Ashtanga Yoga, Indian cooking (Udi), Buddhist Philosophy, some more Israeli influenced Yoga, Jewelery making (Sarit), good North Indian food, many many many Israelis, amazing snow-capped peaks, beautiful cedars, more Indian food, nice and clean hotel…
… so why should we go anywhere?
Our next stop was much lower in altitude and much higher in celsius degrees: Rishikesh, the holy town by the Ganges riverside, was visited by The Beatles in the sixties, and by us alongside many many Israelis now. Starting from this stop we have changed alot the way we travel: apart from much more westeren food, we also started taking Yoga classes, and apparently we joined the huge Israeli “wave” migrating from the south to the much cooler north.
Rishkesh is full of Ashrams, gigantic Hindu temples, reminding malls in appearance and content, and many pilgrims. We spent a few days wondering around, trying to settle for this more relaxed part of our trip, until we understood that the heat is stronger than us, and we ran for our lives back to the Himalayas…
After hiking an average of 20 km each day, we needed a rest! So we headed to the village of Kausani, with spectacular views of the same Himalayan mountains we had just trekked through.
As written in the Lonely Planet (we refer to it as “the Bible”):
Built upon a ridge, with breathtaking views on either side, Kausani is a peaceful place where lots of mountain gazing, tea drinking and scenic walks are the order of the day
We spent a few days, waking up for the gorgeous sunrise over the mountains (and then going back to sleep), relaxing, taking walks through the village, watching movies on TV (yes, TV) and visiting their tea gardens and factory. One evening we enjoyed the “live astronomy show” where we viewed Jupiter, Saturn and the moon through a telescope. We would have stayed longer than the three days there, but were running out of cash…
So we left the quaint Kausani for the much hotter Rishikesh on the Ganges River (back to the Ganges!). Stay tuned for more to come, and keep your comments coming!
Last week, we did an amazing 7-day trek to the Pindari and Kafni Glaciers. The trek began in the small village of Loharket. We arrived in there mid-day and spent the day and night there, where we were lucky to observe a traditional wedding - a musical parade leading the groom to the bride’s house, where there was dancing and celebration. We stayed at a family-run (big ‘hamula’ actually) guesthouse, and observed how they processed and sorted their freshly picked wheat.
The next morning we began a 1,000 meter ascent to Dakuri, and from there descended into the Pindari River Valley. From the pass in Dakuri, there is a great view of the Himalayan peaks of the area - Nanda Devi, Nanda Khat, Trisuli and others. We hiked through rhodedendron forests (trees with big red, pink or purple flowers), passed terraces and over streams until the village of Khati, where we stopped for the night.
The next day we continued upstream along the Pindari River, passing herds of sheep, and enjoying our first clear views of the snowy peaks. (Udi took pictures of the many different wildflowers along the way, and will probably create “Flowers of the Himalayas” photo album sometime). A bit past noon, we arrived at the guesthouse in Dwali for lunch, where we met the very interesting Dr. Orus Ilyes, who is researching musk deer of the Himalaya for her post-doc. We talked for hours and learned a lot from her about wild animals as well as about life in India. (Orus! Thank you very much for your help - we really enjoyed chatting with you, good luck with your important research!)
Pushkar, our trusty guide, is a comical, friendly 55 year-old man. The following day, he led Udi to the view point of the Pindari Glacier (I didn’t make it the whole way). The trail to the Pindari glacier is covered by many snowy patches, often on very steep slopes. The views were fantastic and we even saw five different colors of rhodedendron flowers. Udi made it to the glacier and visited the Baba - holy man - who lives there year round.
The next day we set out for the second glacier, Kafni. The trail and Kafni glacier are beautiful. Puskhar pointed out many wild deer and goat. On the way back we sledded down the snowy slopes - much more efficient and enjoyable than climbing up!
After our visits to the glaciers, we were ready to head back. We slept the next night in Dakuri, and woke up early to see the panoramic view of the Himalayas. It was truly amazing.
As first-time trekkers in India - we learned a few lessons from the trip. First of all, in Nepal we were very spoiled with “five-star” guesthouses and good food along the way. Here in India - the guesthouses and food are very basic, although sufficient. Secondly, one must be careful when hiring a porter in India! We hired a porter the first day who drank a bit much and was VERY slow, and tried to extend our trek by a few days to make some extra cash. By day 2 we fired him, and Udi had to lug our bag instead. But we were lucky to have found Pushkar as our guide, and it all turned out for the best.
For anyone travelling in northern India, this trek is highly recommended!
We left Varanasi after a couple of hot, crowded and amazing days. The night train took us through the heart of Uttar Pradesh state and dark train depots filled with many many Indians, cows, monkeys(!) and the special ‘not so tight’ Indian Railways timetable. We finally got to the northern state of Uttaranchal at noon, where we were dropped off at a clean train depot, and a quick taxi that took us through Himalayan slopes and a new road (with a true and honored dividing lane!) to the touristic town of Nainital. As in Pokhara, the city is situated next to a nice lake (tal) and offers alot of restaurants, shopping, and activities such as boating, horseback riding and even a gondola (rakevel) to ‘Snowview’ (Himalayan peaks, which can be seen in October apparently…)
As opposed to Pokhara, Nainital’s tourists are domestic (Indians): honeymooners and middle class students and families on vacation. From what I have seen in India, Nainital is the extreme contrast to Varanasi: clean, organized, public order with great weather and only the good smells of food, spices and incense without all of the bad ones.
Ok, so we left Nainital for some more trekking inthe himalayas. You can see for yourselves until we get back:
http://www.kmvn.org/trekking-routes-pindari-glacier-trek.html
Salamat!
