VOF and Badrinath trip suggestions

Hello fellow IMers,

We are students(3 or 4) from Kanpur. We are planning a trip to Valley of Flowers and Badrinath. Some of us have been to Joshimathn and Auli in Dec 2007.
We will most probably start on July 2nd. After reading many experiences we crafted an itinerary. Is this feasible?

Day 0
Train from Kanpur(21:20) to Haridwar(11:05)
Day 1
Bus from Haridwar(11:30) to RudraPrayag(18:30)
Sleep in RudraPrayag
Day 2
Bus from RudraPrayag(06:00) to Joshimath (12:00)
Sleep in Joshimath
Day 3
Jeep from Joshimath(06:00) to Govindghat(07:00)
Trek from Govindghat(08:00) to Gangaria(15:00) [15KM]
Sleep in Gangaria
Day 4
Trek from Gangaria(07:00) to Valley of Flowers and back(16:00) [7+7KM]
Sleep in Gangaria
Day 5
Trek from Gangaria(08:00) to Hemkund(16:00) [6+6KM]
Sleep in Gangaria
Day 6
Trek from Gangaria(08:00) to Govindghat(12:00) [14KM]
Jeep from Govindghat(13:00) to Badrinath(15:00)
Visit Badrinath Temple
Sleep in Badrinath
Day 7
Jeep from Badrinath(06:00) to Mana(06:30)
Trek from Mana(07:00) to Vasudhara Falls(10:00) and back(13:00) [6+6KM]
Jeep from Mana(13:00) to Badrinath(13:30)
Jeep from Badrinath(14:00) to Joshimath(17:00)
Sleep in Joshimath
Day 8
Bus from Joshimath(06:00) to Haridwar(20:00)
Train from Haridwar(22:15) to Lucknow(08:15)
Day 9
Bus from Lucknow(09:00) to Kanpur(11:00)

Looks good - couple of suggestions
1. Have an extra day in there somewhere - landslides and blockages are common in July
2. Overall August is a better time to go
3. I thought there was an overnight train from lucknow which gets in to HDW early morning 600 am; you may consider taking that

Why jeep from Joshimath to Govindghat? Buses going from Joshimath to Badrinath will go via Govindghat.
This is a tight schedule with no provisions for delays due to landslides which are quite common in July.

yes possible atleast till the VOF leg of the trip. My suggestion is to keep the option of stay RudraPrayag or elsewhere open keeping in mind the landslides etc. I had been to Auli in Feb and was stuck in a landslide after Gauchar. Seeing the road conditions and talking to people around i would suggest staying beyond Gauchar say Nandprayg..

Have a g8t trip !

Cheers

If I start at 5am in Haridwar, Can I reach Joshimath that night?

And where can I add a free day? last day (in Badrinath?)

Praveen

Day 3 : You can not leave Joshimath at 6.00 a.m. for Govindghat as first gate at Joshimath opens at 7.30 a.m.

Day 6 : It will take at least three hours (may be more depending upon the gate timing at Joshimath) to reach Badrinath from Govindghat.

If you start journey at Haridwar early morning - say 4.00 a.m., it is possible to reach Joshimath by evening. However, since you are travelling in rainy season, even a minor landslide enroute can delay your arrival at Joshimath. The same is true of your journey from Joshimath to Badrinath and back.

Sadanand

PS: Please check the gate timing at Joshimath. It is quite possible that the timing must have been advanced to say 6.30 a.m. for summer season.

First of all Thank u all for your prompt replies. Going by your valuable suggestions, I revised my itinerary as follows

I split Badrinath day into 2 so that I can squeeze Day7 and Day8 into one in case of emergency

Day 1
Bus from Kanpur(14:30) to Lucknow(17:30)
Train from Lucknow(18:25) to Haridwar(4:20)
Day 2
Bus from Haridwar(06:00) to Joshimath (18:00)
Sleep in Joshimath
Day 3
Jeep from Joshimath(07:30) to Govindghat(08:30)
Trek from Govindghat(09:00) to Gangaria(15:00) [15KM]
Sleep in Gangaria
Day 4
Trek from Gangaria(07:00) to Valley of Flowers and back(16:00) [7+7KM]
Sleep in Gangaria
Day 5
Trek from Gangaria(08:00) to Hemkund(16:00) [6+6KM]
Sleep in Gangaria
Day 6
Trek from Gangaria(08:00) to Govindghat(12:00) [14KM]
Jeep from Govindghat(13:00) to Badrinath(16:00)
Visit Badrinath Temple
Sleep in Badrinath
Day 7
Jeep from Badrinath(07:00) to Mana(07:30)
Trek from Mana(08:00) to Vasudhara Falls(11:30) and back(15:00) [6+6KM]
Jeep from Mana(15:00) to Badrinath(15:30)
Sleep in Badrinath
Day 8
Jeep from Badrinath(12:00) to Joshimath(16:00)
Sleep in Joshimath
Day 9
Bus from Joshimath(06:00) to Haridwar(20:00)
Train from Haridwar(22:15) to Lucknow(08:15)
Day 10
Bus from Lucknow(09:00) to Kanpur(11:00)

Day 2
Bus from Haridwar(05:00) to Joshimath (18:00)
Sleep in Joshimath

Praveen mind what SK and I mentioned about landslides... For your information... we left Joshimath at 11am and reach Rishikesh at 9pm in Feb'08.

The revised itinerary looks ok to me.

Sadanand

Praveen,

If I'm not wrong you are trying to catch 3009 Up Doon Express from Lucknow at 18:25, right?? Don't schedule your itinerary relying upon this train timings. Doon Express has a very healthy history of running late varying 4 to 6 hours. I can take 200% guarantee that Doon will not reach Haridwar at 4:20 AM coz. we were sufferer several times, normally Doon enters between 8:30 to 10:30 in Haridwar, so please reschedule your timings.

Happy Trekking.

No.

Yes! And the same all year round.

Sadaji, why shud it take 3 hours to go a distance of 25 km?
One-way system, no oncoming traffic - easily doable in 1 hour.
Ok, heavy traffic - another 30 mins maybe.


Praveen,

Both your options are workable (with addition of extra day at Badri).

Option 1 (since u can get a direct train from Kanpur, which u may prefer)
Day 2 -- From Rudraprayag - go thru to Govindghat and sleep there. U can easily make the last gate at Joshimath - 16.30.

For both options
a. Govindghat to Badrinath (13.00) -- The gate opening at Pandukeshwar is 12.50 to 13.20. If u miss this, u have to wait 2.5 hours.
b. Badri to Mana is 3.5 km. Will take 10 mins at most.

Re train options: For what it's worth, here's what I wrote in another thread about options via Najibabad/Kotdwara.

My mistake You are correct.

I inadvertantly took the distance between Joshimath and Badrinath (44 kms)for driving time. My travel diary shows that it took me about 3 hours by bus and about 2 hours by car in all my travelling to complete this stretch.

Sadanand

by doon express u can catch up the bus to joshimath by 7:00 or 7:30am. u'll reach josimath by 5:00 or 5:30pm. and coming back from badrinath u can take the additional day (caution day for landslides or any other problems) at rudraprayag.........

The monsoon would have begun in July, and it is best not to be out in the afternoon, because it usually starts raining heavily then, and that can be rather unsafe. So, it is best to start very early for the Valley from Ghangaria, say by 05:30, and try to be back by 13:00. Similarly for the trips to Hemkund and Vasudhara. Also, while at Badrinath, I suggest that you walk up to Charan Paduka. If the weather is clear, one gets spectacular views of Nilkanth from there.

I think that the first week of July is still a bit too early in the monsoon for the Valley to be in full bloom. A bit later, like the last week of July, or early August, would be a better option. However, opinions on this vary, and I think the Valley would be beautiful at any time. And in any case, I don't know your time constraints.

Raghu.