there are a gazillion stories about ones experiences at the himalayas..but i have to write here about my trek to the himalayas- it was my first trek ( of my life!) and what a way to begin my trekking journey..
my journey actually begins from (also beautiful) Rishikesh!
Rishikesh among the many things it is famous for- it is also famous for its white water rafting in the Ganges. the water at the Ganges - glacial look, the icy cold water & unknown deathly depths - it is only after you immerse yourself in those waters will you understand the serenity of those waters.after the waters flow calmly over your body- there is a sense of peace and calm that you experience- undoubtedly.. something I have never felt/experienced in my whole life..
next stop Gangotri:
the route from rishikesh to Gangotri is nearly 12 hrs. we had to do an unscheduled stop over at uttarkashi- which turned out to be a good thing cause thats where we met our very amazing guide, who we called Sonny.
we were lucky at uttarkashi- turns out the path for the himalayas opened up just the day before ( can you imagine traveling all the way there and not being able to go ahead!!). You also need a permit to go there- again the director who issues this permit was there only for 30mins or so- again luckily we met him. And the permit being issued was at the discretion of the director- he rejected 4 other tourists like us.. but as luck would have it we got the permit! journey was picturesque - drive around mountains after mountains
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| check the dark clouds looming over the mountains. |
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| single lane routes around the mountains |
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| single lane routes around the mountains |
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all the routes are surrounded with
mountains with step farming on them |
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| Roadway going around the mountain |
Harsil
this is a beautiful place just some 30-35kms from the gangotri... all along the route- on one side of the road is (of course) the mountain on the other side - you will find atleast 2 km wide stretch of gravel.. with the bhagirathi river flowing along side it.. you will have to see it to believe it
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| 1st glimpse of the himalayas |
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| By the freezing waters of the river Bhagirathi |
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| Leaving Harsil... :) |
Gangotri
a little background- you may have heard about the raging flood at Badrinath that claimed thousands of lives.. this flood raged all through the region- it was just over 6 months now and life was just getting back on track- So as you approach Gangotri you will see the rampages of this flood..roads destroyed.. landslides everywhere.. bridges torn apart..
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| torn down bridge |
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| newly built bridge |
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| new roads being built by the army |
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| road carved out 15ft high ice block |
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| Landslides along the road |
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| snow- slide?? |
Compass points north..
its north all the way.. down to the foothills of the himalayas where there is the world famous glacier known as Gaumukh- literally translated as "cows mouth" this opening feeds one of the largest rivers in the world!
It is a completely strange a fact to accept that one of the largest rivers- 2,500+kms long- in the world is created and fueled by this glacier. this glacier, which is an amazing 30ft long & 4km wide, is at the foot of the almighty mountain Bhagirathi. Bhagirathi is a group of 3 peaks in the Garwhal Himalayas. The mythical peak takes its name from the legendary kind Bhagirathi, who had brought the ganges( ganga) from heaven down to earth.
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| the 3 peaked colossal mountain : Bhagirathi |
SO the trek takes off from Gangotri, the stay is gangotri is quaint there is a small stretch of civilization - civilization which may not be more than a kilometer long. Within this stretch you will have a line of small eatery stalls, and a handful of staying accommodations.
About 40-50kms before entering Gangotri - you loose all kinds of connectivity. at Gangotri, even though it is considered of the most sacred places for Hindus. there is no source of power, the water source is natural, I think even the food source is natural in those parts. Again the local modes of transit between Gangotri to the rest of the region is very much dismal. maintenace of this area is extremely high risk especially after the floods, which results in constant landslides. Landslides which invariable render the area inaccessible. there is a constant change in the landscape route, sometimes even encountering a mountain river diverted and flooding up the roads..
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| A mountain river flooding out the road |
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| crossing the river flood - a shot taken from the car!! |
But again.. despite all these environmental issues, i have to give a hats off to the government there, who are constantly doing everything in their power to ensure the livelihood of the folks living or traveling to the area.
At Gangotri we came across may other travelers who had come there for the trek to Gomukh. but all of them, did not make it all the way to gomukh. Each of them had returned from mid way.. all these conversations were a bit nerve wrecking... but yet the next day in the early hours of the morning we all took off for the 30km trek.. completely unaware of what awaits us all along the way..
the Trek
so yes. this is the first of kind for me, my very first trek- they say 3000m above sea level, the oxygen levels are lowered, puts strain on your body. overall i guess you need to prepared more mentally than physically to embark on this..
All the way you trippy/dizzy.. you are walking along a path- a narrow path- curved alongside the mountains. this path slides down to the river some 500m below you. the bright blue sky right above you.
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| the narrow path alongside the mountain.. |
All in all you are walking in a direction opposite to the river, the gravel around you is moving along with you the sky along with the clouds again moving in another direction.. all in all - i dont know to explain any more- but you feel every element around you moving.. the earth, the sky, the water, the wind.. Trippy.. :) no other word to explain it..
all along the way..
as i have constantly said there arent much words to describe the place.. infact there werent much words exchanged here..there are a many pictures taken o, in many of them you will find me staring up into the skyes the mighty snow peaks running alongside me... there i was.. a girl from Goa- the only mountains i have ever seen were the ones in my backyard..climbing them.. getting lost in them.. getting scared in them.. exploring them..some of my best memories right there in my backyard of my house.. but..
here i was staring peaks after peaks each one unbelievable.. each one making you feel like the luckiest person in the world experiencing them.. being there with them..
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| I call this the Giants.. |
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| walking on ice? a snow slide down from the giants.. |
the place in between..
walking continuously for 5 hours with no breaks.. and walking uphill was a crazy task. I know i was exhausted.. my body was exhausted.. turns out i am terrible "terrible" at anything tht is uphill! and 80% of the trek was uphill... although i am so surprised that my body did not break down or go stiff with all this exercise.. there was nothing i wanted to other than just sit.. thats all..
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| Landslide debris..it was an insane walk uphill |
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| u can actually see the debris coming down from the mountains.. it didnt get more treacherous than this! |
So far off in the distance surrounded by the mountains quietly nestled is a green patch of pine trees.. hundreds of them. is a sight for sore eyes! this was the only place providing that iota of solace that each and every trekker is looking for.. this is called "Chirbasa" literally translating to abode of Pine trees. Typically this place has a set up for a small eatery stall. but in our case since the trek route had opened up only the previous day.. there was nothing but ruins there. But even then the place was a bliss. i found a tree that seemed to be waiting for me to nestle there.. we broke our journey for 30 mins before moving ahead.
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| an abode of pine trees.. nestled between all these mountains.. |
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| from a distance.. chirbasa |
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| scene at chirbasa |
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| the path at chirbasa filled with pine cones |
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| my spot! |
deadlier sides..
the perils of the journey could never have been pre-empted, there we were standing in front of a freakin landslide, when one of friends trekking with me ask me- your folks at home know, right? know that you are on this deadly trip?
the landslides were crazy, insane, scary beyond imagination.. there was no pathway.. the route was amidst ruins- ruins of the 2012 floods.. this was something none of us expected..each step of way you wondered.. in my case- it was confusion or traumatizing! there we were just a fews hours away from our destination was it unbelievably messed up. screwed up.. no pathway.. no alternative pathways.. only ruins..ruins after ruins, landslide after landslide.. it was there that we wondered, for the 1st time, will we make it. we had to make it.. what other option was there.. we were almost there.. and i dont think any more landslides could get us to turn back around at any point of time..
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| the view below me..no road, no pathway |
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| Ice cold mountain stream |
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| One of the most scariest landslides along the way to Bhojbasa.. |
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| this stretch was nearly 500m wide- with nothing but soft mud.. one wrong step would send you down to your death. |
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| can you imagine this is real? |
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| the rocky path! |
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| another landslide.. |
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| i dont see any walking path here.. do you? |
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| landslides continued.. |
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| a landslides leading down to the ganges below |
Final stop Bhojbasa..
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| finally!!! Bhojbasa |
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| 1st view Bhojbasa |
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| the 1st visitor! |
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| our tent! at the actual foothill there! |
So finally, finally 10-11hrs later, we reached bhojbasa..this was the final pitstop for the night..the whole plan being that we were going to camp out the night in a tent pitched up by us and eat up all the junk that we packed in our bags..go through the night watching the shooting stars go by..watch the glowing snow clad mountains and finally witness the sun rise of a lifetime - the sun rising in the himalayas... Yes.. that was the plan..
so after all the fuss and tiredness of mine we finally reached Bhojbasa.. once we reached there we ended up in the ashram.. which was alive and active! it was pretty nostalgic moment.. i guess we reached there just in time for 2 very much amazing reasons..first being that - they were just serving food to every one there- FOOD! it was just hot dal and rice..!we ate as much as we could and sat down there to rest our feet. and just then the second thing happened- you could hear the enormous roar of the landslides..
the weather began to deteriorate.. it began to drizzle, hurriedly the tent was put up.. but it was freezing we had to move into a room..preferably behind concrete walls..and fortunately we got one.. you couldnt step out, the temperature dropped significantly. you had to covered with all the many layers of clothing.. we even slept with our socks and muffler on.. atleast tried to sleep.. it was amazingly freezing cold with snow rain plus the stiff body plus the anxiety of it all..
At the foothills of Heaven..
at six in the morning.. right there on the edge of this little abode.. is heaven.. the cold wind goes whistling around your ears.. you will feel the moisture of the clouds on your face.
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| the almighty Shivling peak in all its majesty |
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| glowing tapovan |
All this surrounded by mountains that glisten like gold with the little spotlights of the sun..you are literally looking for miles and miles and you just can feel the peacefulness and the calmness wash over you..
it is through this that you make your way through the very very "very" long awaited destination Gaumukh. the final part of the trek is of large rocks especially as you approaching the beginning of the river..and thats where the trek ends. but you know me- i stood there on this giant rock staring at the waters flow by and I am greatly... disappointed..
thankfully not with much coaxing, we went ahead... we went to the exact spot "Gau-mukh" watched in fear and unbelievable awe at this huge, unbelievable huge chunk of ice.. It stretches up to the skies with the tremendous peaks of bhagirathi stare down at you in defiance..the glacier actually surrounds you and you can feel the chill running down your spine.. mountain iced water is running down around your feet..what a brilliant place to be in what a brilliant feeling to have and what a brilliant experience which makes you treasure it and share it with everyone you knw...
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| First view of the glacier! at the foothills of the Bhagirathi |
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| Bhagirathi staring down at you in front of the glacier |
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| The Shivling view from the other side of the glacier |
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| (almost) full view of the glacier |
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| the peaks and the glacier ( and the only lifeform perchedon the rock there!) |
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| Bhagirathi, glacier and Tapavon |
All my life..
Yes.. all my life, all i wanted was to just go out explore, see places i have never seen before, experience "experiences" i have never experienced before..and here I was.. just walking down this broken down path living an experience i never imagined.. or even thought existed..
at each step i kept running a narrative in my head, thinking - oh i will have to tell about this stretch of walk.. or.. i have to talk abt the landscape here... or .. i have tell about the being here altogether..
but here I am trying to pen down my very blessed experience.. and.. i am.. at a loss of words.. there is nothing that I can say or write to tell you or anyone about this experience.. I can put up a dozen pictures, give you some description, here and there.... but nothing compares to actually living it..
look at it every picture u will find just nature - in all its glory, in all its wrath..there is no one.. not a soul..there is nothing - just nature.. and you...and your thoughts...
