple of kms if you take the jungle shortcut. I knew I had plenty of time with me, I can go at a snail's pace and would still reach the temple before dark. It was a sunny day, perfect weather for a long trek. Besides, it was my Birthday, so I was very excited.
Some pics of the serene and beautiful Janjehli village.
Locals cover the apple trees to protect them from hail during rains and from snow and frost in winters.
It seemed like the busiest time of the village, kids going to school, the local market was opened and lots of hustle bustle going on. But as soon as you cross the market, it starts to get calm, deserted and beautiful. The first 9 kms till Bhulla is actually a leisure walk on the road. Reached Bhulla after 3 hours of blissful walk. Bhulla is 8 kms from Janjehli, from here you have the option to continue to trek by the road(8kms) or take the jungle route, which is a couple of kms shorter. Just few hundred meters from Bhulla comes this spot, from where the jungle shortcut begins. Even though the plan was to stick to the road but at the same time there was an opportunity to experience the beauty of the jungle. Having experienced it already in my previous trek(first solo trek) to Prashar Lake, I found it to be very mysterious and fascinating. The calmness of the jungle, it's awe-inspiring beauty, the earthy smell, that surreal feeling of being in a different world altogether was hard to resist. Trekking in forests in the mountains is like an everlasting addiction, there's no alternative to this and there's absolutely no cure to this addiction. And, so I chose to take the jungle route.
There's a rocky trail a couple of hundred meters from Bhulla that goes all the way up to the temple stairs. But it gets confusing at few places as the trail disappears and then reappears at some distance and if you're not careful you can end up getting lost in the jungle, which is what happened with me. I was walking leisurely, clicking pictures, enjoying my time in nature, taking plenty of breaks, trying to absorb the nature's beauty and it's goodness all around me. Although, the technology has advanced so much, there're so many devices and cameras available that can help you capture most of the moments, I take hundreds of pictures and videos in all my trips. But pictures and videos will unfortunately never capture the entire experience. And I don't think that there is any device that can, there never was and there never will be. After about 5 kms, the trail ended, but I kept going ahead hoping that it would soon re-appear as it did twice earlier today. I decided that I would continue walking in this direction for a km or so and if I don't find the trail or any villager who can guide me then I'll return to this spot and try finding the trail again. Luckily, about fifteen minutes later, I saw a shepherd with a huge herd of sheep, goats and two dogs. As I went near the herd, one of the dogs came charging towards me, he was only a few feet away when the shepherd commanded him to stop. These tough mountain dogs(Gaddi) can become very aggressive when it comes to protecting the herd from predators or any other kind of threats. All my attempts to befriend him were futile. He kept a watchful eye on me and followed me until I distanced myself from the herd. I had a little conversation with the shepherd about the route. He told me that going back to find the trail would be a wastage of time as the temple was only 1.5 kms away. He advised to stick to this route as this is the shortest way and will take me straight to the temple without having to climb the 600 odd temple stairs. He told me to continue in this direction, there's a stream ahead, you take a left from there, then climb the hill and you will reach the temple in half an hour(by 15:15).
The shepherd I met after losing the trail.
The most unfriendly dog I ever met, he tried attacking me twice...luckily his owner was there to protect me on both occasions.
He followed me everywhere...even when i went to see this newborn baby goat... he just stood there and kept growling at me, warning me to stay away from the baby.
This was the other dog, he looked old and friendly.
His words inspired confidence in me and so I went ahead. I kept walking for around twenty minutes and there was no sign of any stream or perhaps there was one and I missed it. I paused for a moment and tried to recollect the route I covered in last twenty minutes and was sure that there wasn't any stream or any water body for that matter. I continued and was hoping to find the stream soon, 15 minutes later, the forest started to get dense. I checked time, it was 15:20, now this was concerning and frustrating because as per the shepherd I would have reached the temple by 15:15. I thought of going back but then I had covered a lot of distance, there was still plenty of daylight left, so I decided to continue for another 10 mins and if I don't find any stream I'll then head back. Soon I found a water body, it was a small pond, dirty and stinking, covered under the thick shade of trees, barred from sunlight. I thought the shepherd must be refering to this one, this has to be it. There was no trail, just dense forest all around and a thick cover of trees above me with little to no light coming through them. I decided to keep walking on the left side of the pond, half an hour passed and there was no sign of temple, of any trail, or of any human. I paused for a moment and looked 360 degrees around me, there was just deep dense forest as far as my eyes could see and it looked the same in all directions, it was then I realized that I've been lost. The forest that looked all beautiful and fascinating just an hour back was now scary and spooky. I started thinking, the route I've taken from the pond have led me to nowhere and that I should not continue with it. But choosing another direction was the hardest part, it was like a puzzle impossible to figure out. When you're in such a situation, you get paranoid and panicked, your whole thought process just diminishes. There was still two hours of daylight left, so I tried convincing myself that everything's going to be alright. So I randomly picked a direction and began walking.
About 20 mins later I reached a dead end. Now, the only option was to climb the hill in front of me. I thought that once I climb this hill, it should give me a clear picture and I should be able to see the temple. So I started climbing, it wasn't an easy climb, it was steep and the grass was slippery. I had to use both my hands and feet most of the time. The backpack which merely weighed 8 kgs felt like a ton and was affecting the climb. There were two close calls, where it was nearly a vertical climb, my feet lost grip and I got dragged a few feet below. Somehow I managed to grab the grass just in time on both occasions and miraculously the grass was strong enough to hold my weight. Because if it had broken, I would have fallen 30-40 feet down below and that could have proved fatal. I finally reached the top but was tired and breathless. And the views from the top were disheartening, it was just a small green patch of land followed by another big hill. Time was 17:00 and soon it would start to get dark, so there was no point climbing any further. Besides, I didn't have the energy left for another steep climb. I was so exhausted that I couldn't stand anymore, I sat on the ground and leaned my back against the tree trunk. For the next 20 mins or so, I was literally drifting in and out of consciousness. There were all sorts of negative thoughts rumbling in my head. "is today my last day on this beautiful earth"... "am i really going to die on my birthday"... "at least I'm dying doing something I love, in my favourite place, Himachal, not many people are lucky to go this way"..."God, if I won't make it out alive today, please take good care of my family"...At that moment, I realized that life is so fragile, I was enjoying the nature's beauty just a few hours ago and now here I'm waiting for my certain death. I looked around, to soak in the nature's beauty one last time. And that's when I saw the Himalayan red fox, it was staring at me from behind the bush just a few feet away. It kept staring for a few seconds and then disappeared. How amazing that was, even in all this chaos, it brought a smile on my face. Sunlight was long gone, the silence of the forest surrounded me and there was dark leaden sky above me. I knew there was still half an hour of light left, I must get up, get down this hill and try finding my way to back to civilization. But the descent was way too scarier than the climb, it was a pretty steep decline and was impossible to walk straight down that hill. So I had to slide myself down, and in the process ended up wounding both my hands.
These pics were taken when I was lost in the jungle.
By the time I descended down it was pitch dark. I did not carry the torch, a HUGE mistake and had to rely on my phone's torch which only had 20% battery left, so I had to use it wisely. I started walking in a random directon, aimlessly and without any hope. After about half an hour I got near a stream and decided to walk beside it. I encountered many small streams earlier today, in and around Janjehli, so I thought if I just keep following this stream, it would take me to some village nearby. But Half an hour later, my body started giving up, I was breathing heavily, I could barely walk and had to stop every few meters to catch my breath. I was exhausted beyond words, it was my mind that decided to stay on and that's what kept me going. I was very dehydrated and desperately in need of water but I had exhausted my water supply hours ago. The source of water was right beside me, generally, the water from the streams is safe to drink, if away from human settlements. But in that darkness, it was impossible for me to know if the water was actually good. Nevertheless, I filled my bottle with it, and would only drink it as a last resort. I must have walked another couple of kms when I spotted this tiny white house and just the sight of it gave me so much relief, you breathe easier just knowing that the worst is all behind you. Soon, I reached the house but it was locked from outside. Just when I was about to break the lock, I saw a high beam of light few hundred meters away, it was coming from a truck. I turned the phone's torch on, started waving towards it and yelled my lungs out. The driver saw me, he slowed and seemed to be stopping, but then accelerated and the truck finally came to a halt after about 100 meters, just before a tented dhaba. I covered that last stretch and reached the dhaba around 8 pm, gravely exhausted and shivering in my own sweat. The dhaba is located at the beginning of the temple stairs. The woman(Ram Pyari) who runs the dhaba is truly an angel. She gave me food, she gave me shelter, she took care of me like her own child. If it wasn't for her I probably wouldn't have survived the night by myself. She stays there from March till November and has helped many like me before.
