The round trip to the Himalayas: Instead of embarking on an 11 hour each
way bus trip and then potentially doing a solo 36 kilometer trek to Golmukh,
the glacial source of the Ganges River (part of the Char Dam pilgrimage from
the second travelogue) I agreed to my friend Lelit’s idea to drive me and his best
friend, Anu, in his uncle’s Geo Prism type car there. Since I had casually talked
with hyperactive Lelit and mellow Anu during the yoga course and had hung out
with them once the class ended, I rightly figured that this way would be a
lot more fun and a lot less stressful than my original option. Except for
hearing one of two blaring, repetitive Punjabi pop music for most of the trip
and realizing how limited their English comprehension really was at 25, I was
right.
On the way there and back, I was overwhelmed with all of the majestic
mountains as we wound our way through valleys carved by the tumultuous Ganges
and up and down switchbacks. I saw waterfalls and landslides that had wended
their way for miles down the steep slopes. We passed mountains half or
completely shrouded in clouds which sometimes parted to see other mountains
even further away. Unlike the rivers in the Northwest where you see fallen
trees in or along the river banks and only refrigerator sized rocks, the
Class 10 (if it goes that high!) white water rafting Ganges must have
pulverized any poor tree as its flood like torrent crashed over and around
boulders frequently larger than a big minivan or a small house. I had a lot
of time to observe the passing scenery as the 128 mile one way trip took
about nine hours each way because of all the twisting roads and hazards that
I’ll go into a bit later. Besides all the natural beauty, I thought I would
just list some of the more interesting sights and observations from my back
seat perch:
-Terraced fields hemmed many of the lower sides of the mountains although the
majority of men seemed to be occupied with sitting along the roadside stores
alone or in groups watching the world go by. I was told that the women I saw
carrying backbreaking loads of branches etc on their heads or shoulders did
much of the work in the mountain communities.
-High up in the mountains, there is no electricity but water flows abundantly
from public pipes or creeks which provide the water sources for the small
road stop villages that punctuated the trip.
-The holy men, AKA “babas”, who walked all the way from Rishikesh to our
ultimate destination as part of their religious experience. Most only
carried a few possessions wrapped in a shawl cum rucksack, a walking stick or
umbrella, and a small circular, 12 inch high covered steel bucket that served
as a begging bowl, a cup, a serving utensil, and a water carrier. They would
then use that bucket or a bottle to get water from Golmukh and then walk the
128 miles back to Rishikesh or the next holy site.
-Outside of Rishikesh and occasionally elsewhere on the trip, there would be
cement road barriers painted with various warnings and signs in English.
Some of my favorites included “Stop flying, start plying,” the thought
provoking “Speed and safety never meet,” and the threatening, zen like “Life
is a journey, complete it.”
-Cows, pigs, monkeys, dogs, and game playing children would frequently block
the road along with various small road repair crews. Most would respond to
the bleating horn and move away in time except for this one deaf cow which
caused us to come to a full stop.
-The natural way to cool off an overheated car is to stop near a creek or a pump and pour water from a soda bottle all over the top of the car. Trust me, it works.
