Going to Gangotri has always been on top of my to do list. It wasn’t so much of a religious pilgrimage but a fascination with mountains and glaciers. So when Thomas Cook offered a helicopter tour luxury package of Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath, we jumped right on it. We had been to Dehradun in 2023 and had been thinking of doing daily trips to these places using Dehradun as a base. What Thomas Cook was offering was night stay near each of these places and transport between these places by a helicopter. It was a very quick 5 day trip and seemed to be perfect.
Then came the caveats. The hotels would be the best that the location could offer. Given that these places are not open through out the year, these would be decent hotels but would not be top of the line or even what we would expect in a 3 star hotel in any city in India. The second caveat that the entire itinerary depended on the weather and if the weather was bad, they would have to skip one or more of the four places. But it was their priority to ensure that we would cover all four places or they would refund a portion of the fare. Weather can be unpredictable in the Himalayas and since safety was the first priority, this too was non negotiable. After all with a helicopter, we can’t take chances. And a road trip would be so much more unpredictable. Then came the third caveat which turned the whole thing upside down. They expected each passenger to weigh in at less than 75kgs and to not carry more than 5 kgs of clothes and luggage. I was tipping the scale at home at 86-87 kgs and there was no way I would lose 10-12 kgs in a few months. And how does one pack only 5 kgs. It was going to be cold and we needed woolens and 5 kgs just seemed impossible. But it was what it was and we booked the trip.
There were four of us and though I was the strongest (heaviest), the combined weight of the 4 of us was below 300 kgs. But they were quite adamant that each person had to be weighed separately. The flight to Dehradun too wasn’t cheap as that was our base from which we would go on this trip. We were told that we had to arrive a day before and plan our return as late as possible (at least after 6 pm) on the last day. We chose late September and early October for our trip because we expected that the monsoon would have retreated by then. Given the unpredictability of the monsoon, we put in some best effort guesses and chose our dates carefully. End of September seemed to be a good bet with the retreat of the monsoons and the cold weather not biting too hard yet.
The road to hell is paved with good intentions. Anything that can go wrong will go wrong. The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry. All these sayings threatened to come to life as we approached September. Viral fevers, Chikunguniya and a whole lot of other things came to haunt us. Chikunguniya brought joint pains and doctors warned us that the cold weather of the hills would only make it more severe. When we didn’t cow in to these threats, good news too came to see if we would alter our plans. Roshni’s wedding suddenly got fixed and a whole lot of work fell upon Raj and Madhuri, who were travelling with us. They had warned us months ago, that nothing will stop them from this trip other than Roshni’s wedding getting fixed. The Gods seemed to have every intent to stop us from going. In early September we had no clue that Roshni would get a match but before mid September, a wonderful young man, from a beautiful family, was introduced and the match seemed to be made in heaven. Raj and Madhuri rose to the occasion and finished as much of the work as they could before the trip and we took off to Dehradun.
At the wonderful Hyatt Regency Resort and Spa, we were treated to a beautiful day of food and luxury. As the evening rolled by Thomas Cook’s representatives came to brief us on the plans for the next day. They brought weighing machines too. There we met our fellow travellers. Each chopper could carry 6 people apart from the pilot and luggage. They gave us all the dos and don’ts and then finally said that if the weather gods are pleased, we will have a good trip. They also advised us to relax and let things happen, as we would not have much control over the next few days.
That’s when the caveats really started rolling in. They weighed us and to everyone’s surprise, the electronic scales showed each of us around 3-4 kgs more than we thought we were. Of course we were in full gear but I tipped the scale at nearly 91 kgs. It was absurd. Isn’t weight supposed to decrease with altitude? Then they gave us bags that we had to use for the trip. Our newly bought rugged rucksacks were of no use. They said that they had no clue when we would take off the next day but asked us to have breakfast and be ready by 10:30. They told us not to check out of the hotel, come what may. Then they told us that the day’s helicopter had still not come in because of bad weather. Apparently the pilgrims were stuck where they were.
Day 1
So the next morning, we got up and had breakfast and spent the day waiting. At noon we still hadn’t heard from them. But the hotel wanted us to check out. Thomas Cook handed us over to the flying company called Heritage Aviation. If you are the investigative kind, you should look into the structure and ownership of Heritage Aviation! So we got the hotel to talk to the aviation company and they decided to move us to another Hyatt. Cars were arranged and we arrived at the Hyatt at Rajour Road but guess what they didn’t have any rooms. It was nearly 1:30 pm and I suggested we have lunch at the mall next door. The company guys didn’t want us to go because they were supposed to arrange lunch for us. It was nearly 2 and we decided to have lunch at the Hyatt at our own expense. Just as we ordered food, we got a call that a cab had come to take us to another hotel. We told them to take our luggage and we would get a cab later. We found that the mall next door had a recently released Telugu movie (Devaraa) playing and booked it for later that evening. We knew we would not take off that day. The food took a long time coming but it was well worth the wait. The Amritsari Kulchas were awesome.
We took a cab to the new hotel, checked in and came back to the mall to watch Devaraa. We were now in the calm space that they had asked us to be in. We were just going with the flow.
Later that evening we were told to be ready by 5:30 am the next morning and that we would be rushed to Yamunotri.
Day 2
A view of the mountains from the helicopter
We reached the helipad by 7 am and weighed in and got our luggage checked in. We had a little bit of extra stuff, which they said they would keep in their cloak room. And surprise surprise, they didn’t charge me anything extra though I weighed in at 88 kgs. My weight was offset by the others in my group. As each helicopter took off, we waited our turn with increasing frustration. Finally our turn came and we were whisked away to the chopper on a buggy and bundled into the chopper. We took off just after 8 am and were on our way to Yamunotri. The weather had cleared up and it was beautiful ride over Mussoorie and quite close to the Yamunotri glacier. We were quickly deboarded and the next group onboarded in a very well coordinated act by the ground staff and within a few minutes the helicopter was away on it’s next leg. They were making the most of the weather. We walked to the hotel where we were asked to freshen up for the steep 6 km trek up to the Yamunotri temple. We were given a breakfast of packed parantha and poha which was already cold. We were assigned one palki each with four sherpas bearing our load. I said I would prefer to start walking and took off in a quick stride. The sherpa asked me to slow down and pace myself. It was really steep and seemed to be at a 30 degree incline at times. Soon enough I was on the palki and was being carried by the four sherpas. But even they struggled under my weight. We stopped for breakfast and should have ordered more of the local food but had the parantha and poha along with some hot tea and maggi in the shop. We set off again on the steep ascent. Eventually I walked around 40-50% and was carried the rest of the way on the palki. Those who braved the walk and walked 70-80% were done by the time we reached the temple. The stop at the temple was quick and the steaming hot spring in the cold air was a sight to behold. We were in a hurry as the plan was to fly to Gangotri on the same day to make up for lost time. We came down the mountain much more quickly and waited at the hotel for our chopper. I was completely winded with the 6 km trek. Make no mistake, the ascent is very tough unless you pace yourself well. It was an 850 meter ascent over 6 kms. I have done Bhutan’s Tiger Nest and this is much more rugged. And it is crowded with palkis and walkers and horses and everything else in between.
Stunningly beautiful entry into Gangotri
Soon our helicopter landed and we rushed off to the landing site and were on our way to Gangotri. We were quickly taken to the hotel when we realised our legs had taken a beating due to the ascent at Yamunotri. The guide assured us that we would be ok and he would take care of us and urged us to come to the Gangotri temple. What a beautiful sight it was. The glistening snow capped peaks in the background as we walked to the temple. And yet the gaps in the glacier were clearly visible. The tree line was well below where the glacier ended. It was obvious that the glacier had retreated a lot over the past decades. And despite all this surrounded by the peaks of the mighty Himalayas, hope didn’t blink. The snow capped glistening peak of the Sudarshan parbat seemed to offer some hope that we would turn the corner and things would be alright. I am not a big believer but the pervading hope can make a believer out of anyone. It was a great place to spend an evening but we had to return as dusk fell and our tired legs and breathlessness told us that we needed the rest.
One of the helicopters that ferried us on this incredible journey
Entering the Gangotri temple
An incredible view of Sudarshan parbat from Gangotri
Day 3
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| Kedarnath |
We were again asked to be ready early the next morning by 6:30 to head to Kedarnath. The helipad that we used while landing at Gangotri was quite far and the one where we were taking off from was very close to the hotel. There are many helipads and the weather determines which helipad is used. We were lucky to take off from the helipad that was very close to us and landed directly at Kedarnath. We were earlier told that we would land near the hotel and then take another chopper up to the temple. But this helped us cut our time as we arrived directly at Kedarnath. We had a good darsham and came back to the helipad. Just before we reached the helipad we stopped off for tea and samosas as our tour guides waited for our chopper. Finally our turn came an hour or so later and we were off to our hotel. The hotel was beautifully picturesque and had it’s own helipad. We checked in and waited for lunch. After lunch we had our legs massaged but the tiredness just didn’t leave us. Though they planned a trip to one of the temples, we didn’t go and preferred to stay in the hotel and enjoy the clear view of the mountains. The number of choppers flying in and out every few minutes was astounding. It was almost non stop. Of course that also brought the stench of ATF (kerosene) as we lay on the chairs outside the rooms. That night, we were again told that we would take off early by 7:30 am.
Day 4
Finally at Badrinath - A view of our hotel surrounded by incredible mountains
We took off early the next morning to Badrinath and checked into our hotel. The rooms were not ready, so we headed off to the temple. The throng of crowds pushing and jostling for space was too much to bear. But the darshan, when we finally got there was, smooth and very good. It was a long walk back to the cars as we headed back to the hotel. The rooms were still not ready and we waited for another hour to get into our rooms. We had no more energy to go to the first village of India, Mana and decided to go for a walk around Badrinath.
Just before 6 or 7 pm, our phones which had an increasingly patchy signal completely lost signal. We had BSNL and Airtel and neither worked. Even the hotel WiFi didn’t work. We were told that only Jio works in such situations. We thought it was a short outage but it lasted till 6 am the next morning.
The next morning, brought Vishnu Sahasranama and other prayers at 4 am at the temple. After breakfast, we quickly headed off to the helipad, as new groups of pilgrims arrived at the hotel and the house keeping staff worked at a frenetic pace to clean up the rooms. At the helipad, we were told, that we would have to wait as our chopper would land and switch off it’s engines as the Army had instructed it to. We then came to know that the Indo Kazakh 2024 army exercise was happening quite close to us and the airspace was restricted. After waiting in the cars were over 30 mins, we were told to head back to the hotel, as we would be delayed by an hour or two. We just had our first cup of tea at the hotel, when we were asked to rush back to the helipad. The pilot told us that we were cleared for take off and that we would receive further instructions en route as the Army cleared a path for us. We headed south over Rudraprayag, Devprayag, Haridwar and Rishikesh before landing at Dehradun avoiding the restricted airspace through a slightly circuitous route. We couldn’t wait to get home, as we were not only tired but started falling ill too.
A last glance before we leave Badrinath for Dehradun
A beautiful trip with excellent darshan at every temple, courtesy the luxury package of VIP tickets. But if I were to warn future travellers, these are a few more caveats to bear in mind.
Cautions and be aware
Most starts of ours were early, so we missed or had late breakfasts and shorter sleeps at night. I think this hurt me more than anything else and took a toll on my physical ability. You may have late starts and may have a different set of issues.
Accepting and going with the flow is a given. Be prepared for every eventuality, because even among our group, some of them were delayed by 2-3 hours though they were at the helipad with us. Some were so delayed they stayed at Kedarnath near the temple and couldn’t get a ride down to the hotel. So be prepared for every eventuality. The courteousness of the staff of Heritage Aviation and Thomas Cook was outstanding. But even they are hampered by helicopter availability, weather and armed forces restrictions.
Carry medicines for every eventuality. Just in case.
Phone signal is patchy at best, so if you plan to keep your loved ones updated, let them know that the signal is patchy and send them frequent updates, as you never know when you will lose signal.
Unpredictability is given in every situation here. If you have the luxury of time and do not mind spending long times in the car, a well planned road trip may serve you better. Good cabs are available at Dehradun from Garhwal cabs. You can plan to drive only 6 hours a day and enjoy the rest of the day and give yourself a day’s break every couple of days to really enjoy the mountains.
All the guides we met were exceptional in every way.
