Towards Gangotri - Chardham yatra

Towards Gangotri

Having rested in the GMVN tourist bunglow at Barkot for the night and being fully refereshed both by the hospitality extended and excellent food provided by Sh. K.S. Rawat incharge of the tourist bunglow and coupled with the pleasant environ & climateof Barkot, we started for Bhaironghati enroute to Gangotri at around 9.00 A.M. The distance to be covered was approximately 180 Kms. The view of Barkot during morning was breathtaking -

Barkot morning view from GMVN tourist bunglow -

View of Bandarpoonch range from Barkot -

Having left Barkot behind, we reached Dharasu bend the moved towards Uttarkashi which is almost 26 Kms. from Dharasu bend. Having decided not to come back to Chinyalisaur we booked rooms in Uttarkashi. Beyond Uttarkashi we went past the Maneri dam -

Maneri dam accross Bhagirathi beyond Uttarkashi

which is another 26 Kms beyond Uttarkashi and thereafter we headed into really rough patch of road and the access was further impeded due to construction work of the Loharinag Pala Hydroelectric Project which was in progress enroute -

Loharinag Pala Hydroelectirc Project enroute to Gangotri -

After a tortorous two hours journey we reached the hot water springs of Gagnani which is reverened by Hindus and although a pretty small spot but many vehicles stop here for light refreshments as well as visit to the famed hot water springs -

View of Gagnani temple above the Hot water springs -

Beyond Gagnani, the road at some stretches is really bad and slows down the vehicles immesely both because of its bad texture as well as width with narrow gorge below -

See the deep gorge below and the way bus is negotiating the curve -

Having passed this horrendous stretch of road, we suddenly came upon properly metalled road with a stupendous view of river valley below just ahead of Harsil. The place had a mesmerising effect on all of us -

Nearing Harsil -

Having phtographed the river from the bridge, we started onward journey towards Harsil which is another famed location. Having passed Dharali, the staging point for treking to Sat-tal we reached the enchanting valley of Harsil and were totally elated with the view-

View of the Harsil Valley -

Another view of Harsil -

Picture post-card like Harsil -

GMVN has tourist camp in this valley and there are other smallerhotels also at Harsil. Having spent some time at Harsil we started towards Bhaironghati our halting place for the night. Just before one reaches Bhaironghati there is bridge below which flows the 'Jat Ganga', the river gorge below is picture perfect but photography in this particular spot is strictly prohibited. We reached Bhaironghat at around 4.30 P.M and famished as we were, the outsourced canteen of GMVN tourist bunglow refused to serve any food and we had to seek out and eat only 'Magi Noodles' available at road side stalls. Another interesting feature of the GMVN tourist bunglow at Bhaironghati is that it is not electrified and the generator runs from 7.30 P.M. to 11.00 P.M. and thereafter, every room is provided with a kerosene lantern for the night which was a first time & somewhat thrilling adventure for my two small ones -

Bhairon Mandir at Bhaironghati -

Evening view of the sky from Bhaironghati -

The journey to Gangotri commenced the next day and shall be narrated in the next part of the series.