Dream Vacation Part 2...Valley of Flowers

Day 2 :
The second part of the Journey began from Haridwar and ended at Govindghat which is the base for the 14 km trek to Valley of Flowers (VOF) and Hemkund Sahib (HS). The town has a gurudwara (Temple) offering services to Sikhs making the pilgrimage - you can hire porters and mules to help you on the trek as well. We crossed the river to start the trek on a beautiful path which was nothing more than cobbled stones and mule dung with most of the mud washed away by rain. The below pictures show Govindghat town with the river and the trek path.

5 Kms into the trek, yours truly was absolutely tired and hence we hired ponies to take us up. Hence, while the 5 km walk took us 3 hours, the next 9 kms took exactly the same time. But the path was beautiful and we resolved that we would walk back. We reached Ghangaria at 4 PM in the evening and set out to explore the town which was about a 100m of small hotels, eateries and the Sikh temple. The place didnt have electricity connection till last year thanks to the remoteness of the site. The accommodation was not great shakes too - it had a bed and thick woollen sheets to keep you warm. Given the season, it was brimming with Sikhs/Sardars from all corners of the world (we met Sikhs of all ages from Mumbai, Punjab, Delhi, Haridwar and even London). The below pictures are of Ghangaria town :

 Pushpavati river just before Ghangaria town

 The town of Ghangaria - A small town nestled in the valley 

Beautiful mountains around the town 

Day 3: 

Few tips while going to the valley. Choose a clear day if you can. Leave early to beat the crowd and catch the flowers fresh. Finally, carry loads of water & food for the way as the valley offers nothing since all commercial activity is banned due to ecological reasons. You need to walk all the way (5 kms to the valley and another 5-6 kms in the valley) as the mules are not allowed to enter the valley too. The area is such a pristine hotspot that a few meters into the path, you start to see the flowers blooming. The walk takes you across streams, tall trees, valleys, high & lows but the entire path is packed with flowers of various kinds, colours and shapes. The going was slow as we would stop every few minutes to hunt for new flowers and admire the abundance of nature's beauty. Some of the pictures below show the path and the flowers leading upto the valley (all photos are till the valley and not of the valley itself) -

The valley itself takes you to a different zone, walking to a valley full of flowers with not a single soul around at an altitude of around 15000 feet is an experience. An experience which cannot be captured by photographs or words. It needs to be felt. We were tired but we wanted to walk all the way in the valley. We ran out of water so we caught the water from the streams in the valley (there are TONS of them). We had no food but we decided to move on and we didn't regret it at all. I will now let the pictures talk - 

 This is the last point of the valley. Beyond this, it is rolling plains of meadows leading to the glacier where Puspavati river originates. Incidentally, Puspavati means "Lady of the flowers". What needs to be noted that while Badrinath town at an altitude of 10000 feet has no greenery to boast about, VOF at an altitude of 15000 feet is totally green despite being snow covered for 8 months !

As we started our walk back, we came across this beautiful flower (looking like a sunflower) shying away from us partially. Could not resist posting this picture. 

Some thoughts about the entire journey - 

- The entire place is free of plastic or any man made things. People are requested to take their garbage back. People being people do litter the place however, there are wardens who clean the garbage and try their best to keep the place clean. 

- Despite asking people not to pluck flowers, they do. Cant do much can we? 

- The valley is beautiful as long as you are alone. However, as the day progresses, more people come in and the valley becomes a rush of people trampling flowers to get photos etc. Leaves a sad taste in your mouth. 

I sincerely hope this valley remains truly inaccessible to people as it is a truly wonderful site (one of a kind in the world). Opening it up more to people is likely to harm this place. Considering that it is a 100 Sq. Kilometer valley with 600+ varieties of flowers blooming (some of them unique to the valley), we need to preserve it. 

Finally, how many flowers did we capture? I guess 30-40. But it was worth every petal of it. Hemkund Sahib, here we come. 

Dream Vacation Valley of Flowers Part-1

This is the view with which part-1 (Day-3 beginning) of my trip ends.

It all started sometime in April when we decided we wanted to plan a vacation for the 6 day long weekend in August. Of all choices (of Rajasthan, Bandipore, Bhadra, Leh) we finally chose Valley of Flowers and Hemkund, a place I always wanted to visit since I was 15. We went to GMVN and got all our accommodation and later our flight tickets booked.

Day 1 : 

Traveled to Delhi on 14th August and by 15 morning 4 AM we were in Haridwar. Our driver, Madan Singh Negi, was not yet at the station and some frantic phone calls later, he was there. The journey began.

By 7 AM, we had crossed Rishikesh with no traffic along with us and the clouded-out Ganges river following us. By 8 AM, we were at Kaudiyala for our breakfast and the Ganges as beautiful and active as ever.

Following the river through some deep gorges and beautiful valleys (there is a spot where the river actually takes a U-turn, it is a spectacular spot), we were at Devprayag where the Baghirathi (from Gangotri glacier - the river on the near side) and Alaknanda (from Badrinath - the river on the far side of the photo) meet to form the Ganges river.

We followed the Alaknanda. From Rishikesh to Badrinath, there are 5 such major confluences for Ganges. Devprayag and Rudraprayag (where Mandakini from Kedarnath and Alaknanda meet) are the major ones. Each confluence or sangam has its historical signifance. For example, at Karnaprayag (Alaknanda and Pindar rivers), it is believed Karna was doing penance when Indra asked his ear-rings and body armour which protected his body. Personally, I prefer Rudraprayag for the sheer force of water (pic shown below) -

The target was to reach Joshimath by end of the day and hence we were in a tearing hurry to reach there by nightfall. But as luck would have it, we heard of a landslide near Patalganga (Ganges in the bottom of earth, loosely translated) and hence we were stuck in Pipalkoti. While we had reconciled ourselves to staying in Pipalkoti the whole night, the road cleared and we proceeded.

And lo behold, the entire landscape changed. The wide valley gave way to sheer vertical mountains, the valley closed down upon us, you can feel the chill in the air, we could not see the river and yet we could hear its awesome power. The tension in the air was palpable. We saw a village which was washed away in a landslide (entire village with all its buildings and a few people as well) and then we came to the mother of all landslides where the entire mountain face had given way and blocked the road. The pictures below should give you a perspective -

We reached Joshimath by 6 PM when there was some light around. Hence, we made a quick dash to Narasimha Badri in Joshimath. The significance of the place is that every year when Badri temple is closed during the winter, the idols of Badrinath are brought to this temple in Joshimath and worshipped until the main temple re-opens. Joshimath is a winter destination due to its proximity to Auli, which is a popular ski destination (not as popular as Gulmarg in Kashmir, though).

Day-1 ended with the blessings of Lord Narasimha and then a sound sleep in GMVN GH in Joshimath.

Day - 2:
Early morning in Joshimath presented a lovely view of the surrounding hills. In the midst of this natural beauty,   it is believed Sankaracharya did penance. This region was heavily explored by Shankaracharya who is responsible for founding the Badrinath and Kedarnath temples. The entire mutt is surrounded by garden of beautiful flowers (some of the largest roses I have ever seen).

 There was an old mata temple as well where we had a quick darshan before we headed out to Badrinath and a darshan of Badri Vishal.

In the earlier days, the road to Badri was a narrow road capable of taking vehicles in one direction only. Hence there was a gate system which operated from Badri to Joshimath (with vehicles traveling in one direction only at a time). Now the gate system has been done away with but the road continues to be the beautiful road it always was. Just below Joshimath (beyond Jaypee's power house), there is a spot where 2 boulders blocked the river hence the flow is the most aggressive there. Beyond which you find Vishnuprayag where the Alaknanda crosses the gorge between Joshimath and Badrinath (absolutely deep gorge, I may add).

The next stop after Joshimath is Hanuman Chatti, a small hamlet with a temple of Hanuman who is shown as if he is doing penance. Legend has it that at this place, Bhima encounters Hanuman in Mahabharata and after his pride is pricked by Hanuman's test, Bhima pays his respects and requests him to participate in the war. Hanuman rejects the offer but agrees to be on the chariot with Arjuna as that is the place where he will be closest to his lord, Krishna. In this place, the river is probably most silent probably allowing Hanuman to meditate in peace.

 View of the valley/gorge as you travel from Joshimath to Badrinath. Sunlight struggles to find its way here.

We reached Badrinath around 10 AM and then headed directly to Mana, which is the last Indian village before the Chinese border. Mana is about 3 Km from Badri and start of the 5 Km trek to Vasudhara falls, the path offering some stunning views of Swargarohini peak. The entire region is full of stories from Mahabharata some of which I will capture in this blog.

First stop in Mana was the Bhim pul, a natural rock formation across the Saraswati river. Legend says that as the Pandavas were making their way to heaven, they came across Saraswati river. Unable to cross the river, Bhima threw a rock across the river which helped them cross the river (and hence the name Bhim pul). The photo below shows the Saraswati river.

And the natural rock formation known as the Bhim pul. Mana also has a small cave known as Vyas gufa where it is believed Veda Vyasa composed the Mahabharata.

Some of the sights around of Mana are beautiful especially as you leave the touristy Bhim pul behind and start walking towards the Vasudhara falls. The pictures shown below are evidence of the same -

 Exotic flowers cover the landscape.

 In the below peak, the cloud peak is called Swargarohini peak, through which it is believed Yudhishtra climbed into heaven.

 After completing Mana, we visited Badrinath temple. Badri is considered to be one of the most sacred spots for Hindus. It is one of the rare temples where Vishnu is worshipped as Vishnu and not through one of this avatars. The small town is a valley between 2 mountains namely Nar (Arjuna) and Narayana (Krishna). This being a lean season, we were able to get a good darshan. It is considered auspicious to take a bath in the hot water springs called Tapt Kund before taking darshan. Another must-do in Badri is to see the Neelkanth peak early morning when it captures the first rays of the sun. In rainy season, it may disappoint but on clear days (especially full moon nights), the mountain glows silver in the night and then turns golden during the day. It is truely a sight to behold. Some photos of Badri are below -

 View of the Badri town as seen from across Alaknanda river

 Hot water springs of Badri

Close-up of the temple with Nar mountain in the background.

Day-2 ended with darshan in the temple and then a sound rest for the long trek ahead. The main part of my journey beckons.

Valley of flowers beckons.

And as you guessed, we were lucky. The clouds opened up and we got the glimpse of the 'World's 2nd most beautiful mountain', Neelkanth. That is the picture which is shown right in the beginning of the blog.