Day 0
25th May
My first-year exams were finished in the morning and after packing our clothes and gear, we began the journey to our basecamp, Vizianagaram. We stayed the night at our grandparents’ place, where we were given homemade sweets and other goodies to eat along the journey.
#Day 1
26th May
We started at 4’o clock in the morning and headed for Rajnandgaon, a town in Chhatisgarh. By 5:30, we had reached the town of Salur, the last town of AP. No sooner had we left Salur behind, than we entered into ghats and had entered Orissa. We stopped along the road at a desolate place and had a light breakfast comprised of bananas and goodies. We continued with the journey and reached Koraput by 7:30. Admiring the delicious pooris being fried at the road stalls, we moved on into the journey to reach Jagdalpur by 9:30.
A quick refuel later, we were on our way towards Rajnandgaon via NH30 which offered picturesque views of the forest on both sides of the road. We had a hearty meal at a Punjabi Dhaba in Markri around noon, finally reaching Rajnandgaon at 2:00 in the afternoon. We boarded the Kolkata-Mumbai NH6 headed for Nagpur, successfully reaching the outskirts of Nagpur by 5:00. A series of bad decisions led to us going inside the city of Nagpur, where we lost the time gained during the day. A few snacks at a Haldirams outlet later, we managed to come out of the city by 8:30, boarding the Nagpur Outer Ring Road. Despite being fully exhausted, we kept moving and reached Sitapur by 11:00. We checked into the hotel GoFlamingo and instantly fell asleep.
#Day 2
27th May
We were up by 4’o clock the next day, and on the road by 6. We had to pass through the Pench animal corridor, an ingenious construction, as it allowed animals to pass beneath well-constructed fly-overs while humans could enjoy the view from above. Due to regulatory issues regarding humans interacting with the animals, both sides were fenced off to prevent interaction.
The car kept rolling on the smooth NH 44 and the towns of Narsinghpur, Sagar and Lalitpur went whizzing by. We finally reached Jhansi at 1:30 and had lunch at Avadh foods, a local franchise serving Avadh food across the city. Pretty soon, we were speeding towards Gwalior and were expected to reach it by 4:00. An accident on the road, however, ruined our plans. We were stuck in a traffic jam for nearly 2 hours and it was almost 6:00 by the time we reached Gwalior. Speeding on, we reached the outskirts of Agra by 7:30. A secret route suggested by Google later, we were on the Agra Inner ring road which connected to the Yamuna Expressway. The Yamuna expressway is a massive 8-lane access-controlled expressway connecting Agra and Delhi with a minimum speed limit of 100kmph. We switched to sport mode on our Nexon and tried going insanely fast, attaining a record speed of 160kmph. People were overtaking us at insane speeds of 180 and 200kmph. We were able to cover a distance of 200km between Agra and Delhi in a matter of 21/2 hours. We had dinner at one of the drive-ins on the expressway and the food was delicious. Finally, we entered Greater Noida at around 10:30 and we checked into our hotel, Krishna Deluxe close to the railway station at 11:15.
#Day 3
28th May
Being very tired from the day before, we overslept and it was 8:15 by the time we hit the road. We boarded the Delhi-Meerut expressway(NE3). A distance of 80 km, we covered it in an hour. By 10:00, we were in Meerut. It being a Saturday, we were caught in the heavy efflux of tourists from Delhi, and later found out that the cities of Haridwar and Rushikesh were fully choked up. The cities of Haridwar and Rishikesh were quickly left behind. A shortcut suggested by Google later, we were into ghats headed for Uttarkashi. On the way, we found several patches of landsliding had been cleaned away neatly and an iron mesh draped over the mountainside. An intricate system of piping had been bored into the mountain to prevent any water stagnation. Small shrubs were being grown on the mountainside so that their roots would hold on to the soil to prevent any future landsliding.
A hearty lunch at a roadside Dhaba later, we were on our way. When we were 20km from Uttarkashi, we found a hotel (Kamand) overlooking a pristine valley. Being tired, we decided to halt for the night. As night fell, the valley looked wonderful with a village located on each hill, and each home turning on its lights surrounded by the darkness of the wild.
#Day 4
29th May
We started from the hotel at 8:00. An hour later, we stopped at a roadside Dhaba and had a breakfast of Maggi and Parathas. No sooner had we started, than we were stopped at a check-post by police who insisted on seeing our online registration to enter Gangotri. Apparently, Gangotri was so choked with tourists, and that you had to register online beforehand to enter, with registrations limited for each day. Luckily for us, they let us off the hook when we showed them our hotel booking in Harsil, a village 20km before Gangotri. Moving on, we crossed Uttarkashi at 11:30 and had to clear another check-post to register our vehicle. They too demanded the online registration, but let us go when we showed them the hotel booking. We began the drive from Uttarkashi to Gangotri, the most scenic drive of the entire journey, which brings into view, the first Himalayas and the Bhagirathi river beside the road roaring in its full force.
Along the route, we spotted things like the Pilot Baba Ashram and several breathtaking views of the Himalayas. We were a good 40km into the drive when we realised that we had forgotten our purse back at the check-post. Going back to get it costed us 2 good hours. This was also one of the more dangerous routes to drive in, sometimes the road narrows down to a single lane, and often times busses and other vehicles have to squeeze beside one another with an inch gap, with a deep valley on the other side.
Within an hour, the temperature drops by a good 5-10 deg. It was 4:30 by the time we reached Prakriti resort, our abode beside the Ganges for the next 3 days. Checking into the hotel, we had hot Pakodas enjoying the view of the Ganges and Himalayas. We had dinner at 8 and at night, it was an astronomer’s paradise. There were millions of stars studded in the night sky due to lack of pollution. I quickly assembled my gear, the skywatcher eq and got some decent shots. I enjoyed the full expanse of the night sky for 3 hours and went to sleep by 11.
#Day 5
30th May
We woke up to witness the peaks of the Himalayas bathing in the orange glow of the rising sun.
It was a wonderful spectacle to see. We took several photos with the Bhagirathi river, freshened up and headed for breakfast. We decided to visit Gangotri that day itself to get to know about the permit to Gomukh and Nelong valley. On the way to Gangotri, we stopped at the diversion to Nelong valley and got to know that its permit would be given only in Uttarkashi since it was a forward army base along the Indo-China border. It was 11:00 by the time we reached The temple complex and got to know that registrations at the forest office were open from 8-10 am and 5-7pm. Deciding to tackle this issue later, we went into the temple and had an unhurried Darshan. At 3:30, we decided to try our luck again, spoke to the forest officer, and got to know that registrations could be done online at any time of the day. Armed with this information, we went back to the resort and spent the evening enjoying the sound of the river. In the night, we fired up the laptop and headed to the govt. website to register for the trek. The treks were classified based on altitude. 3000mt - Easy, 3500mt - Medium, 4000mt - Hard. Gomukh came under the Medium type and we registered by filling up the appropriate details and a small one-time fee. While there, we also registered for the Garthang Gali trek, which we intended to do the next day.
#Day 6
31st May
We woke up to the same view of the golden peaks in the distance and quickly freshened up. A heavy breakfast later, we decided to loiter around the resort till noon to have an empty stomach for the trek. Garthang Gali is the old trade route between India and Tibet. It has recently been renovated and opened to the public. It is a wooden bridge hugging the mountain, with the Ganges flowing beneath it. We started the trek at 1:00 and were back in the car by 3:30. The terrain was both ascent and descent, hence the trek was easy overall.
With the confidence that we trekked for 6 km, we returned to the resort by 4:30 and enjoyed hot Pakodas. Preparations began in the night for our Gomukh trek. All our luggage was reshuffled and 3 seemingly ’light’ backpacks were prepared. All our phones were kept on a full charge and a power bank was also packed.
#Day 7
1st June
The next day we checked out from the resort at 6:30 am and headed for Gangotri, which was the basecamp of the Gomukh trek. We left the car in the parking lot and carried only the three backpacks with us. We bought a few socks and earmuffs since it would be very cold. It was 8:00 by the time we actually started trekking. An hour later, we reached the check-post for the Gangotri national park, where we were told to declare all the luggage and showed the permit. Once all formalities were completed, we headed on towards Bhojwasa, which was 14km from Gangotri…..or so we thought. The route revealed entirely new peaks with very close-up views of several prominent peaks like Gangotri I II III.
Since we were entering the Himalayas, the temperature was very cool, and we didnt feel the hot sun burning down on our heads. As a result, none of us wore any headgear and the sun dehydrated us as dry as a bone. All our water supply was depleted and going forward was getting tougher by the second. Although the Ganges was roaring beneath us, there was no way to fill our bottles. No streams came our way. We were dehydrated to such an extent that taking even a couple of steps became a herculean task. Further, the onward trek was a full ascent, complicating things even further. The reduced oxygen concentration at that height did nothing to help us either. Somehow, we dragged our bodies to Chidwasa which was only 9km from Gangotri. It was 4:30 by the time all of us made it to Chidwasa, and unable to continue any further, we decided to halt for the night. We halted at a small settlement run by an entrepreneur and stayed in tents pitched in the open air for the night. Being so remote from civilisation, Chidwasa had no electricity and we had to eat a dinner of Rotis and Dal under our phone flashlights. However, the night was highly rewarding and I could see several new stars from Chidwasa. I painfully carried my heavy gear from Gangotri to here and got excellent views of the night sky. It was totally worth it. Several photos of the constellation Taurus were taken.
#Day 8
2nd June
Motivated to complete the trek, we decided to head for Bhojwasa and began the trek at 7:00 and started climbing. We left 2 of our ’light’ backpacks and carried only one containing the essentials. Learning it the hard way from the previous day, we all wore headgear today. Not being season trekkers, going was slow and tough. The trail was also getting dangerously narrow with several fresh landslides happening every few hours. Despite all odds, we still kept going and finally reached Bhojwasa by 11:00 am. Unsure if we would be able to make it till Gomukh, we headed down into the settlement and into a monastery. Apparently, a new route to Gomukh had been made where you had to cross the Ganges on a self-propelled trolley and continue on toward Tapovan. We were unsure if we would get permission to cross the Ganges since our permit was only till Gomukh and Tapovan required a guide which we did not have. Fortunately for us, a kind police officer agreed to let us pass and we had a quick lunch at the monastery. We set off toward Gomukh by 12:00 and crossed the Ganges. The officer helped us to cross the raging river below. We continued on towards Gomukh and after walking a kilometre further, Mount Shivling came into view on our right side. This only added to our motivation to keep moving forward. Returning pilgrims told us that we were just 15 min from the Glacier. From sharp ascent, the terrain transformed into a plain and was becoming rockier by the minute. There was no clear path to be followed. It was 4:15 and the temperature was dropping. We had no guide with us, and we were the only people in the valley. It had been a couple of hours since we met any humans. Unsure if we were on the correct path, I went ahead to scout out the terrain. Moving a kilometre ahead of my family, through intense rocky terrain(there was no clear flattened path), I finally saw what appeared to be the Gomukh glacier, with the Ganges slowly trickling out from underneath it. With this finding, I hurried back to my family in the chilling temperature. Unfortunately, they feared that I got lost and were split apart searching for me. A lot of tension and confusion later, we all were found and decided to head back to Bhojwasa. The Bhagirathi peaks were just a kilometre or so away and had we gone that distance, we would have reached Tapovan. We started our return to Bhojwasa at 4:45 and it was 7:00 by the time we reached the settlement. Except, the settlement was on the other side of the Ganges, and there was no one to pull the trolley to the other side. After we painfully pulled the trolley to our side and got in, people from the other side noticed our efforts and pooled in to help us. They pulled the 5 of us through in 2 batches and the kind policeman again pitched in to help us by dangerously dangling off the trolley as we pulled it to our side. After a lot of hard work, we were finally in Bhojwasa and headed to the monastery to have dinner. A quick dinner later, we were shown our rooms and temperatures were already dropping to 0 C. We got into bed, and in the company of the warm rugs given to us, fell asleep.
#Day 9
3rd June
We got up at 6’o clock and freshened up. A quick tea at the monastery later, we began the journey back to Gangotri by 7:30. Thankfully, since it was mostly decent, going was relatively easy. We were back in Chidwasa by 10:00 and collected our luggage left there the previous day. A quick Maggi later, we were on our way back to Gangotri. Slowly, all the peaks disappeared from view and we were left on our own. We spotted new landslides that were not there on our onward journey. Finally, we reached the check-post at 3:00 and heaved a sigh of relief. All our legs were stiff and there was no motivation to keep moving forward. Somehow, we kept going and finally reached Gangotri at 4:30 in the evening. A bottle of Limca later, we could stand on our feet and slowly made our way to the car in the parking lot. Never did I feel so good at seeing our car. We all got in, removed our heavy winter gear, and started the return journey back to Uttarkashi. We left Harsil just as it was getting dark and had dinner at a roadside Dhaba. We found another hotel 20km before Uttarkashi and halted for the night.
#Day 10
4th June
Tired from the previous day, we woke up late and it was 9:00 by the time we could hit the road. We wanted to visit the War Memorial in New Delhi and were trying everything to be there before it closes. Wanting to return via Dehradun, we took a detour which took us up a winding road that went up to an altitude of 7500ft. We had a delicious lunch at “Apple” overlooking the valley. Soon we were speeding toward Mussoorie and it was evening 4:30 by the time we entered Dehradun. Again, it being a Saturday, we were caught in the heavy efflux of tourists from Dehradun coming towards Mussorie. At this point, it became clear that we would not be able to make it to the war memorial in time. Speeding on, we left Dehradun by 5:00 and were speeding towards Delhi. It took us through towns like Muzzafarnagar and Deoband, which have the highest Muslim population in India. Moving on, we reached Meerut by 9:30 to board the Delhi-Meerut expressway and were in New Delhi by 11:00. Still wanting to go sightseeing in Delhi, we decided to visit India Gate and saw the Rashtrapathi Bhavan from afar. We were at one of the most powerful places in the world! We went around the streets of Delhi and saw the residences of several powerful people. After swirling around Delhi to our heart’s content, we finally decided to call it a night and came back to the same Krishna deluxe Hotel by 12:00.
#Day 11
5th June
It was 8:00 by the time we could hit the road and by 9:00, we were on the Yamuna Expressway. We had a quick breakfast on one of the drive-ins of the expressway and kept moving. Agra was left behind, and it was 4:00 by the time we reached Jhansi. Moving on, we crossed the town of Sagar and decided to halt for the night in the town of Narsinghpur. We stopped at a Hotel named Shubh Mangal and had a light dinner before going to sleep.
#Day 12
6th June
We hit the road at 6am in the morning and continued the winding journey across the villages of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. Temperatures were soaring outside, and the weather was dry. We finally reached Rajnandgaon at 2:00 and Google suggested an unknown route through the jungle. Unfortunately for us, we lost the signal halfway through the route and got lost in the small villages that dot Chattisgarh. No matter how much we coaxed it, Google simply refused to help us. After asking a few locals, we somehow managed to come back onto the national highway with an hour lost wandering the villages that had no signboards. We had lunch at the same Punjabi Dhaba in Makdi and were on the road by 3:30. We reached Jagdalpur by 6:00 and proceeded to reach Koraput by 8:00 in the night. By 10:00, we were on the Orissa border, when Ghats started and sleep began setting in. Battling sleep in every possible way known to man, we dragged ourselves through to Salur at 11:00. En route, we saw a signboard saying “Welcome to Andhra Pradesh” which gave us the renewed motivation of being closer to home. The ride from Salur to Vizianagaram was perhaps the bumpiest of the entire journey. The roads were absolutely terrible. It took us an hour to cover a distance of just 40km to Vizianagaram. Finally, we pulled into the parking lot of our house just as our watches read 12 am.
