The land of sages beckons

sudev · 17th July 2009, 07:09

Lovely. Waiting for more. This is one of things to be done before I die!

Could you PM me the travel agency details? Posting directly might be another infraction 8-(

amip · 17th July 2009, 14:18

This looks great - waiting for more details..

prince_pervez · 17th July 2009, 14:21

Beautiful pictures. Great location. Keep em coming!

rupinder · 19th July 2009, 11:37

16 th may

woke up .had some breakfast of cornflakes. the team packed everything and got ready to move. since our last night was also going to be in chirbasa so it was planned to lighten the load of porters .we kept the food for the last night and kerosene at the camp site and started the trek .now the porters were light and they were keeping up with us .the plan today was to start from chirbasa and reach tapovan in one day covering bhojbasa and gaumukh.

reached bhobasa in no time .bhojbasa has lal baba ashram and also the rest house.but ours was a camping and trekking trip so had avoided all such places. bhojbasa is about 5 km from chirbasa and then we started for gaumukh. although govt rules state that u should keep 500 m from gaumukh but people generally go up till there but because of the permit the traffic is less and mostly u see foreign trekker . at the gaumukh we took dip in the chilling water of ganga singing 'ram teri ganga meli ho gayi doctoron ke paap dhote dhote'.

after a brief stop we started for tapovan now the difficult part started ,it was all rocks which were over the glacier. after crossing the rocks came the most ardous part .there is hill to be climbed the distance is about 600m but it is almost vertical and a stream has to crossed midway. we started the climb and had to reat every 50 m or so cos of the breathlessness. my bro inlaw also injurred his knee ligaments and he was hobbling .the guide slowed and remained with him. somehow we reached top.and saw the plateau that is tapovan with amarganga flowing .tapovan is at the base of shivling mountain. the team put up the tents . then we got soup and dinner. night was very cold and we could feel the cold on our heads which were outside of the sleeping bags.

took lot of pics .hope u like them

rupinder · 19th July 2009, 12:05

some more pics of
temple at Gaumukh ,gaumukh, the vertical ascent and tapovan .the single peak is shivling peak and the trio are the three bhagirathi's

vijaythacker · 19th July 2009, 13:37

wow rupinder, fantastic trekk reign you went too and pictures are simply outstanding, can you detail the cost of your journey too.thanks.

rupinder · 20th July 2009, 11:59

some pics of our tents in tapovan and the mountain goat baral.

predatorwheelz · 20th July 2009, 12:03

@Rupinder - From whatever I can make out from your pics, sad that the landscape has changed so much in the last 10 years.

In 1999, there was no "Gangotri National Park". Chirbasa was just a couple of tents serving tea and snacks, no tin hut monstrosity. Gaumukh was just a glacier from which emanated a rapid rivulet, no hideous temple.

Most sad is that Tapovan seems far less green than before. I saw a green plain interspersed with rocks and ice. Your pics show a rocky and icey plain with occassional patches of green!

I have a few pics from 99, will try to find them and post them here, if you dont mind. Just for comparisons sake!

rupinder · 25th July 2009, 00:28

17 th may

today we went from tapovan to see kirti glacier, khada pathar and kedar peak.

this was a 4 km trek one side and we were back before lunch. my bro in law who had a sprained knee did,nt trek much .came back to tent listened to music on worldspace and had lunch and rested cos my stomach was not feeling well .after lunch my friend pawan went for further trek near base of meru peak and came back in 3 hours. .

mount shivling with moon in backdrop

rupinder · 25th July 2009, 00:34

deleted cos of double post

rupinder · 25th July 2009, 00:59

pics of kirti glacier and the kedar mountain

17th July 2009, 07:09	#16
sudev Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Gurgaon Posts: 3,838 Thanked: 3,179 Times	Lovely. Waiting for more. This is one of things to be done before I die! Could you PM me the travel agency details? Posting directly might be another infraction 8-(
	() Thanks

17th July 2009, 14:18	#17
amip BHPian Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Toronto Posts: 166 Thanked: Once	This looks great - waiting for more details..
	() Thanks

17th July 2009, 14:21	#18
prince_pervez Senior - BHPian Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Redwood shores, CA, USA Posts: 4,210 Thanked: 51 Times View My Garage	Beautiful pictures. Great location. Keep em coming!
	() Thanks

19th July 2009, 11:37	#19
rupinder BHPian Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: ludhiana Posts: 197 Thanked: 5 Times	16 th may woke up .had some breakfast of cornflakes. the team packed everything and got ready to move. since our last night was also going to be in chirbasa so it was planned to lighten the load of porters .we kept the food for the last night and kerosene at the camp site and started the trek .now the porters were light and they were keeping up with us .the plan today was to start from chirbasa and reach tapovan in one day covering bhojbasa and gaumukh. reached bhobasa in no time .bhojbasa has lal baba ashram and also the rest house.but ours was a camping and trekking trip so had avoided all such places. bhojbasa is about 5 km from chirbasa and then we started for gaumukh. although govt rules state that u should keep 500 m from gaumukh but people generally go up till there but because of the permit the traffic is less and mostly u see foreign trekker . at the gaumukh we took dip in the chilling water of ganga singing 'ram teri ganga meli ho gayi doctoron ke paap dhote dhote'. after a brief stop we started for tapovan now the difficult part started ,it was all rocks which were over the glacier. after crossing the rocks came the most ardous part .there is hill to be climbed the distance is about 600m but it is almost vertical and a stream has to crossed midway. we started the climb and had to reat every 50 m or so cos of the breathlessness. my bro inlaw also injurred his knee ligaments and he was hobbling .the guide slowed and remained with him. somehow we reached top.and saw the plateau that is tapovan with amarganga flowing .tapovan is at the base of shivling mountain. the team put up the tents . then we got soup and dinner. night was very cold and we could feel the cold on our heads which were outside of the sleeping bags. took lot of pics .hope u like them Attached Thumbnails
	() Thanks

19th July 2009, 12:05	#20
rupinder BHPian Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: ludhiana Posts: 197 Thanked: 5 Times	some more pics of temple at Gaumukh ,gaumukh, the vertical ascent and tapovan .the single peak is shivling peak and the trio are the three bhagirathi's Attached Thumbnails Attached Images Last edited by rupinder : 19th July 2009 at 12:11.
	() Thanks

19th July 2009, 13:37	#21
vijaythacker Senior - BHPian Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Ahmedabad Posts: 1,498 Thanked: 74 Times View My Garage	wow rupinder, fantastic trekk reign you went too and pictures are simply outstanding, can you detail the cost of your journey too.thanks.
	() Thanks

20th July 2009, 11:59	#22
rupinder BHPian Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: ludhiana Posts: 197 Thanked: 5 Times	some pics of our tents in tapovan and the mountain goat baral. Attached Thumbnails
	() Thanks

20th July 2009, 12:03	#23
predatorwheelz Senior - BHPian Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Delhi/Kolkata Posts: 1,720 Thanked: 1,980 Times View My Garage	@Rupinder - From whatever I can make out from your pics, sad that the landscape has changed so much in the last 10 years. In 1999, there was no "Gangotri National Park". Chirbasa was just a couple of tents serving tea and snacks, no tin hut monstrosity. Gaumukh was just a glacier from which emanated a rapid rivulet, no hideous temple. Most sad is that Tapovan seems far less green than before. I saw a green plain interspersed with rocks and ice. Your pics show a rocky and icey plain with occassional patches of green! I have a few pics from 99, will try to find them and post them here, if you dont mind. Just for comparisons sake! Last edited by predatorwheelz : 20th July 2009 at 12:04.
	() Thanks

25th July 2009, 00:28	#24
rupinder BHPian Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: ludhiana Posts: 197 Thanked: 5 Times	17 th may today we went from tapovan to see kirti glacier, khada pathar and kedar peak. this was a 4 km trek one side and we were back before lunch. my bro in law who had a sprained knee did,nt trek much .came back to tent listened to music on worldspace and had lunch and rested cos my stomach was not feeling well .after lunch my friend pawan went for further trek near base of meru peak and came back in 3 hours. . mount shivling with moon in backdrop Attached Thumbnails
	() Thanks

25th July 2009, 00:34	#25
rupinder BHPian Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: ludhiana Posts: 197 Thanked: 5 Times	deleted cos of double post Last edited by rupinder : 25th July 2009 at 00:45. Reason: double post
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25th July 2009, 00:59	#26
rupinder BHPian Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: ludhiana Posts: 197 Thanked: 5 Times	pics of kirti glacier and the kedar mountain Attached Thumbnails Attached Images
	() Thanks