Saturday, September 08, 2007

Back from VOF

Reached Delhi early this morning after travelling nearly 500 kms by road. It was really tiring. Got stuck in landslides at copuple of places on the way back. But overall it was a wonderful trip. We even made it to the sikh holy shrine of Hemkund Sahib located at 14000 feet. I also took a holy dip at the icy cold water of the hemkund lake. I walked for a total of 32 km over 3 days. Our legs are in bad shape and can barly walk.

The bad news is that it is still raining on the high areas of Garhwal. Landslides has ravaged the road at many palces. At some places the road is in such bad shape that the tense face of our driver made us realise the danger. The driver admited that while we were up in the hills trekking, he prayed that one stretch of the road between Pipolkoti and Jsohimath, which is sinking do not give way. Had it gave in, then we could have got stcuck for 10 / 15 days. Futher, on 5th Sept, a driver of a GMVN cab got killed on the spot when his vehcile was hit by a falling rock near Pandukesawar, halfway between Joshimath and Badrinath. That stretch of the road had also become very dangerous. Miraculously, other passengers of that Tata Sumo escaped unhurt as somehow the vehicle got into neutral while the driver got killed. This driver had been driving in the hills for more than 20 years. But who knows when death comes! Our driver was staying at Pandukeshwar and was witness to this incident. This had affected his morale.

I thanked god to have come back safely. I will not go that side again in near future.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I was waiting for this ... Wish you posted some pictures !