Abdullah Alam
16 Sep 2020
Part 2 of 3, of my Valley of Flowers travel blog. This part describes in words and photographs, the trek from Govind Ghat to Ghangharia, the base village for the Valley of Flowers trek. Visit part 0 for links to other parts, or directly click here if you stumbled across this looking for Valley of Flowers specifically.
A solo trip teaches you the value of company. Solitude, like home, is somewhere you return to, not somewhere to dwell in. Travelling alone, you interact with a lot more people, and a lot more meaningfully than you would otherwise.
After departing from Rishikesh, following another whole day of travel, I arrived at Govind Ghat. Plenty of buses ply towards Joshimath throughout the day (although there is only one direct bus early in the morning as of 2019). From Joshimath, one can travel in a shared cab to Govind Ghat, 18km down the valley. Although the distance can be covered on foot, it is not advisable as leopards are known to roam around this area. As a matter of fact we saw one in front of our car at night; the driver swerved immediately and continued on, never stopping till we reached our destination.
Pictured: Govind Ghat on the right.
After a night's rest in Govind Ghat, I begun my hike to the base village, Ghangharia. The hike was strenuous, to say the least. At Govindghat, the oxygen level was more or less fine, but at Ghangharia, the oxygen level drops. We felt more tired more quickly, the higher up we climbed. It's not unbearable, but it is palpable. The hike itself, though, was absolutely breathtaking. Massive imposing edifices with plunge waterfalls and elegant juxtapositions of lush green all around and white caps in the distance, the walk was surreal and beautiful.
Clear waters, green cliffs and white peaks.
At some places on the cliff opposite to us in the valley, ice had remained partly intact, forming a sort of
bridge, with water flowing underneath it.
The distance between Govind Ghat to Ghangharia is said to be 12km, with a car available to ply to and fro the first 4, which is just a plain zigzag road. However, the pedometer on our smartphones reported the first section to be 7km, and the rest of the hike to be 10km, bringing the distance from Govind Ghat to Ghangharia up to 17km, practically.
The walk definitely felt much longer than 12km, and I am inclined to trust the pedometer reading.
The journey took around 4-5 hours at a steady pace. There is a helicopter available as well, which brings you to the top within 6 mins. However, this is unadvisable, as you will rapidly reach an altitude of perceptibly less oxygen, without giving your body a chance to adapt.
The locals offer mule service to carry your bags (or you) up and down the mountain. Not recommended.
There are plenty of rooms available at Ghangharia at more or less the same rate to make your stay. Alternatively, you can also spend the night in the Gurudwara. The Gurudwara offers a place to stay for Sikhs from all over the world, who travel here to visit Hemkund Sahib, a pilgrimage spot. The trek to Hemkund Sahib diverges from a checkpoint on the same route as the Valley of Flowers.
Ghangharia, the base village for Valley of FLowers as well as Hemkund Sahib.
After a night's stay in Ghangharia, the next morning, it was finally time to trek to the Valley of Flowers. Deep valleys with lush green meadows on either side, covered with a plethora of flowers, some unique to this place: Click here for Part 3.
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About The Authors
Abdullah Alam
I like to go places, take pictures, and build things. It doesn't need to be more complicated than that.
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