Journey to Yamunotri

Journey to Yamunotri

Uttarakhand char Dham yatra begins with yatra to Yamunotri. The other three Dhams are Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath. The journey to Yamunotri can be taken from Rishikesh and Dehradun. From Dehradun the journey route is from Mussoorie – Kempty falls, whereas the journey from Rishikesh is via Chamba. Most of the tour operators prefer to opt the Rishikesh based route and that can be witnessed along the Rishikesh – Yamunotri route.

The route is as follows:

Sl no.	Place	Altitude (mtr.)	Distance (km)	Progressive distance(km)
1	Rishikesh	340	-
2	Narendra nagar	1067	16	16
3	Chamba	1543	46	62
4	Chinyalisaur	970	73	135
5	Dharasu	1036	5	140
6	Barkot	1828	55	195
7	Sayanachatti	1982	29	224
8	Hanumanchatti	2134	5	229
9	Jankibaichatti	2576	7	236
10	Yamunotri	3323	6 (trek)	242

  

Best season : May to June and September to October.

Narendra nagar : This place is a small beautiful hill resort town. It’s a gradual climb of 16 km from Rishikesh. One can view Rishikesh town while moving upwards to this town. This town is famous for being once the capital of old State of Tehri Garhwal.

Chamba: This place is 46 km from Narendra nagar. From Chamba one can view Bandarpoonch and other snow peaks. Due to submergence of old route of Tehri town for dam, a new route has been constructed via Kamand. At Chamba, one can refresh himself by having tea / breakfast. The total distance from Rishikesh to Chamba is 62 km, and normally it takes 2 hours to reach Chamba  from Rishikesh.

Chinyalisaur: This town is an altitude of 970 mtr. and 73 km from Chamba. At this place one can halt for little break for refreshment as it is an average 2 and half hours continuous journey from Chamba. The sacred Bharirathi river touches this town and the Tehri Dam reservoir ends  here. The same Bhagirathi river becomes Ganga at Deo prayag confluence after merging with Alaknanda river.

Dharasu: This town from Chinyalisaur is at 5 km distance. At Dharasu, Khurmola rivulet meets Bhagirathi. From here two roads branch off to Gangotri  and Yamunotri. The road to Yamunotri is along the valley of Khurmola.

Barkot: This town is 65 km from Dharasu. The forests are full with rhododendrons and trees. The famous Bandarpoonch peak can be viewed from here. A plenty of seasonal fruits can be found here i.e. apples, pears, walnuts etc. This town is the place where the roads from  Rishikesh and Mussoorie meet   here. The last minute buying can be done here as this is the last major town in this route.

Sayanachatti : This village is on the banks of Yamuna amidst forest. In the old days, the term chatti was used for the for the places to stay. That’s why the name suggests its importance.

Hanumanchatti: This place is 5 km from Sayanachatti, having a beautiful surrounding. This was last motor head for last many years. It is no more the last motor head.

Jankibaichatti : This is the last motor head. This is a busy place, because a same day return trip is organized from here. A tourist bungalow and few small hotels operate here. Few temporary shops remain open for daily need things.

Trek to Yamunotri: The trek should start early morning so that one returns back by evening. The journey can also be done by hiring horses and dandys. The trek is difficult but fascinating and rewarding of course. It is a journey into Himalaya surrounded by rhododendrons, conifers and several other plane species. One can view snow clad mountains in surrounding areas. 

For more please visit:http://www.dreammountain.net/yamunotri/