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Yatra : Day 7 - Second day Trek - Destination Budhhi

Day 7 - Gala to Budhhi- 04 July 2008
Started very early from Gala (about 5 a.m.) after having a cup of hot Bournvita. Today's destination was Budhhi about 21 Km trek along the river Kali.It was a longest trek not so difficult but risky due to slippery rocks in on the way. There is a strategic reason behind this trek being long. Between Gala and Budhhi there is a place called Malpa. There used to be a camp and night halt at Malpa till 1998. In 1998, one of the batches who were sleeping at Malpa, were buried alive in a massive lanslide. Due to heavy landslide, the all Yatris and many other of nearby villages were buried alive. (Search for "Malpa lanslide"). Famous entertainment personality Ms. Protima Bedi was also part of that.There is local legend among local folks that Yatris who were part of group were carrying beer and drinking on the way to Pilgrimage including young men and women and so Lord Shiva punished them. Nonetheless, because of risk of landslides in that region of valley, no night halts for temporary shelters/camps are used now between Gala and Budhhi. In fact Gala and Budhi camps are also constructed in a way where they are either on rocks or protected by solid rocks so that they are not impacted by any mishaps like "Malpa Landslide".
In this trek segment, there were overhanging rocks with water flowing on top and we had to walk under it with water dripping inside (it is like walking through and under waterfall). There were streams to cross with no bridges on to it meaning we had to walk through it in ankle to knee deep water. Some places, one could touch the river. Many beautiful scenes and waterfalls. Had Breakfast and lunch at KMVN arranged hotels which served hot food as and when we arrived there. For Local hotels this is a main business for the year as other times apart from local people very few tourist would pass through and utilize their services.
Morning trek consisted of ascending down 4444 (four thousand four hundred forty four steps) to reach Lakhanpur for breakfast. These were not steps really but stone path built by PWD (Public Works Department - it is responsible for building and maintaining rod there also). Since it was a steep descend on rocks and stones, it felt like steps which someone said was equivalent to 4444 steps. I did not have patience to count. Breakfast consisted of Poori and curry made of Aloo and Chana.
Forenoon trek consisted of trek from Lakhanpur to Malpa. We had lunch at one local Dhaba at Malpa. Saw the accident site also there. Some of us stopped there and prayed for the departed souls in 1998 accident with 2 minutes silence at that place. Lunch was plain Roti, rice, Dal, and Aloo curry.
All provisions needed by Local folks are carried by horses, ponies or Goat. Goat can carry between 15 to 20 kgs. Pony can carry between 20 to 50 kgs. Horse can carry up to 100 kgs of weight.
Lot of trek path were steep on this day. At steep places, one can not use horse or Pony due to risk of toppling down. There were narrow pathways and deep gorge of Kali at places. If one sees the depth of it from sitting at height on Horse or Pony, it looks/feels more dangerous.
While walking on the narrow pathways, it is always recommended to walk on the inner edge towards hill (away for river gorge). While going on a pony/horse, if it is ascending then sit forward and if it is descending then betn backwards. That way both horse and rider are balanced and out of toppling danger. While going on a pony/horse, it is recommended to get down once in a while and walk for some distance. That keeps the blood moving in the legs otherwise blood especially near thighs gets kind of frozen.
From Malpa to Budhhi, it was long trek. It was real endurance test. We passed through couple of villages on he way. Each village consists of 5-6 families to 30-35 families. Last couple of Kms were so unbearable that I had to rest every ten steps. I was so tired that I got fever and dysentery in the evening and next day. Doctor and Liasion Officer, suggested everyone to have a crocin or disprin before sleeping. I took medicines for fever and retired to bed early with no dinner. Most of the folks had their shoes wet making it harder for them to walk. (I remembered warning from one of the folks in Delhi that whatever happens, do not let the shoes get wet even if it meant walking barefoot in the water with shoes on your head and/or hand). One of the ladies with us (oldest in age in the group. She was about 72 years old) had to be almost carried by two able bodied young persons in later part of trek. She could not be made to travel on horse/pony due to the nature of way and also she could not sit/hold herself due to tiredness. Later on, she stayed on at Budhhi without going further and returned with a returning batch of Yatris.
There was a water propelled flour mill at Budhhi and later at Gunji also. Budhhi is a big village and very old village. It has post office also. Postal department carries post on foot/horses due to lack of roads till Budhhi. Budhhi is the last place where people stay in villages throughout the year. Beyond Budhhi typically people do not stay in winter and half of the year due to heavy snow in the area. They come down to Bhudhhi or villages at lower heights till Dharchula in winters. PWD also has a guest house and office in Budhhi. On asking why roads are not being built, there were many answers. Local people say that PWD is corrupt and they eat away government grant. Another set of folks said that forest department is not letting the roads built as they are saying that it will destroy the ecology in the area including deers present in natural habitat. It was told that a court case is going on between PWD and environmentalist regarding building of the road in the area. In any case, sufferers are Local population and ITBP. They have to manage on foot. There are very basic or none medical facilities available. We met a women who was asking whether our doctor is carrying medicines with respect to abortion. She said that her sister had an abortion at advanced stage and there is no doctor or related facility available to give her relief. She is not in a position to walk. Carrying her on a stretcher till the nearest hospital (which would be Dharchula) is not affordable to them. For the local folks, life has not changed for years. They said that it has not really changed since 1960.
Local crops cultivated are Potato, turmeric, "Sarson", Spinach, Rice and maize.Terrains are uneven so most of the farming is manual. My porter told me that there was a scheme from govt that poor families not having any land would be give about 10 nalis of land (Local way of measuring land - I do not know the conversion). There are some incentives and schemes by government run forest departement, agriculture department and animals husbandry department.
In Budhhi we got our luggage (We had not got it in Gala due to various landslide problems and logistics issues. Without landslides also perhaps luggage is not made available in Gala). Luggage travels on a separate set of Ponies operated by contractors under KMVN supervision. Luggage is counted and numbered. System is much more rudimentary that airlines luggage system. So there is always a chance of luggage not reaching destination at right time or getting lost on the way. This is also due to sometimes misfortune of Pony carrying luggage falling in the river or getting lost on the way (Pony wanders through forest for food and gets lost). We heard a story where a pony with luggage fell into river and crossed over to other side of river. The luggage it was carrying got lost in river. To retrieve Pony, its owner had to somehow cross the river and get the Pony back. By the way other side of river is Nepal and it is not possible to cross the river due to flow of water in that. There is one or two rope-way which is used to cross for such situation. I got my luggage intact with no water seeped in thought it was wet and dirty from outside. It seemed like it has been fallen into mud and water has been poured on to it (it would have traveled under the water fall as we did). There were few whose luggage was not packed water tight manner and it became wet partially of fully. I remember a gentleman whose all clothes, spare shoes, eatables etc. got wet. he had to throw the eatables somehow manage with his existing clothes till next destination (Gunji) where he could get everything washed and dried and brought in shape. There were others who complained of similar issue but fortunately no luggage went missing in onward or backward journey (Kudos to Luggage Committee).


We were to leave next day early morning so everyone retired without any Bhajan Kirtan that evening. Lights off please...

5 comments:

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P said...

helloooooooooooooooo,
where is the rest of writeup??? your blog is incomplete!! its extremely sad not to have further narration about your trip...why did you give up? is it that u forgot to post?? man! complete the writing...its not good to keep it incomplete!

Nairit vora said...

Hi.......
Nice to read your experience......my dad was one of the victims of malpa tragedy in 1998.

If you have pictures of the accident site ......kindly mail me at drnamanvora@gmail.com.
Thanks.