Reaching the top to walk on the beautiful and vast 3km long Ali bugiyal — in Garhwali, bugiyal means high-altitude meadows — was not at all an easy task from Tolpani. With a heavy foot — as our shoes were completely soaked in rain the previous afternoon — and half-empty (or, half-full!) stomach, we trudged along the slippery road meandering through a forest where rays of sun were not seen very often.
Ali bugiyal was mesmerising. Never before did I walk on such a long stretch of greens with snow-capped mountains on the right and the huge meadows on the left. This time of the year is ideal for sheep, mules and cows to feed on the fresh grass and vegetation in the bugiyal and we met many cowboys and shepherds on the way to Baidini bugiyal. We spent one of the best mornings of our trek at Ali with the green natural carpet playing host to four urbane youth from a polluted city. At 12,500ft, you can feel the cool breeze — not smart wind — blowing from the Trishul or with a binocular you can set your eyes on the range of Himalayan peaks, names of which are also not known to the villagers with cattle.
Baidini is smaller than Ali. It lacks the vast expanse that Ali offers to the grazing cattle and awe-struck trekkers but Baidini is simply beautiful for its proximity to the peaks as well as for the odd shop selling food and charas (hashish) simultaneously! For Sabyasachi, it was the last stop, as he decided not to go uphill anymore for reasons best known to him. Lalaji and Naresh, the guy who took the shop on rent this summer — nobody takes the shop twice even if they make a good profit barring the Rs 6,000 rent for three months — gave him shelter and food for two days, of course that came at a steep price. We put up our tents at Baidini at a strategic place from where both Lalaji’s shop-cum-shelter and water source would be easily accessible. No sooner were the tents ready — around 2pm — than a smart hailstorm made us scurrying for cover, but three of us braved the shower to take up our two ice axes for making small ditches around the tents so that rainwater drains out quickly.
The evening at Baidini we spent as stargazers — something we can never enjoy in the smoggy atmosphere in Calcutta. The biting cold was not a deterrence to our night-out on the grassy slopes of Baidini. How many times have you seen Arundhati so bright near Basistha? Or the constellation called Cassiopeia has so many "hidden" stars? Even the best of planetarium could not have come up with the heavenly experience that we had in Baidini that night.
We woke up the next morning with the Chaukhamba and Neel Kanth peaks reflecting the first sunbeams of the day. After a breakfast with noodles, we took the snowy path to Pathar Nachani.
(to be continued...)
©Supratim Pal, 2009
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