A trip to valley of flowers in Uttrakhand in July 2021

Photo credit: Satyabrata Maiti One fine morning in the month of June end, Geetha who was my travel companion in Kedarnath, Kalias and Mansarovar trekking trip came and expressed that let’s go to Himalaya again. After 2019 we have not gone anywhere due to COVID pandemic. Her interest is to visit ancient temples in Himalaya and my interest is to see the nature.  Our interest did not clash because, all ancient temples in Uttarakhand are in the lap of least disturbed nature. I enjoy walking in nature while going to  such temples.  After lot of discussions we decided to venture Valley of flowers and HemKund Sahib since other temples are closed to public due to COVID situation. Visiting Valley of Flowers was my long desire but somehow, it was not materialized.  I decided this  visit this year considering I  am ageing  slowly and do not know when there will be a full stop. When I expressed our plan  before some of my friends, my old friend, Subir (Ghosh) expressed his desire too but somehow he could not make it. I started my home work for the trip and booking.  I tried first to book our trip through Garwahal Mandal Vikas Nigam, but they did not respond. Then I saw an advertisement of e-Uttranchal and sent them my queries. I got their response immediately. In such trips they insist to share the night hotel accommodation to reduce the cost. I had to tell them that we are fellow trackers and need separate night accommodation rooms and also since  their trip starts from Joshimath, I had to tell them to make pick up arrangement from Jolly Grant Airport at Derhadun to Josihimath with a night stay at Srinagar because our flight reaching time was at 1:00 pm.  Mr. Sandeep Bisht (M:9891225211) was kind enough to understand our requirements and made an itinerary for us as given below.

eUttaranchal Travel Network !  Guest Details
Name: Mr. Satyabrata Maiti (9408035761) Booking Confirmation  PAN: AAFCE2608C GST: 05AAFCE2608C1Z9 Date of Arrival: 24thJuly Date of Departure: 30th July Adult: 02
Valley of Flowers Tour – Day Wise Itinerary  Day 01: Pickup from Dehradun Airport and Drive to Srinagar (125kms) Day 02: Drive from Srinagar to Joshimath (150kms drive). Stay in Himalayan Abode Homestay, Day 03: Joshimath to Govindghat (22kms drive). Govindghat to Ghanghria (13 kms trek). Day 04: Valley of Flowers (5kms trek one way). Stay in Ghangharia Day 05: Hemkund Sahib (6kms trek one way). Stay in Ghangharia. Note: Hemkund Sahib remains closed for tourists as of now. If it remains closed, we will visit Valley of Flowers on 02 consecutive days.  Day 06: Ghanghria to Govindghat (13kms trek). Drive from Govindghat to Badrinath. (Possible if Char Dham is open by then). We drive back to Joshimath at night. Day 07: Badrinath / Joshimath – Haridwar Accommodation in Hotels  24th July: IVY Top Resort, Srinagar (Single Sharing) 25th July & 29th July: Himalayan Abode, Joshimath (Single Sharing) 26th, 27th & 28th July – Nanda Lokpal / Valley of Flowers Holiday Homes (Single Sharing) Includes 

• 6 nights premium accommodation on as per itinerary (2N Joshimath, 3N Ghangharia, 1N Srinagar)
• Veg and egg meals (Breakfast, Lunch, Evening Snacks and Dinner) for the trip duration as per itinerary
• Entry fee for Valley of Flowers as applicable to Indian nationals
• Fully escorted trek with fluent English speaking license holder local  trekking guide (01 guide)
• Charges for mules for trekking client’s soft luggage (1 piece of soft luggage, max 10 kg, per client)
• VOF 6N7D Deluxe Package: Rs. 25500 per person including 5% GST 
• Swift Dzire (07 Days): Rs. 20000 (all inclusive) Cab Number: UK07TB4639
Driver Details: Pradeep Jiwadi (9720924265)  (Pickup from Airport on Day 1, Drop to Airport/Haridwar on Day 07)

Total Tour Amount  Rs. 71,000/- Valley of flowers lies deep inside in the Chamoli district of Uttarakhand. It is believed to have been discovered in 1931, when three British mountaineers – led by Frank S Smythe – lost their way and landed upon this spectacular valley. Attracted by the beauty of this place they named it the “Valley of Flowers”. At 3352 to 3658 meters above sea level, the gentle landscape of the Valley of Flowers National Park complements the rugged mountain wilderness of Nanda Devi National Park to the east. The park stretches over an expanse of 87.50 km2 and it is about 8 km long and 2 km wide. The park lies completely in the temperate alpine zone. Both parks are encompassed in the Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve (223,674 ha) which is further surrounded by a buffer zone (5,148.57 km2). Nanda Devi National Park Reserve is in the UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves. Entry to Valley of Flowers opens at 7.00 am every day and last entry is allowed till 2.00 pm. You should start back around 1 pm so as to reach back by 5.00 pm. Though the Valley is beautiful in May, June and September. But for maximum number of flowers in July and August are most preferred months. The Valley of Flowers is generally open on June 1st till end of September, every year and is the best time to see the valley in full bloom. The rest of the time, it’s a snow laid meadows and closed for the year. It is known for its natural flower bed that blossoms in monsoon. The valley is believed to have approximately 520 species of plants, out of which, 498 are flowering plants. The Valley of Flowers was declared a World Heritage Site in 2005. As Valley of Flowers trek is quite demanding, therefore tourists should be physically and mentally fit for the trek. The valley of flowers trek is well-defined and well paved. Although it is steep at many places, but except the day you go for trek to valley itself. Of course you can hire basket (locally called “Palki”) to reduce the difficulty level of the trek. The Trekking starting point is Govindghat. One can reach Govindghat from Joshimath by car. No vehicles are allowed thereafter. Some local small jeeps can take you upto Polani which is 5km from Govindghat. From Polani one has to walk or can hire pony to reach Ghangaria (12 km). Ghangaria – VoF – Ghangaria (Trek – 6 km + 6 km) new route Ghangaria –   Hemkund Sahib – Ghangaria (Trek – 6 km + 6 km) Suggested Itinerary for Valley of Flowers 

1. Day 1– Haridwar/ Rishikesh / Dehradun– Joshimath
2. Day 2– Joshimath – Govindghat Trek start place – Ghangaria (Trek – 5 km* + 12 km); *Jeep is also available
3. Day 3–  Ghangaria – VoF – Ghangaria (Trek – 6 km + 6 km)
4. Day 4– (Optional) Ghangaria – Hemkund Sahib (Trek – 6 km + 6 km)
5. Day 5– Ghangaria – Joshimath
6. Day 6– Joshimath – Haridwar/Rishikesh/Dehradun

We started our journey on 24-July-2021 from Anand, Gujarat 24-July-2021 (Saturday):  Geetha came to my place at 7:30 am with the car and driver and picked me up. We reached Ahemedabad airport at about 9:10 am and left Ahmedabad for Dehradun airport named Jolly Grant airport at about 1:00 pm. There were formalities in the airport for RT-PCR checking. Mr. Pradeep, the driver of the car that we hired reported us in the parking lot when we were through with the formalities and left for Srinagar at about 1:20 pm. On the way we had our lunch in a road side hotel. We crossed Rishikesh at 1:55 pm and Devaprayag at 4:30 pm. Reached Srinagar by 5:00 pm. We purchased two umbrellas expecting rains although we had our raincoats. But I wanted an umbrella which will give me a cover to my camera when I take photographs even when it may be raining. I did the same trick in our Kedarnath trekking and it was very effective. Finally we reached our hotel (IVY Hilltop Resort) at 5:20 pm which was about 2.5 km away in a hill top from where whole Srinagar was visible. It is a beautiful resort having mountain peaks around and river below. Hotel is also surrounded by mango trees and a beautiful view of surroundings. I spent time in the outside courtyard and took some sunset photographs. We had our dinner at 9:00 pm and called it a day.  

Air borne before landing in Deheradun airport

Air borne before landing in Deheradun airport

25-July-2021 (Sunday): I got up as usual at 4:30 am and went outside sitting place. I could not take sunrise photographs because of cloudy weather. However, took some random photographs. We had our breakfast with Aloo-paronthan and left the resort at 9:20 am.  There were road blocks due to landslides. Day was clear and warm.  We crossed Karnaprayag at 12:30 pm and thereafter, we visited Dharidevi Mandir which is situated in middle of the river. Dhari Devi temple is located inside  the Alaknanda River between Srinagar and Rudraprayag. The temple is home to the upper half of the idol of the goddess Dhari, while the lower half of the idol is located in Kalimath, where she is worshipped as a manifestation of the Goddess Kali. She is considered to be the guardian deity of Uttarakhand and is revered as the protector of the Char Dham’s.  Her shrine is one of 108 Shakti Sthals in India, as numbered by Srimad Devi Bhagwat. Fortunately, this temple was opened and we spent some time there. We had our lunch at Piplakoti at 2:00 pm. Reached Joshimath and visited Narasimhamoorthy temple at 4:00 pm. I took some good photographs of the temple. Thereafter reached our hotel, Himalayan Abode home stay at 4:30 pm. Hotel was also in a nice location. Opposite to it is having a big hillock with zig zag roads.  We found there were three couples who would also visit VoF and booked through e-Uttaranchal. Two couples were from Vadodara.

26-July-2021 (Monday): We had our breakfast early and left the hotel at 7:45 am with lunch pack. Mr Mayank, the guide came with us in our car. Other fellows travelled in a different car upto Govindghat. From Govindghat we were transferred to a small jeep. Our luggages were handed over to pony for carrying. We reached Pulna which is about 5 km from Govindghat. View was very beautiful. Lot of waterfalls were visible. I took some photographs from the running Jeep. We reached Pulna by 9:30 am. We started trekking from Pulna to Gangaria (12km). We reached Gangaria at about 5:30 pm. On the way we had our lunch and also real festive photography of scenic beauty of forest around and flora. Rain started by the time we approached Gangaria. On the way we met lot of other fellow visitors and I freely become uncle of many. Our Vadodara fellow visitors went to stay in tent camp. We reached the hotel, Nandan Lokpal and checked in 203 and 204 rooms. I took tea first and then hot water bath. Hotel boys were  from UP and Nepal. There was oil massage facility also. It was pretty cold, about 12^oC. We had our dinner served in the room at 7:30 pm and slept early.

27-July-2021 (Tuesday): We had our breakfast at 6:30 am and also packed lunch as well as some toffies. We left hotel at 6:45 am to reach the forest check post at 7:00 am. Mayank, our guide was with us and we had some problem in the checkpost when they wanted to see our RT-PCR report. I did not bring my mobile since I never felt it would be needed. Somehow Mayank convinced the Forest guards and we were allowed. We started walking at 7:30 am. It was a wonderful trek but very steep. I started with slow and steady pace; walking and taking rest while taking photographs. Wonderful scenic beauty of Lakshman Ganga river, snow peak, Forest path, flora in flowering, various types of mushrooms, etc. Geetha could not keep pace with me and since there was restriction of timing at the valley, I left her behind and went ahead to reach Valley to spent more time in the valley. I reached by 12:00 noon and spent about one hour taking photograph  after photograph. Geetha came at about 12:40 pm. We had lunch and left the Valley at 1:30 pm. We reached back the check post before 5:00 pm (schedule time) and reached the hotel by 5:10 pm. We had tea and mixed pakoda and thereafter took a refreshing bath with hot water. Since Hemkund Sahib is closed due to COVID, we decided to change the programme and informed e-Uttranchal. Mr Sandeep  suggested us to return to Joshimath after visiting temples in Pandukeshwar and next day visited Auli. We agreed to that arrangement. Our other fellow Vadodara couples decided to go to Auli tomorrow and then to their destination. We had our dinner in the dining hall at 7:30 pm and slept. I took lot of photos of various flora, mostly flowers and also of some wood rotting fungi (Mushrooms and ascomycetes).  Some of those are presendted here.

Scenic Beauty of the path

Floral Beauty on the way and in the Valley

Wood rotting Fungi

Beauty of raindrops on the foliage

28-July-2021 (Wednesday): We had our breakfast at 7:30 am. It was raining since morning. At 7:45 am rain stopped and we left the hotel at Gangaria. I could see that most of the visitors were returning on pony. I was asked by many that  whether I am from defence or not. I had to tell them that I am a civilian and has only NCC training for a brief period. They were wondering that at this age of 70 years how I am still trekking. In fact in trekking mind plays 50% and physical ability plays 50%. Therefore, one has to be  mentally strong and should have determination. We came down to Pulna at about 1:10 pm and then reached Govindghat at about 1:35 pm. Mr Pradeep, our taxi driver was waiting for us there. We went to Pandukeshewr temple and from there returned Joshimath to our  Himalyan Abode Homestay hotel at about 3:00 pm. We ordered lunch, only rice and dal were available.  In the evening we just went out for a brief walking. We had our dinner with local dish. Slept by 9:00 pm.

29-July-2021 (Thursday): We left the hotel after early breakfast at 7:40 am and reached Auli by 8:30 am. Auli,standing at around 2,800 m, and surrounded by acres of oak and coniferous forests, Auli offers panoramic views of some of India’s highest peaks, including the second-highest in the country, Nanda Devi (7,816m).  It is also the gateway to the Nanda Devi and the Valley of Flowers National Park, including the Hemkund Sahib gurdwara, and popular trekking destinations such as Gorson Bugyal, Pangerchulla Summit, and Tapovan can be accessed through Auli. Besides Auli, Uttarakhand has several other skiing destinations, like Dayara Bugyal, Munsiyari and Mundali.We could not see the peaks because of cloudy rainy weather. Hemant, a new guide was waiting for us. It was raining since morning.   I along with the guide went for enjoying monsoon trekking. It was reminding me my Shillong days when I used to go for short trekking and also for the field experiments in farmers’ field. I trek about 3km and went upto the Nanda devi reserve forest area. We had tea on the way and returned 3km back to the Auili ropeway station. We had a roapway ride to get an aerial view of the entire valley. We returned back to Joshimath hotle by 1:30 pm. Photography was limited due to rain.

30-July-2021 (Friday): We got up early and had breakfast at 6:30 am, left the hotel at 7:00 am. It was a long drive to reach Haridwar (about 235km). There were landslides on the road at different places. We had break for tea and also for the lunch on the way. We reached Srinagar at 1:30 pm, Devaprayag at 2:30 pm, Rishikesh by 4:45 pm and Haridwar by 6:00 pm. Checked in Hotel Madhuban Guest house.

31-July-2021 (Saturday): We got up in the morning and went to Ganga temple and from there went to Daksha Mandir where Daksha yoggya was performed by Daksha Prajapati and returned by lunch time. In the evening went to see Ganga Aarti.  1-Augest-2021 (Sunday):  We went to Ganga Ghat as morning walk. Returned back and then again went to have breakfast near temple and tested famous Mathurawal Jelebi. We left hotel at 12:45 pm and reached Dehradun airport by 1:45 pm. Flight was on time and reached Ahmedabad at 7:00 pm. Rafik Bhai, driver was waiting for us and we reached Anand by 9:00 pm. Mind was bubbling with the experience and the photographs that I took. I was also planning in my mind for my next trekking trip. Haridwar

Acknowledgement: Thanks to Mr. Sandeep Bisht of e-Utaranchal for arranging our trip hassle free. Thank to Mr Pradeep, driver for engaging us while journey by sharing his experiences in life; Mr Mayank, guide in VoF for his constant care while trekking and also Mr Hemant, guide at Auli.

Predominant species 

1. Himalayan bell flower, Campanula latifolia(violate coloured)
2. Geranium
3. Multi storied flowers, Morina longifolia
4. Impatiens sulcata, (pink balsaum type)
5. Inula

Jai Hind! Satyabrata Maiti82300cookie-checkA trip to valley of flowers in Uttrakhand in July 2021yes