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India -
Uttarakhand
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Written by Aum
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Monday, 10 March 2008 15:17 |
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Page 1 of 2
Nothing excites me more then exploring himalaya's mountain ranges on a mountain bike. So I put my cycle on my car and start driving towards Chamba which is a small town locate in Mussoorie ranges at the altitude of 7,500 feet above sea level in Tehri Garhwal district of uttarakhand. Chamba is 59 KM north from Rishikesh and 67 km east from Mussoorie. It took me 2 hours to reach chamba from Rishikesh driving uphill passing Narender nagar. The road is pretty good and this is also the highway to Uttarkashi and Gangotri after chamba. You will also pass by famous Ananda Spa and Resort on your way to chamba so if you like you can get best yoga sessions with relaxing massage here.
I reached Chamba at 2 PM and as I hit the main town I found it crowded place with lots of local shops and narrow roads connecting the town with other routes. There were also dust particles every where in the atmosphere leaving you with no feeling of a hill station. Finding a good hotel in Chamba was not very easy as this is less popular place for tourism. There were couple of good hotels in the region but room rates were very high in comparison to the services offered. So dropping the idea of booking a hotel I parked my car at some parking place, took out my mountain bike and started riding towards Tehri Dam. 
It is a good descend from Chamba to Tehri Dam so I was enjoying the down hill stretch all my way without much paddling. On the downhill winds were also very strong pushing me more and increasing my speed. Views on the way were fantastic with very less traffic on the road full of lush green fields every where. After riding about an hour I reached a spot from where I could see the massive water resrovoir built on holy river Ganga due to the conruction of Dam on it. Tehri dam is the 8th highest dam in the world built at the place where river ganga meets river bhilanga in old tehri region which is now deep down submerged in water. The dam planning started in 1972 where construction was started in 1978 and since then it has been the place of great controversy. It is controversial because first of all it is a man made construction on the river Ganga which is very sacred to Hindus and worshiped since thousands of years back in time so obstructing it's flow is not some thing Hindu's could accept easily. Another issue was also that lake made on the dam will cause old tehri town to sink completely 100s of meters beneath the water making them homeless and work less. But government provided new homes to the people effected and relocated them to a new tehri town before the lake could fill up. Dam is also buit near an earthquake epic center and can also get effected in future in case there is a major earthquake but I am sure that the concerned authorities must be well prepared for such conditions. Any way dam is fully operational now where old tehri town is totally submerged in water and producing hydro electricity. 
Coming back to the lake view I could feel how human mind can transform the landscape and give it totally new shape. I could see the 24 kilometers area full of water every where making a biggest lake I have ever seen. The water was green colored covered with mountains every where. A local told me that the lake is now a days 700 meters deep and it is expected to go deeper as more rain water approaches in monsoons. I could see the dam from far end only as to have a closer look any one needs to take permissions from authorities. With less time in hand and also there was another 17/18 kilometers uphill ride to Chamba I decided not to go further and start back on my cycle to Chamba. 
Riding uphill proved to be very painful due to steep climb with wind opposing me from the other end. I could manage only 4/5 kilometers on bike and decided to take a lift from some local truck driver to drop me at chamba. Fortunately I got a lift in a truck so I loaded my bike at the back of truck and kept my journey towards Chamba. Before I could reach Chamba tuck driver ran out of diesel and I was on the raod again with no option but to cover the rest of 3/4 kilometers on my bike again. I covered this stretch in another 20 minutes taking a snack on the restaurant in the way and reached Chamba market. From there I packed my stuff and hooked my bike at the back of Car and left for Dhanaulti.
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Last Updated ( Sunday, 18 May 2008 12:59 )
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India 
