Tungnath in Garhwal

Tunganath is one of the five kedars.

It is a short hike(about 3-4 kms) from Chopta. Chopta can be reached by bus from Rishikesh or Haridwar.

On the way from Chopta to Tunganath you can see a range of Himalayan peaks. If you go to Tunganath, take a little more pain and stay a night there. In the morning, walk up to Chandrashila and watch the sun rise from behind the Nanda Devi. If the weather is clear this will probably be a sight you will not forget in your lifetime.

Sounds like a good place to walk. Is there any accommodation in Tunganath. If so, what type is it - hotel, rest house or other? Also is it possible to get meals there or will we have to carry our own food? We will be back in India in January and might visit this area as Rishikesh is one of our favourite places in India.
Good travelling

I don't think roads to Chopta will open by January. Tunganath is situated at a height of approx. 12000+ ft.

In fact, most of the roads in upper Garhwal will be closed in January.

Last time I was there was in 1998. At that time the only accomodations available in Tunganath were"Chattis", i.e. small rooms attached to shops owned by locals. No bathrooms.
I stayed in the shop owned by Bacchan Singh. I heard he is no more and his son runs the shop. If you have a chance just go through the guest book. Very interesting reading.

It was during the month of September and it was extremely cold.

Better accomodations are available in Chopta.

Didn't realise it was so high. Obviously, January is out,very cold and with snow lying probably. We will be in India until the end of April so that might be a better time. Thanks for the info.
Good travelling

Some of the early threads on the site didn't get too much attention as we had very few members at the start. The information, particularly on 'off the beaten trail' subjects, is still valid, interesting, and useful to those looking for places that haven't made it to the LP (yet!). So here is one from August '01, the month of Indiamike's beginning.

Has anyone else been to Tunganath? any updates to the info here?

m2

Yes
I have been to tungnath plenty of times and its beautiful!!
I love the drive from gopeshwar to Chopta...its awesome!
The trek to tungnath is very plesant!! Well staying in tungnath,
u can find some place to sleep at some local person's place or in
the temple.Anyway there must e total 6-7 houses/shops there!
There are more options in Chopta guest houses style acco.
But its very easy to go to this place for a day trip from gopeshwar
where you have more options to stay, i know a place where u can rent
a small appt/house with lovely views for 300 Rs it includes kitchen, bathroom
bedroom and balcony overlooking the huge valley!
If intrested let me know i can let you know the phone number of owners.
I am quite familiar with that area anyone wants to know more pls pm me.
Cheers,
Punoo

hi Punoo,
i plan to go to chopta pretty soon for 3 or 4 days.
i will be reaching varanasi by 4th afternoon, will stay there for 3 or 4 days.
then will most probably catch a train to dehradun and then head off for chopta. i have to reach calicut by the 14th of dec. so i guess that means catching a flight from delhi on the 13th afternoon/evening. most prolly i will catch the afternoon 4:30 pm flight.
well, can u tell me about staying, placs to visit etc???
if i reach dehradun on 8th morning then what shuld be the correct schedule that i should follow??
thanks,
Prashant

thanx indian boy........thanx a lot.........


would be visiting this place...........definitely..

some more links

http://www.indyahills.com/garhwal/chamoli/pl_uk_chp.htm

http://www.hackwriters.com/Himalayas.htm

Yes there are places to stay in Chopta plus Tungnath...very basic accomodation..bed and toilet....dont accept any luxury!
Chadrshilla is not very far from Tungnath..and its a beautiful place.
One u reach Chopta you can inquire about the small guest houses and same in tungnath also.
have fun

I can vouch that this place is pretty awesome and really quiet when we were there in early May, just before Yatra really kicked in. We didn't see a fellow tourist for days, it was great. We went on an organised trek with Garhwal Himalayan Explorations from Rishikesh and I recommend them if anyone else is looking for hassle free treking in this area, they were excellent.

http://www.thegarhwalhimalayas.com/

just came back from chopta ... and was in no mood to come back. i did chopta-chandrashila and deoria tal in 1 day. my mad schedule was like this...
wed (night) - chennai to mumbai
thu - mumbai
fri (morning) - mumbai to delhi to haridwar to rudraprayag to chopta
sat - choptato tungnath to chandrashila n back. then to sari village and finally to deoriya tal and back to saari village. then from sari village to augustmuni.
sun - augustmuni to rudraprayag to haridwar. leave for del in night bus.
mon - catch morning flight to chennai, come to office by 11 am

O boy ....very hectic i must say. Now post some pics as fast as you did the trip.

Mk

now, let me tell you guys of a nice hidden corner that people often miss on as they trek towards the Chandrashila ridge. Well, that's the reason it still is a hidden corner!

I will not reveal comprehensive directions for that place for I do not want the uninitiated to reach there. A few hints are all that I'm going to leave on this forum, and the guys really in search of some such places would reach there.

I, btw, got to know of this place by a group of israeli trekkers whom I met on my trip to Tungnath in spring'95. a mention of the place came up as we were having tea in Chopta, and it took me around an hour of talking round-and-round to get out some info leaked from them. These guys said that the place had was shown to them by a guide they took with them in 1991 when they had climbed to that summit for the first time.. ..they called that place 'Ghanaza' which was a slang for the act of casually smoking of cannabies..

It was a diversion from the main trek route, for as soon as you cross the first chaishop on the trek, you have to leave the path and head straight down to the gorge, after which you have to agin climb up the facing ridge to reach a ridge similar to where the Tungnath temple is situated.. ..an ideal camping spot with no tourist invasion as yet....thats Ghanaza for you.

M. Raman

Now coming to the location of this place

how much time does it take from rishikesh to Chopta and what kind of acco do u get there,is prior booking required and is the trek doable in april?
Rishabh