Where the Ganga is Born
Where the Ganga Begins Gangotri · Gaumukh · Tapovan Uttarakhand, India 14,640 ft 5 days on trail It started with a WhatsApp message. My friend Sandeep asked if I wanted to join his team from the Karnataka Mountaineering Association for a trek to Gangotri, Gaumukh, and Tapovan. This was something I had wanted to do for a long time. I said yes before I could overthink it. We had a briefing in Bengaluru, got our sleeping bags and rucksacks, and then suddenly it was the day of travel. I met a lot of people but couldn't hold on to names. When we all gathered in Dehradun, the nerves hit me properly. I was probably the only one there doing their first Himalayan trek. I didn't follow a fitness regime, and age wasn't helping either. But I looked around and saw people much older than me, moving with confidence, and that quietly settled something inside me. I walk a lot during regular trips and I held on to that. We had two days in Gangotri to acclimatise. We did a practice trek, visi...