Chopta - Part 9

this lake is very very very beautiful. it is even more isolated than some of the lakes of sat tal, where we used to go on school picnics. there r some huts, which can provide u with snacks and even make arrangeemnts for u to stay. they r open round the year. so u can coem ehre in winters also.

this lake is mentioned in mahabharata. when the pandavas were very thirsty, they came ehre lookign for water. they were so thirsty that thye decided to drink the water first before answering yaksha's questions (who is the guardian of the lake). all 4 of em perished. it was only yudhishtir, who had the patience to answer the questions before drinking the water.

the climb was so steep, that i can emphatise with the pandavas. anyone will feel tired after climbing up to such a height and will head straight for the water.











this lake is very mysterious. it has no outlet or inlet. still, the water was very very clear. many many ppl have drowned here. and those who drown -- well, their body just goes inside the lake. then it turns up after at least 15 days. some ppl though, have managed to swim across the lake (including the ehad priest of tungnath temple)











on a clear day the reflection of chaukhamba can be clearly seen in its waters. however, today was not a clear afternoon. and we had reached the lake by around 4:30 pm. i guess i will come here sometimes in the winters.

there was also a small stall set up by the villagers. caters to ur need for snacks and refreshments. the forest guards also stay in a small tent near the lake.






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this mushroom pic was taken after a lot of trial and erro. it seems big in this, but it will be smaller than your thumbnail (at least it was smaller than mine).



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i decided to take a round of the lake. there isa small gmvn/forest guest house a lil way ahead. however, it was cloed. there was a tower over there, which can give u some very good views durign a clear day.

the lake was teeming with fish, as u can see in one of the pics above.

some of them were jumping out n trying to grab the dragonflies which were floating above the water. it was a game of hunter-prey.

i tried to take some close ups, but it was not possible. next time i guess i need to bring a camera with underwater photography feature enabled. :-)

took some more snaps. finally, it was time to leave .. 5:30 pm. :-(((((((((
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boo hoo hoo, i did not want to leave. but what to do, had to catch a flight on monday morning.

took a few more snaps before departing this wonderful place. the climb back was again a steep affair. i resembled a roly poly rock rolling down (got to control my weight!!!).

i met a guide in saari village. he gave me his card, etc.

we elft saari villaeg by around 7 pm. so it was a very eventful day overall, with 2 treks in the same day :-)).











we were not able to reach rudraprayag in the night. so we stopped at augustmuni, around 15 kms before rpg. i stayed in a small hotel next to the river. jagdish daaju's house was also in augustmuni, so he went ot his room. we left for rpg early next morning, at around 5:30 am.



from rpg, i had to take a jeep back to haridwar, which leave by 7:30. luckily, jagdish daaju had his jeep's "number" for today. so he was going to drive me all the way to haridwar now.

we reached haridwar by around 12:30 in the afternoon. now i had half a day free with me :-)). so i took an "expensive" room in the gmvn hotel nearby and slept like a log. in the evening i took a bus to delhi..actually, it left at around 11 pm. reached delhi by around 4:30 am. so was in the airport in plenty of tiem to catch the flight back to chennai.

phew!! thus ended a very very beautiful trip. will go there sometimes again..soon...pretty soon .. :-))))