Love for Himalayas: Trek to Valley of Flowers

Finally on 3rd August 2017 my father dropped me at Mumbai domestic Airport for my flight. That feeling of finally going - I had no words. We reached Dehradun at around 12.15 P.M. Prepaid Taxi services were available which were costing approx. INR 800 upto Rishikesh Mayakund. We were told to report at Rishikesh base camp by 4 P.M. We were advised to not take taxi since they were too expensive and instead opt for public transport. But public transport is not directly available from Jollygrant Airport though it’s a walk-able distance from the airport. But since we were tired we decided to take up taxi till availability of public transport which cost us INR 100/- for around 2kms. From there we got share auto (known as Vikram :-D) to Rishikesh which costs INR 70/- . Vikram dropped us at Rishikesh. From Rishikesh we caught another Vikram for INR 170 (may be we were fooled since we were tourists) for our base camp at Mayakund. YHAI staff took our id proof and alloted us rooms. And since we were late and missed our lunch, we went outside for lunch. We had local thaali at nearest dhaba. After lunch we visited Triveni ghaat and had some local refreshments. We came back at around 5 P.M. and then met our room-mates. At around 6.30 we had orientation programme conducted by Mr. J. P. Sharma. We were instructed about what to do and what not to and explained about our schedule. They warned us about possible land-slides due to which roads may be blocked and might need to take decisions accordingly. I was disheartend to know that after valley of flowers trek there won’t be any YHAI faculty with us. They announced group leader and co- leader from participants themselves. Mr. Chaitanya Pithawa was our Group leader, Mr. Vaibhav Sathe was Co- Leader and Mrs. Swati Taare was Environmental leader. After orientation we had dinner and then they provided us Trekking bags and other necessary things like cap, poncho, sling bag etc. I preferred carrying my own bag and dropped unnecessary items in their bags.

Early morning at around 5 a.m. we had breakfast and packed lunch. We board the bus but due to heavy rains we had to wait for half an hour. Here We go with our theme (Takkar Takkar ..Takkar Huha huha Boom) We started our journey for Joshimath at around 5.30 a.m. Joshimath is 275 kms away from Rishikesh. As I belong to the population who suffers motion sickness it was not pleasant journey for me. But during this journey my favorite ritual of mooh dikhaai i.e. introduction was done and I finally saw ‘The Himalayas’. It was the same kind of view I used to draw in school when I was kid. Chains of mountains, river flowing through the same and tiny huts around it. We reached our destination at around 4.30 P.M. and proceeded to have our tea. Orientation for next day was conducted by our Joshimath camp leader. Mr. Bharat bhai Trivedi and Mr. Abhinav Agarwal was our director. Both were very funny and very caring. After orientation we left for site visit to Joshimath. We visited the local bazaar where you can buy your basic requirements. Then we headed towards Narsimha Temple also known as NarsinghBadri Temple. Narsingh Temple is the place where Badrivishal used to rest during winter. During winter the Idol of Badrinath temple is taken down to Narsingh temple. Then we saw Kalpavruksha which is 2500 years old tree known by Kalpatru in mythology. As per the Hindu scriptures, Adi Jagatguru Shankaracharya sat under this tree and worshipped lord Shiva in then Jyotimath (now Joshimath). The Shivlinga installed by Shankaracharya is now converted into Jyoteshwar Mahadeo Temple of Lord Shiva under the Kalpavriksha. After returning we were served piping hot tomato soup. At 7.30. we had our dinner which was so delicious. We were asked to contact our respective family members because there would be no network availability for next 3 days. Meantime Sunil uncle introduced me to my judwa. It was so funny to find someone same like you. Introduction of group members was yet not conducted. Hence we did not know each-others name. We kept every ones name as per their quality. Like Caring uncle (Chote Sunil sir, and Dhananjay sir), Badbade uncle (Ajay Sir), Chinki k uncle (Bade sunil Sir), DSLR uncle (Vaibhav Sir), Gujarati uncle (Pappu bhai) etc etc. We had bournvita before we slept.

It was 4am and the door was knocked (hahahah)..guess what.. for the bed tea. At 5.30 am breakfast was served and we were handed our packed lunch. We left by bus for Govindghat which is 5kms from Joshimath. From govindghat we had to reach Ghagaria which is 13 kms. Upto 3 kms sharing jeep is available. And after that if u don't want to trek, Mules (khachchar) is available up-till Ghagaria. Some members from our batch chose this option and some dropped their bags on khachchar. And our journey started. At check post we did our bio metric for Hemkund sahib. It is advisable to do biometric for badrinath here itself as there would be rush of pilgrims at Badrinath. We began to ramble through steep road. It was indeed exhausting. We decided to take shortcuts from jungles wherever possible as guided by Abhinav. As I was carrying my own luggage, it felt kind of heavy after one hour. But I kept myself positive and continued walking. After almost 2 hours my body became used to it and did not felt like I was carrying much weight. We took small breaks in between. Lot of pilgrims came to visit Sri Hemkund Sahib. We took half an hour break in between and had local gratifying daal rice and chaai. We hookup some memories and went ahead. We crossed the fascinating river Lakshman Ganga which was more than amenity, it was pure pleasure to enjoy such white water experience. And the veiw from that valley was mesmerizing. It was breath taking view. We kept walking. Our whole group was dispersed and only 5-6 people were with us. Meanwhile our YHAI leader Abhinav gave us some jadibooti (i.e. Herb) from the nearest forest called ‘cheed’. It gave us quick energy kick and hence, we began our jaunt in agility. Even though there were markings on the way, we kept on asking other descending pilgrims that how far is it. Whoever we asked they told us to further go 2kms. When we were about to reach Ghagaria we found honey bee Hive just like it’s shown in the movie –‘Mogli’. Even after trekking for an hour a sardarji told us 2kms more. It was as if we were walking in circles – returning to the same place. Soon we got a glimpse of the campsite and we could see the camps. Our speed elevated as we witnessed the camps. Finally we reached YHAI camp. We were welcomed with big round of applause. Sunil sir gave me Cadbury as complement. It was so relaxing moment that finally we reached our camp and completed 13 kms of trek. We were allotted rooms. We quickly refreshed and went terrace for food.

We woke up at 5.am. Nobody wants to wake-up early unless they are getting up to see something very beautiful. It was a very delightful day for us. We were going to ‘Valley of Flowers’. We got ready and all gathered for our trek. We started our journey with our ‘YHAI’ lead Mr. Abhinav Agarwal and our adolescent guide Mr. Anshul Rawat. We commenced ascending the valley. At outset we were required to cross the river. Thereupon we stopped for registration for entry into the valley. The way towards valley is filled with briar, creeper, rocky stones, hedges and Roaring winds. Abhinav played soothing songs while ascending the valley which made our trek more interesting. The valley is about 8 km long and 2 km wide. This valley is found by British mountaineer Mr. Frank S. Smith in 1931. He wrote a book on the same. In 1939, Joan Margaret Legge, a botanist arrived at the valley to study flowers and while traversing some rocky slopes to collect flowers, she slipped off and lost her life. Her sister later visited the valley and erected a memorial near the spot. We witnessed many flowers like Vajaradanti, Saxifraga parnassifolia, Marigold, Pedicularis, Ligularia, Ban Ajwain, Bistorta Affinis, Morina Longifolia etc. and later on we went ahead with Anshul for river bed known as Pushpavati river. The area has tendency of bears appearing, so it was quite risky being there. But the view of the river just gave my eyes instant relaxation. The shore of river flooded in my body and cold wind felt like heaven. No wonder why sadhus (monks) choose Himalayas for meditation. We had lot of fun there. I must say million thanks to Mr Anshul for getting us there. Actually very few batches cover this point. Every one left from picnic spot itself. While returning we visited the memorial. View from the memorial was something like river of flowers. We almost covered the whole valley. While retracing at about 2 p.m. valley bloomed like anything, everywhere just flowers and flowers. We were just 7 people while returning and we enjoyed and freaked out a lot. We taught each other peculiar languages like Marathi, Gujarati, Gadhwali etc. Then Suddenly I and Priya realized that it's friendship day (wohoooo ????). We quickly gave each other a tight hug, danced and came down the whole way crooning songs (lallalalalalla). At about 5 p.m we finished our trek. We stopped at Anshul’s shop and had piquant Maggi. Thereafter we went ahead to our campsite. After freshening up Abhinav asked me for boiled eggs. It was so amazing to have boiled eggs after very long time. I quickly invited our group members. Caring uncle and Karthik joined us. We had masala boiled eggs (yummmm). I was desperate for boiled eggs because I tripped and hit my knee which pained alot. My knee got blocked I was not able to walk properly. I was very much tensed whether I should do Hemkund sahib trek the next day or not. We reached our hotel and Ajay uncle asked us whether we want to book khachchar for tomorrow's trek to which me and my friend denied. I was praying my knee injury improved. Vaibhav uncle gave us vitamin tonic and I got massage done from hotel which gave me little relief.

Another great morning, it was 5 o clock and I was crawling on my bed and was hoping that my knee must have got fine. I got up from my bed. Nd surprisingly my knee was not hurting Me much. We had to left early as we super six planned to go by trek. We had our power packed breakfast and went to go on with some quick photos with Bharat bhai, Abhinav, Anshul and Amit. Our group members wished us and we stepped ahead for our journey. I was damn excited for Sri Hemkund Saheb. Upto chk post v six were together. But due to so many mules (Khachchar) going in all directions, we all were dispersed. Abhinav and Shrijal went ahead. Me and caring uncle were together. Priya and Chaitanya were far behind. We were enjoying nature’s walk with our past trek stories and it was so exciting that my knee pain was lost somewhere in those mountains. Route towards Hemkund sahib was little rocky, but steep and I must say it was Little exhausting for beginners, but level of difficulty was easy. After walking for about an hour, we found that our other group members were coming and within fraction of minutes they all went ahead of us….. How..??? They were conducting their trek on mules (They felt it quite difficult to trek). After that all of a sudden, I loosed my consciousness, Sunil uncle held me and taught me what to do when such situation arise, wen u r alone in mountain, when u feel unconscious, when u feel no energy, etc that I should put both my hands on back side of my head. nd put the head down while making position of lower squat. I had chocolate, I regained my energy (Phewwwww) and that’s the beauty of trek that you learn to survive in different kinds of environment. We once agan continued our journey onwards where we found a Hotel (Dhaba) where Ajay uncle was having snacks. He gave us chocolates , took a break and after five minutes we began our journey. As we were gaining altitude we started consuming more energy. We were walking through rain clouds, thin air all the way up, drizzling rains, freezing temperatures which could have made our journey difficult but as a matter of fact we all just enjoyed it. Suddenly the lost pain in mountains found me and started giving me a bearable pain. I thought of taking break. But Sunil uncle encouraged me to not cool my body temperature by taking a break which is many a times reason for body freezing. Hence we decided to lower our speed but no stopping. Then on the way we met Kaalden a hardcore Tibetan mountaineer, He gave his knee pad to me and helped me to sooth my pain. Then we slowly walk ahead and twice we took shortcuts. But I was not able to make higher climbs, so we just went ahead with normal route. Meanwhile we found it for which I was dying to come to Hemkund - Snow Filled Glaciers. (Yippppieeeee ) I was so amazed that I don’t have words to express my happiness . We both went ahead, saw the glacier for the first time in my life and that’s when I realized that trekking was part of my life and no matter what happens, where I am or where I will be, I will never stop to do treks in my life. We spent some quality time and then we went ahead to continue our journey. Our breaths got little heavier as we were gaining height. We decided not to talk. After crossing river we found 2 ways one by stairs and one by normal hiking route. As instructed by our director we were supposed to go by normal route even though it is longer one. We started ascending, Found very beautiful flowers on the way (Complete Refreshments) We found BrahmKamals (Flower) on the way which is only found at high altitude regions. I was feeling that chilling wind. And sound of gurbani from gurudwara. we asked from one sardarji how far it is he told us 2kms to go. After walking half hour we came to know from another sardarji that still 2kms is left. We kept our patience and went ahead. Finally we saw group of pilgrims who told us to finish as we had already reached near end point. Then we saw marking board showing Hemkund 0 km. We were on the 7th cloud of the 7th Sky when we saw that board (Sigh of Relief) We were at about 15,200 ft above sea levels. It took us 4 hours to reach Hemkund. Drizzling rain was there and We went towards langar and reunited with our group members. They welcomed us. We had a refreshing hot cup of tea which was very much needed at that point. It must be approx. two degrees freezing temperature. After having tea we went to take blessings in Sri Hemkund sahib gurudwara which is highest Gurudwara (known) all around the globe*. It is star shaped gurudwara and is made up of marbles situated at bank of crystal clear lake which is a source of Lakshman ganga. It is as cold as snow. Many of us jumped in there and as soon as I jumped, I understood that somethings are not to be done in such weather (Hahahhahhaha). I was freezing from top to bottom. (Not my cup of Tea) This gurudwara is open only for 5 months after that it is filled with snow. There is one Laxman mandir too. We cought with cold and then we went up at darbaar where we got blankets (kambal) and we stayed there for 15mins. At around 2 o clock we started getting down. Due to such cold temperatures my knee started paining badly. I again geared up my knee pad. As I was coming down, I could not stop thinking about the langar the khichdi, its delicious taste and started descending. The view was quite clear because Fog had gone and we could see the surrounding There were many waterfalls And there was a separate way towards brahmKamals. I did not followed that root due to my knee injury. I went down and waited for my co group members. It was fun moment when I saw Ajay uncle with umbrella cap. And together we started our journey. My knee pain worsened after half an hour of walking (I felt that every time I took a step, somebody was pinching my knee with knife but that pain was nothing as compared to the joy that the place was giving me). We all stopped at nearest dhaba. Thankfully Jaynish is a physio therapist who gave me quick treatment. And then psychologically handled me which led to increase in my speed. Finally we reached at base village.at about 6.30 p.m and another great journey ended (). I had my diiner and went straight to the bed at 10 o clock.

Time to say bye to Ghagaria-the most Miraculous place. We all were ready for Badrinath journey. Every one gathered to see off our Ghagaria Yhai team. Every one left at 7.30 am. Ajay uncle and I left at 8 am as we were going by Mule because I had knee injury and was not able to descend. They took Rs.600 or Rs.700 from Ghagaria to Govindghat. As I sat on Mule for the first time that too on descending road, I was scared to death. I cried for almost an hour. Ajay uncle was continuously cheering me. We had a break when we saw our group members at river side for photography. We went ahead, by now I was comfortable on khachchar. We reached Govind ghat at 11. A.m. We found Sunil uncle there. We had tea and went ahead to our bus. Mean time I consulted a doctor ☹. We were waiting for our other group members. At bus stop we came to know that on the way to Badrinath 2 land slide had occurred so road was blocked. We need to go by trek half the way. All the group members arrived at around 3.30 p.m. Our group leader consulted at Rishikesh base camp about the land slide. He announced that we have two options one is to wait at Govind ghat those who don't want to trek. And another one is to go up till Lambgadh by bus and followed by 3 kms Trek and from there one can get jeep uptill Badrinath. I selected 2nd option and I was worried as my knee was fully injured. We all took necessities in our small bags and dumped our rucksacks at bus cabinet. And proceeded our journey towards Lambgadh and thereafter started our trek. We reached the other side of Lambgadh and were waiting for our other group members. Then we proceeded with the jeep for Badrinath. I was sitting on front seat with Sunil uncle. And the magical journey started. Flawless roads, tiny river, water falls decorating the caved mountains along the way and mystical sky, all was superb. We reached YHAI camp site at around 7 p.m. It was super freezing environment. Badrinath camp site was the best camp site amongst our whole journey. We all met Mr A S Bartwal. We were called for tea and we all got freshened up. Our stomachs were growling with hunger and soon maaji blew whistle for dinner. The food was so delicious and yummy. After dinner we had orientation round. At orientation we decided our schedule for the next day as we were not able to go for Darshan today due to land slide. Next day’s paln was set on going Vasudhara and while coming back go for Darshan. Afterwards we started some entertainment. Major Sir told us stories about his army days, Deepti sung ghadwali song, Jaynish played Garba songs and we had some rounds of Garba. We had fun and left for a good night’s sleep.

Today we are going to last village of India i.e. Mana and afterwards trek to Vasudhara. We arranged jeep for the Mana village. Way towards Mana is surrounded by hills and mountains and Alaknanda river. We reached Mana village and visited Shree Ganesh cave and thereafter Vyas cave. There was “Bharat-ki-akhari chaai ki dukaan”. We clicked pictures as we had 'been there'. We had Himalayan sharbat there known as Rohrodandrum syrup. We left from there and headed towards another major attraction-Bheem pul above the Saraswati River which flows with full force and joins the river Alaknanda. It is believed that this is the village from where Pandavas started their journey towards heaven (Swargarohini) and Bheem pul is the bridge formed by Bheem for his wife Draupadi who was unable to cross the mountain. It’s about 1.5 km from Mana. Then we proceeded for Vasudhara falls trek. The view along the way towards Vasudhara falls was spell binding. Path covered with stepping stones, Bushes, river alaknanda flowing on left hand side and barren land (hahhaaa). As per Yhai iternery it's 5km trek, but it nearly 9 kms. Anyways it was just my knee who was complaing , and our wrong decision and forecast that we did not have our packed lunch. The atmosphere was straight out of a fairytale. My attention was not at all towards my destination it was the path which made me lost in the melodious era. Trails of mountains on one side and green bushes and a flow of crystallized river and pebbles along the way on the other enhanced the majesty of the place. I felt like Lord Shiva blew cool air over this place and the fog was as if he was consuming chillam. We reached Vasudhara falls. It's almost 500 feet deep fall situated at 12500 ft altitude. And the place was surrounded by beautiful valley. It was so beautiful that I was considering taking Sanyas there (hahaha). After spending half an hour we visited nearby ashram where we were served tea and khichdi. We all were tired and after having khichdi we were all charged up and started descending. We had lot of fun while coming back. Dancing, Loud singing, Zingaat dance without music, Penguins and batman photography (:-D :-D). We reached down at around 6.30 p.m. Sunil uncle was waiting for us. We quickly grabbed the taxi and headed towards Badrinath temple. We had bath at Tapt kund (hot water pond). Bdrinath Yatra is considered incomplete if you do not take bath in that pond. There is a separate kund for females. The water is very hot that one can not dip inside. We used our water bottles to get the water. Thereafter we went temple. There was not much rush. We did darshan and attended Aarti and went back to camp all the way by walk. We had hot and spicy pakoras on the way which made Vaibhav uncle dance (hahahah).

Today was the saddest day as today we were going to get back to the Rishikesh. We all got up at 4 am and had breakfast. Afterwards we cheered for our Badrinath Yhai camp staff and see off every one. But when we got down we come to know that due to landslides police were not ready to give us permission to go ahead. Every-one was in tension, as next day some of us had their flights. I, on the other hand was jumping inside hoping we might be there for one more day. Till the time police give us permission we decided to go to temple. We all went temple and did lot of Masti on the way. Finally at 12 noon we got permission to go ahead and we began our journey towards Lambgadh. And from lambgadh we again crossed the mountain by trek. And there we came to know about one more land slide and our bus can’t go ahead. We called Yhai Rishikesh base camp and were told to either stay at Govindghaat or come ahead by walk and reach Rishikesh at our own expense. Our group decided to exchange next batch bus with our batch. Thankfully he agreed. And from here our return journey continued to Rishikesh. At first every one was very frustrated on Yhai management. But soon afterwards we started singing ‘besure’ songs. We did a good job at keeping the front seat members awake. We were singing continuously for almost 4 hours. We reached Rishikesh at 2. am. We all just slept however we were.