Monday Medley - "Niti Village and Pandava legend" by Girija

We are naming our Monday posts as "Monday Medley. Yes, this will be a potpourri of interesting articles, posts from fellow bloggers which we liked, interesting images of fellow travellers or images from our own portfolio. We hope it will be a good start to the week. 

This was  an interesting post we came across few weeks back. 

We had trekked to "Valley of Flowers" two years back. The back breaking trek to Ghangaria for 12 hours was a fascinating experience. We walked along Laxman Ganga river all the way from Govindghat to Ghangaria. On the way we crossed a small village named Niti on the banks of the river. We remember stopping for few minutes to drink a cup of tea. We never knew there was an interesting story attached to this village. 

It was only when we saw the post by Girija that we came to know about the fascinating legend of Pandavas attached to this village. We are not sure how this has come about. No one does. 

A quintessential traveller, Girija meets a group of Niti villagers on her way to Ghangaria - incidentally she trekked to Valley of flowers few weeks before us - and she is surprised at the Pandava legend linked to this obscure a village in the himalayas. She chats with them to know more about it. What comes out is the interesting linkage between the Pandavas and Niti. We enjoyed reading it.

Now it is your turn to take a look at it and read. Please click on the link below to read Girija's story in her blog.....

People from Niti village - Descendants of Pandavas

Postscript - The village was washed out in last year's flood. No one died as all villagers were evacuated in time. Since then it has been rebuilt and the legend continues.

Here is our trek experience to Valley of Flowers - A Paradise on earth. Please click on the link below.

Paradise on Earth - Trek from Ghangaria to Valley of Flowers

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Valley of Flowers - View from the sky!

We were browsing the pictures of this trip and suddenly realised that i had not posted the lovely pictures we had taken on our way back from Gangaria to Gobind Ghat.

We flew back from Gangaria in a chopper. The flight exactly took seven minutes to cover! We done the same distance by foot while going and it had taken us 12 hours.

The views from the chopper were awesome. The flight is through Alaknanda valley covered by mist with myriad of waterfalls.

It was a cloudy morning with constant drizzle. In fact the flight was delayed by almost two hours and were not sure whether we would be able to take off. Finally we did around 10 In the morning.

Take a look at these pictures.

The bird has arrived, finally!

Gangaria helipad must one of the most picturesque in the world. It is in a bowl surrounded by cloud kissed mountains. When mist clears, you can see some lovely waterfalls.

We now take off. The tented accommodation of one of the travel agencies. The flight though only for seven minutes is memorable for valley views. I have had similar experience while flying in the Siang valley of Arunachal Pradesh.

The first glimpse of Gobind Ghat

We come closer....

The milky waters of Alakananda

Safely landed...... By the way, the helipad has been washed away in recent floods.

If one does not want to trek back, taking a chopper is a good option. You can book ticket in Gangaria. It will give a different experience while saving time. But the weather being fickle, one need to keep a buffer day if planning to come by chopper. 

For other posts on Valley of Flowers Trek, please click on the following link.

Valley Of Flowers and Hemkund Sahib

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Valley of Flowers - Trek to Hemkund Sahib

Two days of continuous trek was tiring. But the toughest one was to come the next day - Hemkund Sahib. When compared to Gobind ghat to Gangaria and Gangaria to Valley of Flowers, Hemkund Sahib trek is considered hard as one climbs 1000 meters within a short span of 6 KMs. Thus, it is a virtual climb from the word go with hardly any level surface.

As usual, the start time is 6.30 AM and everyone is ready. Last night's leg message by Sohan singh was very useful. We slept last night praying that the weather be clear and there shall be no rain. But we are not lucky when we get up as it is already raining. We have no choice and after a tea and toast routine, we start the trek covering our self with a rain cape. Since it is raining, we do not risk taking our Nikon but take Sony point and shoot.

We follow the same route we took for Valley of flowers and then deviate towards Hemkund Sahib. This is a real climb. As in the Gobind Ghat - Gangaria trail, the mules are part of the crowd and one has to bear the smell of their droppings. We also have company of hundreds of Sikh pilgrims trekking along with us uncomplainingly. The trail looks similar to the one from Gobindghat but much steeper. The complete valley is misty and cloudy with hardly anything visible for a large portion of trek. The sky is cloudy with low hanging clouds completely covering the valley. It continue to rain and the trail is wet and slippery. 

The water falls as we start climbing. Notice the misty surroundings

Notice the continuous climb and the valley covered by clouds

Clouds, clouds everywhere......

And mules.....

After four hours of trekking and crossing a half melted glacier, we reach the Lake and Gurudwara around 11 AM. The place is very cold and windy. It is a beautiful lake surrounded by mountains. The water is crystal clear and the reflection of Gurudwara in the lake makes a beautiful sight. Unfortunately, the cloudy weather play spoilsport again.  Being a high altitude place, we could feel the difficulty while moving around. We have darshan of the shrine and leave after partaking the prasad.

Hem Kund Lake

The Gurudwara

The sanctum santorum of Gurudwara

We are expecting the weather to clear but we are not so lucky. The rains continue and we had to be extremely careful while coming down the trail lest we slip and hurt our legs. Coming down the trail is heavy on the legs and knees. Fortunately, we all came back safe to Gangaria.

This was a bit of a disappointment as the weather played spoilsport. In clear weather, the trek offers fabulous vistas of mountains especially the "Saptha shringi" mountains or seven peaks of Himalayas surrounding the lake. 

Clear weather is key to enjoy the complete trip to Valley of Flowers and Hemkund Sahib. We were extremely lucky when we trekked to Valley of Flowers but we were not in this case.

Photo Courtesy - Manish Jain who was part of the group and who dared to bring his Nikon along.

Travel tips

a) Trek to Hem Kund Sahib is hard. Good acclimatisation is a must. It is good to do this trek after Gobind Ghat - Gangaria and Gangaria - Valley of flowers which will help acclimatise better.

b) If you are flying to Gangaria by helicopter, then complete Valley of Flowers trek before attempting Hemkund Sahib.

c) All precautions as mentioned in perevious posts is a must.

d) If you are unfit to do this trek, then you can take the services of a mule.

e) The trail is slippery especially when it is raining. It is imperative that one should wear a good trekking shoe.

f) Make sure to take breaks while climbing up the steep path. This is important as going up very fast could only mean inviting altitude sickness. Breaks are meant to be standing ones and do not sit down. Sitting down causes your muscles to relax and getting back on track can be very difficult. 

f) Do not exert on reaching the place. At 16000 feet, it is a high altitude lake and one gets tired very fast due to rarefied atmosphere.

g) The gurudwara in itself is serene and peaceful. 

h) One has to be extra careful while coming back as it will be slippery especially when it is raining.

Glossary

a) Gurudwara - Worship place of Sikhs

b) Darshan - Sight of Deity

c) Prasad -Sacrament

Related posts on valley of flowers in this blog

a) Flowers varieties of Valley of Flowers

b) Trek to Valley of Flowers from Gangaria

c) Trek to Gangaria along Laxman Ganga

d) Journey with Ganges - Hardwar to Gobindghat

e) Valley of Flowers - Paradise on earth!

Useful Links

Hemkund Sahib in Wiki 

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If you need help in planning a trip to Valley of Flowers and Hemkund Sahib, you are welcome to write to me at poorna62@gmail.com.

Happy to help.

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Valley of Flowers - Colourful flowers of the valley!

These are the lovely flowers of "Valley of Flowers". The variety, the colours, the beauty is just awesome. 

Please take a look. 

Don't worry about their names. even i can't identify all!!

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Please dont forget to look at a series of six posts on Valley of Flowers in this here. Read and share.

Valley of Flowers - A Paradise on earth!

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