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The most beautiful of all Himalayan flowers, the blue Primula can be seen blooming in thousands in the valley. The best time to see the valley in full bloom is from mid-July to mid-August. To reach the valley one has to trek from Govind Ghat, on the route to Hemkund Sahib, up to Ghangaria, 12 km ahead. Few furlongs ahead of Ghangaria the trek route to the valley takes a detour towards left. The valley is about 5 km from Ghangaria. The high altitude serine lake, known as Hemkund ( 4300m/14,100ft) lies in heavenly environs. A steep trek from Ghangharia leads one to this spot in about four to six hours. It is an important pilgrimage for both Hindus and Sikhs, as well as for people from other faiths. There is a Sikh Gurudwara and a Lakshman temple built on the bank of the lake. Encircled by seven snow-clad peaks and their associated glaciers, it reflects its surroundings enchantingly on its crystal clear serene waters. The glaciers from Hathi Parvat and Saptrishi peaks feed the lake and a small stream called Himganga flows out of this lake. As alluded to, in the holy Granth Sahib, Guru Govind Singh, the tenth Guru of the Sikh faith had meditated on the bank of this lake in one of his earlier births. It is widely believed among Sikhs that Guru Govind Singh introduced the features now universally associated with Sikhism. On 15th April 1699, he started the new brotherhood called the Khalsa (meaning the pure, from the Persian word ‘Khales’) an inner core of the faithful, accepted by baptism (Amrit). The five K’s’ date from this period: kesh (uncut hair) kangha (comb), kirpan (dagger or short sword), Kara (steel bangle), and kachh (boxer shorts).
Haridwar – Haridwar
14,500 ft.
Approx. 37 Kms.
Easy to Moderate.
We will start our journey from Haridwar early in the morning and we will take the traditional route of Badrinath shrine that goes via Rishikesh. It will take approx. 8 hours for us to reach the small town of Joshimath in district Chamoli of Uttarakhand. Accommodation in guest house or hotel.
Today our journey to the enchanting valley of flower will begin as we will initially take the road and drive till Govindghat, which is approx. 22 km in distance from Joshimath, from Govindghat we will start our trek on a very easy but long trail towards Ghangharia. Ghangharia will be our stop from the next couple of days.
We will start early this day as we will follow the old trail to Hemkund sahib gurdwara (
Sikh temple), the distance is 7 km approx. and it is an easy trail. The Hemkund sahib, the World’s Highest Gurudwara(Sikh Shrine), is situated at an altitude of 4,329 mts. After having lunch at the Hemkund sahib we will descend back to Ghangharia.
Today we will start early in the morning and head towards the hot spot and very famous valley of flowers, the trail is again a very easy one and the exotic species of flora is something that will take you into a different realm, which is nothing less than a dream. The valley of Flowers is a shallow and wide valley with ever changing colors. After a good walk in the valley and getting completely intoxicated by the fragrance of many wild flowers we will head back to Ghangharia.
Today we will follow the same trail that we initially took to reach Ghangharia, we will trek 14 km this day and then we will follow the road to Badrinath shrine, which is a sacred temple and one of the most famous pilgrimage in India. Accommodation in hotel.
After breakfast we will head back to Haridwar in our cabs, approx. time to reach Haridwar is 5 pm in the evening.
