Backpackers Trip To Valley Of Flowers and Badrinath

As per me monsoon is the best time for trekking as we can see all lush green mountains, seasonal waterfalls and beautiful sceneries. We saw 20+ seasonal waterfalls during that trek and views are amazing. The trek is strenuous and we were facing difficulties specially the last 4 kms but the experience which we are getting in return will compensating that pain. I was thinking about my partners that are going to kill me as this is my idea to trek in rainy and none of them was frequent trekkers but the strange part is that they are enjoying too. That moment I realize that if we travel with buddies having same passion and mind set then the experience we get is commendable. Both are adventurous like me and I was enjoying with them too. We reached Ghangria around 7:45. And we take room for Rs 400 for 3 persons. That’s the cheapest deal we find there. We had our dinner and go to bed immediately as we have to wake up early so that we can complete Both VOF and Hemkund in the same day.

(Cost Details: {Chamoli – Joshimath= Rs 100 each} {Joshimath – Govind ghat= Rs 50} {Govind ghat – Pulna= Rs 40 each} {Room = Rs 130 each + Rs 50 hot water per bucket})

Day 3: Next day around 5:00 am in the morning, I just woke up and there is strong noise outside as it’s like someone it throwing something on tin roof but I was sure it’s raining outside. When I opened the door i was amazed. It is like wall of water in front of me and I barely able to see the next hotel which is just 20 meters ahead of me. But at the same time I was very much excited that one more day trek in heavy rainfall. But my mates denied and they prefer to wait for a while until it’s slow down. As I have no choice, as in group decision majority always wins and I am at the minority side so I have to accept their decision. So we waited till 7 am and had our breakfast in meanwhile, by the time rain gets slow and then we started our trek around 7:15 am from Ghangria. Reached VOF entry gate around 7:45 (500 mts from Ghangria). Ticket cost is Rs 150 per person for Indians and Rs 600 for foreigners. From ticket counter the half km towards VOF is flat trek preceded by river crossing and the next 1.5 km was slightly upward trek and rest was completely flat (overall all it’s an easy trek). We reached there by 8:45 am.

When we reached there my eyes were sparkling by seeing the first sight of the beautiful valley. Cloudy but clear view of valley with light shower of rain and mild wind with no hope of sunlight. Valley is completely covered with green belt with flowers of different colors and verities are blooming. I was pretty much happy that it’s my wise decision to come here in monsoon as m pretty sure this type of beauty can’t be seen in other season or weather. It’s peaceful and beautiful. We planned to stay there by 11: am and then planned to leave for Hemkund Sahib. But we are actually not lucky as what we are thinking. Around 11 am valley is surrounded by dark grey clouds and it stats raining heavily. We waited for couple of hours in the valley and finally decided it’s better to leave as rain is not going to stop but also my mates drop the plan for Hemkund Sahib as there though was it is not possible to trek to Hemkund in such rain as its an totally steep trek of 6 km. So we dropped the plan and start moving to Ghangria at 2:00 pm. We reached there by 3:30 pm. At the time of returning back I slipped 2 times and had a little injury. We reached to our room, had our lunch, sat for couple of hours chit-chatting and then go to bed early as we have to leave early so that we can visit Badrinath and will return to Delhi on same day as early as possible.

(Cost Details: {Room = Rs 130 each + Rs 50 hot water per bucket, VOF entry Ticket= Rs 150 each}

Day 4: Woke up early and we left for Govind ghat at 6:30 am. Today is the 1st day where we didn’t see the rain and all of us are really feeling good. At 9:15 we reached Govind ghat and there I found my ex colleague who is just starting his trek. We sit together for couple of minutes and then we leave for our destinations. We headed towards bus stand and there we get to know that the public transport and shared jeep are available only after 3 pm for Badrinath. The only way is to book the cab, so we did that (as we don’t have any other option) and headed towards Badrinath around 10:30 am. On the way our cab got breakdown and its cost us 15 mins but the way to Badrinath is damn beautiful. Lush green mountains and their peaks are covered with milky clouds (magnificent views). We reached Badrinath by 11:15 am. Then we visited the temple and stayed there for around 1 hour and then we returned back to Joshimath. From there we take shared jeep to Chamoli and reached there by 3:00 pm. From Chamoli we are expected to catch the direct bus to Delhi. But we reached late as bus had already left. So we take the shared cab from Chamoli to Haridwar. We reached Haridwar around 11:30 pm and then we immediately take the bus to Delhi. We reached Delhi next day at 5:30 am in the morning.

(Cost Details: {Govind Ghat – Badrinath – Joshimath = Rs 500 each} {Joshimath- Chamoli = Rs 100} {Chamoli – Haridwar = Rs 500} {Haridwar – Delhi = Rs 250})

This trip has given me a new adventure and experience. Learned couple of things and hope my upcoming trips will teach me more.

That’s all from this trip.

Keep Smiling and keep Travelling