They say when the calling comes, you go. When my elderly family friend from Dehradun called up in March end sometime to say hello and then added she would be going for the Amarnath Yatra in July, I had no clue about the religious belief behind the yatra or what the yatra was all about. She said you walk amidst mountains and snow in Jammu & Kashmir. It was that line that made me say Yes I am coming. She told me to call the tour operator quickly and get the registration papers done as the last date was nearing. I did it.
I was to some extent being silly as I had done no regular exercise for about 6 months, not even small walks, due to travel, etc (many excuses) and a week before I got a stomach infection and was not eating properly. I almost thought I would not make it. Besides the state I was in it would have been a better option for me to meet my friend in Pahalgam in Kashmir from where the yatra begins, 96 km north of Srinagar. But I did no thinking. So I landed at Dehradun on 4th July evening, we sat on the bus on 5th July 10 am and began the long bus journey of 32 hours to Pahalgam.
We reached Pahalgam at about 3 pm or so on 6th July. At Pahalgam, we had to transfer all our basic essentials into a very small back pack, as much as we would be able to manage for the next 4 days. We would not be seeing the bus till the 9th of July. We managed to get a lovely hotel at Pahalgam to lodge in for the night. Hotel Tourist Palace owned by Peer Bittu for Rs 500 a room with all amenities like hot water, etc. The owner said the normal price is around Rs 1,200 but during the yatra they reduce the prices. Since we had some time, we decided to do a bit of shopping but that was far away. We were told there was a shop behind the hotel which stocked everything. So we decided to have a look. From Kashmiri suits to shawls to back pack to shoes. Well the shoe bit was interesting. The young Kashmiri shopkeeper looked at my shoes and said that these Rs 800 shoes will not be good for the yatra (Well I too was told in Mumbai by someone that such cheap shoes of Rs 800 will not last, people buy "Branded Shoes" for as much as Rs 10,000!) But the shopkeeper was not talking of price. He said here take these throwaway shoes for Rs 150! that you see in the photo. My friend and me immediately bought them, value for money!.
Well they were so good in rubble, snow, water and is still intact. Actually it came as a blessing as I was finding my shoes so heavy and this was so light. Well we now know how much we pay for "BRAND". So a suggestion, don’t carry heavy shoes, just buy them there.
The next morning at 5.30 am we were off to Chandanwadi by car, the base camp of the Yatra, 16 km from Pahalgam and at a height of 9,500 sq ft (a 30 min drive from Pahalgam). Our registration papers were checked at many points. So you must keep your registration papers with you all through out the trip as you will not be allowed without them.
We, a group of 4, began our yatra. That is after eating breakfast and I ate too much of it. Another beauty of this place is that you get from tea to juices to breakfast, lunch, evening snacks, dinner all free. In what is known as langars or Bhandaras which you find everywhere and many of them. Langar is a Sikh religion term which means a common kitchen where food is served in the Gurdwara for free.
Who funds all of this?, I asked the Punjabi man who had organised the Langar and comes here every year for 2 months from Punjab, and what makes him do it here, giving so much food for free for 2 whole months. He just laughed and said it is done by Bhole Nath baba. Well free food and a variety of it made me forget I had to trek a long way and I ate to my heart's content.
One must buy walking sticks which is sold everywhere. You carry with you just a light bag with water, maybe dryfruits, towel, any medicines etc and the other heavier bags you give to one who is called a Pittoo who will carry all the bags on his back and meet us at the next halt which is Sheshnag.
The beginning itself is a very, very steep climb to what is know as the Pissu top which is just 3 km from Chandanwadi but takes 3 hours or so.
After another walk of 4 km, I lost steam. I began throwing up. I was not surprised, high altitudes don’t bother me so much, it was just that I had not kept fit and my stomach too was weak (and then eating a heavy breakfast!). I became too weak to walk the balance 7 km to Sheshnag. Well there was no horse available at that point as all were returning back. It was around 3 pm. I had to take what is known as Palki, akin to the doli, where 4 men carry you on a chair placed on bamboos. Oh it is anyways a hard walk climbing those mountains and these four men had to coordinate their every step with my weight on their shoulders. They charge you a nominal price and you give them whatever extra you want with pleasure.
I reached Sheshnag on the Palki at around 5 pm. I must have missed the Sheshnag lake as I was falling asleep in the Palki itself and had to control myself from doing that. I was terribly tired. I knew my friends would reach only around 7 pm or so. I didn’t know what to do? Should I book a tent? What is the price? I really had no energy for all this, I just wanted to crash someplace. So I asked a tent or tamboo fellow if I could sleep for sometime in his empty tent but I told him I don't know if I will rent it. He hesitated only for a fraction of a second and said sure and led me to the tent and gave me a blanket. I slept off. I then could hear people coming to rent the tent and seeing me sleeping asking who I was. He was explaining she is just lying down. In all that time, he never asked me if I would be renting the tent, etc and never told me that it is a bother as people are coming to rent the tent and so please get out. I liked the Kashmiri people and their attitude all along the trip. I felt safe too with them. Some people opine that there are good around this area and to yatris as it is their source of livelihood. Well it could have been the other way round too right. They could have commercialised the whole thing like most tourist spots are and charged exorbitant rates and cared too hoots for you as demand is anyway more than supply at this time. So I don’t agree with that. Whatever it is I did see many instances where they placed Humanity before money. Is it only yatra time? I don’t wish to analyse that fact at this point. We were on a yatra and on Paradise on earth and they didn’t spoil that for us but made it more beautiful.
Here I must mention about my friend who had met with an accident some years back, went into coma and miraculously came out alive. They said she may not walk. Today she is doing the yatra by foot. With me not accompanying her by foot, she did miss that helping hand I would have given her. But like they say God always comes to your aid when you need him the most. For her this Pittoo was her blessing in disguise and another very human step of the Kashmiri people.
She was standing stranded with all the bags outside the gate at Sheshnag which the earlier Pittoo had dropped and went off. And she had the task of finding me. She really was at a loss on what to do. This Pittoo you see in the photo came along and offered to take the bags in, find a tent and then locate me. He did all of that and then offered to be the Pittoo not only for the next day but for the next 2 days and offered to hold my friend’s hand and be with her all day!. And it wasn't even that he was asking for too much money. So indeed someone we will not forget. Sometimes even money may not get you a Pittoo to do that. Well all this just made you feel so human in this place.
When I got up the next morning, having eaten nothing the previous day, I felt so weak, that a quick thought came should I return back to Mumbai. But the thought went away as quickly as it came and I pulled myself up and my friends spoke to the horseman, fixed the rates and the horse I would be going on. The horse name was Raju and it would take me to my next halt that is Panchtarni which is around 13 kms from Sheshnag. We had to leave early at 6 am. I always loved horses and wanted to learn horse riding (and right from school days people would say my hair is like horse hair and I was an athlete too, so I believed I was a horse in my previous life). But when I struggled even to get on the horse, I laughed at myself.
Well the track is so difficult even for the horse as it slips on snow and muddy paths, as he pants going uphill and there are incidents of people falling off horses. Well your bottoms hurt a lot but you forget all that as the ride is Oh so beautiful.
I reached Panchitarni in 4 hours by horse, that is by 10.30 am. Well I had the whole day to myself as my other three yatris were walking it down. So they would reach only by late evening. So what do I do. First find something to eat as after about a day and half, I felt something can go in my stomach. Then I took rest in a Bhandara which also offers place to rest and lie down.
From Panchitarni the next morning we left for the holy caves. The horse takes you to a point and then you have to walk almost 3 kms. I left by horse at 6 am and was inside the cave by 9.30 or so. You don't feel the rush or crowds as there is a lot of space as you walk up the stairs. Inside the caves there is pushing and all but not that bad. For first timers, one needs to keep to the right of one flight of stairs that you need to climb as the Shiva Linga is to the extreme right. It is inside a cage like structure and you cannot touch or go near. The ice stalagmite of the Shiva Linga was big this time. You also have stalagmite of Parvati, Ganesha. Another thing which I did not know is that the prasad (offerings) you buy from outside, you need to open and put half of it there and half you take back to distribute, as here there is no pujari or priest to do that. According to a Hindu legend, this is the cave where Shiva explained the secret of life and eternity to his divine consort.
They also say that if you look up and you see pigeons you are lucky.. But I did not understand that aspect as if it is a closed cage like environment would not the pigeons always be there? Or I guess there must be an outlet in the cave. Anyway I did not look up as I forgot about it and so I don't know if I am lucky:). I have no pictures of the cave as they don't allow camera or mobile.
As I was sitting on the horse and saw the ardous journey that the horse had to go through – walking on stones and rubbles, on ice, on water, on muddy paths, uphill and downhill, well if the horse ride is difficult, it is surely a tough trek all through the 40-42 kms from Chandanwadi to the Amarnath temple and down to Baltal the base camp, that too at high altitudes. So indeed it was great that my three friends, especially my friend who was told she may not walk, do it. Well for her it was a proof of her fitness and she more than proved it.
Somebody asked me why I did not just take a helicopter. Well in life like they say the destination is not important, the journey to the destination and all the experiences you gather is what makes your soul enriched. And that is what happened to me. Well I surely want to go back next time and do it all walking.
From the caves you come down to Baltal, another base camp from where people go back home. As we got ready to return the next morning, it was raining. Then the announcement was made in the camp that the Yatra was closed due to the weather. We could not believe it. We were so lucky. The three days we were there, the weather was so beautiful.
The yatra, the holy caves and the valley of Kashmir has truly brought more beauty into my being.
Must Carry
A medium sized back pack for all the clothes and a smaller one to carry in your walk.
2-3 Pair of socks as it will get wet.
Torch for sure as you need it in Tents
Don’t carry too many clothes as you may not really change that much (as having a bath is difficult, we had a bath twice in 7 days!)
Required Medicines
Don’t really need to buy raincoat as you get them there for Rs 30 or so, kind of throwaway raincoats.
Don’t even bother to carry too much snacks, etc as food is available everywhere only maybe dryfruits, tamarind, ginger, kind of items.