2013 – Treks in Himalaya

Valley of Flowers Trek

Valley of flower is a beautiful ground where variety of flowers blooms in the summers. Valley is famous for multiple species of animals as well and has been declared as World Heritage Site.I have been to VOF in 2009 along with my friends from college and have documented the information below.

Day 1 : Gobindghat

Early mornings buses are available from Rishikesh to ‘Gobindghat’, First bus leaves around 5 AM and reaches Gobindghat at 5 PM.

Bus traces The Ganges throughout the journey and you can see beautiful scenery created from Water rushing down to plains and then to Bay of Bengal. Bus stops for breakfast at ‘Dev-Prayag’ where ‘Sangam’ of Alaknanda and Bhagirathi is visible from the road itself.

Gobindghat is the last stop for vehicles and is also the starting point to trek for VOF/HemKund Sahib. There is beautiful Gurudwara here where you can eat Langar and stay for night otherwise there are multiple hotels/lodges available to suit your budget.
Note: Rain Coat and Stick can be bought here which are really helpful for trekking.

Day 2 :Ghangaria

Trek of 13 Km to Ghangaria starts by crossing the bridge over Alaknanda from Gobindghat, Trek is little steep and good fitness level is required if you are carrying your own sack otherwise porters/mules are available. On the route trek comes near Alaknanda and you can capture some memories.Trek is a well laid path and takes about 5-6 hours to complete with breaks in between.

To stay, number of options are available over here as well which are not very costly. To eat you can get everything (Dosa,Paranthas etc) at nominal price. Price of eatables keep rising along with height.

Day 3: VOF

We started at 8:00 AM for VOF trek and took permission for entrance.It is 3 Km trek and takes about 3 hours to reach valley entry point.

Natural flowers make picturesque scenery with mountain and multiple tributaries of ‘Alaknanda’. Further 4 KM inside the valley you can see river bed and flowers making beautiful painting on nature’s canvas. The valley looks like ‘Heaven on earth’ and you can trek further to Tapda Glacier.

Day 4 : Hemkund Sahib

This is a very steep trek and took almost 3 hours for us to cover first 4 km and there is shortcut of around 1000 steps through which will directly take you to the Top..

Hemkund Sahib is very cold however the Hot Food (Langar) is available free of cost from ‘Gurdwara’ . We took tea/‘Khichdi and dried our wet clothes by sitting in front of kitchen fire.There are total 3 ‘Ardaas’ done daily at 10:00 AM, 12:00 Noon and 1:30 PM. There is a beautiful lake near ‘Gurdwara’.

Day 5: Gobindghat & further

It was an easy part now since most of the slope is downward and can be covered in 3-4 hours.You can head to Badrinath from here if you reach back before afternoon to catch last bus.

Summer Camp

People across the world have been visiting Himalaya for adventure activities and place where they practice spiritual ritual alongside Nature.

Summer starts and people across the plains of India look north and start travelling to mountains where freshly melted water is feeding streams and big rivers, which will travel across length and breadth of the country to provide water to mankind and crops.

In summer Himalaya becomes Key center for adventure activities –

Main activities

1. Trekking
Choose a place in the Jungle where morning can be spent travelling the trails or visiting nearby temples.

2. Rock Climbing
Take a pack lunch and find rock patches to climb (carry good mountaineering equipment and at least one person with very good knowledge of climbing)

Rock climbing is a hard activity where we use ropes, harness, carabiner, rock pitons (if required) and anchor and belay is done by experience person to ensure safety of the climber.

3. River Crossing
This activity is pretty famous with new comers as rope will be used to travel across river or may be between two trees.

Short Activities

1. Rappelling on the rocky patch– Rappelling is climbing down from a rocky surface, artificial wall or snow wall, consume least of energy if done properly and equipment required are figure of 8, ropes , harness and mittens.

2. Introduction to mountaineering equipment– In trekking and mountaineering most commonly used equipments are static and dynamic ropes, carabiner, pitons,ice axe, hammers, gloves, goggles

3. Lecture on Himalaya/ 8000+Peaks and Mountaineering Knots practice – Total of 14 peaks, 8 in Nepal and 5 in POK while one is on India-Nepal Border. Lecture will help us to understand their locations, heights and initial climb attempt.

4. Setting up of tent and practice – You can learn on how to set up your tents, finding a good place for stay and even about bivouac.

Famous locations for camping activities are below-

Solang Nala– Solang nala is situated at 13 Km from Manali, Himachal Pradesh and is situated at 2700+ m and offers lot of options of rock climbing and river crossing.

Triund– this is a place for experience trekkers and need about 8km trek to reach here. It offers beautiful view of Hanuman Tibba

Hrishikesh place is a well known to river rafting community offers a nice camping site beside The Ganga.

Sitlakhet Up in Kumaon Himalaya, it is situated at 20 km from Ranikhet and offers a solitude, best for short camping.

Yuksom In north eastern part of India, Yuksom is a known place to trekkers and has number of options for trekking including famous Goecha La and Kanchenjunga reserve trek.

Solang Nala

The place has received its name by combination of words Solang (Nearby village) and Nullah (water streams from mountains). It is situated on way to Dhundi from Manali.

Heavy snow fall in winter makes it heaven for snow skiing. Auli and Solang have fine slopes for skiing and umber of national/international competitions are organized at the place. ABVIMAS Manali has their establishment there and conduct skiing course from Jan-March every year. Solang also attracts number of leisure tourists who just want to enjoy snow. In summer weather here is very pleasant and it becomes tourist attraction because of scenic views around the place (snow Peak Mountains and water streams). Main activities include Jorbing, Para Gliding and horse riding.

To reach this place, one can follow direct road from Manali to Dhundi.Other way to reach is by trekking, where one passes through Old Manali,barua and bahang villages. Trekking will involve small mountain water streams on the way. Best time for trekking is May to November, since snow will not be there.

There are many options of accommodation options are available as many hotels have came up recently. Adventurers will like to stay in tents and be near to nature.

Environment concerns are there due to Rohang tunnel. Tunnel will start from Dhundi and will lead up to Lahaul valley. This may lead to short term increase in number tourists for Solang Nala but change in environment conditions can have long term impact.

Manali Cottage

Manali is a wonderful place with scenery beauty, snow Cap Mountains, beautiful weather and good people. Its old name was Manu-Alaya which was later named to Manali. It is situated in Beas River Valley.

I have spent one month in Manali as part of my BMC @ ABVIAMS Manali. During this one month, I got opportunity to explore Manali from various perspectives. I will explain some tourist places which can help some of my friends to plan their trip.

I named this article Manali cottage because once being in Manali as tourist, you always wanted to stay in this place forever by owning a small cottage of your own.

Traveling to Manali

From Delhi – It is 14-15 hours journey from Delhi; one can catch overnight bus from ISBT.

From Chandigarh- Travel time is 10 hours, Take any overnight bus from Sector-43 bus stand; Buses are available throughout the night.

From Ludhiana-There are few buses in evening from here and take 10-11 hours to reach Manali.

Places of Interest

Hadimba Devi Temple It is ancient temple of Hadimba devi ( Pandav Putra Bhim’s wife) who gave birth to ghatothkach(warrior in MAHABHARTA). Temple is situated on right side of Beas River and is almost 3-4Km from Bus stand. I will recommend walking to this place. Place is well maintained and small shops are there for shopping. Picture attached

Shuru Devi Temple Shuru devi temple is situated on left bank of Manali one need to reach Aloe before reaching temple. Auto-Rickshaw is recommended as place is around 5-6Km from Bus stand. This place again has beautiful view of mountains and much recommended for people who look out for some time on their own.

Vashisht temple Temple is named after Vashishta (Brahma’s mind son ) and guru of Shri Ram. Temple is situated on highway towards LEH-LADAKH. It offers hot water springs; we had enjoyed lot at this place during our visit. Visiting this place is must as one get to appreciate the power of nature which gives hot water amid cold places. It is 3-4 Km from Bus stand, again auto is recommended.

Mall Road As all Himalaya station, Manali also has a beautiful mall road where one can spend evening easily roaming here and there. There is one national park on upper side of mall road, go there if you have some time with you.

Old Manali It is some 3-4Km from bus stand and height of place is 2000m, 200m more than Manali. This place is best for budget travelers and mountain lovers. There is no. of Continental cafes there and accommodation is provided at reasonable price by hotel owners and adventure tour organizers.

Triund Trek

Triund is a beautiful ground situated amidst Dhauladhar ranges of Western Himalaya and provides unparallel view to Hanuman Tibba which is the highest peak of this range.

Trek starts from Dharmkot in upper Dharamshala (McLeodganj) and is easily accessible by two/four wheeler. It is advisable to start early in the day if you plan to come back on the same day. Total distance for one way trek is about 9Km and takes about 4-5 hour for normal fitness level.

On the route there are multiple scenic views of the mountains and enough places/cafes where you can just sit down and admire the Mother Nature or have quick tea/maggi to make it memorable.

Himachal Tourism Lodge is there on the top which can be booked in advance or there are tents available on the top if you have a plan for camping.There are lots of Tibetan Flags on the the Top as it is believed that prayers will go with to the GOD with the help of air.If planned in advances this trek can be extended upto Snowline.

On the Way to Triunda — On the Way to Triund