The night bus to Rishikesh and then an early morning jeep to be changed on the way by another one was all the transport that our six member team took to reach the foot of our weekend trek-Barsu ,at around 3 in the cold afternoon of the garhwal hills. We aimed to reach the Dayara Bugyal the next day so without any further delay, we took some meal from the village of Barsu and hence in another half an hour we all set forth on to our 8 km trek to the bugyal (meaning a meadow).
It was a steep trek and we were pushed to the limit after all that traveling even to finish the three km that we targeted before the night. the steep path, with a meandering stream here and there was a lovely sight even to our hard stressed minds.As, the sun set,we had a hard time groping our way but that was not to last for long because soon we saw some Gujjar huts in the village of Barnala,which had been vacated owing to the harsh winter,and therefore we spent the night in there.We cooked our own food on ‘choolha’-each one eagerly taking their place near the fire(not because of the cooking part essentially but because the cold was so intense that staying in any other part of the little hut would have been a mere foolery! Our novice hands soon showed up their mistakes as the process carried;soon the whole hut was full of amoke-so we made a small chimney ny plugging out some stones from the extreme end of the hut. After having that simple food., which seemed better than any feast to our hungry stomachs,we prepared our beds and soon were all set to sleep. But, perhapsthe slumber was not that eager to follow us to our sleeping beds for the major part of the night was spent gazing here and there by all of us ;envying the other to have fallen asleep so easily;but the truth came forth in the morning when it was made overt that we all had actually spent an almost sleepless night and thereby giving us all a chance to have a hearty laugh!
Next morning after a speedy breakfast, we all put our foot on the next trail to our final destination. It took us around two hours to cross Gorganda and thereby reach our final destination-the Dayara village in another hour from Gorganda.The second part of the trail was not that steep and since we were all full of rest and had also acclimatized by now,so this part was cheerfully welcomed by one and all.Soon ,we found ourselves in another Gujjar hut with bits of snow surrounding our domain.We took a brief break and again began our seemingly neverending walk to the Bugyal itself which was just a fifteen minutes walk from our newly found home.
Located at a height of 3,048 metres above Uttarkashi, the magnificence of this rolling meadow surprised us all. Endless tracts of yellowish-green grass speckled white flowers and snowflakes undulate the landscape, framed by soaring jagged peaks capped with snow.
Dayara Bugyal is what every trekker and nature lover would yearn for. Dayara Bugyal is a most unspoilt wonder. In the coming months of winter, it was to receive heavy snowfall(as told to us by the guide) and was to be soon converted into a dream destination for skiiers. It is one of the best ski slopes in India and offers alternatives to the regular, crowed slopes of Auli, Manali and Gulmarg. Still cocooned from commercial tourism, Dayara is clean and offers skiing slopes spread over 28 sq km.
We spent some nice time at the Bugyal-lying on the sun filled hill top and later even took a small walk with the guide to the adjacent Kana Tal(lake) which remained frozen during this time of the year.The beauty of the Nature overwhelmed us and we just did not want to leave.But evening and with it –the cold was approaching,which pushed us back on our way to the little hut that was to be our home for a night.Once back in the tent ,the whole night was spent in jovial mood-cooking,singing songs ,playing games et al.
Morning approached and before six we were all on the path back to Barsu.It was dark in the jungles but otherwise the full moon showed us the way.The hill tops surrounding us dazzled in the moonlight and gave us a great view of the area.In another three hours we had walked down straight to the village of Barsu.We boarded the bus back to Rishikesh and from there to Delhi;but the beauty of the hills and the sundry picturesque views that we had just refused to leave us.
It was then that I truly understood the meaning of Keat’s line:
“A thing of beauty is a joy forever”
-Harshit Narang
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