Packs of Monkeys

September 19, 2009 - Packs of monkeys running along the road. Women in Saris stacking rocks upon their head for transport. Just a couple a couple of sights while on a hair raising 10+ hour bus ride from Rishikesh to Joshimath well into the Himalayan foothills. Not to mention, spectacular views.

On Friday Neeraj and I met up with his friend Ankur at the Delhi train station to begin our trip to the mountains for trek into the Valley of Flowers. From Delhi it was a 5 hour train to Haridwar then a short bus ride to Rishikesh where the plains, mountains, and Ganges converge. It’s also where Ankur’s mother lives and where the Beatles wrote much of the White Album when visiting the Maharishi..

The mountain valley is said to be home to over 300 varieties of flowers. Peak season is July and August but that’s also the time of the monsoon. The road frequently closes due to landslides and washouts so visiting during the peak season can be difficult. Our plan is to visit the Valley anyway as well as hike up to a Sikh temple known as Hemkut. Just being in the Himalaya is reason enough to go..
Our bus tickets cost 250 rupees a piece. A little over 5 dollars. We checked the bus first before buying tickets because we had heard that the drive up could be pretty exposed along steep mountain sides. We were satisfied with what we saw so we made arrangements for the 6am bus. When we arrived at 6am we were surprised to see that members of the Indian Army would be riding with us and a couple of them were carrying rifles. I asked them what they were doing and they said they were going to the mountains to do some trekking. The bus took off on time and it wasn’t long before we made way into the Himalayan foothills. Mountains by anyone else’s standard. Packs of monkeys ran alongside as we passed through a forested area. Up we climbed and the road turned to dirt and narrowed in a few sections that only allowed 2 or 3 feet from an airy edge. I quickly got use to it and noticed our driver was very attentive which helped put my mind at ease. Also, I’ve already surrendered to the fact that I’m in India. A little further down the way I noticed women nicely dressed in saris stacking rocks upon their head. We paused for a break and a village. Instead of just going into the bushes to relieve myself I sought out a toilet. It was western style urinal. Not a good idea. I quickly realized it wasn’t hooked up to anything and that I was pissing on my boots. Best to stick with the bushes or Indian squat toilets. Back on the bus and I spied more monkeys along the road. They’re pretty creepy. As we climbed further into the foothills the views became more and more impressive. After about 10 ½ hours we arrived in Josimoth and checked into a place for the night.