A drive to the abode of the Gods.

[Earthian]

The return home....

 

We departed on the 24th morning. The Swami was kind enough to order my breakfast packed- Rotis and sabzi. We made haste and reached Alwar by 2000 hrs. Checked into a rather nice hotel - Ramada Neelrama on the highway itself and left for Ahmedabad the next morning at 0800 hrs. and reached home by 2000 hrs. We covered about 1450 kms in two days. 

 

The return trip of the journey, if by the same route, makes one rush back home. I can say the same with this TR. I am rushing to finish it since it is nearly done.

 

We traveled 3427 kms in 22 days. There was no feeling of rush or anxiety. We took the trip at our own pace, and enjoyed it thoroughly. There were many who advised me against making such a trip, citing unnecessary trouble if some thing went wrong. They meant well, i am sure. However, I believe one must plan for any reasonable exigency, accept our fitness levels and act accordingly, and live your dreams.

 

I managed to continue my IF all the 22 days without any cheat days and lost 3 kgs in the bargain. My only regrets were not doing the Khaliya Top trek and the trek to the base camp of Panchachuli (which in due fairness, i came to know after we had come down to Dharchula). Well, that's the agenda for the next trip there.

I hope you enjoy this TR as much as I enjoyed penning it down. Thank you for reading it.

 

Yes, Uttarakhand is truly the Abode of the Gods.

 

 

That's all, Folks. 

 

[Botswanadreams]

Thank you so much to show as another part of INCREDIBLE INDIA. 

[TonyQ]

Thank you, I have really enjoyed it. Fascinating to hear about the ashram and the beliefs behind establishing it.

It truly is a beautiful part of the world, and you have shown it to us so well.

 

Your drive back home seems an amazing distance from a UK perspective.

As a small country, our view of a long drive or a short drive may be a little different to that in such a big country.

Well done on maintaining you IF on the trip.

[Earthian]

8 hours ago, Botswanadreams said:

Thank you so much to show as another part of INCREDIBLE INDIA. 

Thank you for reading it and encouraging me.

4 hours ago, TonyQ said:

Thank you, I have really enjoyed it. Fascinating to hear about the ashram and the beliefs behind establishing it.

It truly is a beautiful part of the world, and you have shown it to us so well.

 

Your drive back home seems an amazing distance from a UK perspective.

As a small country, our view of a long drive or a short drive may be a little different to that in such a big country.

Well done on maintaining you IF on the trip.

Yes, these were my first visits to any Ashram, except a week that i spent in one, at Coimbatore. Being an agnostic, i made it known to the administrators on arrival, ready to leave if it offended them. Surprisingly at Narayan Ashram and at Mayavati Ashram, they didn't turn a hair and seemed indifferent to my beliefs or non beliefs. In fact, after reading about Swami Vivekananda's vision for Mayavati Ashram ( which i had included as an excerpt of his speech at San Francisco); i am not surprised, since that is what he believed too.

 

Maintaining IF was the hallmark of the trip and i am actually quite happy about that.

 

Thank you, Tony.

Edited November 12, 2019 by Earthian
House keeping

[xelas]

An amazing trip in an amazing countryside. Those mountains loves to be photographed. And driving the route by yourself ... oh boy, I would love to do so also myself. Thanks for all the hard work put into this trip report.

[janzin]

Wonderful report and photos (which don't seem to have been degraded at all by being taken as jpgs   The mountains look astounding and I hope I get to see at least a hint of such scenery (not sure what might be visible from Sattal area.)

 

I am also impressed with your success with IF...I confess I've tried it a couple of times and failed miserably at it. You inspire me to try again!

 

[Earthian]

9 hours ago, xelas said:

An amazing trip in an amazing countryside. Those mountains loves to be photographed. And driving the route by yourself ... oh boy, I would love to do so also myself. Thanks for all the hard work put into this trip report.

Thank you, Alex.

7 hours ago, janzin said:

I am also impressed with your success with IF...I confess I've tried it a couple of times and failed miserably at it. You inspire me to try again!

Thank you, Janzin. I started IF on Aug 12. It's been 13 weeks now and i have lost 12 kgs. However, from the past two weeks i seem to have plateaued  out. 

Edited November 13, 2019 by Earthian

[xelas]

3 hours ago, Earthian said:

It's been 13 weeks now and i have lost 12 kgs.

 

Wow, that is a success story I would love to repeat. But alas, I am already skipping breakfasts, to no avail .

[Game Warden]

On 11/11/2019 at 1:30 PM, Earthian said:

@Game Warden I hope you have had time to check this fantastic report out. Increasing numbers of non Africa reports from many as the years go by. Safatalk is truly global 

 

Thank you so much for tagging me: Safaritalk exists because of you all, its members - and the trip reports which inspire others to explore. Now, if I only had the time and money to follow in all your footsteps...

 

Matt

[Earthian]

4 hours ago, Game Warden said:

 

Thank you so much for tagging me: Safaritalk exists because of you all, its members - and the trip reports which inspire others to explore. Now, if I only had the time and money to follow in all your footsteps...

 

Matt

Thank you @Game Warden. While i am as happy as you are that ST is truly Global,  i must confess that i did not tag you in this specific case.

 

As far as time and money are concerned, i agree that money is a key factor to enable one pursue his/her dreams, with a degree of comfort that one wants or is used to. Time? That is a factor which is debatable.

 

Take this case for instance: A 23 year old cycling all the way from Kerala to Khardung La ( the highest motorable pass) in his grandfathers old single gear cycle. I do get inspired by such stories, though i have to accept the reality that i cannot do that.

 

 

Edited November 13, 2019 by Earthian

[TonyQ]

What an amazing video, and what a remarkable young man.

He talks casually about cackling from Manali to Leh.

He doesn’t mention the Rhotang Pass which is an incredibly steep road. Having been this way by car, it is unimaginable to do the journey by bicycle. We also went over Kardung La (by car) on our way to the Nubia Valley. Again incredibly steep. When we got to the top and stopped for tea, it was exhausting walking from the car to the tea stall!(about 5500m)

[Earthian]

 

17 minutes ago, TonyQ said:

What an amazing video, and what a remarkable young man.

He talks casually about cackling from Manali to Leh.

He doesn’t mention the Rhotang Pass which is an incredibly steep road. Having been this way by car, it is unimaginable to do the journey by bicycle. We also went over Kardung La (by car) on our way to the Nubia Valley. Again incredibly steep. When we got to the top and stopped for tea, it was exhausting walking from the car to the tea stall!(about 5500m)

 

We too went by car and as you said, it was exhausting. i got a headache too (Probably AMS) Just imagine, this non assuming young man casually cycles up that mountain and that too in winter.

 

 

What do you say, Tony? Do you think we  ought to enter this Marathon? 71.12 kms at 5370 meters?

Edited November 13, 2019 by Earthian

[TonyQ]

No problem........