Start my days with yoga in the forest and I have signed up for a 2 day Reiki course with the venerable Dr Anand. Reiki is all about channeling the universal energy into peoples chakras for the benefit of their health. It seems my mediclorian cells are not quite off the charts but the force is strong with this one and when I practise on Dr Anand he invariably falls into a deep sleep. I do feel a huge exchange of energy, my hands getting so hot at times that I have to pull away but I don't really feel much for it. Dr Anand is a true pleasure to work with though and I really enjoy my time with him.
I spend the rest of my days chilling in "Cool Talk Corner Cafe" hanging out with the residents, eating in some lovely cafes with new friends and down in Bhagsu with my Indian friends there.
I take a good break from the bike but when I bring it to the shop I get chatting to a very interesting guy from Sweden that has been living in India for 29 years and he is on his way to Leh in Kashmir. I had heard the roads where very bad there but he has been 8 times now and really knows the way. I had originally planned to go to Leh but after my trip to Gangotri I thought I would skip it this time and stay in Dharamshala for the rest of my trip but his energy and the fact that he knows the area very well has inspired me to hit the road again and with Will (a fine American resident of the Cool Talk Corner Cafe also with a bike) Toni (the Swede) and I spend the rest of the day talking, laughing and planning our adventure north to Kashmir.
As much as I like it here in Dharamshala it is too safe and I might as well just be at home with all the westerns here and I can not pass up the opportunity to head through some of the most incredible terrain in the world with an experienced guide. The road to Leh is world famous as it is the highest motorway (I use motorway in the loosest sense of the word) in the world at 5,600m and the scenery is supposed to be just amazing. Excited again with the prospect of a great adventure my week rounds off well with Zoli's last class on the porch of an old house with monsoon rain and thunder rolling across the sky like huge boulders, mist comes in through the porch turning everybody into ghosts and adds real magic to the class.
Sunday, June 24, 2007
18th of June 2007
On this day at about 6.18am in 2005 my poor pops shook off his mortal coil. Not a day goes by I don't think of him but today my thoughts are with him even more and I miss him very much. Being tender I treat myself with care.
I start the day by going to yoga in the forest. Along a little track to a good flat place the where Zoli Ji does his class. Surrounded buy tall pine trees with birds and monkeys hoping and scampering about. When we lie on the ground great hawks and Griffin Vultures circle above checking us out. Zoli Ji is a great teacher and it is a wonderful class that goes on over 2 and a half hours and by the end I feel brilliant.
Hit the town to do a bit of exploring and am stopped by an Indian guy for some conversation and we are soon friends and head off for tea at the near by waterfall.
That evening he has invited me to dinner and I meet up with him and a gathering of locals and westerners is there and we pass a very nice evening sipping beer (one lasts me the whole night, I'll be a cheap date when I get home) and eating freshly prepared delicious food.
I start the day by going to yoga in the forest. Along a little track to a good flat place the where Zoli Ji does his class. Surrounded buy tall pine trees with birds and monkeys hoping and scampering about. When we lie on the ground great hawks and Griffin Vultures circle above checking us out. Zoli Ji is a great teacher and it is a wonderful class that goes on over 2 and a half hours and by the end I feel brilliant.
Hit the town to do a bit of exploring and am stopped by an Indian guy for some conversation and we are soon friends and head off for tea at the near by waterfall.
That evening he has invited me to dinner and I meet up with him and a gathering of locals and westerners is there and we pass a very nice evening sipping beer (one lasts me the whole night, I'll be a cheap date when I get home) and eating freshly prepared delicious food.
Ah Dharamkot
Dharamkot is about 2k past McLeodGanj up a steep hill into the forest. It is a peaceful green place that looks out over McLeodGanj and Bhagsu with monkeys scampering around with nice cafes and clean mountain air. It is called little Israel as it is full of Israelis.
There are also lots of "alternative people, Europeans and these are the people I gravitate too so I feel instantly at home.
Sunday, June 17, 2007
The last push
My ultimate destination on this trip is to make it to Dharamshala where his Holiness the Dali Lama lives. I wake up to a perfect day and hit the road early.
Wheels spinning, engine ticking the road unfurls in front of me as if the patch I'm on is the only thing in the world.
The landscape changes all the time. Passing from pine Forrest into deciduous wood then to rice paddies and tea fields.
Around a corner and I spot my first Tibetan monk in red garb and I know I'm close. The road just keeps going though and I keep climbing until I meet the usual tangle of traffic that signifies a town. Weave through till I find a quite guest house and book in. Destination reached is always a good feeling after booking into my 80rs room (about 1.20e) I scan a menu of goodies that you find at these places for westerners.
Chats and chess till my I catch myself falling asleep at table.
Wheels spinning, engine ticking the road unfurls in front of me as if the patch I'm on is the only thing in the world.
The landscape changes all the time. Passing from pine Forrest into deciduous wood then to rice paddies and tea fields.
Around a corner and I spot my first Tibetan monk in red garb and I know I'm close. The road just keeps going though and I keep climbing until I meet the usual tangle of traffic that signifies a town. Weave through till I find a quite guest house and book in. Destination reached is always a good feeling after booking into my 80rs room (about 1.20e) I scan a menu of goodies that you find at these places for westerners.
Chats and chess till my I catch myself falling asleep at table.
Ah Mandi
After some rough roads I reach Mandi another small town suggested to me by the guide book and I'm not disappointed at all.
It is a lovely place based around a sunken two story market and like Nahal is not on the tourist trail so a genuinely peaceful place. I find this great hotel the Raj Mahal, a place that time has forgetting with a huntsman lodge feel with a lovely garden with a pond that dragon flys flit around and comfortable rooms. The place seems to be working on out of date prices too and is really cheap for what you get.
Mandi is peaceful and chilled, the sunken market is around a park where people hang out and chat. There are supposedly lots of temples and a great view form on top of the hills but I just take it easy and spend an extra day there reading in the garden, wandering the market, dosing in my great room and taking "Hot!" showers, the second day is pretty much a wash out anyway with the monsoon. Sometimes you just have to spoil yourself.
It is a lovely place based around a sunken two story market and like Nahal is not on the tourist trail so a genuinely peaceful place. I find this great hotel the Raj Mahal, a place that time has forgetting with a huntsman lodge feel with a lovely garden with a pond that dragon flys flit around and comfortable rooms. The place seems to be working on out of date prices too and is really cheap for what you get.
Mandi is peaceful and chilled, the sunken market is around a park where people hang out and chat. There are supposedly lots of temples and a great view form on top of the hills but I just take it easy and spend an extra day there reading in the garden, wandering the market, dosing in my great room and taking "Hot!" showers, the second day is pretty much a wash out anyway with the monsoon. Sometimes you just have to spoil yourself.
Shimla
After a night of getting eaten alive by bed bugs (ah the good old days) I head out to check out the town. It is a lovely town with Tudor buildings. It is like Dublin in that it has a Gaiety Theater and a Christ Church and I'm reminded of home. Wandering around the old markets selling everything from pieces of string to guns is a trek as it is all on the side of a steep hill. Schlepping is a one of the main types of employment here and every where you see men straining up the hills under ridiculous loads.
There is a temple on the top of the hill and I take on the very steep trek up there. the temple is dedicated to Hanaman the monkey god and there are Brazen monkeys everywhere. The act as if they own the place (which they kind of do) and come up to you to check your pockets and reach in blatantly and take what ever they find. Luckily I was warned on the way up there so I have everything in my bag including my sunglasses. The monkeys have a fascination with sunglasses for some reason and steal them from right off the faces of anybody that did not heed the signs. The temple is peaceful otherwise and as my drenched tee shirt dries in the warm sun the stillness is soothing and baby monkeys play around me with mothers cradling some and nursing them. As I go to leave I see an Indian lady cradling and nursing her child in exactly the same way and I wonder if the monkeys make the same connection I do.
In the evening I go to see a documentary that is part of a film festival. The documentary is about Shimla and how the climate has changed life here, it is made by a local guy that answers questions after, as the only westerner there I'm singled out and I focus my comments on the good narrative and neglect to comment on the soundtrack of elevator music but is was a nice little movie.
Altogether Shilma is a very pretty place with great characture but I don't like the over all feel of the place with its blatant gouging and people after your cash so I resolve to leave in the morning and cut my trip here short by a day.
There is a temple on the top of the hill and I take on the very steep trek up there. the temple is dedicated to Hanaman the monkey god and there are Brazen monkeys everywhere. The act as if they own the place (which they kind of do) and come up to you to check your pockets and reach in blatantly and take what ever they find. Luckily I was warned on the way up there so I have everything in my bag including my sunglasses. The monkeys have a fascination with sunglasses for some reason and steal them from right off the faces of anybody that did not heed the signs. The temple is peaceful otherwise and as my drenched tee shirt dries in the warm sun the stillness is soothing and baby monkeys play around me with mothers cradling some and nursing them. As I go to leave I see an Indian lady cradling and nursing her child in exactly the same way and I wonder if the monkeys make the same connection I do.
In the evening I go to see a documentary that is part of a film festival. The documentary is about Shimla and how the climate has changed life here, it is made by a local guy that answers questions after, as the only westerner there I'm singled out and I focus my comments on the good narrative and neglect to comment on the soundtrack of elevator music but is was a nice little movie.
Altogether Shilma is a very pretty place with great characture but I don't like the over all feel of the place with its blatant gouging and people after your cash so I resolve to leave in the morning and cut my trip here short by a day.
On the road again day 2
My early start is thwarted by monsoon rains and I pull the covers up to enjoy the intoxication you only get from a warm bed with the sound of torrential rain outside.
I'm disturbed from my haze by the owner knocking on my door and calling me happily to get up. I go the door to be greeted by an elated man that brings me to the window to watch the rain. He explains joyfully with a clap on the back that his farm has been suffering and the rain is the best thing he has seen in ages. We chat with chai as the downpour continues. After discussing the nature of god the rain stops and he shows me his oyster mushroom farm under the guesthouse (that explains the slightly dank room).
The sky has cleared so its on the road again to Shimla.
I know I'm getting close to Shimla with the increase of hell bent bus drivers that rush up behind me beeping and fly past around the corner with the chaises leaning almost to the point that they must flip over but manage not to.
Shilma is considered the archetypal hill station and is a very popular tourist destination for the Indians. As I drive into the town touts actually run out into the middle of the road shouting to me about hotel rooms till a bus comes by and they launch onto it, clinging to its sides as it rolls into the bus station calling to the passengers about rooms.
The hills are covered with what looks like a chaotic landslid of buildings cascading down.
In the hotels you have to haggle furiously and I walk out of a few till I'm called back with a price I like.
The room I find is very reminiscent of flats I have lived in in my youth with that slightly damp smell complete with silver fish but I find it all a quite comforting in a funny way.
After dinner I wander back to my room, I pass a one table pool hall and head in for a look. It is the dankest pool room I have ever seen with mouldy wallpaper climbing the walls. The table champion is called and we play. I'm set to win the second game but I'm informed that I can not pot the black in center pocket for some reason as I'm lined up to do and he wins the game. After asking me if I want to bet I refuse as it the odds are against me if they're going to make up the rules as they go and suddenly the shutters are down and I'm out on the street. To bed and sleep.
I'm disturbed from my haze by the owner knocking on my door and calling me happily to get up. I go the door to be greeted by an elated man that brings me to the window to watch the rain. He explains joyfully with a clap on the back that his farm has been suffering and the rain is the best thing he has seen in ages. We chat with chai as the downpour continues. After discussing the nature of god the rain stops and he shows me his oyster mushroom farm under the guesthouse (that explains the slightly dank room).
The sky has cleared so its on the road again to Shimla.
I know I'm getting close to Shimla with the increase of hell bent bus drivers that rush up behind me beeping and fly past around the corner with the chaises leaning almost to the point that they must flip over but manage not to.
Shilma is considered the archetypal hill station and is a very popular tourist destination for the Indians. As I drive into the town touts actually run out into the middle of the road shouting to me about hotel rooms till a bus comes by and they launch onto it, clinging to its sides as it rolls into the bus station calling to the passengers about rooms.
The hills are covered with what looks like a chaotic landslid of buildings cascading down.
In the hotels you have to haggle furiously and I walk out of a few till I'm called back with a price I like.
The room I find is very reminiscent of flats I have lived in in my youth with that slightly damp smell complete with silver fish but I find it all a quite comforting in a funny way.
After dinner I wander back to my room, I pass a one table pool hall and head in for a look. It is the dankest pool room I have ever seen with mouldy wallpaper climbing the walls. The table champion is called and we play. I'm set to win the second game but I'm informed that I can not pot the black in center pocket for some reason as I'm lined up to do and he wins the game. After asking me if I want to bet I refuse as it the odds are against me if they're going to make up the rules as they go and suddenly the shutters are down and I'm out on the street. To bed and sleep.
On the road again
Leave Dehra Dun and head north. I have a routine now where I leave town before breakfast and stop in a roadside cafe along the way for chai and usually aloo parathan (A filled bread lightly fried). It is really a treat as the chai is always best from these places and the parathan is always different and generally good. As I move north the recipes change and how it is served, sometimes with curd and/or a sort of bean stew (different everywhere I go).
The roads here are good so the going is easy and after the service the bike is going great. Spinning through the hills.
I have been in the state of Utteranchal for almost 2 months and as the sign looms "You are now leaving Utteranchal, Welcome to Himchel Pradesh" I'm delighted and it spures me on.
My first stop is a little town called Nahal, founded in 1621 it's narrow winding streets with crumbling architecture reminds me of towns I visited in France.
It is very peaceful but that may be due to the fact that it is a sort of holiday and all the markets are closed.
The town sees very few tourist so everybody is genuinely friendly. The old architecture some almost mock Tudor gives me a real homely feel. It is definitely one of the wealthier towns I have visited. In the center of town there is a big playing field where kids play cricket and football.
Through the labyrinth of streets little temples appear with groups of women singing.
Wandering aimlessly around I soon get completely lost but it is not long till I'm found by a couple of kids that guide me back to a landmark I recognise. I reward the kids with ice pops and we sit watching the games by the playing field and chat and laugh eating our pops.
After a while I take my leave and realise that even from this landmark I have completely forgotten where my guest house is and don't even remember the name. I wander around trying to find an alley I remember but they all look the same in the fading light. I eventually remember the name of a guest house beside it and I ask a few people that stare blankly back at me till I eventually I follow a point down an alley and around a corner and I'm very relived to see my bike there, ironically the guest house is called "De Remembrance"
The roads here are good so the going is easy and after the service the bike is going great. Spinning through the hills.
I have been in the state of Utteranchal for almost 2 months and as the sign looms "You are now leaving Utteranchal, Welcome to Himchel Pradesh" I'm delighted and it spures me on.
My first stop is a little town called Nahal, founded in 1621 it's narrow winding streets with crumbling architecture reminds me of towns I visited in France.
It is very peaceful but that may be due to the fact that it is a sort of holiday and all the markets are closed.
The town sees very few tourist so everybody is genuinely friendly. The old architecture some almost mock Tudor gives me a real homely feel. It is definitely one of the wealthier towns I have visited. In the center of town there is a big playing field where kids play cricket and football.
Through the labyrinth of streets little temples appear with groups of women singing.
Wandering aimlessly around I soon get completely lost but it is not long till I'm found by a couple of kids that guide me back to a landmark I recognise. I reward the kids with ice pops and we sit watching the games by the playing field and chat and laugh eating our pops.
After a while I take my leave and realise that even from this landmark I have completely forgotten where my guest house is and don't even remember the name. I wander around trying to find an alley I remember but they all look the same in the fading light. I eventually remember the name of a guest house beside it and I ask a few people that stare blankly back at me till I eventually I follow a point down an alley and around a corner and I'm very relived to see my bike there, ironically the guest house is called "De Remembrance"
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Gangotri days
Hung around town to take it in and chat to people I had met there, I hang out with Ashish his Uncle and an Italian they had picked up along the way. Ashish (an Indian from Delhi) was a very interesting guy, a software engineer that is now a farmer and we get along very well with intermittent outburst from Surgio the Italian guy, great fun was had and we eat and chat late into the evening (well 12 is late in India).
Next Morning after not leaving as I said I would I head out for breakfast and bump into an American guy I was chatting to when I first arrived.
All along the banks there are Sadhu living in caves and we decide to see if we can find one and head along the rough rivers edge sometimes walking over small glaciers. All along there are little dwellings built under huge rocks set into the side of the mountain. Some with tiny windows and some even with iron chimneys coming out the side and little areas out front for cooking and eating. It occurs to me that Tolken must have traveled to India at some point.
As the trail runs out we eventually meet a Sadhu and he invites us into his little cave under this huge boulder. The cave is tiny with just enough room for the 3 of us and I give him a gift of some insents.
His English is very good, he says he learned from tourists visiting him hear and I can tell right away he knew the routine well. Sit in cave for couple of minutes, drink tea and have a chilum. We're not the first to visit him, not by a long shot and all the questions we have for him he has been asked many times before but he answers them with warmth. His eyes portray great calm and contentment with his lot and as we smoke from his chilum he tells us stories about the gods. I leave feeling slightly that I was just part of a show but the peace in these little alcoves of trees and rock tells me it is us and not him that are making the show.
A great dinner with Ashish, his Uncle and Sergio with a topping of South Park on Sergio's laptop and to bed.
Get up early and hit the road, the poor bike is really a bit worse for wear with the front shocks covered in oil from being burst from the rocky roads and the engine eating oil because I never get out of second gear but she keeps going, back over the mud tracks that have turned to dust making it harder to see the rocks. 10 hours I drive back to Champa all the time promising the bike that I'll give her a nice full service as soon as we get there, stopping occasionally to pick up bits of the bike that have broken off, I find that I've lost my tool box god knows when, the welding having just sheared off somewhere back there. Fall into a hotel still vibrating, stare at the colours on the TV and at some stage fall asleep.
Next morning hit road early again to get to Dehra Dun the capital of this area and book into a swanky hotel (swanky for India is only 20e a night) as I feel I need the comfort. Find a mechanic who works all day to get bike back to like new with a new clutch plate and all missing parts replaced.
After dinner I wonder around town and find a concert in a park. Sitting for a while I take in the amazing music and over my thanks again to Ganesh at the alter for helping get here.
Then back to my swanky hotel and deep sleep.
Next Morning after not leaving as I said I would I head out for breakfast and bump into an American guy I was chatting to when I first arrived.
All along the banks there are Sadhu living in caves and we decide to see if we can find one and head along the rough rivers edge sometimes walking over small glaciers. All along there are little dwellings built under huge rocks set into the side of the mountain. Some with tiny windows and some even with iron chimneys coming out the side and little areas out front for cooking and eating. It occurs to me that Tolken must have traveled to India at some point.
As the trail runs out we eventually meet a Sadhu and he invites us into his little cave under this huge boulder. The cave is tiny with just enough room for the 3 of us and I give him a gift of some insents.
His English is very good, he says he learned from tourists visiting him hear and I can tell right away he knew the routine well. Sit in cave for couple of minutes, drink tea and have a chilum. We're not the first to visit him, not by a long shot and all the questions we have for him he has been asked many times before but he answers them with warmth. His eyes portray great calm and contentment with his lot and as we smoke from his chilum he tells us stories about the gods. I leave feeling slightly that I was just part of a show but the peace in these little alcoves of trees and rock tells me it is us and not him that are making the show.
A great dinner with Ashish, his Uncle and Sergio with a topping of South Park on Sergio's laptop and to bed.
Get up early and hit the road, the poor bike is really a bit worse for wear with the front shocks covered in oil from being burst from the rocky roads and the engine eating oil because I never get out of second gear but she keeps going, back over the mud tracks that have turned to dust making it harder to see the rocks. 10 hours I drive back to Champa all the time promising the bike that I'll give her a nice full service as soon as we get there, stopping occasionally to pick up bits of the bike that have broken off, I find that I've lost my tool box god knows when, the welding having just sheared off somewhere back there. Fall into a hotel still vibrating, stare at the colours on the TV and at some stage fall asleep.
Next morning hit road early again to get to Dehra Dun the capital of this area and book into a swanky hotel (swanky for India is only 20e a night) as I feel I need the comfort. Find a mechanic who works all day to get bike back to like new with a new clutch plate and all missing parts replaced.
After dinner I wonder around town and find a concert in a park. Sitting for a while I take in the amazing music and over my thanks again to Ganesh at the alter for helping get here.
Then back to my swanky hotel and deep sleep.
Road to Gamok
Hit the trial at 6am. As I head along the valley opens to views of snow capped mountains all around. After breakfast in a tea stall about 2k along I set off again. Because the air is so thin at this altitude the sun is very strong and even with my SPF 30 I get a little singed and red. After a few stops for chai I arrive at the ashram that I'll be staying the night at, I'm now at 3800m. I get the last place as the person who asked about 15mins after me is turned away and has to make the 14k trek back disappointed.
The rooms are even more basic then at previous ashram with just dorms that consist of blankets on the floor.
After a bit of lunch I'm feeling good and the weather is clear so I decide to go on to Gamok that is only another 4k.
At this altitude the air is thinner so the sun really gets at you. The views are of crisp snowy mountains with birds of prey soring high. The peaks reaching over 6000m around me.
The trail ends and there on a boulder in bold colours is the marker for 4000m. Everest is 8800m so I'm at almost half it height. Here there is a makeshift temple where i give thanks to Ganesh (the god that removes obstacles) for helping to make the journey as easy as possible.
As the trail turns to boulders and then to an end I'm there, at the source of the Ganga that flows out of an ancient glacier. I drop to my knees and wash my head in the freezing water and drink handfuls to refresh my spirit. As I sit by the river under the glacier tears roll down my cheeks.
After I get up I'm hit with absolute exhaustion, I stagger back over the boulders to the trail and find the first tea shop and collapse in the tent. I pour a liter of water down my throat and a packet of maggi noodles to give me the strength to get back the 4k to the ashram.
Feeling very weak and fuzzy I slowly walk back, sometimes stumbling over the rocks. By the time I get back to ashram my head is pounding and I feel so weak all I can do is go to bed in the dorm. The altitude has gotten to me after all and i can barley see with the pain.
I can hear all the other people filling up the rest of the ashram and many of them sound sicker then I do but I don't find much consolation. I skip dinner unable to move and drift in and out of sleep. I have been joined in the dorm by a French guy but I don't get much sympathy but the company is welcome even though he must have thought me mad from my groaning and incoherent sporadic chat.
The night went on as did the pain, the only solice I found was in the intermittent sleep. We where also joined by a furry friend and was woken by his scurrying and a shout from John when it ran over his face.
The next morning the headache had gone thankfully but I was still feeling pretty shaky as John and I headed back the 14k to Gangotri. When i got back to town I headed straight to a hotel and slept till evening.
The rooms are even more basic then at previous ashram with just dorms that consist of blankets on the floor.
After a bit of lunch I'm feeling good and the weather is clear so I decide to go on to Gamok that is only another 4k.
At this altitude the air is thinner so the sun really gets at you. The views are of crisp snowy mountains with birds of prey soring high. The peaks reaching over 6000m around me.
The trail ends and there on a boulder in bold colours is the marker for 4000m. Everest is 8800m so I'm at almost half it height. Here there is a makeshift temple where i give thanks to Ganesh (the god that removes obstacles) for helping to make the journey as easy as possible.
As the trail turns to boulders and then to an end I'm there, at the source of the Ganga that flows out of an ancient glacier. I drop to my knees and wash my head in the freezing water and drink handfuls to refresh my spirit. As I sit by the river under the glacier tears roll down my cheeks.
After I get up I'm hit with absolute exhaustion, I stagger back over the boulders to the trail and find the first tea shop and collapse in the tent. I pour a liter of water down my throat and a packet of maggi noodles to give me the strength to get back the 4k to the ashram.
Feeling very weak and fuzzy I slowly walk back, sometimes stumbling over the rocks. By the time I get back to ashram my head is pounding and I feel so weak all I can do is go to bed in the dorm. The altitude has gotten to me after all and i can barley see with the pain.
I can hear all the other people filling up the rest of the ashram and many of them sound sicker then I do but I don't find much consolation. I skip dinner unable to move and drift in and out of sleep. I have been joined in the dorm by a French guy but I don't get much sympathy but the company is welcome even though he must have thought me mad from my groaning and incoherent sporadic chat.
The night went on as did the pain, the only solice I found was in the intermittent sleep. We where also joined by a furry friend and was woken by his scurrying and a shout from John when it ran over his face.
The next morning the headache had gone thankfully but I was still feeling pretty shaky as John and I headed back the 14k to Gangotri. When i got back to town I headed straight to a hotel and slept till evening.
Gangotri Day 2
The Krishna ashram that is basic to say the least, my room is dark with a small glassless window just covered by a sack. The beds are made of hard wood with thin mattresses on them and the blankets are like the mattress, about 3 inches thick. It is a very nice place though and everybody staying are nice and chilled. The Swami is a very cool guy that seems to be in and out of a trance all the time. Food is included in the price and it is served to us as we sit under the eves of the main building and the rough wooden floor.
The morning is warm with the sun shinning and the clear thin air means I can see the peaks with real 35mm HD clarity (sorry one for the movie geeks but it really is that clear).
The town consists of one main street lined with restaurants and shops. The street teems with people from all over India with a few white faces popping up between all the dark colourful masses.
I shop around for some warmer clothes and eat some good food with interesting conversations. The place attracts interesting people as it is a hard journey only serious pilgrims make it.
Decide I'll make the 18k trek to Gamok ("The Cows Mouth" the source of the Ganga) in the morning as I feel fit and ready so spend the day resting up and filling up.
The morning is warm with the sun shinning and the clear thin air means I can see the peaks with real 35mm HD clarity (sorry one for the movie geeks but it really is that clear).
The town consists of one main street lined with restaurants and shops. The street teems with people from all over India with a few white faces popping up between all the dark colourful masses.
I shop around for some warmer clothes and eat some good food with interesting conversations. The place attracts interesting people as it is a hard journey only serious pilgrims make it.
Decide I'll make the 18k trek to Gamok ("The Cows Mouth" the source of the Ganga) in the morning as I feel fit and ready so spend the day resting up and filling up.
Road to Gangotri
Up and out early as I know I have a long way of bad roads to go.
Nothing could have prepared me for the condition of the travel. The roads make my last trip look like a stroll in the park. 6 months of the year Gangotri is cut off by snow and ice so when the summer comes and everything thaws the road is washed by landslides and rivulets coming off the mountain leaving nothing but mud and rocks for about 50k of the journey. The going is very hard and it takes all my concentrate and skill to stay on the track and avoid buses and jeeps.
I stop for a rest at one of the tea stalls along the way and with chai I talk to some of the Sadhu (Holy men that you find all over the place) that are making their way to Gangotri, some by foot. One man is nearing the end of his 2000k walk here. As I chat to them they smoke chilums and drink tea giving to them for free by tea stall owner. I refuse the smoke as I need all my focus to get over these roads. I don't know how people travel on them by conventional means but every now and then I pass a Vespa and marvel at how it can make it over this terrain.
As I slowly bounce around one corner I catch my first glimpse of a snow capped mountain and I know I'm in the Himalaya at last and I whoop with joy. The sight is just breath taking and i almost fall off the bike with awe.
The road eventually becomes back to patches of tarmac and then to actual stretches of it but they get steep and the traffic moves faster.
As i snake up higher and higher the views are just spectacular. Valleys a 1000 feet deep drop off the side of the road with snow capped mountains looking down on me.
Eventually the road twists into a traffic jam that is bumper to bumper with buses front bumper to front bumper, just sitting there looking at each other through their windscreens. It is another 2k to Gangotri so I leave bike and walk the rest, will come back when they eventually sort out mess. I walk past some westerns sitting, waiting for traffic to move, they have been here for 4 hours already.
Into town and across to Krishna Ashram (Giving shelter to the world for a 100 years (it says at gate)).
Gangotri is at 3047 meters so the air is cooler here. There is no pollution and it has been raining the day before so the air is so clear that I can see the peaks 40 miles away as if they where right next to me.
Lunch of cold dal and rice and back to retrieve bike and luggage with the hope that the traffic has cleared. Luckily only a few buses and cars from this tetris game are left and I get through after a bit.
As the evening comes so does the rain and cold. In Ramnigar I prayed for this cold but here the novelty wears off quickly. Hot chai is the only comfort for my body but the view and the achievement also warm my sole.
Nothing could have prepared me for the condition of the travel. The roads make my last trip look like a stroll in the park. 6 months of the year Gangotri is cut off by snow and ice so when the summer comes and everything thaws the road is washed by landslides and rivulets coming off the mountain leaving nothing but mud and rocks for about 50k of the journey. The going is very hard and it takes all my concentrate and skill to stay on the track and avoid buses and jeeps.
I stop for a rest at one of the tea stalls along the way and with chai I talk to some of the Sadhu (Holy men that you find all over the place) that are making their way to Gangotri, some by foot. One man is nearing the end of his 2000k walk here. As I chat to them they smoke chilums and drink tea giving to them for free by tea stall owner. I refuse the smoke as I need all my focus to get over these roads. I don't know how people travel on them by conventional means but every now and then I pass a Vespa and marvel at how it can make it over this terrain.
As I slowly bounce around one corner I catch my first glimpse of a snow capped mountain and I know I'm in the Himalaya at last and I whoop with joy. The sight is just breath taking and i almost fall off the bike with awe.
The road eventually becomes back to patches of tarmac and then to actual stretches of it but they get steep and the traffic moves faster.
As i snake up higher and higher the views are just spectacular. Valleys a 1000 feet deep drop off the side of the road with snow capped mountains looking down on me.
Eventually the road twists into a traffic jam that is bumper to bumper with buses front bumper to front bumper, just sitting there looking at each other through their windscreens. It is another 2k to Gangotri so I leave bike and walk the rest, will come back when they eventually sort out mess. I walk past some westerns sitting, waiting for traffic to move, they have been here for 4 hours already.
Into town and across to Krishna Ashram (Giving shelter to the world for a 100 years (it says at gate)).
Gangotri is at 3047 meters so the air is cooler here. There is no pollution and it has been raining the day before so the air is so clear that I can see the peaks 40 miles away as if they where right next to me.
Lunch of cold dal and rice and back to retrieve bike and luggage with the hope that the traffic has cleared. Luckily only a few buses and cars from this tetris game are left and I get through after a bit.
As the evening comes so does the rain and cold. In Ramnigar I prayed for this cold but here the novelty wears off quickly. Hot chai is the only comfort for my body but the view and the achievement also warm my sole.
Road to Gangotri Day 3
Found farewell to Raj after he tweaks the bike a little and its back on the road. Stop in Kamad to have breakfast with my friends there. I get the cook to show me how to make Parathan and rolling again. When I get to the place I broke down I tense as I pass in case there is an invisible barrier that the bike can not pass but I sail by with a breath of relief.
The bike is going great no so I make good time to Utterkashi the last big town before Gangotri that has things like petrol and fruit supplies. I have another 120k to go to Gangotri so I stock up on essentials and head to small town about 8k along the road called Netala. I have heard of Netala before as there is an ashram there I want to visit. Netala is a lovely small town on banks of Ganga with little green fields and small lawns.
After settling into small hotel I wander up the road to find the Shivinanda Kutri Ashram. It is a lovely immaculate small ashram on the river bank just under an ancient suspension bridge.
The vibe is peaceful and I head to a little beach that the ashram backs onto.
As I sit on the bank I meditate on the satisfaction of reaching a place I wanted to visit and how I got here and where I'm going too. As the realisation of my trip here comes to me tears whell in my eyes and roll down my cheeks as I'm overcome by the beauty of what I have seen and my gratitude for being able to be here. A quick rinse in Ganga and back to hotel for dinner and fitful sleep.
The bike is going great no so I make good time to Utterkashi the last big town before Gangotri that has things like petrol and fruit supplies. I have another 120k to go to Gangotri so I stock up on essentials and head to small town about 8k along the road called Netala. I have heard of Netala before as there is an ashram there I want to visit. Netala is a lovely small town on banks of Ganga with little green fields and small lawns.
After settling into small hotel I wander up the road to find the Shivinanda Kutri Ashram. It is a lovely immaculate small ashram on the river bank just under an ancient suspension bridge.
The vibe is peaceful and I head to a little beach that the ashram backs onto.
As I sit on the bank I meditate on the satisfaction of reaching a place I wanted to visit and how I got here and where I'm going too. As the realisation of my trip here comes to me tears whell in my eyes and roll down my cheeks as I'm overcome by the beauty of what I have seen and my gratitude for being able to be here. A quick rinse in Ganga and back to hotel for dinner and fitful sleep.
Road to Gangotri day 2
Ring my mechanic in Rishikesh to make sure he is sending somebody. He assures me he is on his way.
I send they day watching every car, bus and motorbike enter and leave town and reading the Dali lama's Biography till eventually at 5pm a lone figure gets off the bus with a little bag and walks towards the bike.
Raj is here at last and we set to work. I was warned when I was talking to people about getting a bike that I would be spending allot of time around mechanics but now I really understand.
Turns out some wires had melted and were shorting the electrics but Raj was well able to deal with it and after about an hour the bike was purring again. It was evening and I had to get Raj to place where he could get lift back to Rishikesh so I had to backtrack about 40k to Champa where we stayed the night as it was too late for him to get bus so I had to put him up and feed him. Raj was good company though and we chatted and laughed till is was time for sleep.
I send they day watching every car, bus and motorbike enter and leave town and reading the Dali lama's Biography till eventually at 5pm a lone figure gets off the bus with a little bag and walks towards the bike.
Raj is here at last and we set to work. I was warned when I was talking to people about getting a bike that I would be spending allot of time around mechanics but now I really understand.
Turns out some wires had melted and were shorting the electrics but Raj was well able to deal with it and after about an hour the bike was purring again. It was evening and I had to get Raj to place where he could get lift back to Rishikesh so I had to backtrack about 40k to Champa where we stayed the night as it was too late for him to get bus so I had to put him up and feed him. Raj was good company though and we chatted and laughed till is was time for sleep.
Road to Gangotri
After a few days of R&R in Rishikesh with the bike serviced its time to go again. This time I'm going solo as I hear the roads are pretty bad to Gangotri and I have to carry all my luggage.
Hit the road with the engine humming and the tarmac consistent. The day is sunny but not too hot and the road twists and turns under my wheels as I spin along the side of the mountains passing over deep valleys and through small towns.
All was going very well till the bike began to stall and the horn stopped working then the bike just stopped! I tried everything but I could not get it working. Luckily I was in a small town called Kamand where there was a mechanic but he could do nothing either so I called my mechanic in Rishikesh and he sent a guy out to me but it would not be till the next day as it was getting into evening now. As with all the small towns i have been in it is not long till I have attracted a crowd and a friend or two. One, Davidson an army Corporal on 60 day holiday who knows everybody in town sorts me out with hotel and a place to eat. The only hotel in the town has a few rooms but under the rooms are these garage like spaces, Davidson informs me that this is where the pilgrims stay for the night when they pass through for Gangotri, the rooms sleep about 30 on the floor. As i look around the town with a few people wondering about I wonder how they fill the rooms. My question is answered as when it gets dark and the buses roll in and suddenly the towns population is tripled.
Dinner of Chapati and mixed veg then to bed.
Hit the road with the engine humming and the tarmac consistent. The day is sunny but not too hot and the road twists and turns under my wheels as I spin along the side of the mountains passing over deep valleys and through small towns.
All was going very well till the bike began to stall and the horn stopped working then the bike just stopped! I tried everything but I could not get it working. Luckily I was in a small town called Kamand where there was a mechanic but he could do nothing either so I called my mechanic in Rishikesh and he sent a guy out to me but it would not be till the next day as it was getting into evening now. As with all the small towns i have been in it is not long till I have attracted a crowd and a friend or two. One, Davidson an army Corporal on 60 day holiday who knows everybody in town sorts me out with hotel and a place to eat. The only hotel in the town has a few rooms but under the rooms are these garage like spaces, Davidson informs me that this is where the pilgrims stay for the night when they pass through for Gangotri, the rooms sleep about 30 on the floor. As i look around the town with a few people wondering about I wonder how they fill the rooms. My question is answered as when it gets dark and the buses roll in and suddenly the towns population is tripled.
Dinner of Chapati and mixed veg then to bed.
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