Himalayan Adventure - VII

I prefer to post pictures either in chronological order, or by logical group. However, the previous post was out of sequence. :-) I had not yet finished with the details of the climb up!

The path up ...
... by the side of Mandakini

Again ... multitude of waterfalls

In the upper regions, the slopes were full of tiny, colorful flowers!

And the mountains stood majestic
with a halo of clouds

By the time we reached up, we were almost dead on our feet, and walking each foot was a torture. We had planned to stay in GVMN hotel, though we had not made advanced bookings. When we finally managed to find the hotel, we found that it was deserted! Searching for another one was demoralizing, the least.
A sort of village has developed around the temple, purely to cater to the visitors. Since there are a lot of pilgrims, a number of dharamshalas (rest houeses) have developed. These cater primarily (for a charge, of course) to people from a particular community or region. We managed to find decent rooms in one of these, a Punjab and Sindh Awas. There are small shops, selling articles required for offering prayers, woollens and souvenirs. In the winters, the access paths are closed, and so does the temple. At this time, the rest houses ans the shops close down as well, and the owners go back to their native places.
After resting for a while, and having some hot tea, we went for an evening darshan. There was quite a crowd in the temple, being the time of the arti. And we were pestered by the priests, and badly hounded by the beggars and 'sadhus', which was quite a turn off.
Back at the dharamshala, we requested for simple food - dal, roti and rice. Rather than having it in our rooms, we decided to have it in the kitchen itself, by the fire. Mats were arranged round the cooking fire, and it was a nice experience, having food in the traditional style, after a long long time.

Next morning, we planned to have an early darshan, and start back as early as possible. In the morning, some of us got up earlier than the others, and ventured out to admire the mountains. Kedarnath is the confluence of the rivers Swargdwara and Mandakini, and the source of Mandakini. In the early morning, the sky was very clear and blue, and the confluence of the river so calm and peacful, despite the force with which the water flowed.

The confluence
To the left is Swargdwara, to the right, Mandakini
One can see the glaciers as they melt into these streams

As the snow melts ...

Closer look at the glaciers

Far away from the maddening crowd