Once upon a time in a land far far away cycled a princess named Briany.  She enjoyed wearing lycra, always had way too much  butter on her potatoes and sported thighs that wouldn’t be seen dead in a pencil skirt.  Brian’s muscles and dairy addictions aside, Uttarakhand has indeed been a fairytale over the last few weeks.  Clear skies and snow-capped vistas, lush landscapes, perfect roads and wild camping have put us firmly back in cycle touring heaven.

Fairytale Himalayan style

Straight from fairytales to grim stories, I recently read Wuthering Heights.  By the time I finished I was reaching for a stiff drink and I can only conclude Ms Bronte was a glass half empty kinda gal! One line set through the protagonists house maid though, is a view I must agree with.  Nelly says, ‘if one doesn’t rise well before 7am one has missed the best part of the day’. 

With a continued heatwave in India we’ve been on the bikes by 5:30am.  Waking up with the world has a magic all of it’s own.  The light is still glassy and fragile and seeps through people and nature alike as you whisper and delicately fumble through the opening of the day.  Lights are dappled, roads are quiet and the mountains are always at their sparkliest.

Empty morning roads, bliss

The heat on the flats from Bardia was stifling. Each night gave an option of; windows closed, fan full blast and still dripping like a chocolate teapot or pin the windows back and get freaky with the mosquitos. Suffice to say we were happy to see the hills and cooler climes that awaited on crossing the border back to India.

After the baptism of Sikkim and Nepal the roads in Uttarakhand deliver a much more affable incline.  It’s still a fair challenge but never seems to reach beyond our limits. We’re comfortably taking in a cumulative height of 7000ft per day and enjoying every minute.  This section of the foothills is much more forested and alpine which also lends a hand in keeping us cool.

The 5:30 starts take the sting from the tail but we’re still scorched as the sun reaches her zenith.  Luckily for us plumbing hasn’t arrived in these rural parts of India and natural springs and water pumps adorn the road sides as we go. Life here is still run by hand and it’s a pretty sight to see local villages congregate on these sources to chew the cuds and fill their vessels.

Princess Briany playing Cinderella

Taking back to the hills we were headed for our first stop of Kasar Devi.  A town straddled on a mountain ridge made famous by prior residents such as Bob Dylan and Timothy O’Leary.  People come for a day and stay a lifetime. Our mountain top neighbours where a Spanish lady who’d been there 9 years and her partner who’d called their cottage home since 1993. Hippies and charras (a hand rubbed oil from the cannabis plant) are a plenty and the vibe is floaty and chilled to the bone.

Our Kasar Devi cottage

We came for a 2 night visit but ended up staying 5.  Our home was a stone cottage, bucket showers and an open fire and gas canister to cook from in the corner of the room. Occasionally we stumble across places we could see ourselves staying in for a while.  Egridir Lake in Western Turkey, the museum town of Kopravstisa in Bulgaria and now the Himalayan ridge town of Kasar Devi.

Fireside cooking in Kasar Devi

Peeling oursleves from the hypnotic cloud of hippiedom we peddled on and up to the hill station town of Kausani.  As anyone who’s been to India will know, there is a great divide both through caste and wealth across the country.  Speaking to the long time visitors at our previous stop, two things seem to of happened in the last decade to fuel this.  Firstly when the economy started booming in 2006 attitudes changed and with the introduction of smart phones in 2010, through advertising and social media, brands are now far more prolific, have become signs of social status and consequently gained power.

In places like Kausani, where the middle class Indians come to holiday, prices sky-rocket and it’s strange to see the novelty of smart phones and brands being lapped up with such vigour.  In the short time since my last visit in 2012 you can feel the change in what I’m sure it’s both an exciting and challenging time for India. 

Suffice to say we couldn’t afford the rates in Kausani and moved on to the next valley for a more thrifty nights kip.  The climb the following morning saw us sharing the road with troops of load bearing mules and glimpsing mammoth owls swooping through the forest.  This constant shifting of India is the bedrock of it’s majesty. You go from feeling uncomfortable and ‘on the edge looking in’ one minute to having your soul filled to overflowing the next.

Donkies/mules and horse

Gigantic Indian owls, an amazing highlight from the road

From our pit stop of Gwaldam we had a 3000ft descent before joining the Pindar river for 25 miles ahead of our turn off to Joshimath.  It’s hard to convey the overloading feeling of starting the day surrounded by snow-capped peaks, followed by a 2 hour glide down a mountain side before being greeted by the roaring power of a white water river.  Travelling by bike means your climbs and descents come with a sense of pride and satisfaction that quite honestly can’t be measured.

Joining the Pindar River

At the junction with the Alaknanda river we started our final ascent to Joshimath where we would trek to the Valley of Flowers.  This road is a famous pilgrim route both for Sheikhs and Hindus to their respective sites of Hemkund Lake and Badrinath Temple.  Sweating our way up alongside pilgrims amidst the ridges and folds of the ruptured Himalayan crust, put us in a suitably spiritual frame of mind.  Although neither of us follow any particular faith one continues to understand the power and perspective that is absorbed through merely being in the presence of such natural wonder.

Himalayan road signs/parenting tips. A heavy-handed approach is always best 😉

Joining the pilgrims on the trek to Hemkund and Valley of Flowers

The trek to the Valley of Flowers alongside 6,000 Sheikh pilgrims was epic.  Hemkund Lake and the Valley both open on the 1st June and we were privileged to be the only people visiting the latter.  If I knew a way to embed a drum roll against the pictures below I would! The Valley of Flowers was another fairytale picture and we cut two very solitary and overjoyed boys amid the vastness of it all.

Drum roll please! The Valley of Flowers all to ourselves 🙂

A friendly Mika hiding in the Valley

Melting snow in the Valley

From hot plains to hippie towns and sweaty balls to crunching snow, we’re posting this blog from another infamous Indian jewel, Rishikesh. Sitting on the banks of the Ganges and made famous by the ashrams frequented by the Beatles in the 60’s, it’s certainly a place that’s changing with its country.  Extreme sports have inundated the mix here as another offering to the growing Indian palette. You can fiddle with your chakras, cleanse yourself in the Ganges and get an adrenalin hit all in one place, every customer’s happy.

We’ve some well-earned rest and admin days ahead now before we start the journey up to Shimla.  Who know’s what’s around the corner, glass slippers, ugly sisters and hopefully plenty more Himalayan magic.

Happy fairytales to ye all and BIG love from us both

Tommy & Brian

xxx