Duration : 5 days, 4 nights
Starting Location : Rishikesh, Uttarakhand
Destination : Yamunotri, Gangotri & Gomukh, Uttarakhand
Mode of Travel : Bike (Rented from Rishikesh)
Route : Rishikesh (U. K.) -> Hanuman Chatti (U. K.) -> Yamunotri(U. K.) -> Dharasu Band (U. K.) -> Gangotri (U. K.) -> Gomukh (U. K.) -> Rishikesh (U. K.)
Background
We had another biking trip planned but those were time taking. now we didn’t had much time so planned on this quick trip. We boarded a train to Haridwar from Lucknow in late night. Our Bikes were booked from Rishikesh so we planned on reaching as early as possible. Me, Ankur Nishad and Himansu boarded the train while Gaurav planned on joining us directly at Rishikesh.
Day 1 (Rishikesh -> Hanuman Chatti, ~205 KM/6-7 Hours)
We awoke in train in the morning and located out it’s running a touch late. We took some advice from fellow passengers and de-boarded the train at Roorkee. Rishikesh was around 53 KM from there and that we though we are able to cover that distance quickly on Bus (We need to know they’re frequent).
We got down, had some tea, and started inquiring about Buses. Then we need to know we’ve to travel to the bus terminal first as there are not any Buses directly from the railway station. We got a rickshaw to the bus terminal and waited for Bus to arrive. Finally, we got on to a personal Bus and our nightmare continues. That bus was stopping after every 5-10 KM. It took around 2-3 hours to reach Rishikesh. Our main focus is to save time so that we can spend more time on the mountains.
Gaurav reached the Bike point little early but our bikes weren’t ready even once we reached there after 1-2 hours. It wasted more of our time. Finally, after such a lot of hustle, we left Rishikesh around 12 PM.
We faced heavy rain just after crossing Rishikesh. initially, we stopped at a hotel to have lunch, hoping the rain will stop in 30-40 minutes but it didn’t. Now we got our rain suits on as we can not lose any longer time. The weather was good most of the time.
The rest of the ride was uneventful. there were no more issues apart that its night time . In mountains, it gets dark pretty early. We planned on staying at Hanuman Chatti. once we reached there around 7 in the evening it had been pitch dark and nobody to found. After banging every door for 15-20 minutes, we got not so good room at a cheap price. it had been adequate for us as we planned on leaving the next day as early as possible.
Day 2 (Hanuman Chatti -> Janki Chatti -> Yamunotri Trek -> Janki Chatti -> Hanuman Chatti -> Dharasu Band, Trekking both side ~12 KM/6 Hours, Biking ~90KM/4 Hours)
Took us a while to seek out a parking spot in Janki Chatti but finally, we found the sole parking light. We started the trek from Janki Chatti and took us 3-4 hours to succeed in the temple.
The route is rough and goes through regular intervals of steepness, plains, and descents. On the way, many old temples are often seen which increases the sanctity of the Hill station.
While going towards the temple on the proper hand side you’ll be kept company with the tall green covered mountain peaks and therefore the Yamuna river flowing below. The awe-inspiring views of the mountains and scattered trees were creating beautiful scenery.
The route was well constructed and caused no issues but there have been some areas of the steep climb. Earlier we thought its “Just 6 KM” and won’t take much time but while walking we understood its tough trek. We all struggled but Gaurav Shukla from our group struggled more.
Finally, after facing these struggles we reached at the temple. The Yamunotri Temple, perched on the highest is well worth the climb of three to four hours. The majestic Garhwal Himalayas and therefore the beautiful waterfalls look pretty from the highest.
We waited for Gaurav Shukla while watching this view. He came 30-45 minutes later. then we went for a decent spring bath. That thermal spring had sulfur water which is good for the skin. That hot bath took all of our tiredness away and recharged us. After the bath, we got blessings from Goddess Yamuna.
Some people were cooking rice on hot water spring so out of curiosity we also had some rice and got it cooked over hot sulfur water. it had been a nice experience.
Spent some time around the temple appreciating fantastic beauty river Yamuna and mountains before starting our descent.
Once we came within the morning only a few people were there and no mules but it had been around 11:30 PM which route was filled with mules. Somehow we managed to create way for ourselves.
The return journey was easy, mostly because we were coming down so had some fun on the way 😛
Had lunch at Janki Chatti and quickly back to Hotel. As we planned to start towards Gangotri, our two friends weren’t in the condition to ride. in order that they planned to remain behind and are available later while Ankur Nishad and i plan to start towards Gangotri immediately.
There is a golden rule while driving in mountains. Start early and find an area to stay before sunset. In mountains, sunsets pretty early and offers you no time before its pitch dark.
We left Hanuman Chatti around 2 PM while Himansu and Gaurav left around 3-3:30 PM. The road till Dharasu band was under construction and wasn’t in good condition. there was so many beautiful scenery which were beautiful and mesmerizing.
By the time we reached Dharasu band (around 6 PM), it had been already very late. We began to search for an honest hotel to stay in. there have been almost no hotels within the area so had a tough time finding one but found eventually. After checking in, we got our cells & there was no signal. We had no option to contact our other friends so we got chairs besides road and began searching for our friends. We waited there for quite 1 hour before they came. Our concern was what if something happened and that they needed us or they simply crossed us and that we didn’t saw them. At the end, everyone was together and safe.
The next day we planned on reaching Gangotri before 11 AM to urge our passes for Gomukh. If we reach after 11, then we’ve to finish Gomukh trek in single day as we’ve no extra day.
Day 3 (Dharasu Band -> Gangotri, ~125 KM/4-5 Hours)
What each day it had been getting to be. We left early as was common . We had to reach Gangotri before 11 to collect passes for Gomukh trek. The road was super smooth and the morning hue, just spectacular. good time to ride 🙂
We covered a long way early. i used to be riding at a good speed but Himanshu and Gaurav were lagging behind. Me and Ankur Nishad had breakfast during a roadside stall.
Well me and nishad reached Gangotri by 10 AM, as per our schedule and the remainder of 2 were a touch behind. We took a while to park the bike and obtain details of trekking and passes. once we went for passes, we came to know that photocopy of ID proof is mandatory, for everybody who is trekking. and that was the point where we stuck. Gaurav Shukla opted out of trekking so no issues from that part but Himanshu wanted to travel and that we don’t had his ID. Now we can’t get passes for trek and need to await another bike to return.
We waited patiently hoping they’re going to precede 11 AM, but all hopes shattered. it had been past 11 AM and that they haven’t arrived so we switched to plan B. We decided for same-day trekking, starting the next day. Its time to look for a Hotel. We searched for an honest one today as we had to remain all day. Found an awesome room in the top floor of a Hotel for 4 folks . it had been clean, spacious and just at the starting of the parking zone of Gangotri.
Me and Nishad rested and waited for others to return . Once they arrive by 12, gave them an overview of situation. Gaurav Shukla don’t want to travel for trekking so he decided to travel away early next morning back we rest 3 folks decided to go for trek.
As we had nothing to do, we spend the afternoon sleeping. awakened around 3 PM. Evening timing to collect passes was from 4 to 6 PM. Me and Nishad head out to market area nearby to find out about any Mule owner willing to require us to Gomukh and back same day. We were in no condition to do that ourselves after the Yamunotri trek.
It didn’t took too long and that we booked Mules, got a food supply, confirmed Gangotri temple timing for the evening and looked around market.
We reached the forest office 5 minutes before 4 PM and nobody was there, that’s the sweetness of traveling in off season.
Got our passes easily. you only got to have ID proff copy of all persons trekking and fill out few forms. Also note that plastics are not allowed. We returned to Hotel with some snacks.
Around 5:30 PM, we left the hotel for the Gangotri temple. A narrow road between dense market takes you on to a beautiful temple.
We enjoyed an amazing aarti by river Ganga first then visited the temple. No hassle there. Not much rush and the environment was awesome.
Soaking within the calm of the environment we returned to the Hotel. Had a wonderful dinner and retired for night.
Day 4 (Gangotri -> Gomukh -> Gangotri, ~38 KM/10 Hours)
We got ready today, by 5 AM. Gaurav Shukla was catching a bus at 5:30 AM, back to Haridwar today. We had tea together. He boarded the bus and that we moved ahead towards the final leg of our journey.
At a distance of 19 km from Gangotri, Gomukh or Gaumukh is that the source of Bhagirathi River situated in Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand. More adventurous of pilgrims still trek to Tapovan, another 6 km beyond Gomukh. Mythology has it that Rishi Bhagirath prayed there to Lord Shiva to release Ganga to return right down to Earth. Kneed-less to say, we didn’t even bother thinking about going upto Tapovan!
Bhojbasa are often reached by trekking or horses/mules from Gangotri. From Bhojbasa horses/mules aren’t allowed and trekking is that the only thanks to reach the location . We already booked horses previous night so we just had to reach the start line , which was just besides Gangotri temple, around 500 meters uphill.
Apart from the very fact that we were terrified, rest seems very calm and smooth. Light morning light was everywhere and a pleasant temperature to start out our journey.
Make sure you’re not taking any plastics with you, unless extremely required. you’ve got to declare all plastics at the starting checkpoint and deposit some collateral amount against it. you’ll get that back while returning and showing that you simply brought all plastics back with you, so make sure you retain each plastic packet in your pocket only and do not throw that away.
Had some photoshoot whenever possible, on horses or once we had to get down from our horses. Altogether it had been nice morning 🙂
The path has several small lovely streams and waterfalls, making it very picturesque, the water is incredibly sweet, better than any drinking water one can purchase .
See within the images, many places there was no path to steer on 🙂 In below image you’ll clearly see how dangerous it’s. which danger multiplies 100 times once you need to cross this on horse 😛
About 9 km before Gangotri is Chidwasa(or Chirbasa), the abode of Chir trees. Path till Chidwasa was good and smooth. We reached there in no time.
There are 2-3 shops in Chidwasa where you’ll buy some snacks, Maggi the foremost famous one 🙂 We rested a small amount here and had some breakfast, yeah we just had a cup of tea within the morning and nothing then. After resting for around 30-40 minutes, we started back on our journey.
Coming to terrain after Chidwasa, it had been narrow and dangerous, alongside river Bhagirathi. Beautiful valley to the correct side folks and mountains to the left folks . We enjoyed this breathtaking, scenic route in early hours of morning.
Way after Chidwasa went bad very soon and now we came to understand how tough it had been . We had to get down our horses multiple times as there have been just boulders and no path for horses to steer on.
After 4 km of Chidwasa comes the damaging Gila Pahar, the place renowned for its landslides. Only 2 km from Gila Pahar is Bhujbasa, the sole night halting place on the way with accommodation. The trek to Tapovan and Nandanvan starts from here.
After trekking 4 km from Bhujbasa, one reaches Gomukh, the snout of the Gangotri Glacier. The route after Bhujbasa are often quite difficult and one has to cross long & risky way to reach Gomukh.
We had to climb on few to get a far better view of Gomukh which was worthwhile . Gomukh moved back around 1 KM in last 1-2 decade thanks to pollution and heating . We carefully got right down to the banks of Bhagirathi river and filled few bottles of water, which we intended to hold back to our homes.
After enjoying view for around 1 hour approximately , we returned back to Bhujbasa.
It was very tiring and silent journey back to Bujbasa. Return journey are always the foremost tiring as you don’t have the thrill , usually but you also feel more peace & satisfaction as you’ve got achieved your target.
By evening 3-4 PM we were back at Chidwasa. We were very tired and hungry. We just had Maggi whole day and zip else. We ordered few “Aloo Parantha” and rested in shop itself.
We had an honest sleep for around half-hour . We awakened had our lunch but we didn’t had any energy to move forward. We rested a touch more then got back up on our horses for final leg of journey back to Gangotri.
We came to Gangotri around 6-7 PM. Return journey was terrifying also but we knew its matter of your time before we reach Gangotri. We had good dinner and slept.
Day 5 (Gangotri -> Rishikesh, ~270 KM/10 Hours)
As usual, Judgment Day of trip reserved for getting back as soon as possible. We left early so there have been no issues reciprocally journey. No mishaps and ample fuel to spare, we reached Rishikesh by evening.
Our train was from Haridwar so we boarded a Bus. We reached way before our train time and once you have spare time in Haridwar, just one thing comes into mind. Evening aarti and a holy dip in river Ganga.
We boarded train on time and shortly slept having memories of lovely trip.
Afterwords
Train reached Lucknow on time. After a parting selfie and that we wen’t on our ways.
