[TheVegabond]

Hello BHPians,

Here I am with my first travelogue, but not before serving a ban of 5 months for posting one liner comments on the forum. As they say – somethings are best learned in the hard way and so I am back may be a little wiser.

I am from Uttarakhand and its an irony that I did not know about UNESCO World Heritage site – The Valley of Flowers which is not more than 150kms from my place of birth. I came to know about it in 2010 and since then even a mere idea of going there gave me an adrenaline rush.
After many failed plans, I was finally able to make this trip last year in August. Now, monsoon and hills do not go well together but that's the only time in the year to see and adore the Valley of Flowers. So, a detailed plan was laid out:

Participants – Me, my wife, my brother-in-law and his wife.

Ride – My humble Hyundai Grand i10. We considered zoom car, but my car looked in much better shape than the ones we saw in zoom car fleet. I got the car serviced and had the brake pads replaced. I also discussed the trip and road condition with the SA at Hyundai service center and the guy was more confident than me. He was impressed with the way I had maintained my car and said we could take the car to Ladakh let alone Uttarakhand – sounded like an exaggeration but gave me some confidence.

Preparations – We knew it would rain during the trip and we would also need to trek a lot. So, we went to the nearest Decathlon store and got ourselves raincoats, waterproof jackets, trekking shoes, lowers, caps and some more things which were never needed. We also packed dry fruits, energy bars, candies etc.

Itinerary -
Day1 – Noida to Karnprayag. Overnight stay in one of our relatives’ home.
Day2 – Karnprayag to Govind Ghat by car and then to Ghangria on foot.
Day3 – Ghangria to Valley of Flowers and back to Ghanaria.
Day4 – Ghangria to Hemkund Sahib and back to Ghangria.
Day5 – Ghangria to Govind Ghat and then to Badrinath by car.
Day6 – Badrinath temple Darshan and visit to Maana village.
Day7 – Badrinath to Rudraprayag.
Day8 – Rudraprayag to Noida
Day9 and 10 – Buffer for delay due to rain and expected roadblocks.

We were so excited that we finished our preparations a week before the start of the trip and then the week-long wait felt like a year. Finally, the D day had arrived, and we were all set to start this journey.

Here is a day by day account of the trip:

Day1| Noida to Pipalkoti | 438kms by car | 14 Hours

Like many of us, I believe the best way to start a long trip is to start early. We started at 5 AM knowing that it was going to be a long day on the road given that it was the monsoon season and we expected some delays due to roadblocks after we cross Rishikesh.

The ride till Rishikesh was smooth and fast. Once we were in the hills it started getting tougher – there was constant drizzle, there was mud and boulders on the road and some stretches did not have road at all. Despite continuous rain, some mini roadblocks and some really bad stretches we were still doing well and reached our slated destination Karnprayag around 5 PM. Since, we still had couple of hours of daylight and knowing about the rain and possible roadblocks, we decided to carry on further.


We reached Pipalkoti (a small town on the way to Badrinath) by 7 PM which was good 50kms and 2 hours more than we planned for the day. Happy and exhausted we took couple of rooms in an Oyo Hotel and went to bed early.

Day2 | Pipalkoti to Ghangria | 50kms by road and 10kms on foot | 13 hours

We woke up to a beautiful misty morning and planned to start early as it was going to be another tough day which included 50 km drive on really bad roads followed by a 10 km trek from Govind Ghat to Ghangria. Just before we started, we came to know that there is a major roadblock due to overnight rain on the stretch we covered the previous day - thank goodness for those extra 2 hours of drive. Relieved, we started around 7AM. The relief did not last long though, we hit a roadblock about 5kms from our starting point. Heavy overnight rain had swelled a stream which brought mud, slush and boulders on the road. The local administration was very active and had placed JCBs at all such points which were prone to roadblocks.

The JCB cleared the path in less than an hour and we started again only to be welcomed by another roadblock 10kms up on the Badrinath highway. This was a major roadblock as there was a landslide which had covered almost 30 meters of the road with boulders, trees and mud. We thought we were done for the day, but the administration again came to the rescue. There were 3-4 JCBs and other heavy vehicles working in full swing. Since clearing all mess on the road was not possible, they made a temporary path on top of it. The situation called for a Thar (if not a Wrangler) but our i10 crossed it in "Grand" fashion.

We hit couple of more mini roadblocks but managed to reach Govind Ghat at around 1:30 in the afternoon. Now the question was - shall we stay in Govind Ghat or trek to Ghangria which would take another 6 hours. We decided to go to Ghangria and started our trek around 2 PM. Soon it started raining and slowed us down considerably. At about halfway up the trek there is a small bridge on the stream which flows parallel to the trek. The rain had turned the stream into a mighty river which had blown the bridge away. There was an old bridge up the river which was not in a good shape and allowed only 4-5 people to cross it at a time. The water was zooming down just 3 feet below the bridge and few people decided not to cross and went back to Govind Ghat. We crossed the bridge with fingers crossed and proceeded onward. Soon it started getting dark and the rain also became heavy. The last 2 kms of the trek proved to be the most difficult as it was totally dark and there were some mini streams which we had to cross on foot.

We reached our hotel post 8PM drenched in water despite all the raincoats from Decathlon. I never felt so tired in my life. We ate some daal rice and fell almost unconscious on the bed.

Day 3 |Ghangria - The Valley of Flowers – Ghangria| ~18kms on foot | 10 hours

We were now desperate for a rain free day and the gods listened. It was cloudy but not raining. So, we had a quick breakfast and started for the Valley of Flowers. It’s a 3km trek from Ghangria before the mesmerizing valley takes you over. The entire valley is about 10kms full of variety of flowers, small glaciers and numerous waterfalls. There was nothing but only nature around us. It was a dream come true for us as we were spellbound by the beauty of the nature. It looked like a nature painting with flowers wherever you look. We spent about 5 hours in the valley until the rain came back and forced us to return back to Ghangria.

Day 4 | Ghangria - Hemkund Sahib – Ghangria |12 kms on foot | 10 hours

We woke up to a pleasant and bright sunny morning. Today the plan was to go to Hemkund Sahib which is a 6km steep trek from Ghangria. The trek is scenic and also had a big glacier on the way. The Gurudwara is open till 12 in noon only. We reached around 11:30, after bowing down to the almighty and a holy dip in the freezing lake we ate the lungar which is Khichdi and tea (both unbelievably tasty). We spent couple of hours and returned to Ghanagria. Since this was the only day without rain, we explored Ghangria in the evening. there is a small theater where we watched a documentary on the Valley of Flowers. We then had a good dinner and went to bed.

Day 5 | Ghangria - Govind Ghat - Badrinath | 10kms on foot and 25kms by car | 8 hours

We woke up to another bright sunny morning and after breakfast started trekking down to Govind Ghat. We were surprised that all the streams which we crossed while trekking up had vanished (no big rain for 2 days). We were able to trek down fast and reached Govid Ghat around 12. Another surprise - the cellphones started ringing, it was only then we realized that we were without phone connectivity for 2 days as there is no network once you go up from Govid Ghat. We called up our parents who were worried about our well-being because of the news about so many landslides and heavy rains.

One of those landslides had gobbled up full stretch of a hill and portion of the road leading to Badrinath which made it impossible to take our car to Badrinath. So, we left the car in Govid Ghat and took a taxi till landslide location 7kms up the highway. We had to walk about a km along the river Alaknanda to the other side of the landslide and take another taxi to Badrinath. By the time we reached Badrinath, the heavens opened again. Luckily, we got a nice accommodation and refreshed ourselves. In the evening we went to the temple for Darshan. There were not many devotees due to the rainy season. Being Uttrakhand natives and no rush of devotees, the priest asked us to stay back for evening aarti which was a wonderful experience.

Day 6 | Badrinath - Mana Village – Karnprayag | 140kms by car – 12 hours

Another early start to the day but the rain had returned. Back with the raincoats, we hired a taxi which would take us to Mana village and drop at the landslide location for our return journey. Since there was no rush of travelers, we were able to cover the Mana village within couple of hours. We visited the caves of Saint Ved Vyas and Lord Ganesha and went to the Bhim Pul which is a big stone placed between 2 cliffs. Like few other visitors, we were also looking for some pics at "India's last tea shop". To our surprise every tea shop claimed to be the last tea shop before China border. None the less, we had tea at one of those shops. One of our relatives had suggested to buy homemade liquor from Mana village which we got with the help of our taxi driver.

The driver then drove us back to the landslide location and after another walk across the landslide, we got another taxi to reach Govid Ghat. We were relieved to be back in our own car. The plan was to drive down to our relative's village near Karnprayag which was about 5 hours’ drive from Govid Ghat. As there was no major rain for last 3 days, we did not hit any roadblocks and made it to our relative's village by 7 PM. After a lovely homemade food, we called it a day.

Day 7 | Karnprayag - Dehradun |212 kms by car | 7 hours

A lovely sunny morning greeted us as we started getting ready to make our return journey. The initial plan was to drive to Noida, but as we had kept a couple of days buffer, we decided to visit my in-laws in Dehradun. This was our first full day without rain, and we reached Dehradun around 3 in the Afternoon. As we did not have any more driving for the day, we decided to give the car a well-deserved car wash. The car was soaked in mud and the interior had also taken a beating because of our wet clothes and dirty shoes. My Brother-in-Law took the car to his usual car wash outlet and the guy returned the car in 2 hours, cleaned inside out - Full body wash, interior vacuum clean, polish with germ kill treatment and all this for Rs500 - SWEET!

Day 8 | Dehradun - Noida |235 kms by car| 6 hours

We took it slow in the morning as it was only 6 hours’ drive. After breakfast we started around 9AM and reached around 3:30PM. Finally, we were back from the trip of a lifetime - exhausted yet rejuvenated. And remember the local liquor we bought in Mana village - well it tasted like acid

Some clicks when rain spared us:

[YD14]

Years ago when my family took the trip to Badrinath, there was no road beyond Badrinath and we had to trek all the way to Mana. As a child I only kept going to beat everyone else in the race and show them how athletic I was, not at all concerned about natural beauty.But growing up and seeing beautiful pictures like in this travelogue make me realise what I missed.

A blend of rain and hills always make for some of the best picturesque sceneries. This is one of the things I will miss after leaving Uttarakhand. But rain also makes the journey through the hills very dangerous. You were lucky enough to take the trip early as the Rishikesh to Devprayag road was closed for two months (September and October).

All aside, I have to appreciate your detailing in the write up. It was a lovely read for sure.

[TechLiveMANA]

Reminds me of our First ever Himalayan trek way back in June 2008. We couldn't go to Hemkund Sahib, as one our of friends fell from the horse and broke his arm. Learnt a lot from this trip about why you can't cram too much in the trip to the mountains like you do on a normal trip. As a group we have completed 12 treks after this (1 each year) with this being the only year when we haven't been able to make it to the Himalayas.

Thanks for sharing! Looking forward to things to get back to normal for us to enjoy the treks again.

[parth.jain]

Amazing writeup and pics! Everyone should do this at least once in their lifetime. Your travelogue reminded to me of my trip to Auli around 3 years back.

I also did Shri Hemkund Sahib in May'17 and of all the places, the most peaceful place was the town/village 'Ghanghariya'. The most enjoyable part of the trip was at that time there was no cell service!
Me & 2 of my friends, we didn't at all know what we were doing We had heard that Auli was a good place so went there for a road trip, there we came to know about Shri Hemkund Sahib.

Someone misguided us and told us that if we left by 11 am, we'll be back from the trek by evening. We reached Ghanghariya by 3-4 pm and realized that we'll have to spend the night there, there's no cell service and we didn't pack any clothes or anything(It was all in the hotel in Auli)! It was quite an adventure.
The best part of the trip was looking at stars from the rooftop of our lodge in Ghanghariya, at 4 am. As long as I gazed at the skies, more and more stars appeared. It was just phenomenal!

Sharing some of the pics of the trek to Shri Hemkund Sahib (it was May'17):

















When you complete the trek you are greeted with this view of Shri Hemkund Sahib. Hats off to the devotees who were managing this place of God so beautifully at an altitude of around 14000 ft.



The frozen lake. Some devotees were taking a dip in this frozen lake at one corner at these freezing temperatures:

[saikarthik]

Beautiful pics..

These places are awesome and the travel in Himalayas always hold a special place and feeling for me. I can't explain it in words, the closest I can describe it as "It feels tranquil and I feel Spiritual in my own way (not religious).

Couple of pics from my Mana, Badrinath trip.. We camped in the river banks under the Mana village. Locals shared some of their cooking wood for us to make ourselves warm. So special.. I envy you (in a good way) for the trek..

[avi_swift]

Crisp account of your experience, and beautiful pictures

I think VoF is one of the most beautiful places you can find anywhere. I went there in August 2019 (you can read my account here: https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...y-flowers.html (To the Valley of Flowers)). Rain was a constant companion for us as well, but in the rare moments when the clouds parted, the place was indeed heavenly. The catch is, one has to visit the place in the rainy season, since the flowers bloom only during the rains.

You are one brave soul for taking your car. I saw remnants of landslide and even a TT which was damaged by a small falling rock. From what I understood, cars are always available on either end in case a road is cut due to landslides. Since they are so common in the rainy season, the locals are prepared. You are lucky that you were not held up anywhere.

[TheVegabond]

Originally Posted by avi_swift

Crisp account of your experience, and beautiful pictures

You are one brave soul for taking your car. I saw remnants of landslide and even a TT which was damaged by a small falling rock. From what I understood, cars are always available on either end in case a road is cut due to landslides. Since they are so common in the rainy season, the locals are prepared. You are lucky that you were not held up anywhere.

Thanks. I read your thread earlier and it was so beautiful that I got inspired to write mine.

Having local knowledge gave me the confidence to drive in my own car. I also love driving whenever I go on a trip. But, surely one has to be extremely careful when driving in the hills during monsoon.