Valley of Flowers & Hemkund Sahib

delhiwala

niknik,

Excellent pics... the flying bird shot is superb...

You have captured the valley very beautifully.

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niknik

Thanks guys
I had done a lot of reading before the trip but there was no mention of the amazing avian diversity seen in this region.
I saw at least 20 birds that I had never seen before in the Govindghat-Ghangaria stretch.

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delhiwala

I think the arduous VoF trek leaves almost no energy to enjoy other things...

jaibharatma

niknik,what a beautiful journey with great photos. One day soon...

theyyamdancer

niknik,
Inspirational! Thanks for posting your pics. (Great captions too.)

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Pidi68

Hi all, Am new here & posting my first questn. Plan to visit VOF nxt week Oct 10th onwds. Is this a good time or is the season over now? Will we get to see any flowers at this time? Am taking notes frm all the forums and planning my stay and route.
Still to make my train bookings,hotel rsvtns,get correct trekking shoes etc.
BTW This is a gr8 place to be..a whole lot of info and very good feedbacks indeed.
Cheers!

niknik

thanks jaibharatma/theyyamdancer

Actually, I am not at all happy with the captions I have for the flowers and birds

The locals told me that you can see flowers till the middle of October so you might just be OK. PLEASE MAKE SURE you go deep inside the valley - that is where you will see the carpet of flowers that VoF is so famous for.

Pidi68

Thanx Nik. Yr pics r simply superb! Very inspirational...!How many kms into the valley did u have time to go in keeping in mind that u would have to head back the same day?
Can i also ask u which camera did u use? Did u also use extended exposure or shutter speed? Would love to come back wth stunning pics and a gr8 memory of this amazing part of India!
Thnx.

niknik

Thanks pidi, I used a Nikon D40 - mostly in Aperture priority mode

We started out early, i guess 8 and reached the entrance by 10-11 and it was raining very heavily through most of the route
We met 3 groups who were returning complaining of poor visibility and lack of flowers.

From the maps, I think we made it more than 5 kms into the valley to a part where the stream really pans out. You will know you've reached it when you see many forks of the stream forming islands between them.

It was still drizzling with no sign of the sun till ~3 PM and then it happened, the skies magically cleared up for just 10 minutes to give us a fantastic 180 degree view of the valley.
I would recommend you stay on in the valley as long as it needs for the weather to clear up.
We finally started back at ~4:30 and made it back before 6.

Pidi68

Thnx again...Sounds good Nik.I am in Delhi and it's been raining since yesterday.Am getting worried about the weather up in VOF & the area in general.Is thr a site whr I can find the Tel nbr of GVM. Their site is reportedly an attack site so I can't access it. Would appreciate if someone cud give me a few nbrs to call n cnfm the weather. Cheers.


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Ashokhatriji

Hi,

I just concluded my trip to VOF/Hemkunt/Badrinath/Vasundra Fall/ Auli from Sept 25th - Oct 03rd

We had a good time and I will be posting my trip details in a couple of days. However, Oct 10 onwards may not be the best of time, reasons -

1. VOF has minimal flowers at this time. In fact, you will see very few unless you get deep into the valley. In fact, even deep inside too we found very less species. The time actually is Jun-early Sept.

2. Hemkunt may already have closed now. I had heard someone saying that it will close after October 5th.

3. Badrinath though may still be open (it will close on 17th October).

Going that far and not covering Hemkunt Sahib will not be worth it. I found Hemkunt a great place and missing it would not be good.

Regards
Ashok

tilak2909

welcome back ashok, where are the pics??

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daktarbabu

WE completed our tour to VOF-Hemkund-Badri-Auli between 20th & 25th Sept 09. Weather was sunny.It was like a dream coming true.Thanks the forum as everything there seemed to be known all throughout.But there was some odd things too.

For example I booked a car through Subhyatra Travels of Rishikesh(Nabeen Mohan).The car's condition was poor.All tyres were in so bad shape that not only gave us trouble but nightmares too.But the young driver Dinesh was great.Be little careful if you plan to rent a car.

Hats off to Eco development group, a NGO.They organise every thing in the gobindoghat-VOF- Hemkund route.









































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Ashokhatriji

Thanks Tilak.

Having spend about 10 days away from office is a great experience but on arival back my official mail box is now full of pending work . As I cleared the same, I will post my pics by this weekend ....

Just a brief of the trip for those who plan next year -

1. I had booked a sumo with Sumo Taxi stand rishikesh and I was very pleased with everything - good condition sumo / very good driver and the head of taxi union - Balbir singh negi. Everyone very helpful and in fact I recieved call every alternate day from Rishikesh to enquire if all was well. Great experience and strongly recommend.

Having read experience of daktarbabu, I feel I was lucky in this respect.

2. The weather was execelent and sunny throughout our journey (Sept 25 - Oct 03). Not a drop of rain and night temperature -moderate cold.

3. I had started early from Govindghat and reached Gangaria by 10:30am (I went uphill on horse and decended on foot). Reaching so early, I thought I should make it to VOF the same day and that is what I did. So, I saved one day (stayed for 2 nights instead of 3 nights) covering VOF and Hemkunt sahib. As I had booking for the 3rd day, I had to let go and a loss of Rs. 1150/- GVMN as I did not get any refund.

Tip1 - There is no need to have pre-booking unless you are adament to stay in GMVN. There are plenty of hotels near GMVN - half the cost and somewhat good. Try the 4-5 hotels near GMVN - these have better accomodation.

Tip2 - If you go uphill on a horse to Gangaria, you can make it to VOF the same day and hence you may plan for 2 nights instead of 3 night at Gangaria.

4. VOF was not as great as it had very little flowers. However, I still enjoyed even though my wife kept teasing me - valley of flowers without flowers So, it is true - the best time is Jun-Aug. But it comes at a cost - rains and landslides during this period.

5. Hemkunt Sahib was superb. Just fantastic. The trek, location, snow capped mountains and the lake. On top of it, the sikhs at Guruduwara make your journey a great experience. I loved the khichri and tea and I had another one before starting down. NEVER EVER MISS Hemkunt Sahib (I saw someone missing as he had only planned VOF and was short of time).

6. Badrinath Temple as usual - not bad , nothing great either. But the travel from Govindghat - Badrinath was great.

7. I had to stay one night in a guest house as I had booking for GMVN (devlok) for only 1 night. But the experience turned out to be good. I stayed at Vijaylaxmi guest house and the rooms were very good and cheap too (Rs.450) with TV and gyser. The location was good too - open the door and you see NeelKunth right in front. Good stay option.

8. For food in badrinath - I opted for a new restaurant - SARDESWARI. Good food if you are found of spicy food (like my wife ...). As for me, I liked food at GMVN as I had ordered khichri and this place is good for people who would like to have light and less spicy food.

9. I did MANA - Vasundra fall as well. This was my best experience. This trek is one that I strongly recommend. The beauty lies not with the fall but the way to the fall. Great landscape, great views and great experience (great photos as well). The trek is not easy but not very tiring either. Gentle uphill slope but be patient as it takes 5-6 hours both sides. Start as early as possible.

10. Auli - GMVN is having a makeover for some international tournament and the rooms were very good (Rs. 1500 with LCD TV/gyser) - all new construction. The location is great. A must visit for people who like solitary moments where life comes to a standstill. In summer - till Oct end, snow is seen only on peaks.

Overall, a great experience. I will visit again next time (during rains) to see Valley of Flowers with "Flowers", maybe 2 years later as I have already planned my trip for next year to Yamunotri/Gangotri/Chopta-Tunganath/Kedarnath next year in May/Jun. But its a promise - I will visit this place again when the hills call me.

Will post my pics in 2-3days time.

Thanks and Regards
Ashok

delhiwala

Welcome Back Khatriji,

Nice report, enjoyed reading....