Valley of
flowers, at a height of 3046 meters above sea level, lies in the Chamoli
district of Uttarakhand state. Challenging trekking route and spectacular
beauty of the mystical valley has always tempted botanists, nature lovers,
foreign tourists and adventure lovers. Valley boast off over 500 species of
wild flowers of unparalleled appearance and fragrances.
Although the
picturesque valley remains open to the world from June to October, but it’s
great to visit the valley around June, July and August, when the flowers are in
abundance. For rest of the year valley remains snow clad.
Journey to the valley starts
from Haridwar, where you can easily hire a cab for your entire trip. Below is
the entire itinerary in brief.
1. Haridwar to Govindghat -
Around 300 Kms
2. Start from Haridwar - Cab
is recommended. Very less frequency of buses.
3. Route: Haridwar – Rishikesh – Devprayag – Jayalgarh – Srinagar – Rudaprayag – Karnaprayag – Nandaprayag –
Chamoli – Pipalkoti – Joshimath – Vishnuprayag - Govindghat
4. Govindghat –
(Motorable-4Km) – Poolna (Trek 10 km) – Ghangaria – Total 14 Kms
5. Split routes from
Ghangaria for Valley of Flowers Trek and Hemkund Trek
Drive to Govindghat around
300 Kms, which would take 10 – 12 hours of time to reach depending on the road
conditions, please expect land sliding at various points throughout the drive.
Go past the scenic Rudraprayag,
which is one of the Panch Prayag of Alaknanda River, the point of confluence of
rivers Alaknanda and Mandakini.
Plenty of
hotels are there at Govindghat, apart from hotels you can also try staying at
Gurudwara Sri Gobind Dham. In the
morning take a cab from Govindghat and get down at Pulna, which is 4 km. away.
From Pulna, the actual trek, of around 9 km., starts for Ghangria.
Trek with
minimal luggage and expect to complete it in 4 to 5 hours. You will get
refreshed and energized while trekking along with the mountains and river
flowing.
Camping/ Hotel or Gurudwara – All three options are available at Ghangria to stay at. If
you get a chance then see the documentary on valley of flowers, less than half
an hour, shown by valley of flowers information centre there. Enjoy the hilly
food at night and get ready for next morning to trek to valley.
Ticket
window opens at 7 am in the morning and entry remains open till 12 in the noon.
As you are not allowed to stay in the valley, it’s better to start the trek as
early as possible.
No wonder valley of flowers in
one of the best treks in India, walking through the mountains and along with
the river streams.
As soon you have trekked around 2 km., beautiful valley opens up and you will simply be awestruck by the
incomparable, exceptional beauty of the nature.
Some of the
rare species of valley, which continuously attracts botanists, adventurists
from all over the world.
Meanwhile continue enjoying the heavenly landscapes and amazing Valley of Flowers weather.
Popular
legends around the valley:
1. After the battle of Mahabharata,
while going to heaven, Pandavs saw extraordinary flowers around the river and
Draupadi immediately wished to see the flowers, thereby visiting the entire
valley.
2. During the battle of Ramayana,
Hanuman, great devotee of Lord Rama, brought Sanjeevni boon from this valley
itself, there saving Laxman’s life.
Staying overnight in the valley is
prohibited, so plan your day well and be back to Ghangaria at dusk. Below Map may of some help in planning your Valley of Flowers Trek.
Keep
Travelling Guys.
Beautiful place..
ReplyDeleteThanks for dropping by. This place is more beautiful than captured in pictures.
Delete2007 में यहां की यात्रा की थी, आज भी सब कुछ वैसा ही है
ReplyDeleteIts really good things have been slow to change here. Else Flowers will get removed and only Valley will remain..
Delete