The road to Gangatori took us north into the Himalayan Mountains. We wound in and out of side valleys along the Ganges River. This valley is flatter and wider than most because in some fairly recent past age an earthquake formed a dam across the valley and for a long time there was a lake here where the sediments carried down by the Ganges from its source could settle forming this wide valley. (21 May 2015)
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The source of the Ganges’ water on this branch of the river is in the snows and glaciers of the mountains in this view up the Gangotri valley from the village. This is how they looked from the balcony of our hotel. This is how they looked from almost any point in Gangotri. The next page, our Gangotri 2 page, is dedicated entirely to these mountains. This page continues with other mountains and views in and around the village. (16 May 2015)
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It is considered a very holy action to bath in the Ganges here. Throughout the day, people emerge themselves in its ice-cold waters. Even in the early morning when the air was only a few degrees above freezing, bathers were there cleansing themselves. I shivered for them. (15 May 2015)
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The women had their own place for bathing down river a bit. They were out there as early as the men were. (5 May 2015)
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Though Petra did not take an immersion bath, she did stand in the ice water up to her knees. I refrained. We came back to this quiet place a bit up river from the village to meditate several times. (5 May 2015)
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Though it broke up somewhat while we were there, this ice bridge, formed by unmelted winter snow coming down a ravine, allowed people to walk over the river at this late time of the year. Gangotri, at over 10,000 feet (3,050 meters), is only open from early April to late September. Everyone, almost the entire village, goes down the mountain for the winter. Only sadus, holy men, stay throughout the year. The roads are not maintained during the winter. (5 May 2015)
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Splitting Gangotri, the Ganges goes over a high falls into a deep gorge. The rocks are smooth from the ravages of spring run-off. (16 May 2015)
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Gangotri is in a steep valley. These mountains tower over us just to the south of the village. (16 May 2015)
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West of the village down the valley these mountains form the walls of the valley. (16 May 2015)
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Here the Ganges flows past upper Gangotri. Just on the point of the evergreen branch here, the four domes locate the very holy Gangotri temple that is a destination of Hindu pilgrims. The domes make it look more like a Russian church than a Hindu temple.
The hotel we stayed in is above the big rock in the middle of the picture and just left of the temple. We had a wonderful top floor balcony. The Ganges roared in our ears whenever we were there, music in the night. (16 May 2015)
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Mike frames a view of Gangotri a little downstream of the previous picture. The restaurant we ate in every day while we were in Gangotri is below the two (actually 3—looks like 2 here) story building you see to the right of the big rock. We liked it. (16 May 2015)
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Petra, a woman from America, and a woman from Uttarkashi relax waiting for their food in our restaurant on a cool evening. (15 May 2015)
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Workers in our restaurant, the Ganga Putra Hotel Restaurant, take a few seconds to smile for my camera. The one on the right was our regular waiter. The one in the left center was our master chai (tea) maker. (20 May 2015)
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Two cooks also relax a minute waiting for the next order. They are often very busy in this enjoyable restaurant (20 May 2015)
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A cook cleans up while a waiter waits for his next customer. Someone must have said something funny. In case you missed it, we liked this restaurant, the Ganga Putra Hotel Restaurant. (20 May 2015)
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The future Ganges River water sits in the mountains beyond the upper end of the main Gangotri street. (19 May 2015)
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Our hotel operator sits in the store he runs in front of his hotel, the Purohit Sadan. (19 May 2015)
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We walked a few kilometers south of Gangotri through a forest that made me feel more like I was in the Pacific Northwest of the United States than in India. (15 May 2015)
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Petra walks in the same forest a few days later. A few kilometers down the path, there is a low cave where Indian mythical gods are said to have stayed in exile for several years. The cave was low, dark, and smoky and attended by a sadu, a holy man. (20 May 2015)
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