France

Bit if a curve ball for you as I am now in France. I had known for a while that my sister and her family would be visiting my parents house (La Chappelle St. LAurent, Deux Serves) in France in early July. Visiting my family is never easy given how it generally involves both the UK and France, so if everyone was gonna be in one place at one time it seemed like too good an opportunity to miss. Having done some Himalayan chillin then the Yatra my enthusiasm for travel in India was waning anyway, I’ve already been in India for a year and seen a lot, but Tomoko has only spent a month there and was much more enthusiastic about travelling to many places I’ve already spent time (Rishikesh, Daramasala, the South). The Upshot was that it seemed logical to split and follow our own agendas for a bit, me heading to France with Turkish Airlines, Tomoko continuing to travel in India. All went well, sorting the ticket was very easy, and well here I am in La Chappelle St Laurent. Already the Longfellows are back in the UK. ‘Twas a lovely week with them, little Samuel being an absolute delight to be with of course, and I even managed to fit in a round of Golf with my brother-in-law Andrew. The only down side was the flu bug I picked up on the plane then passed onto my father which laid us low for a few days. However given the heat and the desire to relax shared by all, it didn’t upset many plans cuz there weren’t any! I will remain in France for another fortnight or so then back to Delhi, with a few days in Istanbul on the way. When we were there in November it was pretty miserable, should be much nicer in August!
Picture, French Bull. Relavance, unclear but we did have some lovely BBQ'ed steaks yesterday.......

Yatra

After a a fortnight kicking back in Kasa Devi some action was needed, big mountains were sought, and the source of the Ganga to be approached. Kedernath became the target, 3.5km high but dwarfed by near 8000m peaks, and a popular pilgramage (Yatra) site for Hindus of all shapes and sizes, with the added bonus that the last 14km were only walkable, making getting there challenge enough to give the Yatra some value. So we hopped from town to town, no more than about 4 hours on the bus per day was a nice comfort level, sometimes on hill tops, some times in Valleys, often near monkeys, we moved towards our goal. Through Kasusani, Gwaldam, Karanprayag, Gopeshwar, Ukimath and finally to Gaurikund where the road ends and the walk starts. 14km might not sound alot but when you are walking up hill all the way (rising 1500m) into thinning O2 then trust me its a challenge. Fascinating walk, much to see, be it Sadhus, Pilgrims of all castes, Horses ferrying the rich, and chairs carried by 4 porters for the richer still (cheating mind you I thought) Beautiful scenery all around, Forest giving way to alpine moorland as we got higher. Arriving in the afternoon the higher slopes and the massive pinacles were shrouded in cloud, and it was decidedly chilly as evening arrived. Evening Pooja at the temple was a sound and sites gallor. Lots of Babas decked up in finest shiva styles drumming for alms, smoking their Bhang chillums, pilgrims from all over the sub continent, loud music from speakers and horns made a spectacle. Reet friendly atmosphere too. But the Biggest joy was to come in the morning when the bright blue skies revealed the Himalayan massive. As we wandered in the meadows above the town gawping at the towering rock, we felt pretty chuffed at our Yatra, ariving in a place of such beauty and happyness.
The walk home was knackering.