Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Roads Scholar

Climb Every Mountain - But Watch The Signs

Photographs copyright: NIRMAL GHOSH

These shots, taken in India recently, have just been emailed to me by a childhood friend, Nirmal Ghosh, who is the Thailand-based correspondent for The Straits Times group. This is his story ...

``These were taken on the mountain highway from Rishikesh to Uttarkashi. North of Delhi, the road winds ever upwards into the high mountains. It is a 14-16 hour drive from Delhi to Gangotri (10,000 feet), where the Ganga roars down from the mountains through a narrow defile between huge yellowed boulders worn smooth by the waters. That's the end of the road, from Gangotri you have to trek up to the source of the river - the Gaumukh glacier at 12,000 feet - and beyond. These signs have mostly been put up by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO). Clearly, some BRO officers have a sense of humour.''

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ha ha ... this is just the tip of the ice berg. Once I saw a sign near Jammu which said "Watch out for my deadly curves". Sadly my camera was out of battery at that time I think. The Border Roads Organisation does has some groovy copy writers.... Siddharth

david mcmahon said...

Hi Siddharth,

That's one part of the country I've never been to. What a photographer's paradise that would be.

Yes, you're right - the BRO folks certainly know how to grab our attention!

Cheers

David

Priyanka Sarkar said...

i bumped into ur blog.....almost suddenly....
n i have a request ...please visit mine and suggest ways of improving it!!!!
thnks in advance...

david mcmahon said...

Hi Priyanka,

Certainly. Having a very busy day today, but will do it in the next 24-48 hours, for sure.

No worries at all

David

Shrink Wrapped Scream said...

We could do with some of these on our mountain roads! Priceless.

david mcmahon said...

Aye, Carol,

Sure concentrates the mind. Guaranteed to prevent an attack of the `bends', especially on hairpin mountain roads.

Cheers

David

B.T.Bear (esq.) said...

Delhi? Gosh. I thought it was County Clare.

david mcmahon said...

Hi BTBear,

Same thing, innit? New Delhi is just a suburb of County Clare.

Just don't drive around those curves in a Hairpin Benz.

Cheers

David

Sam said...

Well, BRO surely is god at what they do!! having studied for 4 years in Sikkim, I'm more than familiar with the BRO roads.... and their much humorous statements!!
"To marry safety, divorce speed."
"Be gentle on my curves"

There are so many, we used to look out for these road signs while driving around in the mountains!!

Btw, the BRO guys are very humorous.... in fact the entire Defense lot is like that.

david mcmahon said...

Hi Sam,

As a Sikkim regular - you'd be very familiar with those road signs.

What a great part of the world.

David