Himalayas – Valley of Flowers 2015 Travelogue Part 1

Every year, as part of Happiness Retreat I organize a trip to Himalayas.

This year in July 2015(25th July – 2nd Aug 2015), we(a group of 10) went from chennai to Himalayas – Valley of Flowers, Hemkund Sahib, Badrinath & Haridwar.

It was an amazing and mesmerizing trip to the Valley of Flowers & Hemkund Sahib.

Find below some of the best photos from this trip adventurous, mindful & spiritual journey from Chennai to tip of the Indian map at the top of the Himalayas

Yeah, we even went to Mana – The Last Indian Village, which is 3 kms after Badrinath.

Nature is the greatest gift of God to mankind. Its diversity is immense. Those who go in search of peace & happiness will definitely be successful. Himalayan region is one of the most sought destination who are really interested in nature.

Snow-clad mountains, meadows inhabiting variety of colorful flowers, moving clouds, crystal clear rivers, these will surely make one to make up the mind to visit this gifted place.

Himalayas – a mystical, mesmerizing, adventurous & spiritual place on this mother earth with so many important pilgrim destinations.

Since time immemorial so many sages come here in search of the One of Almighty and they meditated here for long periods only to get enlightened and salvation.

Our dream destination for this year was Valley of Flowers & Hemkund Sahib.

Valley of Flowers:-

Valley of Flowers National Park is located in Chamoli Garhwal Himalayas, in the state of Uttarkhand, India. Govindghat is the starting point of the trek to the Valley of Flowers & Hemkund. This place is situated at the confluence of river Alaknanda & Laxman Ganaga. The highway from Govindghat also connects to holy shrine of India- Badrinath

The route to VoF is connected by a suspension bridge over Alaknanda at Govindghat(5500 ft). See the pic below.

From here, a 13 km well defined trek leads towards a village called Ghangria – as ascend from 5500 ft to 10200 ft.

This is where we started our trekking journey from Govindghat

This trek may take approximately 5-7 hours depending upon your stamina. The scenic view, the waterfalls, mighty river Alakananda flowing along with you and sometimes, crossing the river on tiny man made bridges make this breath-taking trek adventurous and min-blowing.

If you find it difficult to walk, you get ponies or porters to carry your bags or yourself. Check out the pic below of our group’s youngest trekker(10 yrs) who had vomiting and he was carried by the porter. Helicopter facility is also available if you unable to walk.

We had lunch on our way and you will find enough shops all through out the way till you reach Ghangria.

The Valley of Flowers is a 3 km climb from Ghangria. One has to walk out of Ganghria uphil towards Hemkund. After Crossing a bridge across Lakshman Ganga, the path bifurcates – the right one creeps to Hemkund, while the left one leads to VoF. No mules are allowed on this stone bitten path, although one can ride in a mule to Hemkund.

There is a forest check post where one has to register one’s name to get official permission on paying a nominal fee of Rs.150/-. Just after that, one has to cross a stream coming down from the right uphill.

Once you cross this stream, you will pass through various scenic view points where you will end taking enough photos – because they are mesmerizing and breath-taking. The river bed is also a beautiful place to sit and practice mindfulness or meditation. Just allow your mind to flow along with the mater flowing through and suddenly you will be filled with peace, serenity & happiness.

After 3-4 hours of trekking through thick pine forest, scenic landscapes, avalanche points etc, you will enter the valley of flowers. We did our Yoga Nidra inside the valley of flowers and enjoyed the whole beauty around.

The first day we will obviously end taking picture all around and we will not have time to explore the whole valley. You should return back before 5pm and hence it is always recommended to visit VoF on the second day. Avoid taking any pics till you reach VoF and explore the deeper parts of Valley of Flowers where you will find amazing variety of exotic flowers.

Best time to visit valley is at the end of July because you get to see both glaciers and flowers. This place is accessible only between June – September of each year.

Hemkund Sahib:-

This is the place that I fell in love more than the Valley of Flowers and I had a mystical experience in this high energy spiritual place. I will post that as a separate article.

Sri Hemkund Sahib is a popular pilgrimage site nestled by seven peaks and a glacial lake right in front of it. It is located at an elevation of over 14000 ft. Laxman temple is also built on the banks of this lake. Tenth Sikh Guru Shri Guru Govind Singh in his previous incarnation, meditated and united with his Master in this pristine high energy spiritual location.

This trek is a very very steep climb and we hired mules to carry us to ascend this extra 2000 ft. Ascending on a pony is itself is an amazing experience and on our way, we could cross through a glacier which was amazing. Check out the video below.

I was observing the horse manager sandeep who was managing 3-4 horses and there were a quite a few management lessons to learn from this boy. I will share those lessons on a different post.

After a short tea-break and also yummy Momo-break(yeah, you get tasty & hot momo’s at 14000 ft high), it took approximately 2 hours of pony ride to reach Hemkund Sahib.

This is a place every human being should visit at-least once in their life time and take a holy bath in this lake. Yeah, take holy dip in this ice-cold water to purify your chakras in this glacier lake surrounded by 7 peaks.

After Hemkund visit, we all went to Badrinath & Mana – last Indian Village. I will post a separate article on those places separately.

After my mystical & unique spiritual experience, I have decided to go back to Hemkumd every year and help more people to activate/purify their chakras through a unique process and this spiritual spot is the right location for this spiritual ascension. If you are interested to join me next time, comment in the form below.

Heal Your Karma, Prosper in your Life!

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