Gaumukh

Thursday July 10^th – Wednesday July 16^th

We spent the morning before heading north, trying to figure out train tickets for me and my parents who are coming on the 25^th. After being mostly successful at that, we headed to the bus station and got on the first bus that was headed to Uttarkashi, a city that seems to exist only as the halfway point Rishikesh and Gangotri. We had the very back row of the bus and things were pretty comfortable until other people started hopping on. These government buses take the same routes each day so as they pass between the many small towns along the main road up to Uttarkashi people will hop on and off, not usually taking a seat. At one point, a woman with two children got on the bus and headed toward the back. A man in the row in front of us gave up his seat, rightfully, but then just pushed his way into sitting in the back row which was already crowded. The woman sat down in the seat, gave one child to the perfect stranger on her right and then promptly fell asleep while holding the younger one. I felt like all around it was a very Indian experience for two reasons. The first being that this woman was willing to trust a complete stranger with her child, even so much as to fall asleep. My hypothesis is, however, that she is actually trusting the bus full of people to make sure that this stranger is treating her child as he would his own, everyone is kind of involved in everything. The second aspect was the man working his way into sitting on the overcrowded bench. Everyone shifted without a word, and even though everyone was very uncomfortable, no one said anything to the man. People have really learned to accommodate one another here.

The bus ride itself covered about 160 km and took 6 hours and I was terrified almost the whole time. The road that we followed was mostly paved but only wide enough to allow one car to pass at a time even though there were cars going both ways. When we would meet another car or bus on the narrow road, one or the other would pull off to the side momentarily to let the other pass. There did not seem to be too much reason as to which vehicle pulled over but it always seemed to work out.

Last year there was an especially bad monsoon season and it apparently knocked out a lot of the roads that head up into the mountains. We saw a lot of the destruction on the way up and not all of it had been fixed. There were sections of the paved road that had been destroyed by landslides and had just been smoothed out into gravel roads. Much of the road did no have guard rails because they either had been destroyed in years past or never put in to begin with. Still we climbed higher and higher.

We eventually got to a point in the mountains where the foliage changed from the jungled and the terraced hillsides to something that looked a little more like the high sierras or even the cascades in spots. There were pine trees and the air was much dryer. It was a familiar and comforting change from the dense jungle further down.

We got to Uttarkashi a little past five and made it up to this place called the Monal Guest house which was run by a tall, balding, and energetic Indian man who gave us a good deal on a nice double room. The guest house was right near the permit office that issued the permits we needed to get to Gaumukh. We rushed over there but found that they were already closed for the day and didn't open until 10 am the next morning. We decided to just spend the rest of the day relaxing and would return in the morning.

The next day we got the permits without too much Indian Government bureaucracy (it took a long time but they didn't make us jump through any hoops). But by the time we were done there were no more buses heading up to Gangotri, which is the starting point for the trail. Instead, we were able to catch a shared Jeep.

When it comes to private transportation in India, there is no such thing as get in and go. Even though we thought we filled out the car (who knows how long the others were waiting) we still had to wait a good ten, very hot, minutes at the stop before we drove to another random parking lot and waited for 20 minutes while the driver walked around and talked to people, seeming to just be socializing while his car was full of customers. Leslie and I were in the back of the car which means we were in the side facing benches. The benches, I think, were built to seat four people, two on each side, and that was how many people we had while we were waiting. Feeling pretty comfortable in the back we were ready to get going but we didn't realize that our driver was arranging two more people to get with us. Leslie and I were sitting across from each other and the first guy to get on was small and smelled of cigarettes and sat on my side of the bench. He started talking loudly and incessantly to the man on the other side of me so I was sandwiched between a very loud one-sided conversation. The driver started going and we thought that at least Leslie had lucked out. Sadly she did not. Only 5 minutes after we began, the taxi pulled over, the back opened, and an extremely large man squished his way into the seat next to Leslie.

The fat man was dressed in all salmon robes and had white hair that blended seamlessly into his white beard. He was probably about 6 feet tall and almost 300 pounds. The first time that Leslie readjusted herself uncomfortably, he let out a deep laugh and stated, truly, “I am very fat. And she, she is very skinny”. The man's name was Raj Drisha (Or something similar) and he turned out to be an asset on the ride. He spoke pretty good English and asked us a little about who we are. He especially liked my name and would just repeat it to himself occasionally.

As we were driving up this portion of the road, just as steep and unkempt as the last, we started seeing groups of people in all orange walking down. All of them had these containers strapped to their chests and many of them carried staffs and nothing else. Raj told us that they were Hindus who had gotten water from Gangotri or Gaumukh (which was what was in the containers) and were now walking all the way to Rishikesh, Delhi or even as far as Jaipur to use that water as an offering to Shiva. As I was starting to wonder where these people were getting food and water for a journey of many hundreds of miles, our jeep slowed as a Sadhu dressed in all red and pink stood in front of us, shouting in Hindi. The driver turned the jeep but the man kept himself in front, insisting on something. Everyone was laughing and eventually we all got out of the Jeep and Raj told us to follow him. It turned out that we had stopped at some sort of Hindu station that was making food and snacks for the people walking down and the man was insisting we stop to eat something. We got rice and dahl and some sweets before hopping back in the jeep to continue. It was very strange but also very please to be given food by this group of people.

A messed up panorama of the view from one of our stops on the way to Gangotri

We got to Gangotri in the afternoon and immediately checked into a small guesthouse. Gangotri is a very holy Hindu place and is the town that lies furthest up river along the Ganges, only 18 Km from the source. It has a very sacred temple and that lies at the northernmost point of the city and we were able to see a small devotional ceremony taking place.

Statues of some Hindu gods and some ceremony happening

 We had dinner and then went on the task of finding supplies for our three day backpacking trip. We found a couple bags of a mixture of things similar to trail mix. We also got some peanut butter and cookies and then when we found some kerosene for the stove, we splurged on some instant noodles. Thinking we probably didn't have enough food but figuring we would be fine, we found a place by the raging river to sit an eat. Leslie ordered two masala dosas while I tried to order 8 vegetarian momos (dumplings) There was a miscommunication, however and they brought out about 36 and were still making more and bringing them out when we had to stop them. It was in the middle of that massive dinner and especially once we got back to our room that I first started to feel sick.

View of the river from the restaurant where we had dinner

Gangotri from the trail

At first, the symptoms were similar to that of a fever. I felt irrationally cold and couldn't control my body temperature. I bundled up and tried to sleep but it was difficult since I was also feeling very nauseous and new that I would have to wake up at 4am the next morning to get started on our treck. Eventually I got a little sleep and woke the next morning to back up, also to find out that now Leslie wasn't feeling well either. We both felt that we should still try to do the hike since we had paid for a permit and were already awake. The going was slow at first. It was dark and we were winded by every step. We thought that we might be one of only a few people on the trail but it turned out that we were very wrong.

We started passing people going the opposite way (back down to Gangotri) and I was wondering where they had come from and if they had been walking all night. And then, 2Km from the start, we came across a big temple that was filled with people. We immediately got handed prasad (a food offering from the gods given at Hindu temples) but we were far from hungry. After we battled our way through the hordes of people and got our permits checked by the border patrol we headed off on the 12 km trail towards the glacier.

From the beginning both Leslie and I were moving slowly, we both had packs that were full of things we needed to travel but that weren't ideally light when it comes to backpacking. Because of our early start and slow progress, we were getting passed by large groups of people almost the whole time. Apparently we were far enough off the beaten tourist track that it was quite the surprise for many of the people on the trail to see two white people with big packs, walking up to one of the holiest of Hindu places. Because of that novelty and since everyone on the trail was male we often got surrounded by big packs of people all trying to talk to us and take pictures of/with us. It was funny at first but once we realized this would follow us all the way to the glacier it got very annoying and even aggressive at times. We would be walking and realize someone was walking close behind us and then pull over to let them by. That person would usually stop also and look off into the distance like he wasn't stopping for us. As soon as we would start walking he would start again.

It was so strange. It was like everyone wanted to be near us or a part of our walk in some way but had no idea how to behave around white people and often chose the most obnoxious methods. Most people wouldn't even try to ask before whipping out their phones to take pictures or even videotape us, it was like we were the subjects of some strange nature show.

Leslie killing it

Since we were getting so many pictures taken, I figured I would get one on my phone

View of the guest house. A welcome sight

The further we got down the trail, the more exhausted I felt. As Leslie said, the hike wasn't just physically challenging (it was) but also emotionally draining dealing with all of the people on the trail. In the last kilometer we stopped every hundred meters or so to take a break and after about 6 hours of walking, we finally made it to the guest house that sits 4 km from the glacier. We checked in and were the only ones at the tent. Most people do the whole hike in a single day so that they don't have to carry any supplies which was a big relief since we fully expected to be surrounded by more prying eyes. We found out here that the tents were at about 12000 feet and we had started around 9000 so it wasn't too much of a surprise we were feeling sick.

Feeling sick

Once we got into our beds, we really crashed. I slept for three hours and woke up feeling worse than before, and with absolutely no appetite. We both stayed in bed for the rest of the day and didn't really eat anything. The next day we spent most of it in bed also, still not feeling up for walking. Eventually, in the afternoon, I mustered to strength to walk the 4 km to Gaumukh. I figured we had made it so close that we should finish the hike out. Leslie was feeling a little bit better than I was so she led the charge and me made it all the way to the glacier and back.

The Glacier!

Some animals

Some beautiful Mountain views

By the time we got back I we both felt terrible again because it is apparently a really bad idea to keep exercising while you have altitude sickness. We managed to cook and eat some instant noodles that night and then slept fitfully, trying to get some strength for the 14 km hike back that we had to do the next morning.

The next morning, Leslie was a champ and was feeling quite a bit better. Unfortunately, I still felt like shit so it took me a while to get packed up and out. I decided to leave some stuff behind to lighten the load (all the food I brought, my pot, a book, sunscreen, etc) things that I didn't need and weren't too valuable. We started on the trail and as expected, it was extremely slow going. Fortunately, we were now going against the flow of traffic and it was either that fact or the look of extreme discontent on our faces that caused people to stop harassing us so much. Anyone who spoke to me I would either ignore or wave along down the trail. It didn't feel good to literally be angry at every person I walked by but it was my defense mechanism and it was working.

At one point we walked by two interesting looking fellows, but given my state my notice of them was cursory and suspicious as it was with everyone. We walked by them once, and they could obviously tell we were struggling. On our next break, they came by and offered us a handful of some plant that they picked off the side of the trail. One of them men was dressed as a sadhu (full beard, salmon robe, casual antler horn) and named Chetania but went by “baba” or “Guruji” and the other looked like he was upper middle class and spoke proficient English (usually a sign of higher education) and was named Rahul. They claimed that if you inhale through the plant that it helps get you oxygen. It sounded like bullshit to me but I tried it and the plant smelled very fragrant and at very least reminded me to take long deep inhales.

After that point, our two friends took it as their responsibility to see us safely back to Gangotri. They gave words of encouragement when needed but then got out of our way when we just needed to trudge. They had obviously dealt with westerners before and it felt more comfortable to be around them than it had for any other people on the trail. When we would stop, other guys would still be interested and would come join us but this time they took their cues from Rahul and Guruji and did not bother us much. They also had a guide with them who was carrying their smaller backpacks. About halfway through the trek they offered to have the porter carry my pack and I would carry one of theirs. The pack I got was way lighter and made all the difference for the rest of the hike.

Us with Guruji and the porter sitting behind

The porter pointing out his house from the trail

After about 6 hours we finally made it back to the temple, got some more prasad and then finally made it back to Gangotri. We got a place in the same hotel as Rahul and Guruji and I promptly passed out. The next morning we had tea with the two of them and one of their friends who had not stopped to baby us back. What I found out at this tea (and what Leslie had found out the night before at dinner) was that these three are actually kind of like religious zealots who follow Guruji around. They actually quoted the made up fact that we use only a few percent of our brain power but that Guruji, when he is meditating, uses all 100% of his and can leave his body and travel around the world. Each night Guruji will get revelations or visions or something that will tell the three of them where to go next and what to do. They think that they are at the beginning of some global awakening and reconciliation of all the people in the world. Guruji even said that he had a vision that he was going to meet a girl at Gaumukh and name her Gorrey (the wife of Shiva) which is the nickname he gave Leslie on the hike back. They told us that once they have a bigger following and more money, they will fly us out to india again to hang out some more. I'm not holding my breadth. Oh, and I forgot to mention that Rahul and Guruji smoke weed nine times a day, every day, to “stimulate the neural activity” in their brains. It was strange to see otherwise intelligent and kind-hearted individuals be so freaking crazy.

The crew minus Rahul who is taking the picture

Their assistance did not stop with the tea, however. They helped us work out a new plan to go to Jaipur instead of the high-altitude city of Leh (can you guess why we didn't want to go their?) and recommended a good hotel for us to stay at. Rahul also helped us find a good bus to take us down from Gangotri that morning. Around 9 am we parted ways with assurances from Guruji that we would meet again and then headed onto the bus.

There had been landslides the night before so it was slow going down out of the mountains and it took us a full two days to reach Rishikesh once again but we were oh so glad to be back.

Landslide view from the bus