valley of flowers -- questions

shmekel

Hi all!

I'm planning on trekking in the valley of the flowers in mid-August, and I have some questions:

1. Is it best to get to Joshimath from Haridwar or Rishikesh?

2. Is there any way to find out the bus schedule to Joshimath from Haridwar/Rishikesh on the web? Is there a phone number I can call?

3. How easy is it to get a share jeep from Haridwar/Rishikesh to Joshimath? I've never done this before. Does it require planning ahead? What is the cost?

4. I hear that accomodations in Ghangaria for mid august are pretty well booked up by now. Is there any way to make a reservation and a gurdwara, or is it first come first serve? Any other recommendations on Ghangaria accomodations would be helpful.

Thanks so much!!

kalsi75

1. Is it best to get to Joshimath from Haridwar or Rishikesh?
A. Route is this way- Haridwar- Rishikesh- srinagara- karan prayag- Pipalkoti-Joshimath

2. Is there any way to find out the bus schedule to Joshimath from Haridwar/Rishikesh on the web? Is there a phone number I can call?
A. This is not availbale, drop in to the place and find a bus.

3. How easy is it to get a share jeep from Haridwar/Rishikesh to Joshimath? I've never done this before. Does it require planning ahead? What is the cost?
A. Not sure about this

4. I hear that accomodations in Ghangaria for mid august are pretty well booked up by now. Is there any way to make a reservation and a gurdwara, or is it first come first serve? Any other recommendations on Ghangaria accomodations would be helpful.

Their is no way to book rooms in Ghangaria, no phone, no internet...its purely first come first server....no other accomodation is available. if you can camp then its great.

shmekel

Thanks so much for the quick reply!

I have a couple of follow-up questions:

1. Regarding the bus from haridwar to Joshimath, are there several per day? Do they leave often? When is the latest that I can leave Haridwar and still make it to Joshimath in a day? Is the Haridwar bus station close to the train station?

2. I will be coming from Pathankot, and consequently, must get from the train station at Laksar to Haridwar in order to take the bus to Joshimath. I get into Laksar at 7:23 in the morning, and the next train to Haridwar is several hours later. Is there another way of getting from Laksar to Haridwar? Are buses regular? Do they leave from a place near the train station?

Whoa! That's a whole lot of questions. Thanks so much in advance for all of your help!!

kalsi75

taking a bus i guess its difficult to reach joshimath in a day from haridwar. I would suggest to hire a cab from haridwar to make travel easy and this will save time as well.

This is how i did it.

Day 1: Leave New Delhi at 4:00a , reach Josimath 7:00p. I took my own car.
Day2: Leave Josimath at 7:00a, reach Govind Ghat and start trek to Ghagaria. Reach Ghagria and take a lodge.
Day3: Start trekking to Hemkund. Reach hemkund and come back to Ghagaria.
Day 4: Start Valley of flower early morning and come back to Ghagaria
-Remember, treat Ghagaria as ur base camp
Day 5: Start descending to Govind Ghat. reach Govind Ghat. Take ur car and reach Joshimath. Stay over night

Day6: Start early morning from Joshimath and reach delhi last night,

Sadanand Kamath

Haridwar-Joshimath is about 280 kms. If you are able to get an early morning bus - say 7.00 a.m., you will reach Joshimath by 7.00 p.m. Haridwar Bus Stand is very close to Railway Station.

Since you are coming from Pathankot, I would suggest you to consider taking Train No.4610 Jammu-Rishikesh Hemkunt Express which leaves Chakki Bank (Pathankot) @20.30 hrs and reaches Haridwar @06.45 hrs next day morning.

Sadanand

Pintz

Shmekel, Take the morning 3:15 am bus from Rhishikesh (about 20 minutes drive, from Haridwar, by the local sharing cab called a 'Vikram'(for reasons I have no idea about!). This bus will reach Joshimath the same evening at approx. 5:30 pm. provided you don't get stuck in landslides at Pipalkoti! This is a good bus and almost always makes it on time. You can stay at the GMVN Guest house which is just across from where the bus stops in Joshimath. From here, you can get the 6:15 am bus for Gobindghat the next morning. This way, you'll have had a good sleep from the tiring journey and get enough time to aclimatize to the altitude and the environment.

Have fun. Don't forget to visit the Temple of Laxmanji near Hemkund Sahib. And, if you cross over the small mountain behind the Gurudwara, you'll see a carpet of Brahmakamals.... Enjoy. I miss Uttaranchal! It's truly 'God's own little heaven'!!!

AvidTrekker

They are manufactured by Vikram Automobiles.... now even the ones manufactured by competitors are called by the same name

Just like chocolate is called cadbury and petroleum jelly is called vaseline. [in India at least]

__________________
The Universe is an ellipsoid?... or a Spheroid?? If the sphere smiles... it becomes an ellipse. This IS Creation.

Pintz

Thanks, avid trekker...that was quite an eye opener! Certainly didn't know that and always wondered about it!

shmekel

thank you so much everyone for your wonderful replies! now i feel ready to get trekking!!

Dilliwala

A bit late this as it's already 13 Aug, but anyway:

Click the links in this msg for fone nos. at Haridwar. They are at the bottom of the pages. Prefix "01334" to the nos.

U can book GMVN at Ghangharia thru their website or call their office at Rishikesh. Other than that read all the threads with "valley of flowers" in the title for more stay options.

Sadanand has given u the better option from Pathankot to Haridwar (also Rishikesh) - 4610 Hemkunt Exp., but if u're still taking the 3152 Sealdah Exp. to Laksar then:
a) yes, there are plenty of buses from Laksar (near the station) to Haridwar, maybe Rishikesh. Road is not great though upto Haridwar.
b) better still, get off one station before at Roorkee. Many more options from here, including to Rishikesh.
c) best option - 4610 Hemkunt to ROORKEE. Arrival 4.50 am, instead of 6.50 am at HW, 7.45 am at Rksh. It's about 30 km/40 mins by road Roorkee-Haridwar. Shorter than the track-distance, which also includes a long halt at Jwalapur. Getting off at Roorkee and taking the bus to HW/Rksh will save u at least an hour. Get on the first bus, whether to HW or Rksh. Or try and find out here about onward times to Joshimath so u can pick the better transit point.