Part 2 - Fun at Munsyari
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day 3
the next day, to our horror, we discovered that we had forgotten our camera charger in chaukori. a frentic phone call to the manager of chaukori trc confirmed our worst fears. it was poor ganga ram who then went back all the way to chaukori to get it..took him the whole day. we then went to check out maser kund before lunch. you have to walk a km up on the main road in front of the trc, then take a path to the forest, where there is another km of walk and u reach the small lake. it is actually 2 lakes, which become one in the monsoon. a pretty peaceful place...u can go here and have a nap on a sunny afternoon. so quiet that the only sound is fromt he rustling of the dry leaves blown up by the wind and the chirping of the birds. there were very few dry leaves in the lake. it is said that the birds around this lake have made it their duty to keep the lake clean. so if any leave falls, they will swoop in and clean it up.
after the trip to the lake, it was back to bilju restaurant for a lunch of steamed momos. their baby daughter aarti again entertained us. she was teasing smira that she had a nath (nose jewellery), whereas we did not have any. lunch over, we got a call from ganga ram that he had found the missing charger and was on his way back from chaukori. so i called up laxman and we decided to move to seraghat. we gathered the rest of the people..bhim, nath, kalyan, kushal, the tents, arranged for the jeep, left 50% of our stuff (including laptop) in munsyari and by evening, were ready to head off to seraghat.
the road from munsyari to seraghat is awesome and not for the faint hearted. u have stunning views of the gori ganga valley. when u start from munsyari, u cannot spot the river coz it is really steep and more than a 1000 metres below. after about an hour's drive can u see the gori river. the hillsides are pretty steep and offer an amazing view...something whichu will not get anywhere else in the world. the mountains here are double the size of the biggest peaks in the alps. except for south america, no other continent can boast of peaks that are as tall and majestic as the ones in the johar valley (or in numerous other places in the himalayas). the panchchuli peaks were covered with clouds today...a sign of the things to come (snow!!!!).
the road to madkot passes via daranti, from where a small chau-butia (footpath) diverges from the road and heads upriver. it goes towards lilam village and ultimately to milam village..the last village before the origination point (udgam) of gori ganga. the johar valley is divided into 3 parts - malla johar (upper johar), talla johar (lower johar) and goriphat (the area where the gori meets the kali). munsyari, madkot, seraghat would lie in the talla johar region. the road takes many twists and turns with some spectacular scenery. finally, we reach the bottom of the valley, next to the river bed and then follow the river for some time, on its true right hand side. just before madkot, there is a bridge to cross the gori river. there were 8 of us in the jeep -> 1 driver, 5 guides and the 2 of us. Laxman, one of the guides, bought two chickens for dinner. We also bought a stove for the journey from madkot. finally, we were on our way to seraghat, which is around 5 kms ahead of madkot. in madkot, the piyushani river, which is coming down from the panchchulis, meets the gori river. in seraghat, another small river coming down from the panchchulis meets the kali.
laxman's sister's family was waiting for us in seraghat. he had informed them of our arrival and they had cooked some good pahadi dinner for us. we were served with nimbu (lemon), tomatoes, mooli, onions. this was followed by chicken, vegetables, daal with roti. the food was actually made on fire and coals, so it tasted delicious. we also took a small room in the only hotel in the village. it was for 100 bucks and had electricity supply. we also took some candles in case the power went out. the hotel also had a small loo + bathroom made in the olden style - constructed outside the house.
panchchuli peaks from munsyari
evening view
ganga ram testing the tents
panchchuli peaks
moon rise
smira going on a walk
moon rise again
cute girl Aarti at the bilju restaurant. she kept us entertained while her parents made the momos
the 5 peaks of the panchchulis
munsyari bus stop
chilling out at the KMVN tourist rest centre garden
me in from of the kmvn trc
Aarti playing with her precious toy
On the way to maser kund
Laxman and Smira taking a break on the way
Approaching Maser Kund
Smira at maser kund
sunlight filtering through
moi at maser kund
ganga ram's kids and their friend
my guide's pet dog
Home - Trip to East Kumaon and Nepal - Fun at Munsyari
Home - Trip to East Kumaon and Nepal - Fun at Munsyari
day 3
the next day, to our horror, we discovered that we had forgotten our camera charger in chaukori. a frentic phone call to the manager of chaukori trc confirmed our worst fears. it was poor ganga ram who then went back all the way to chaukori to get it..took him the whole day. we then went to check out maser kund before lunch. you have to walk a km up on the main road in front of the trc, then take a path to the forest, where there is another km of walk and u reach the small lake. it is actually 2 lakes, which become one in the monsoon. a pretty peaceful place...u can go here and have a nap on a sunny afternoon. so quiet that the only sound is fromt he rustling of the dry leaves blown up by the wind and the chirping of the birds. there were very few dry leaves in the lake. it is said that the birds around this lake have made it their duty to keep the lake clean. so if any leave falls, they will swoop in and clean it up.
after the trip to the lake, it was back to bilju restaurant for a lunch of steamed momos. their baby daughter aarti again entertained us. she was teasing smira that she had a nath (nose jewellery), whereas we did not have any. lunch over, we got a call from ganga ram that he had found the missing charger and was on his way back from chaukori. so i called up laxman and we decided to move to seraghat. we gathered the rest of the people..bhim, nath, kalyan, kushal, the tents, arranged for the jeep, left 50% of our stuff (including laptop) in munsyari and by evening, were ready to head off to seraghat.
the road from munsyari to seraghat is awesome and not for the faint hearted. u have stunning views of the gori ganga valley. when u start from munsyari, u cannot spot the river coz it is really steep and more than a 1000 metres below. after about an hour's drive can u see the gori river. the hillsides are pretty steep and offer an amazing view...something whichu will not get anywhere else in the world. the mountains here are double the size of the biggest peaks in the alps. except for south america, no other continent can boast of peaks that are as tall and majestic as the ones in the johar valley (or in numerous other places in the himalayas). the panchchuli peaks were covered with clouds today...a sign of the things to come (snow!!!!).
the road to madkot passes via daranti, from where a small chau-butia (footpath) diverges from the road and heads upriver. it goes towards lilam village and ultimately to milam village..the last village before the origination point (udgam) of gori ganga. the johar valley is divided into 3 parts - malla johar (upper johar), talla johar (lower johar) and goriphat (the area where the gori meets the kali). munsyari, madkot, seraghat would lie in the talla johar region. the road takes many twists and turns with some spectacular scenery. finally, we reach the bottom of the valley, next to the river bed and then follow the river for some time, on its true right hand side. just before madkot, there is a bridge to cross the gori river. there were 8 of us in the jeep -> 1 driver, 5 guides and the 2 of us. Laxman, one of the guides, bought two chickens for dinner. We also bought a stove for the journey from madkot. finally, we were on our way to seraghat, which is around 5 kms ahead of madkot. in madkot, the piyushani river, which is coming down from the panchchulis, meets the gori river. in seraghat, another small river coming down from the panchchulis meets the kali.
laxman's sister's family was waiting for us in seraghat. he had informed them of our arrival and they had cooked some good pahadi dinner for us. we were served with nimbu (lemon), tomatoes, mooli, onions. this was followed by chicken, vegetables, daal with roti. the food was actually made on fire and coals, so it tasted delicious. we also took a small room in the only hotel in the village. it was for 100 bucks and had electricity supply. we also took some candles in case the power went out. the hotel also had a small loo + bathroom made in the olden style - constructed outside the house.
panchchuli peaks from munsyari evening view ganga ram testing the tentspanchchuli peaks
moon rise
smira going on a walk
moon rise again cute girl Aarti at the bilju restaurant. she kept us entertained while her parents made the momos the 5 peaks of the panchchulis munsyari bus stop chilling out at the KMVN tourist rest centre gardenme in from of the kmvn trc
Aarti playing with her precious toy
On the way to maser kund Laxman and Smira taking a break on the wayApproaching Maser Kund
Smira at maser kund sunlight filtering through moi at maser kundganga ram's kids and their friend
my guide's pet dogHome - Trip to East Kumaon and Nepal - Fun at Munsyari
posted by Prashant Joshi at 2:48 AM
3 Comments:
nice photos. it has reminded me of my
native place pithoragarh. i miss it
Great shots guy my how I wish O was there now!
Feeling homesick at England.Want to return to my roots. I envy you!
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