Source of Ganges Trek 02 to 14 Oct 2022
Video: https://youtu.be/f7ihKJG5hLA
Report by Jayesh Joshi and Satish Shah
Tue 4th October –
Staying at Dhareli 2620m. Town surrounded by apple orchards in full fruit season. A nice 5km walk to Saat Tal in Dharali, meaning 7 lakes but 6 of these are now dried out due to landslides. Altitude of 2975mtrs.
Wed 5th October – A walk in Gartang Gali an ancient trade route from Tibet built in 17th century. This part of the route was made of wooden steps along the side of a cliff with the Judh Ganga flowing at the bottom of the ravine. The government closed it off in 1962 during the Indo China war. In 2021 part of the route was reconstructed and reopened for tourists. This walk is about 7km and of which the wooden stairs are 136 meters. Altitude: 3250m. There were lots of local flora and fauna. Then we attended the evening Ganga aarti at Gangotri.
Thu 6th October – We performed our group morning Ganga pooja and then set off on another trek to the Pandav Gufa (cave), visiting the Surya Kund where the Ganga gushes through a very narrow gorge. Thereafter we visited Swami Sukhananda’s Ashram and museum on the way. We learnt that he was first a mountaineer who then decided to change his lifestyle and became a swami. Walk 8km.
From 7th-10th October – he Gangotri National Park had been closed due to severe and unsafe weather conditions. Thus, the trek to Gaumukh and beyond had to be abandoned. Alternatively, we walked 10km following the Rudugaira river through a very strenuous yet beautiful and enjoyable walk.
Sunday 9th October:
We took the road and moved to Dayara Bugyal where we stayed 3 nights in this mezmerizing agricultural village of Barsu at an altitude of 2200m. Walked 10km to the higher meadows.
The Next day, we completed a trek ascending an altitude of 920m to 3120m, however, the weather took a harsh turn again with hail stones and we had to turn around. On the way the scenery was breathtaking, and we saw plenty of beautiful Himalayan vultures, lots of butterflies and birds. We also came across a group of beautiful Langur monkeys feeding on wild chestnuts.
From our veranda we could see many mountains- The Srikanth 6100m, Rudugaria 5800m, Gangotri 1(there are 3 of these mountains), Jaonli 6632m and Draupadi 5900m.
Dayara Bugyal is a fantastic trekking experience for all. It is a hidden gem!
Wed 12th October – We travelled to Uttarkashi.
Thu 13th October – we travelled to Haridwar. In the evening a few of us had a dip in River Ganga followed by the famous evening Ganga Aarti.
Fri 14th October – Travel to Delhi and onward to our flights back home in the UK.
All 15 of us enjoyed the trip following the Ganga River, meeting so many people, visiting many temples and not to mention fresh mountain air. A spiritual walking journey.
CTA Trek: Charity Through Adventure, raising funds for Sewa UK to a build school for physically challenged children. Thank you for your donation. Every £ raised will bring a smile to the often-neglected part of the community.
FUNDS raised to date £9,616
Participants 15:
Satish & Nimu Shah, Bradford
Ramnik & Asha Tosar, Milton Keynes
Rohit and Saku Sudra, London
Bharat & Jaya Limbachia, Manchester
Jayesh & Dipti Joshi, Ashton
Balwant & Navin Mistry, Rugby
Hridesh Gupta, Huddersfield
Bimal Gandhi, London
Kishor Mistry, New Zealand
