Towards Gomukh
Walking about in the morning, I realised how much my leg was aching (from last evening's cramps). This became a cause for worry, since I did not know if I should trouble my legs more and try to get to Gomukh which was another 4 kilometres of a climb. But, then it came down to mind over matter. How could I come all this way and not see Gomukh? Had to be done. I mustered enough courage and walked out of the GMVN guest house to see one of the most spectacular sub bursts I have seen in my life. Here it is for you.
After some hot tea, we started on our trek towards Gomukh. The trail climbs up sharply from the guest house and then comes down a bit to follow the meandering and roaring river. Shortly after, its all barren and not even a blade of grass anywhere. But, there were some dark coloured small birds around. This part of the trek did not seem difficult except for my hurting leg. It did not seem to cold either though we were surrounded by glaciers. Perhaps because of a clear sky and bright sun. A kilometer or so before Gomukh we found this small waterbody, which seemed to have collected rain water. This small pool with turquoise water gave a very surreal appearance. The trail had loose pebble and dirt. Reason to be careful, I guess. The glaciers on the opposite bank were slightly brownish in colour, because of their age and dirt. Once in a while, a chunk of the glacier would break and fall into the river with a splash. There were a few pieces of rock falling on the trail too. The ambience was a little eerie, I admit.
Suddenly, we were able to see the Gomukh. This is what it is. The Ganges originates in Tibet, near the Mansarovar lake (as do the Yamuna and Brahmaputra) and flows underground to surface for the first time at Gomukh. The river comes out from inside a glacier, the opening is said to look like the mouth of a cow. With all my gestalt powers, I could not figure any resemblance between a cow and the glacial opening. But, its eerie and quite awe inspiring all the same. The focus of one's mind shifts towards the river and the layers of age old ice that form the roof of this gigantic ice cave as one slowly treks forward. It is all so quiet except for the roar of the river. There is actually nothing else that you can hear. One really seems to be enveloped by this lack of sound. We trudged along a bit more as the path rose a bit above the river bed and then we closed up to the rock face on the right bank of the glacier where the river appears.
I am not an aethist, but not too much of a practising man. When we sat down to rest on a boulder right in front of the cave, the atmospehere did raise a different kind of feeling. Something, one feels very rarely, perhaps when faced with something too huge or big to comprehend. Something there touched a nerve and made me confirm my belief in His presence. We sat there for about a couple of hours, taking in the whole scenario. I do remember that none of us spoke for that period of time. All of us seemed to be lost in thought and maybe the trek mates of mine were feeling what I was feeling too. This is a feeling, which is I fail to describe to clearly, remembering it gives me goose pimples even now. This is something which will never get erased from my memory.
There was this German couple who came in sometime later, and proceeded to have a bath in the river. I would have frozen to death, got hypothermia, pneumonia or all of the above. We dropped our backpacks and walked about a bit. Filled some of the river water in water bottles to take home. Washed our faces in the water, hands and feet too. And sat there, right next to the river again for some more time, barefeet this time.
beating the retreat...
Beating the Retreat
The afternoon sun made us realise that it was time to return. Unwillingly, we made ourselves get ready and start on the return journey to Bhojbasa. We returned hungry like wolves and very tired. Had some strange tasting but hot and over priced food. We whiled away the afternoon outside, constantly thinking of the experience and clicking a few pictures.
The next day we gingerly trekked back to Gangotri, taking even less than half the time it had taken us to get to Bhujbasa. However, we were put to our places by this youngster (who works at the guest house at Bhujbasa), who started after we did, crossed us on the way down and we were about half way down when he crossed us again in the opposite direction. After a semi long day, the sight of Gangotri was welcome. We needed to find a place to spend the night. We managed to find this GMVN run guest house on the other bank. It was clean and people were corteous. By evening, I noticed the blisters on my feet and the real after effects of punishing my sprained leg. A hot water bath helped immensely.
The next day we started on our way back to Uttarkashi and onward to Delhi, with its miserable heat and dust. You don't want me to write about that, do you?