Valley of Flowers
Day 5 – 5 Sep 2010
After the adventures of the previous day, we had a long day ahead of us as we were going to the Valley of the flowers and we needed to return to Govindghat as well and my calculation showed a total walk of 13+4+4=21kms. As soon as i woke up i realized the pain in my legs from the previous day and more because of another 21 kms which we had to cover and it was an effort to place each and every step. Volini helped but not as much as i expected but that didn’t deter me for going to the valley of flowers because it was my dream to be at that place. I always wanted too be there, standing, basking the sunlight among the flowers in the valley.Valley of flowers is 3 kms from Ghangharia and its a mystery to me as how they reached to that number as in actual it felt more than that.
Valley of Flowers is a beautiful Himalayan Valley and is home to hundreds of different flowers. So with this in my mind i woke up adhiraaj, we got dressed and went to the restaurant downstairs to get some food packed as there was no place on the way or in valley of flowers where you can get anything to eat. Also, please note some facts about Ghangharia – 1. No atm, 2. Everything is double the mrp, 3. Electricity is available only for 2-3 hrs in the morning and 3-4 hrs in the evening, 4. No network coverage but you will find a bsnl p.c.o with a satellite phone charging Rs. 15-20 per minute.
So after paying an entry fee of Rs. 150/- which was valid for 3 days we entered the valley of flowers zone. Now i was just 3 kms away from realizing my dream. And to complement that the sun was out there, playing hide and seek with the clouds. I was praying hard for that as i wanted to get a clear view of the valley and the previous day was not good in that regard as their were clouds all around us. The path was rocky as it was in the entire journey and some scary crossing points.
Starting trek early paid and soon we had the first look of the valley. The moment that i was waiting for had arrived and i stood there overlooking the valley in disbelief wondering about the creator’s art. With a big smile on my face, i kept moving forward.
The conditions were perfect and we had a full view of the valley and lazily we strolled among the flowers capturing every moment. That moment was so pure, flowers around, fragrance in the air and lush green mountains all around.
And soon the valley was surrounded by clouds and visibility dropped significantly just like a bollywood drama and it started raining. And it was time to say goodbye to the valley. I hated that very moment. It marked the end of our visit to Hemkund Sahib and the valley of flowers. But it was time to make a promise, a promise to visit here again.
The clock was showing 12.30pm and we rushed to Ghangharia, ate some food and after some rest we started our journey back to Govindghat in order to get to our next destination Badrinath and Mana Village.
Contd….
nice one :)
thanks bro… :)
Very Nice. I always wondered while driving from Haridwar to that side of the hills where exactly Mana would be and how would one reach there… thanks for sharing, would look forward to more.
Thanks Smita…I’ll cover Mana in the next post which is scheduled for 9 jan….
Very well written post.
Waiting for next post on the Mana, the last border village of India.
Thanks Mahesh :)
Lovely. Do post some more photos of the flowers.
I would love to go there but I wonder if I could do the 14km walk in one stretch.
Thanks Gita :) I have created a photolog for this series and ‘ll publish the same soon…
Hi Aditya,
Great stories both Hemkund Sahib and Valley of Flowers. Superb narration, keep it up.
Are March, April, May good to travel in that area? Will it be season for Valley of Flowers?
Thanks Abhijit :)
Valley of Flowers and Hemkund Sahib are snow bound in months of March and April. The way clears only after mid May. You can visit Valley of Flowers in June but it’s best to visit after the Monsoon i.e September.
Actually I have read that the best time is during the monsoons – mid-July to mid-August. This makes sense because when the snow thaws flowers tend to come out quickly. September seems a little late. In any case, you have to be lucky to get good views since most photos I have seen are shrouded in mist with limited visibility.