My annual 10 day long vacation is the only respite in otherwise staid job. Usually the vacation is jam-packed with lot of activities and places to visit. So the coming holiday of June’19 was no exception. I wished for an offbeat trek this time. Satopanth Lake near Badrinath seemed ideal as I would also tick off from my bucket list, the long awaited visit to the Valley of flowers and Hemkund Sahib, lying in the same region. The partner in adventure this time was again my cousin, Ankit Bhaiya. However, he would accompany me till the trek part, post then I would be on my solo wandering. After tracing many contacts I found one boy, who would organize our trek as a guide along with a porter for the 3 days.
Itinerary checked:
Day1 : Night bus from Delhi -> Rishikesh -> Joshimath -> Badrinath.
Day2/3/4: Trek to Satopanth Lake and back to Badrinath, visit Mana village
Day5: Move to Ghangharia Base Village
Day6: Trek to Hemkund Sahib and back to Ghangharia
Day7: Trek to Valley Of flowers and back to Ghangharia
Day8: Return back to Govindghat /Joshimath
Day9/10: Return back to Delhi
We reached Rishikesh by morning but couldn’t succeed in getting any bus to Joshimath. However a taxi was ready to drop us at Rs 700 per head. Though covering the long hilly journey in small claustrophobic car is dampening to both spirit and stomach, but we would reach soon before we could vomit. By evening we reached Badrinath to meet our guide, Sandeep Negi. A pahadi teenager, Sandeep had successfully completed the trek few days earlier, a testimonial of his capability.
Satopanth Tal, at 15,500 ft is pristine glacial lake which is considered pious and the trek route is linked with Mahabharata mythology. It is believed that Trimurtis, viz, Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh, bathe in the lake in an auspicious day and the route to Swargarohini glacier (stairway to heaven),goes further from here, which Pandavas took after handing over reign to embrace ‘Vanaprastha’.
We paid our due obeisance at Badrinath Shrine at night. And then we headed to a excellent, yet inexpensive dormitory bed (Rs 200 per bed) at Govt run Youth hostel to soothe our weary body.
On very high note we started our journey, crossing the entire Badrinath town traveling almost to Mana village(the last village before Tibetan border) on opposite side of main road, before taking a diversion left toward the trek in the fields. The trek of 42km up and down was to be completed in 3 days. Along the way there are several base camps, linked to the legend of the Pandvas dying along their journey to heaven. We passed Lakshimi Van campsite, where a lot of Bhoj-Patra trees can be spotted. Nakul is believed to die here. The next campsite Shastradhara was our night halt, where, as per legend Sehdev had died. Never had I ever imagined a place such surreal even in dream. Gaze your eyes from one end to another in 180 deg: a panoramic view of high rocks dotted with hundreds of waterfalls, is beyond description. The route till now was pretty much decent with few crossing over the glaciers. But now from here the terrain would change to moraine and scree, a tough section to traverse.
We went ahead today, passing the campsite of Chakrateerth, a plain meadow where it is believed the mighty Arjun shed his body. After this, the descent becomes high, and so are the dangers. We were completely hoping in moraines and gravels lying in mud laden glaciers with deep crevices, reminding of my very first trek of reaching Tapovan from Gaumukh. We could hear from distant, the rumbling and the breaking sound of glaciers of high mountains,making their presence felt. Finally the sight of red flag fluttering in high winds pumped in the energy to our exhausted bodies. Soon the triangular shaped, emerald green water of Satopanth Lake was in front of us. However, we remained unfortunate in our entire journey so far, for not able to view the Mt. Chaukhmba peaks. We spent nearly an hour around the lake, soaking in the serenity of the surrounding, in a hope the cloud would clear away. Sadly it didn’t, and we couldn’t witness the peak of Mt. Chaukamba. May be it demanded souls holier than us, so we returned back to our base camp at Shastradhara.
We reached back to our hostel by mid noon and in evening went for Mana village. It has many interesting places- Ved Vyas Gufa and Ganesh Gufa , Bheem-pul, the last tea shop at Indian border. Already tired from the 3 day trek, we still went and explored Mana and back to Badrinath, all on foot. I felt some pain on my foot and soon acknowledged my first ever blister on few fingers of my feet- a sign of overuse. But the warm kund snan near Badrinath temple made a huge relief and I decided to continue my rest of the journey on slippers.
Today Ankit bhaiya departed for Haridwar by first morning bus and I was alone for my trek to VoF and Hemkund Sahib. After 1 hour of futile wait for any transport at bus-stand,I went straight away to main road ,the only entrance/exit of the town and started waving to passing vehicles to drop me till Govindghat. Fortunately I got a taxi to drop me there and soon started my trek of 13 km to Ghangaria after quick registration at Govindghat post. As the route is common for Hemkund Sahib, a holy shrine for Sikhs, the entire path is quite crowded with people in religious fervor, with many eateries and shops at various pit-stops. After 4 hrs I reached the quaint town of Ghangaria. Sikh religion is known for its selfless service regardless of any discrimination. And I witnessed it closely in the coming few days. As the inexpensive Forest guest house was full, I soon found myself, surrounded in a merry crowd at Gurudwara with free food and lodging. Continuous bustling sound of pilgrims and clinking of utensils at langar made the vibe of place lively.
The accommodation of hall was valid for a day, but no worry. There is an again free cloak room facility at Gurudwara. So I kept my heavy backpack there and went for the Hemkund Sahib trek of 14 km. The entire trek was marked with great zeal of people, young and old, chanting “Satnam Wahe Guru” as they climbed steep gradient. Though the path becomes dirty as horses also ply on the same route, but there is regular cleaning done by the authority. Perched at 15000ft, the snow was yet to melt at the surrounding of Hemkund Sahib Gurudwara. There is a kund where pilgrims take holy dip in freezing cold water and then go inside the temple. The sanctity of inside transports one to an another level of spirituality. After listening to Gurubani for 40 min and having a delicious prasad of Halwa, I went to langar, serving piping hot Khichdi and chai. By 3 pm I was back to Ghagharia to book another day of free stay at Gurudwara, after collecting my bagpack.
Today, a 3 years old dream of a restless soul was going to be satiated. Yes, Valley of Flowers, the name itself arouses a kind of curiosity and longing for any nature loving being. And believe me, every square of the park holds justice to its fame. The route of VoF diverges from Hemkund Sahib trail and one has to trek few metres to reach its entrance. I was there by morning 7am, first one to reach, but the official timing was 8 am. Since I was alone, the guard allowed my entry at 8:30am , only when a group of 3 people arrived. After crossing 4 km, the magical valley opened up. The view was surreal and one cannot decide where to move as there is carpet of varieties of flower at every directions. Though I was on early season, I could easily spot more than 25 kind of flora and God knows what heavenly the place would becomes in monsoon, the peak time. I went ahead till the last point on marked trail till Tipra glacier and then returned back.
By 1 pm, I was back to Ghangharia and soon trekked down to Govindghat to look for any further options. There I met 7 other Punjabi guys who also wanted to reach Rishikesh quickly and then we all hired a taxi. We left at around 7pm from Govindghat. For night halt the taxi reached a Gurudwara at Nagrasu town. Again the usual facilities of free accommodation, langar and medical facilities were there. I got to know that for the entire yatra from Rishikesh, not only facilities of Gurudwara but small stalls are also set up near highways at different locations. There the hosts enthusiastically stop any vehicle with the distinguished Yellow prayer flag, offering chai and snacks. My respect for this religion grew multi-fold.
The hired taxi was also at quite discounted rate as it was part of Yatra and taken from a registered booth. By mid-noon we reached the plains of Rishikesh, sweating in the peak sun. I boarded the bus to Delhi at evening after bidding good-bye to my journey partners.
In last 7 days, hiked a lot of distance, had blisters, enjoyed the religious company and witnessed the flawless beauty of nature – a whole gamut of experience, a trip can offer. And I'm hopeful that these expeditions would continue.