Monday, June 30, 2014

DAY 125 - MUZAFFARNAGAR


125) SUNDAY, 30 OCTOBER 1977: 213KMS. - MUZAFFARNAGAR 

 

We drove via HAR(I)DWAR,  the town where the River Ganga, after flowing for 253 kilometers (157 mi) from the source at Gaumukh at the edge of Gangotri Glacier, enters the Gangetic Plain for the first time (wiki). 
At this place many Hindus come to take a sacred bath to wash away their sins as they believe. I saw a flock of parrots crying very loudly. 


YAMUNA River - Photo . religion.Emo.edu / Google images search


Today our parking place for overnight was in the public park called Kamala Nehru Matica. We were friendly welcomed by the owner of a park restuarant, like a long time acquaintances.. 











 






Sunday, June 29, 2014

DAY 124 - NAHAN



 124) SATURDAY, 29 OCTOBER 1977: 159KMS. - NAHAN
 

For another day, we drove the whole day crossing the mountains over and over  that I felt very  dizzy because of roundabout  route. Some parts of the roadsides collapsed from the top down or fell down to another steep side.  It looks very dangerous because sometimes there are also big stones falling down, in the latter case it is a high cliff.


http://munichtomadras1977.blogspot.com







Saturday, June 28, 2014

DAY 123 - MAHAL



123) FRIDAY, 28 OCTOBER 1977 : 201KMS. - MAHAL

 
http://munichtomadras1977.blogspot.com


Today, we drove on the mountains, crossing one after another. At the horizon, we saw snow covered mountain tops of the Hamalayas, all in white !


Small waterfalls on the roadside - http://munichtomadras1977.blogspot.com








Friday, June 27, 2014

DAY 122 - KULLU



122) THURSDAY, 27 OCTOBER 1977 : 41KMS.

We drove from  MANALI back to KULLU, where the Dussehra Hindu Festival took place as the final day. There were procession of Hindu deities, parading around the ground fair.  People came to participate and celebrate  more than other days earlier.

 
Tribe women in kULLU - http://munichtomadras1977.blogspot.com


http://munichtomadras1977.blogspot.com

I saw  KULLU women walking through the space under the elephant belly and the ground with the belief of having good luck like many people having such faith and do it in Thailand.  Probably, our ancestors have accepted the same faith and belief influenced by Indian culture.


http://munichtomadras1977.blogspot.com
 
People believe that if we pass under the elephant, the evil things may keep away from us.

 





Thursday, June 26, 2014

DAY 121 – MANALI



121) WEDNESDAY, 26 OCTOBER 1977 : 0KMS. - MANALI

The sun shone very brightly this morning, but the weather was very cold in the early morning. The temperature in the van dropped to 10 degrees C and we had to make use of the oil burner , that we normally use for cooking  as heater to keep us warm. The sky was blue  against the white color of the snow on the peaks that created the view  of indescribable beauty. I saw this as a good weather day to   change thermostatt  of the radiator, having been almost out of order since last few days.  Because the temperature went up to a boiling  point  many times that we had to stop  the motor frequently and tapped  and added some  water .

 
MANALI Town - Photo : wikipedia.org / Google images search
 

After having changed the thermostatt , we headed to the north of the city,  intended to drive a hike to the ROTHANG PASS  but  as we were about the middle of our  way, when  reaching  the bridge to cross the last high mountain of 12,000 ft.  we  failed  in accelerating our van further  up. Because there was snow on the road and it was frozen  and so slippery that our van flowed backward.   


KULLO-MANALI route - http://munichtomadras1977.blogspot.com

We were discourage seeing   a deep chasm  on one side of the road and I kept  praying.  We felt very pity that we could not go beyond the ROTHANG PASS, as we wanted to take this road on our way to go further to LADAHK but we finally decided to return  !  It was not easy , before we could turn back our van  we had to lift and move some big stones . It was also very  cold.  


http://munichtomadras1977.blogspot.com

However,  the road from MANALI was very beautiful, with streams, waterfalls, caves, forests and birds all the way.  Some parts of the road  were in very bad condition, bumpy and muddy, covered with  water as lot of snow falling.  The road was very narrow and dangerous being on very high altitude.  Because of its natural beauty , it helped  encouraging us to travel along the  road of the high mountain about 10,000 ft.  We saw small villages of  Tibetan  refugees looking very poor because they were living in tents  in combination with ashalt  tanks  and soil.  I understood  that they were accustomed to cold weather and it would be no problem for them.