Day 5: HEMKUND SAHIB TREK

 

Wahe guru! This was my first of Gurudwara visits and that too at such high altitude 15200ft high is this serene, picturesque Gurudwara that will mesmerise you and give goosebumps worthy positive vibes moments and me off from the group who headed all ahead of me , in complete company of strangers and Teerth yatra travelling Sikh piligrims thoroughly soaked in the hike with 'sanson ka phulna' or gasping for breathe and stopping at every turn to catch the breath. Aug 27th we started around 8 am from the starting point of Valley of trek path where it cuts and from there first sent kids in Horse back as they both wanted that experience and we were mentally prepared they would be safe and our friends group had started an hour earlier and would reach uphill before us and shared phone no, with the ghoda wala. And it was when Prabhu got a call at point where they reached 90% above the younger one started his cribbing and fighting with elder one so from that point where 20% we had covered he decided to go uphill fast and by 3 hrs total record timing he reached up while the younger one was cranky and refused to smell the camphor given and in fathers company vomited the Langars dal porridge. I took a nice watching my pace 6 hrs for uphill and 3 30 hr for downhill. 

Hem kund sahibs Sarovar

World's highest Sikh shrine, Hemkundsahib at the height of 15,200 ft. and has a glacial lake surrounded by seven mountain.There is an ancient Lakshman Temple on a bank of the lake. The starting point of the trek from Ghangaria village via the point where the valley of flowers trek begins ahead started the nicely cobbled pathway leading to hemkund sahib trek. From 9000 ft elevation of Ghangharia hotel we achieve an elevation gain of 6000 ft around a single day so one needs to check your SPo2 levels to heart rate and all at check we had our covid time oximeter and smart watches and had a check in beginning of day and later on reaching there. The cobbled path then leads to rocky terrains where steep ascents or stairs needs to be taken.The whole 6 to 8 km path seems longer than that atleast and its mind boggling to choose 

1.  1182 steps to gurudwara entrance
2.  2km walk or path for the horse rides and those who avoid steps

So we all ofcourse took the steps and with all the panting and wahe guru jaijaikars and motivation from those cilmbing down(me i was on steps at 1 45 like and in 15mins they will close gurudwara).

So when i came up Prabhu quickly took me to the Gurudwara first where after us they closed the entry and had nice prayer and  headed for the glacial lake to click these pics

Divya teertham

 

My first visit to A Gurudwara,divine calm

15200ft elevation Surrounded by snowclad mountains and blanket of chill

My first visit to A Gurudwara,divine calm

Enroute the cobbled path you have this nice water falls near the steps and below much before is the glacial frozen river. The views are breath taking and the walks and catching up for breath and halting is much needed. Had good company of another Punekar lady and these bengaluru based Sikh piligrims like one in pic, and telugu IT friend groups from Bengaluru and native of Hyderabad, with some friendly motivations ,chats and stops kept pushing. They say when you walk a lot one cant stop was true, while our friends group were stepping down for downhill we 4 headed downtoo after my very short stop of 15-20 mins and headed down as it was closing time too. So while planning trek if you are slow walker choose to start 6am like ,some where leaving 4am to 5am all. The journey downhills are always interesting and easy just wear your right shoes like we had these hiking shoes which had ankle twist protection and gave good support while literally racing down, me and my younger one were doing it.  All along i have stayed near gurudwara in chennai ,Hyderabad or while in US passed by,but never got to visit one though we had Punjabi friends, this one visit turned out super special, they tell in tamil ,கொடுப்பினை, kodupinai ,for getting darshan of a God that destined time and luck is needed, it happened on this day.

waterfalls enroute,not frozen

frozen stream/river water from Glacier above

and before many of them signing off as not upto ones fitness level, keep in mind there isnt anything unattainable or undoadble, all needs some gentle push,rearing and routine to set oneself to it, its not for athlete or regulur fitness oriented alone to take up such beautiful routes, and hike or trek . set into the routine of 30min to 1hr 5 days a week workout to walk or any form of excercise and do some 5km  walks in your home town to hill temples closeby and get atuned. For those looking for backups there is that pittu or basket wala and horse back option and there were very elderly octagenerians doing palnquin or pallaku to Hemkund too.

soul stirring journey

 

 Feel the eerie silence and heights that don't deter you but push you to reach the summits and take back rich experience to last a lifetime and this life isn't about just living ,for its one life time you will remember now, so live it to fullest with such rice experiences and in lap of beauty mixed with our hard efforts put in that makes it worthwhile joyous cherishable moments to last. And do take your kids and travel in your 30s 40s to 50s while you can relish this experience without any fatigue or ailments, good if the same zeal continues you to feel motivated to do your nth or 100th trek into your 60s or 70s.