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Valley of Flowers

What : Himalayan Trek

Where : Valley of Flowers Uttrakhand

When : 13-18 Aug 2018

How : with the help of Trek the Himalayas

Height : 14100ft max

Being a passionate traveller for the past 3 years, Trekking in Himalayas is one of the most important things I am been doing since 2016. After my Kashmir Great Lakes Trek with TTH on 2017 , I decided to do a trek this year as well and Valley of Flowers came in to my bucket this time.

After all the requirements been packed as always I started my trip from Chennai and reached Haridwar a night before the start of the Trek. 13th Aug 2018 the start of the trek where there was a confusion whether I should sit on a Tempo or Bolero and then I sat on the Bolero with 3 other folks and started to Joshimath by 8:30 in the morning. We mentally prepared our mind and started ahead as it was a 10 hour travel from Haridwar to Joshimath. We stopped somewhere before Rishikesh for the breakfast where 4 other folks from the group also joined us. By end of the breakfast all 8 became so close and then it was a quite long journey after the usual traffic in Rishikesh. We crossed Devprayag Rudraprayag and had our Lunch around 3 and our Tea by 6 near Karna Prayag. Atlast after the longest journey where 10 hours seemed like 24*7*365 (hahaha) we reached our lodge at Joshimath. It was a room with 3 sharing basis and good that it had a Geyser (because I am kind of person who takes bath only before and after the trek and not in between 😀 :P). I had good bath coz of the Geyser and then we were welcomed by our Trek Lead Kashyap ji. A very bold and happy face guy who did a short briefing that night along with a delicious dinner.

14 Aug 2018 where we were supposed to assemble by 6 30 for briefing (:D) met around 7 15 with all the instructions provided. By 8 we packed our rucksack and day packs and moved ahead to Govind Ghat by road and reached Phulna . Phulna is a small village and it is the starting point of the VOF trek. We started walking around 10 30 AM. The trail was ascending most of the times and it was a proper concrete path and we had many shops in between as it was also a pilgrimage place. We reached the lunch point around 1 and we were having Roti and Bhindi Sabji as packed lunch. Post lunch was a complete 4km ascend and with all courage and some Kakara and Tepla from friends. We reached Ghangria by 5 in the evening. Ghangria is a small beautiful village with minimal network and facilities. We were staying at Deepak Lodge and that’s the sleeping and resting point for the next 3 days. Sleepless nights with the new buddies which made the other roomies also not sleep was our daily night work :D.

15Aug 2018 with full of positivity and patriotism we started to the Valley of Flowers Trek. A 3 km trek with an altitude of 12,100 ft. We started the trek around 6 in the morning as the weather is unpredictable and the early you reach the better is the view. We had our buffet breakfast and headed towards VOF. We witnessed many flowers and plants on the day and the local guide Harish bhai gave us all the inputs regarding how the trail has evolved and also about the Legee’s graveyard. As it was Independence Day we decided to sing the Anthem. After a 1KM walk we had a beautiful of the water flowing near to the bridge. We gathered people and we sang the National anthem with Goosebumps all over and we proceeded ahead to the Valley. We reached the valley after 2km of complete ascend and we saw a rock welcoming us with the name board. After the name board it’s the individuals choice whether to move ahead or stay there. Kashyap has already mentioned that by 12 30 we are supposed to leave from where ever we are and return back to the lunch point. So myself with a group of 6 people started walking towards Legee’s Grave and it was so beautiful to witness all the flowers while walking. After the trail we returned back to the lunch spot and had egg and fried rice for lunch along with hot chaai which Kashyap ji has arranged. After the lunch before leaving to Ghangria we had a small dance and music show amongst ourselves and it was super fun. We reached Ghangria by 4 30 in the evening and TTH team welcomed us with hot Maggi and tea. We spent the night with the briefing dinner and some random stories with the trek members.

16-08-2018 was supposed to be the difficult trail of the complete trek where we have to trek 6KM one side and where the altitude will change from 9800ft to 14100ft. We started with complete courage and we reached almost 4km in 3 and half hours. The next 2km can either be covered by normal trail or we had a shortcut by using the steps. So we decided to use the steps which was almost close to 1000 in number and was quite tough. Few of our trek folks have already reached the top of Hemkund Sahib and were welcoming us by cheering. Atlast we reached the top where I saw the famous Gurudwara. The Gurudwara had a lake which is somewhat near to frozen. I wanted to have a dip on the lake so I changed my dress and instructed my friends to be ready with the towel so that once my dip is done I can get and immediately wipe the body. After the dip we entered the Gurudwara and we were given blankets and we can sit inside the prayer hall. We sat there for few minutes and came out where we were provided with hot Kichidi and Tea. We also went to a Lakshman temple near to Gurudwara and we left the place around 1 and reached Ghangria by 4.

17-08-2018 we started to walk from Ghangria towards Phulna and surprisingly once we reached Phulna we got to know that the roads to Badrinath was quite normal and we visited Badrinath. A 40km drive from Phulna where we witnessed many landslides and security checks. The place was so divine that we were unable to move from the temple and it is also famous as it is one among the Char Dhaam. By 6 in the evening we returned to Joshimath and from them people started looking down ( to the cellphones) who were looking and admiring all the beautiful mountains and natures beauty.

We had a beautiful set of team and all the people who guided us were so cool and calm. I am very thankful to TTH for making this as one of a beautiful memory in my life. Will surely doing more treks with TTH.

Written By
Sabarish