Valley of Flowers with child

nyraghu

Hello,

I am planning to visit the Valley of Flowers next year with my spouse and my ten year old daughter, from Allahabad, where we live. I was wondering how easy, or difficult, it is for a child to make the trip. We are planning to hire a pony for her from Govind Ghat to Ghangaria. If some one has any advice on taking a child to the Valley of Flowers, please let me know.

We are planning to begin the trip in the middle of July, or in September. Which is the better time? Will travel there be difficult during the monsoon in July?

Thanks in advance,
Raghu.

usha

Shouldnt be a problm taking ur 10 yr old daugther with u. middle of sep not adivisable all of aug or begining of sep would be better.

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AvidTrekker

If you want to see the flowers in full bloom, go from 10th august to 30th August. The rest of the time its a plain grassy meadow.

In my humble experience trekking with many children I have noticed that they become more demanding and fussy when mommy is around. Leave them to themselves and they will be fine. Their power-to-weight ratio is three to four times that of an adult. Try playing with your 10-yr-old all day. You will be pooped in no time. It won't even affect them, cuz playing is what they do.

Take care for covering when it rains or a warm jacket when it chills. children catch colds much faster than adults.

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himadventures

AvidTrekker compiles well.
But as for as I have seen this valley, August in not a month to be there. Usually we have rains in August ( since last two years ) in this region.
Mid September to Mid October is best season to be in this valley.
There are plenty of shops selling soft drinks,chocolates,candies- take care of we have a bit pampered kid here.

Rest-AvidTrekker had covered about everything what should be wrriten here-to be on safer side-do packs some basic medicines. Although you will have lot of company on trail-nothing to worry much-10 year old is fit for this !

Enjoy !!

nyraghu

Hello usha, AvidTrekker, and himadventures,

Thanks very much for your suggestions, and for reassurance about travelling with a chilld. I will get back to you as things beome definite.

Regards,
Raghu.

usha

U r welcome raghu

nyraghu

We went to the Valley of Flowers and Badrinath between 21 July and 5 August. It was a good trip, and the advice from this forum was indeed helpful. I am posting some details here, because they may be useful to others too.

It rained heavily when we were going up from Rishikesh. We were planning to spend some time in Rudraprayag, but a landslide on the way there from Srinagar held us up for a couple of days at Srinagar. From Srinagar, we went to Joshimath, where we took the ropeway to Auli, and did a four-hour trek to Garson Top and Chatra lake. The Garson Bugiyal was beautiful; it was drizzling, and there was mist all around. One is required to take a guide along, and a permit costing Rs. 150, because these areas fall within the Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve.

My daughter liked the pony ride from Govind Ghat to Ghangaria. The sedentary existence I have led for the 42 years of my life told on me, and I took about eight hours to trek from Govind Ghat to Ghangaria, and six hours to come down. My wife did not like the pony ride up, and walked on the way down to Govind Ghat.

In Ghangaria, we stayed in the GMVN hotel, which had rooms although the GMVN people in Lucknow and Rishikesh had told us the contrary. A deluxe room costs Rs. 950 per day, an ordinary room Rs. 750, and hot water at Rs. 20 per bucket. (There are several other hotels, e.g., Hotel Himalaya opposite GMVN seemed a popular place, and served much
better food than GMVN. I met a trek operator from Pune, who had come to book rooms in Hotel Himalaya for a group.) The GMVN room was nice, but the food and the service were not as good as what we saw in the other GMVN hotels we stayed in (Rishikesh, Srinagar, Joshimath, and Badrinath.)

We spent three days in Ghangaria, visiting the Valley each day. We could not see the inner parts of the Valley because a log bridge beyond the second glacier in the Valley was washed away. However, whatever we managed to see of the Valley was beautiful. In the
Valley, we had to cross one major landslide.

There is a Valley of Flowers Information Centre next to the GMVN hotel, run by the Eco Development Committee (EDC) Bhyundar, where one can see a slide show on the Valley, and buy some nice posters and souvenirs like T-shirts. We had to hire a `kandi' (a carrier basket) for my 10-year old daughter for one of the trips to the Valley. Ponies are not allowed in the Valley. There are fixed rates for kandis, etc., which are posted in the counter near the entrance to Ghangaria. just before the GMVN hotel. We also hired a kandi for my daughter for part of the way down to Govind Ghat.

We did not visit Hemkund Sahib because we were a bit tired, and also because we didn't feel like going along the crowded trail.

We took a local bus from Govind Ghat to Badrinath. It was an amazing ride, with the Alaknanda in spate and waterfalls all along created by the monsoon rains. In Badrinath, we stayed in the nice GMVN hotel, called Devlok. We went to Mana. Another day, we did a short trek up beyond Charan Paduka, a rock shrine containing Vishnu's footprints.
From there one has spectacular views of Nilkanth, the glaciers below it, and also of some other mountains. We also saw many flowers in the meadows there. The entire area was deserted except for a few sadhus, who live there.

(To go to Charan Paduka, take the left turn below the Badrinath temple, in front of the SBI ATM, walk through the old bazar, and take the stairs on the right at the end of the bazar. These stairs lead to the trail towards Charan Paduka.)

We returned from Badrinath to Allahabad through Srinagar and Rishikesh. Between Badrinath and Pandukeshwar, we encountered one more landslide. This was not as big as the one near Rudraprayag, and there was a two km. long footpath over the landslide.

In summary, it was a beautiful trip, and we are looking forward to our next journey to Garhwal.

Raghu.

usha

Hi,
Great to hear about ur travel experience ...
and Happy to know, that u had a good time and glad to hear that, the IM informations abt valley of flower were a great help.
Cheers...

zzzehar

Very Well Explained Raghu !! Glad to hear that you had Fun. How much Approx did It all Cost you?

nyraghu

Thanks.

Regarding the cost: accommodation is the major expense. GMVN charges between Rs. 500 to Rs. 1000 per day for doubles. Since we were travelling with a child we wanted to book accommodation in advance everywhere, so GMVN was an obvious choice for us. However, as I had mentioned in the case of Ghangaria, there are alternatives at most places, that are both better and cheaper.

Transport on local buses is cheap: about between Re. 0.60 and Re. 1 per km. per person, e.g., the 28 km. trip from Govind Ghat to Badrinath cost Rs. 18 per person. Shared 4WDs cost about the same. Porter charges betwen Govind Ghat and Ghangaria are regulated at about Rs. 300.

Raghu.

Madhavi

Hi Raghu,

Many thanks for the detail information. I have planned a trip to VOF and Badrinath coming July through GMVN. Can you pls. tell me if you found valley with some flowers, if not plenty? I was initially told that August is rather end of season for VOF and so I planned for July. Your experience and words are much appriciated.

Thanks,
Madhavi

nyraghu

Hi Madhavi,

As I had mentioned, we went to the Valley towards the end of July, and found plenty of flowers. There are a lot of opinions on the best time to visit the Valley, but I am sure that you will find plenty of flowers, and that it will be an awesome experience, whatever be the time in July you are planning on.

If you are interested, you could read the last chapter of Stephen Alter's book Sacred Waters, where he talks about the myriad flowers that he found in the Valley in June, well before the usually flouted periods of July and August.

HTH,
Raghu.

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Madhavi

Hi Raghu,

Thanks a ton...for restablishing my faith in the decision of July for VOF..though I am mentally prepared for surprises

I have not found any significant material on Hemkundsahib. Any views or experiences to be shared?

Also, I am hearing mixed thoughts on taking the DigiCam in the Valley. With your first hand experience can you confirm if they allow Digital Cameras in VOF or not?

Regards,
Madhavi

nyraghu

I didn't go to Hemkund, partly to avoid the over-crowded trail. However, while preparing for my trip to the VoF, I found the information at http://www.sikhnet.com/hemkuntsahib/ very useful, even if a bit dated. The Web site is the work of Heather Michaud, a Canadian who wrote a thesis on the Hemkund pilgrimage for her MA in Anthropology at the U. of Calgary. The material at the site is based on her trips to Hemkund during 1996-8, and makes for quite interesting reading.

I didn't carry a digital camera when I went there, but I remember that people were carrying all kinds of cameras. AFAIK, there are no restrictions on cameras.

Raghu.

spicetrekker

YOu should hae no two thoughts on carrying the camera - do carry it and have fun. Year before last I was there and we had both a video and digital still camera and it is great fun to see the snaps even now.

all the best.