Valley of Flowers vs. Har-ki-Dun

Sadanand Kamath

The Valley of Flowers (VOF) and Har-ki Dun (HKD) Valley are popular treks in Garhwal Himalaya. These treks are famous for their alpine flowers which generally bloom to the full in July-August. This is just the right time, I felt, to share my impressions about these two treks with the fellow Indiamikers and others.

'Impossible to take a step without crushing flowers'. The observation by Frank Smythe, who accidentally discovered the VOF in 1931, induced me to trek VOF in Aug'90 with my like minded friends. A couple of years later, I came across a book 'Beautiful Garhwal' written by Ruskin Bond. Apart from write-ups, the book contained some beautiful photographs of variuos places in Garhwal. The one photograph that drew my attention because of its caption was that of HKD valley. The caption was' Har-ki-Dun, a small valley, more beautiful than the Valley of Flowers'. This prompted me to trek HKD with my friends in Aug'94.

It was a mesmerising experience for me to walk in the midst of flowers for miles together in VOF. The valley covered with thick flowering plants many of which rose to as high as 7 feet. From an higher elevation, the valley gave an impression of coloured carpets being laid as breeze blew. The observation of Frank Symthe was, however, no longer valid after about 60 years as a narrow path, probably made by a steady flow of trekkers, now existed. Nevertheless, it was impossible to avoid brushing with flowers while walking. In some places, because of heights of the plants, we had to physically push them sideways to walk further!

In HKD, the flowering plants were not as thick and tall as in VOF. I found more variety of flowers in VOF than in HKD. I did not get the same mesmerising feel in HKD as I got in VOF while walking along the flowering plants. May be that I had alredy seen such scenes in VOF. I have also seen alpine flowers blooming in July-Aug in higher places like Kedarnath, Rudranath, Tungnath, Hemkund but they were few and far between as compared with VOF and HKD. All in all, in my view, VOF scores over HKD insofar as flowers were concerned.

However, I found HKD valley more beautiful than VOF in terms of topography and sceneries. A waterfall of about 20 metres of height and grassy land welcomed trekkers at HKD valley. VOF has pushpawati streams flowing through boulders and a couple of dusty snow bridges. HKD has Tons river flowing though the entire trekking route. In fact, the entire trekking route from Sankri to HKD valley is enchanting added by a gushing Tons river in dense forests with thick vegetation alternated by some grassy patches. This may be reason why we did not get even a minor breathing problem in HKD trek. In VOF trek, we did experienced minor breathing problem between Gangaria-VOF/Hemkund - may be due to less vegetation. By the way, as a thumb rule, I walk one step per second on higher altitude rather than taking frequent rests to reduce pressure on my lungs.

In VOF trek, pilgrims with a focus on completing their visit to Hemkund outnumbered trekkers by a huge margin. Most of these pilgrims, I observed, did not ventured to visit VOF since they planned to visit Badrinath. In all probability, therefore, trekkers may not encounter pilgrims on a stretch from Gangaria to VOF. In HKD trek, I saw only few trekkers and botanists.

There are no villages on the trekking route from Govindghat to VOF/Hemkund. However, there were many tea/food stalls at short distances. In HKD trekking route, there are villages at Sankri, Taluka and Oslo where some tea houses will provide food and sheleters. In Sankri, we had best vegetable thalis in a road side dhaba. All these places have GMVN Rest Houses but there were no restaurant facilities in 1994. A GMVN Rest House was under construction in HKD in 1994.

Although HKD trek was supposed to start from Sankri, due to landslides at various places, we reached Sankri from Mori by a combination of trek and bus/jeep. According to local people, landslides on Mori-Netwar-Sankri are common occurrence in rainly season.

We were required to take entry permits to visit VOF at Gangaria and for HKD at Netwar from respective Forest Department's officials. The fee at that time was Rs.2/- per head plus Rs.2/- for camera. Special permission was required to stay overnight in VOF.

My impressesions and observations were based on these two treks which I did about 15-17 years ago. There would be many who may have done these two treks in the recent period. It will be interesting for all of us know their experiences in these two treks too.

Sadanand

VSK Sharma

Things have not changed much in both the places as the road has not moved further than where it was in VOF case and landslides keep making the road to HKD similar to what was encountered earlier.

ks_bluechip

SK, VSKS ... As per you advise in other threads, I am planning to do exactly these two treks in July. I think by then the rains would make them attractive. Will report my personal experience, after I get back on 5th August .... but meanwhile will appreciate any recent experience / updates

Also I may travel by bus/jeeps upto Gangotri & Yamunotri (not the trek portions) ... just to explore these Gharwal Routes that I never travelled fearing pilgrim rush .. hopefully now these routes will be less crowded?

__________________
ks_bluechip [My Travel Blog] [My Flickr Photo Sets]

VSK Sharma

Hi,
End July should be fine but Aug is better. For Yamunotri you will have to trek as it is not on road head. Gangotri is no problem. Traveling by shared jeep/ Taxi is a better idea.
All the best.

ks_bluechip

Two questions ...

(1) for each of these treks which is the best place to hire a porter to carry my bag (max 10-12kg).

(2) I plan to go only where I can stay in GMVN-GH/PWD-RH/Other and get cooked food. So not Hiring-Carrying tent & cooking stove/stuff etc. Is that ok?

I will try do the treks as late in July, as possible. I found SK's description pretty good.

Sadanand Kamath

KS,
You will get porters at Govindghat and at also at Joshimath. If you are going to stay overnight at Joshimath, I suggest you take porters from Joshimath. By the way, you can take only bare essential things in your bag for VOF as you will required to spend only three nights at Gangaria if you also intend to trek Hemkund. Rest of the things can be kept at left luggage in Joshimath.

For HKD trek, you will have to take porters at Netwar or Sankri depending upon the road conditions. My experience was that porters at these places create problems if one brings porters from other places. Caution : you should be extra careful in selecting porters in HKD trek. I observed that compared to the other areas of Garhwal, people in Netwar, Sankri and Taluka are more addicted to drinking and they invariably create nuisance in the night. We found some of our porters were unable to carry the required loads due to their drinking habits.

No need to take tents, stove etc in both these treks.
I am sure you will be carrying some eatables like assorted dry fruits, cheese for emergency.

Happy trekking,

Sadanand

ks_bluechip

Sadanand,

Thanks that answers my questions as of now. Will come back with any other doubts, if they arise. Still 20 days before I leave home (Thane) on 5th July .... KS

VSK Sharma

I agree with KS.
All the best and take care of road blocks due to rains as both the area's have this problem.
VSK

ks_bluechip

VSKS .... I think you meant "I agree with SK" in this post? ... VSKS, SK, KS ..... they all sound so "similar" Thanks, KS

VSK Sharma

Hi
You are right it should have been SK. Sorry for the mistake.
VSK

Sadanand Kamath

I have uploaded some photographs in Members' Galleries which I had taken during my treks to Valley of Flowers (Aug'90) and Har-ki-Dun Valley (Aug'94). These photographs were transferred from colour negatives to photo CDs and then uploaded. Pl check them out at :

http://www.indiamike.com/photopost/s...0/ppuser/20752

I would feel happy if these photographs inspire many of you to trek to these valleys in the days to come .

Happy trekking,

Sadanand

ks_bluechip

Sadanand.... I have been seeing your photos already ... they are great pictures! I hope these places are as good in July-07 (when I go there) as they were in 1994! Thanks for sharing your pictures.

I have sent an email to Admin at IndiaMike, to see if I can link my pictures on Flickr, directly to IM-Gallery (without reloading them here) for the benefit of IM Users. I hope that can be done.

vmehra24

Question about GMVN guesthouses--- it is correct that they are available for the entire length of Har-ki-Doon trek?
Could you let me know at what points they are and also how to go on booking them?. Do they need to be booked in advance or can when just show up?

Sadanand Kamath

These treks are meant to be enjoyed in rainy season. Yes, you may encounter some problems like landslides but trekkers will vouch for me that the pleasure one gets from overcoming such problems is much more than heavenly bliss.

The access to your photos on Indiamike will surely be a good news for IM users.

Sadanand

When we did this trek in Aug'94, we were not sure when GMVN Rest houses at Sankri, Taluka, Seema and Har-ki-Dun, which were under construction will open. Hence we had taken tents. We, however, got the accommodation in GMVN Sankri and were the first group of trekkers to use GMVN at Taluka and Seema. The RH at HKD was not ready but we got accommodation in Forest Rest House.

I am told that now HKD trek is not only popular with trekkers but also with botany students. The peak season for this trek is July-Aug. Hence during this period, it will be prudent to book
GMVN RHs in advance. Alternatively, one can find shelters in many tea houses/shops in villages like Sankari, Taluka and Osla.

Sadanand

malaiKofta

i feel like doing the VOF and mid august, which i understand is a good time.

im in good shape but i have a knee problem that makes it dificult for me to walk in a very stip trail (on the down hill. no problam climbing up like a mountian goat).
how is the trail?

and how many days is the treck,including the rides from delhi to that area?




malai