ख़ानाबदोश in Valley of Flowers and Hemkund Sahib under 2000 INR

Getting out of Delhi on Public holiday eve is a big task. But whats need to be done has to be done. I had to go at any cost even if it becomes a solo trip which ultimately it became. So after big struggle boarded the metro on 14th Aug'19 at 6 PM and reached Kashmere gate to board the bus till Karnaprayag which I pre booked.

The Struggle

It's 5 am in the morning and we have just reached uttarakhand. When will I reach karna prayag then?", I thought.

All thanks to Delhi's traffic last night. But, there is no other option too. And I, just like my fellow travellers can only wait. As it was monsoon season , roads were patchy all around and thanks to CHAR DHAM ALL WEATHER ROAD project , conditions from bad became worse.

Finally, bus reached SRINAGAR GARHWAL at 8 AM which was one hour late. Our bus moved from SRINAGAR at 8.30 AM and reached KARNAPRAYAG at 10.30 AM. It was further going to CHAMOLI so I continued my journey instead of waiting for another transport. From CHAMOLI, I took a shared taxi till JOSHIMATH for 100 INR. It dropped me to JOSHIMATH in 1.5 hours. At 2.30 PM ,I reached JOSHIMATH and took a bus for 50 INR till GOBINDGHAT. Finally, I reached GOBINDGHAT GURUDWARA at 3.45 PM. Quickly, I took the accommodation and went to my room.

I woke up at 3 AM. Tried to pack less things as it was a 16 KM trek. And kept my rucksack with all other things in Gurudwara's cloak room which starts operating from 4.30 AM in the morning. Headed to taxi stand which will drop me to PULNA village from where the trek starts. It costs around 50 INR. As soon as I reached Pulna village, first thing I purchased was a wooden trekking pole. It costed 20 INR but it helped me in every possible way to reach my destination. I started trek at around 6 AM. And the first 15 minutes were really tough.

Woke up at 5 AM and Quickly freshened up, had my breakfast and headed out. After a 1 KM trek from Ghagharia , comes a diversion which divides trekking route of VOF and Shri Hemkund Sahib. Finally I was about to reach the place which I have yearned for so long. But as soon as I reached the entry point, I saw too many people were already waiting. I got to know that VOF is temporarily suspended as the bridge connecting the valley might have washed away in last night's downpour. And it might take 3 or 4 hours to confirm and repair it. Some people started trekking for Shri Hemkund Sahib instead of waiting for repair to happen which was also not sure how long it will take. I went for that decision too and started trekking for Shri HEMKUND SAHIB ji. It's around 6 KM from GHANGHARIA and quite steep. Got some amazing views of snow capped mountains and glaciers from above. The flowers were blooming in monsoon and added enchanting view all around. It's really a heaven for a botanist. There are n numbers of species all around. Came across some glaciers too for the first time in my life.

I left Gurudwara at around 6 AM but it was still raining. When I reached the start point to VOF, there were already people waiting there again from the previous day. The forest guard told us that we have to wait as they needed to check the situation. An army personnel went inside the valley to look at the situation. He later conveyed the message from the valley that river is overflowing due to rain and it's a risky day for the trek. So, after a while final decision came in that trek is cancelled for today and it might start tomorrow if the weather will be fine. With heavy hearts, I went back to Ghangharia. The sky seemed clear with some stars shining brightly after it stopped raining keeping my spirits alive but you can't predict the treacherous weather of mountains so went to bed early hoping to see the valley tomorrow if all goes well or else may be next time some day.

The Final Destination