Govindghat Onwards

Morning 0500 hours it is the strong sound of river that we wake up to, and a site awaits us once again at Govindghat, it is a sleepy village 32 km from Badrinath and is a pleasure to be up and around so early morning as we watch the clouds play hide and seek with the mountains, we would be hiking a couple of miles to Ghagaria our launch base camp ways to get to Ghagharia is Mule and chopper and of course a trek, with a good 4 km of Vertical trek, maybe 60 % gradient, and yes it had been raining all the time, to put comes the poncho, it is time to put on the Poncho and it would not come off for the next few days as we head to valley of Flowers and Hemkund sahib

We Prepare for the journey ahead as the signage tells us where we are headed and the sun makes its appearance for a few minutes, little did we know this was the last bot of sunlight we will be seeing over the next 5 days, Imagine even the raincoats and Ponchos were wet all the time, and refused to be dried down, it was so humid that nothing could be dried once it was wet,

The sight along the way was just amazing and we did not feel the water as it wet us, while we were happy to be photographing nature as we saw it, some of us decamped and split up, taking g a chopper to the next stop which was Ghagharia, it was a 10 minute chopper ride, but then I was not likely to lose the opportunity to enjoy the nature walk along the way, camera in hand, poncho on me, off we were

The Himalayas

You guessed it right, city bred me, had no intension of carrying my back pack, which was all of 13 kg on me, n hired service of the local trooper, the mule to carry my bag, amazing how hard thee guys work, often making 2 0- 3 trips a day that’s 22 km round trip, you do the math, man sure exploits but no taking away from there owners who also walk along with them, and surely walks at least 11 km on a round trip too. A big thank you to the mules

For once a we trekked there was a young kid and we chatted along the way, what a pleasure to see a kid( Master Dhairya Nariani) who did not want to be carried by a mule but wanted to walk in the outdoor, hats off to you buddy and yes he was sweet enough to offer to click a picture of yours truly in front of a waterfall in the glory of nature

Yup you are right there were times that the poncho gave way to just walking gear and the walking stick was a great companion, cant tell you guys how usefull it was as I made my way up

Sometimes nature is just so perfect and so clam, it is best to say less and just watch the path and be oneself, a great meditative existence as one makes ones way on this path , the trek is quirt steep in parts and makes one just go quiet and conserve and be by oneself as one climbs the mountains waterfalls for company along the way

As we make our way up these miles stones remind us how much more to go and as they appear every now and then one is relieved we are that much closer to the end of the trek, at least that’s how I felt, each milestone most welcome for sure

well we are almost there and we are coming across eatery Na am not not one for food while on a hike / trek ,,,

As the trek comes to an ends we begin to see flowers, we begin to see what the valley is all about the sight sure makes one feel glad that we had made this trip

Almost There, tomorrow we are in Valley of Flowers ...