The first few steps were killing, every time I had to take a step down the knee would hurt badly and I had seven kilometers to trek down. The walking stick that we had carried with us was turned out to be very helpful and I began a very slow, very painful walk down the hill. I had gulped in a pain killer after breakfast and it had no obvious effect on the pain. I managed the first km in 1 hour and then I realized, if I walk like this it would take us another 6 hours to cover the distance and it would 3PM by the time we could reach Gowrikund. And then I figured out that it was much easier on my knees when I walked on the mud in the corner of the cobbled pathway, rather than use the cobbled pathway. Slowly but surely the knee started cooperating and I picked up speed and managed to reach Gowrikund in another couple of hours just around noon. We had a good meal at GVMN hotel at Gowrikund and were ready to depart to our next halt at Gopeshwar via a beautiful meadowed hill station called Chopta, also known as the Switzerland of India.
Chopta is a awesome place, right out of a picture perfect postcards. Apparently on a clear day, one could see the peaks of Nanda Devi. We reached there at around 4PM and took a break for tea and snacks. There was traces of snowfall and kids loved it. And then to our surprise we met Tanvi’s and Yaami’s friend from school. She was on a trek with Chinmayananda Ashram. It is such a small world!! Spent some time taking photographs, taking in the beauty and enjoying the scenery and then it was time to head to Gopeshwar through a drive through a forest adjoining Chopta. The forest lies in the Nanda Devi Biosphere reserve and was practically untouched. After a very peaceful drive, we reached Gopeshwar for a halt at GMVN toursit house opp the bus stand (an absolutely avoidable place). The next day we were headed to Badrinath!
