Memorable Himalayan Trek at Dayara Bugyal, Uttarakhand
[Image above: Gang at Dayara Bugyal, Uttarakhand]
The journey started from New Delhi, after waiting for 3 hrs at the bus terminal in the dead of the night. We parked ourselves in the front seats of the bus to Haridwar and had the scariest bus journeys of our lives. After a bit of clear roads, the fog literally started to flow onto the roads. Our driver turned out to be a brave one (to our shock) and drove with ease even without a metre of visibility. His plan was simple, watch for the dim lights of the vehicles from the opposite direction and just pass to the left of them (in the process, sometimes confusing two truck headlights for two bikes and just managing to steer away in time). Once, he even tried to chase down a car which managed to overtake him (and piss him off) in this extreme weather. I hereby, nominate him for the national stupidity award and request the Uttarakhand Govt to please take him off the force. Add the bitter cold to all this and this bus journey was quite an adventure in itself.
[Image above: The gang geared for the fogged-out bus journey]
The bus journey from Haridwar to Uttarkashi, thankfully was much more relaxed and enjoyable, coz it was along the (curvy blueish green coloured) river Ganga. At Uttarkashi, we stayed for one night at Hotel Bhandari. The next day morning, after a bath (last one for the next five days) and breakfast (Alloo Paratha), we started the onward journey to Barasu (Base-camp) in a Mahindra hardtop (4 wheel drive).
Barasu, a small village on the foothills of the (Kumao) himalayan range was very picturesque with prettier villagers. Here, our leader, Lakshmi Narayan Rao (Lacchi) taught us the basics of pitching a tent. Here, we also met our guide Kishan Bhaiyya(a local) and our cook Dipender (a Nepali).
[Image above: View from Barasu]
[Image above: Cricket in Himalayas]
[Image above: Bhadal, the shepherd dog which followed and sometimes led us from Barasu to Dayara Bugyal to Raithal]
[Image above: Waterfall on a stream from a glacier, near Barasu Village]
The trek started at around 8 am with a steady hike up, till we saw our first snow. First response was obvious excitement and throwing of snowballs at each other. Even more excitement, on first snowfall (a light one though). But later, we were walking in about 2 feet of fresh snow and were struggling. Our guide had walked ahead of us and had created a path of big “footstep-holes” in the snow for us to walk in. Even then, snow was getting into our shoes and our feet were getting numb.
[Images above: snow trekking]
[Video above: snow trekking]
The view around us was great and we were all very surprised to get so much snow on the first day of our trek. We reached the huts at Dayara Bugyal at around 12 pm after about an hour of good snow trekking. Here we were told to warm up our feet over the fire immediately to avoid “frostbite”. Later, we came out of the huts to realize that we were on a mountain surrounded by snow covered peaks and.. I have no words to describe the view. Maybe the picture below will help.
[Image above: View of the peaks surrounding our huts at Dayara Bugyal]
At night, it was -10°c outside and inside the hut, we managed to get some sleep thanks to the fire, our thermals, woolens, jackets and the thick sleeping bags. In the morning, I realized that I had forgotten to put my shoes in the sleeping bag and it was as stiff and hard as a brick and the water in the bottles had frozen. We ran to the neighbouring hut to warm ourselves over the fire.
On the second day, we went for a small walk around dayara bugyal and take in a 360 view of the mountain range around us. We had a good photo session and was a defining moment of the trip. We were surrounded by a 28 square km snowfield. My only regret was that weren’t skiing. I was told by our guide Kishan Bhaiyya, that it was fresh snow and we wouldn’t be able to ski on it yet. He said during summer, lot of tourists come here for skiing. He was surprised that we had planned to come here in the winter, because the weather was very harsh then.
[Image above: Photosession at Dayara]
[Video above: 360° view of Dayara Bugyal]
Due to the heavy snowfall, we decided to take a detour and walked down from the mountains towards a village called Raithal . We were back on solid ground (land ahoy!!).
[Image above: On the way to Raithal]
From Raithal, we took a taxi to Sangam Chetty. On the way, the nepali porters sang few nepali folk songs for us. I was amazed at the pitches, they were singing at. I suppose, the folk song was a type of story telling.
[Video above: Nepali folk song by our porter friends]
[Image above: Scenic Road]
At Sangam Chetty, we were told that it was a 22km hike to our destination, Dodi Thal. So, with a challenge our hands, we started the hike towards our first stop, Agoda (distance of 7 km from Sangam Chetty). Agoda, was an isolated village with about 30-40 houses built on the steep mountain slopes. On the way to Agoda, we had a lot of fun playing “20 questions” and hardly felt the steep hike.
[Image above: Our tough porter team]
At Agoda, I was surprised to find a very well built building for the guest house. We stayed at this guest house and had a good sleep after a long time.
[Image above: Bed (sleeping bag) Tea]
Next day, we started towards Maajji (distance of 10 km from Agoda). Maajji, was an uninhabited (for the winter) village, very close to the snow line. On asking about the path ahead, our guide told us that it was only slightly steep. But, he had only tricked us, to build confidence for the path ahead. The path towards Maajji was actually was very steep for a about 2-3 kms. But I feel, we all did quite well to not lose confidence and we kept climbing up. At Maajji, we stayed in huts again for the night. At night, Dipendra, our cook told us a lot of strange stories about foreign trekkers. We felt that these guys were really professional and humble at the same time. They took good care of us. They also managed to have something different for our meals: from fruit salads to Pakodas to even Jelly (even at this heights and extreme weather).
[Image above: Yummy pakodas at Maajji village]
Next day, we walked for about 5 kms towards our final destination, Dodi Thal. Dodi Thal is a partly frozen lake and is the source of Assi-Ganga, a tributary of Ganga. It is also a religiously relevant place for it is the “Ganesh Janma-bhumi”, where according to mythology: Lord Shiva is said to have beheaded Lord Ganesha and later given him the elephant head.
[Image above: Ganesh Janma-Bhumi temple]
[Image above: Dodi Thal Lake]
[Image above: Team, victorious at final destination of trek]
[video above: Ganesh Janma Bhumi @ Dodi Thal]
After praying at the temple, a walk around the lake, an attempt at fishing, snowball fights, sliding ice over the surface of the lake and a photo session, we made a quick return journey (As Kishan Bhaiyya says, donne-donne-donne = down-down-down)
We did the return journey from Dodi Thal to Agoda in one day itself. At Agoda, my friends made me a birthday cake and I had a memorable birthday celebration. Thanks Guys !!
[Image above: Cutting Birthday Cake at Dayara Bugyal]
[Image above: Full team photo]
Next day, we returned to Sangam Chetty and took a taxi to Uttarkashi. At uttarkashi, we celebrated the new year by screaming “Happy New Year” at 12 am on our hotel balcony, even though the whole town of Uttarkashi seemed to be asleep.
From Uttarkashi, we returned to Haridwar. At Haridwar, we witnessed the Maha-Aarthi on the banks of river Ganga. At 6pm everyday, all the priests of all the small and big temples together worship the Goddess Ganga with huge aarthis (holy flames) with the song “Jai Jagdisha Hare” being played aloud. The sight is quite an experience. However, I was not very pleased at the large-scale commercialization of such a historic holy place.
[Image above: Maha-Aarthi at Haridwar]
Later, we found the New Delhi airport fogged-out. The spicejet flight at 8 am was delayed by 4 hours. However, I was quite satisfied with the spicejet people, who had called and texted us before hand to inform us about the delay.
Finally, after a most memorable ten day adventure, we were back home, Bangalore (home sweet home..) Back in the best weather of the world !!
Last, but not the least.. We have to thank Lacchi (Lakhmi Narayan) for organizing the trek and being the humble and fun person he is.
On request uploading Trekking map of DodiTal:
and as u said..we cannot describe the place in our words..though u did ur best..
Hip Hip Hurray..3 cheers to Dayara Bugyal & Lacchi
I have been to Uttarkashi and beyond
and know only too well the wonders
of the vastness and the beauty of the area.
That comes through so well in your article
especially the photographs.
Your blog does bring back to me so many memories,
a lot have been gradually fading over the years.
Never made it to Dodi Tal.
I am trying to remember its location.
(Would be great if you could sketch in a map of your trek.)
I remember the mountain dogs
accompanying us for days, for no apparent reason
than just to share our evening ‘khichuri’!
Of coffee laced with brandy to “warm us up”…
(which it was claimed turned to brandy with a splash of coffee as we went higher).
Or planning the next trek, even before the first was over.
My mum used to call it my ‘addiction’.
I will look forward to be able to read more such trek stories from you in future.
Best wishes;
I get similar comments from my mom too
I’ve uploaded the trekking map of dodi thal at the end of the post.. hope its useful..
I can now pin it in my memory.
I will now try and locate it on Google Earth.
(what would we do without modern technology, eh?)
Most of my travels have been from Uttarkashi
(do you still get the early morning hot gulabjamoons?)
and to the north and east,
in and around the Gangotri glacier.
And being from Kolkata, Sikkim was nearest,
with Nepal being an extra night bus ride away.
I am talking of 79-86. A long while ago.
Which, after having read your article
makes me feel like RipVanWinkle-ish.
Mountain lovers always were a brotherhood,
thanks to your writing and photographs, today,
I feel I still belong to that fraternity.
I am sure you have more treks planned,
I will look forward to more of your blogs.
Get the feel of the Himalayas again, indirectly,
reconstituted in binary code in cyberspace.
Happy trekking.
Yes, will be going for treks often.. and will be posting about the same here..
Had been to sikkim once, but not for a trek.. will look for your suggestions, when I plan one..
Thanks from all of us for a wonderful write up on our unforgettable snow trek. Am amazed at the meticulously detailed write up from a person who never made a single note through out the trek. Gr8 work dude.
Lovely write-up. Become a travel journo man. (And we will all read your accounts of freezing your arse in differente places.. hehe!)
his plan was simple, watch for the dim lights of the vehicles from the opposite direction and just pass to the left of them (in the process, sometimes confusing two truck headlights for two bikes and just managing to steer away in time).
Sounds funny, strange and stupid – but generally works. When in doubt spot the oncoming glares or use them for light!
I understand you have responsibilities at home, hope you get a chance to go to your dream trip whenever possible..
Great to hear that you planning the trip.. Yup, i heard that reliance data card thing works well in the hills of Himachal too
Will enquire with my friends about contact details about the local people at Barasu who arranged the trip. Will mail you soon with some useful info..
birth place but i wish you would have record in side temple like idol of ganeshji or what exactly is inside temple, thats what i am more intrested but any way god will really bless you even what ever you shown thank you so much atlist i saw temple
I am glad you liked the video. It was off-season so the temple door was closed, however i’ll check the photos and videos again. If I find any, I will upload them for sure..
1. We had exactly gone around the same time last year. It is off-season because of heavy snow, but we decided to brave it anyways.
2. I do not have the contact of the local people there. I was in touch with a person in bangalore, who organized it for us.
I am trying to get hold of a good guide through NIM (Nehru Institute of Mountaineering- Uttarkashi. I hope we will enjoy it. BTW upto Barsu it will be motorable isnt? and how long (Kms) is Dodital-Baru trek?
wonderful description of the trip. Me and some of my friends are planning to go for a similar trip in the first week of December. I need some help from you.
1. Do you think it’s a good time to go there( will we able to find some snow at that time)
2. Can you get me the contact of the person who arranged the trip for you?
I would be really grateful to you.
Thanks in advance
Thanks.
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