The following morning, we woke up early and noticed a large queue forming at the Shri Kedarnath temple. Since a few of us had already visited the temple the earlier evening, we decided to trek to another temple dedicated to Kalbhairava, located about 800 meters away. From there, we continued ascending the mountain to enjoy breathtaking views of the surrounding peaks. We spent a good half-hour soaking in the scenery.

After our little adventure, we returned to our room and indulged in a hearty breakfast of aloo parathas. Soon, we embarked on our descent to back Gaurikund. After descending about 5 kms, the rain began, and we put on our ponchos. The rain then escalated into hailstones, starting with light ones and gradually becoming heavier. We had to find shelter for a while. Despite the intermittent sunshine, I couldn’t spot a rainbow. After a while, when the weather subsided a bit, we resumed our descent and eventually arrived in Gaurikund. From there, we arranged for a taxi to take us to Sonprayag, where we had planned to spend the night. My plans for the following day took an unexpected twist when I had a conversation with a friend and we decided to meet up in Dehradun.

The next morning, I had to part ways with the group. I arranged for a cab to take me to Rishikesh, from where I would catch another cab to Dehradun. My journey began around 6:30 am, with a distance of approximately 200 kilometers to cover to reach Rishikesh. However, it being a long weekend resulted in heavy traffic on the narrow mountain roads. It took us 5 hours to cover the first 15 kilometers and another 3 hours for the last 25 kilometers, with the remaining 160 kilometers taking approximately 7 hours. It was the longest I’ve ever taken to cover such a short distance. I arrived in Rishikesh at around 9:20 pm and managed to persuade the same driver to take me to Dehradun, to which he agreed. Finally, I reached my friend’s place at around 10:45 pm, where I met my friend and her family. We spent a little over half an hour having dinner and catching up. It was a heartwarming reunion after almost 15 years, meeting her family, and enjoying a good meal of aloo parathas after a long and exhausting day of travel. Aunty was kind enough to make some amazing parathas for the way. My friends then dropped me off at the bus stop so I caught a bus to Delhi, marking the beginning of my journey back to Bangalore via Delhi. Did not capture photos as the entire day was spent stuck in traffic jams.