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Old 15th May 2010, 11:30   #1
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Delhi-Badrinath-Kedarnath-Hill Station-Delhi - Possible in 7 Days?

Is the said route doable in 7 Days ??

I'll be planning the annual family trip late July or Early August the tour, I have gone through various threads on forum and found it a bit difficult to go through the same in 7 Days. However, we can cut of one "Dham" i.e. Badrinath/Kedarnath from the itinerary if in case the route seems to be undoable. However, do try to accomodate Hemkunth Sahib if incase a "Dham" is deleted from Itinerary.

Mode of Transport : Till Haridwar it will be Self Driven later on via Taxi so as to avoid ruining personal car on bad roads.
People Traveling : Parents, Brother, Wife and 2 Yr Old Kid.

I have just starting up from scratch where I can gather up information where-in I found are
- July will be the best season to visit the places.
- Nearest Hill stations will be Munsoorie or Auli

Would like your suggestions to plan itinerary including stay, helicopter services availability, route etc ??
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Old 15th May 2010, 12:03   #2
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possible but hectic

I think the planned tour is definitely possble. But, considering that u r going with ur parents, 2 yr old kid - it might be hectic.
Doing Kedarnath itself is tough. (Even though u go by Helicop). - I don't know abt the availability of the same though (Its been a long time, I have been to this place).
So, U can expect :
Day 1 / 2 - Haridwar
Day 3 / 4 - Kedarnath
Day 5 / 6 - Badrinath
Day 7 / 8 - Massoori & Back.
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Old 15th May 2010, 13:29   #3
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Ain't its going to be in very hurry and hustle bustle ?? As I said, I would not mind skipping a "Dham" but still would like to complete the visiting "Dham" Completely i.e. all nearby sacred/known place being visited !!
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Old 15th May 2010, 14:05   #4
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Bad roads runing personal car? Nyah. Not really man.

Auli reports have generally been good man.

As for itinerary - depends on your family/kid's comfort levels, so cannot be generalized easily.
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Old 15th May 2010, 16:34   #5
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July will be a tough month since rains will be severe and you can expect landslides all over UK in the pilgrim trail. Roads are not the best but they are generally well-maintained barring stretches which face landslide. Provide for time buffers for temporary blockades of the road due to landslide clearance work. Remember that in many places in UK, roads are closed to traffic after 8 pm. The Joshimath-Badrinath road is on convoy basis only and make sure you are there in the Q much before the convoy starts.
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Old 15th May 2010, 17:07   #6
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You could consider driving up to Rudraprayag yourself (8-9 hrs from Delhi), and take a helicopter (Helicopter Services,Uttaranchal Helicopter Tour India,Helicopter Services In India,Helicopter Travel India,Travel India by Helicopter) flight to Kedarnath - the choice of staying overnight at Kedarnath is yours (I would suggest you do). Else drive to Hardwar / Rudraprayag, take a taxi / drive the next day as you want, go up to Gaurikund, and trek/take a horse/dandi (14km) to Kedarnath.

So
Day 1: Delhi - Hardwar / Rudraprayag
Day 2: Rudraprayag - Kedarnath (helicopter)
OR
Rudraprayag - Kedarnath - Rudraprayag (helicopter)
OR
Rudraprayag - Gaurikund - Kedarnath (road + trek)
Day 3: Kedarnath - Gaurikund
OR
Kedarnath - Rudraprayag
OR
Rudraprayag - Badrinath (if returning from Kedarnath same day by helicopter.
Day 4: Gaurikund/Rudraprayag - Badrinath
Day 5: Badrinath - Hardwar
Day 6: Hardwar - Delhi
Day 7: Buffer day (the road to Badrinath is highly prone to landslides, and may be blocked during the July-Aug period - you may need to trek across for 2-3 km before getting transport from the other side).

Keep 2 days extra if you want to trek to Hemkunt Sahib also.
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Old 15th May 2010, 18:52   #7
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We had done Delhi - Haridwar - Yamunotri - Gangotri - Kedarnath - Badrinath - Yamunotri - Gangotri - haridwar - Delhi in a total of 11 days. Sounds crazy but we did it. Inspite of the fact that we had to come back to Gangotri and yamunotri, since they were cut off due to landslide the first time round). The only thing you need is a good driver who would be ready to drive well and ofcourse patience to be on the road.
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Old 15th May 2010, 18:56   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SS-Traveller View Post
You could consider driving up to Rudraprayag yourself (8-9 hrs from Delhi), and take a helicopter (Helicopter Services,Uttaranchal Helicopter Tour India,Helicopter Services In India,Helicopter Travel India,Travel India by Helicopter) flight to Kedarnath - the choice of staying overnight at Kedarnath is yours (I would suggest you do). Else drive to Hardwar / Rudraprayag, take a taxi / drive the next day as you want, go up to Gaurikund, and trek/take a horse/dandi (14km) to Kedarnath.

So
Day 1: Delhi - Hardwar / Rudraprayag
Day 2: Rudraprayag - Kedarnath (helicopter)
OR
Rudraprayag - Kedarnath - Rudraprayag (helicopter)
OR
Rudraprayag - Gaurikund - Kedarnath (road + trek)
Day 3: Kedarnath - Gaurikund
OR
Kedarnath - Rudraprayag
OR
Rudraprayag - Badrinath (if returning from Kedarnath same day by helicopter.
Day 4: Gaurikund/Rudraprayag - Badrinath
Day 5: Badrinath - Hardwar
Day 6: Hardwar - Delhi
Day 7: Buffer day (the road to Badrinath is highly prone to landslides, and may be blocked during the July-Aug period - you may need to trek across for 2-3 km before getting transport from the other side).

Keep 2 days extra if you want to trek to Hemkunt Sahib also.

When we did it in September, the Helicopter trips were suspended due to heavy fog/rain. I guess if you are doing the trip during the rainy season, you need to keep a buffer for the unforeseen halts/breaks due to the Helicopters not flying.
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Old 15th May 2010, 18:57   #9
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Have Done this trip about 3 or 4 times and It can be easily done in 7 days. As HVKumar said the roads are generally good and are maintained well.

Day 1.
Really early start from delhi. Via Roorkie - Haridwar - Rishkesh - Srinagar reach Ukimath. Should be a 12 to 14 hr drive. Rest at Ukimath. (We usually stay at this beautiful wooden cottage on the banks for the river mandakini.)

Day 2.
Again a early start(read 5pm). Start to Gaurikund. Should be a 2 to 3 hr drive. Take bath in hot springs, start trek from gaurikund at around 11 am. Hire a doli or Goda (I prefer to walk). A 6 hr trek to Kedar. Reach there by 5 - 6 pm. Visit temple, have a look around. Rest at Kedar

Day 3.
Start trek back to gaurikund. Reach Gaurikund by 2pm. Start to Joshimath. Reach Ukimath and ask for the road that goes to Chamoli. This way you need not go all the way back to rudraprayag and this would also cut the time taken by half. So, the route is Gaurikund - Ukimath - Dhankund - Tungnath - Chamoli. At Chamoli you would join the road from Rudraprayag to Joshimath. Reach Joshimath by night.

Day 4.
Start to Badrinath. If you have driver ask him to wake early and park the vehicle in the convoy que. The rest can take an auto to the car just before the convoy starts. Reach Badri. Visit temple. Shopping. Visit this "Last village in India" forgot the name. Return to Joshimath.

Day 5.
Start from Joshimath. Reach Rishikesh in about 6 - 7 hours. Look around. Look at the Ganga arthi (my personal favourite of all the ganga arthi's performed at all places). Stay in Rishkesh or Start to Haridwar. Reach Haridwar and rest for the night.

Day 6.
Have a look around. Take your time. Maybe visit Manasadevi temples. Return to Delhi late in the night.

Day 7.
Reserve day if something somewhere gets delayed or you want to stay longer at either kedar or badri.

This is from personal experience. Have a great trip.

Last edited by Archish : 15th May 2010 at 19:06.
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Old 15th May 2010, 19:04   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ashthedivx View Post
Would like your suggestions to plan itinerary including stay, helicopter services availability, route etc ??
Stay: We had not booked a single hotel room. But then since you are going during the season, it is better to book in advance. The Garhwal Mandal guest houses are really good, they provide you meals and the rooms are also good. We had reached Kedarnath and an unearthy hour of 9 pm with heavy rains and we were 5 of us and were actually freezing and the kind of hospotality we got from these guys were really worthy of any 5 star treatment. So from me Garhwal Mandal definitely is a good choice of stay.
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Old 15th May 2010, 23:39   #11
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The only problem with the GMVN hotel in Gaurikund is that the hotel is a stuff uphill walk from the car parking stand which makes it difficult to carry baggage - and also tough for old persons. I stayed at the GMVN hotel at Sonprayag just before Gaurikund. Ideally, stay there, then take a taxi to Gaurikund (only 5 kms) since you may find it very difficult to get car parking at Gaurikund.

At Badrinath, the GMVN hotel is very close to the temple (5-mt walk) and it has good car parking.
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Old 15th May 2010, 23:51   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hvkumar View Post
The only problem with the GMVN hotel in Gaurikund is that the hotel is a stuff uphill walk from the car parking stand which makes it difficult to carry baggage - and also tough for old persons.

At Badrinath, the GMVN hotel is very close to the temple (5-mt walk) and it has good car parking.
I agree - the Gaurikund GMVN is quite a steep walk up a narrow track (though not a big distance). One gets porters to lift the luggage though.

Badrinath GMVN is practically on flat ground!

But getting to Badrinath from Joshimath is not a good road, and highly prone to landslides. Local folks say the hydel project there required a temple to be pulled down some 10-12 years ago, and the Gods are angry ever since - hence the frequent landslides there, which apparently did not happen before the dam construction began.
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Old 16th May 2010, 00:02   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SS-Traveller View Post

But getting to Badrinath from Joshimath is not a good road, and highly prone to landslides. Local folks say the hydel project there required a temple to be pulled down some 10-12 years ago, and the Gods are angry ever since - hence the frequent landslides there, which apparently did not happen before the dam construction began.
Convoy timings at Joshimath and Badrinath check posts:
630 am
900 am
1130 am
200 pm
430 pm
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Old 16th May 2010, 22:06   #14
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Phew... that's lots of suggestions. Thanks mates

Anyhow, as suggested the time period I am intending to visit the place is a bit dangerous due to landslides and rainy season. What will be the best season to visit the same. Is it June ??
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Old 16th May 2010, 22:10   #15
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June is betetr than July from the rain point of time, but it is also teh peak pilgrim season, with heavy road traffic (and crazy taxis on the Rishikesh-Badri route) and full hotels.

IMO, if it is possible for you, plan to go only in Aug-Sep when the holiday crowds are back to their schools/ offices and temples are also less crowded.

On the other hand, if you want to cover Valley of Flowers, no time is better than July, when the flowers are in full bloom. If you are covering the Valley, remember that Hemkuind Saheb receives huge crowds during these months and all hotels in Ghangariya (base town for both Valley & Hemkund) will also be full.
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