Valley of Flowers - UNESCO HERITAGE- Hemkund - Mana

"Any place not in your daily route is worth a visit. It really doesn't have to be a hill station or a snow peak or any famous monument."

Timeline - 9 Days

ITINERARY

DAY 1: REACH Rishikesh

DAY 2: Joshimath

DAY 3: REACH GOVINDGHAT & TREK TO GHANGRIA

DAY 4: TREK TO VoF and BACK

DAY 5: TREK TO HEMKUND and BACK

DAY 6: TREK BACK DOWN TO GOVINDGHAT & DRIVE TO Mana. TREK TO VASUDHARA FALLS. TREK BACK TO Badrinath. VISIT TEMPLE

DAY 7: START BACK TO RISHIKESH

DAY 8: BACK TO Delhi

 We were lucky to have bright sunny days and no rain on the mountain for the week which is rare.

IMP POINTS:

1. An easy trek where you do not require any guide or organizer.

2. Easy stay option at hotels available all nights.(Prefer GMVN)

3. Network might be an issue. Only BSNL & IDEA in Ghangria.

4. Always keep 2 days in buffer.

5. Best time to Visit is July last week and early August.

6. Last point with Safe money option is Rishikesh. Post that many ATM's unreliable.

7. In VoF try to make it till interior regions.

8. Golden rule start every day by 5 AM including treks and travels.

9. A Safe place to travel for all age and gender group. 

10. Keep powerbanks as power might be an issue. 

11. All information available on the web. I saw many organiser charging as much as 4 times :(.

12. Landslides due to heavy rains are common. But Shivalik is good at clearing them ASAP.

13. No special permission required anywhere. UK Govt may make passes for each ones as it's Char dham suration. Good to have accounted for.

14. Chopper service from Govindghat to Ghangria available.

15. Many more things to visit all on the way only.

TREK:

GOVINDGHAT TO GHANGRIA - 13 KMS 

GHANGRIA TO VoF - 5 KMS

GHANGRIA TO HEMKUND - 7 KMS

MANA TO VASUDHARA - 5 KMS

COST:

RISHIKESH to JOSHIMATH - Rs 4000 for Reserved Vehicle, 500 per head on shared Vehicle.

Accomodation - All place avg Rs 500. GMVN avg 1200

Porters or Horses - 800 Approx

Apologies for numerous images.

Details: http://valleyoflowers.blogspot.in/

New route via Hanuman chatti is open now. Which can be used. It's only 10 kms from Badrinath which is used as an alternate route to valley of flowers.