Trek to Bhramatal Lake
After planning, delaying, doubting and replanning the winter trek, I set out on one of the most unplanned trip with Tanmay Bhai to Bhramatal in Uttarakhand. Our overnight journey in a sleeper bus brought us to Kathgodam. Here we dined at the Udupi wala while we waited for a shared cab that would deliver us to Lohajung, the base town to Bharamatal. The journey, which would extend to over 7 hours through winding mountain roads was an obvious challenge which we were hoping would be kind on us. We spent most of the journey catching up on sleep and listening to Kumaoni songs. We also spent some time conversing with others in the cab who impressed upon us the power (“Pachak Shakti”) of pahadi water and told us about life in the interior regions of Uttarakhand. The road was patch-work at best and it was about 5:00 before we reached Deval. From here, we paid the cab driver specially to take us to Lohajung. The festival of Holi is celebrated with great gusto in the hills and along the jou...