Garhwal
Valley Of Flowers, Hemkund Sahib and Badrinath.
Kolkata – Haridwar – Joshimath – Ghangharia ( Valley of Flowers + Hemkund Sahib)- Gobindghat – Badrinath – Auli – Karnprayag – Rudraprayag Hrishikesh – Haridwar – Kolkata.
Time – July 2nd half 2015.
Valley of flowers is a unique place in the Garhwal Himalaya at the altitude of 3658 meters from the sea level where hundreds of variety of flowers bloom only in the monsoon season. They start blooming in the month of July. They bloom in different phases and wither away gradually till the end of September. Rest of the years the valley remains covered by snow. It is a world heritage site and no camping is allowed there. One has to trek 7 km up hill to visit the valley from Ghangharia.
Hemkund Sahib is at the altitude of 4,633 meters which is a famous Sikh pilgrimage. It is 10 km from Ghangharia. Ponies and porters are available for them who can not trek.
I booked a package of GMVN for Valley of flowers, Hemkund Sahib and Badrinath in July 2015. Unfortunately, or I can say now fortunately, the package was cancelled due to natural calamity. I decided not to cancel my train tickets and try on my own. So I boarded the train on time . It was a great experience for me. I realized that in Himalayas no one is alone and if one comes out alone on the roads of Himalayas with a bit of courage the path automatically opens. I did not expect I could make it but when I came back from the valley tears came rolling out unceasingly with joy from my eyes. I felt the blessings of Almighty.
From Haridwar I went to Joshimath by a shared jeep. At Joshimath I stayed in GMVN tourist rest house. Next morning I took another shared jeep from jeep stand and reached Gobindghat. I was quite late to reach there as it took almost 3 hours to get 10 local passengers. Normally those who go to VOF reach Gobinghat directly from Haridwar and stay there at night. They start early morning for Ghangharia. I felt quite fortunate that there was one pony-owner with his two ponies. I had to hire both because there was none to share. I reached Ghangharia at 3 PM and lodged in a hotel. I arranged a porter cum guide for VOF asking the hotel manager.
First I visited the paradisaical valley because I had to walk there and I wanted to go there with full energy. Second day in the early morning I went to Hemkund Sahib by pony. I came down from there at 1 PM and happened to meet the same pony owner boy in front of my hotel. He asked me whether I wanted to go back to Gobindghat. I went back with him and spend the night at Gobindghat. Next early morning my hotel owner arranged a jeep for me who took me to Badrinath. I did my darshan very peacefully, watched morning aarti and got kheer prasaad as there was hardly 15/20 pilgrims there. I did “pind daan” for my late parents. Actually it was a tribute to their memory. As it was my second time Badrinath darshan I did not want to stay there. It was raining also, so there was a fair chance of land slide again. I came down to Joshimath.
After covering the places planned by GMVN I found I had few days in hand which I utilized staying in Auli, Karnprayag, Rudrapayag and Rishikesh. I went to Auli GMVN rest house by Gandola and chair car.I spent one noght there and came back in the same way. It was a divine experience staying there.Then I went to Karan Prayag. I stayed one day there. It is a place where Alaknanda and Pindar river meet. I stayed another day in Rrdraprayag. There I visited Jim Corbett bark where he killed “Man eater of Rudraprayag”. Then I spent one day in Hrishikesh and one day in Haridwar. When I came back successfully my confidence increased and I decided to travel alone in future.
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Benediction 