Chota Char Dham Yatra.. A Drive into Uttarakhand Day 2

23rd. September 2012 Day 2

Rishikesh to Janki Chatti by car. 

Janki Chatti to Yamunotri and back Trek/Pony.

It was to be an early morning start, so that we could reach our destination, i.e. Yamunotri and complete the trek today itself before nightfall. Towards that end departure was scheduled at 5:30am from Rishikesh. But by the time the team could gather and get ready to leave, we were late by around half an hour. 

Convoy lining up, getting ready to leave for the day..

BM having spent this childhood in Dehradun was given the responsibility of leading the convoy from Rishikesh to Dehradun. We were just going to pass through Dehradun Town and just refuel on the way.

Reached Dehradun at around 7:15am and stopped at a Petrol Pump to refuel. While the cars were getting refueled, some of the more enterprising Team Members located a "Chaiwalla" and teas were ordered for all. 

Some very happy faces at the "Chaiwalla"

 Don't go by the look on his face, he is actually Very Happy! 

After spending nearly 45 minutes refuelling both the cars and ourselves we moved on ahead and reached the start of Mussoorie by around 8:30am, and waited for nearly 20 mins for the rest of the convoy to catch up!

Drove through Mussoorie as soon as all the cars had reached and proceeded straight to Kempty Falls for a Breakfast/ Brunch Halt, reaching there by around 9:45am. 

Kempty Falls in the distance

The Breakfast/ brunch was divided between two restaurants so that we could be served faster! Piping hot Parathas was what mostly everyone had. 

The rides outside the restaurants @ Kempty Falls.

Finally moved on from Kempty Falls at around 11:00am after spending nearly an hour. We were now truly in the mountains, with the roads twisting and turning and rising all the while, with the mountains on one side and the valley and river on the other. Every bend, every turn, every metre ahead was a photographers delight. Alas we could not be stopping every 5 mins! 

We reached Naugaon at around 1:25pm and topped up fuel in all the cars. Reached Barkot by around 2:00pm. The road branches off here, one going towards Yamunotri and the other going to Uttarkashi and onwards to Gangotri. We would be coming back to this point tomorrow on our return from Yamunotri.

Reached Syana Chatti at around 3:30pm and entered all the details of the cars and the passengers at the Police Check Post. Reached and crossed Rana Chatti at around 3:40pm only to be greeted by a huge line of parked vehicles, mainly Tourist Jeep Taxis , Tempo Travellers and a few Buses. Reason was that a section of the road ahead, had been washed away due to torrential rains and landslides last month. Today was the first day, they were allowing vehicles to pass after a part of the road was rebuilt. Unfortunately for us they were only allowing vehicles from the Janki Chatti side, going to Rana Chatti and onwards to pass. On making further enquiries, we were told that all the vehicles that were going through had been stuck on the other side for the past 45 days! 

KSM-Vtec, SS, doctorque, VB and me decided to take the Bolero through and we did so, and crossed most of the damaged part, only to be stopped in our tracks by a truck, which was stuck in the middle of the road. The road being narrow, there was no way that we could have passed the truck from either side. And this was one of the vehicles which had come to repair the damaged road. A JCB finally managed to push out the truck from the quagmire and the next moment he was heading towards the Bolero, all horns blaring, lights flashing! With no other alternative, I had to head back to where all the other vehicles were parked, only problem being that I had to do the whole heading back in reverse as there was no place whatsoever to turn the vehicle. 

Thankfully KSM-Vtec and his trusted Walkie Talkie saved the day and I just followed his instructions to the 'T' and managed to backtrack, without any incident. In the meantime the Ritz, Indica Vista and the Punto had already reached the spot.  A quick discussion and it was decided that we wouldn't risk taking the cars all the way to Janki Chatti (especially the hatches and the sedan). akaush, his parents & PC after parking the Ritz on the side of the road, decided to cross the damaged portion of the road by foot, cross over to the other side which was a few meters away from Hanuman Chatti and then hire a Jeep Taxi to go to Janki Chatti.

The others decided to head back to Rana Chatti, hire a room in a hotel, dump everybody's luggage in the room after taking essentials for the night stay and then head to Janki Chatti by Jeep Taxi. By the time we managed to get all this sorted out it was nearly 5:30pm. So the plan of completing The Yamunotri Darshan today was out and could only be done the next day!

Luckily for us there was a Tempo Traveller parked right outside the hotel and he agreed to drop us off till the washed out road. 

So the whole team got into the Tempo Traveller!

It was nearly 7:40pm when we reached Janki Chatti, after some sections of very bad roads. Not that our cars wouldn't have made it, but the progress would have been real slow. In hindsight, it was a good decision I think! 

The Mahindra Maxx's did a wonderful job of ferrying us to Janki Chatti from Hanuman Chatti, and they did so effortlessly! Wouldn't have been able to say the same about our cars!

akaush had managed to procure accommodation for the night for the whole team. 

The team at Janki Chatti heading to the hotel.

He had also arranged for 

dinner at a local restaurant/ dhaba.

The dinner was a simple affair of Dal, Sabji, Roti and Chawal, but was very delicious. During dinner we discussed the next days plan, now that we had slipped on our schedule of completing the Trek/ Ride to Yamunotri and back. Finally decided to leave very early in the morning, 4:00am for those who wished to trek and 5:00am for those riding up to Yamunotri. 

Managed to get to get ponies arranged for the next day, with a promise that they would be at the Hotel and ready to leave at 5:00am sharp! Returned back to the hotel and akaush, KSM-Vtec and me promptly went to arrange for the next mornings tea before we left for the trek and for breakfast after we got back from  Yamunotri! The manager refused to budge on the pricing for the parathas, maybe cos we had our dinner in a different restaurant, rather than at his! After finalising the pricing and the quantity, it was time we hit the sack!  Early start tomorrow and especially for those who had to trek up to Yamunotri.

It was 11:00pm by the time everyone retired for the night!

to be continued...... 

Chota Char Dham Yatra.. A Drive into Uttarakhand Day 1

22nd. September 2012

We reached the DND flyover meeting point at  exactly 11:30 am., after driving for 22.5 hours and covering a distance of  1,619 kms. 

SS, laluks, PC, akaush & his Parents, AS, VK & NS, were already present there. Had a very quick reunion with the IPHE team members present there and introductions to the new team members. We waited  for some time, for the other cars and team members to arrive, with the Bolero engine running all the while. Already running short on fuel, what with the engine running continuously since morning, we decided to move ahead, refuel, find an electrical mechanic to get the problem sorted out!  

So we bundled SS and  his luggage into the Bolero, we left before the others arrived! akaush was kind enough to lead the way through the maze that is New Delhi! A quick refuelling stop at Indraprastha service Station. After refuelling we moved towards the Haridwar and somewhere near Shahdara, we stopped at an Amaron Battery Sales and Service outlet. I'm pretty sure that there is someone looking out for us from up  Above, cos the Bolero engine decided to give up its fight and died down right in front of the shop! Luckily, there was an electrician available nearby and after checking, it was found that one of the parts of the Alternator had gone bust and needed to be replaced. Got the part replaced and also took a spare, just in case. Was asked by the mechanic to keep the engine running for atleast 15 mins, before we started again, so that the Battery could get charged again! 

While the mechanic was attending to the car, the rest of the cars and the team reached Shahdara and we asked them to continue ahead towards Haridwar and we would catch up with them. Finally we left Shahdara at around 2:00 pm. The rest of the team of the team had moved on ahead and had stopped a little after the Mahliyana Toll Plaza on the Delhi-Haridwar Highway NH58. We caught up with them by around 3:40pm. Finally the whole team was together for the first time. After quick introductions with the new members of the team, we moved on towards Haridwar. Actually it was a dash to Haridwar, through some horrible traffic and under construction roads. The unruly/ speeding State Transports Bus drivers and numerous taxis made matters worse. 

Managed to reach Haridwar by around 6:00 pm., found parking and rushed to have a -

Darshan of the Ganga Aarti from Har Ki Pauri. 

Some photos taken by doctorque and KSM-Vtec.

The Team spent more than 2 hours on the banks of the Ganga, with a few of the members taking a dip in the fast flowing and cold waters of the Ganga! On enquiring with the GMVN Tourist Rest House in Haridwar for accommodation for the night, we were informed that they wouldn't be able to accommodate the whole team. A call to the GMVN Rishilok TRH at Rishikesh and they were more than happy to provide us with rooms and more importantly dinner! It was a short drive of around 32 kms. 

akaush and his parents were the first to leave from Haridwar, to make sure that the kitchen remains open and dinner & rooms are available for the team. The last of the cars made it to the Rishilok TRH by around 10:00pm. Everyone dumped their baggage into the rooms and gathered in the restaurant for dinner. Dinner was a simple affair of Mixed Vegetables, Dal Fry, Roti, Rice, Salad. 

The next days drive plan was briefly discussed with the team, and departure was scheduled for 5:30am. Having driven continuously from Bombay for 1,885kms., KSM-Vtec and me were really tired and needed to get some much needed sleep and I guess so did the others! 

to be continued.......