Gomukh-Tapovan Trek 2008: Anniversary time: Part 2

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Uttarkashi - Gangotri and Gangotri stay: Day 1

One cannot sleep peacefully at a place which is right next to a bus-stand. There were loud honks right from 4:30AM which forced us to be awake quite early and watch TV before getting ready by 7:00AM. Mr. Balbahadur and his team were already on the job of packing our luggage for the trek on top of the jeep. The jeep driver told us that the landslides may not have cleared yet and in such a case, he will drop us at Bhatwari (28kms from Uttarkashi) which was en-route and that he will charge Rs. 1200.00 up to that place, if we intended to stay back there and wait for the road to get cleared. The other option he gave was to trek from Bhatwari towards Gangotri for around 14-15 kms and cross to the other side of the landslide area and take a vehicle to Gangotri from there. We were hoping that the road was clear so that we don’t end up doing a trek right from Bhatwari. We started for Gangotri around 7:30AM. The route to Gangotri passes through Bhatwari, Maneri, Loharinag, Bhaironghati and Harsil which we understood were small and extremely beautiful places. The distance to Gangotri was around 100kms with an approximate travel time of 6 hours if we go non-stop. The moment you cross the Asi Ganga bridge, which is the border of Uttarkashi town, one can feel the change in the air and it is a new feeling altogether. Anybody can experience the difference - deep valleys with mountains on either side, a cool and soothing breeze, the serpentine roads and the Bhagirathi flowing alongside the road. I realised that I was slowly getting seduced by the mighty charm of the Himalayas. The roads were narrow but good up to Bhatwari (it took us almost an hour to reach there), where we stopped for tea and enquire about the condition of the road further ahead. Bhatwari was also a pretty beautiful place and it was in a valley with steep hills on either sides. Meanwhile, we got the information that the road was clear ahead with some doubts along a small section. That erased our worries partially. After a 30 minute break, we started our jeep ride again. Within a few kilometers of crossing Bhatwari, the roads suddenly turned from good to bad and within another few kms from bad to worse. The road was very narrow and it was filled with water and mud. The wheels were all slipping in the mud and it seemed as if the jeep would topple over any time. That’s where the experience of the driver matters the most and we could see that our driver was highly skilled at maneuvering the road conditions. He exactly knew where the ditch was below the mud and the approximate depth too. He was smart as well. He would wait for the vehicles coming from the opposite side to pass first and analyze the depth on the road. The speed of our vehicle reduced to around 10kms/hour and the roller-coaster ride continued for another 25-30 kms or in fact more than that. Landslides are very common on this stretch of road and the Border Roads Organization had a tough task in clearing the rubble and maintaining the road. On two occasions, we saw vehicles which had fallen on the side of the road. None of the drivers in the vehicles were willing to drive along that side of the road which was on the slope going into the flowing Bhagirathi. The driver also mentioned that there were cases when landslides fell on top of the vehicles when it was crossing that stretch. Oops, all these talks were dangerous to listen, but fortunately for us, we crossed that stretch and hit the good road. The temperatures began to become cooler and it was awesome views all around. Some of the road curves were very dangerous and there were quite a few occasions when our jeep driver could not hear or sight anything and we had close shaves. En route, one passes through a place called Gangnani which is known for its hot springs. Hot springs are abound in the entire Himalayan region, but we did not want to stop at Gangnani as the urgency to reach Gangotri was stronger, maybe next time we will have a bath there. Very soon, we reached a place called Loharinag where NTPC has been constructing a thermal power plant since several years and they have dug a few big tunnels out there. The stretch of road and the surroundings there was a total mess. The road was muddy pool and the use of big mechanical systems was creating lot of noise which was destroying the peace and serenity of the mountains. There was a sort of traffic management at this stretch and it took us sometime before we crossed a bridge to leave this place behind. Now the Bhagirathi was flowing on our left. The roads are slowly getting steeper with sharp bends and the beauty of the Himalayas was the surroundings was getting better and better. In no time, we reached Harsil and I can bet you will love this place. Bhagirathi was very wide at this place with white and glowing sandy beaches. I just can’t describe in writing the magnificent views of the valley and the flowing Bhagirathi at Harsil. Our guide told us that there are quite a few treks which can be done through Harsil. We could realize that Harsil can be an excellent place for camping and stay too. GMVN (Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam) has accommodation facilities at Harsil which one can book in advance and can stay. Gangotri is around 28 kms from Harsil and after crossing another small village called Bhaironghati, we reached Gangotri around 2:30PM. The road straightway ends at the bus-stand and the place had several informative signboards for the pilgrims and travelers apart from many small restaurants. Quickly, we paid off the jeep guy, thanked him and with our entire luggage, we landed at Hotel Mandakini which was at a short walk from the Gangotri bus stand.





We were supposed to stay for a night in Gangotri just to get acclimatized (that’s supposedly the right word to use) to the climate here and Mr. Balbahadur had identified Hotel Mandakini as an affordable and good place to stay. True to his word, this hotel was located at a height and one can have a good view of the entire Gangotri area. We had a quick shower and then ventured outside to see around Gangotri. We went back to the bus stand where there was a map of Gangotri and decided to go to Pandav goofa and the nearby areas. We walked around the Gangadevi temple area, and then crossed the bridge to go to the other side where the short walk to Pandav goofa starts. Gangotri is slowly getting commercialized as seen from the mobile phone towers around the place and the numerous shops around. Bhagirathi water was not clean here too and the water was very cold and turbulent. The view from the bridge towards the Gomukh and Bhagirathi peak side was absolutely fantastic. On the way to Pandav goofa, we crossed Surya kund and Gauri kund where it seems if you take a deep, all your sins will be washed away. But, what intrigued me was that how can one go into the kund area since Bhagirathi flows at very high speeds at those places. Maybe I can imagine that if someone is able to withstand those high speeds, your soul gets washed of all your sins due to the speed of the eternally pure water. The walk to the goofa was pleasant with lots of pine, chir and deodar trees around. The goofa was not a very big goofa as such, but there was enough space inside for a small temple setting and we saw a sadhu in “nidra” (sleep) mode. We walked around the place for some more time in the calm atmosphere and went back to our hotel. We then went to the forest entry check post with our guide to confirm whether we can enter the Gomukh region the next day and we were given permission. So, we were all set. That evening, our guides cooked the first meal for our trek. It was plain chapatti with dal and sabji. I don’t know whether its because of the colder climate, but we hogged the food like mad. Gangotri was beautiful at night too. There were several ashrams on the banks of the Bhagirathi and all these were well lit. In fact, if somebody is associated with any ashram, they can stay at those places also at much cheaper cost. Off to sleep now.






Gangotri – Chirbasa trek: Day 2 daytime

We had very good rest during the night and we were prepared for the trek by 7:00AM the next day morning. After having a quick tea and breakfast we started moving towards the forest entry gate. We were also loaded with rucksacks containing our own stuff, but these were just incomparable to the huge loads our guides were carrying. They were carrying foodstuffs for 5 people for 4 days apart from all the kitchen items including stove and utensils and kerosene. After going through the check post with the necessary payment of fees, we headed towards Chirbasa, our first halt point for the night. The trail is along the side of mountains, so, we were basically at a height. You have two points of halt between Gangotri and Gomukh – Chirbasa and Bhojbasa which are basically based on the names of trees – “Chir” is “Pine” and “Bhoj” means “Birch”. Chirbasa was around 10 kms from Gangotri and Bhojbasa another 3-4 kms from Chirbasa. The total distance to Gomukh was 18 kms from Gangotri. This trek route has been frequented by pilgrims mainly during the peak season of April/May/June and so the trek route is, I would say, to some extent maintained well. The beauty of this trek route is that you get charged up as you keep going along. You have the river Bhagirathi flowing on your right side and on the left side, you have the steep mountains with clouds hovering on their peaks. In the initial stretch, it was greenery all around with the Bhagirathi flowing down in the valley, but slowly the vista changed to tall mountains on either side and the Bhagirathi valley in between. Can you imagine such a sight ever in your dreams? The trek path ahead of us was not very clear for at least 3-4 kms after we crossed the check post due to think fog and clouds. But, slowly, the clouds started to clear off and the view in front of our eyes was mesmerizing. At a long distance, we could see a couple of ice laden peaks and our guides mentioned that those were the Bhagirathi peaks and that if the weather is clear and the sun is shining, we can see the peaks much more clearly. The snow peaks with a background of blue sky created a beautiful panoramic painting for the eyes to savor. Another good thing about this trek is that although you keep going up from Gangotri which is at a height of 3050 meters to a height of around 4100 meters (Gomukh), you don’t feel it. The trail had no major uphill climbs to mention. That is probably the reason why one can see several middle-aged people doing this trek, but the main purpose is for pilgrimage only for these folks. At many places, there were streams flowing into the Bhagirathi from the mountains on our left side. A few of the streams had lot of water and they were flowing right through the trek route and at such places, there were arrangements to cross the stream over a log. Except for this little challenge, we found that the trek was cool, a very smooth walk I would say, which gives you the opportunity to enjoy the natural beauty of the surroundings in its true spirit. There was a bit of caution from our guides on a regular basis and that was to keep looking out for loose rocks sliding down the mountains on our left. It seems there were many instances in the past where huge rocks would slide down the mountains, especially during rainy season and this was a risk for life. The sun was coming out in full glow with the passage of time and it was becoming marginally hot. Even though there were no climbs, you need a bit of stamina to keep walking with 20kgs at your back and we were taking rest once in a while. I really appreciate the stamina of our guides who were carrying around 30-35 kgs of luggage each and they were several times fitter than us. Well, this was their job and they are used to it, still, it is tough if we consider such a job on regular basis. But, I feel that they love doing their work and make the trek entertaining and sometimes scary with their numerous stories from earlier experiences. Their experience speaks and Balbahadur had lost one of his fingers too due to frostbite in one of his earlier treks to Kalindikhal, which was also on the same route ahead of Tapovan and Nandanvan. On the way, we encountered several trekkers (probably they belonged to one particular group) coming down from the opposite direction. The team was a huge group of Korean trekkers (maybe numbering about 50). The surprising thing was that almost 60% of this Korean group was either on horse back or on “palanquins”. They were in no position to walk. It seems they had tried to go over to Tapovan from Gomukh and many of them got injured in the process.




We didn’t realize that we were actually the only ones who were trekking towards Gomukh at that point of time. After a while, we saw that there were two more persons coming behind us, but they were quite far off and didn’t look like trekkers. They must have been walking real fast since we didn’t see them when we started. They reached us within a few minutes and we all had a break together. They were forest officials who had started on a hunt to locate trekkers (Japanese group) who did not return on the due date which was 2 days before. We were told that the forest department has become very strict with respect to trekking in the Gomukh area and further up towards Tapovan and Kalindikhal. Our guides further added that a few years back, the route used to be lined with several makeshift shops (selling water, tea and eatables) during the peak pilgrimage season and also during the entire trekking season, but now the forest department has totally barred people from putting up shops. They had implemented several new rules for trekking and they don’t give permissions to trek up to Tapovan just like that and if somebody violates the permissions, they are fined heavily. It seems only 150 persons are allowed to trek inside the national park on a given day, so one has to take permission well in advance for the trek. Also, earlier horses were allowed till Gomukh, but they have stopped that too and they allow horses only till Bhojbasa. That means if you break your bones ahead of Gomukh, you have no choice but to come down to Bhojbasa somehow if you need a horse! On one hand, I feel the implementation of these rules is good because the damage to environment is reduced significantly, but on the other hand, trekking should not be totally banned and the forest department should ensure that the rules are strictly followed. The conservation of Gangotri and Gomukh has become a top priority for climate experts.

..... to be continued