Trek to Bhawan from Katra. Review on Katra

We got a marriage invite at Udhampur, so Me, my wife and my 2 yr kid planned to visit Katra. We booked the Clarks inn. They offer free pick and drop till the trek start point. We were scared hearing 14kms trek. We were searching for a helicopter ride to Sanchighat. There are 2 operators like Deccan and Himalayan. 1040 /- pp/ trip. As Sanchighat is at peak and descend will be easy.

There was no booking available. Helicopter booking opens 2months in advance and gets full for at least oneway towards Sanchighat. so finally with no option, we started trekking to Bhawan at 8 am morning. Before the trek, you are supposed to take the registration which is called Yatra Parchi. Its free can be done at airport/ Rly stn/ online or at Katra start point. We had online Parchi. They will scan u and ur luggage at the start.

The path to Bhawan is very good and neatly maintained. We started very slowly. The first spot will be Balganga( 2km). Then Charanpaduka( 4km). We planned to reach Ardhkumari and to take an electric car. Ardhkumari is approx 6kms from Katra. In between many pithu came to offer a ride to my kid in there baby stroller. Also, palki, ghoda, khachar were options available to take, we ignored as we didn't prefer it. All the rates are fixed by the shrine board.

We ignored it and started walking. My kid also walked approx 3 km and rest was in a lap. The 6kms trek was very smooth as there are a lot of facilities on both sides of the road. Food, drinks, toilets, foot massage are installed in every 500mtrs approx. the problem is till Ardhkumari this path is common for pedestrians and for horse and donkeys carrying passengers, so u need to bit careful. once we reach Ardhkumari we saw there is a huge queue for battery /electric car. There is a slot.

They run every 2 hr and max can accommodate 50 passengers. We saw the queue and decided to further walk. We were a little tired. Carrying kid in lap was not a very good idea, so we hired pithu with the stroller. And we both started walking for the next 8kms. From here there are 2 ways to go to Bhawan. One way for horses and donkeys where the road is a little steep. Another way is smooth as battery car runs in it. We took the smooth one. Finally, after 8 hrs, we reached Bhawan. Athletes can reach the top in 3hrs and good physics person by 5 hrs.

We went in Feb the rush was less in Bhawan but again we saw a queue in the locker room. We gave 100 rs to shop and asked to take care of our items. Darshan took another 1 hr. It was smooth, hassle-free. There is new construction made with marvel stones that go inside the cave. The old way is blocked and opened at any festival time. Crowd management is pretty good. Dharshan can be done from a very near vision. U have to pay a donation in hundi only. Preist doesn't take or ask money. Whatever your chadawa will be touched to the divine nearby and will be given to u. We had a good lunch at that time.

There is plenty of bhojanalay by shrine board at low cost. Its approx 5 pm now. There is a ropeway to Bhairav temple. We were tired, the next day we had a marriage function, so we decided to descend. We enquired about the helicopter again. They said they have availability for the next day morning 7 for descending only. It was not satisfactory. We then saw an electric car queue.

After seeing I thought of taking a chance. Waited for 2 hrs and got a ticket. At 7 pm got my battery car service. By 730 we reached Ardhkumari. Then again we started walking. Descend was nice, we didn't take rest. My kid got fond of a baby stroller. So hired pithu again. The stroller in decent was going very fast. We literally ran with pithu. Finally by 930pm were at Katra.