It’s Christmas time again! The bells are tolling, carols are in the air & Santa is coming to town…well, I’m not sure I’m making it to Santa’s ‘nice’ list this year! Why, you ask? Hmmm…cause it's Christmas 2021! I’ve managed to successfully procrastinate my blog writing for a whole year! We summited on Christmas 2020! This blog has been in ‘edit mode' for a whole year now!!! Naughty, Naughty!
It all started with my 10th grade board exams. I needed a pole star to focus on…something that would be my carrot to do well in the exams & motivate me to put in my 100%. So, I decided that seeing snow for the 1st time in my life on Christmas would be the best way to celebrate!
I found the Indiahikes website & started reading up on my options. I tried to find an awesome trek & thought of the best way to convince mom and dad. I was ecstatic when they encouraged me in my plans & gave me wings to fly. It wouldn’t be easy for a 15 year old to do all this alone, but I knew that I could do it & learn a great deal in the process! It took a lot of planning and scheduling between all my board preparations to make the trip happen. My parents always wanted to go to Vaishno Devi in Jammu, so they decided to use this trip to plan a combined vacation. We started booking plane tickets, hotel tickets & planning the whole schedule. Suddenly all the trigonometry & organic chemistry classes didn't seem so bad! We drew flowcharts with all relevant information & finally, I understood the practical uses of all the stuff I was learning in school!
On 18th Dec 2020 we took a flight to our capital- New Delhi. It was an adventure in itself, due to COVID protocols. We spent the night at the airport on cold metal chairs & the song “Dilli ki Sardi’ kept looping in my head! Early next morning, we flew to Jammu. The Fauji airport, military installations & extra layer of security made me think of all our Army personnel who keep us safe & allow us to have a normal life…Jai Hind!
From there we drove to Katra & witnessed the raw beauty of the majestic Himalayas! Narrow, winding roads, unyielding, snow covered folded mountains on one side & a deep, bottomless gorge on the other side. The taxi ride was a lesson in the insignificance of our existence. The awesome food we tasted at the local dhabas amidst the mighty Himalayas will always remind me that simplicity is the ultimate sophistication!
The Vaishno Devi shrine in Trikuta mountains at 5,200ft is 61 km from Jammu city and can be reached after a 13 km arduous journey on foot from Katra. It is one of the 6 toughest treks that pilgrims can undertake in India. Legend has it that Vaishno Devi has the power of Vishnu & is the incarnation of Lakshmi. Our original plan was to settle down in our hotel in Katra that night & climb early the next day. The Goddess, however, sent summons that very evening for our presence & we started climbing at 6 PM on 19th Dec. I saw snowfall & ice on the sidewalks for the first time! It was freezing at -2 degrees celsius! Being a true Bangalorean, I had never experienced single digit temperatures till now. A mesmerising vista awaited us - the brilliant night sky, illuminated with a gazillion stars, so near us that I felt I could reach out to them. Even though my family is athletic (my dad’s a marathoner), the cold, the altitude & sheer beauty of the whole scene made us take 6 hrs to complete the steeply inclined 13km Journey. We took enough pit stops in between for pictures, refreshments & the smaller temples on the way to the bhavan.
At the stroke of the midnight hour, we witnessed Her grace & presence! What a memorable night! I had the best maggie of my life at 1AM in the freezing cold after that :D
We decided to come down on horses as we had been awake the whole day & thought that the time saved in getting down while spending time with these wonderful, intelligent animals would be a treat. We reached our hotel at 4AM that morning & I realised that I had had my most unique ‘all nighter’ yet! . We woke up after just 4 hours of rest & started our drive back to Jammu. We shopped for local & famous treats there. The rajma & sweets were so good! The Jammu-New Delhi flight gave us an opportunity to rest & rejuvenate and we reached our hotel on 20th Dec 2020.
We stayed in Delhi for a day. We packed my bags and made sure it was ready for the trek. On the 21st, my parents and brother flew back to Bangalore. Now, my excitement for my solo trek began in earnest…
Read on for Part II