5 day RoadTrip to Gangotri

5Days RoadTrip to Gangotri from Delhi
Altitude : 11,000+Feet
Round trip distance : 1100KM.
Duration : 5 days (21 Sep -- 25 Sep)
Team :

1. Pankaj : 180 Dtsi Pulsar
2. Jay : CBZ Xtreme
3. Me : 150 Classic Pulsar

Route: Noida<-->Meerut<-->Muzaffarnagar<-->Haridwar<-->
Rishikesh<-->Tehri<-->Uttarakashi<-->Harsil<-->Gangotri

Day1 : Journey Begins


Got up early by 3AM. Took bath and got fresh. Finished all the packing into my cramsters. Loaded them onto the bike and off i went to the meeting point by 3:45. The meeting point was decided as "Sab Mall" in Atta Mkt of Noida. Within 5 minutes, both Pankaj and Jay had also arrived. Reset the trip meter and off we went towards Ghaziabad-->Meerut NH58 highway road. All three of us knew our strengths and weakness in riding at graveyard shift times. All of us took turns in being the wing rider. Distance were covered in not much of fuss. Finally at the crack of dawn we were out of meerut and took our first break at a small dhaba. Sipping hot chai and seeing the beautiful colours of rising sun was refreshing. Also the air had a very pleasant smell. 15 mins gone and we were back in the saddle belting out kms after kms.

I had apprehensions of the state of roads when Muzzafarnagar came close. The construction has been going on for quite some time. But atleast the side which we were going had been finished so keeping the speed was not much of a difficulty. The odd Jugads which were a common sight in rural india were starting to irritate us.

Entered haridwar at the stroke of 12 with some more breaks in the middle(courtesy sutta breaks for jay). One thing was sure, it was hell negotiating the traffic in haridwar and it was even worse in Rishikesh. We almost took 45 mins to get to Rishikesh from haridwar for a paltry 25 odd km.

By 1 we started our ascent into the hills. The initial climb is impressive to say the least. You climb quite high within the first 30KM. The view just before Narendranagar was fantastic of the plains and Ganga. The roads which had looked good uptil Narendranagar started deteorating pretty fast. We had our first sight of what a landslide does to the roads in the hills just after narendranagar. Half of the section of the road had collapsed and a 500ft drop was staring at us.

Gulped lunch late in the afternoon at a roadside dhaba. Comparing to the number of dhabas you find in Himachal, i think Uttaranchal is sparse in it. You dont find big banners screaming that it is the finesh Vaishno dhaba. Chances are that you wont find any boards either. Lunch is a simple Dal, chawal and roti.














We crossed Chamba in good time and reached New Tehri and our horrors started. We completely missed the turn towards Uttarakashi and instead drove a good 20KM towards the Dam at the bottom and well inside the city itself. Also the views made sure we did not doubt the road we had picked. Only when we reached at the dam did we realise we were in good trouble. It was already half past 4 when we reached near the dam. There were two options

1. Kaccha road 10 KM before which would connect to the main road after circumnavigating the whole dam.
2. Normal road, for which we had to backtrace a good 25KM.

All three of us being very adventurous, we decided the kaccha road. When we came to the entrance of the kachha road, it did not look bad but horrible. There were mini boulders everywhere and the speed had dropped to crawling or walking pace.Still managing with our best of efforts we were trying to maintain close to 20Kmph. Now the ultimate deceit came from the villagers in Tehri. They said that it is not more than 5KM, but it was close to 25Km. The only saving grace is that we got all the angles we wanted to see of the lake and the dam.

It was 6.30 when we reached the normal road and darkness had fallen. Ok now we were in the saddle for more than 15 hours and our bodies were tired like hell. We had to concentrate double as hard on the road. Almost all the turn and curves were ladden with loose gravel and fine sand and you could feel the back wheel stepping outside easily and you cannot bend too much lest you want to loose the front into the sand and wash out.

Surprise.. Surprise... In Uttaranchal, nobody rides at night (Private and public busses, taxi operator.. you name it). It became very clear we were the only three aliens riding for more than hour. The worst part of it is that you see villagers just strolling around on the road all of a sudden and in the darkness it can lead to you having wild imaginations and the eyes of dogs == eyes of some man eaters from a distance. By 8PM we reached a small hamlet called "Kandi saur" and we still had 60KM of rugged terrain to cover to Uttarakashi. We decided to shack up as all three of us were exhausted to core. The hotel (Krishna Residency) was neat and well maintained and had a TV also. The room rent was 400/- a little high but we got a TV and hot water through shower.

Day 2: Atlast in Gangotri



Tiredness ensured that we all got ready by 7 in the morning. Had a good cup of chai and withing 15 min we were again on the road. Till now from Tehri the roads were really not great and apart from the views there was nothing exciting.

Little did we realise that the stretch of 60KM to Uttarakashi will bring a big smile on our faces. The roads were freshly laid, no sand or marbles on the corners and curves and all three were taking curves with liberty. As we neared the city we got the first sight of river Bhagirathi flowing in all glory. We reached Uttarakashi by 12 and had our lunch there in one of the hotels. The roads are very dusty and dirty and it is basically clogged all the time. Topped up the bikes with petrol as we did not know if there would be anymore of them elsewhere in the road (Even Gangotri). Got out of the place and we had another 100Km to go to Gangotri. The initial 20Km really sucks and the traffic is very dense.



Then came the famous stretch which is landslide prone and simply saying you dont see any paved roads for the next 30Km. Any former dirtbikers or avid enthusiasts will love this stretch. Complete with mud, muck, rocks, boulders, fine sand. It will test your and bikes capability to go over the hard stuffs completely. One thing i noticed is that if the air pressure were dropped by a few Psi while going over sand and mud, it enables you to ride much better becuase of the increaded area of tire contact on earth. We were lucky that the traffic was almost nill and still luckier that there were not any rains and the landslides that accompany them. But saying that does not give you free ride, there are atleast 6-7 stream crossings and two of them being very nasty ones. Both of them were wide and had very slippery entry and exit into the stream. Also at the bed of the stream there lay very smooth and loose boulders. There are also stretches of wet muck especially around the mettalic bridges and road construction and clearing areas. You need to be especially careful choosing your lines and you slide at the slightest burst of throttle. The best way i found out was to keep feather light grip on the handle but enough to correct when the front tries to wobble and grip the thigs tightly on the tank to ensure that the back of the bike inline.

Another one of the gems that we came across was a small hamlet called "Sukhi" just before Harsil. After the offroad trip this place sits a top of the hill overlooking harsil city and gives you one of the best 360 degree view. This hamlet also has presence of the army and a small barrack is stationed here. We three were green with the envy of them. Stayed at the place for sometime and then headed down to harsil.

Now again Harsil has an army cantt and a pretty scenic spot on the banks of the Bhagirathi river. We again stopped at this place for a round of chai. We have officially termed ourselves as "Chai ki Tankii". It was getting around 4 when we left harsil and there were still a good 30 odd KM to cover to Gangotri.

Atlast, peace, salvation when we reached Gangotri at around 5.30 (in one piece if i may add).

As it was an off season, there was absolutely no rush except for the last batch of yatri's who wanted to catch the darshan before it began to snow here. Gangotri closes after the "Diwali festivities" are completed. We found a cheap double bed room near the mandir for 150/- per night (Unbelievably cheap). The room was facing the Bhagirathi and the gushing sound is pretty deafening. Now around the temple and the city itself are some towering peaks, Its sad that they were not covered by snow but in their own respect they are huge. After ditching the luggage in the room, we went to the temple and payed our respects. Also we then went to the "Bathing Ghats" and if you hold your hand in the water for more than 30secs, chances are that you will have frost bitten them easily.

Now comes the interesting deal, Although i have said that this was a 5 day roadtrip. Initially we had planned it as a 3 day Road trip. We had miscalculated horrendously bad and it had taken us 2 days to reach here itself. So what next you would be asking? Put leaves on the fly or take them at will... :) was what we decided and hearing about the beauty of "Tapovan and Gaumakh" our hearts got tempted even more and we decided that the next day we will go as far as possible towards
Gaumukh and return by the end of the day back to Gangotri. We were told that Gaumukh is not possible in one day (lest you are a fast walker on the high alititude).

SO then the plan had gone from 3 day to a royal 5 day Roadtrip and considering that one does not have any mobile phone service here, we considered ourselves that this was the blessing in disguise of Ganga ma to us (Or fear that you might receive the pink slip on arrival of office).. :)


Day 3: Drooling Gaumukh trail

The plan was simple on Day3, go as far possible on the Gaumukh trail and suck in the ambience and the beauty. The trail to Gaumukh starts besides the temple complex. The path is an ardous one and it is imperative you have good set of shoes to do this trail. It will be mighty difficult if it were to rain in these trails as there are boulder and stony paths at some areas. We were able to do a roundtrip of 8Km while pankaj was the most eager fellow and did a roundtrip of 13KM. I will let
the pictures do the talking about the trail and remember we did not even get close Gaumukh or Tapovan.. So we can only drool as to how beautiful they will be.

Came back by 5 into the room and all of us were doggedly tired. All 3 of us hit the sack and slept for an hour or two. It was late evening and we had our dinner early to catch some sleep before the journey back to Noida.












































Day 4 & Day 5: Future planning

We left early by 7 and we were pretty much sure that we will staying at the same hotel on Day 1. So we went at an easy pace and took plenty of stops. We purchased apples from the orchards near harsil (Rs 15 per kilo. What a bargain?). Needless to say that this apple tasted awesome to the ones we see at home. By 5PM we were at the same hotel. Put the bags in the room and went out for a round of "Chai", It started raining immediately and what better way to spend the evening sipping chai and having samosa. (Ahh.. the memories are good).


The next day was a routing dash to home. The dash getting better due to rain which kept the temperatures low and gave out a fine mist covered mountain views. Just before Tehri, the mist got really bad and we could not see anthing more than 20meters. Couple of hair rising incidents with rogue taxi drivers and we had managed to get to haridwar by 4.30PM.

Finishing lunch in haridwar, we hit the road by 5.30 and we were comfortably cruising on the highway. The night driving was a bit of pain because of the immense oncoming traffic and the dust. We reached Noida by 10.30, took a photo and parted our ways with a contentment that we had never felt.


But all three of us will agree on one thing if people like you who are thinking about going there.

Read my lips... DONT MISS GAUMUKH & TAPOVAN for anything in the world.

















PS: All the fantastic pics are courtesy of Pankaj & Jay. I had been a bit lazy & unfortunate not to have brought my camera to add to the J collection we have.