Land of Gods | Uttarakhand’18 | Day 14 | Sobla – Jauljibi

We got up around 7 am and I started to get ready. I freshened up myself and so Mahesh and his friend. I had really enjoyed the sleep and though it was cold in the night, the bedding provided by the relatives was just enough to get me a secure and sound sleep.

We had our tea and then it was time to go home. Today’s journey shouldn’t have been there but we had left our fates to take its own course yesterday. Though it was painful experience, I had enjoyed every bit of that. It had given the trip a new meaning. A reminder, that not all days are good, sometimes, you get a learning too!

As per my revised plan, I was suppose to travel to Munsiyari today but now, I decided to stay at Jauljibi itself and give myself a proper rest even though I knew that I would be reaching by noon. I still could have pushed off to Munsiyari but, my mind wont let me do that.

It looked like the disaster was not leaving us. As soon as we started to descend from the village, huge boulders lay in front of us and passing through them with bikes seemed almost an impossible task. The road construction work was going on everywhere and the people working above over the turn had pushed off the rubble downwards. It was not intentional, this is the way it was done in the mountains. A ‘JCB’ was suppose to clear the mess up but since, we were moving very early in the day, we were in a fix.

JCB was nowhere to be seen. It didn’t look like it was going to come soon and so Mahesh went looking for some people who could give us a hand and help us out from the situation.

After waiting for some time, 4 young people came towards me. I knew now how we were going to execute the task. We were going to lift the bike walking across the huge rocks and keep it safely on the other side. Had we not got the required no of people, God knows, how much time we had to wait for the right equipment to come. Later on, the I came to know that the 4 members had been sent by the JCB guy only for our help.

It took around 15 mins for both the bikes to get clear of the rubble. We also noticed that there was a puncture on rear tyre of Mahesh’s bike but he told that he could manage with that. The time was around 9:15 am.

From there, then we almost rode non-stop until we reached the Dhauliganga River Dam power project. I had stopped myself there to take some photos.

We had no rush to reach back home. So, where ever I found that the scenery was worth the photo, we stopped and captured.

At one of the stops, Mahesh’s friend told me that one of the side faces of nearby mountain had a face like ‘Shiva’. The mountain can be seen below.

Also, I could see many Himalayan Griffon flying nearby. They were still far from my current place and so had to zoom in through my camera. Unfortunately, the DSLR was with me but, I had kept the zoom lens at the hotel thinking that I wont be requiring one.

On our way, when we had stopped for a tea break. The wall of the mountain opposite to the shop we had stopped for tea had caved in due to the ongoing road widening work. What we found inside was truly astounding. There were ‘Shivlings’ inside and we just cant believe our eyes. They were right inside the mountain and God knows since when. Only when the portion of the mountains gave in that it had been discovered. I supposed, it had discovered today itself. I prayed and then we moved on.

Now my belief had been reinforced that really, Uttarakhand is no doubt called as the ‘Land of Gods’. The time was 12:30 pm and we were very close to hotel now.

I reached the hotel around 1:30 pm and there after took rest. Later in the evening, I went out to have tea and some snacks as I had skipped the lunch and was really hungry.

There was a bridge which connected India and Nepal in Jauljibi too. After I had snacked, I strolled on the bridge and met the SSB team there who were guarding the Indian side. As it happened during the conversation, I found that one of the person was from Maharashtra and he wouldn’t leave me before having tea. We talked for a brief moment of time before the tea came. It was just exchanging of stories. Their daily struggles to keep smuggling at bay from Indian to Nepal side. I told them that I worked in an organization and had come there for my vacation. They were astounded when I had told them that I had come solo!

Before the dinner, Mahesh came to my room for the payment and I handed him 2500 rs for being a guide for me and showing me the beautiful Darma valley which would have a special place in my memory. I thanked him for giving me his time and efforts.

After the dinner, I strayed along the river to capture some night shots on the valley.

Tomorrow, I was back to following the original plan and was heading towards Munsiyari. Mahesh told me that he would come too and escort me till some distance for which I had happily obliged. He was going to show some interesting place to me along the way.

The time was around 11:30 pm and like yesterday, we had agreed to start the day by 6 am.

The Jauljibi, and most importantly, Darma valley chapter had come to a sweet end!