Horemheb's Musings

The first thing to do in Himalayas is to acclimatize and the first thing to do in Uttarkashi is to pray at the Uttarkashi Vishwanath Temple.

I woke up to the soft gurgling music of Ganga flowing a few meters away from the Eagle’s Nest. The beautifully situated property has a café and restaurant at the road level and three guest rooms of varying size and common recreation area in the lower floor. Situated 5 kilometres from Uttarkashi town and just across the Tekhla Bridge Eagle’s Nest is a work of art in progress. The café was richly decorated on the outside walls with murals by local artists and the interior is lined by various photographs by the host Mr Tilak Soni which exhibit the wondrous glory of the Himalayas. Sprinkled amongst them are mementos and awards he had received due to his philanthropy and mountaineering. An upper floor was being completed and an annexe with outside seating was being constructed. The rooms and living quarters themselves were being refurbished during my stay. I was assigned the smaller bedroom which was also closer to the Ganga. It had not occurred to me to ask for a heater so that first night saw me acclimatizing quite roughly to the near zero temperatures that Uttarkashi experienced at night. To get my juices flowing I went on a brief morning walk.

A short distance from the Eagle’s Nest I saw a saffron clad Swamy, about my age, accompanied by a kid rescue a tiny kitten from a roadside cave. It was an interesting spectacle, the bespectacled Swamy and the boy seemingly conversing with the kitten and asking how it managed to separate from its mother and get itself inside the cave, which tiny would have been comfortable for a leopard to take residence in. Even stranger was a particular rock inside the cave that resembled the head of a large wolf, which did give me a sudden fright before the shadows dissipated revealing it to be just a rock. A further distance into my morning walk I was closely inspected by a stray dog with all the officiousness of canine constabulary which I believe I passed satisfactorily. Fortified by an amazing ginger tea I took a painful bath before getting ready to go to the temple.

Normally in lower altitudes I try to avoid walking as much as possible. As a poster boy for laziness walking is not something that I do as routine. Walking is something I do only for fun. Just like I hate commuting to work on motorcycle or car but I absolutely love travelling long distances in both types of vehicles I don’t have a habit of walking but given an opportunity I enjoy walking as a form of exploration. In a way I am quite allergic to regular exercise. Be that as it may I have often enjoyed walking in the mountains and have found my stamina quite admirable in that I have walked considerable distances at a stretch. During the 2015 trip me and my friend Ajith had decided to go on a 25 kilometre walk from Gangotri to the ATM in Harsil  on a lark. Thus I had chosen to walk the distance to the Uttarkashi temple, a choice that left the staff of Eagle’s Nest quite bemused.

Conscious of the need to remove footwear I was wearing slippers with my woollen socks and I was in full Indiana Jones regalia with my leather jacket, fedora and satchel. I must have presented quite the curious spectacle to the otherwise level-headed citizenry of Uttarkashi, a fat, bearded Indiana Jones walking along the side of the road wearing slippers. Walking could be a treacherous endeavour on these roads as the roads are narrow and most vehicles come at quite breakneck speeds quite often going off the road and across the dust pavement while passing vehicles from opposite directions. Constantly weaving through patches of warm sunlight and cooler shadows it was an enjoyable walk. I have always enjoyed walking through roads that I had previously passed through at faster speeds, at the increase in detail and perspective that walking provides. When life is at a slower pace the elements of nature are better appreciated. Speed requires focus and that takes away the subtleties.

Nearing the Uttarkashi town I had to depend on the Google Maps for directions to the temple despite which I still lost my way and had to seek directions the old fashioned way, by asking people around. The temple was not too crowded and I leisurely completed my prayers and started my return back to the Eagle’s Nest. For the onward journey I had chosen to walk along the main Gangotri highway but for return I had decided to choose the parallel route across the river Ganga. Here the path initially took me through a very narrow street, barely wide for a motorcycle but lined on either sides by numerous tiny shops. This street opened to a larger road that took me across the river Ganga on a massive steel bridge. A wide chasm between the two halves of the bridge was bridged only by a narrow steel plank at the middle ensuring this bridge could only be used by pedestrians and two wheelers. The amazing views of the river were balanced equally by the acrophobia that gets induced when one braves his way across that tiny plank. Congratulations to self was however short lived as I realized I had to climb and walk my way to the main road through a series of switchbacks. 

Any pride I had felt on being energetic during my walk to the temple and further was extinguished after the very first switchback. In my infinite confidence I had not taken my water bottle and I had to stop to gather my breath after every switchback. The agony was relieved only by the sight of a few teenagers playing around Himalayan sheepdog puppies. These incredibly cute puppies grow up to be quite ferocious specimens, even being able to give challenge to the local leopards which find dogs to be their favourite delicacy. My friend Tilak who had a flock of loving pet dogs when I had met him last had informed that all 8 of his dogs were killed and eaten by leopards. My mother who had witnessed their love for their master first hand had enquired first about these dogs on my arrival at Eagle’s Nest.

Slowly and painstakingly I finally made my way to the main road and my next objective was to find some place to have some tea and breakfast. In my bravado I had thought quite smartly that I would find some nice eatery on my way to the temple or on the way back and could have some nice breakfast of Parathas or samosas however my hunger pangs were unsated and the recently crossed switchbacks had added to my hunger and exhaustion. As luck would have it I did not see a single eatery on my route. Almost all restaurants were closed or rendered invisible to me. Forget paranthas I would have settled for just a tea but not even a tea shop were forthcoming. Every time I thought the structure would be tea shop it turned out to be either a hardware or auto parts store. My desperation was answered finally by a small shop from where I could buy a bottle of water to quench my thirst. 

It was certainly heartening to be able to spot the Eagle’s Nest again, with the promise of Parathas and tea. Having walked almost 7 kilometres of mountain roads in about 2 hours of walking time I had judged myself to have sated my quota of walking for the year and decided not to step out at all for the rest of the day. I am on a vacation after all, and what good is a vacation where one is not pampered by reading, writing and eating at leisure?

Over the week of my stay in Eagle’s Nest I went on to establish a culinary discipline as follows:

After waking up : Ginger tea prepared by Tilak Soni

Breakfast : Two Aloo Pyaaz ( Potato Onion) paranthas with ginger tea

Lunch : Thali meals (Roti + Sabji+ Dal+ Curd)

Evening : Mixed Veg Pakoda + Ginger tea

Night : Tomato Soup with Momos ( different style each night)

I know Ginger tea is the common factor but what can I do? I am in the mountains and I am on my vacation.

Temple visit done my next target was to visit Gangotri. With the help of Tilak jee a Royal Enfield Classic 350 rental was arranged. The bike took me a few minutes to get used to with it being far too electronic than my more spartan Electra. The bike had no kick starter, headlights could not be switched off and in general felt a bit smaller than my own Bullet but it would do. After dropping the delivery guy at Uttarkashi market I rode around a bit trying to tank up the vehicle and to get used to the bike. All fuel pumps were either out of petrol or had shutdown but with the guidance from Tilak jee that a fuel pump on the way to Gangotri could be counted on to provide fuel in the morning I called it a day.

Yet another dream was going to attain fruition the next day, a dream of motorcycling in the Himalayas, especially riding to Gangotri. Prospect of no place fills me with as much excitement as Gangotri does. From the first bewitching spell in 2011 when I could write no further travelogues about the place few are the days when memories or yearning to be in Gangotri does not capture me. In the last week of December Gangotri would be completely empty and there would be no place to stay but even if it is for a few minutes I wanted be in Gangotri. And I was riding there, that too in a Bullet! It is a wonder that I was able to sleep at all that night.