Introduction
The dream trip to Kedarnath has finally come true and in the previous episodes and the first episode I described how our plan got altered, though we made a better plan and finished our trip to Chopta in the meanwhile, then came back to Sonprayag and started our trek as expected. We completed the first phase of the trek in a very short time and got an auspicious view of Kedarnath Temple, found a tent nearby and slept to wake up early for darshan.
The Chilling Nights
The night was very cold since the area where our tent was present was kind of open and the breeze was too much. Added to that, the tent was not so thick making the situation much worse. So the whole night was spent in extreme cold, since we were tired we slept somehow as we had to wake up very early.
The Lovely Morning
It was 6AM in the morning and as it was totally dark the previous night, we couldn’t see anything other than the temple premises and other shops. But once I unzipped the tent, I literally saw the best view ever of the beautiful snow capped mountains. The surrounding mountains were extremely high and appeared like a natural wonder. October was the right season to get the best view with the right weather.
There wasn’t any snowfall, but it was extremely cold due to the heavy breeze. We came out to have a 360° view of the beautiful landscape and clicked some amazing pictures. We freshened ourselves, but the water was bone chilling, somehow managed though. We got ready to witness another iconic structure, the Kedarnath temple.
The Temple
So, there’s a long pathway right from the main temple and we went for the darshan queue. I was amazed by the beauty of the temple, with the stunning view of the background. It looked extremely amazing and I’d say that’s one moment I’d never forget in my life.
The Darshan
We went ahead in the darshan queue and waited for a very long time because the darshan was temporarily stopped as some VIP was coming to visit the temple and continued after 2-3 hours. The line was small and we went ahead inside the beautiful temple, took darshan of the lord and came back by 10.
Bhim Shila
Later we headed to Bhim Shila, the savior of Kedarnath temple, after protecting it from the disastrous floods in 2013. It is worshiped by all the pilgrims and we can find many saints around the temple and the holy rock. There are also some small temples around the small temple, which we visited and had some food.
Bhairav Temple
Then we headed to Bhairav Temple, just a few meters away from the main temple. One has to climb higher again to reach the temple and it is believed that this temple protects the temple beneath. The view of the Kedarnath complex from the temple is again just amazing.
That was the end of our darshan and it was time to head back to Sonprayag. We had prasad and then started our descent. It was 1PM and we started the trek. The number of pilgrims ascending were more and the ones descending were less, so we could pass easily, but the trouble of ponies still continued and terrified us.
The Descent
As it wasn’t much crowded and also it wasn’t raining, we descended very quickly and didn’t take much breaks as well. Almost we trekked continuously and took many shortcuts as we were descending. Also stopped at some places to click some really good pictures. We finally reached Gaurikund by almost 5:30 PM and took a jeep to Sonprayag.
Conclusion
We already had a hotel where we had kept the luggage and went there itself. We were actually very exhausted and hence had some food and slept immediately. It was actually a hell of a journey of 3 days, 2 long treks and long journeys. Though it was a real lifetime experience and a dream come true moment, where we clicked so many memorable photos and made many memories. Our later plan was to go to Badrinath, which is a very long bus journey on the next day.