Valley of Flowers trek is not only a trekking spot just to reach as the traveller. It is beyond that, created by nature for the world to see the height of beauty at its best.
No one can indeed carry anything from here after death except energy because it always transforms from one source to another. I would like to say that travelling is the best way to see nature’s beauty because ultimately it always gives us a transformative positive energy.
Local People said that if you came here 15-20 days ago then you could see the full beauty of the Valley of Flowers but they did not know that we had deliberately chosen the monsoon to see this world’s natural heritage site.
Points of beginning the Trek to the Valley of Flowers:
It depends on which vehicle or transport mode you are using to reach the nearby area ‘Govindghat’. If you are reaching Govindghat by your four-wheeler, you can park your vehicle at Govindghat’s parking area and the public transport to reach Tolna village, which is only 4 km away from there. If you are using a bike you can reach up to the Tolna village directly and park your bike in private parking areas at a minimal cost of approx Rs. 20/- per day. You have to start the trek from Tolna village to the Ghangharia which is the base camp for the Valley of Flowers trek and the holy Hemkund Saheb, 8 km away from the starting point.
Backpacking for Valley of Flowers Trek:
We brought some necessary trekking gear with us in our backpack including a raincoat, a couple of trekking suits, thermal wear, a thermos, an extra pair of socks, a slipper, a power bank, nylon rope, torch, lighter, dry fruits, cookies, moi (A raw form of various dry fruits mixed with Ghee and cooked mild) and leave the rest of other belongings in Gurudwara’s cloakroom based at Govindghat.Day wise Itinerary for Valley of Flowers Trek:
Day-1
We reached Tolna village sharply at 11 AM and parked our bikes there for the next two days. After getting refreshed, we started our trek to the Ghangharia base camp around 11.30 AM. We did not have any hurry to reach Ghangharia because we were moving to get to the Valley of Flowers the next morning as per our itinerary.
After covering a little distance into the wilderness, nature started showing its beautiful hidden treasure spontaneously to us. We also stayed and felt the splendid beauty at its fullest. The Trekking continued, we had covered almost half the distance of the base camp. We stayed at the local restaurant en route and had a hot plate of Maggie. The atmosphere was damn good and didn’t get rain. The trekking route has many steep climbs; therefore, we had to keep our walking speed to maintain normal breathing.
On this trekking route, you face a lot of monkeys, and though, we did not carry the trekking stick with us, then we were thinking how would we deal with these monkeys if they troubled us? Maybe they could do that because there were some things to eat in our little backpack. Then we took two branches from the trees of the forest and gave them a form of sticks and kept it with us for protection purposes.
We were moving ahead and covered approximately 6 km of the total distance. On our right-hand side of the path, we saw some huge beehives hanging on the edge of a mountain. We started to talk about the purity of the honey which is stored in these huge beehives that are so close to the valley of flowers.
After a few minutes, we moved further and suddenly when we saw back, two dogs were standing right behind us. When we started talking about it, then I remembered an interesting story of the Mahabharata period associated with the dog on the Valley of Flowers trek route where we were standing. Deepak requested me to tell that story and without any further delay, I did start to tell…
An interesting story of the Mahabharata period associated with the Valley of Flowers Trek
The story is mentioned in the concluding chapter of the world’s great epic “The Mahabharata” focused on the relationship between King Yudhisthira and his dog which is supposed to be the first domesticated dog by researchers and scientists.
Firm in their resolve to renounce their Kingdom, the Pandavas embarked on a treacherous climb up a mountain on their final journey to heaven. Yudhisthira led the way, followed by Bheema, Arjuna, Nakula, Sahadeva, and Draupadi. Throughout their journey, a loyal dog accompanied them.
Draupadi was the first to stumble along the trek, prompting Bheema to question why. “Can we conclude that she lacked a good heart?” Yudhisthira responded without turning back, “It is true because her strong attachment to Arjuna led to her fall.”
The by wave and fall was Sahadeva.
“What was his coming up short, O Yudhisthira?” cried Bheema
Yudhisthira kept moving without looking back, and answered: “Pride in his aptitude was the reason.”
Next fell Nakula.
“What wrong did he do, O Yudhisthira?” continuously wept Bheema
Yudhisthira replied, without thinking back: “He appreciated his great looks. That was his coming up short.”
Arjuna crumbled before long.
“What wrong did Arjuna do, O Yudhisthira?” cried and miserably sad Bheema
Yudhisthira was unaffected and continued strolling: “He was splendid yet proud and arrogant. That was his crumbling flat.”
Bheema fell from that point, unfit to manage the distress of seeing his all brothers die.
Yudhisthira talked while strolling on: “Bheema was pretentious about his quality and ate in abundance. That was his coming up short”.
And now only Yudhisthira and his dog were left, continuing the trek together. And ultimately, Lord Indra appeared in his chariot. He appreciated the astonishing virtues of Yudhisthira and invited him into the chariot to go up to paradise.
Then Yudhisthira said, “The dog must come with me”.
“Sorry but that is impossible,” said Indra. “All cannot reach paradise. The dog is old and completely invaluable to go to the heaven.”
“Then I refuse to seek paradise,” declared Yudhisthira. “This dog has been by my side throughout my journey, showing unwavering loyalty and love. I cannot abandon it now. The comforts of paradise pale in comparison to its suffering. The dog is innocent and loyal, unlike my wife and brothers. If it is not worthy of paradise, then neither am I.”And so he turned back.
“Stop!” cried Indra. “None have the qualities that you possess, O Yudhisthira! The dog is Dharma, from whom you have descended!”
Indeed, the dog had transformed into the God of Dharma and blessed Yudhisthira for his complete lack of selfishness and dedication to righteousness in all circumstances.
And hence raised Yudhisthira to heaven in the chariot of Indra.
We did not know how the time went out and we were going to reach our base camp. As we entered the Ghangharia village, our eyes fell on the Valley of Flower Camp in addition to the beautiful landscape there. We crossed the main market area, though we were tired enough just checked in at the hotel and took a room around 6.00 in the evening. The cold was increased and the temperature went down to approximately 8 degrees centigrade. After getting refreshed, we went outside to the market to look into it. Around 8.00 at night, we had our dinner at a local restaurant that seemed to be good and full of tourists reached there at Ghangharia.
After about an hour, we reached our hotel room, there was a delay in lying on the bed, due to tiredness; we just lost in such a deep sleep that could not be said. My eyes opened at around 2.30 AM. There was a strong voice of rain coming out from outside. Deepak was also awake now and we were just wishing to shut down the rain so that we could go out to our next phase of the Valley of Flowers trek in the morning.
Day- 2
This is the morning of that day which had been stored in my subconscious mind since 2001. We are about to enter the final phase of the Valley of Flowers trek in the next couple of hours. Our excitement was just crossing the limit of patience. After having the morning breakfast and taking the packed lunch from the restaurant, we finally proceeded towards the entry gate of this world’s natural heritage site “Valley of Flowers”. We took the entry pass glanced at the map of the park at the gate and entered the Valley of Flowers premises. There was continuous light rain. The main area of Valley of Flowers is about 4 km from the entry gate and it generally takes 2-3 hours to reach. 500 species of flowers are found in the Valley of Flowers but though we have reached in the last week of August, which is supposed to be off-season, we have witnessed many of the beautiful species of flowers in the valley. There were only 15-20 visitors entered that day in the valley of flowers as told us by the man at the ticket counter whereas, in the summer of June, the valley is filled by the visitors. You can see so many waterfalls during the trek. Clouds were floating in the valley and at some point in time visibility drastically reduced. Pushpavati River floats on the right side across the trekking route. One can see the mesmerizing view of the 360-degree snow-capped peak of Nanda Devi from the valley.
There is a monument dedicated to Lady Joan Margaret Legge, a botanist who accidentally died in the valley while trying to collect some flowers from the edge of a rock. Later on, her sister visited the place and built a grave as a monument in her memory.
Around 3 PM, we decided to go back to the base camp because the weather condition was not supported and the rain continued, the biggest thing was that there was no place to hide in the valley and if the weather got worse one could face problems and it could lead to the “bell of danger”.
We took almost 3 hours to reach back at the Ghangharia. Despite wearing raincoats, we were both almost wet, especially our socks and shoes. We both felt a good amount of tiredness just because of trekking a complete day in wet conditions. Therefore, we finished our dinner around 7.30 PM and went to bed for a good nap.
Day-3
On day three, we proceeded to the holy trek of Hemkund Saheb which is 6 km from Ghangharia. On the same day around 6.30 in the evening, we returned and reached Tolna village where we parked our bike on the day first and began the Valley of Flowers trek. We stayed the night at the Gurudwara at Govind Ghat.
Conclusion:
So this was our story and experience about an incredible bike trip to the Valley of Flowers and Hemkund Saheb started from Rishikesh. You can also explore the beauty of Valley of Flowers and experience a lifetime adventure of a biking and trekking trip to the Valley of Flowers together with “Bike Rent Wala” which is a sister concern and works as a joint venture under “Scooty Rent Wala” (A well know two-wheeler rental agency mainly deal in scooty rental service), based in Rishikesh.
