Salda -> Tehri (9.5.25)

Bird’s eye view:

Today we travelled around 110 km, roughly northward, from Salda to Tehri, via Devprayag again. The one hour drive back to Devprayag was by the same single lane, then we hit the NH for around ten minutes, and then we were shunted off once again to a single lane road to Tehri.

We left at 8.00 am and reached Tehri at 1.00 pm, a little extended in time as we were forced to stop repeatedly, so great were the views.

Tehri sports a huge reservoir, because of a dam on the Bhagirathi, just after the river Bhilangna joins it. Height of Tehri is not much, just 5740 ft, so we were wearing summer clothes.

Leaving Salda (8.00 am):

We left without having breakfast, much to the chagrin of the super-hospitable Mr Chetan. It was only exceeded by his disappointment at us not having played the saap sidi game, which, I suspect, would have involved physically climbing up ladders and descending through slides, a pastime more suited to spirited five-year-olds.

The road back to Devprayag, which takes around an hour, was as enjoyable as yesterday, a mostly immaculate single-lane winding through the pine forests. 

We did not tarry at Devprayag again, although we were awed by seeing the Bhagirathi once again, her green saree flowing with the wind. We had some rough plan of catching some breakfast at Devprayag, but as usual, parking was an issue, and suddenly we found that Googlemaps had kicked us out of town, onto another single track, which to our delight, was following the Bhagirathi through the mountains.

A breakfast date with Bhagirathi (9.30 am):

We were looking out for the usual Maggi points on this route. But we had miscalculated. So remote and little used was this route, that miles would pass before we would see another car, and hours would pass before another cluster of houses would catch our eye. Maggi point? Forget it. 

The drive was divine. The rain gods seemed to be partying elsewhere, so the sun was holding forth with full confidence, bathing the whole valley with brilliance. The green forests shone with at least three shades, the small buildings on the hillside seemed to be painted with fluorescent paint, and Bhagirathi was more emerald than ever, winding along a hundred feet or so below us.

We gave up on hopes of finding a food outlet, stopped the car, and scavenged inside. On a roadside culvert in a little shade, we laid out our rations - a croissant, some biscuits that tasted like macaroons, and cubes of cheese. What more did Bhagirathi want, on a date with us? We missed the tea though, not having carried hot water. But still, cheers!

The weather was hot, around 30 degC. Through a combination of ascent and descent, we seemed to be holding our height. As I said, I had not experienced such a remote ride before on this trip, except perhaps the journey from Pithoragarh to Munsiyari. The hillsides were terraced from top to bottom, and we had to stop and admire their patterned beauty. It was a lovely drive, one that any road-tripper would go out of his way to enjoy.

Reaching Tehri (1.00 pm):

Our target in Tehri was the Tehri Dam reservoir. At Tehri, the Bhagirathi flows in from the north, and the Bhilangna flows in from the east, and the outgoing Bhagirathi has been dammed up and harnessed for generating hydroelectric power of around 2400 MW. This project has created a reservoir or lake that stretches for 44 kms on the Bhagirathi and 25 kms on the Bhilangana, so you can imagine the amount of displacement of people this project had caused, said to be around 100,000. Environmental activist Sunderlal Bahuguna led a movement against the dam, notwithstanding which, the dam was commissioned in 1978. A new town, New Tehri has come up on a nearby hill where most of the displaced people now reside.

An hour before we reached Tehri, in fact, we had passed another small dam on the downstream Bhagirathi, called the Koteshwara dam. This reservoir was beautiful, having sort of fattened up Bhagirathi on the upstream side.

The final approach to the Tehri dam was while coming down a mountain, so you can imagine the views that open up during that 10 km stretch. The still water was glistening green, and the surrounding mountains sort of protected the jhil (as the reservoir is called locally) as if in the cup of their hands. Clouds reflected in the water added to the colours.

We were booked in the Tehri Lake Eco Huts, also run by GMVN, one of the few decent properties in the area that are next to the lake. Ours was one of six cottages on the premises, with the lake clearly visible from the deck in front. A very nice setup, with a separate sitting room and bedroom, although, being GMVN, maintenance was an issue. Since it was already 1.30 pm, we had lunch first, the usual as already known to you, took a bath, and relaxed for a couple of hours. It was hot, and the AC was required.

The waterfront (5.30 pm):

This place could not sport a sunset, as that happened on the reverse side from the lake, so we had no tension about missing it. We walked down to a Murugan Cafe next door and had a couple of coffees. The colour of the lake was now a pale green and we could see speedboats doing runs on the water from the water activity centre.

Picking up our car, we drove down the couple of kilometres to the waterfront, where rows of speedboats were lined up, along with a couple of parasailing boats and a banana boat. There were quite a number of tourists who were keen for the speedboat ride. I realised that this place Tehri is on the way from Uttarkashi to Rudraprayag, as people travel on their char dham yatra, so some operators perhaps include it as a relaxing break. We just sat on the rocks, watching the ebb and flow of people, smiling at their joys, enjoying the sight of boats zipping along the water leaving trails of white, the occasional parasailer being winched up directly from the boat, and all around, the mountains silently keeping watch, in different shades of blue, and the clouds above, now tinged with orange, carrying on their own operation sindoor.

We sat later at a cafe there, enjoying a plate of hot french fries. The weather was perfect, neither hot nor cold, with a balmy breeze soothing our minds. The sky darkened slowly till, at 7.00 pm, we returned to our rooms.

Dinner was again at the Murugan cafe, with their signature masala dosas. The dark hills opposite were lit up with twinkling lights of settlements and we could see the lights of the occasional car slowly crawling down the hillside. Surprisingly, there were no other customers at the cafe. Probably they were all indoors, enjoying a tipple.

Tomorrow, we travel to Uttarkashi. We had been debating whether to continue to the other destinations, in view of the disturbed border situation, then decided that these places were safe enough. Hope we are right.

Photo credits: Panna Rashmi Ray