Valley of Flowers vs. Har-ki-Dun

ks_bluechip

SK ... Current condition as of y'day 14th July is:

1) The road from Barkot all the way to Hanuman Chatti (past Sayana Chatii) is tarred and pretty OK.

2) From Hanuman Chatti to Janaki Chatti there is NO ROAD ... its only mud and slush and stones ... most of the way. The share-jeeps (4WD) still go to Janaki Chatti... but the "road" is in bad shape and the ride is pretty bumpy. If they had started buiding a road for this stretch, I did'nt see any evidence of that.

3) From Janaki Chatti to Yamonotri Temple (5kms one way) there is pretty neat 4-5-6 feet wide paved walkway (some places concrete paved & some places interlocking red tile blocks (like they use in Mumbai for short stretches). There is also an iron barrier-railing (on the ravine-side) all the way, on this walkway to prevent walker's falling of the edge. Pretty neat. And pretty well maintained!

- KS

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Sadanand Kamath

Thanks KS for updating me.
Sadanand

Dilliwala

THAT'S HIM!! So u've heard about how close he was to Sanjay Gandhi and how he sneaks off to campaign for the Congress without leave! All I can say is, u don't miss or need TV/radio/internet with him around. Just as well, otherwise Sankri wud be dead boring .
Still no electricity conns?

The GREAT irony here is that the stretch from Hanumanchatti upto Phulchatti (is the new GMVN there up and running?) is officially part of NH 94! Only in India...

Sadanand Kamath

I found in 1994 that in around Sankri and Taluka GMVN, things used to be very quite during the day time. It was only after dusk, I used to observe a group of people around Chowkidars discussing something .... leading to fierce arguments amongst themselves. This used to go on until midnight. I guess now that they must be discussing politics over a drink - the arguments probably arising out of different political affiliations of the group.

Sadanand

ks_bluechip

Yes, so Kedar Singh Rana is the same... at GMVN sankri. Another observation ... I found drinking a major pastime for most locals on the Har-Ki-Dun route. I guess they really have no other worthwhile pastime in these faraway locations.My porter guide (Tikkam Singh) said he never drinks ... I can vouch for that at least in the 6 days he was with me. He was up early every day by 5:30 am each day to start the trek early as per my wish!

- KS

PS:

I am back in Uttarkashi today after visiting Gangotri and completing the Gaumukh trek. I did it in 3 days:

1)Gangotri-Bhujabasa (14kms) - 7hrs for me
2)Bhujabas-Gaumukh-Bhujbasa (10kms) - 3.5 hrs
3)Bhujbasa - Gangotri (14kms) - 5hrs

The route is pretty clear ...no rains on way ... no water on trail, no slush! Bhagirathi I, II, III views very impressive. Shivling to looked Good. All days weather clear and sunny and no clouds. I was thinking of Tapovan ...but didnt find a "good" guide in Bhujbasa and was told trail is also not in good condition. sdo didnt go there.

The gangotri-Gaumukh trail is easy i did it without any porter guide. There were plenty of pilgrims (Jai Bholenath Ki!) on trek ...I counted 200 orange clad people while returning today from Bhujbasa. But i was told that is very low attendenceand it will grow in numbers soon.

- KS

Sadanand Kamath

I admire your enthusiasm in reporting back - almost like 'on line' - of your trekking experience in the midst of tiring days.

Like you, I also could not do Nandanvan/Tapovan trek in May 1989due to extremely bad conditions just about 2 kms after Gaumukh.
There were constant stone falls - from splinters to big stones -on the trekking path. Ultimately we gave up and returned back to Bhojbasa. However, a group of trekkers from Pune (I think it was Yuva Shakti) continued to trek on way to Tapovan. Later on I came to know that one girl trekker got badly hit on the head from the falling rock.

KS, you did the right thing of not going ahead with Tapovan trek when conditions were not conducive for trekking.

Sadanand.

ks_bluechip

Thanks..... I too don't regret missing out on Tapovan ... Gangotri / Bhujbasa / Gaummukh were pretty awesome .. so I was more than satisfied!

I am now in Srinagar after a tiring 9-hr bus ride from Uttarkashi (but the mountain route views were superb particularly the huge Tehri Jheel & Dam).

Tomorrow on to Joshimath. Hope to do the 4-day VOF & Hemkund from 22nd July onwards. After that, if i am not too tired, I may also try the 15km Kedarnath trek from Gaurikund (while I am here in the vicinity). Not sure of that yet.

I have been mostly staying at GMVN-TRH everywhere ... the accomodation & food is pretty decent. The are also well located in most places near bus/jeep stands ... and so also near cybercafes. The cybercafes at Uttarkashi and here in Srinagar have broad-band at Rs 25/- per hour! Pretty good speed!! So not a big problem posting these notes in the evening free hours.

- KS

Sadanand Kamath

I always disliked travelling via Tehri during the dam construction time as the road conditions were very bad and dusty. The entire stretch from Tehri to New Tehri was looking barren devoid of any greenary. From your report, I guess, things at Tehri are looking better now .

I suggest that after completion of VOF, you visit Badrinath and Mana village. Joshimath to Badrinath is 44 kms. I recall there used to be an early morning bus from Badrinath (locals used to call this bus as 'bhookh hartal' bus) for Gaurikund via Gopeshwar-Chopta-Ukhimath-Kund which will reach Gaurikund in the evening. If you have time and not tired, you can take a break at Chopta and trek for Tungnath as well .

All the best,

Sadanand

capt_mahajan

KSB, looking forward to your VOF report. Have fun.

Dilliwala

Legend has it (a.k.a Ruskin Bond) that the bus got its name becos the villagers of the Ukhimath-Chopta area went on hunger-strike to get their demand, i.e. that specific bus service!

Dilliwala

ksb,

For your spare time -
Is the electricity at Sankri turned on now or is GMVN still running their kerosene genny? What about northwards?

Is the GMVN at Phulchatti en-route Yamunotri now operational?

ks_bluechip

Dilliwalla - There is no electricity or genset anywhere from Sankri onwards! In fact there is no Tel/STD working from Netwar & Sankri onwards!! I reached Sankri and was surprised to see no STD working ... I had not called my wife and told her about being out of communication for next 6 days. So had to pass on a message thru a jeep driver to call her from Mori and inform that i already started trek. BTW: One Candle is supplied free in all GMVN TRH at Sankri, Taluka, Seema, & HKD without asking.\

I didnt stop at PhoolChatti ... but notice the promimnent GMVN TRH from Share-Jeep ......it looked like it was open and operational. I was thinking i should have planned to stay there ...as teh location was quite a setting!

SK .... Badrinath and Mana, i already recently in May-2007 with wife ...as a pilgrim's tour .... so not going there now. Thanks for suggesting Chopta-Tungnath .. but now out of question.... as i heard today my wife is not well in Mumbai (backpain) ... and so plannning to rush back just doing VOF .... so should be back on 26th or 27th July.

- KS (at Joshimath - from a dialup cybercafe)

Dilliwala

I noticed in 2005 that Mori is the last place where the phone lines reliably work - Naitwar was dicey even then as per the locals. I suppose I shud have mentioned this to u earlier, I guess it escaped my attn as I didn't need to call anyone on that trip! However, I had indicated there was no electricity at Sankri then, which I guess wud be required to run a phone booth!

Standard Operating Procedure for all GMVNs throughout Garhwal, heheheh. Just experienced all-night power cuts at Devprayag and Gwaldam on successive nights, 2 weeks ago!

Still 60 bucks an hour?

Sadanand Kamath

The importance of 'Bhook Hartal'(hunger strike) bus for the people staying in the villages around Ukhimath-Gopeshwar Road can be guaged from the fact that during our trek to Tungnath in Sept'92, a 'Chakka (Wheel) Jam' was announced which means no vehicles will ply for the day. We were preparing to spend one more day in Chopta. To our surprise, the 'Bhook Hartal' bus did come to Chopta at around 9.30 a.m. We travelled in this bus to Gopeshwar as per our plan. Truly, this bus is a life line for the people of this region.

Sadanand

Sadanand

Dilliwala

Hey, great story, Sadanand!
Congrats on being one of the first to actually travel the bhookh hartal seva, heheh.