Trip to Gangotri and Gaumukh

vardhan.harsh

AFAIK, the kalindi khal route is a trekking route only to Badrinath (not Kedarnath). There is no easy trekking route to Kedarnath from Gangotri, unless one intends to climb the Kedar dome and climb down the other side, which becomes more of an expedition rather than trekking.

and as for google maps, or for that other indian maps like mapmyindia. The roads in the interiors of Himachal/ Uttaranchal are very poorly marked. I think it is because these roads are not marked manually using maps from survey of India but scanned from sattelite images automatically. Thats why the roads in the interiors of himalayas as marked on such maps are completely unreliable. I absoultely love hte maps from Nest & Wings, they are accurate for trekking routes as well. Got them for Himachal as well as Uttaranchal and i guess for Ladakh too.

sks551

I was very sceptical about the authenticity of this route shown on Google map.
I normally carry print out of the road network of the places we are visiting but I’ll give it a miss this time. I’ll see if I could report this to Google customer services.

Would you know if a Satellite Navigation system (Tomtom Satnav) would operate in that region? I have a Satnav with worldwide map I was wondering I should take it with me. I think that a local driver would do a better job with the road network than a Satnav system.

delhiwala

100% correct ! Now you are thinking like Indians.......

__________________
Travel only with thy equals or thy betters; if there are none, travel alone. - The Dhammapada

sks551

Mr delhiwala,
Indians are always Indian from a thinking point of view; doesn’t matter which part of the world he/she lives. I was born in India and spent most of my childhood and teenage in India.
Although my thinking process has moderated to a large extent because of my present residence in England and the circumstance I am surrounded by, but the inner me still the same.

sks551

For the benefit of others I decided to put this info on the thread:

Today I called the DFO’s office on 01374 222444 and the guy answered the phone asked me to speak to another guy who handles Gaumukh permit application.
The phone number of the staff who handles permit application is 01374 223693.
Spoke to the guy; to my surprise he spoke a bit of English (better than my Hindi) which was very helpful. He also confirmed that they only need trekker’s details and how many porters or guides if any. They don’t need porters or guides name or any other details.
He told me that the same number is also used for fax; may be you have to ask for the fax dial tone.

As we are travelling during first week of Oct, I’ll apply within a week or so.

himalcrazy

Thanks sks for the info. I tried to call these numbers but could not reach any of the two. Are you sure that the numbers are still in use?

sks551

Today is janamasthmi and tomorrow is the Independence Day. They are closed during public holiday.
Try again on Monday.

I have spoken to the guy on 30th July 2009.

himalcrazy

.. I forgot about the janamasthmi. Anyay, I will try again on Monday then.

ribhu95

In a lighter vein,

India forgets...London remembers......

Cheers

Ribhu

himalcrazy

We do not have offices shut here on janamasthmi

Anyway, my bad.. I thought janamasthmi was yesterday.

sks551

Can some one give me some idea as to how much porters charge for a return trip to Gangotri - Gaumukh and Gaurikundh - Kedarnath?

We would expect a porter to carry our rucksack etc.
I was reading GMVN document which states the porter rates for carrying upto 60Kgs is Rs200.
I am not sure if this is off/peak season dependent or dependent on bartering skills.

livinhimalayas

Mostly it depends upon your bargaining skills and ofcourse availability of porters. 200 - 250 is the right price per day per porter.

__________________
He that would live in peace and at ease must not speak all he knows or all he sees. - Benjamin Franklin

sks551

Thanks livinhimalayas

I thought that might be the case that I have to use my bargaining skills, but it is worth knowing what the going rate is.

I must admit I am not that good at bargaining. However I think I have learnt that skills when I visited Istanbul (Turkey) earlier this year. Bargaining is a cultural thing in Turkey and a skilful person should easily be able to bring the price down at least 50 to 60 percent from the original price. People with best bargaining skills always keep their cards close to the chest and keep smiling.

livinhimalayas

Yeah that is the way to do it and also to act poor and stingy, that works too

danmenkin

Day1 Delhi to Rishikesh aaprox 230kms

Day 2 : Rishikesh to Uttarkashi approx 170 kms

Day3 : Uttarkashi to gangotri 100kms

Thanks and regards