After hours of uphill roads, suddenly you find yourself descending into the breathtaking Vista of a circular, stadium like valley, dropping as low as 900m above sea level. Your stunned eye travels down the face of the mountains, with their forests of rhododendron, pine and oak. It crosses long, vertical gashes of rock – scars left by landslides on an awesome scale – down past small, deep green squares of subsistence cultivation, and down further to the banks of the pounding, sometimes capricious Bhagirathi. There, you spot a quite lively, bustling and lovely town: Uttarkashi, the district capital. The drama of being here is unforgettable, for it is both visual- the deep cup of the valley allows you to take it in as a whole from virtually anywhere in the town – and aural – since, wherever you go you will hear the sound of the river, seemingly as loud and powerful as that of an ocean. And strangely, because the valley drops to such a low point – an altitude of only 3799 ft- the town Uttarkashi offers unusually warm weather for this latitude.
You may choose to make Uttarkashi merely an undistinguished stopping point on the way to destinations and pilgrimage centres in northern Garhwal, like Harsil or Yamunotri. Or you may , quite wisely, choose it as a base, spending a few days to absorb Uttarkashi town and fan out into intricate network of more and less accessible villages. In fact this a town with a strange sense of history and pride. The story goes that Uttarkashi was conceived of as an alternate , northern Kashi for the turmoil of Kaliyug. Here, as in Varanasi( Kashi) , the Ganga flows in the form of sickle, and it is said that the river changes course at will to correct the moral balance of the universe as , allegedly, in 1857 when it shifted from flowing north of the Vishwanath temple to south of it, leaving behind a large, rocky escarpment. Indeed, natural disasters, including floods, earthquakes, fires and landslides are a huge part of recent local memory but, with a startling resilience, Uttarkashi has only grown bigger after each one.
The ancient Vishwanath temple is close to the main market and the bus stand, and options for eating and checking your emails are not far away. There are several other temples in and around town. You have to walk to various places and this usually means uphill. The Nehru Institute of Mountaineering, is about 5 Km away. Ujeli , a kilometre from the centre of Uttarkashi, is a village known historically for its scholars and a row of very old ashrams along the Bhagirathi where you can find accommodation.
Things to Do
1. Taste The Thrill Of Trekking
2. Try Mountaineering.
3. Click Instagrammable Shots Of Snowy Peaks.
4. Wander Amid Apple And Walnut Plantations.
5. Visit Gangotri – The Scenic Char Dham.
6. Embark On A Day Excursion To Maneri Dam.
7. Climb Mount Thelu.
8. Be Part Of The Ganga Cleaning Triathlon Expedition.
9. Go Skiing In Auli.
how to reach
How to reach Uttarkashi by flight
Uttarkashi does not have its own airport, the nearest airport to the hill station is Dehradun airport. From Dehradun, you can take a bus or taxi to Uttarkashi.
Nearest Airport: Dehradun – 61 kms from Uttarkash
How to reach Uttarkashi by road
There are a number of the buses plying to Uttarkashi from Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and cities nearby. However, if you’re not comfortable travelling on a steep terrain, you should not consider travelling by road.
How to reach Uttarkashi by train
The nearest railway station to Uttarkashi is Dehradun railway station, at 143 km away from Uttarkashi. You can take a cab or bus from Dehradun to Uttarkashi.
