My First Trek: Valley of Flowers

On the first of August 1988, on reaching Rishikesh; the starting point of Gharwal Mandal Vikas Nigam’s tour to Badrinath, Valley of Flowers and Hemkunt Sahib, I was informed that the tour has been cancelled as only three people have reported .

I was disappointed, but did not give up. I contacted the other two, who fortunately were equally disappointed and keen to trek. So we three decided that we will do the trek on our own. GMVN was kind enough to give us a letter for accommodation in their tourist bunglows enroute and also drop us at Rudra Prayag in the bus going to Kedarnath. You would like to know who my companions were. Well, they were two girls from Delhi who had met on a trek earlier.

After resting for the night at Rudraprayag, we took a bus and headed for Badrinath.
August is that time of the year when the monsoon is at its peak. The bus was full and giving us company in the bus were local people smoking beedi. I put on my raincoat kept my window open with my head sticking out.

Reached Badrinath in the evening. Behind the temple was the magnificent Neelkanth peak and in front of the temple was the Alaknanda, gushing down at a great speed.

Next morning I took a bus to Govind Ghat: the base for the trek to the Valley of Flowers. At noon I started the 9km trek to Ghangharia, where we had to camp for the night. Hemkunt Sahib being a religious place is visited by lots of people, so one could find a cold drink and tea stall every half a km. Those days mineral water was not heard of so every three kms, which took nearly 1hr 30 mins, I had a tea break. The first 6 kms were fine The last 3 kms on a tired pair of legs one had to gain 3000 ft . It was real steep. Two things kept us going: one, there was no way out. You had to do it to reach the destination! And second, each step was bringing us closer to the destination.

Reached late in the evening. The tourist bungalow did not have restaurant of its own, but had a dhaba in the compound which served us piping hot dal, aloo, roti and rice with papad, pyaz and achar. I remember it so clearly as this was the only food one got while trekking in this part of the Himalayas. Before sleeping, I took a bucket of water, added a pinch of salt, soaked both feet in the water and the next day, it was another day! The pain of walking 9 kms had gone with the wind!

Early morning after a cup of tea, I set out to a 3 km trek to Valley of Flowers. The trek was not steep, but we had to cross to glaciers on the way. It was a unique experience where you literally have to follow the footsteps of the people who have gone before you, putting you foot in their foot mark and remembering not to put lot of pressure as the glaciers may give way.

On reaching the Valley of Flowers I could not believe my eyes! I had never in my life seen a carpet of flowers. The variety and the colours was astonishing. After spending a few hours in heaven, I came back to the tourist bungalow and had lunch. In the evening we went out for a walk, as we felt today we have not trekked enough.

Next day we started our trek to Hemkunt Sahib 6kms from Ghanghari and you gain 6000ft . Hemkunt Sahib is at a height of 15000 ft: nearly half the height of Mt Everest . Just half a km short of Hemkunt Sahib are steps which are a short cut. Learnt a lesson: never take short cuts. Climbing stairs at this altitude is worst than walking another half a km, but was rewarded as I could see Brahma Kamal an exotic flower which looks like a cabbage: same size same colour but a beautiful fragrance.

Hemkunt Sahib Gurudwara had snow clad peaks in the background and a lake with freezing cold water in front. So great was the charisma of this place that a person like me, who does not visit religious places, automatically took off my shoes and went in.

Physically I was back in two days, but it took me two months to mentally get back.

Today over 20 yrs have passed since I went there, but while writing this blog I am mentally once again there. Do not know when I will come back!