My first trip to Vaishnodevi was unimpressive. Climbing was hard, and it only served to highlight how badly out of shape I was, while my in-laws managed to cope so much better. Further, I hadn’t quite realized that the cave experience wouldn’t be the same as I had imagined, since the original cave was only opened at certain times a year, and that we only entered a newly created tunnel, one far easier to access, and hence more manageable with the crowds that thronged the mountain shrine. The resulting experience at the shrine, for barely a fraction of a second, hardly compared to what I had expected / imagined / heard about. So, for me, Vaishnodevi was like any other temple, nothing to write home about, something that was reflected (though not explicitly mentioned) in the blog post I wrote then.
The first river we spotted on out Binsar trip was the Kosi, which joined us a short way from Kathgodam. She accompanied us most of the way, weaving her way among the mountains, as we followed the winding road alongside. We were struck by how dry the river was, and the huge rocks and boulders which made up her bed, and Samhith kept looking for an opportunity to collect stones, but we couldn’t find a suitable place to do so, and moved on.
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| The dry bed of the Kosi River |
On our return journey too, we joined the river soon, and this time our driver asked us if we would like to stop by the river for a while. Thinking of this as another chance to collect stones, we agreed, and he stopped by a small hotel/restaurant, situated on a ridge over the river. There was a flight of steps leading down to the river and we proceeded towards it, expecting to see the river bed as usual.
As we started down the steps, we were approached by a man who asked if we would like ‘fish pakoras’. I refused politely, saying that we were vegetarians, and both, he and our driver burst out laughing! It seems he had asked us for ‘pakoras (vegetables dipped in batter and fried) for the fishes’, and this stumped me further! Whoever had heard of fish eating pakoras!!! Well, seeing my ignorance, the man proceeded to explain that this part of the river had plenty of fish, and that they ate pakoras! Well, we decided to try it out, and buying a few, proceeded on our way towards the river, thrilled to see so much water in it!
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| The Kosi again, this time with water! |
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| Plenty of stones, but too huge for us to carry! |
Samhith, as usual was super-excited, and he went as near as he could to the water, and started throwing the pakoras in, thrilled to see the huge number of fishes which turned up to eat them! instead of talking more about the wonderful sight, let me take you along with me through my photographs…….
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| The fish turn up for the pakoras! |
And finally, here is a video of the fishes.... I was fascinated by the play of sunlight on the rocks, so that is what the video begins with.....
Even though a little fishy it is a very nice tale! The green water and the fish look so serene.
ReplyDeleteEven though a little fishy it is a very nice tale! The green water and the fish look so serene.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful shots of Kosi river and the fishes in them. Even I am hearing fish pakoras for the first time.
ReplyDeleteNice fishy post :)
ReplyDeleteFish and Pakoras interesting.....
ReplyDelete. That would have been really thrilling experience.
@Mridula: thanks... it was really nice... and we made the most of it!
ReplyDelete@Rajesh: thanks! it took a lot of trial and error before i managed to get some decent shots!
@Shilpa: thanks a lot!
@Chitra: it was!!!
samhith is having a ball,i can see :)
ReplyDeleteThe fishy shots are superb :) Nice take :)
ReplyDeleteA wonderful experience, I am sure :)
Kosi river is so beautiful, and the way ypu have captured it makes it much more intersting. Its surprising to know they eat pakoras. Lovely formation fo fishes with samhit sitting there. I am sure he is going to write it as essay, in what I did in the summer at school :)
ReplyDelete