Day 1: Dehradun – Agoda (2200 m)
3 Nov 2025
Somewhere early 2025, Ak showed interest in a Himalayan trek – and we started discussing the idea with Ashok. A “potentials” whatsapp group was created, out of which the final trek group was 6 of us: Ashok & Ashwini (the Ashes!), Vinay, Ram (primary school friend of Vinay, new to the rest of us), Ak and me. Though Ashok and I (and Vinay) have hiked together in the Sahyadris (mid ’90s to recent times), we have never been on a Himalayan trek together – this is a first in that category 🙂 This is also the “mother-son” Himalayan trek I had been wanting with Ak since he turned 18, realized finally when he’s 21!
The final trek group was 6 of us: Ashok & Ashwini (the Ashes!), Vinay, Ram (primary school friend of Vinay, new to the rest of us), Ak and me. We used the long drive to get to know each other a bit. Conversation seemed to just flow naturally, which boded well for the days ahead.
The drive in a Mahindra Bolero took about eight hours, with a couple of breaks along the way. It was roughly 5.5 hours from Dehradun to Uttarkashi – the last major town before our trek – and another 2.5 hours for the 30-odd km from there to the base village of Agoda, along what was essentially not a road at all but a rough dirt track. All through the region, we passed stark evidence of the past monsoon’s landslides – whole sections of hillside sheared off, debris still scattered along the slopes.
Our driver, Satinder, knew good food spots enroute. We stopped for breakfast en route so the Pune group, fresh from their early-morning flight, could eat. Everyone had a round of masala chai.
Lunch was at another picturesque little wayside restaurant – a simple but excellent north Indian meal featuring local turai sabji (ridge gourd), daal made in the local style in a clay pot (but served in a stainless-steel mini bucket!) along with roti & rice.
We took a short teatime stop at Assi Ganga Café & Restaurant to stretch our legs. At Uttarkashi, we picked up Rajveer, our tour organizer, for the final stretch of the drive to Agoda.
We reached Agoda around 6:30 p.m. and then walked a steep 500-metre downhill stretch to Bharat Homestay, our “basecamp” for the night. There, Rajveer introduced us to the team who would accompany us on the trek, as he himself had other commitments. Rajveer ceremoniously placed traditional Uttarakhand caps on each of our heads as a welcome to their state. Warm gesture, wrong sort of cap (too close to the Hindutva look!)
Another Maharashtrian group of 13 was staying there alongside us, with a similar trek plan. We’d cross paths with them for the next 4 days.
A wonderful home-cooked dinner was served in the courtyard under a nearly full moon (we were all fully wrapped up against the cold!) – mattar paneer, a locally grown gourd sabji, roti, rajma, rice. And a dessert of custard with fresh fruit!
Ram dubbed our homestay “The Taj, Agoda” – the elaborate dinner, the spacious rooms, attached bathrooms, western toilets, fresh towels, soap, large beds, thick cozy rajai (duvets). The tube lights broke the spell a bit, but we were there mainly to sleep. Ashwini and I found a lot of common ground and sat chatting outside for a long time, not minding the cold, before reluctantly going to bed.
