This is the second part of the vacation to Uttaranchal.......
The Ambassador turned out to be a really bad choice in these rains. We had stopped in the pouring rain near a shop for the third time in half that many hours. The reason being that the gauges and the lone wiper would suddenly stop working as though on their whims! This was a huge blow to our schedule and we had started on this really huge back foot. Imagining another 10 days in such a car with a low battery(as we found out later), was well, to say the least, frightening.
Finally, after deliberation and countless calls to the contractor providing the taxi, an Innova was procured. Unfortunately, this called for another delay of 3hrs at least . So there we were sitting in a parking lot in Mussorie, in not the best of moods, awaiting the other car. The weather even seemed to reflect our feelings......the whole town was engulfed in this really 'wet' cloud and the biting cold set in. Soon the other taxi was at our disposal and we set off in the Innova. The driver was a bit miffed, I believe, after being called urgently and sent for us as he had just finished the Yatra that morning and was looking forward to a good sleep. Poor him.
As we left Mussorie behind us and started the travel of those winding roads, it was like a race against time. It was forbidden to drive on the Ghat roads beyond 8pm for safety reasons and now it was to be impossible to reach Jankichatti in time. Our itinerary was from Gharwal Mandal Vikas Nigam(GMVN), the Government Tourism Initiative. Taking care of 1 half of Uttarakhand, they are quite accommodative. If one is unable to reach one's destination due to any problems like landslides, they are very flexible, finding a safe accommodation. Also they make sure one is not delayed by landslides, etc. If crossing over by foot is possible, they arrange for local transportation until their vehicles can meent you at the next stop over. It's quite impressive actually and all of their tourist houses are quite tourist friendly, clean and largely hygienic.
The winding roads could beat any roller coaster found anywhere in this world on any given day let alone during the monsoons when these roads become so treacherous. Of all the days to get motion sickness, I couldn't have chosen better timing! I ended up sleeping throughout the day's drive to avoid feeling nauseated. Anyways, the night stop was a certain Barkot which we reached around 7pm deciding not to go ahead as that would mean we reach Hanuman Chatti only at 9pm. After a light dinner, we heard of a landslide on the way from Hanuman Chatti to Janki Chatti due to incessant rains. The dread this brought upon me was quite startling. Let your imagination run away with you and its easy to even make Mount Everest out of a molehill!
A good sleep later the day dawned early and we were out by 5:30am to try if we could reach Yamunotri after all. The scenery was very tropical and the river was gushing about a 1000 feet below us with all her ferocity. It was really refreshing to see nature's wild beauty in all its splendor. This was nothing compared to the lanslide sites however! It had buried 3/4 of the road beneath it and some really huge boulders had managed to find their way below to the river bank. We ended up walking from before Hanuman Chatti itself as there was no other alternative. Due to the roadblock, people had resorted to using a 19km goat path that was so mucky with sludge and horse dung that it was just not worth taking it. It was supposed to go through all sorts of forest lands and across complete mountains. It looked very precarious to say the least. Still, some people braved(more like foolhardy) it all to reach Yamunotri.
As we were walking route no. 2, there was a huge congregation ahead and we could see people being stopped as bulldozers were busy cleaning up the roadblock. Right in front of our eyes, as some of the slide was cleared, more land slid to take its place. Really freaky to watch! Given a choice I would rather not see nature's fury at any degree! So we returned back to Hanuman Chatti and Yamunotri remains the one unfinished chapter in our journey. It is believed that a hiccough is supposed to imply that someone was thiking of you. I believe that, in a highly childish manner, this was just God remembering us on our trip to visit Him. Funny analogy ain't it?
Well it's off to Gangotri now. Sigining off...........
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