Last trek was awesome - like everything else on this trip, it lived up to every expectation and way beyond. Sorry, I did write a diary, intending to put extracts on this, but it was crap - which I think was due to the fact that I was so incredibly content I just didn't write - well, not much worth reading anyway. It gets a bit boring reading "it was fab" "what a wonderful day" etc. So I wont bore you! I will sort some good extracts in due course and post them, and some pics - but for now (extrememly short of time) suffice to say the mountains were just wonderful (HOW have I waited 30 years before coming back to the himalayas???) and the forests were fab - and the flora and fauna just incredible - carpets of minature flowers - things we have in our garden just everywhere, but tiny - and huge, red rhododendrons, and, I kid you not, we had a leapord and her cub prowling round our campsite one night, and the next morning followed in the very fresh footprints of a bear. Returning to Rishikesh and walking a couple of kilometers away in the forest we came across wild elephant poo.
Rishikesh has been a mad rush for 2 days (mostly with no internet access) to get ready for this next trek - the plan is to go to Gangotri in the company of hundreds (maybe thousands?) of pilgrims, the temple there opens tomorrow and hopefully I'll be there for the ceremony - its a huge pilgrimage for Hindus. Then up to the source of the river where it comes out of the glacier, then up above the glacier to get a look at the fabulous Shivling and many more. Weather a bit iffey - if its bad it may not all happen. Actually at the moment I'm most worried about landslides - the roads are cut from the sides of the gorge and landslides are common, its a very unstable landscape. And sometimes they (ie the landslides) take the road and everything on it with them down the mountain and into the river. Or we might just get snarled up in traffic jams and closed roads and not get there til after the ceremony!!!
Have just given Rs 35,000 (1 british pound = R83 ish) and my passport to somebody I have known less than 2 weeks to arrange it all..............its good to trust!!! To be fair he returned my passport last night and has just rung to say he's coming to get me in 5 minutes....................
Bye bye.........................if all goes well I'll be back on around 19th!
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