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Thurs 27 Oct: Ukhimath–Chopta (32km, 1635m ascent)
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From Ukhimath
Tungnath idol |
Chopta itself is strung out above a sloping meadow. There are many dhabas and very basic hotels. People were milling about as we arrived, and trumpets and drums were playing. The idol from Tungnath temple was being carried in procession to his winter abode at Ukhimath.
After lunch we spent the afternoon idling in the sun. As twilight fell the Indian holidaymakers gathered at viewpoints to watch Chaukhamba mountain catching the last rays of pink light.
Fri 28: Chopta–Chandrashila–Birahi (10km/800m on foot, 53km/450m cycling)
Tungnath |
Chandrashila panorama |
Chopta descent |
Earlythe next morning we started the walk along a good path to Tungnath. We saw a beautiful monal pheasant pecking in the undergrowth. There are increasingly good views of Chaukhamba to the north.
The path continues beyond Tungnath to Chandrashila peak where the view opens out to the east, taking in all the majestic mountains of the Nanda Devi group. A large and happy party of Indian trekkers was there already, and offered us sweets.
We returned to Chopta and loaded our bikes for the ride down to the next valley. The road climbs a little to a pass in a notch and then contours round very steep slopes before descending through woods and easing off when it reaches the Balasun valley.
Before long it starts climbing again to reach the village of Gangolgaon in a side valley. After 270m of ascent (and a tea) it drops again to Gopeshwar where we’d planned to stay, but which we found too noisy. So we continued the descent, now on beautiful new tarmac, to the junction village of Chamoli, and then followed the Alaknanda for a few km. to Birahi where there is a pleasant GMVN resthouse.
Acknowledgment: Thanks to John Butler for autostitching the panorama.
Sat 29: Birahi–Joshimath (42km, 1200m)
At
Mayapur post office |
Poturi |
Joshimath has nothing to recommend it. The whole town seems to be a bus stand, and the GMVN resthouse looks uncommonly dire (though not the least appealing place there). We stayed in the Snowcrest Hotel and rejoiced for the first time since Mussoorie to find a hotelier willing to lighten our pockets by more than 500 Rs.
Sun 30: Joshimath–Badrinath (45km, 1700m)
The route onwards starts by plummeting down to the Alaknanda, discarding 500 hard-earned metres. There is work going on to build a hydroelectric plant, and quarry trucks have pulverised the road between the two Alaknanda bridges, and severely damaged it for part of the climb to Badrinath.
The road now follows the bottom of a steep-sided valley, passing through the villages of Govindghat and Pandukeshwar. A little beyond Panhdukeshwar on the opposite side of the Alaknanda is the village of Poturi, a riot of multicoloured amaranth.
The road crosses to the left bank, parting ways with quarry traffic, and after a while reaches Hanuman Chatti where there are tea stalls. After this it climbs unremittingly until just short of Badrinath.
The weather was deteriorating, and snow fell briefly during the afternoon.
Notes: There are no dhabas between Pandukeshwar and Badrinath. We stayed in the new (and indeed unfinished) Park Inn which advertises central heating but which would be overpriced even if it was fully functioning. There is said to be a convoy system between Vishnuprayag and Badrinath but it wasn’t in operation and we don’t know how it affects bikes.
The road to |
In the morning we walked back into town to take photographs in the better light.
Badrinath temple scenes | ||||
Then we cycled down to Joshimath. On the way we passed Bill Weir, who had stopped to remove warm clothes. We talked a little, gave him a book, and continued our journey.
After lunch in Joshimath we carried on to Auli. Our plan was to stay in the Cliff Top Club ski station, partly as a way to avoid Divali fireworks. It’s a nice zigzagging climb, though our enjoyment was marred by the sight of clouds building up to the north. At Auli village the tarmac gives out. A bad track is signposted to the Cliff Top Club but gives no indication of distance, and the hotel is invisible until you are upon it. We followed the track, pushing a fair part of the way. Eventually Tracey gave a shout of delight when the hotel came into view.
It’s a nice place to stay, though expensive by Indian standards, and we were relieved to find that they had room for us.
Notes: The Cliff Top Club is at 2880m; the rest of Auli rather lower. Nest and Wings call it the highest winter sports resort in the world – evidently a misprint for ‘driest’. The rough part of the road may be about 5km.
Tues 1 Nov: Rest day at Auli
Auli |
In the morning we went for a little walk in the meadows above the hotel. There are good views of Nanda Devi, but it is hard to photograph in the morning because the sun rises behind it.
It snowed during the afternoon and evening.
Weds 2: Auli–Rudraprayag
Chaukhamba |
The next day we rode down to Joshimath, taking a few photographs on the way; and at Joshimath we found a taxi to take us to Rudraprayag.
The entire road from Joshimath to Rishikesh is attractive, passing through successive confluences of the Ganges, but it is less varied and interesting than the roads we had already covered.
We stayed at the Monal Resort hotel a few km. short of Rudraprayag. In the afternoon we rode into the town and then back along the opposite side of the river to visit the Koteshwar temple.
Notes: The Monal Resort is again relatively pricey by Indian standards. Its gardens merit a stroll. A fortnight earlier we had contemplated making a detour to spend a rest day here instead of staying at Tilwara.
Thurs 3: Rudraprayag–Rishikesh (a taxi ride plus 74km, 1000m)
We rode back to Rudraprayag and caught a taxi to Devprayag where the Bhagirathi and Alaknanda merge to form the Ganges.
Here we got back on our bikes to finish the journey to Rishikesh. The road climbs to an attractive high point above the Ganges and hurtles back down to the idyllic spot of Kaudi Yala where there are dhabas, hotels, and places offering water sports. The rest of the journey is less interesting and rather spoilt by traffic.
Fri 4: Rishikesh–Delhi
Another frustratingly slow taxi ride. We arrived in time for a late lunch and a blissful reaquaintance with the demon drink. In the evening we had an even more memorable meal.
Sat 5: Delhi–Cheltenham
The end of the journey.