Reckong Peo

Well, not exactly. Reckong Peo is just a place with i-net, I'm staying in Kalpa village, above it. I made my way from Shimla, which was a nice place to stay. It didn't look like an Indian city at all, more like a European mountain resort (I guess, since I've never been in one). It has a nostalgic atmosphere of British times. Many buildings remind of this era - concrete and wooden, set among sea of green on the hills.














The town was once British summer capital, and these guys sure knew how to have a good vacation. There aren't many sights in the town, people spend time just wandering in the Mall. After two days there I took off east, to Kinnaur Valley. The main idea was to follow the rivers until the last village. Stopped for 3 days in Sarahan, nice village with beatiful temple.





















The traditional architecture is really amazing - concrete building with wood decorations and stone tiles on the roof. People of this area are more quiet than in plain side, and somewhat sullen. They have this traditional hat, that really amazes me with its lack of functionality. But it's nice, and they wear it proudly - men and women - maybe like a sign for adulthood, since I didn't see any kids wearing it. I made some walking around Sarahan, nice views to the peaks from the hills. Afterwards, more east - to Chhitkul, a remote village in the end of Sangla valley.




















It's really isolated and quiet. Great walking, inside the village and around. The valley is really classic one - the river goes from east to west, snowpeaks above, the slopes covered with lines of vegetation - one side grass, the other trees. Great sunrises and sunsets... The river is crossed in a basket, which is pulled with a rope. Funny experience.















Kinnaur valley is supposed to be the quiet part of Himachal, but the Israeli invasion is here too. I have nothing against my country's people, but sometimes they're extremely noisy. Now I'm making my way along the Indo-Tibetan road, heading for Spiti Valley. Not much trekking, but it's good to rest sometimes.

Dehra Doon

Gangotri was very nice, and there are many interesting places in the area worth exploring. To spare the buses, I wanted to go by foot as much as possible. There's a really beatiful pass from nearby Gangotri to Yamunotri, which is the source of Yamuna. The trek is 3 days long. Started with short ride down by jeep to Sangam Chatti, and from there by trekking up to Agora. Next day - to Dodital, a really majestic lake, surrounded by trees.

The place has a totally shanti atmosphere, and no tourists at all were in the area at this time. Relaxing there was great, and that made possible the tough 30 km hike the next day. First, up to the mountain meadows where there's no people but some cow shepherds with their huts. All is covered with grass and flowers. Good reason to smile :)














The way down wasn't much easy, because monsoon started and the trail became very slippy. Luckily there was a shepherd hut where the boy was very kind to make some tea. I arrived in Hanuman Chatti at evening totally exhausted, but in good mood. The day after I made the short Yamunotri trek, 6 km up swinging dirty road. Many Indian piligrims climbing up, chanting 'Jai Mata Di', probably for power boost. The donkeys and carriers business is flourishing, so it's a pretty busy trail. The temple in Yamunotri is not so impressive as the other three spots of the Hindu yatra, but still it's located in a great location, the mountain with 60 m waterfall is just above. The temple also has a hot spring, very appropriate for cool mountain weather. The piligrims wash themselves there happily after the long way up. Nice walk.
Now I'm in Dehra Dun, the capital of Uttaranchal district, getting some taste of city life. The city has a huge great park, where Forest Research Institute is located. Many kinds of trees, I just spent few hours wandering around... Besides this place, there's not much to see - typical Indian town. Tomorrow - challo Himachal...
bhole bom :)

Gangotri

Just returned from the trek to Gangotri and Gaumukh glacier. I now suspect that as longer it takes for the bus to reach (15 hours from Haridwar), the more beatiful the destination is.

Gangotri is a village with a temple of great importance for Hindus, and from there starts the trek to Gaumukh, "Cow-Head", the physical source of Ganga Maya. Here it starts:

Really cool place :)

Jai Ganga!

Local buses

This is a long journey... With an intention to go for Milam glacier trek, I've arrived to Munsyari village (just 11 hours by bus). The fun never stops in Indian buses. The locals sitting nearby ask exactly the same questions in the same precise order. One Australian guy I was talking to suggested to print a T-shirt with answers. It will go something like this:
1. Israel
2. 3 months
3. Computers
4. Yes, I like India
5. Yes, it's compulsory in Israel to go to the army
6. Girls also
7. No, not married
8. 27
... and so on. I think they have a subject in school "talk with gora" (means white, that's how the foreigners are called in villages). Although it's amusing, answering these questions 10 times a day can get on one's nerves. I'll improvise the answers next time :) Anyway, a guy sitting next to me in the bus presented me a huge bottle of rum. He's in the military service (which is at least 10 years in India, not compulsory :)), and apparently they get 6 bottles like this a year. It had a label "for use by military personnel only" and it was really heavy, so I gave it as a present to the guest house manager in Munsyari. This village has the best view on Himalayan range I've seen, including Nanda Devi (7800) just nearby. Unfortunately, it was raining for 3 days I've spent there, so I gave up the trek idea. Coming back by share jeep, I've arrived at Nainital, a hill station located near a Naini lake, which is supposed to be an eye of Shiva's wife. They call this place "The Switzerland of India", and soon I figured out it's not because of the lake, but because of the hotel prices... Reminded me of Eilat in some way. One night there and again by bus back to Haridwar, with thousands of baba here, smoking chillums and begging for money. I haven't decided if to go to another trek in Uttaranchal, or make my way to the Israeliada in Kulu and Parvati valley... Anyway, I have to rest some time from this life on bus seat.
bom

Almora

Just got back to civilization - Almora, a cute hill station in eastern Uttaranchal. Finally, money change, internet, electricity, running water and good food. Made the Pindary trek alone, took 6 days. Words are useless to describe this piece of heaven.

The Himalaya are just there, and it's enough. Forestes, animals, waterfalls...

I'm stuck in this area. Just resting for a couple of days, and again challo trekking :)