GAUMUKH TEMPLE

This route leads to the sources of the Ganges. It is more a good walk than a real trek. The ascent to Gaumukh (3 900 m) is regular and is done by a well marked path, strewn with dhabas. It is impossible to get lost and therefore totally unnecessary to hire a guide. There is no word strong enough to describe the beauty of the place and the impression of serenity which emerges from it. While on the opposite side of the mountain, ibexes and marmots let themselves be seen according to their mood, the majestic eagles are impertinent in the eternal snows. During this time, the powerful Shivling (6 501 m), jealous of this spectacle, tries to divert your attention by dressing in light. It is enough to remain speechless, except for these hundreds of pilgrims who have only one word to the mouth: "Ja Bolé Ki!", to which it is necessary to answer with enthusiasm to the identical. This means roughly "prayer to Bolé", Bolé being the name of one of the many incarnations of Shiva. The majority of the tourists mark a stage in Bhojbasa, after 14 km (count 4 to 6 hours of walk). You will find there a guesthouse, an ashram, and a dozen dhabas which will propose to lodge you roughly. The latter are equipped with good blankets, and you will sleep in rows of onions. Gaumukh is 5 km upstream. The possibilities of lodging are less there: two dhabas and a tent only, but the atmosphere is impressive, especially in the evening when the clouds descend suddenly on the "camp". The glacier of Gaumukh is only a few hundred meters away. The pilgrims come to meditate there and bring back with them some drops of the sacred river. The small white temple is one of the Char Dham, one of the four sacred sites of Hinduism that every devotee must visit in order to attain moksha, the liberation from the cycle of reincarnations. The presiding deity is of course the goddess Ganga.

To extend the adventure 4 km beyond, towards the places of Tapovan (4 460 m) and Nandovan (4 340 m), a guide is more than recommended. The path is full of crevasses and these places are very difficult to find. Many tourists who tried their luck alone came back empty-handed and exhausted. The owners of the first dhaba will accompany you for a day. This said, you should know that the view is not much more spectacular than from Gaumukh. One sees a little more closely the Shivling and the other surrounding mountains, that's all!