My Chalet At Chopta - Amen!


Back to the main Chamoli road, the ride through the dense Oak forest continued on the way up to Chopta. A sustained ascent on curvy roads led us to Duggalbitta, famous for the Rest House where Late Mrs. Indira Gandhi once stayed. The place is a mere turn on the road with 3 – 4 shops and a rest house. We moved on towards Chopta. The ascent gradually became steeper but the motorcycle seemed to cope well. While riding, we kept catching views of the snowy peaks including Chaukhamba from a clearing in the forest every now and then and took several stops at vantage points enroute Chopta to enjoy the serene beauty and calm of the place. 3 kms before Chopta, the dense forest totally cleared up to open spaces. The green ridges and meadows provided rich contrast to the snowy peaks far at the northern horizon. As we rode past few pitched tents of a trekking group, the views kept getting better and the meadows greener and inviting. In a way, reaching Chopta was similar to reaching Duggalbitta. Just a few small tea shops, one or two small hotels and a closed-down crumbling GMVN rest house. Our spirits rose as we spotted an absolutely unhindered view of the Chaukhamba and Neelkanth peaks. Chopta in itself is quite a destination, an ideal one for having a personal chalet. A vast expanse of meadowy landscape interspersed with green ridges, supported well by dense deciduous forest from below and glistening snowy peaks from far at the North making Chopta a refreshing halt. Towards its eastern side is a huge forested mountain which mainly has Rhododendron trees. Across this mountain and after a steep climb of 4 kms is the sacred Shiva shrine, Tungnath, our destination for the day.

TREK – II: THE TUNGNATH
The beauty of Chopta enticed us and we wavered between pitching the tent right there or climbing up to the Tungnath. Gulping our lunch hurriedly at a roadside dhaba, we decided in favour of the Tungnath. Poor greedy us. Again leaving the unnecessary stuff at Mr. Singh’s (who was uncle of the dhaba owner at Devariya Tal) shop, we started at 3.00 pm. As per Mr. Singh, the 4 km trek would take around 2 hours for a person with a reasonable stamina. We were not just 2 but 2.5 as our 1.25 year old daughter was on my shoulder. So discounting 2 hours extra for that, we calculated for 7 pm arrival at the shrine. 1080 m is a mammoth altitude gain for a mere 4 km long trek, Chopta is situated at 2600 m and the Tungnath is at 3680 m. The ascent is steep right from the inception of the cobbled winding track at Chopta arch.

Unlike at Devariya Tal, here we spotted several Rhododendron trees in full bloom. The whole region appeared to be a biodiversity reservoir; we could clearly distinguish at least three species of Rhododendron out of the estimated total of around 600 species worldwide. The beauty that we surmised was nothing compared to what we were witnessing. Every place around looked like a perfect camping spot with a veil of blooming Rhododendrons over a carpet of thick grassy meadow, a crystal white water stream flowing nearby, a perfect backdrop of the snowy peaks to deep blue of the unfathomable sky and the chirping birds criss-crossing our path and swooping over our heads. Please forgive my limited exposure but it was truly a utopian setting, I would dare to state. We kept climbing gradually, past a few tea shops that locals have setup for the “Yatra” season.

The Tungnath shrine, though not much visited as compared to Kedarnath, is the second most visited shrine amongst the Panch Kedars. We could find quite a few people climbing up and down during our ascent. This might owe to its easy accessibility from the nearest roadhead compared to all the other four, including the Kedarnath. It is also relevant to state here that the Tungnath shrine is the highest Shiva Temple in the world beating even the Kedarnath by around 100 m. For record’s sake, it is said to be world’s highest temple for any diety.

Climb to the shrine gradually seemed difficult and more difficult and we, with our sapped energies, struggled to keep pace against the fast approaching dusk. Landscape around the track and far was just superb and the only consolation against the hardship of a steep climb. After three hours of climbing, Rhododendron trees gave way to bushes with flowers turning pink to white as against the red ones we saw near the Chopta. Alpine flora replaced the tree-line. Resting for a while on a ridge we witnessed an impressive sunset behind the clouds low at the horizon. Soon it was 7 pm, the light was fast fading and chilling winds replaced the cool breeze. Even after four hours of a tiring climb we could not sight the shrine. Vandana was comfortable with climb but I was seriously struggling with a half-asleep Reyvika wrapped in a thick blanket in my hands. For the first time in my life I felt the need of more stamina. I will never forget the state of mind I was in during the ascent to Tungnath. Vandana did not have any courage or strength from the very beginning for climbing with Reyvika. I didn’t share with Vandana but that evening I felt sort of desolated and terribly alone. Reyvika was sleeping, intermittently waking, and crying for the want of comfort.

Now, going down the memory lane, I praise myself for that exceptional grit and determination with which I climbed for another hour and a half before we reached the shrine in the deafening silence of 8:30 pm and screeching noise of the penetrating wind. I was soaked to the core with sweat and the wind iced me from outside. We immediately disembarked and lodged at Mr. Sujaan Singh’s small two-room hotel. He happened to be the cousin of Mr. Singh with whom we had deposited our extra stuff at Chopta. I was tired and dozed off almost as soon as I lied under the warmth of a thick blanket and so did Reyvika. Vandana, meanwhile, arranged for the dinner with Mr. Sujaan Singh.

Next
I am short of words for what I saw as soon as I stepped out of the room early morning next day. The panorama of snow peaks looked awesome in the golden light of the first rays of the Sun.

Top ^