Monday, March 24, 2008

It was the Holi weekend...and yet another weekend with 3 days of no work to do!!!!!!!!!!... What best could hav happened other than NAG TIBBA.... the thing that really made me think of the trek is the name itself... NAG TIBBA
The famous Nagtibba according to old sayings, is said to be the domicile of the Nag Devta. The shepherds and the local resident of the Aglar Valley near Jaunpur worshiped the Nag Devta.
Situated in the valley at the bank of river Algar, Nagtibba lies at an elevation of 3048 meters above sea level where you can have a spectacular view of glaciers. It also provides a picturesque and captivating view of the majestic Himalayas, the hill station of Mussoorie, beautiful Doon Valley

I started from Delhi ISBT Thursday evening boarding a bus to Dehradun...reached there early morning...me and one of my colleauge we picked up the tent, booked the taxi all the way upto Panthwari... the base were we started our trekking from....Kempty fall is en-route...After havin nice paranthas at the Fauzi Dhaba...by evenin we reached Panthwari...there we met our Guide ANIL...he said..climbing today wont be possible and said we can start early tommorow...He promised us to take us uphill the trekkers way... and to the Tals on the ridge and get us down form the Hunters (Shikari's) way...He was a Local Hunter and possessed licencensed gun....So all set we were waitin to explore the Nag Tibba and Surroundings...........

Jus before that....Did yu know that you can see Nag Tibba from Mussourie!!!!!!!... Check out the highest peak in the next two pictures taken just befor entering Mussourie is NAG TIBBA... the Ultimate destination for that weekend....Later that day...Anil took us for a stroll around the village...it seems there were seven villages around Panthwari and all gearing up for the Holi celeberation the other day!!!!!!!!Now thats the man who feeded us with some excellent pahadi food.....and also provided us accomodation in his house!!!!!!!!!!!

It was gettin dark after capturin the beautiful sunset from the roof top of his house...we had our dinner and off to sleep to wake up early next mornin.......ZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzZZZZZZZZ!!!!!!!!After the good night sleep...we were up early and started early...as planned we had about 20-25 km to cover in a day.... 9km trekkin up...some 4 km all along the ridge and nother 8-9 km climbin down.... we already started climbing up wen we say the first ray of sun....Thats me and Anil...our guide...gathering some breath!!!!!!!!!!!!!This is my Best picture of the lot.... Check it out.....its so damn beautiful...........Yeah....following would be the creature who accompanied me...yess... yet another creature... remeber the earlier one...Noo!!!!!!!!! Forget it...thats Hriday with Anil!!!!!!!!!!We continued walkin up hill...good fun that was!!!!!!!!!!We saw a lot of Rhododendron flowers blossoming on our way.....Yu find them only at heights!!Now Then...The next pic is a Panaromic view of the ridge on the other side were Anil promised us to get down from...and Trust me...he kept his promise... Do click the picture to Enlarge it!!!!!!!!!!!!We were now walking into dense forest... full of Deers, Wild Boar's, Leapords and Himalayan Tigers as the locals claim......Did yu see that Ridge...yeah thats where we gonna go!!!!!!!!After about 3 hrs of climbing we reached to the Forest Rest House....and a few 100 meters away was the NAG DEVTA temple!!!!!!And there you go...atlast...in the canopy of green trees was the Nag Devta temple......Small but beautiful!!!!!!!Tat water from that well is considerd holi...as holi as the water from the Ganges!!!!!!The view of the whole place....a Panorama......and the ridge were we were heading next!!!!!!!!!!!We had taken Maggi upstairs to cook....yu see it tastes different up in the hillss.... i mean Yummmy!!!!!!!!!!!!After a small nap....we were all set...we left for the Taals on the ridge... there were 2 of them... after which we were gonna descend down hill............Did yu see that....in the picture...that white house is the same rest house where we were.... i was on the other side of the ridge now.... and the ridge tat yu see in that picture...is where we came up from.... Long walk...isnt it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!The Canopy of Treess....Now tats one of the taals... hunters come here in the night time.... they say they hav their best chances of spoting a kill here!!!!!!!!!!!!!We came all the way from there to here....relly long walk!!!!!!!!!!!!!Now thats facing the Dback of the Doon Valley....And thats Taal number 2... quite similar they are...arent they......Now thats wat will tell you better about my trail..... Do enlarge the next picture...to get a better view.....iTs magnificient....Isnt it!!!!!!!!!!While we were walkin along the ridge...we met the the Gujjars...or the Shepard’s ..who were here with their goats... We spent some time with them..in between these magnificent breed of animal... Their service just got better when they offered us cup of tea..made of goats milk.... Refreshin that was!!!!!!!!!! a QUESTION... Ladies n Gents.... Check out the next pic and answer me...

Which of the two creatures is more SMARTER??????????

Your options (a) Hriday (b) Mastiff dogSoon we started descending down the Steep way...had a lil sprain in my knees...but it was all worth it!!!!!!!!!!Later in the evening when we trekked down quite some distance....coming out of the forest canopy...we realized... " God Damn it.....Its gonna rain.....RUN RUN!!!!!!!!!!".....And the Scary Clouds...along with the Chilly winds....But fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!The wonderful terrace fields jus got greener as the drops of heaven started pourin down.....the mother earth smelled like she would...as if she was waitin to welcome the Rain God back to her!!Slowly but surly ....Panthwari was in our sight....when the rain heavied..we took shelter in one of the Shepard's house.... Wen almost down!!!!!!....I took this picture......yu see the left spur...we climbed up from there...went round all over the ridge....and came back where i was standing from....amazing fun....

Once down...we had nice bath...yummy dinner...and a beautiful sleep after the tired day!!!

Nex day we started back for Dehradun ==> followed to delhi...Dint wanted to come back.... पर यह कम्बक्त नौकरी ....... Damn dint wanted to come back to earth from heaven....But Life!!!

The beautiful Journey back home!!!!!!!!!KEMPTY FALL

The beautiful Journey...a wonderful weekend....a tremendous trek....and a superb place....it came to end and i was a part of it.....i would say yet another short story of my life....which i ll never ever forget.... the dense forest..the wonderful people...the amazing food...

Sometimes you tend to find heaven up there in the sky... but its here on our mother earth itself... only thing one needs to do...is get out of their comfort zone...travel a lil bit...and Explore the MIGHTY HIMALAYAS....

With All Respect Tanzeem Patankar