We visited Badrinath during first week of July. Also visited Mana the last villlage on that route in India, after which you reach Tibet. Items you should carry: General medicines for fever, loose motions, vomiting etc, umbrella or raincoat.
Items you cannot afford to miss out: Camera. Ideal for: Family, friends, kids/ senior citizens (not very young, for trek there are some people who carry kids/old people on their back in kundis (i dont remember the exact name but its like the same thing in which the tea leaves are collected as shown on TV)
In the towns:
We started from Modinagar early in the morning on 2nd July, reached Haridwar by 8.30 AM where we had a sumptuous breakfast, after that moved on to Rishikesh where you cross a gate for entering into the hills, make sure the car you are taking has appropriate permit if it is not personal, otherwise if you are taking a car other than UK/UL number, make a deal with the agent that you will not be responsible for any challan etc. We had a fixed deal with the taxi of INR 1200 per day + we get the diesel, it was a Qualis, rest everything was their responsibility. He had to pay a bribe of Rs.1000 which is abnormal he said, normally it gets sorted in 200-300 bucks, but some ITO officer was sitting there so the damage.
200Kms....
Hills started:
Now, it was quite hot on the way up in the afternoon(quite unexpected but poor monsoons this time), fortunately/unfortunately there were no rains, we halted on way to rudraprayag in Srinagar, had a great Maggi, chaas and some other local pakodis etc for lunch....we spent an hour there it was very beautiful in Srinagar, I do think it is the most beautiful city to live, in that area, very clean because of army camps etc and felt very good there, we halted there for more than an hour.
350kms...
Rivers:
Next we stopped at Karnprayag where Alaknanda and Mandakini river meet, it was very beautiful, one can look at the waters and make out from their colours that they are different rivers and after sometime they will become one which we call river Ganges. We stayed here for sometime, clicked some snaps with my DSLR......and had some evening snacks......
380 kms....
Night Halt:
Next halt was at Chamoli, by this time everybody was tired, drowsiness feeling, and we halted for the night here. We took a room away from the market, but near the river, I love the sound of water flowing and everybody does enjoy it, when you sleep and when you wake up such twinkling sound of water passing by. The whole experience is amazing and it de-stress you from the daily hustle bustle life of Mumbai and Delhi.
Next morning we woke up with a little chilly weather and river flowing near you, and cup of awesome tea :).
400kms....
Joshimath:
We left Chamoli at 7 for Joshimath, reached there by 10-11 AM, here you may get a line of vehicles waiting for their side to move because beyond this you have one way only, so traffic is managed in a manner such that gate is opened from both sides in a coordinated manner, here again some chai-nashta and my mother started shopping for shawls etc, there will be many hawkers jumping on you to sell something mysterious, some moti, mala etc, wasnt interested, by this time you see some beautiful snow capped mountains. There was a temple also on the road whcih my brothers and cousins visited and got some nice tasting prasad.
510 kms.....
Badrinath:
Next stop, Badrinath, it is beautiful place, a heaven, 2 hills and in between situated this amazing temple with a river flowing at astonishing speed. You take a bath at tapt kund - the water feels very hot, at first you cant jump into it, but after spending some time in it, it feels normal, though some people still cant get in and take a bucket to bath.
then we stood in long line for the darshan, in between eating lot of groundnuts sold by some small shopkeepers who keep prasad plates. The wait was good as you can enjoy the scenery outside.
The two mountains are called Nar and Narayan who protect this temple. You can google for more religious information, it is fascinating.
After the darshan, dont forget to take the prasad outside, it is Bhog to the Vishnu God which is given as prasad, a combination of some dal and chawal, and it tastes good and healthy after a tiring wait in line.
Then we jumped on for photos, of the temple with the temple, and some shopping for the souveniers.
Now this is afternoon around 3 PM We were feeling hungry like hell, we had located one marwari bhoj, here they had all kinds of food, was amazed at finding such a variety in such a remote place and nothing is very expensive. we were 6 adults and 3 kids, everybody was feeling very tired we had a long meal, and rested there only. Time now 5 PM, we move to Mana, 3 kms from here and then 1.5 km track up, you can go to Ganesh gufa, etc, and on the way see how local people live, how small the doors are in their houses, it was fascinating to imagine living such a life in winters when it snows like hell there.
I clicked a few snaps of locals sowing some cabbage there, people just farm near their home in that small village, had tea on the last tea stall in India on this belt near that gufa (its not a gufa a small temple which is named as Ganeshji ki gufa), the tea here tastes a little different, everybody doesnt like it but it rejuvenates you after that trek. Then we came down clicking numerous pictures, lots of beautiful sceneries----picture perfect. It was a treat to be there.
550 kms....
We came back to Joshimath for the night stay.
The next leg of the journey was: Kedarnath via Chopta (Tungnaath temple) sometime referred to as Mini Switzerland. Will write about it in Kedarnath thread.
Jai Badrinath.
Cheers,
Tushar
