The bus ride from Badrinath to Srinagar turned out to be one of the most exasperating bus journeys I have ever made. Labelled a "Daak Bus" or Mail Bus, this bus along with several other private buses perform mail service, collecting and delivering mail to the sundry little villages along its routes. If Haridwar to Badrinath took a travel time of 12 hours, the travel from Badrinath to Srinagar, a halfway point took an excruciating 11 hours. Additionally encumbered by the fact that I no longer had two entire seats to fit my generously proportioned frame, and seats that had leg rooms designed for people half my height, the very long stops the bus took every few kilometers in some random little village was getting on my nerves.
So as our bus creaked its way into the town of Srinagar at evening it was a very edgy me who Srinagar welcomed. To make things worse, our heavier bags which we had stowed in the rear luggage compartment had acquired a uniform color of white caked all over it from the tonnes of dust that the bus drove through. The only potential respite for me was the comfortable room awaiting us at the local GMVNL guest house. After checking out the two cheapest classes of rooms available, costing Rs. 400 and Rs. 800 per day, I finally chose the more expensive one, as after the excruciating ride I did not want to compromise on comfort at all. My fellow traveller however seemed displeased at the selection of the more expensive room, but at that stage, at that time I could not be out-insisted by even Odin himself.
A leisurely shower and feeling considerably much alive we rested for the night after I had made due enquiries as to the first bus to Uttarkashi, our destination for the next day. Informed about a bus being there at 0630 and 0700 in the morning, I assisted by a bellhop from the guesthouse went out and made two reservations for the earlier bus itself.
The next morning we arrived at the bus stop in time to find that the bus was filled to the packing. There were however the rear most seats vacant and ignoring the conductors remonstrations of keeping the luggage in cargo hold, we made ourselves comfortable or as much as we could do in the confined seats of yet another Garhwal bus. This time however I opted out of the window and aisle seats and instead sat at the very middle seat which had no handlebars and whose legspace was the very length of the bus itself. Though the bus ride would be quite jerky as ever and a slighter proportioned person may find himself propelled to the front of the bus every few jerks and sudden brakes, I trusted on my girth to provide the adequate braking power for my frame in case any such incidents occurred, a reasonable observation as I figured in due time as the bus became a virtual pinball machine for me.The journey around the Tehri Dam was quite picturesque and traffic was much less than the roads till now.
Roads in Uttarakhand are no child's play and the best of roads here would make any Kochiite proud of his home roads, but past Dharasu, the road to Uttarkashi was one of the scariest roads I have ever gone through in my life. Truth be said there was no road per se, but some trails the vehicles and bulldozers have cut through the unstable mountain sides pretty much like how the mountain goats pick their way through. And of course the pinball sensation was on an altogether new level!
As a passionate biker, I have a habit of evaluating all the roads I travel through on how I would ride through them myself and truth be said, I was scared out of my wits at the prospect of riding these roads. The vehicles plying these roads have at least four tyres of whom at least three would be having contact with ground. Alternately getting scared and rebuking myself for getting scared, a ray of relief passed over me as I watched a group of Bulleteers riding past. Then I saw a local riding a scooter and then I totally felt relief. If the roads are ridable, then definitely I would be able to ride. Then I spent my time until Gangotri enjoying the immensely beautiful vistas of the land.
Reaching Gangotri in the evening I was too exhausted to have any idea about how to lug my heavy luggage to the Kailas Ashram, where we were supposed to be staying. Thankfully my fellow traveller, Jayan, exhibited one of his rare acts of initiative and procured the services of a jeep to drop us at the Ashram. So we had to fork out Rs. 100 apiece but that is a small price to pay for this luxury and soon we were dropped at the front of the Kailas Ashram located near the banks of the swift flowing Ganga River. We had agreed upon that Uttarkashi is Jayan's turf, as this was where his guru Hari Om Swamiji stayed and our accommodation at Kailas Ashram was also arranged at his behest. We were soon given keys to a simple room. By the time I had freshened up the Swamiji had arrived and after conversing for a while with the pious soul we accompanied him to his Ashram located a few distance away. The night had fallen as walked through the dark streets and the upward climb up the narrow path to the Swamiji's Ashram was quite tough for me. The hyper cheery stream of advices emanating from Jayan was not helping either as I was putting all me efforts in walking up the path. However the sight that met me at the top made it all worth the while.
For several years I had been looking forward to the sight of the dark cloudless sky when I can see all the stars in the sky. For years I had been lusting to see a night sky unhampered by ambient lights and pollution. This was the closest I had ever reached to that dream. Leaving Jayan to socialize with the Swamis, amongst whom I did feel an odd man out anyway, I just relaxed staring into the sky. After a while we hurried back to the Kailas Ashram in time for the dinner.
The dinner at the ashram was a serene affair, we visitors were offered plates made of leaves and we dined on a simple but delicious meal of Chappattis, Rice, Dal and Sabji. However the highlight of the meal was when one of the senior Swamis of the Ashram distributed 10 Rupees notes to all the other inmates and the visitors. It was apparently some donations he had received on the day. It was after the dinner that we made our acquaintance with two other Malayalee travellers staying at the Ashram, two Vedic Scholars from Panjal, Kerala who were on their annual pilgrimage to the Himalayas. We spent several enjoyable hours discussing on various topics until aware of the lateness of the hour we bid them adieu and returned to the room. The next day we were to travel to Gangotri, the second highlight of the journey. If luck favored us we also hoped to make a trek to Gaumukh, the glacial source of River Ganga.
So as our bus creaked its way into the town of Srinagar at evening it was a very edgy me who Srinagar welcomed. To make things worse, our heavier bags which we had stowed in the rear luggage compartment had acquired a uniform color of white caked all over it from the tonnes of dust that the bus drove through. The only potential respite for me was the comfortable room awaiting us at the local GMVNL guest house. After checking out the two cheapest classes of rooms available, costing Rs. 400 and Rs. 800 per day, I finally chose the more expensive one, as after the excruciating ride I did not want to compromise on comfort at all. My fellow traveller however seemed displeased at the selection of the more expensive room, but at that stage, at that time I could not be out-insisted by even Odin himself.
A leisurely shower and feeling considerably much alive we rested for the night after I had made due enquiries as to the first bus to Uttarkashi, our destination for the next day. Informed about a bus being there at 0630 and 0700 in the morning, I assisted by a bellhop from the guesthouse went out and made two reservations for the earlier bus itself.
The next morning we arrived at the bus stop in time to find that the bus was filled to the packing. There were however the rear most seats vacant and ignoring the conductors remonstrations of keeping the luggage in cargo hold, we made ourselves comfortable or as much as we could do in the confined seats of yet another Garhwal bus. This time however I opted out of the window and aisle seats and instead sat at the very middle seat which had no handlebars and whose legspace was the very length of the bus itself. Though the bus ride would be quite jerky as ever and a slighter proportioned person may find himself propelled to the front of the bus every few jerks and sudden brakes, I trusted on my girth to provide the adequate braking power for my frame in case any such incidents occurred, a reasonable observation as I figured in due time as the bus became a virtual pinball machine for me.The journey around the Tehri Dam was quite picturesque and traffic was much less than the roads till now.
Roads in Uttarakhand are no child's play and the best of roads here would make any Kochiite proud of his home roads, but past Dharasu, the road to Uttarkashi was one of the scariest roads I have ever gone through in my life. Truth be said there was no road per se, but some trails the vehicles and bulldozers have cut through the unstable mountain sides pretty much like how the mountain goats pick their way through. And of course the pinball sensation was on an altogether new level!
As a passionate biker, I have a habit of evaluating all the roads I travel through on how I would ride through them myself and truth be said, I was scared out of my wits at the prospect of riding these roads. The vehicles plying these roads have at least four tyres of whom at least three would be having contact with ground. Alternately getting scared and rebuking myself for getting scared, a ray of relief passed over me as I watched a group of Bulleteers riding past. Then I saw a local riding a scooter and then I totally felt relief. If the roads are ridable, then definitely I would be able to ride. Then I spent my time until Gangotri enjoying the immensely beautiful vistas of the land.
Reaching Gangotri in the evening I was too exhausted to have any idea about how to lug my heavy luggage to the Kailas Ashram, where we were supposed to be staying. Thankfully my fellow traveller, Jayan, exhibited one of his rare acts of initiative and procured the services of a jeep to drop us at the Ashram. So we had to fork out Rs. 100 apiece but that is a small price to pay for this luxury and soon we were dropped at the front of the Kailas Ashram located near the banks of the swift flowing Ganga River. We had agreed upon that Uttarkashi is Jayan's turf, as this was where his guru Hari Om Swamiji stayed and our accommodation at Kailas Ashram was also arranged at his behest. We were soon given keys to a simple room. By the time I had freshened up the Swamiji had arrived and after conversing for a while with the pious soul we accompanied him to his Ashram located a few distance away. The night had fallen as walked through the dark streets and the upward climb up the narrow path to the Swamiji's Ashram was quite tough for me. The hyper cheery stream of advices emanating from Jayan was not helping either as I was putting all me efforts in walking up the path. However the sight that met me at the top made it all worth the while.
For several years I had been looking forward to the sight of the dark cloudless sky when I can see all the stars in the sky. For years I had been lusting to see a night sky unhampered by ambient lights and pollution. This was the closest I had ever reached to that dream. Leaving Jayan to socialize with the Swamis, amongst whom I did feel an odd man out anyway, I just relaxed staring into the sky. After a while we hurried back to the Kailas Ashram in time for the dinner.
The dinner at the ashram was a serene affair, we visitors were offered plates made of leaves and we dined on a simple but delicious meal of Chappattis, Rice, Dal and Sabji. However the highlight of the meal was when one of the senior Swamis of the Ashram distributed 10 Rupees notes to all the other inmates and the visitors. It was apparently some donations he had received on the day. It was after the dinner that we made our acquaintance with two other Malayalee travellers staying at the Ashram, two Vedic Scholars from Panjal, Kerala who were on their annual pilgrimage to the Himalayas. We spent several enjoyable hours discussing on various topics until aware of the lateness of the hour we bid them adieu and returned to the room. The next day we were to travel to Gangotri, the second highlight of the journey. If luck favored us we also hoped to make a trek to Gaumukh, the glacial source of River Ganga.
2 comments:
Did anyone tell you that your writing has a typical R K Narayan style? I am loving it, it has a nice descriptive and human touch in it!
I guess you did not make any prior bookings in the GMVN hotels? Weren't they crowded, it being the peak pilgrim season? Despite the "advance" booking, you were not assured seats in the Srinagar-Uttarkashi bus?
Thanks a lot, Sir! I called the GMVNL guest house in Srinagar while I was in Badrinath and they had assured me that rooms were available and as per GMVNL website, we went after the peak pilgrim season, after Dussehra, :D
We got seats in the Srinagar-Uttarkashi bus, it was just that it was at the back, :) It turned out to be just as good as I could stretch my legs properly, :)
If I had come to the stop say, 15-20 minutes earlier I might have got the seats of choice.
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