Our first view of Hemkunt Sahib Gurdwara. The langar hall is in the building in the foreground.
As we entered this was the view to the right. It's the end of the trail for those who took horses/mules or the switch backs rather than the steps.
Another view of the entrance area.
A closer view of Hemkunt Sahib and the langar hall, as you can tell it was very foggy when we arrived.
The fog lifted briefly a few times, enabling us to see the full extent of the lake.
I took swimming trunks so that my katcheras would remain dry for the hike down.
Everyone who was taking dips was doing so for a few seconds, I decided I needed to do some banis, so I did Tav Prasad Savaiyay and Baynti Chaupi Sahib in the water, it took me about 10 or 15 minutes. I was shivering uncontrollably by the end, but since I used my hands to hold my Sunder Gutka out of the water, they weren't freezing and it was easy to change back into my bana, but it still took me a while to warm back up.
The Gurdwara is the upper floor of the main building while the ground floor holds the shoes and other machinery. Since it was raining and cold Sita put on her large jacket and gloves before we went into the Gurdwara.
Looking out at the rain from the ground floor of the Gurdwara.
Inside the gurdwara I couldn't hold my hands straight for a good picture because I was still shivering from my time in the lake.
Pictures of the Gurdwara and Sangat. The sangat wrapped blankets around themselves to stay warm.
The stairs down from the main Diwan to the ground floor.
Pictures of a machinery room on the first floor. I didn't think I'd be reminded of being at a ski lodge while at Hemkunt, but somehow this did it.
More picttures from the outside. The roof is steeply sloped to handle the heavy snowloads of the winter.
I took this picture because I thought it interesting to see a picture of the Gurdwara posted on the Gurdwara itself. Recursion.
Sita trying to stay warm.
The whole way up people who have made the trek etched or scribbled their names on rocks, I suppose some thought it appropriate to graffiti the Gurdwara building itself.
Intricate marble work at the entry way is at odds with the parts of the wall where the marble is missing. I didn't realize the Hemkunt Sahib was in need of a renovation, but it is.
A picture of the small Hindu temple, we didn't go there.
Because of the rain we had to put on the our plastic rain coats.
This person really wanted a piture with me. We took one which he wanted me to email to him. He was worried I would forget his email so after the first picture he found a pen and paper wrote down his email address and chased us down barefoot after we had alredy descended a few hundred feet.
Pictures of the journey back down to Gobindghat.
About half way down the rain stopped and we had to ditch the raincoats because they were keeping us hot, even the the morning air was cool.
As you can see I took the bigger backpack down as well as up, but if you think Sita had it easy, think again, she was as sore as me at the end of this. I think the way down is what left us sore as we had to use all our leg muscles to resist against gravity and allow ourselves controlled steps. It was atually so gruelling that I'm still slightly sore 5 days later.
Back at the car we left Gobind Dham around 9 am. It took us only 2 hours to get down from Gobind Ghat to Gobind Dham.
After about an hour and a half on the road we had to stop and wait for an hour. The delay was a protest by local villagers to the urge the government to improve their conditions.
One can't complain much about being delayed anywhere in this area as they'll still have great views of the beautiful Himalayan mountains.
I made sure I got at least one photo of one of the many protruding rocks we drove under on this route.
A few more pics on the way to Rishikesh.
The view from the veranda next to our room at our hotel in Rishikesh. It just got dark as we arrived in Rishikesh.
