AFVOA Newletters of Year 2013

Page 30 of 61 way through the maze of rocky outcrops. Till now we had only covered 6 km and there was still 16 to go. Fortunately it was downhill. Further down we passed, Gauri Kund (Parvathi Saraovar) on our right. The lake was partially frozen and was about a few 100 feet below. The lake is at an altitude of 5608 metres. This water body is also known as Lake of Compassion, and according to Shiva Purana, is the place where Goddess Parvathi acquired her son Lord Ganesha. According to legend Goddess Parvathi had formed an image of Ganesha from the soap lather on her body and breathed life into it and placed it at the entrance to the Lake to prevent any one entering whilst she had her bath. Lord Shiva who was returning at that time was stopped by the boy. Lord Shiva offended by this disrespectful act, cut off the boy’s head. Grief stricken Parvathi pleaded for the boy’s life to be restored. Lord Shiva saw a wandering elephant, cut off its head and placed it on the severed body, and thus life was restored and Parvathi had her son back. After a descent of 700 metres, the gradient eased but all the same we walked only at a very slow pace. This trek took almost 10 hours and one can judge the pace at which this 2nd day of the parikrama was covered. By the time I reached the camp for the night halt I was thoroughly exhausted, and so were the others. By the grace of Almighty we had all reached safely. After an early dinner everyone just wanted to lie down and go to sleep. Next morning after breakfast we set out on the 3rd and final day of the parikrama. The distance to be covered on this trek was only 8 km and there was a foot path available. However we had to constantly make way for the yaks and ponies. We were able to cover the distance in about 3 hour’s time. At a pre determined point all our vehicles were lined up and waiting for us. Here we bid good bye to our porters after thanking them and tipping them. Soon we returned to Darchen where our other co-yatris were awaiting our arrival. We were welcomed with open arms. Those who had stayed back and did not do the parikrama had held a prayer meeting for the safety of those of us who had proceeded on the 2nd stage of the parikrama. We were very fortunate that all the 3 days of the parikrama we did no have to face any adverse weather condition except for the bitter cold and lack of oxygen. Since there was no place to stay at Darchen we had lunch and proceeded to Manasarovar where were once again we stayed in the same old sheds except that it was different room this time. There was still an unfinished task and that was to have a dip in Manasarovar Lake and to collect the holy water from the lake. It was just one dip in the icy cold water and rushing back to the shore to wipe oneself. The three day trek had taken quite a toll of my health due to the diarrhea and I could do nothing better than once again get into the razai. Incidentally there were a few who had ventured out into the freezing cold near the lake after midnight and were witnesses to the star like objects dancing over the lake. The next morning i.e. the 11th day, after breakfast we all set out once again to Dang Po which was our night halt earlier also. Between Manasarovar and Nylam, both on the way up and down, our passports were checked by the Chinese at 3 places, just to ensure that none of us have overstayed. Night halt was again in barrack like mud houses with 6 to 8 in a room. On the 12th day after breakfast we returned to Nylam. We were able to see a large number of snow clad peaks in the distance and a huge lake with azure blue water. These sights were absolutely breath taking. We stopped here to take photographs. At Nylam we were fortunate to be put up in a better hotel. After breakfast the following morning we left Nylam for the Chinese border to cross back into Nepal. Here we bid good bye to the drivers of our Toyota Land Cruisers. At the check post there are a large number of curio shops and since there was a waiting period everyone utilized the time to bargain and buy something to take home. Once we crossed the border we were taken in buses just a short distance away to a place called Tota Pani. We could have proceeded straight to Kathmandu but due to cutting short of our stay at Darchen before the Parikrama we had reached a day earlier and being busy season, no accommodation was available at Kathmandu for such a large entourage. We were put up at a hotel called Family Guest House, reasonably good, for an out of the way place. There were no regrets to this