Dayara Bugyal- The Fairies' Meadows

Uttarkashi, meaning Kashi of the north, is a town in Uttarakhand, India. It is also known as Somya Kashi and is a religious place for spiritual and adventurous tourism. This beautiful town is also called as Shivnagri where a number of temples and ashrams are situated.

We drove from Dehradun to Uttarkashi via "Tracker" or a Taxi. One can either share it at rate of 300/- per person or book an entire taxi for 3000/-

(Location- Taxi stand, Rispana Bridge, Dehradun)

We booked an entire taxi and took a number of stops at Suwakholi, Rautu ki Beli, Dharasu, etc.

Finally we reached Uttarkashi in the afternoon. After the tragic North floods that occurred in 2013, the face and curve of this beautiful district has changed since then. It took almost 5 years for the bridge to get rebuild for public conveyance.

But still, the beautiful scenic views of river Bhagirathi flowing through the lands of heaven were breathtaking af!

.......

After reaching Uttarkashi, we booked a shared taxi till Bhatwadi from Taxi stand at 70/- per person.

(Important Tip- Reach Bhatwadi before evening as there are very few taxis that go on sharing basis after 4 PM from Uttarkashi.)

Uttarkashi to Bhatwadi is approximately an hour drive journey with so many breathtaking views of River Bhagirathi on your right side. You will feel the sudden change in the air as cool breezes will start pounding on your face. That embarks the beauty and essence of Uttrakhand.

Finally we managed to reach Bhatwadi in the afternoon. Now, there are two portions of this small town, one is Upper Bhatwadi and the other is Lower Bhatwadi.

If you are going on a solo trip (or without trekking company's packages), you will need to take permission from Forest Range Officer. The office of Forest Dept. is in Lower Bhatwadi (near the main market). This permit is necessary for you to put your tents 1 Km before Dayara Bugyal during the night as High court has banned camping at Bugyal in attempt to conserve the fragile Himalayan ecosystem. Read full order https://indiankanoon.org/doc/147330564/

After taking permit from Lower Bhatwadi, we took a private cab and reached our next and final location of the day- "Raithal".

Surrounded by beautiful lush green farms and high altitude views, this village is extremely peaceful and hideous. You will love the vibes of this place upon reaching.

(A private taxi takes around 400- 500/- till Raithal)

Finally, by 5 PM, we reached our guesthouse - Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam (GMVN). This is a government of Uttarakhand managed guesthouse and we already did our booking through online mode (https://gmvnonline.com/). This was the only reasonable option we got for ourselves. .

(Rate for 1 night is 1000/- per room. PS: Make prior booking to this place so as to block the best-view room for yourself).

The night grew dark and we unpacked our bags and got comfy in our sleepers and pyjamas. Nearby to the guesthouse is a shop where you can sip into some tea and enjoy the delicious maggi.

So, it was a bright sunny day with cool breezes flowing through the valleys.

We had our breakfast from the shop nearby to Guesthouse and started our trek with our energy bars and drinks packed in our bags.

The total trek distance is 16 Kms starting from Raithal-Dayara Bugyal-Raithal. We started from Raithal village around 9:00 AM in the morning and reached our first stop Gui village by 1:00 PM. It was a steep trek till Gui where we stopped and filled our water bottles from the nearby water stream.

After taking half an hour halt at Gui, we marched forward into dense forest trails where we witnessed Red and Pink Rhododendrons. The HD view of Shrikhand Mahadev and Kalanag peak was clearly seen from there.

By 5:00 PM, we reached Dayara Top and watched the beautiful sunset scenes of Himalayan peaks. It was one of the best moment of our lives, seeing Himalayas as close to our heart.

We were so tired that we immediately slipped into the Shepherd's hut and ate delicious maggi and drank a hot cup of tea.

Finally we had our dinner (Rajmah chawal) and our trekking guy (Dev) laid out our tents and sleeping bags. "Hey! Watch out those stars" - my girlfriend said. And yes, it was a cluster of them...

Seeing so many stars felt like heaven. We just sat & saw those heavenly stars under the moonlight, shivering in the bitting cold weather (temp. dropped to -2 degrees at night). We couldn't bear the chilled weather and so finally slipped into our tents and got packed in sleeping bags by hugging each other.

After getting up early in the morning at 6:00 AM, we freshened up and witnessed the beautiful sunrise we were waiting the most for. The peaks of Shrikhand Mahadev were looking mesmerizing. We marched little forward and saw the BUGYAL covered in snow white blanket with green stubble grasses and Himalayas standing tall in front of our eyes. We enjoyed every bit of moment at the bugyal and finally started to return back as we needed to reach Dehradun by 10:00 PM.

We trekked down and reached Raithal in just 4 hours. From there, we booked a taxi till Uttarkashi and then to Dehradun.

From Dehradun, we took an overnight sleeper bus to Delhi.

--------------------------------------

So, this was our blog on trip to DAYARA BUGYAL.

For more pictures, itinerary and video shots, please follow our instagram handle @travellingwithbugs