UTTARAKHAND TREKKING An adventurous and exciting trip was arranged by our school for students of grades 5-11 to Uttarakhand, India for one whole week from 6 th November to 15 th November 14. A team of 32 students began their journey at 9:40 pm on 6 th November, accompanied by a team of 3 teachers and returned at 5:20 am on 15 th November after an eventful week. Let s now have a snapshot of their daily schedule during the trip. Day 1 We had reached the Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi early in the morning at 2:10 am and next we had to immediately board a bus to Dehradun for a journey of 8 hours. On the way, on the morning of 8 th November, we got down at a wayside restaurant for breakfast and then we restarted our journey to Dehradun that took a few more hours. We reached Dehradun in the afternoon, where we checked in Hotel Saffron Leaf. We quickly refreshed ourselves, went to have lunch and after a few hours of nap, we left to the market place for shopping.
TOGETHER AS A TEAM AT THE AIRPORT
ON THE BUS READY TO FLY
FUNTIME on the FIRST DAY
A WELL-NEEDED NAP IN THE BUS
A SMALL BREAK FOR BREAKFAST EN ROUTE
DELHI TO DEHRADUN DONE
AT THE PALTAN BAZAR
Day 2 After all the packing was done at the hotel, we visited the Forest Research Institute and the Buddha Monastery where spent some time in shopping and clicking photographs. Later, after lunch, we set out to Mussoorie, the queen of hills that afternoon. The journey was for about an hour during which we rejoiced in singing and dancing.
BUDDHA TEMPLE
F R I, DEHRADUN
HOTEL IN MUSSOORIE
READY TO EXPLORE MALL ROAD
NIGHT FUN
Day 3 The next day after visiting the market place and enjoying the landscape of the hills we travelled to Uttarkashi, which was a journey of 8 hours. We reached Uttarkashi in the morning of 11 th November. In Uttarkashi, we stayed at Shivlinga resort situated between the hilly ranges. Uttarkashi was our main point for our trek. At Uttarkashi, three trek experts, Mr. Vijay Bairav, Mr. Bhagyavan and Mr. Rajeev Rawat joined us who were guiding us all throughout the trek. At the market place, we had to buy sweatshirts, pants, woolen caps to protect ourselves from the extreme low temperatures at the base camps. Then, we visited the Kashi Vishwanath Temple, which was a divine experience. With the blessings of the Lord, we began our adventurous journey.
ON THE WAY TO UTTARKASHI
RESORT IN UTTARKASHI
EVENING VISIT TO TEMPLE
Day 4 We began our day at 6:00 am when we started packing our clothes and other necessary items for our survival in the dense forests. We all left the resort at 8:00 am. It was half an hour s drive to the trek area. We started our trek at 8:45 am from Uttarkashi to Bevra via Agora village, and the distance was 8 km. The trek was astounding, during which we found many waterfalls, huge mountains, valleys etc. By the afternoon, we had reached our first base camp Bevra. We had our lunch, took rest and then unpacked all our necessity items while the tasty food was being cooked for us. That evening all the senior students went to collect wood for bonfire and then we set it up for the dinner. We were playing games, singing songs, dancing and so on that night. Every moment on the mountain was so relaxing and we felt we were in Mother Nature s lap, away from the madding crowd and without the influence of technology and electricity.
READY FOR TREKKING
ALL SET, READY TO TREK
THE JOURNEY BEGINS
GETTING WARMER
LANDSCAPE AT THE LANDSLIDE AREA
SECOND WIND
ON THE WAY TO A VILLAGE
MEETING WITH THE VILLAGERS
REST TO RECOUP
TREKKING CONTINUES
NIFTY NARROW PATH
MEANT TOREACH MANJHI
THERE IS NO ONE WAY TO CROSS A RIVER
A TREAT FOR THE TIRED TREKKERS
SETTING UP TENTS
CAMP FIRE TO BEAT THE COLD
FUN WITH FIRE
Day 5 From Bevra we again started our trek to Manji, our second base camp. The distance covered was 8km. We reached Manji in 5 hours. The amazing part of the trek was going to Dodital Lake, our final destination of the trek. Only physically fit and determined students went for it. Among 32 students only 12 students took up the challenge. The students who went to Dodital had experienced a very tough trek as we had to cross a dense forest without any break before sunset or else we could encounter wild animals. The students reached Dodital at the just a few minutes before dusk! They shared their experiences with the other mates, the view, and the stories behind Dodital and the students who had reached Dodital were nicknamed Dodital Winners!
THE WAKE UP CALL
THE JOURNEY CONTINUES
THROUGH ANOTHER VILLAGE
TREKKING GETTING TOUGHER
REMEMBERING BABA JI KA THULLU
HELPING EACH OTHER
BEING WITH NATURE
RESTING ON THE CLIFF
THE TEAM TOWARDS DODITAL
NEAR THE ZENITH
BLESSINGS OF BHAIRAVNATH
DEEP INSIDE THE DENSE FOREST
REACHED DODITAL
MAGGI NEVER TASTED THIS GOOD
CARE TO CLEAN?
Day 6 The Dodital trekkers came back to Manji and after their breakfast along with the rest of the students, reached Bevra and then from there returned to Uttarkashi. That day we had covered 21 km down the mountains. We reached Uttarkashi just 2 minutes before it was dark which was a very thrilling part of our trek. At the end of the trek we all felt so proud of ourselves and happy that we could complete it during the day.
DAWN AT DODITAL
BIRTH PLACE OF LORD GANESHA
ON THE WAY TO JOIN THE REST
TOGETHER AS A TEAM AGAIN
BACK TO THE BASE JOURNEY
PETTING AVILLAGE DOGGY
BIRTHDAY BASH IN UTTARKASHI
Day 7 The next day we all woke up at 8:00 am and travelled to Rishikesh for Ganga Aarti. It was a 6 hour journey by bus. We reached Rishikesh in the evening and we immediately attended the Ganga Aarti which was very beautiful and soulful. Then we went to the market place to buy a few souvenirs.
TOWARDS RISHIKESH
IT S TIME TO REST AND RELAX
ON THEWAY TO RISHIKESH
NATURE AT ITS BEST
BIDDING GOOD BYE TO THE HIMALAYAS
GANGA ARATI AT THE GHAT
HOTEL IN RISHIKESH
Day 8 The next morning we all went rafting. The seniors along with very few juniors started rafting from Shivpuri and the rest from Brahmapuri. Rafting at Rishikesh is considered as the most adventurous rafting in India. It was a very good lifetime experience when the students jumped into the Ganges and swam in the river. After the rafting, we got refreshed, had lunch and returned to Delhi. We then went to Domino s pizza, celebrated Children s day and boarded our flight at 2:00 am at the IGIA airport.
READY FOR RAFTING
GET SET GO
BRAVE HEARTS ON THE BOAT
SWIMMING IN THE GANGES
DONE WITH RAFTING
BACK IN THE BUS
THE TREKKING TEAM
EVERY CLICK COUNTS
Overall, it was a very adventurous and a memorable experience for all the members of the team that would be etched in their memory forever. Sai Sindhu 11 B