A trip to badrinath and hemkund sahib: Part 1

It was summer of '19 and we three started our journey from Delhi around 12 in the night. After a continuous and energetic drive of 4 hrs full of masti and music, we took our first stop at kotdwar, a municipal corporation and main entrance to the mountains of pauri garhwal and there we refreshed ourselves by taking a dip in little known khoh river and then went to very renowned sidhhbali temple of lord Hanuman.
After blessings from bajrangbali for our happy journey, we swapped our seats and now m there on the driver seat n very excited since it's my very first drive in the mountains. Curvy slim roads full of scenic views are ready to welcome throughout the journey ahead.

Here starts the garland of panchprayags. Unfortunately we have missed very first of them, nandprayag, since we followed kotdwar route instead of rishikesh one. But rest of the four are waiting for us eagerly.
After passing through srinagar, we are at rudraprayag (confluence of mandakini and Alaknanda). And yes, you read it correctly, in uttrakhand also, there is one srinagar.

Next stop is karanprayag ( confluence of Alaknanda and pindar ganga). To straighten our spine, we took a walk on the bridge and it was literally very relaxing to feel cold breeze and burbling stream.

one random person suggested us to visit urgam valley, a hidden gem. We found this among the most beautiful valleys. This place is famous for one of the panch kedars, the kalpeshwar mandir and a waterfall.

Urgam valley is full of marijuana plants but it is highly advisable not to indulge in any illegal activities with locals.

Finally, after a long journey of almost 20 hrs, we entered joshimath. Joshimath is known for various religious stories and it is a sort of base station for tourists to badrinath, valley of flowers national park, hemkund sahib etc. And this was our stay point too for next 2 nights.

A full day dedicated to badrinath and mana only.
From joshimath, Badrinath is just 2 hr drive away but full of mesmerizing and scenic live landscapes.

Finally, we are here at badrinath temple, one of the chardhams. Certainly it's a hindu shrine but architecture resembles like Buddhist vihara.

And for the first time, I realised that my height is nothing less than any blessings.
To know, why? Just look at these photographs😋

If you visit badrinath then mana is just a complimentary place to visit. Mana, last indian village, just 4 km away from badrinath, and a place known for ved Vyas gufa(where vyasji narrated and wrote his creations), bhim bridge and starting point of many treks.

when you are tired as hell and get natural bedrock to rest on.

i think someone is trying to copy my pose😋😋

That's the day end and leaving for joshimath, our base station and believe me it's very tough to say goodbye to these young mountains, cold breeze, roaring river scenes.
Mountains don't have arms but they hug u more tightly than your bae and make goodbyes very disheartening.
That's it for part 1.
See you all very soon with release of part 2.
😊😊