Untitled-34

Untitled-34

August 2008, Uttarkashi.

The landslides could not be cleared even on the second day and no one knew when exactly the road would be open again. As we were just wasting time and money in Uttarkashi we decided to forget the trek and move on to Dehradun. It was a disappointing decision to say the least but could not be helped under the circumstances. So in the afternoon we set off to the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering (NIM, one of the premier mountaineering institutes in India, a similar one started by Tenzing Norgay is in Darjeeling) to return some of the camping equipment we had rented from there. It was another steep climb up a hill, across the river, on the other side of town. I tell you the govt. offices in Uttarkashi are involved in a conspiracy to make potential trekkers walk and climb as much as possible by situating their offices in as out of the way places as possible 🙂 This scene was visible on the way to NIM. The mountains are situated behind the town.

(To read this mini-travelogue in sequence from the beginning please go here.)

The Road to Uttarkashi

The Road to Uttarkashi

August 2008, Somewhere between Haridwar and Uttarkashi.

After spending a night in Haridwar we started off on another long bus journey for Uttarkashi the next morning. The road was carved out of the mountain sides as you can see in the above photo. Even though the adventurous driving of the bus driver added to my already intense acrophobia I could not help but marvel at the spectacular scenery on offer as the road wound up, down and around innumerable mountains.