Will, Derek, Kristin and I decided to take a long drive into the Himalayan Mountains to see if we could get some good views of the big peaks. After talking with some friends Will suggested we head up to small village named Chopta, find a guest house there and then head up to a peak where there is a temple called Tungnath, as the views were said to be amazing. We left Dehra Dun with our trusty taxi driver Kamal to head through the valleys of the mountains and up the hillsides to find our little town. The drive there was a gorgeous, green, windy river, twisty turny valley, 10 hour long adventure. It started to rain as we got closer, but later we realized that high above us it was snowing, making the views all the more magnificent.
When we arrived in the small village of Chopta, Kamal helped us arrange a room to stay in. The pickings were very slim, with very little light in each room, and linens that had not been changed in…well, maybe forever. It didn’t take long for Kristin, Derek, Will and I to decide we should just all bunk up together and brave it through the night. We had arrived early evening in Chopta, and after dropping our bags in our room we went for a short walk, ate some Maggi noodles (Ramen noodles), bought some candles to light our room, played some cards and settled in for the night. Did I mention it was really cold as well up here? Will and I snuggled into one twin bed together allowing Derek and Kristin to have the “bigger bed”. Derek’s legs still stuck out over the edge starting from his knees, but he was a great sport about it.
About an hour into our slumber I heard Derek and Kristin whispering “I don’t think it will go on their bed though”. I knew they meant mice, I also knew that mice would totally come up into our bed, but I was determined to be a real trooper and prove that I could rough it. Sadly it only took a few minutes for me to prove myself wrong as the mice began running across the pillow above my head. After hearing this twice, confirming my fears, I screamed and jumped out of bed. Will jumped as well by the startle of my scream, at which point Derek and Kristin jumped and screamed too. We all half giggled and half freaked out every few hours as I jumped and screamed a few more times out of bed. Derek and I also kept at least one candle burning for the rest of the night to keep an eye on the creatures in our room. Needless to say we did not sleep that much and were all too thrilled to wake up at 5:30am and began our hike up the mountain at 6am.
Chopta is at about 10,000 feet and the temple is at 12,772 feet so our climb up was pretty steep. We stopped often for a breath, but at each turn the views were more and more amazing. Small houses and farms spotted the mountainside and we stopped to chat with locals along the way. About half way up we decided to stop for a hot chai which warmed our bodies and offered us a few calories with the ample addition of sugar and milk. We talked to our Chai walla guy and he explained that most folks were in the mountains 6 months out of the year and in the valley the other colder 6 months. Everyone was very friendly and I was impressed with how much English they knew for such a remote area.
We also stopped and chatted with many Indian tourists who were doing the trek for religious reasons. There are 5 temples that are related in the region, each at the origin of a body part of Siva the God of creation and destruction, so many were doing a grand tour of these temples.
When Will, Derek, Kristin and I reached the temple we all took off our shoes and walked around the old site. Will made a donation towards the maintenance of the temple and was allowed into some of the inner rooms. There he saw worshippers and a large silver urn along with a few icons. The holy man who brought Will into the temple explained that this temple held the chest and arms of Siva.
As we headed down the mountain we grabbed a few sodas to refuel and watched as the clouds began to cover the magnificent views we had seen only just an hour before. Unfortunately for the tourists who had chosen to either ride up on horseback or be carried up by 4 men, that’s right, their views were quickly becoming lost in the grey sky. The four of us were extra proud that we had made it up to the top on our own 2 legs, although our bodies would be paying us back in pain the next day.
We left Chopta around 10am and headed back to Dehra Dun. On our way home traffic stopped and we were close enough to see that there had been a landslide ahead of us. As the area develops the roads are being widened cutting away at the sides of the hills. Those that have not yet been supported often allow rocks to trickle down, or larger spills of dirt and stone. We waited for an hour and a half as the road was cleared away, getting into our car several times being ready to leave only to hear more rocks slide down the hill. Finally some military personnel were brought into guide us past the spill. God was very generous to us as our side of the road was allowed to pass first. Each car was instructed to go by carefully and quickly as men watched the hill to warn us if more rocks were coming. We made it through without so much as a pebble hitting our car and we cheered Kamal and slapped his shoulders for his excellent driving skills.
We pulled into a small town shortly after we passed the landslide so that Kamal could fix a tire that was going flat and within 20 minutes it began to pour down rain. We all said a little prayer of thanks to God for getting us through safely before it began to rain. Kamal directed us to a small lunch stand and we had small meal of Dahl (lentils) along with some veggies and roti (a thin round flat bread).
We arrived home after 12 hours of driving, took showers and crashed into our beds. The next day we all agreed that it had been one of the most spectacular and hardest short trips of our lives. The mouse story will of course keep us laughing for years, and we are all thrilled to say that we are leaving India having seen some of the most beautiful mountains in the world.
