Gangotri (265 mms from rishikesh)

Bought tickets from the designated counter in 155 bucks/per person but to our disappointment we got the rear seats (they are most uncomfortable seats in the bus and provide you a good bumpy ride). This was the last bus, departed at 7:30AM (after that there was no bus service only jeeps available up to Uttarkashi – 100kms short of Gangotri).

This was very boring ride up to Tehri (now the whole Tehri Village transferred at near by and in its place Tehri Dam would constructed, we were lucky that we saw this old & beautiful village with our eyes), due to and of course our seats. As Tehri past now came the picturesque valley and mighty Ganga flowing in deep gorge just below the road. We now started enjoying the scenery and road. Had breakfast and lunch on the route.

I wonder so many thousands of people traveled this road during season and there are almost no facilities provided by the government to them and the main concern are women, who suffered a lot during traveling into this region. There is no good hotel in this route although dhabas are available but the food is of low quality and to be with very limited options.

Well reached Uttarkashi at 4:00PM. This is the main town in this region. You can buy every basic thing from here. We had had some snacks and bought some Maggie, Juices & biscuits for the Gomukh trek.

After Uttarkashi the entire route is amazing green forests on the hills, mighty Himalayas talking to clouds, lush green valleys, pure white water of Ganga River flowing besides you all the way & snow clapped peaks in horizon. Wow….look….no here….arre nahi look there…amazing yaar….what a place buddy, these were the only words that came out from our mouth at that time. Weather was very pleasant and dropped down with each Kms we had done. 

The road is very narrow and at most of the stretch it was like only one vehicle at a time. En-route is Gangani (famous for the hot water springs). But stopped here for 5 minutes and this was enough for us to wash our hands and mouth in the hot Sulphur spring. Harsil is the next major town where army has its check post and a major settlement. This is very beautiful village and surrounded by the snow clapped peaks for almost all the year. Some 17kms ahead is the Bhairon Ghati Bridge which situated at a very high point from the Nil-Ganga river (coming from Neelang & Jadang Villages) gorge. The water is pure blue as looked from the bridge. Taking picture is offence here as this bridge lay by Indian Army and joins the border village of Neelang from Harsil. Permission for this village can be obtained from the Dehradun or Uttarkashi. One can look the old wooden bridge far below in the gorge, I wonder how could people in old time crossed that bridge.

We reached Gangotri at 7:30PM and it’s very cold here, so the first thing we did was took out the jackets from our bags and wrapped around us. Temperature down with every minutes passed by. This quiet and beautiful place lies in the valley and surrounded with mighty peaks. We checked in a guest house (rent was 150 bucks only) and start roaming here & there. At that time there was no parking facilities available and only a single STD line was there (no mobile network), which shared among all the STO booth and its one luck that he got connected to his desired number. Against our all predictions made during journey, Gangotri was visited by many of the pilgrims and we found that a kind of rush was present. After had been refreshed, visited the temple, which is located at one end of the Gangotri Village. This small beautiful temple located near Ganga River and said to be that in ancient time Gomukh laid here, which is now move backward some 18kms from here (all thanks to Global Warming). Bid pray in Temple and sat near river bank for a while. The river current was stroked with the boulders and created a thunder like sound.   There were dhabas that serve simple vegetarian food (drinks and non-veg is strictly prohibited here). We had had our dinner and slept under the heavy load of quilts.

Day2: Gangotri – Gomukh – Gangotri (18kms + 18kms all on foot)

The day was started very early for us, as we had to moved to Gomukh and returned back on the same day. Refreshed from the daily activities and after taking some snaps of surrounding we headed to Gomukh at 5:00AM. This was our first trek and we were happy but soon realized the toughness of this terrain.

This trek is goes over a well defined path and mule and ponies also plied between for the disabled person. The trek goes along with the Ganga River and passed from some of the beautiful meadows. En-route you can find many water streams that coming from the glaciers situated up behind the high peaks. We thought of having bath but as we touched the water, realized that this was our dream only; the water was so icy cold that it’s impossible to withstand it for more than 2-3 seconds.

Some 12kms past was Chirbasa, there was situated some dhabas, provided you indeed hot cup of tea, that refreshed you (I do not prefer tea so I took some juice and biscuits). After relaxing a bit we moved to our next destination i.e. Bhojwasa, this place situated at an altitude of 3700mts and some 3kms short of Gomukh. We planned to trek till Gomukh and then had our lunch at Bhojwasa while coming back.

It took us some 6:30hrs to reached here.The sight of Gomukh glacier was very cool, this huge mass of snow stand stranded in this region like a huge wall of snow. It is called the "Cow's Mouth" because the cow is sacred and it looks like a cows mouth apparently. The water flowing with very high velocity and though it was just 2-3 feet deep but impossible to stand in it, as it was very cold and ice pieces came with the water which might hurt us.

We were very tired and the sun was so bright that we had to take shelter. Mighty peaks of Himalaya, covered with snow, in background there is Bhagirithi Glacier and various major peaks can be seen from here. Only sound that one can heard here is the flowing water and sound of clouds as they strike with high peaks. We rested for about 1hr and then moved back at 12:30PM. Though there was option for the Tapovan trek (which lies further 6kms from here and to reach there you have to climb to Gomukh glacier which is 500mts steep and tiring climb), but we didn’t go there as we already tired and not well prepared for further.

We had our dinner at Bhojbasa and then came back to Gangotri at 7:00-7:30PM, by that time it was very dark and we were somehow able to reach at our guest house. We were so tired that without any dinner we slept quietly in our quilts.

Day3: Gangotri – Haridwar – Delhi (293kms + 200Kms)

We woke up early as we were afraid of missing the last bus that left Gangotri at 7:30AM. Caught the bus on time and bid farewell to this very beautiful place. Reached Delhi at late in the night at 1:30AM.               

I done 3 trips to Gangotri and believe me it’s very fantastic place in any means. You just read about my first trip and below I mentioned only the new things or changes that I came to knew in my recent trips.

My Second Trip: (July 2004)

I with my friend Neeraj, sorry Dr. Neeraj planned for this trip and left for Gangotri. I shared only new things that I observed this time during my trip.

·        The ticket had been increased to Rs165 from Rishikesh to Gangotri.

·        As we missed our bus so we caught a shared jeep in 125 bucks up to Uttarkashi and believe me this taxi driver was so fast that we by pass 3 of the buses that left in the morning from Rishikesh. But be careful while taking jeep these drivers do a full rash driving, though save your lots of time. Please never opt rear seat in jeep instead always look for the front seats.

·        Construction of Tehri dam begun by that time and there were no traces of Tehri Village instead we have to pass from Chamba (Uttrakhand). This place is very beautiful and provides you the breathtaking scenery.

·        There had been a landslide in Uttarkashi last year whose influence could be seen at that time also.

·        We boarded in the bus that we missed at Rishikesh and reached Gangotri at 7:00PM.

·        Against our all predictions the snow was still there on the peaks.

·        Room rent was Rs350.

·        Start trekking to Gomukh at 9:30AM, yeah right it’s very late but this time we decided to go up to Tapovan (6kms ahead of Gomukh).

·        Had breakfast and diner en-route at Chirbasa & Bhojvasa.

·        In noon time it’s very dangerous to walk over the glacier as its always moving in nature so we waited at Gomukh glacier for some time and start moving ahead only after 5:30PM just to avoid any danger. 

·        This was very tiring to climb over the glacier though it was just a 500mts climb. There was loose sand and boulders that made this path much difficult. Altitude also played its role.

·        Well we negotiated all the difficulties and when you are on glacier, you can feel its vastness. The mighty snow clapped peaks all around enlighten your soul. Now we had to cross the glacier to reach at Tapovan (4400mts) which is just a big open ground in this area, where 95% of the foreigners stayed in the camps. Some expedition groups also came here.

·        Had Maggie as dinner and slept in the tented accommodation (cost us some 100 bucks per bed). Night was very chilly and to our surprised when we woke up next morning and my friend Neeraj tried to untie its belt, its broke into pieces. That was just due to coldness and that belt laid outside our quilt, the whole night.

·        Took some snaps and talked to people there. Tapovan serves as the base for most of the expedition in this area.

·        Returned to Gangotri by the night and found a good accommodation in 150 bucks only (so cheap we thought, it was just because very few tourist were visited this place that day), and we slept in no time.

·        Still no mobile network worked in this area. Nothing changed much from my previous trip.

·        We started at 5:30AM from Delhi and reached haridwar at 10:30AM. Thanks to jam that we faced at Merrut and Muzzafarabad.

·        Mom, Nani & Sis took bath in holy river Ganga at haridwar that made us much late. 

·        Saw tehri dam for the first time and the whole village submerged into the lake formed after this dam. This is huge construction that tied the Ganga into its boundaries.

·        By the time we reached Uttarkashi it’s already 7:00PM and had been dusk. I was in the mood to complete the whole stretch and had rest at Gangotri only but my mom forced me to stop at Bhatwari (a place just after Uttarkashi). Rented a room in 350 bucks and had dinner. I wonder why there was difference between the money that I paid and my driver paid for the same Thali that we served in that Dhaba. He paid 25 bucks while I paid 40 bucks for the same.

·        Woke up early in the morning and found that this lodge was situated adjacent to Ganga River. Had you thrown a stone and it directly plunged in to the river.

·        We stopped at Gangani and all other except me had bath in Hot water springs. Now there were more shops opened up at opposite of the road. There was now a small storage for the hot water, where people can take bath (separate for ladies and gents).

·        Reached Gangotri at 10:00AM and bingo, I found myself in a completely renewed Gangotri. There is parking slot in this village now and the little road that leads to main temple now properly tiled. More dhabas opened in this area that provided you a good food (if not mouth watering). Mobile worked very well and no long queues for the STD now.

·        Temple area seems to be renovated and there were more number of priests now, who could offer their service and made some quick bucks.

·        Same Mighty Ganga and same mountains for me but for others that was trafficking. They admired the beauty of nature from the starting as that was there first time in to this land. I was more than happy in their happiness.

·        My Mom and Nani had some problem at this altitude but later on it seems to be ok. 

One more thing that I would like to mention that now the whole area beyond Gangotri Village comes under Gangotri National Park and to enter into this, you have to take special permission from Dehradun or from Uttarkashi. Please go thru the linesbelow:  

 

• 1) Only 150 tourists (potters included) will be permitted to visit Gomukh every day.
• 2) Permission for entry to Gomukh area will be issued by Chief Wildlife warden, Dehradun or DFO uttarkashi.
• Chief Wildlife Officer Dehradun - 0135-2644691
• DFO Uttarkashi - 01374-222444 (Phone)/ 01374-222964 (FAX)
• 3) First cum first serves.
• 4) Fees:

• Rs50 for 2 day for Indians (Additional Rs25 per day beyond 2 days)
• Rs350 for 2 days foreigners (Additional Rs175 per day beyond 2 days)

• 5) Movement of mules and Horses banned in Gangotri National Park.
• 6) 500mts prior to Gomukh is declared as restricted area.