You can experience this day in Haridwar in this Youtube video.
Once you experience the Himalaya up and close, it keeps calling you again and again. Words are not enough to describe the magical beauty, serenity and peace you witness there. I first saw it close in our trek to Valley of flowers. (You can read about it here.) In couple of years I also had the opportunity to go for a trek to Everest Base Camp. (But sadly haven't yet managed to write about it)
After that memorable trek, I was just waiting to go in Himalayas again.
I got that chance this year. Just last week, me and my group of 8, did a trek to "Chopta Chandrashila Tunganath" with Trek The Himalayas. Trek the Himalayas is a company which arranges many treks in Himalayas, just like its name suggests. They have a headquarter in Rishikesh.
But the other thought was if everyone hesitates to hire them, what will they do? As we didn't have much options in the scorching heat, we finally hired them.
We reached Hoshiyarpuri restaurant in about 10-15 minutes. "Since 1937" was written on the board there which was indicating how old the hotel is. Though not a grand one, there was enough crowd to suggest it's popularity.
We got the table for 8 in 4-5 minutes. By then the waiter had offered us temporary seats, served us water, helped settle inside as it was too hot outside. He also had provided menu card to decide the order even before we got the table.
Every dish that we ordered was yummy. But we specially liked the Kathal ki sabzi (Jackfruit), and lassi. In Pune, the lassi served in shops is generally usually thick and sweet. But the north indian style of making it fresh and thin, with less sugar is nice.
After having food we again looked for alternatives to cycle rickshaw for few minutes. But didn't get any. So again we hired cycle rickshaws back to our hotel.
We rested for just about an hour and it was time to go out again. We had to go to Har ki Paudi to experience the Ganga Aarti (worshipping the holy river of Ganga/Ganges). We had also heard a lot about the tasty street food around Har Ki Paudi. None of us were interested in visiting temples in so much crowd. When you get group of like minded people on trip, its more fun.
Luckily this time we got a e-rickshaw (that runs on battery). I got a chance to drive that for few seconds as none of us including the driver were in any rush.
In this visit of mine to Haridwar, the river water seemed pretty clean to me. When I was here the last time, it was too dirty and polluted. I wasn't feeling like even touching it that day. But this time we entered the river, clicked some photos, had fun. Not sure if this happened automatically or due to the initiatives like Swachh Bharat (Clean India) and Namami Gange.
Har Ki Paudi is always crowded. And crowd keeps increasing as we get close to the time of Aarti. People occupy suitable spots from where its visible and stay there for hours. We didn't get a place in front. People in front were standing and the security guard was requesting repeatedly to sit down, but they were ignoring him. Obviously we had no choice but to stand and watch.
The Puja, Aarti and other ceremonies keep going for long time. Several agents roam around and try persuading people to do the Puja. People believe that bathing in Ganga can absolve them of their sins, if someone's ashes are immersed in Ganga, he gets Moksha. So at the same moment there, many are bathing, many are immersing ashes or the Nirmalya (remnants from an offering to deity).
After the Puja by several Pundits, the recorded Aarti of Ma Ganga begins. It is beautiful ceremony to both watch and listen. After the main aarti several people go amongst people with a puja thali in their hand hoping for offerings from people. Several people offer money to them.
Once it was over, we started our food journey in Haridwar. Sameer from our group had gathered some info from net.
The first eatery we went to was just around the corner. We ahd Samosa, Khasta Kachauri, Puri Sabzi, and a sweet dish called Chandrakala. The taste was okayish but everything was full of oil and ghee. We were fortunate to have a group of 8, so we could try many dishes. Its not possible with a small group.
We roamed around in the market with very small lanes, several shops and too many people. Sameer was navigating us using google maps towards Jain chaat bhandaar. Without google it will be difficult for outsiders. We tried few things on the way like Paan Di Gilauri (sweet dish), Juice of Bael fruit (it was refreshing).
Jain chaat bhandaar was the best part of the evening. The shopkeeper was a soft speaking and loving person. He chatted with us, told us about his cuisines, his speciality (Kaanjiwada). His food was as awesome as his sweet manner of speaking.
We tried Kanji wada, Gol gappe, Aaaloo chaat. Everything was just awesome. I regretted not coming here before eating other stuff. I would have more space for the chaat dishes there. But anyway whatever we had was great. Thanks to Sameer and internet for this discovery.
After that we had Kulfi and Badam (almond) milk for desserts and finally put a stop to eating.
With heavy bellies we managed to sleep somehow, as we had to get up early next morning. Next day we had to travel to Sari, the actual starting point of our trek.
To be continued...
P.S. You can experience this day in Haridwar in this Youtube video.
Once you experience the Himalaya up and close, it keeps calling you again and again. Words are not enough to describe the magical beauty, serenity and peace you witness there. I first saw it close in our trek to Valley of flowers. (You can read about it here.) In couple of years I also had the opportunity to go for a trek to Everest Base Camp. (But sadly haven't yet managed to write about it)
After that memorable trek, I was just waiting to go in Himalayas again.
I got that chance this year. Just last week, me and my group of 8, did a trek to "Chopta Chandrashila Tunganath" with Trek The Himalayas. Trek the Himalayas is a company which arranges many treks in Himalayas, just like its name suggests. They have a headquarter in Rishikesh.
This trek to Chandrashila was the last one this season by them. They allow upto 24 people in one batch. This time, our group of 8, another 6 trekkers and a trek leader from company, a total of 15 people were there in the trek.
Many Himalayan trek locations in India are in Uttarakhand. Most of the trek packages start in Haridwar, Dehradun or Rishikesh. Our package was Haridwar to Haridwar. They gather everyone in Haridwar, and take them by road to a village Sari. That is the starting point of actual trek.
We traveled from Pune to Mumbai by cab, then direct flight to Dehradun, and then by cab again to Haridwar. Though Jolly Grant airport is known as Dehradun airport, its not in Dehradun city. In fact its between Haridwar Dehradun and Rishikesh.
Though the expected travel time from airport to haridwar is 1 hour, we were delayed because of traffic. We came to know from our driver, that because of the peak tourism season, this traffic has become the norm these days.
We reached in afternoon, and everyone was hungry by then. We checked into the hotel rooms and immediately inquired about good options for lunch. The hotel manager suggested a restaurant called Hoshiyarpuri. We decided to go there.
Our hotel was in a very small lane, and at that time there were no rickshaws passing by. There were few cycle rickshaws but we were hesitating to hire them. The thought of a man pulling 4 other individuals in good health in a cycle rickshaw was a bit awkward.
We traveled from Pune to Mumbai by cab, then direct flight to Dehradun, and then by cab again to Haridwar. Though Jolly Grant airport is known as Dehradun airport, its not in Dehradun city. In fact its between Haridwar Dehradun and Rishikesh.
Though the expected travel time from airport to haridwar is 1 hour, we were delayed because of traffic. We came to know from our driver, that because of the peak tourism season, this traffic has become the norm these days.
We reached in afternoon, and everyone was hungry by then. We checked into the hotel rooms and immediately inquired about good options for lunch. The hotel manager suggested a restaurant called Hoshiyarpuri. We decided to go there.
Our hotel was in a very small lane, and at that time there were no rickshaws passing by. There were few cycle rickshaws but we were hesitating to hire them. The thought of a man pulling 4 other individuals in good health in a cycle rickshaw was a bit awkward.
But the other thought was if everyone hesitates to hire them, what will they do? As we didn't have much options in the scorching heat, we finally hired them.
We reached Hoshiyarpuri restaurant in about 10-15 minutes. "Since 1937" was written on the board there which was indicating how old the hotel is. Though not a grand one, there was enough crowd to suggest it's popularity.
We got the table for 8 in 4-5 minutes. By then the waiter had offered us temporary seats, served us water, helped settle inside as it was too hot outside. He also had provided menu card to decide the order even before we got the table.
Every dish that we ordered was yummy. But we specially liked the Kathal ki sabzi (Jackfruit), and lassi. In Pune, the lassi served in shops is generally usually thick and sweet. But the north indian style of making it fresh and thin, with less sugar is nice.
After having food we again looked for alternatives to cycle rickshaw for few minutes. But didn't get any. So again we hired cycle rickshaws back to our hotel.
We rested for just about an hour and it was time to go out again. We had to go to Har ki Paudi to experience the Ganga Aarti (worshipping the holy river of Ganga/Ganges). We had also heard a lot about the tasty street food around Har Ki Paudi. None of us were interested in visiting temples in so much crowd. When you get group of like minded people on trip, its more fun.
Luckily this time we got a e-rickshaw (that runs on battery). I got a chance to drive that for few seconds as none of us including the driver were in any rush.
In this visit of mine to Haridwar, the river water seemed pretty clean to me. When I was here the last time, it was too dirty and polluted. I wasn't feeling like even touching it that day. But this time we entered the river, clicked some photos, had fun. Not sure if this happened automatically or due to the initiatives like Swachh Bharat (Clean India) and Namami Gange.
Har Ki Paudi is always crowded. And crowd keeps increasing as we get close to the time of Aarti. People occupy suitable spots from where its visible and stay there for hours. We didn't get a place in front. People in front were standing and the security guard was requesting repeatedly to sit down, but they were ignoring him. Obviously we had no choice but to stand and watch.
The Puja, Aarti and other ceremonies keep going for long time. Several agents roam around and try persuading people to do the Puja. People believe that bathing in Ganga can absolve them of their sins, if someone's ashes are immersed in Ganga, he gets Moksha. So at the same moment there, many are bathing, many are immersing ashes or the Nirmalya (remnants from an offering to deity).
After the Puja by several Pundits, the recorded Aarti of Ma Ganga begins. It is beautiful ceremony to both watch and listen. After the main aarti several people go amongst people with a puja thali in their hand hoping for offerings from people. Several people offer money to them.
Once it was over, we started our food journey in Haridwar. Sameer from our group had gathered some info from net.
The first eatery we went to was just around the corner. We ahd Samosa, Khasta Kachauri, Puri Sabzi, and a sweet dish called Chandrakala. The taste was okayish but everything was full of oil and ghee. We were fortunate to have a group of 8, so we could try many dishes. Its not possible with a small group.
We roamed around in the market with very small lanes, several shops and too many people. Sameer was navigating us using google maps towards Jain chaat bhandaar. Without google it will be difficult for outsiders. We tried few things on the way like Paan Di Gilauri (sweet dish), Juice of Bael fruit (it was refreshing).
Jain chaat bhandaar was the best part of the evening. The shopkeeper was a soft speaking and loving person. He chatted with us, told us about his cuisines, his speciality (Kaanjiwada). His food was as awesome as his sweet manner of speaking.
We tried Kanji wada, Gol gappe, Aaaloo chaat. Everything was just awesome. I regretted not coming here before eating other stuff. I would have more space for the chaat dishes there. But anyway whatever we had was great. Thanks to Sameer and internet for this discovery.
After that we had Kulfi and Badam (almond) milk for desserts and finally put a stop to eating.
With heavy bellies we managed to sleep somehow, as we had to get up early next morning. Next day we had to travel to Sari, the actual starting point of our trek.
To be continued...
P.S. You can experience this day in Haridwar in this Youtube video.
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