Travel in Uttarakhand
One can travel in many ways in Uttarakhand. Buses run almost anywhere, at certain times. Departures start from very early morning for the destinations further away. Be aware of that when your check in at that busstand hotel in the evening.
Certainly if you are not in a rush, it is easy enough to travel fewer hours in a day. Accomodation is widely avaible most of the time. An extensive network of Rest- and Forest houses has been established in the region and may be booked ahead. Hotels can be found in many of the towns. Many ashrams have accomodation and food too.
Dhaba's (teastalls)  enroute supply food and supplies during lunch stops while on the road. Use the occasional stops to walk around, strech your legs. Have a bite. Bus- and taxidrivers all have their 'own' dhaba, where they would like you to go for lunch.
The roads curve endlessly around the hills and kilometers per hour is low. It happens often enough that roads are blocked for hours due to landslides. The roads are in constant repair. These long hours on the local buses may be too rough for some .
If you are with a group you can rent a minibus from most the larger towns like Rishikesh, Uttarkashi and sometimes beyond.
Cars are on hire in Rishikesh and Haridwar and other places. The cars may be hired for one day or for weeks, for a fixed daily rate. With a small group the rates are well affordable.
A number of destinations can only be reached by foot, allthought frequenly porters, poney's and dauli's are availabe at these locations too.  Rates usually need to be negotiated and depend on availability and season. Trekking and mountaineering are very popular activities in the whole of Uttarakhand and can be arranged locally. Many agents are found around. Or you make your own plan and hire the stuff you need in one of the larger travel centers, like Rishikesh.
Although water from Ganga is often called sacred and very clean, it is not advised to drink from the rivers and streams in just any location. Ofcourse if you are at the source ... Bottled water is available in many places. Dispose of the plastic bottle properly.
Recommendations
Required Items: A money belt or other device to keep your valuables secure (see below), a timepiece with an alarm , and a lock (padlock or combination).
Security
Every person should have a secure device (pouch or money belt) that is worn under your clothing, to hold your passport, airplane ticket, credit cards, and money. You can take this off when you sleep and when you bathe, but you must wear it at all other times. Keep your "walking around money" (200-500 rupees) in a more easily accessible place so that you don't have to expose your valuables for every purchase.
Personal Safety
Be prudent, and be aware of your surroundings. Petty theft and fraud are common enough. There are also distressing cases of travelers drinking a cup of tea with friendly people, and waking out to find all their stuff gone. Be carefull when accepting food or drinks from anyone you do not know.
Harassments
Women should travel in pairs to minimize trouble (which is most likely to consist of smart-ass remarks rather than any real danger). Women should consciously try to dress “modestly” according to local standards. Loose-fitting clothing that doesn’t show a lot of skin. This is not only to avoid harassment, but als to try to behave in line with local cultural standards.
Police
Police (and any other civilian servant for that matter) should always be addressed politely. Do not harass, annoy, or antagonize them. High level officers are usually sophisticated and well-educated, but many of the "beat police" are not (they don't call them "beat" police for nothing).
Alcohol and Drugs
Doing anything that impairs your good judgment is a terrible idea. Alcohol is available in many places, but carries a social stigma (of being a gutter-dwelling low-life). Marijuana, hashish, and opiates are highly illegal, and can land you in an Indian jail, where you may wait several years before coming to trial. In one common sting, drug sellers work with police to trap tourists. There may be no harm in sharing the occasional chillum with one of the many sadhus.
Arrests
Foreign citizenship provides no special protection for persons taken into legal custody by Indian authorities, and it may even constitute a liability. Although your embassy may attempt to be helpful in such circumstances, your country does not provide legal or diplomatic services or fund special efforts to secure the release of an individual. Just do not get arrested.
Health and Illness
Food sanitation may be less scrupulous, and advanced medical facilities less readily available (although doctors and pharmacies are pretty much everywhere, except in the most remote places).
The things that go down your throat (eating and drinking) are your biggest health hazard, and they are also the things over which you have the greatest control.
Some Indian travelers suffer nothing worse than an upset stomach, whereas others get seriously ill. Some of this is luck, but a lot of it is not.
Eating and Drinking Basic Rules
- Drink bottled water (or use a water purification system). When buying bottled water, be sure that the bottle has not been tampered with.
- Watch out for "hidden" sources of contaminated water, such as ice. This is less of a problem in winter, since one usually wants hot beverages.
- Hot beverages (tea, coffee, cocoa) and commercial soft drinks are a safe bet.
- Wash your hands before eating, with soap or antibacterial stuff. This is especially important since Indian meals are often eaten with the (right) hand (although you usually get a spoon as well).
- Cooked food should be fresh and hot. If it doesn't taste good, don't eat it. Eat only at places with high turnover (ensuring that the food doesn't sit around and go bad).
- Be carefull when buying cooked food from street vendors, unless you see it come out of the boiling oil with your own eyes.
- Fresh fruits and vegetables must be peeled (by yourself).
- If you handle the outside of a fruit (such as a mango), don’t lick your fingers (or else wash fruits beforehand).
If you do get Delhi Belly, don’t panic. It’s not pleasant, but it should be over by the next day, and you will have gained some greater immunity to local bugs. If you take antibiotics at the first sign of trouble, you will kill all your intestinal bacteria, and set yourself up for further trouble.
Immunizations
For up-to-date medical advice, check your local health center or physician. Aside from recommending various immunizations (Hepatitis A, typhoid, polio, tetanus, and antimalarial medication), they can also inform you on simple preventative measures (as above). If you want complete peace of mind, get them all, but you still have to watch what you eat and drink.
The immunizations considered most vital are tetanus, typhoid, and Hepatitis A. Hep A can keep you sick for several months (for a month of that, very sick). Hepatitis A is spread through contact with an infected person, usually through food. The "good" news is that rest, food, and no alcohol can bring a complete recovery. Still, you do not want to get this.
Typhoid is also spread through contaminated food or water (which human "carriers" can infect even without having symptoms themselves, as with the notorious "Typhoid Mary"). It responds to antibiotics, but is still a nasty disease. A tetanus booster is cheap insurance, since Indian travel brings the normal quotient of cuts and scratches, which if untended can get infected at lightning speed).
Important Note about anti - malarial drugs.
The most widely prescribed antimalarial drug is Mefloquine (brand name Larium), which has occasionally been associated with bizarre side effects, including unusually vivid dreams, panic attacks, paranoia, and psychosis. People are know to have had severe reactions after a single dose. Ditto Larium. Anyone on mood-altering medications (for depression, anxiety, etc.) or who has taken these in the past, should consult carefully with a physician about this. Click here for anecdotal stories about Larium nightmares from India scholars.
Cultural Information
Guest Behavior
As guests in another one's land, one should try to act appropriately, and try not to offend local sensibilities. For example, shoes are always removed before entering any place of worship, and men and women should cover their heads (except in Hindu temples, in which only women usually do so). People will generally overlook errors if people are clearly trying to do the right thing. Be assertive when necessary, but speak courteously.
Bargaining
Bargaining Is assumed in Indian culture. Bargaining is less likely in any store with prices marked on items (unless you buy multiple items), but any price on the street will be highly inflated, and you should bargain.
Electricity
India uses 220 volt 50 hertz electrical service with an outlet sometimes unlike those used elsewhere in the world. Converters are available locally, or could be brought along. Electricity is availabe in many places, but might go down any time. Those carrying heavy use batteries should keep them warm at higher altitudes.
Communications
In larger places, International phone calling is easy, many shops have a booth from which one can make international calls. These invariably have a meter with a red LCD display, and when you hang up you pay the amount on the meter. More and more cities and towns have one or more internet cafes.  As with electricity availabilty gets less as you go higher. To date still many of the connections run on call-in 56 k connections. However recently broadband connections are getting in more common in te region. In some cafes you might be able to plug in directly to the net with your laptop. Be sure to have your own internal modem button ready on your desktop. Carry a USB cable or two too.
Clothings
A lot depends on how high you want to go at what time of year, how the weather is, and how long you intend to stay. Certainly if you travel by car instead of foot, or on local buses, certain things mentioned below become less important. Remember that many things you need and might need are available in the markets of the larger towns. Carry as less as possible. The days can be long and tiring, there is no reason to have your travel pleasure spoiled by trivial things. Any toiletries you need will be widely available, with some possible exceptions. One is If you wear contact lenses, you should bring adequate supplies of everything you will need to take care of them.
May and June are the hot season on the north Indian plains, and Delhi will be over 100 degrees F. every day. Haridwar will be just as hot. Although it feels like an oven, this is a dry heat, and if you move slowly and drink lots of fluids, it is bearable. Once in the mountains, the temperatures will be much lower. Himalayan weather is capricious and quickly changeable. If it is sunny, daytime temperatures could be in the 70s or the low 80s, but if it is cloudy, they might be in the 50s. Night temperatures can easily be in the 50s, or even the 40s.
To prepare for such temperature swings, bring or purchase pieces of clothing that can be layered as the temperature rises or falls. Shawls, hats, sweaters, vests, and other warm clothing are readily available in the markets. Bring appropriate footwear for walking, since you will be doing plenty of this. Running shoes are better than boots, since they are lighter.
Carry-on luggage should contain a change of clothes, and anything else you can't afford to lose (electronics, medications, etc.) Any baggage you check should be lockable, this could be as simple as a lock that you put through the zipper tabs.
Laundry
Some or the hotels downhill have laundry facilities, but otherwise you will be washing your clothes in a bucket. I strongly advise dark-colored clothing (or gray) that will hide the dirt a little better. Don't wash in the rivers as the soap will dirty the water for anyone downstream.
Banks
Changing Money: Fast and easy in larger towns like Hardwar, but impossible at many places higher up.
Temperatures
The mean monthly temperature varies with the altitude as follows :(in degrees Centigrade)
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300 m : 11.0 (December) to 30.2 (August)
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1600 m : 9.1 (January) to 22.0 (June and July)
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1700 m : 6.6 (January) to 22.2 (August)
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1950 m : 8.5 (January) to 21.4 (May)
Temperature decreases with increasing altitude by a normal lapse rate of 3.3 degrees Centigrade for each 1000 m of altitude. Temperature zones range from very hot in Tarai - Bhabhar to extremely cold zone of the higher Himalayas.
The Moon
Moon Rise/Set for one day (Rishikesh Location: E019 00, N30 07, Zone: 5.50h East of Greenwich).
Physiographic Zones and Climate of Uttarakhand
Major Physiographic zones
The Uttarakhand Himalayas are divided into the following distinct non-montane and montane physiographic zones as follows :
a. Non-montane
i. Bhabhar: This is a level surface zone at the foothills of the Himalayas 34 km wide where the Himalayan torrents rush down from the steep slopes and disappear under boulders and gravels due to the extremely porous soil type of Bhabhar.
ii. Tarai: Situated below the Bhabhar and parallel to it, the Tarai is a marshy and damp tract (once 80- 90 km wide) containing fertile soils with good water retention capacity.
b. Montane
i. Sub-Himalayas: Called Sub-Himalayas because it possesses the least of Himalayan features. It consists of two zones, the Shivaliks - the youngest of the Himalayan ranges and the Doon (flat longitudinal structural valleys) to the north of Shivaliks. The Shivaliks extend in a narrow varying width of 6 to 30 km with altitudes of 300 to 1000 m.
ii. Mid Himalayas : This zone extends in a varying width of 60-90 km in an abrupt rise in elevation between 1000 m to 3000 m. It contains two types of physiographic sub-units
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The Himanchal ranges
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The Himanchal valleys and lake basins.
iii. Greater Himalayas: This zone has a varying width of 40-60 km. The altitude varies between 3000-7000 m. Except for lower valleys, this zone is perpetually covered with snow hence called Himadri. The region covers glacial landforms above 3000 m.
iv. Trans-Himalayas: Also known as the Tethys Himalayas and Indo-Tibet plateau, the region is in the rain-shadow of the Greater Himalayas and is therefore a cold desert. It slopes down to the Yarlungtsangpo (Brahmaputra) river valley in Tibet.
Climate
A variety of climates from tropical to the polar types prevails in the region mainly due to altitude and physiographic complexity. The principal determinants of weather and climatic conditions in the region include:
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Altitude & its physiographic complexity
Direction of the ridges and location on windward & leeward sides
Degree of slope and its aspect
Intensity of forest cover and
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Proximity to water bodies and glaciers.
On the basis of altitude and accompanying features, the region can be divided into 8 types of broad climatic zones :
Warm Tropical region : below 600 m
Cold Tropical- Sub Tropical region : 600- 1200 m
Warm Temperate region : 1200- 1800 m
Cool Temperate region : 1880- 2400 m
The Cold region : 2400- 3000 m
The Alpine region : 3000- 4000 m
The Glacial region : 4000- 4800 m
The perpetually frozen region : above 4800 m
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