Chakrata and Gangotri Trip - 20th to 23rdSept'15

Hitesh and Shilpa came to Dehradun with a four days program from Bagalkot (Karnatka) and I planned a tight schedule to cover as much of Uttarakhand for them as possible. On 19th Sept evening, they came from Delhi by Jan Shatabdi and next day morning we left for our trip covering Kalsi, Chakrata, Hanol, Harsil, Gangotri and Mussoorie. Kalsi has Ashoka Rock Edict from 2nd century BC. Near Chakrata, there is a magnificent water fall of 212' height. To bathe below it was a real challenge and fun. The gush of water throws you out of pond. Over night we stayed at Snow View hotel in Chakrata. Sun rise view from here is an out of world experience. On way to Hanol came the largest girth Deodar tree at Kanasar. We tried to measure the girth but failed in doing so. Hanol's Mahasu devta temple is simply brilliant in it's architecture. The carvings on wood speak a lot on flora and fauna of the Region. The Tons and Yamuna rivers flow in this region where Duryodhana is worshiped by Jaunsari people. A long drive of 350 kms took us to Harsil vis Mori, Barkot and Uttarkashi. We stayed at GMVN guest house here. The river Bhagirathi flows by the side of guest house. Apple orchards around the guest house make you feel rich with ownership of so many apples. 25 kms from here is Gangotri (Ganga + Utri) where Ganga descended. Then we returned to Mussoorie via Uttarkashi and Suakholi. We stayed overnight at GMVN at Mussoorie and returned to Dehradun next day.