Amarnath finally….

Come May and Prasad (my hubby) would say “Me & friends are going to Amarnath this year”. This has been happening for the past 3-4 years but some or the other hurdle would crop up and the trip would get cancelled. In 2011 Prasad had a medical procedure, which again did away with the plans for Amarnath then and for the immediate future. After eight months our doc gives him the green signal for treks as long as they are safe. May 2012 arrives and I hear him say “Me & Milind (his friend) are going to Amarnath this year”.  As the date for registration comes near he asks me if I am interested in joining them and I say “I am not sure”. I was not too keen on the Amarnath yatra right from beginning. I was not sure if I would be able to undertake the arduous journey. Anupama (Milind’s wife) calls me up one evening asking me “Why am I not joining them?” and I still say “I am not sure”. I sleep over the thought that night and finally the next day I tell Prasad to register my name also for the Amarnath yatra. We finalise the date of Amarnath journey… 17-July-2012 (Tuesday) via the Baltal route (14 Kms to Holy cave). Trying to avoid Monday since it would be too crowded. This is the first time we are leaving Parth (our son) alone at home for a longer duration and he is in seventh heaven.

I search extensively on the web for all possible information on Amarnath, the route, the weather, the things to carry and so on including a dry run also by climbing the Raigad. We speak with friends who have been to Amarnath. The preparations begin warm clothes, shoes, rainy wear, food & dry fruits, medicines and also extended morning walks. We are planning to fly to Kashmir on 15^thJuly. The D-day arrives.

The flight is full of Amarnath yatris. There are yatris who are travelling for the first time as well yatris who travel every year.  We are positively encouraged by hearing their journey tales. As we approach Srinagar everyone is shouting in unison “Har Har Mahadeo”. You will feel the rush and the synergy in the air. We meet Milind & Anupama at the Srinagar airport. They have arrived from an earlier flight.  We drive straight to Sonmarg and check into a hotel. The hotels are full of Amarnath yatris. We change our plans and decide to leave for Baltal early morning the next day itself. There is slight snow and chill at Sonmarg. We realize that our Nike’s & Adidas‘s footwear are not suitable for our trek to Amarnath. There are shops lined up in Sonmarg selling water proof shoes, jackets, warm clothes etc. All four of us end up buying shoes for the trip. We get to know that it has rained at Baltal the earlier day…. keeping our fingers crossed for a good weather. We plan to depart early morning next day at 3:00 am.

We are up and ready to leave the next day in the early morning at 2:30 am. All of us are wearing thermals, woolens & rainy wear. Hire a taxi to take us to the base camp Baltal. We reached Baltal at around 4:00 am. The place is swarming with pilgrims, tents, ponies, dandies, coolies & langars. Gosh!! it was amazing. We hire 2 coolies to carry our luggage and also purchase walking sticks (compulsory if you plan to go on foot). All the langars are offering variety of breakfast choices. We have our fill of the breakfast and start our journey to the Holy caves.

The ground was all slushy & muddy due to earlier rains. The entire route is pebbled, narrow and steep. The route has not only pilgrims travelling to the Holy cave but also pilgrims returning back. Pilgrims comprise of people on foot, ponies, dandies & coolies. The mountains & the valleys are breathtaking.

 We walk , rest, walk & walk. Snack on dry fruits, sniff camphor to keep our breathing regular at high altitudes. The weather was a boon to us….absolutely no rains….no snow…just chill in the air.

Baltal   2kms    Domail   5 kms   Barari Marg   4kms    Sangam  3kms  Holy Cave

The Baltal route leads to Domail which is about 2 Kms. We are still full of energy & enthusiasm. We have some snacks over here and proceed to Barari Marg. The pebbled path is inclined throughout. Our resting time intervals increase. We are resting more & more. We reach Barari Marg at around 3:00 pm. We have some snacks and proceed further.

Our legs have become heavy, the day is closing in and we have still 7 kms to go. Ultimately we decide to hire ponies in spite of me & Anupama being uncomfortable with the horses. Our coolies have gone way ahead…for them it is like a morning walk. We reach Sangam in another hour or so. The Sangam is the confluence point of Baltal & Pahalgam. Our coolies are waiting for us with our luggage. We deposit our luggage at one of the shops located at Sangam. The entire place is covered with snow. You will find beds in tents made of snow with insulation sheets put on top.

We again hire ponies to take us to the base of the holy shrine. There are steps which lead to the holy caves. The entire air is spiritual with pilgrims singing hymns and praising Bholenath.

We ultimately reach the final step and have darshan of the Shivlinga. A sight to behold. We take darshan and proceed our journey back to Baltal. It is already 5:30 pm. We hire the same ponies to take us back to the base camp. The descend starts....tired but with a sense of fulfillment with the darshan.

We reach base camp by 11:30 pm and then drive back to our hotel at Sonmarg. A wonderful experience carried in our hearts.

The next 2 days we relax in the houseboat at Nageen lake, Srinagar. Of course indulge ourselves in shopping and little bit of sightseeing and then back to Mumbai.