Valley of Flowers – Trip Planning

Visiting the Valley of Flowers National Park was a dream of mine, is by now known to you all too well. I am sure there are many more like me who will want to and should see this heaven on earth. Here are a few pointers on how to plan for this trip. These are our experiences and could help you too.

When to go and Why to go

The valley can be visited only between June and early October. At other times, the valley is covered with snow and inaccessible. The major “flower bloom” period is July and August. That said, July and August is also peak monsoon around here and you need to be prepared for difficult journeys on the road given the omnipresent landslides and a relatively painful trek up from Govindghat given the slush. June can be a bit too early sometimes. September is the best time to go if sighting the Himalayan peaks that flank the valley is the main intention. There will still be flowers too.

The first time I heard about the valley, a UNESCO world heritage site, was way back in 2007-08 when I saw a programme on Travel and Living channel on TV. It looked like heaven. The valley was engulfed in mist. A group of trekkers walked across the slopes filled with flowers of various hues and colors. Below is a very similar sight we saw during our trip. That should be enough motivation, I am sure!

Planning the Trip

The first and foremost requirement is to figure out travel and accommodation arrangements. We were planning to go sometime during August as it would still be the peak season for flowers and the monsoon would hopefully have abated a little. First thing was to go through various blogs written by people who have been to the valley before as well as the tours organized by various operators to this region. Amount the “tours”, we were not quite satisfied about the itineraries as they seemed too hectic without much time being spent in the valley. Their typical idea seems to be to cover many places within the shortest time possible! Figuring out the credibility of these operators who were unknown for us was another challenge.

Based on recommendations from a colleague and another relative (who was also planning to visit VOF as well!) we landed up on the option of taking a customized tour from GMVN (Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam). Having gone through the tour now, the custom tour through GMVN is my firm recommendation to anyone wanting to do this trip.

The next best bet is to take the fixed itinerary trip from GMVN. That did not suit our requirements due to the following factors :

• It included Badrinath and meant spending only one day in the valley whereas we wanted to spend at-least two days in the valley.
• The trip started on a Tuesday from Rishikesh and ended mid of next week making it inconvenient for us to travel from Bangalore and be back within a week.

GMVN has offices in multiple cities around India and one of them is in Bangalore. We went on a weekend in early-June and met Mr. Anurag from GMVN. For those of you in or around Bangalore, the GMVN office in Bangalore is located on KH Road or Double Road as it is more popularly known. You can reach Mr Anurag at +91-988-618-0515. He helped us chalk out an itinerary for us based on our requirements. Below is the itinerary that we came up with.

Day 1- We would fly to Delhi on the morning of August 6 (Friday) and catch the 4 PM train to Haridwar and stay there overnight.

Day 2 – Start journey to Joshimath the next morning in an Innova and stay there overnight.

Day 3 – Go by car till Govindghat in the morning and trek to Ghangharia.

Days 4 and 5 – Valley of Flowers.

Day 6 – Visit Hemkund Sahib.

Day 7 – Trek back to Govindghat and go by car to Birahi which is after Joshimath.

Day 8 – Drive back to Rishikesh.

Day 9 – Spend time in Rishikesh. This could also be the additional buffer day in the case of trek/journey getting delayed due to unforeseen circumstances. [little did we know how beneficial this buffer day would prove eventually! And no, landslides weren't to be blamed!]

Day 9 – Take the train back to delhi in the morning and evening flight to Bangalore.

Of these, the GMVN end of the bargain included

1. The stays in Haridwar, Joshimath, Ghangaria, Birahi and Rishikesh. We opted for deluxe rooms everywhere except for Ghangaria where there wasn’t any choice. Food wasn’t included at any place.
2. The travel from Haridwar to Govindghat and then from Govindghat back to Rishikesh was by a GMVN operated Innova (lucky for us we opted for a air-conditioned Innova!).

The cost of the tour was pretty reasonable as there were five people in our group consisting of Me, Nagesh, Pratap, Parimala and Vivek. FYI, the whole lot, including the stay and the travel worked out just a little under INR 60,000 for all of us put together.

Preparations for the trek

The valley can be reached by the following route. The road is motor-able till Govindghat which is a small village around 18 kms away from Joshimath towards Badrinath. From Govindghat one can walk or take a mule/pitthu (be carried on the back of a porter in a basket!)/palanquin(borne on the shoulders of four men) for 13 kms to a village called Ghangharia which serves as the base camp for treks to the valley or a pilgrimage to the sacred Gurudwara of Hemkund Sahib which is a holy place for the Sikh community. To reach the valley from here, we need to trek for 4 kms after crossing the village. The valley is spread over the next 10 kms and is around 2 km wide. This map snippet from Google should give you a idea of what we are talking about. The map is centered at Govindghat, the start point of the trek. You can trace the hike path up from Govindghat to Ghangharia (referred to as “To Hemkund Sahib” in the map) and then pan around to see where Valley of Flowers is located.

For me, who had never been on a trek before, this seemed like a daunting task. It doesn’t help that our lifestyle did not include any form of exercise either! Therefore we built up a home-grown recipe of stamina building. We started exercising a month before the trek. We would cycle daily for around 10-15 kms on the exer-cycle. Brisk walks for around 3-4 kms on the weekends became part of our routine too.

What to take along

While on a trek it is important to have the right gear as well. In addition, the nights up in the mountains are cold and one needs protection. We chose Decathlon for most of our gear. For the hike, we wanted to ensure that we carried stuff which was durable, light and which we could be stowed away without much care. Therefore, we got ourselves trekking shoes, socks, t-shirts, pants, torches and water bottles. Some binoculars and of course cameras to capture the beauty. Nagesh, Pratap and Parimala were the “photographers” and I filled in with some photography of my own too :-) Vivek was clear that he just wanted the memories!

We were going in the monsoon and that meant being prepared for hiking through rain. We got ourselves rain-cuts and dry bags for this purpose. To ensure that we can manage the cold, we got some thermal wear and excellent fleece jackets (from Decathlon again) which were extremely light but super effective. All this had to get carried in an effective manner and that meant backpacks.

Another aspect is being prepared for water. We did not want to buy “bottled water” as we didn’t want to add to the plastic waste. A wonderful alternative was the Steripen water purifier. It was useful through our tour, even in the plains at Haridwar and Rishikesh ensuring that we did not have to “buy” any water. The streams inside the valley anyway had wonderful water flowing through them and the Steripen took care of whatever little impurity that may have existed.

Guess that’s about it! Hopefully you do find it useful when you prepare for your own trip. Feel free to let us know your thoughts in the Comments section below. Let me end this series of posts on the Valley of Flowers with a slideshow of ALL the pictures from the trip.

Valley of Flowers. Reaching base camp. Trek to Ghangharia

The Valley of Flowers series continues into the third post. The road journey with all its twists and turns lasts only up to Govindghat. The base camp for Valley of Flowers is however the tiny hamlet of Ghangharia. To reach Ghangharia from Govindghat, one has to hike/trek up a set of formidable hills. The distance – 13 kms one way.

As you already know, we had stayed overnight at the GMVN resthouse in Joshimath. On D-day, we left Joshimath for Govindghat at around 7 AM. Govindghat is around 18kms from Joshimath. We descended through the beautiful hillside near Joshimath and passed Vishnuprayag where the Dhauliganga merges into the mighty Alaknanda. Just after Vishnuprayag, the first twist in the tale occurred!

We encountered landslides at two places on the route and were stranded for quite some time on a bridge just after Vishnuprayag. The road to Govindghat is the same as the road to Badrinath from Joshimath. Therefore there were many pilgrims, headed both to Badrinath and Hemkund around. People power came to the fore and travelers on the route managed to move the rocks and clear the road for vehicles to pass. After breathing a sigh of relief we managed to reach Govindghat around 9 AM.

The first thing to do was to arrange for porters to carry our bags up the hill (no! we still weren’t in shape to haul our bags up the hill!). After a heavy breakfast of parathas we picked some sticks for hiking and as it was drizzling also added some rain covers for the camera bags (extra protection!). The Lakshmanganga (which downstream merges into the Alaknanda) flows next to Govindghat. The climb begins immediately after crossing the footbridge over the Lakshmanganga. The first part of the climb is seriously steep and the hills looked extremely imposing up close from this town. The mist covering the hills gave them an ethereal look! The many people and mules climbing up the hill looked like tiny toys going up the hill. Most of them are actually pilgrims to Hemkund.

We set out around 10 AM hoping to reach Ghangharia before it got dark. The slush along the path and the hustle and bustle of other tourists, porters and mules ensured that our progress was pretty slow. Thousands of Sikh pilgrims who wanted to visit Hemkund were trudging along. The intermittent drizzle would make us wear our raincoats only to remove them within a short while. Reason – our bodies were generating tons of heat and sweat! The preparations in terms of fitness that we had done before embarking on this trek proved to be really useful. Yes, we could have taken the mules but we were not keen on doing that unless it was inevitable. Few of the pilgrims were distributing glucose powder at frequent intervals along the way.

The first major milestone on the trek for us was the midway restaurant located midway to Ghangharia. We reached there around 1 PM. We asked for Maggi. Never did a bowl of Maggi taste better! After relishing the bowl of hot Maggi we proceeded further. The “real” name for the whole valley is Bhyundar Valley. This is named after the Bhyundar village at the start of the valley. We passed Bhyundar village on our way. The villagers of Bhyundar lead a tough life and one of their largest sources of income are the scores of pilgrims and tourists that climb up this route to Hemkund.

While the scenery around was breathtaking, we were finding it difficult to enjoy the scenery as we needed to concentrate where we stepped. The slush was treacherous at some places and we had to ensure that our feet were placed at proper spots. The hiking shoes (from Decathlon) that we had purchased for this trip were very useful in this terrain. The galloping mules coming from behind also resulted in a drop in our pace. One mule nearly brushed me (and another lady climbing up) off the cliff-side! Close shave. My dream trip would have ended in dreadful fashion hadn’t I managed to hold onto the edge of the path. Slowly but surely tiredness began to set in and progress was slowing down.

It was almost 5 PM when we reached a restaurant near a bridge which was around 2-3 kms from Ghangharia. We sank in the chairs there and sipped some masala tea. Light fades early in the hills and a little panic began to set in. We could hardly make it through the difficult path in broad daylight. God save us once it was dark (we did have torches though :)).

In the pilgrims climbing up, there were a lot of elderly women. A group of these elderly women were finding the going extremely tough and on the verge of totally giving up and losing hope given the fading light. Nagesh and Vivek decided to help them out. We split our group into two. Me and Parimala went ahead with Pratap while Nagesh and Vivek stayed back with the ladies to help and guide them up as they did not even have torches and the morale boosting was much needed.

Darkness set in quick and fast. With the help of torches we managed to find our way. There was a distinct chill in the air. Suddenly on rounding a bend, Ghangharia came into sight. It was a moment of complete exhilaration! We reached the GMVN hotel at Ghangaria around 7 PM. We had trekked for almost 9 hours.

The staff immediately took us to our rooms. Our bags which had been “muled” up had arrived long back. Rooms at the GMVN in Ghangharia are basic but very clean. One has to appreciate GMVN a lot for their outstanding hospitality in such inhospitable terrain. Kudos to their outstanding efforts. The staff had sent the tel maalishwala (a Masseuse). He rubbed some oil to loosen our legs which had become very stiff. Don’t recall what exact oil he rubbed. Whatever it was, the massage proved to be soothing. After taking bath with hot water delivered to our rooms we set out to have dinner. We retired early for the night as we wanted to have an early start the next day. That was going to be the day we would get to set eyes on the Valley of Flowers. The very reason we’d put ourselves through all this.

Return Journey

The day of return dawned upon us after spending two blissful days in the heavenly Valley of Flowers. With heavy hearts we bid our farewell to the hills.

We were expecting the downhill trek to Govindghat to be easier. If time permitted we could visit Badrinath in the afternoon. But the slush at some places was very treacherous due to the recent rains. Accompanied by the porter we started on our way down. The sights that we had missed on the onward journey here due to darkness came into view. A group of swiss tents just outside Ghangharia looked so colourful against the backdrop of the lush green hills. We also saw the Kanjilla Helipad from a distance.

We did the first 3-4 Kms pretty swiftly. But then came the difficulty. My left knee started hurting badly and I was finding it very difficult to walk. I had a mild case of the runner’s knee! I was finding progress very difficult and this slowed down the whole party. The Badrinath plan had to be dropped right away. With frequent stops to rest my legs, the times we were taking to cover distance went downhill and literally at that! Nagesh encouraged me a lot and ensured that we reached Govindghat well in time.

The pain notwithstanding, the sights were mesmerizing. On the way we saw many colourful birds and even a group of Langurs. We also found Ganja (Cannabis) growing abundantly near the path. We also saw trees laden with apples.

The pain was making me feel that the journey was lasting an eternity but the sights were making me forget the pain at the same time! Quite a unique experience, I must say. When we finally sighted the hamlet of Govindghat my joy knew no bounds. A tiresome trek had come to an end for me. Our Innova was waiting for us there. The driver had already got the bags we had left behind at Joshimath and we left immediately for Birahi where we would stay the night before driving back to Rishikesh the next morning. We would then leave back for Delhi the day after. Bringing to an end one of the most memorable trips of my life. At least so far!

Destination Valley of Flowers. The journey through Garhwal.

I am sure you’ve read about the enchanting Valley of Flowers, my dream destination which a few of us visited in August 2010. The journey to and from the Valley of Flowers was by itself an emotional roller-coaster filled with adventure, difficulties and joy.

We had decided to fly to and fro to Delhi from Bangalore. Then the onward route would be Delhi-Haridwar-Joshimath-Govindghat-Ghangharia-Valley of Flowers with overnight stops at Haridwar and Joshimath. The road was motorable upto Govindghat. A 13 km trek from Govindghat would lead us to Ghangharia which would serve as our base camp. On the way back we would be spending one night each in Birahi and Rishikesh respectively. At least that was the plan :-)

We took a morning flight to Delhi and reached in the noon. After lunch at the airport we took a cab to the railway station to board the Shatabdi train to Haridwar. The sweltering heat made the journey tiresome. We were staying overnight at GMVN’s Rahi Motel in Haridwar. After a hearty dinner we retired for the night. A long journey of little over 250km to Joshimath lay ahead of us the next morning. The road leads through some of the most pristine hills of Uttarakhand. But given that it was the beginning of monsoon, there was the ever present danger of rock slides. Beyond the fact that it could be potentially dangerous, the larger trouble was that one could get stuck for hours and sometimes days in rock slides! Our cab had already arrived and our driver Kishorilal advised us to leave by 6.30-7 the next morning as it was necessary to reach Joshimath before it got dark.

The next morning found us ready bright and early and on time set for the journey. Little did we know of the impending disaster that was to descend on us. And descend the Kawadiyas did. The streets of Haridwar seemed to be bustling with the Kawadiyas who come to collect the water from River Ganges and take it back to their villages for offering it to Lord Shiva in their temples. The highway from Haridwar to Rishikesh was blocked and the traffic was just not moving. The street seemed to be choking with all the vehicles and the crowds surging through it. Around one crore people had descended here as per our driver!

The journey from Haridwar to Rishikesh which is a mere 20-22 kms took us nearly 10 hours of which the last 15-18 kms stretch was covered within one hour which meant that we took 9 hours for the first 4 kms! Need I say more?! This was WITHOUT DOUBT the worst traffic jam of our lives. But then as they say in difficulty lies opportunity! Nagesh and Pratap made hay while the sun shone… err I mean clicked fantastic photos of the madness when stuck in the jam! But eventually even that novelty wore off and we resigned to our fate. We thanked our foresight in asking for the Innova with air-conditioning!

We finally reached Rishikesh around 5 PM. Our plans and therefore our bookings at GMVN, Joshimath and onward had gone totally askew. This is where we were so glad that we were with GMVN through and through. Over a few phone calls, our driver had reworked our onward bookings and also got us a booking in GMVN Rishikesh. We found this aspect of GMVN very useful and there were no last minute hassles involved in finding rooms and everything went smoothly for us in this regard. GMVN has hotels at almost every 30 kms or so through Garhwal. So we were not to worry if we got stuck anywhere along the route.

In Rishikesh, we got rooms at Hotel Rishi Lok which was in a very nice location and close to the Rishikesh Bypass. We decided to make the most of this day and ventured to catch the evening Aarti at the Ghat. The whole town was bustling with lots of people. We managed to cross the Ram Jhoola and reach the ghat a tad too late but got a few pics before it became dark. We then visited the Gita temple where one can find one of the smallest renditions of the entire Bhagvad Gita, on one page. Our next stop was at a shop where Rudraksha malas and Shaligram beads were sold. There is also a Rudraksha tree in the Gita temple premises. We then walked along the Ghat and went back to the hotel. After a sumptuous dinner we retired for the night.

We set out early next morning to Joshimath and were relieved not to see any Kawadiyas around :) After crossing Rishikesh, the road runs along the banks of River Ganga all the way till Joshimath. The sight of River Ganga was awesome. This stretch of the river is very popular for rafting upto Kaudiyala, a small village near Rishikesh. The road was scary in many places but the sights were heavenly. We stopped for breakfast at a small village called Byasi and had some delicious parathas.

Enroute to Joshimath, one passes through four of the “prayags” (or confluence of rivers). We passed through Devprayag which is the first prayag on this route. This is where the Alaknanda and the Bhagirathi rivers meet to form the holy River Ganga.

We stopped for lunch at Rudraprayag (The Mandakini merges into the the Alaknanda here). This place became very famous due to the man-eating leopard which had terrorised the residents of Rudraprayag as well as pilgrims travelling to Badrinath for a long time before the famed Jim Corbett hunted it down.

The next prayag was at Karnaprayag where the Pindar river merges into the Alaknanda. After this we passed through Nandaprayag where Alaknanda and Nandakini rivers meet. We stopped for some tea at the GMVN hotel in Birahi where we would be staying on our return journey. The location of this hotel was perfect with a furious Alaknanda river gushing right next to it. What a sight!! Without wasting much time here we set forth to Joshimath as it was almost 5 in the evening. After crossing Birahi the terrain changed all of a sudden. The hills are green and alive is what I was reminded of looking at the lovely sights outside.

We reached Joshimath around 6 PM. We skipped the thought of going to Shankaracharya temple here as we had plenty of work to do. Up ahead was the trek up to Ghangaria and we had to segregate our stuff and take only what was needed during the trek. The additional bags had to be left behind in the cloak room of the hotel here. That took us quite a while and it was too late by then to venture out. We had a hearty dinner and retired early for the night as the next day would be challenging and the trek would start.

The Return Journey

After our stay at the enchanting Valley of Flowers, it was time to bid goodbye to the mountains and drive back down the treacherous roads. Back to Rishikesh. After the trek down to Govindghat from Ghangaria, we loaded all our bags into the car and set forth for Birahi. The drive was uneventful. We were lucky to sight a beautiful rainbow just before Birahi. Around 5 PM we reached the GMVN motel in Birahi where we were given a cordial welcome by the staff. The people of this state are generally very friendly and courteous. We had awesome mixed vegetable pakodas and hot tea.

The rooms were nice and had lovely views of the mighty Alaknanda river which was in full spate given the monsoons. This property is small but situated at the perfect location. This is another aspect about the GMVN hotels that we came to love. Their locations are fabulous. We retired early for the night after a refreshing bath followed by some dinner.

Early morning saw us outside our rooms taking pictures of the beautiful Alaknanda river. We then had breakfast of some hot pooris and toast. This was a welcome break from parathas and porridge which was our staple diet while at Ghangaria!

We left Birahi around 10 AM. We were just hoping not to get blocked by any landslides. At some places the road looked bad and very vulnerable. Our driver wanted to reach Rishikesh soon as he was sure that it would rain heavily later resulting in landslides. We stopped at GMVN hotel in Srinagar for lunch.

By 5 PM we had reached Kaudiyala on the outskirts of Rishikesh near the Ganga river. There is a GMVN hotel here too and this is one of the places where rafting facilities are provided. After sipping hot tea we started towards Rishikesh. As we were approaching Rishikesh it started raining very heavily. The atmosphere was ominous in the hills. With crossed fingers we hoped that we would reach uneventfully. Thankfully we did reach Rishikesh safe and sound around 6 PM.

We would be spending the night in GMVN Bharat Bhoomi Hotel here. This was the biggest of the GMVN properties in which we had stayed during this trip and by far the worst unfortunately. I wonder why the friendliest places were in the most difficult places and not in the plains where everything was simple and easy! We had arranged for a cab to take us to Delhi next morning where we would be staying for a day before our flight back to Bangalore.

Valley of Flowers. Dream Come True.

A post on the most exotic place that I have visited till date. The most adventurous trip of my life (so far!). This place is surely a paradise on earth and no words can express the beauty of this place. You need to experience it. Visiting this place had been my dream for quite a while and this dream came true in August of 2010. This paradise has a name. It’s called Valley of Flowers.

The Valley of Flowers is a National Park (for flowers!) in the Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Frank S Smythe, a British Mountaineer discovered the valley during an expedition to Mount Kamet nearby. He has written a book titled ‘The Valley of the Flowers’ on his experiences in the regions around the valley. This book gives an insight into the geography of the valley and is helpful to try and get a hang of what is in store.

Valley of Flowers in mythology

The Valley of Flowers finds mention in Hindu mythology too.

Mahabharata talks about the valley of flowers from where Bhima brought Sougandhika pushpa to Droupadi, after killing all the demons living in the valley. It is also the place where Bhima meets Hanuman! Mythology also has it that Hanuman picked the Sumeru parvat for the Sanjeevini herb to cure Lakshmana from the valley of flowers.

Mythology apart, Valley of flowers gets a mention in Swami Rama’s “Living with the Himalayan Masters”, where a chapter is dedicated to this valley. He explains vividly how staying in the valley for long makes a person ‘lose his memory’ (forget everything else)!

There were five of us (Me, Nagesh, Vivek, Pratap and Parimala) who went on this journey to Valley of Flowers. To begin with let me entertain you with the sights of the valley itself. I will shortly do separate followup posts on the trek to the base camp, our travails during the journey through the mountains of Uttarakhand and of course for all those interested in going to the valley, details of our planning and travel itinerary. [UPDATE: next post covers our journey through the mountains of Uttarakhand][UPDATE 2: the post on the hike up the route from Govindghat to Ghangharia and back is up now]

Valley of Flowers – our First Glimpse

We had reached the base camp at Ghangharia late in the evening the previous day. The D-day had finally arrived. The morning was pleasant and the hills looked majestic. The views of the hills from the GMVN Hotel were breathtaking to say the least. It was a delight to see tufts of mist rising high above the trees.

After an early breakfast of porridge we set out to the Valley of Flowers. We wanted to take a guide along with us on the first day and went looking for Rajneesh Chouhan’s shop in Ghangharia. I had read online about this guy who has done innumerable trips to the valley and dons the role of a guide as well. Rajneesh set aside another task he had for himself and joined us to guide us up to the valley. We had taken a porter along to carry the camera bags.

We bought tickets at the check-post at the entrance to the national park and excitedly went ahead. Lots of exotic birds were here but not easy to sight. We sighted a mountain mouse near the entry gate and it looked so cute.

The path twists, turns and climbs past streams and some hills for around 3 kms after which the valley comes into view. We saw some exotic flowers of different colours and hues along-with some fruits and mushrooms. The fruits of pine trees could be seen from this altitude! The peaks of the hills looked so imposing. Rajneesh was adept at walking here and we had to hurry to be with him. He showed us a tree which had been made hollow by a bear. The hollow was large enough for Rajneesh to scramble inside easily!

The valley of flowers starts near a gorge of the Pushpawati river which downstream merges with the Bhyundar Ganga to form the Lakshman Ganga. This in turn merges with the mighty Alaknanda at Govindghat. The gushing of the Pushpawati river as it wound its way though the valley was so soothing. A rickety bridge helped us approach the other side.

As we approached the valley, we saw a glacier in frozen state and felt that we had been transported to a magical land. The valley was engulfed by low hanging clouds and the sight was mesmerizing. The scene was so similar to the one I had seen when I heard first about this place on the television – the sight which had implanted the dream in my mind. The visibility was low and we could not see beyond a few yards. It was drizzling on and off. The slopes of the valley were covered with pink flowers that week. Apparently flowers of different colours bloom at different times and the slopes change colour weekly! You don’t believe me, no? You will find a mention of some of the species that bloom in the valley on the wikipedia.

By the time we reached a huge rock which is one of the first landmarks of the valley it started raining. Rajneesh advised that we should not go ahead and return back when the rain reduced. We could not afford being stuck in the valley if any landslides occurred along the way. And yes, landslides are a distinct possibility on the hillside during the rainy season.

It was almost lunch time. We had our lunch consisting of some parathas that we had packed in the morning. A Himalayan Finch couple were hopping across the plants close to the rock where we had taken shelter. We managed to get a record shot of these beauties as visibility had worsened.

When the rain had abated we set back towards Ghangharia. It was so disappointing that we had not gone even halfway through the valley. We managed to reach back at the check-post before 5 PM which is the closing time. Camping inside the valley is not allowed. For this, special permission is needed and one needs to be doing botanical research in order to get it.

At the check-post we met a French couple who had managed to trek from Govindghat to Ghangharia in less than 3 hours (it took us 9!!) and wanted to go ahead either to the valley or Hemkund Sahib! But it was almost closing time for both places and they had to return back to Ghangharia.

Nagesh and Vivek went back to the hotel while Pratap, Parimala and I stayed back near the check-post to get some bird photos. We saw quite a few exotic birds but none of the shots were great. After a while we headed back towards Ghangharia. The market was bustling with activity. Almost all shops offer massages to soothe the frayed muscles. This is mainly for the pilgrims returning from the much harder trek to Hemkund. A group of kids wanted me and Parimala to take their pictures and we obliged them!

Valley of Flowers – Again

Our original plan had been to spend two of our three days in the mountains in the valley of flowers. The delay in reaching Joshimath due to the Kawad Yatra near Haridwar (more on that in a post later) had already cost us a day. Added to this, as the first day in the valley had also been disappointing due to rain and bad visibility not letting us venture much inside the valley. We therefore had the choice of going back to the valley or head to Hemkund. We could do only one of them. 4 of us, Pratap, Parimala, Nagesh and I wanted to go back to the valley. Vivek decided to go to Hemkund alone.

The sky looked less dreary compared to the previous day. We set fort with hope to the valley. This time the weather conditions were favorable even though there was intermittent drizzle. Given that we knew our way around we did not employ Rajneesh’s help. We also managed to reach the first big rock inside the valley sooner than the previous day. A large group of trekkers from Pune were also there.

The valley looked as enchanting as before. The weather was reasonably conducive for photography. But then no pictures can do justice to the majestic beauty of this place. You have to see it to believe it. We drank water from the streams gushing around the path and also collected pebbles as souvenirs.

My goal for the day was to trek at least upto Margaret Legge’s grave. Margaret Legge was a botanist who slipped to her death here as she was collecting flower samples in 1939. An epitaph has been constructed in memory of her by her sister. We managed to reach Margaret Legge’s grave which is below the slopes and a deviation from the main path leads one there. There we met the chief forest officer of the state of Uttarakhand and his retinue. They had just returned from the other end of the valley where they had sighted a new species of flowers growing in abundance. During our conversation he suggested that we go there. However, since it was almost lunch time and clouds were taking on a sinister look we decided to have lunch and head back.

We had trekked almost till the end of the valley. It was a cheerful day. The return to the check-post was uneventful. We reached Ghangharia by 4 PM and had pakodas with hot masala tea. Vivek had already returned from Hemkund. He said that the visibility was pretty bad there. He had managed to see the Brahmakamal (Tiger Lily) flower which is found along the path to Hemkund.

Sights of the Valley

I am sure you are all pretty eager to go beyond my words and see the place for yourself. The slideshow below should hopefully give you an inkling of the beauty of the place and why this place is surely a paradise!

Thus ended our magical sojourn to the Valley of Flowers. I hope to go back to the Valley of Flowers again someday and then will probably go post the monsoon (around September maybe). They say that during this time while the amount of flowers would have reduced, the sights of the Himalayan peaks around the valley are a sight to behold. Someday for sure!

As promised, I will be back soon with the other posts around this magical journey. Till then….

Maidenahalli

This post is about a wildlife reserve which is not known to many people though it is not too far from Bangalore. I am talking about the Jayamangali Blackbuck Reserve at Maidenahalli which is around 100 odd kms from Bangalore.I read about this place first in Rohini’s Blog sometime last year. A few weeks back we decided to go on a day trip to some nearby place as it had been quite some time since we did such a trip. Nagesh wanted to go to a birding/wildlife place. We remembered Maidenahalli and decided to go there. What seemed the most challenging aspect was the route.

Map

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Journey

1. We started from home on a Sunday morning around 8.30. The plan was to have breakfast at Dobbaspet. We managed to reach the Davanagere Benne Masala Dose joint opposite Dobbaspet Police Station by 10 and enjoyed some dosas! We got the delicious Thatte Idly packed for lunch as Maidenahalli or nearby areas do not have any eating options. The nearest town is Madhugiri.
2. After the left turn turn for Devarayanadurga where we have been previously, the road was not that good. The greenery on both sides of the road compensated for the bad road.
3. We passed through Koratagere and the majestic fort of Madhugiri perched on the second biggest Monolith in Asia came into sight. What a place to build a fort! After the town of Madhugiri you need to take a left turn after about 1 km on the road to Hindupur. This road had a board indicating the black-buck reserve. This road leads to Puruvara.
4. After crossing the village you have to go on the I D Halli Road past the villages of Badakanahalli and Giregowdanahalli. About 1.5 kms from here there is a board on the right side of the road indicating the reserve. From here a mud road starts which goes into the reserve. We reached here around 1 PM.

Jayamangali Reserve

We were greeted by kids at the gate of the reserve shouting cheerfully that there were no black-bucks in the reserve. The terrain had changed gradually once we crossed Puruvara. This was plain land territory. The beautiful skies added a magical touch to the scenery. We spotted some Green bee-eaters and Drongoes flitting nearby.

As we moved forward the government IB came into view. The caretaker Mr.Murthy came to us and said that he would come with us in our car to show us the black-bucks. According to him, we were pretty late in reaching there as the blackbucks do not come out after early morning as the farmers in the adjoining lands start their work and the black-bucks keep away from humans. He suggested that we come back again for camping. Early morning would be ideal to watch the black-bucks in action as well as foxes and birds. The IB has basic facilities only and food is not available there.

He soon spotted a herd of blackbucks in the distance. They started watching us warily and ran away pretty soon. Nagesh managed to get a few  record shots and one very good shot of a leaping blackbuck.

However this did not feel satisfactory. We decided to come back some other time for overnight camping. We went back to the IB and had our lunch. We spotted some Rufous Shrikes, Large Grey Babblers, Brahminy Starling and Common Iora.

On getting out of the gate of the reserve we spotted a Black Winged Kite with lizard. Our trip had ended well!

Hyderabad

This post is on Hyderabad, an important city in South India. Hyderabad is famous for its cuisine (Hyderabadi Biryani especially), Charminar, Chudi (Bangle) bazaar and Pearl Markets. We visited this city in January 2010. We had taken a week off to visit Hyderabad and then go to Kabini. We spent 4 days and 3 nights in Hyderabad. It was a family trip consisting of my parents and a cousin. My sister, who at that time was working in Hyderabad, would also be joining us. I had done enough research about the place before going and was very clear about what I wanted to see. Ramoji Film City was not in our agenda at all since we wanted to experience the charm of Hyderabad namely its ancient monuments :) We had booked rooms in Hotel Geetanjali near Abids which is one of the older areas of Hyderabad. This is a very basic hotel but served our needs nonetheless.We took the Garib Rath train on a friday night at around 9 from Yeshwanthpur and reached the Secunderabad railway station at around 7 AM the next day. We had requested for cab from the hotel and it took us half an hour to reach the place. After refreshing ourselves we spoke to the hotel person and worked out an itinerary for the day. We set out from the hotel at around 11 AM.

Day 1

Our first halt was at Salar Jung Museum. This is a huge museum with wide range of collections belonging to the Salar Jungs who served as the Prime Ministers of Hyderabad. There is a wide spread of crockery, furniture, jewelry, paintings etc. The most important exhibit in this museum is a clock in which every hour is chimed by a wooden doll who pops out of the upper part of the clock and strikes a gong as many number of times as the hour of the day :) We spent around 3 hrs here. By the time we came out,all of us were very hungry. We asked the cab driver (Mr Khan) to take us to some good restaurant. Luckily this city has no dearth of places where you get good food. He took us to Sukh Sagar restaurant which is pretty close to Birla Mandir which would be our next stop. We had Andhra meals here which was very good.

We set out for Birla Mandir after the hearty lunch. One thing about Birla Mandirs all over is that you are not allowed to take either cellphones or cameras inside. The views of the city that could be seen as we climbed the steps of the temple were awesome. Unfortunately it could not be captured in our cameras :( After offering our prayers to God, we spent some time walking around the temple and gazing at the views of the city all around. We did manage to take a pic of the temple from outside as we were leaving.

Since it was early evening, our driver suggested us to visit the Hussain Sagar lake which was nearby. This is a huge artificial lake whose water is from River Musi. This lake separates the twin joined-at-the-hip cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad. There is a huge Buddha Statue on an island in the lake. We sat on benches in the park outside the lake and had ice cream :) Lot of boat ride options are available here including speed boats. My cousin who had already visited this place a few years back suggested that we take the ferry to the Buddha statue. Acting upon her words, we decided to go. It turned out to be a nice experience. The pedestal around the statue felt very nice. We got awesome views of the sunset from here.

The driver had told us that we could watch the laser show that takes place on weekends from 6.30 onwards in the Lumbini park which was right next to the lake. Nagesh went to get tickets for all of us. The crowd swelled as the start time of the show was nearing. We managed to get good places. The show started and we were mesmerized right from the start. The images looked so real. The history of Hyderabad was explained followed by images of Char Minar and others.

By the time the show got over it was around 8 PM. We stepped out and got some nice pictures of the Birla mandir which was lit. The road around the lake is called Necklace Road and is a superb drive. It looks lovely by the night with lights all around. We had dinner at Hotel Taj Mahal which is another good restaurant that we found near where we were put up. This was the place for breakfast and dinner for the rest of the days that we were there :)

Day 2

We had planned to cover old Hyderabad on this day. Our first stop was at H.E.H. Nizam Musuem. When we reached there we were told that there was a power cut and visibility would not be great inside. So we decided to come back there later in the day.

We proceeded to the next destination which was Chowmahalla Palace. This is a beautiful place and houses the Car collection of the Nizam in addition to furniture, weapons. The Darbar hall is lovely with chandeliers all around it. The quaint courtyards and grounds of the palace were pleasant.

The next stop was at Charminar which is at the heart of the old city. It has two levels above ground floor. We climbed a rickety flight of stairs and reached the first floor from where we could spot the four arches (darwaazas) in the four directions which marked some of the important streets leading into the old city. The second floor is barred for the general public. After spending some time here, we went to the Mecca Masjid which was right across the road from charminar. This is the second largest mosque in India.

Now it was time for some authentic Hyderabadi cuisine. It was lunch time and we were eagerly awaiting the chance to eat some authentic biriyani. Our driver took us to Shadaab, a restaurant in the old city. We had a hearty lunch consisting of delicious biriyani (both chicken and Vegetarian) followed by Khubani Ka Meetha (a Hyderabadi dessert made of apricots topped with cream).

Our next destination was pretty unique. It was the Sudha Car Museum about which I had heard quite a bit. It is claimed to be the only museum in the world with custom cars in various creatively designed shapes by Mr Sudhakar. He has made it to the Guiness Book of World Records for making the world’s largest tricycle which was on display at the museum! Below you will see a “Nikon” car. And yes, these fancy cars at the museum are all fully operational!!

We ended our day’s travel by going back to the H.E.H.Nizam Museum which houses the wardrobe of the sixth Nizam of Hyderabad which is very long, purportedly the world’s longest. It also has relics and gifts given by various dignitaries to the Nizam. There are models of almost all important buildings of Hyderabad on display here. The amount of Gold and Silver used in the cabinets and other pieces of furniture is staggering. This museum is owned by the descendants of the Nizam who today live in Europe.

On heading back to the hotel,I saw that the entire street around had turned into a bustling second hand book market. My joy knew no bounds. It being a Sunday, this was Hyderabad’s book market at its best. The entire footpath was filled with books of all sorts. I couldn’t resist naturally. I went to check out the books along-with my dad and cousin. Got some rare books of Pearl S Buck for dirt cheap prices. Some amount of bargaining helped us strike out great deals and we got some good books :)

The shopping for dresses was still pending. All of us except Nagesh set out to the cloth shops to buy some dress materials for all of us. My sister gifted me and my cousins some lovely dress materials. If you can find the right shops and bargain a bit, Hyderabad is the place for buying clothes. The rates can be much cheaper than in Bangalore for sure. We ended the tiring but satisfactory day with dinner in Taj Mahal hotel again!

Day 3

This day was dedicated for Golkonda and the Qutb Shahi tombs which were quite far from where we were staying. En route we stopped at the NTR memorial and spent some time here. The Necklace road looked so lovely during the daytime too.

The Qutub Shahi tombs are situated near Golkonda Fort and house the tombs of seven of the famous Qutub Shahi rulers. The domes of the tombs have intricate carvings in the shape of bangle and pineapple! A stone epitaph of a poem on the royal tombs of Golkonda written by Sarojini Naidu has been put up here.

After having lunch at a deserted restaurant which turned out to be utterly hopeless (the only time food disappointed us here), we proceeded to go to Golkonda fort. It was almost 3 PM. This fort is in a reasonably good condition and is a splendid example of the architecture of the Qutub Shahi kings. The sheer magnitude of the place left us spellbound. We were fortunate enough to get an old man as a guide who was so energetic and knowledgeable about the place that he kept us on our toes all the way up to the top of the fort. We were determined to make it to the top of the fort though the height and number of steps was making us feel skeptical about the whole venture. This place is also famous for many diamonds that have been mined here in history. The most famous amongst the diamonds is the famous Kohinoor diamond. The place where this diamond was found is called Kohinoor garden. Our guide explained to us about lot of the details of the fort including the system of guarding the fort, providing water supply, the echo system of communication between guards situated far away at various points of the fort etc. I would suggest that anyone who goes to visit Hyderabad should definitely go here and use the services of a guide provided at the ticket counter. The views of the city far away from the top were brilliant.

After 6.30 PM there is a light and sound show which runs for almost one hour at the fort with a narration of the history of the fort. The fort looked magnificent bathed in a rich hue of light of various colors. The show was good though a little too long possibly.

The day came to an end for us with a long drive back to the hotel followed by dinner at Taj Mahal hotel once more.

Day 4

This was to be the last day in this city for us. It was Republic day and we were happy to see that patriotic songs were being played in the streets near our hotel and the whole city wore a festive look with the Indian flags fluttering everywhere. Our last visit was to the Nehru Zoo which is one of the largest zoos in India. We took a vehicle and did a complete tour of the zoo.

On the way back, we bought the famous biscuits from Karachi Bakery and sweets from Pulla Reddy Sweets. It was time to say goodbye! We checked out of the hotel, dropped my sister back to her PG and boarded the Garib Rath back to Bangalore. All in all this was a very good trip and will remain etched in our memories forever :)

Devarayanadurga

This post is about Devarayanadurga which is one of the nine durgas near Bangalore. It is about 60 kms from Bangalore. We had been here in June 2010 with two of our friends (Pratap and Akshay).

Journey

We started from home at around 7.30 AM on a sunday morning. I had read in a blog about a shack near Dobbaspet police station where you could get wonderful tatte Idli served with vada and potato curry. We had decided to find this place and have breakfast there. On reaching Dobbaspet we tried to find this place but there was no sign of such a place.  But then the blog had been written 2 years back and the probability of the place having changed/closed was high. The only place nearby where people were eating was a Davanagere Benne Masala Dosa eatery. We decided to hog some yummy masala dosas there and it turned out to be a good choice. With full stomachs and contented hearts we set out towards Devarayanadurga :)

Map

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Sights of Devarayanadurga

This town is famous for its temples dedicated to Lord Narasimha. There is a Bhoga Narasimha Swamy temple at the base of the hill while the Yoga Narasimha temple is perched on the top of the hill. We first stopped at the Bhoga Narasimha temple and offered our prayers to God. After clicking some photographs of the temple we proceeded towards the hill.

Some boys were hanging around and Nagesh got a lovely capture of one of the boys. Nice eyes he has. Doesn’t he?

We decided to skip a visit to Namada Chilume (a natural water spring) and go to the temple instead. On the way we encountered a board indicating the source of River Jayamangali. But the river was not in sight! It must have been there long back. The sights of open countryside with greenery all around was so refreshing. The winding road up the hill was in a very good condition too. We parked the car and started the climb peacefully. As we went higher, the views we got to see were dramatic. The lush hills on all sides looked beautiful.

As we approached the temple we could see some boulders next to the steps. On one of the boulders, idols of Lord Hanuman had been carved and painted with red which looked good. Another strange sight was a tree whose roots were between huge boulders. It looked as though the tree had grown out of a rock :)

The temple was very crowded and we had to wait some time for the darshan. By the time we were outside it had become very sunny. There were lots of monkeys around this place indulging in antics as usual :)

We decided not to climb the hill further to stand in the ancient watch tower an go to some ancient ruins as it was nearing lunch time and we had begun to feel the hunger. We just walked around the temple and clicked a few pics before returning. On the way back we stopped for lunch at Kamat Upahar and were back home by 4 in the evening.  We need to return to this place again just to watch the birds here which completely eluded us on this occasion except for a momentary glimpse of a Black Shouldered Kite.

Melukote

This post is about a beautiful place tucked away near Mysore and has a charm of its own. This quaint little town is very popular mainly for two things – Puliyogare (a south Indian rice preparation) and Sanskrit college. Yes, I am talking about Melukote. Majority of the population here are from the Iyengar community. Its very close to Mysore or rather Mandya.

Reaching Melukote

While driving from Mysore, you need to take a left turn just before the arch near entrance of Mandya and drive for around 35 kms.

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I had been here long ago when I was in college with a friend. I vaguely remembered sitting in a temple and having delicious puliyogare. Nagesh and I always used to plan to go here and somehow it never worked out till April this year!  I was already in Mysore at my parents home for the Good Friday long weekend. Nagesh and a couple of his friends whom he knows thanks to his Photography (Chitra, Niranj and Pratap) decided to go to Melukote on Sunday. Nagesh called me up excitedly and said that he would come down to Mysore to pick me up and then we could go to Melukote :)

The day arrived and the guys happily came home at Mysore after Birding at Ranganathittu.  After having lunch in Mysore, we started our journey and reached Melukote late in the afternoon as the roads were not good after taking the left turn from the highway. The road to Melukote was dotted with scenes from rural life and lush green fields. It felt nice to be in the countryside. For once, driving took precedence over photography for Nagesh and hence no pics. Only memories :)

Temples and Sights of Melukote

Chitra and her family were already near the Cheluva Narayana Swamy temple and waiting for us. There were lot of Puliyogare vendors near the temple! We decided to head there as soon as we finished the temple visits :) This temple has an annual Vairamudi festival which is very popular. There was a board near the temple with direction to the memorial of Pu Ti Na (Pu Ti Narasimhachar), the noted Kannada poet and playwright who hails from this place.

There is a beautiful Pushkarini behind this temple which has been used as  a location in many movies. When we reached there, a kannada movie/serial shooting was in progress. A Hoopoe was darting about swiftly but we were unable to get a pic.

We then started climbing the hill to go to the Yoga Narasimha Swamy temple. The path was lined with beautiful Frangipani trees and the flowers were scattered around. Chitra’s daughter had a good time collecting quite a few :)

The views of the little town of Melukote and the pushkarini from the steps was quite a sight.

We spent some time in the temple. The sunset from there was a glorious sight! On our way out we were greeted by a few monkeys with a baby in tow posing for the cameras happily!

Some other sights of Melukote

Pooja being performed of a new car

2 old men sharing their thoughts with each other

Puliyogare. Slurp!

The descent was quick and it was pretty dark by the time we were back near the Cheluva Narayana Swamy temple. The puliyogare vendors had left by then. On the way to the hill, I had noticed Ganapathi Mess about which I had read in a blog long back. We decided to go there for dinner. This is a 100 year old mess where you can get absolutely delicious puliyogare. We spent some time there talking to the owner. We left Melukote with packets of Puliyogare and Vangibath mix as well as mango pickle which we had eaten along-with the puliyogare :)

Hope to be back in Melukote again to see the Dhanushkodi which is very scenic and a short distance away from the Cheluva Narayana Swamy temple as well as the akka thangi kola which is another pushkarini.