Ghumakad-Musafir: Hemkund- The Trek and more

The woods are lovely dark and deep

But i have promises to keep

places to go before I sleep .

Day 1-

We start our Journey at Haridwar, after having reached from different places me from Haldwani and Arnab from Meerut.
(There is a route from Haldwani that takes one directly to Karnaprayag but the bus not available hence i traveled around 220 km more.

Day 2- Reached Haridwar at around 3 AM  Arnab was already waiting. We started our two hrs wait for the cab to get all its share of passengers(needless to say plight of a Budget Traveler) and we finally left for Joshimath at around 5:30 AM.

The journey was hot and uneventful and the driver irritatingly slow as we meandered in the curvy roads to Josimath.We reached Joshimath at around 5 PM, and proceeded for our visit to Auli.

Auli the ski capital of Uttrakhand the places which hosted the 1st south Asian Winter games was all dry, Surprise surprise but  the hills were lush green no comparison with the burning forest of Kumaon region, it seems it is raining good  here.

The Greenery caught my sight.

At a Local resort at Auli

The Famous Ski slope at Auli

The Bell at the Hanuman Temple at Auli

The Resort at Auli

Day 2-
The day started early at around 5 AM , we were at the gate trying to hitch hike to Govind Ghat journey of around 20km from the town of Joshimath it is the base camp for the Treks to Hemkund.
Govind Gaht offers all kinds of accommodations for every budget and also a Gurudwara that offers descent accommodation.

For those who are not into trekking Air Deccan offers a Helicopter service to Ghangeria.
Porters and Horses are also available from Govind Ghat for Ghangaria for the "Haves" of our society.

First Look at the town of Govind Gaht


Air Deccan's Helicopter service to Gahangeria	's

We had our stomach fill and started our journey to "Ghangaria" our first stop and base camp for the final ascend to the Hemkund lake.
The journey is tough with a steep ascend for around 16km that takes around 5hrs, the sights though are magnificent as the journey takes you through valleys, rivers and glaciers.

Porters Waiting for the "Cargo"

Water fall over a small Glacier

Majestic Himalayas

Steep Ascend of 16 km greets the trekkers

The route is dotted with shops that offer luxurious refreshment which offer everything from fresh Juice, packaged drinking water, Tea, all sorts of Cold-Drinks practically everything however at a extremely high price that increases with the distance traveled for example the packaged drinking water will cost from Rs 30 to Rs 80 per liter based on the distance travelled. Cold drinks are prices between 40 to 80 and tea can cost Rs 15 to Rs 25 per glass, so much for our Budget Travel.

We reached Ghangaria at around 4:30 PM when it had started raining, it was time to hunt for the cheapest accommodation for Gurdwara was all full , we got a descent accommodation 3 bedded room @ Rs 900/ day could have got it cheaper had we enough strength to search more.
We soon found out the place runs on private electricity that is rationed 2-3 hrs in the morning and 2-3 hrs in the evening. All your camera batteries and mobiles need to be charged then, by the way place does not have mobile signals so we are practically cut off from the rest of the world.

Had our dinner and settled to sleep early as the next day was supposed to be grueling a good night rest is advisable.

Day 3- The final frontier

The day 3 is what I would like to recall as the "Final Frontier' its a 6.5 km steep climb that takes you to a height of 4400 Meters. The climb is certainly not for the faint hearts, its tough very steep and the way is tough to walk on, though again the views are spectacular as the route offers Glaciers, valleys, peaks
and at the end a lush green treeline.
However reaching the summit the very site of the Frozen lake was enough to ease the pain caused in climbing.

Route through a Galacier

Another Glacier

The frozen Hemkund Lake

The LAKE again

Glacier on the way

Hmmm its impressive.

The Visit was cut short as it had started snowing we decided to head back to Ghangeria our base camp.
This time a different Hotel and cheaper accommodation @ Rs 700/-.

Day 4

Homage to Badri Vishal and a visit to MANA "The Last Indian Village"

All tired and exhausted we decided to pay a visit to Lord Badrinath and visit the Last Indian Village "Mana"
Badrinath is only abut 24km from Govindghat and buses and taxis continuously ply in the route however the timings are fixed one should make sure to confirm the timings of the gates (trafic is only allowed to pass through at fixed intervals) the last gate being at 5:30 pm.
Badrinath offers all sorts of staying arrangements from small Dharamshalas to luxurious hotels there is a Youth Hostel but it requires membership KMVN provides simple staying arrangements at a 500 bed "yatri niwas" @Rs 100 per bed per night but do remember to carry a bedsheets as the ones provided are not clean enough.

Mana supposedly the "Last Indian Village" is situated 3km from Badrinath the jeeps/ taxis charge Rs300 for a visit and back that we found to be outrageously expensive( remember we were budget travelers).
It offers a awesome view of Neelkunth and has certain of its own attractions like the Bhim shila, saraswati mandir, etc it is also the base for all the treks to Satopanth Glacier.