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“The gladdest moment in human life, me thinks, is a departure into unknown lands.” – Sir Richard Burton
An Orthopedic Surgeon from Palanpur, Gujarat, Dr. Kalpesh Hirabhai Patel has always been a travel aficionado. Amidst the hectic work schedule, he likes to travel and explore new places any chance he gets and he loves doing that with his family. He is an adventure lover and usually visits 4 to 5 places per month. Having made a trek recently with his family in Chopta, he has already started planning his next bike tour to Leh- Ladakh end of this July. He had loved the trip organized by Thrillophilia and has plans to do a frozen River trekking in Zanskar through them.
Dr Patel is a frequent traveller and came across Thrillophilia while researching for his travel destinations. He decided to try them when he had the opportunity to do the Chopta Chandrashilla trek and he was not disappointed. Needless to say he highly recommends this trip
Family Ties For Travels-
Dr. Patel travelled with his family on this trek and said that while traveling together can challenge you in some ways, the upside of traveling together also brings in great bonding time. He says, “We were a family of 7 traveling together, and other than my family, my sisters’ family also travelled with us. Three children tagging along made the journey truly memorable. And our journey was made more fun by the two members of Thrillophilia who had joined us on the trip.”
Check Out the Best Trekking Tours in Uttarakhand
The Amazing Chandrashilla Trek in Chopta and the Journey Therein-
One of the most sought after Himalayan treks, the Chandrashilla trek with Chopta Tungnath is one of the most breath-taking treks. It is no wonder that Dr. Patel chose this as his family adventure trip. In his own words, he describes the trip as thus-
1st Day
“The first day we reached Rishikesh via train journey and there we met our Thrillophilia executives who were to accompany us on the trip, and who welcomed us with a warm smile. We reached our 1st camp base at rishikesh after half an hour of journey via a tempo and the place wowed us with its extraordinary view. It was peaceful and serene with a river stream flowing right next to it. We had early dinner and sat by the river bed for some time, enjoying the sound of the flowing water along with the bird chirpings. It was indeed soothing and musical to our ears. We all slept happy and peacefully.”
2nd Day
“We woke up early next morning and left the camp for river rafting at the Ganga River. It was a great thrilling as well as a chilling experience and was awesome fun rafting. After that we went bungee jumping. It was my first bungee jumping experience and was a truly adrenaline rush kind of a day. Me and my wife were so scared before doing it, but were so happy right after that adventure activity. It was a thrilling, fun- filled day. We went to Kund after that where we stayed overnight in a hotel. It was a mighty cold place and we enjoyed the firecrackers burning over there.”
3rd Day
“We started early morning for our trek from Kund afer a heavy breakfast. The journey was uphill and upwards with a high level of difficulty in walking. My family was very tired and all of us were irritable with all of them questioning my choice of the trip. But with no choice we just kept at it to finish our journey. We stopped for lunch and boy was it heaven. With hunger in our tummies, we enjoyed our hot delicious lunch and that helped us catch some wind in our stride. We started again with a fairly lesser speed but our Thrillophilia partners continuously encouraged and inspired us. At last we reached our end destination for the day, Deorital Lake. It was a magnificent sight and we were mesmerized by the natural beauty surrounding us. The small Lake with the surrounding forest area gave a clear view of the Himalayan as a backdrop and it was a beautiful memorable scenery. We had some hot bhajias with hot tea and it refreshed us completely and made us energetic too. We played some games while enjoying the nature and relaxed in its lap.”
4th Day
“Today was fairly relaxed as we started from Deorital Lake after breakfast and we didn’t find much problems on the hike trail as we walked through the dense forest. We reached Chopta village around 4 pm and we took high tea over there and relaxed a bit. Had dinner around the bonfire in the cold weather and enjoyed this amazing experience.”
5th Day
“We left Chopta and started our trek towards Chandrashilla temple. It was again an upward trek and we also took the help of two horses to cover the journey partly via riding them on complex terrains. Slowly yet steadily we reached the temple and paid our respects there. After the worshiping and feeling divine we made our journey back to Chopta camp.”
6th Day
“After Chopta we reached Jayalgadh, where we camped by a beautiful river side. This was a relaxing day, where we played games, had dinner by the candlelight and generally chilled out.”
7th Day
“We were sad to leave and part our ways from our Thrillophilia members. They were very helpful, cooperative and an enthusiastic bunch.”
Dr. Patel’s High Point in the Journey and Other Memorable Anecdotes-
According to Dr. Patel, there was nothing that wasn’t memorable for him. But the one memory that stands out is the first day of trekking to Deorital Lake which started poorly with all of them complaining about the trip and ended in exhilarated joy after reaching the Lake. The beautiful Himalayan scenery was breath-taking.
And the funniest memory was when the kids teased them about their lack of experience with their sleeping bags during the camping.
One Thing to know Before Starting the Trip
“I think one must orient themselves well with the whole trip and especially the trekking path so that one can be mentally prepared.”
