Old travel experiences to Uttaranchal and Kashmir

@ narayanvee

you are great Sir

To be honest,there is nothing great about anything I did.It was just that some how the Himalayas attracted me so much.To me always it has been a sort of enigma beyond comprehension and i have always been elated being there.Another thing is that in those days no place there had been crowded as now and one felt at ease and a sort of union with these rangess.

Nice to put a face to a name Narayan ji, even if the face is older now,any before & after pics? KK

Thank you KK.Surely I will post some pics.though it doesn't matter much.
By the way that link of missing Jonathan Spollen worries me whenever I view that and I wonder what happened to him or where he is!The anxiety of his parents and persons close to him will be unbearable, I always feel.

SO THESE ARE THE LAST SET OF PICS.FROM OUR GANGOTRI-GOMUKH YATRA.A WONDERFUL JOURNEY TO THE LAP OF HIMAVAN-FEELING NOSTALGIC ABOUT ALL THESE JOURNEYS. OUR NEXT JOURNEY WAS TO DODITAL(DHUMTITAL)&YAMUNOTRI AFTER A GAP OF MANY YEARS, IN 2007 TO BE EXACT. DIGITAL CAMERA HAD ENTERED AND SO BETTER PICS.THE STREETS WERE MORE CROWDED AND ONE FELT THAT IT WAS BETTER IF THESE PLACES WERE NOT SO EASILY ACCESSIBLE. HEAVY TRAFFIC,MORE LANDSLIDES, MORE WASTES BEING THROWN AROUND EVERYWHEREONE WISHED IF ALL THE PEOPLE WERE MORE AWARE OF THE SURROUNDINGS!
HOPE PEOPLE WILL REALISE BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE.

WE ARE ALMOST AT THE GLAZIER-GOMUKH FROM WHERE BHAGEERATHI IS SURGING OUT OF THE MOUTH OF THE GREAT 'GOV'(COW):

JAIP IS SEEN WITH THE ARMY MAN:






JAIP TRYING TO COLLECT SOME WATER TO DRINK:



MYSELF,JAIP & THE ARMY MAN Mr.PANKAJAKSHAN AT GOMUKH:





MEN WHO PROTECT US-FROM THE ARMY CAMP & JAIP COLLECTING 'GANGAJAL'



I AM ALSO THERE:



VIEWS OF GOMUKH:



TOP PORTION OF THE GLAZIER:



SO IAM STOPPING NOW AS THE LIMIT IS OVER THOUGH I HAVE 2 OR 3 MORE VIEWS,BUT HOPE THIS IS ENOUGH.WAITING FOR YOUR COMMENTS AND NEXT WE GO TO DODITAL.

aahhaa.......dodital sounds delicious ....... wait for that

TO DOTITAL AND YAMUNOTRI;


It was many yeras back that we had our last journey to the Himalayas. Though we had tried to organize a trip it just did not happen. Of the three in our group, never were two of us free to make a trip. At last when Jaiprakash told me that we had to go, I told him I was ready and he left the destination to me. After reading the exciting and wonderful book of Tapovan Swamiji in the original in Malayalam (“HIMAGIRI VIHARAM”) and the translation in English “The Wanderings in the Himalayas”, I decided that a journey to Dotital (in Swamiji’s days it was Dhumthital) would be a wonderful experience.


Before I go to our journey, I feel that I have to write a little about this great man and his book. For those who want to know about the real journeys to the Himalayas, Swamiji is the one person to whom one can turn to. He is so authoritative about any place in these great mountains having covered almost all places worth mentioning in the Himalayas on foot; from Hrishikesh to Manassarovar and wherever these ranges are spread out-Kashmir, UP, Punjab, Nepal, Bhutan etc. He was born in a very well off family in Kerala and very well educated and was a scholar in Sanskrit at a very young age. His deep knowledge about life and this universe made him choose the path of sanyasa. His early life in Kerala was just a preparation for that and he left his household in 1923 and went to the Himalayas, where he spent the rest of his life. He covered almost all places in the Himalayas on foot, often alone. Being a real sanyasin he was afraid of nothing. He was not only a great sanyasin and scholar but also a real lover of nature and his book “The Wanderings in the Himalayas” opens to us the doors to Indian philosophy and to the Himalayas and nature as a whole. This perhaps is the best book on the Himalayas. Though there are not any photos in it, his descriptions of the beauty of these mountain ranges, the flora and the fauna and his observations are really awe inspiring. Of course for those who are not interested in Indian philosophy, the book may be a little tiring in some places, but even they will enjoy his descriptions of his journey to the heart of Himalaya. Being a sanyasin he did not think of photos and even this book was the result of the request of others who wanted to share his thoughts and experiences. He spent the later years of his life mainly at Gangotri and Uttarkshi. The description of his journey to Dodital made me chose this as our destination. In those days it was almost impossible to go there and it was after a very arduous journey that the Swamiji with his followers reached there. In those days the path, if there was one, was through dense forest and very dangerous and so very rarely did anybody go there. We knew that after all these years it might not be the same as people were everywhere in the Himalayas now. At the same time we did not expect it to be easily accessible. Even today the pristine quality of the dense forest in many places on route is breath taking.

OUR JOURNEY:

So we decided to go to Dodital and if time permitted on our way back to Yamunotri also. We wanted to return via Assam and Meghalaya as JP wanted to meet some of his old friends. So it was a fairly long journey and meant more days. The heavy rains delayed our journey and so we had to cancel our tickets twice and at last we left in August. Rain had caused many landslides and road blocks and we were not sure whether we shall be able to go from Rishikesh to Uttarkashi on time. After some hiccups on the way, we were late to reach Uttarkashi. It was almost 8.30 pm and it was raining. We checked into the nearest lodge-“Hotel Bhandari”- where the bus stopped. We had to be happy with the room which we got- not as clean and neat as we wanted. After all it was a matter of one or two days stay, we tried to convince ourselves. We got up early and asked the attendant there whether we can get a porter for our trip to Dodital. He told us that he will try and after some time came back with a Nepali porter- Ramsingh. He wanted Rs.600.00 + food expense for the two way journey . We agreed, but when we returned he changed his stand and demanded Rs.800.00, about that later. He was very familiar with the route. We got into a jeep which took us up to Sangam Chatti the last motorable point on the way- 14 kms from Uttarkashi. Because of the heavy rains the road was very bad and the jeep could not go up to the bridge where the river Assi Ganga had to be crossed. After some balancing acts we reached near the bridge from where our real journey began. The first lap was to the Village Agoda 6 kms up, where we were supposed to be within 2 or 3 hours. We could not take out our camera as it had started raining.



Proximity to these mystic mountain ranges fills our minds with a sort of other worldliness. We feel that we are nothing here. Our ego melts off considerably and may be that is the reason why so many sages made this their abode. I am not a believer in god in the ordinary sense of the term. To me nature, the universe is the end and beginning of everything; the creator as well as the creation. I do not think that the creator is separate from the creation, but it is one and the same. The search for cause and effect holds only on the peripheral level but deep inside the cause and effect are the same. Here, we were filled with awe. We were at the feet of this emperor mountain after so many years. The pouring rain and the gurgling river and the dense forest-covered ranges were at the same time refreshing as well as awe inspiring. There were land slides on the way and the path was covered with rubble in many places. Could we make it, we asked ourselves. It had been long since we had trekked in higher altitudes and we had grown older and we were finding the journey a bit difficult. We were at the village Agoda by afternoon. We had taken 4 hrs to reach there. We had tea at the tea shop and ate the peanuts, rice flakes and chocolates we had for lunch. Agoda was the last village on the way to Dodital where there were a lot of houses and here people lived even in winter; during summer people went to higher areas with their cattle and for cultivation. Our destination for the day was Bebra a few more kilometers up and we were so tired and we were finding it tough. We had not expected the trek to be so tiring. Fortunately the rain had stopped. The slippery and rubble filled path was not easy. Our guide come porter told us that we can stay at Bebra and we can get food there at the small lodge and we shall be there very soon. After almost 2 kms he showed us some sheds way down in a valley. It was not very near and meant at least one hour away at our present speed. So our upward journey was coming to an end and we had to get down to the valley. We had to cross a rivulet and the original bridge had collapsed and had been washed away in the heavy rain and there was a makeshift wooden bridge and the water roared underneath. The rains had played some havoc there. But what a relief it was to see that we can stop there for the day. It was 5 pm. The man in charge of the lodge, a small shed (It was called ‘Rawat Lodge’) asked us whether we should have rotis for supper and we agreed. Within an hour our dinner was ready. We enjoyed the food as we did not have a lunch. Bebra ie.Bebra gate is a wonderful valley with high ranges around and the rivulet in the back yard of our lodge. There was only one room with 2 cots for the guests. There were 2 other lodges near by which were similar. We were told that there was a bigger building along the way further up, but because of non availability of water it was closed and almost deserted. We saw this the next day. Because of the rains there were plenty of leeches all around and when we removed our socks we were shocked to see these blood suckers on our feet. This was something we did not expect and so we were very careful walking outside our room. We had to go higher and the path was tougher. We sat there looking at the high mountains. It was raining again and we wondered whether we shall be able to proceed the next day and we decided to think about when the time came. As it started to rain heavily we went to bed early and the cook cum keeper told us he will prepare an early breakfast and we can leave by 7 or 7.30. We were not so confident as it had started to rain heavily. We decided that we should stay there for one or two days and return if the rain played havoc. It would be disappointing but we had to accept the reality. We were told that after Bebra we had to go higher and the path was worse and we had to be very careful. Keeping away from these ranges for so long had filled our minds with some anxiety about the trek; whether we could make it.

To be continued...

Oh!! Dodital,

I had the plan for this summer..... Oh!!! I missed it!!!

Let me see it now.... here.

narayan sir, thanks for the information on Swami Tapovanam. Do you know if the English translation is available in print?

Hi Dilliwala,
Please do not use that 'Sir''The English translation of the book has been reprinted and is available with the Chinmaya mission. If you cannot get it and want to get please let me know.

BEFORE GOING FURTHER I SHALL POST SOME PICS.ON THE WAY TO DODITAL.

TO UTTARKASI AND THERE:

HARIDWAR STATION:





GREEN OH!GREEN:







NEAR SNAGM CHATTI:



ON THE WAY:



THE TREK:



DRINKING WATER AVAILABLE:



So this is for the time being. More later..... The pix below is on the way to Uttarkashi.

lovely snaps narayanvee sir

No 'sir' please.

some more pics ......

AGODA GATE:



OFF AGODA:





HERE COMES BEBRA:



RAWAT LODGE:



RELAXED:



BEBRA KITCHEN:



BYE BEBRA:



SLOW....



MILES TO GO...:



Next day morning also it was raining but not so heavily and our guide and the keeper told us that as we had decided to go to Dotital it was indeed bad if we broke our trip. We also did not want to return without going to Dodital and so we started before 8 am. The path was tougher as it was gong higher- the rubbles, the leeches, and the landslide made the path slippery and very tough to negotiate. We thought how tough it might have been for Tapovan Swamiji in those days, clearing the path and proceed. Within an hour we felt exhausted and when we looked back we could see Bebra so down in the valley and we had to go higher still. By noon we were at a very high point where we could rest for some time. There was a small platform with a roof. We met some foreigners going up with some porters and all equipments. They were the only people we met who were going up and they were going to explore other places besides Dodital. We also met some villagers who were going down to their villages after collecting firewood and bundles of grass. The rain and the fog were a little disturbing and we took short cuts which were not difficult.

At many points because of the landslides and the height we were feeling a little disturbed and we hoped that it would not be raining heavily. We were making reasonable progress though very slow. The big trees and the heavy forest were soothing in some respects. We saw a big tree which was being worshipped with flowers and there were many coins inserted to its trunk. The climb was ending and there was a camp of Gujjers nearby with a lot of cattle and ponies. It was becoming easier and we approached Manjhi and took a short cut and we were there by 2.30 pm and we got into a cottage where travelers on their way to Dodital stayed. It was funny. Part of the shed was used as cowshed and part was used by the family. Really we were put up in the kitchen where because of the fire it was not cold. We had a nice dinner of roties and vegetable curry – they had cultivated cabbage and cauliflower there. The villagers told us sometimes bears and leopards were seen around; bears came for salt which sometimes was kept outside for them. The cottage was thatched with some type of straw and there was some polythene sheet over it. The floor was not very level but on the whole it was comfortable as we had sleeping bags.

To be continued....

cant wait for next installment