Chardham Yatra is not just a pilgrimage; it’s an experience filled with devotion, adventure, and unexpected challenges. Our 2022 trip was no different—it was a rollercoaster of emotions, mishaps, and incredible memories.

 

 

Our group consisted of 12 senior members from BPCL (Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd.) Dr. Manisha Kharat, my 16 year daughter Janhavi and I. 

 

The plan was simple: Janhavi, Dr. Manisha, and I would travel by Rajdhani Express, while the rest of the group would fly to Delhi. But destiny had other plans.

 

Dr. Manisha was to be picked up from Devcorpora building Thane; but in a mix-up, I misunderstood the name of the building, which delayed us. To add to the chaos, the taxi driver dropped us at Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT), instead of Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus-CSMT; but immediately we realized that this is not our station to board the train; we requested the driver to drop us to the CSMT station. But in-this chaos we wasted 5 more minutes. 

 

Finally we reached the CSMT station. Hired a porter for luggage. We started running towards the platform; then the scenario was like this- porters were running ahead with our luggage, we ran behind the porter, only to see our train leaving right before our eyes. 

 

Thankfully, Dr. Manisha’s brother arranged fresh tickets on another train, and we somehow reached Delhi. From there, we headed to the airport to receive our group.

 

 

As we picked up our guests, our vehicle broke down. It was a well-maintained vehicle, yet something went wrong.

 

This delay resulted in a double lunch expense for our company, in a fine dine restaurant nearby. A replacement vehicle was arranged by 5:30 PM, and by 11:30 PM, we finally reached Haridwar.

 

The journey had only just begun!

 

 

The next morning, we traveled to Barkot, where everything seemed perfect—until we started our 7 km trek to Yamunotri.

 

At the base camp we got to meet a group of 25 people from Pune in which Janhavi’s friend and his family was also travelling. Janhavi, excited and full of energy, rushed ahead with her friend. Meanwhile, Dr. Manisha and I climbed together. Dr. Manisha was worried about her knee which had been troubling her for a while, so I decided to accompany  her. 

 

Unfortunately, her worst fear came true—her leg twisted badly, and the pain was unbearable. She couldn’t take another step.

 

Bringing her back down was a nightmare. We managed to get two horses for both of us. But when we reached down horsemen  weren’t ready to take us to the parking, and our driver refused to come to pick us up. After an exhausting struggle, we finally convinced our driver and she was taken to safety. 

 

That night, we had to make a tough decision—Dr. Manisha had to return home. Since she couldn’t travel alone, Janhavi decided to accompany her.

 

At 1:30 in the night, our team member, Namita managed to book flight tickets for them for which they had to travel to Dehradun. But another challenge awaited—how to get them to the airport in time?

 

Fortunately we could book a vehicle for them for morning travel; but the fear was still there in mind- What if the driver didn’t show up? What if they missed the flight? Anxiety was high, but luckily, everything went smoothly.

 

Janhavi and Dr. Manisha landed safely in Mumbai, but Dr. Manisha’s family didn’t come to pick her up as they were not aware of the fact that how severe was the matter. Seeing this, Janhavi immediately booked a cab and ensured she reached home safely.

 

Here I continued as the tour leader for the rest of the yatra.

 

 

At Kedarnath, while our group had helicopter bookings, I decided to trek all the way. But due to heavy post-COVID crowds, the driver could only drop me in between before  Ramnagar. 

 

This meant I had to trek 24 km instead of 20 km—all alone.

 

After an exhausting climb, I reached Kedarnath at 10 PM, expecting to find my group—but the room- dormitory was empty. No fellow travelers, no phone network, and no idea where my group was.

 

Using the hotel landline, I found out that due to bad weather, their helicopters didn’t take off. They had to extend their stay in Guptkashi and would arrive the next morning.

 

When I went for Darshan, coincidently near temple,  I met 5 members of Janhavi’s friend’s family that night. The family faced a crisis—their travel agent had not booked their accommodation. With nowhere to go, they were stranded.

 

Since our group’s bed were still unoccupied, I arranged for them to stay there. It was the least I could do in such a situation.

 

 

The next morning, Janhavi’s friend’s family decided to return by horse, and I joined them.

 

By the time we reached down at 5 PM, it was raining heavily, and the path was full of mud, horse dung, and slush. I was covered from head to toe in filth. The stink was unbearable.

I managed to get a lift from a two wheeler guy. Paid him 350/- for the same and gave away my raincoat to him so that he could return back  safly to his home in that heavy rain. 

 

I couldn’t wait to get back to the hotel, freshen up, and change—but another shock awaited me.

 

When I reached to the hotel; My bag was missing.

 

I had checked out of my hotel room before going to Kedarnath, leaving my luggage at the reception. But it turned out that a Thomas Cook group which was staying in the same hotel had mistakenly taken it along with them to their next destination. 

 

The hotel staff checked, and thankfully, we tracked the group’s next stop. The next day, I recovered my bag from their halt before Joshimath.

 

 

Meanwhile, our main group finally reached Kedarnath in the evening by helicopter. But they couldn’t return back the same day due to the bad weather they had to stay back in Kedarnath near temple in a tent. They had to sleep in tents, completely drenched with no clothes to change as they were returning the same day they did not carry extra pair of clothes. 

With no extra clothes to change into, they spent the freezing night in wet clothes.

 

Early morning, they attended a special Havan at Kedarnath temple and finally returned safely.

 

But my Aadhaar card was missing! It was left at the Joshimath hotel’s reception. Fortunately, the staff arranged for it to be sent through another driver to our next halt.

 

The rest of the yatra—from Joshimath to Badrinath—Gangotri—- Delhi went smoothly, without further challenges.

 

 

This yatra was not just a religious journey—it tested our patience, endurance, and adaptability.

 

This trip taught me that no matter how well you plan, life always has surprises. The only way to get through is to keep going, keep helping, and keep believing.