Last weekend we were in The Himalayas. My friend had come from Mumbai and we spent three days in the Foothills of the Himalayas.
In the morning, my friend and I started for Haridwar by motorbike. On a March morning, I thought the sun was a bit too harsh, but riding a bike was a lot of fun. Driving a motorbike at a speed of 100-120 km/hr. on the National Highway-58, watching the greenery spread all around us, we were heading towards Haridwar.
My friend was happy, and I was even more than him because I had a chance to come to this area after a long time. There was another reason why I was so happy; this trip had fulfilled my dream of traveling in the Himalayas by motorbike which was impossible if my friend hadn't forced me to do that.
We sat and had a cup of coffee just outside Roorkee and some food at a roadside open restaurant in a lovely flowery setting. Then we reached Haridwar within an hour and then Keeping our backpacks in a hotel, we set out to see the banks of the Ganges.
Haridwar is considered the gateway of Uttarakhand State at the foothills of the Himalayas. Haridwar is one of the seven major holy religious cities in India. It is also known as entrance of heaven. We visited the major pilgrimage canters because we wanted to see them for their architectural beauty. We proceeded to our hotel to retire for the night.
We got up early the next morning and started for Rishikesh, about 30 km from where we were staying in Haridwar. It took us a little over 30 minutes as the city area was crowded before we reached the Lakshman Jhula area, the main attraction of the town. We roamed around Rishikesh for a few minutes, had our breakfast, and then left for Narendra Nagar. We wanted to see the fort of the erstwhile king.
I must mention here that our journey had nothing to do with any religious angle, so after seeing Har Ki Pauri, River Ganges, etc., we headed towards Rishikesh. We crossed through Raja Ji National Park, the tiger reserve area, at around 8.30 in the morning, and reached Rishikesh on our way to Narendra Nagar.
Narendra Nagar is not as popular as it could be for two reasons. The first is that it is so close to Rishikesh and, secondly, they have made very few efforts to develop it into a tourist center, apart from a few yoga centers and a few restaurants, as it is situated on the Gangotri and Yamunotri routes.
We had traveled about one kilometer when the scenery started changing. We were now climbing on a spiral road towards the erstwhile Himalayan state of Narendra Nagar, which is just 15–16 km away on the Tehri-Uttarkashi highway. After riding for about 10-12 km, we took a right turn onto the road leading to Uttarkashi. Narendra Nagar was about 5 km from here.
Narendranagar is about 16 km from Rishikesh at an elevation of 4100 ft above sea level. We stopped at the entrance of Narendra Nagar, which welcomed us with a beautiful and charming sitting area offering beautiful views of the Ganga River and the Doon Valley. We were interested in seeing the fort of Narendra Nagar, the former king of Tehri state.
I must add here that one of our main interests in visiting Narendra Nagar was that we wanted to visit the fort of erstwhile king Narendra Shah, so when I asked a police officer whom I saw standing on the road outside the main police station, what he told me disappointed me a little. He said now the fort has been converted into a 5-star hotel and spa resort.
I took a photo of Ananda Spa Resort as I didn't find it appropriate to take pictures of a resort standing outside in full view of the guards at the gate.
Then someone told us, "If you are a nature lover and want to do something different, then you will love the adventurous journey from Hindolakhal on the Chamba road through lush green forests to the Kunjapuri temple, some distance from Narendra Nagar." But then it started raining, so we gave up the idea of going to Kunjapuri. But, I have my plan to do this beautiful trek on foot in coming days
We sat there in a small food joint for tea, etc., took some more pictures, and enjoyed the beauty of the surroundings. But we did not go to the temple. They told us that travelers like to watch the sunrise and sunset from the point where we were sitting at that moment, watching the Himalayan peaks.
We started our journey back to Rishikesh. My friend wanted to stay in Rishikesh, but I preferred going back to Haridwar. He had visited this area several times before and wanted to stay at Parmarth Niketan. Parmarth Niketan is the largest ashram in this area, which has thousands of rooms.
But we crossed the bridge and went to the Swargashram area. There we saw large gatherings of local and foreign people in different ashrams and market areas. Some people come in search of spirituality, some for yoga, and some like me, have no reason but to see natural beauty.
We visited Parmarth Niketan and sat there for a while. The main gate of the ashram opens at the ghat on the banks of the Ganges where they perform various religious acts, including Ganga Aarti every evening. We sat there for a while and then left for Haridwar, to retire for the night.
Next day was White Water River Rafting, that I will post later.
All images my camera
