Gurgling streams, lush green mountain slopes, white fluffy floating clouds and flowers of various hues blossoming across a valley – if you have ever read of a fairy land, then this is it! The Valley of Flowers trek is straight out of a fairy tale. No wonder then that until a few decades ago, locals believed that the Valley of Flowers was the land of the fairies! One usually has to sweat it out in the Himalayas before one can witness something grand. But the Valley of Flowers is, as it were, a gift offered by the Himalayas to its lovers.
The monsoon season in India is the best time for the this trek. The first 2 weeks of August are especially the best as this is when one can see the famous Brahma Kamal or the White Lotus. The Brahma Kamal is found only in high altitudes and usually blooms on the trail to Hemkund Sahib.
The trek starts from Govindghat in the Chamoli district of Uttarakhand, India. One has to first trek to Ghangria which serves as the base for both the Valley of Flowers and Hemkund Sahib. It is an easy trek and one usually also combines it with the Hemkund Sahib trek, the Sikh pilgrimage site which is famous for its Gurudwara and the Bhrahma Kamal (A white lotus found only in the higher reaches of the Himalayas).
Overview
The Valley of Flowers trek starts with a 14km trek from Govindghat, the nearest road head that is about 290 km from Haridwar. A popular detour is Shri Badrinath Dham which is only 25km from Govindghat.
