Valley of flowers is a beautiful
alpine valley resides in Himalaya located 300 km from Rishikesh. The Valley of Flowers declared as a National Park
in 1982 and now it is a world heritage site since 2004. The valley covered in snow in the winter season and converts to youthful beauty in warm summers. Valley has been
brought to world’s eye by British mountaineers Franks S. Smythe and R.L.
Holdsworth. The picking season to visit the valley is from July to August when the plant as are in full blossom season.
I started my journey towards
Valley on 8th Sept 2012 from Ahmedabad and reached Rishikesh at
evening hours on the second day. I have started the further journey to Ghovindghat from
Rishikesh which is around 10 hr journey the duration also depends on the landslides and rains. Buses are only available from early morning
hours i.e. from 4 am to 7 am. Govindghat
is on way to Badrinath i.e. 24 Km before. One can reach Govindghat by reaching
Joshimath from where we have to travel another 21 km towards Badrinath. I reach
Govindghat on 10th Sept 2012 at 5 pm. Govindghat is a small place
resides between massive mountains. The place is full of Sikh pilgrims who are on
their way to Shree Hemkund Saheeb and trackers of the Great Himalaya. During the winter season the place is almost covered with snow. And dry for almost 8
months for the purpose of tourism. On second the day my next destination was Ghangaria 12 km away from Govindghat. At Govindghat river Laxmanganga confluences with Alaknada river adding more strength to massive flow. Deccan Air is providing Helicopter services to Ghangaria which costs around 3500/- INR.
Other economic routs are also available in the form of trekking, Doli's and Ponies. Of course Trekking comes with no charges
whereas Ponies cost 720/- INR( through govt. booking centers) and Doli which
will cost around 5000/- INR. Here we can test our bargaining skills.
It took 5 hrs me to reach Ghangaria on pony. Let me tell you the fact that trek on pony really exhausting affair. The whole body is shaken up on the pony. Quite painful but accompanying river Laxmanganga acts as antidote for the pain you bear. The path becomes really wonderful with the sound of river flow. The rocks in the river are playing havoc with water creating the melody for human ears.
It took 5 hrs me to reach Ghangaria on pony. Let me tell you the fact that trek on pony really exhausting affair. The whole body is shaken up on the pony. Quite painful but accompanying river Laxmanganga acts as antidote for the pain you bear. The path becomes really wonderful with the sound of river flow. The rocks in the river are playing havoc with water creating the melody for human ears.
I reached Ghangaria at 11:30 am.
Ghagharia is a base camp for Valley of Flowers and Hemkund Saheeb. At Ghagharia
and Govindghat good accommodation facilities are available through the costing part
is variable with tourism in-flow. At Ghagharia, Pushpavati river confluences
with Laxmanganga. The govt administration is allowing tourists to
enter into the valley between 7:00 am to 2:00 pm, we have to return back to Ghangaria
by 5:00 pm or otherwise, the administration will penalize you with 10,000/- INR. I
went deep to find out the main cause behind such negative incentives, the area
is having the presence of wild animals and there might be the chances of misshaping and during low light trekking becomes quite
tough. The entry ticket to visit the valley is
valid for three days by paying 150/- INR for Indian citizens which can be
renewed in those days by paying 50/- INR.
The next day I woke up early and entered the track at 6:50 pm. The path is created on beads of rock on stones making tracking a little bit hard. On this journey the accompanying partner is Pushpavati River. Pushpavati the name is self indicating vis means ‘flowers bringer’. I and Pushpavati were flowing in exactly opposite directions. Pushpavati flowing to meet her destiny from her destination and I am searching my destiny from my destination. The collision of water with rocks in a flow giving milky color to the river. Neonate waterfalls of the recent rains are adding extra whiteness to nature’s extravagant orchestra. The beauty is purely unbeatable. Waterfalls veined from mountains like blood runs through your wrist or sap passes through the leaf of piple tree and mountains has become indicator of animate thing standing there since unknown era. On 12th Sept 2012, I was the second person to reach the valley first. It took me exactly 2 hrs 28 min to cover the trek. The only eyewitness of the millstone is the valley of flowers. This is the autumn season where plant started shading their leaves, flowers started shading their petals and giving efforts to make seeds for next season. Butterflies and Honey bee’s helping in transporting the pollen from their destination to source. I eyewitness the entire show where myriad flowers are busy in preparing themselves for reincarnation. The massive mountains are standing likes guard to the valley like a protector to the flowers. The glacier of Tipari is a jewel to the valley of flowers along with milky waterfalls. For those who believed in nature God, the Valley of Flower is the perfect place to visit.
I could see the flowers of various colors, pods, and seeds of the plant. When you cross the first small wooden bridge you actually started to enter from this point into the valley. Sunlight, massive mountains and clouds are playing havoc with each other and wanted to prove their superiority with each other. Valley is 8 km pavement supporting the survival of 500 types of flower varieties. I trek and moved ahead another two km to explore the beauty of the valley. It was the mesmerizing experience for me to visit the Valley of Flowers especially in the autumn season. Really Flowers are living larger than life.
Faith
Amol Nakve.
