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A fly stops for a snack on a tiny wildflower.
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Mist lends character and deep mystery to a forest and makes instantly unfamiliar all the trails you have walked.
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Nightfall at Tungnath is heralded by the rise of a clear white moon and the proud swathe of the Milky Way.
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Tungnath, the highest Shiva shrine in India and perhaps in the world, hugs a cliffside above the tree line at a very impressive 3680 metres (12,073 feet) above mean sea level.
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Feeling lonely? Take comfort in the fact that you are always being watched from above. The rush of wind in a Himalayan Griffon's wings can sound eerily like an approaching aircraft. I had one (not this one) fly just a few metres above my head. Despite the
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Devlok Hotel, fit for sundry backpacking deities, was where we spent a night at Tungnath. This one-room tenement was ours for the princely fee of Rs 100 per guest. The view from the window certainly beat the interiors by a long mile and a half. At night,
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Bracket fungi, the monsoon's tell-tale signature, are still alive and well in the moist forest.
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Even tiny Himalayan hamlets have a cowdust hour. When the cows actually come home depends on what season it is - dusk varies from nearly 7 pm in peak summer to as early as 4 pm in winter.
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A tortoiseshell butterfly fans out its wings in obvious explanation of its moniker.
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Mosses of many kinds gird the tree trunks and some dangle down like permed tresses.
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In a cruddy sky that threatened to burst open any minute, a silver lining packs an encrypted message.
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Quoth the raven, nevermore. Perhaps it was the altitude, but something about Chandrashila had quieted the crows despite the hordes of yakking pilgrim-tourists who scattered idle conversation like trash.
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A wild geranium adds a burst of colour to the shade-darkened undergrowth.
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Tricking the camera into overexposing the subject proved useful in illustrating why the glimpse of a Monal cock can make you stop for breath. Don't blame the altitude.
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Oaks skirt a walkway around Deoria Tal near Ukhimath, Rudraprayag district, Uttarakhand.
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Near Dugalbitta, a glade announces a resting place for travellers who used to take the ancient pilgrim trail to Badrinath.
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Even in silhouette, Lophophorus impejanus or the Himalayan Monal makes a striking picture. The state bird of Uttarakhand (and the national bird of Nepal) is royal enough to dent a peacock's pride.
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Ferns are always fascinating.
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The 'lawns' around Deoria Tal offer a fine view of Chaukhambha, a massif whose four snow-capped prongs make it a truly formidable mountain.
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Through towering deodars, a pale view of hills.
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We met a party of ten Korean-Canadians who had stationed themselves at Tungnath to practise "mind control". With few barriers to tame it, the chafing wind bit into us despite our three layers of clothing. But this man sat facing the rising sun, shirtless,
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Near Tungnath, a plunging cliff edge tempts the visitor with many secrets, including wildflowers, goat-antelopes and maybe the occasional Himalayan black bear.
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His companion went about quietly picking up the trash that louder tourists had left behind.
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As the threat of rain fades, a view of distant, eternal snows offers comfort.
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A solitary marsh marigold defies vertigo to peek over the cliff edge.
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With no one to admire it, this little hovel flaunted to itself a kitchen garden with a riot of yellow flowers.
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Chandrashila, a 1 km uphill trek from Tungnath, overlooks the shrine at an elevation of 4080 m and commands a fine view of the peaks of Kedarnath, Gangotri, Chaukhamba and Trishul.
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From Chopta, the road winds down toward Mandal and then on to Gopeshwar.
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A grand reminder of greater heights, in case getting to Tungnath got you high.
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Draping a rock at eye level was this mauve-and-green flower curtain.