Sorry it has taken me so long to write this, there are just not enough hours in my day right now.
During the week before quarter break my busy schedule and indecision left me without a definite destination for my 4 day sojourn. For some reason I was strangely comfortable with this fact, I knew that whatever I chose would be a wonderful adventure and well needed break form here. Wednesday I was discussing possible options with one of my housemates and he mentioned Har-Ki-Dun (HKD from now on) a name I had heard many times as one of the great treks in this region of the Garwahli Himalaya. He said it would be hard to get done in 4 days but someone like me could do it, that was all the challenge I needed.
HKD is about 190 km from Mussoorie, so I decided to leave Friday directly after our lunch around 1:30. I ate lunch, went to the bank and as I was ascending the stair form the basement I heard a familiar noise, I noise I had grown to dislike. This noise was the pounding rain. That is right, the rains returned just in time for my early escape from Mussoorie. And we are not talking about a minor drizzle, a deluge!! It was raining harder than it had rained at any time during the last 2 months of monsoon, oh yea there were some nice sized hail as well. Was this a sign? Was my trip doomed to bad luck and eventual failure? Once the rains subsided and the sun cleared nothing was stopping me, I jumped on my bike and off I roared. From the time I left town the weather was nothing but perfect, beautiful sunshine dried the roads in no time. The 3 hour ride to Naugon along the holy Yamuna River was breathtaking, as the clear blue water of the Yamuna snaked downstream at the bottom of an amazing canyon I motored upstream high on the canyon walls. I love riding in these hills on the Enfield. It is an adventure in itself.
Sleepy town of Naugon
Day 2: Day 2 broke with evidence of a slight drizzle, my 100 rup ($2.50) hotel room in Naugon was spartan but did the job. I loaded up the bike about 8 am grabbed a chai and off I went. Crossing the Yamuna I climbed up a small tributary to a small, insignificant town called Purola. The gods threatened rain the whole way, thankfully it only drizzled lightly. From Purola the road climbed to a minor pass into another valley. This was my favorite part of the ride. The road weaved through the most beautiful pine forest I have ever seen. The forest, new road surface and twisty road made for the most spectacular ride. Basically all this while surrounded with huge, beautiful mountains. The road did not stay good for long though. About 12km from my destination of Sankri it started to deteriorate badly, lots of mud holes, creek crossings and huge potholes. Just before Sankri I came to a huge nasty creek crossing, one that I thought I might not be able to get back out of in a few days. The only problem was I thought this AFTER I crossed, so no crying about it now.
Crazy Creek Crossing
Upon arriving in Sankri I was like a traveling freak show. One thing about being a whitey in India is you are always stared at. Not subtle stares from across the road, but stand 5 feet away from you and stare like you have an arm growing out of your head. This is especially true in smaller, rural out of the way places. Anyway, I made my way to the rest house where there were luckily a few hinglish (mix between Hindi and English) speakers. Told a few kids I needed to reach HKD and be back in Sankri in 3 days and they just laughed at me. They said impossible you must have 5 days to do the trek. You see the trek is 84 km (52 miles) long for the most part uphill. I was getting a bit upset, I came all this way and now they say I can't do it in 3 days. Bullshit, I told them to find me someone who will take me in 3 days. Along comes Raju, a fit looking guy about my age who guides trips in the area, he speaks decent English which is a plus. He says it will be tough but we can do it in 3 days. We settle on a price and off we go. Raju will carry most of our minimum gear, and I will carry some water, my camera, and jackets. We leave Sankri at 1:00 pm, our destination Gangar 24 km(15mi.) upstream. I am elated, it only take a few km with Raju to realize I made the right decision. He seems solid, I have a good feeling about things.
The trek to Gangar takes us along an old road bed to Taluka, from Taluka we leave the road and hike along the Supin River. One of the most beautiful stretches of river I have seen in a while. It is your normal hiking with a few sketchy bridges and minor landslide crossings. As twilight ensues, my muscles and joints begin to ache and a drizzling rain begins to fall I am elated to see Gangar on the hillside across the river. Gangar is a town that looks as if it is plucked straight from the pages of an old storybook, situated on a glacial terrace above the roaring rapids of the Supin. Gangar is 24 hard kms from the nearest road has no electricity, and is inhabited by Garwhalis who survive by subsistence farming. It is a wonderful place!! We will be staying in Raju's sister cousins, husbands, family house. Did you get that? Interacting with the local Garwahli people is the thing I enjoyed most on this trip. They are a very beuatiful people, they look much less "Indian" or at least the western innterpretation of what as Indian looks like. They look more Turkish, Middle Eastern almost Gypsie looking. We spent most of the night haninging out in one of the three rooms in the house. This same room served as the sitting room, dining room and bedroom for the evening. Here are a few of us enjoying dinner and a few drinks of the local hooch. A "wine" that tastes like watered down moonshine to me. Great people, I was treated like a royal guest.
House in Gargon
Dinner and Drinks
Beautifully Carved Temple in Gargon
Day 3: After a fitful nights rest from sharing a room with 4 other grown adults and a too short bed we awoke to a crystal clear Himalayan morning. After a chai (sweet and milky tea) to jump start the morning, we said our goodbyes and hit the trail. We had 16 mostly uphill km’s to the HKD rest house. Our route would take us through the towns of Seema and Olsa before ascending the ridge up into HKD valley. We reached Seema after an easy 5km. We stopped in Seema to have breakfast of chai and aloo paranthas (potato stuffed flatbread). It was nice to warm myself around a fire of locals and feel welcome. After our lunch paranthas were packed we hit the trail. At Seema the trail crosses the river and climbs the ridge in full sun. The sun was nice but it got hot really quick.
I really don’t think I enjoy the act of hiking. For me it is a means to an end. I realize to get away from the teaming masses and out into that beautiful life giving wilderness you have to put one foot in front of the other and got on down that trail. But I find it rather dull truthfully. I guess that comes from years of engaging in outdoor pursuits that are more adrenaline inducing. This is not to say I don’t enjoy good conversation with a friend as we amble down the trail or sitting on a ridge enjoying lunch and an amazing view. I just find the act of hiking rather boring, anyway, sorry for that digression.
One could see the trail as it made its way sharply up the ridge and disappeared around the corner into HKD valley. It can be a bit torturous to be able to see the steeply ascending path and know that you must follow that same route. Up we climbed until a point on the trail where we rounded a corner and got our first view up the length of HKD valley, all I can say is it was breathtaking.
Har-Ki-Dun Valley: The rest house is just on the other side of that last patch
of pine trees way up valley
The view was of beautiful meadows and pine stands and finally our destination at the head of the valley. We traversed the ridge climbing up and down across the meadows until we reached the head of the valley at 11,000+’. By the time we reached the rest house the exertion and altitude were beginning to take an effect on me. I was whooped!!! However, the scenery was truly inspiring. Surrounded on 3 sides by 20,000+ feet snowcapped Himalayan peaks in a meadow studded with huge granite boulders, is a sight that will revive the weariest traveler. The most prominent peaks of the valley are Swargarohini I &II. It is a believed that the Pandava brothers of the epic Mahabharata ascended to heaven through Swargarohini (in Hindi, swarg means heaven, and arohini is derived from the word arohan, which means to climb). After taking numerous pictures we spent some time talking to a few other trekkers from North America that were in the valley to do some small scale mountaineering. It was at this point I had a decision to make, spend the night in this beautiful and inspiring setting and endure a 42 km hike out the following day. Or descend and spend the night in either Seema or Gargon and only have a 24 km hike out the next day. I enjoyed myself so much in Gargon the night before I thought it would be nice to spend more time with the locals Garwahlis of this region. So we left the rest house and headed down valley. I stole as many parting glances of the beautiful mountains as I could steal. The hike out although downhill was tiring. Dehydration, altitude, sun exposure and pure exertion have done a great job in sapping my energy by the end of the day. By the time we made it back to Gargon after almost 10 hours and 32 km of hiking I was completely exhausted. I collapsed on the porch and relaxed for an hour.
This evening activities were much more subdued than the previous nights. I didn’t feel like drinking so we just hung out and talked. The Garwahlis have a hard time pronouncing the Ch of my name so I was given a new name for the rest of the trip. Instead of Chris my new Supin Valley name is now Sudhish. They said it is a good name for me. All Indian names have meaning so when I got home I looked it up, it means “lord of excellent intellect” I like it!!!!!!!!!! This evening I was adopted by my host family in Gargon, they wanted me to stay a while. If I could have I would have, they are wonderful people. They were especially interested in why I wasn’t married yet. You see, Indains get married rather young and if you are not married by a certain age there is something wrong. They were very concerned for me. When they asked why I told them I haven’t found the right one yet, at this point I got my first offer to marry one of their daughters. I told them my girlfriend back home wouldn’t like that too much. I spent the night sleeping on the porch in the cool, crisp mountain air and it was marvelous. My hosts could not believe I wanted to sleep out in the cold but I told them I loved sleeping out under the stars and the moon. Best night of sleep on the whole trip.
Our 24 km hike out the next day was reasonably easy and uneventful. Needless to say I was glad as we strolled in to Sankri, the place where we started this adventure 84km and 49 hours ago. I was craving fruit juice as we walked into town, but there was not a drop to be found. No soda , nothing. I had to settle for a rehydration drink mix called glucon-d. Not very tasty, but probably exactly what I needed. After this I had to settle my second craving , PROTIEN, nothing a 3 egg bun omelet couldn’t satisfy. After this we grabbed the bike and headed to Raju’s house. As we parked the bike a noticed a man holding an ax type implement and leading a goat by the horn. Hmmmmm, interesting!! I asked Raju, “he is about to kill that goat isn’t he?” Yes was the reply. I had to watch. The goat seemed very calm, as if it had accepted it’s fate. The goat stood there as the man shaved a little hair off the back of his neck, next thing you know, WHACK!!! Off with the goats head. I have never witnessed a beheading before, it is rather strange. Especially when the separated body parts continue to move. Eyes blink, ears twitch, legs kick, it is all a little surreal. Needless to say, we ate mutton for dinner.
The rest of the afternoon/evening was spent at Raju’s family compound in the village sitting on the porch, drinking a decent scotch his friend brought in from Delhi and eating organic cucumbers out of the garden.
The porch in Sankri
Oh yea, the cold bucket shower was divine as well, made me feel like a new man. Spending time with Raju’s family was great. His 3 kids adored me. They couldn’t get enough of this crazy white man. I spent a lot of the evening helping his eldest son and sister practice their English reading and speaking skills. They welcomed me like one of the family, it was great.
Raju's children in the family kitchen, that's right! The stove is on left.
The entire trip from the time I left Mussoorie was magical!! From riding my bike along the crazy Indian roads, to the intense natural beauty of the inner Himalayan Mountains. However, the things about this trip that touched me deepest and that will leave the biggest impression on my soul is the time I spent with the amazing, yet simple Garwhali people from this region of the Himalayas. Many people who trek this valley do not take the time to interact with the inhabitants who have lived here for generations. Their lives are incredibly simple from a modern, “civilized” point of view. However, this simplicity allows them to live a life most people in the “civilized” world could never even imagine. Their lives are not marred by worries of deadlines, traffic, 401k, crime, stock portfolios, fashion, and any of the frivolous things that worry us on a day to day basis. Their concerns are directly related to the basics of LIFE; food, shelter, clothing, love, companionship, family. That is what is most important to them. Some would say their life is not full because they lack the luxuries and amenities that the inhabitants of the civilized world covet. I on the other hand feel their lives are more pure, full and meaningful because they worry not of these things. They know there is more to life than fancy cars and flat screen TVs. It takes many of us the majority of our lives to come to this realization.
Thank you for listening to the rambling about my wonderful trip. Hopefully someday we can share experiences such as this together; I look forward to sharing it with you.
Pictures from the heart of Har-Ki-Dun
Inside: Standing up in the desk area, Bedroom, and down into living room and kitchen.
