An Ode to Chakrata: Tiger Falls and the Milky Way

There’s little that can mess with my composure while travelling, even bare essentials like clean toilets and clean linen. I had hardly a clue about the former, but I was carrying the latter on my shoulders – A sleeping bag and towels. On a trek like this one, where we had no idea where we were going, we would be insured against rain and dips in fresh water!

It is probably worth mentioning at this point that we are headed to Chakrata, which is just 266 Kilometres away from Delhi. The plan was simple – We would camp near Chakrata’s Tiger Falls, with the stars for company, and take a dip in the waterfall to beat the scorch of North India in May.

The Journey Down

Summer is the worst season to holiday in India. People are going nuts about bookings, and every class is cattle class. We made our travel plans, and had decided to take a bus to Dehradun just two days before we were to be travelling. We landed tickets on a bus to Dehradun, where we would reach at 5 AM, and we could get up on a local bus to Chakrata, and that’d be it! If only.

All through the night, we woke up to either find some wayward Romeo singing in a tuneless voice, or to see a drunk man clamber onto our already overflowing bus and pick a fight – Such was our bus to Dehradun. At 5 AM, the conductor woke us up in his not so gentle voice, asking for all Dehradun bound passengers to disembark. We did, only to find ourselves in Haridwar!

Two dirty buses later, we found ourselves in Dehradun, and were already late for the morning bus that plies once a day to Chakrata. Three hours, haggling, some nice locals, a great vegetarian brunch of hot rajma chawal later, and a truck ride (I’m not kidding), we were finally in Chakrata.

Note to readers: Tiger Falls is a decent distance from Chakrata, and you have to be prepared for any stress balls that might come your way. Ours was, all the shuttles to Tiger Falls had left for the day and we would either have to cough up an exorbitant amount of money to get there, or simply trek to the falls, about 20 kilometers away, with our 15 kg backpacks! Being the troopers that we are, we thought the miles would make no difference to our spirits. We’d asked local dhabawallahs for shortcuts and it came to a little more than 8 kilometres walking, albeit through steep roads and deep cut cliffs.

 

To our delight, the way was gently undulating, and wonderful for a walk, even with 15-odd kilos on our backs! The last kilometre, was the walk down to the falls. This was, by far, the best bit of the whole trip. Spotting that little oasis in the middle of where all of us wanted to be, was nothing short of eureka moment. A stream, a menacing waterfall, a small table land just enough for one tent, and a view of the mountains and the open, clear sky.

The thing about a waterfall is this. When you try to stand under the powerful spray, you’ll be scared. But when you’ve done it once, you want to stand under it again. Slowly, the ache in your limbs after a 20 hour journey is alleviated and you feel like a fresh new person. What does one need after this? Some hot masala chai and Maggi! Thanks to the tourists that haunt the Tiger Falls during daylight hours, chai and Maggi are readily available.

Spending the Night

We have a winter routine, even when we’re in Delhi. We collect twigs before its dark, and light up a fire in our big terrace, as the night gets chilly. It didn’t matter that we were in the warm embrace of May, the twigs and juniper leaves had to be collected nonetheless. It helped that the Tiger Falls were cold enough to want the fire. What relief it was, to be toasting yourself near the red hot flame, when Delhi was dancing close to the sun.

“They say that people who live next to waterfalls don't hear the water.”

The falls roared away all night. The fire, we would fight to preserve. When you have juniper, letting go of a flame is hard. #ThingsILearnByTravelling

We were woken up at 2 AM miraculously, I don’t know why. We ventured out of our warm sleeping bags, and lo and behold! A moonless night, with all of the galaxy draped over our heads. For a few minutes, all of us quietened down and marvelled at the sight, with our dying fire slowly cackling to its last embers, and the falls raging away, having met its favourite companion, the dark sky.

Starting Out a New Day

Morning came quick that day. (Partly because we spent all night trying to capture the galaxy from our campsite) We woke up with the sun quite high up in the horizon, all the chill of the night lost in its glaze. What’s nearly as nice as a litany of stars over your head? A little stream gurgling and twinkling under the morning rays of the sun. Drink the crystal clear water, take a little dip, click hundreds of pictures, and try to get the moving water look sedentary while holding the tripod still amidst rocks, and you’ll have the perfect concoction for a great holiday.

Two dogs gingerly walked up to us that morning, sniffing at our cheese sandwiches. We offered them some, played with them a lot and clamped down all of this in our scrapbook of memories.

Packing up a camp is hard. You don’t want to leave your oasis behind, and travel back to the warm and sticky mess of the polluted city. And yet, there we were, taking off the pegs one by one, and packing them into their holders. Total traveller picture below!

We jostled back to Delhi, this time in cabs, to make it to our bus on time. The climb back up, though a nightmare for my limbs, resonated in me the beauty of the valley we were walking in.

What we ate those one and a half days, you ask? We had a ton of food in our backpacks, and even though there was a dhaba nearby, we would only eat Maggi there when we were too cold to want Oreos and milk! Nothing says camping like bread, cheese and bhujia sandwiches, and milk warmed over a fire, gulped down hungrily with Oreos!

So, is camping overnight near a lake and sleeping under the stars your idea of an ideal break? Then head to Chakrata, and walk down to the Tiger Falls for an unforgettable memory.