This is my Dp over my trip to Hemkund Sahib,
here’s my travelogue
So we started from delhi, reached rishikesh, the next day, their westayed for a day, did river rafting, (which was fun), n saw fewtemple, . now my actual trip started the next day
we hired up a cab to reach Govindghat.which was a tiresome 12 hr drive, started early morning 6 am, fromrishikesh, n the next 12 hr, ( meri jaan aatki padi thi). thosecab drivers drive so rashly, take steep turns, n overtakes oncurve, waise hi rasta dangerous, n upar se driver jaan sukkha detahain.
I literally had a few arguements with the driver n asked himto drive slow, as I want to reach god’s holy place, but not achievethat by dying. the nature’s beauty we passed by was mesmerising, but Ihad so much fear in my mind that I couldnt enjoy the view outside, thewhole 12 hrs, drive is alongside the river alaknanda, someplace itscall bhagiriti, . n the cab driver was driving on the verge of theroad, ki one slip or skid, n we are gonne.
after the 12 hr drive, we finally reached govindghat which is the night halt place, from here trek to Ganghariya starts in morning, well it was a 13 km stretch, so mom took ride on apony, while I decided to walk, as 13 km is nothing, ( that what iused to think), n as a child I have been to vaishno devi so thoughtit would be fun.
Hours keep passing by, n those dam 13 kmswere no-where getting finished, I started the trek of 13 km, at 8 inthe morning, n finally finished off by 6 in the evening, my momwas waiting for me at the start of the small town ganghariya, n gave me a gud lecture as too why I decided to walk in the firstplace,
my feets were paining n in Ganghariya light comes bygenerator only those run by 4 -7 in the morning, 8-12 in night, rest of time use candles or torches. no phones, mobiles dont work, but we were so tired, I just slept,
next day was our 6km trek to hemkund sahib, . started early in morning, but this time Itoo chose pony ride, as my feets were paining, from yesterday longtrek, out of which, 4 km were covered by pony, then comes aglacier, which everyone, of any age, has to walk n cross overit, the glacier was so scary while crossing I was nearly saved byslipping by other persons as I was taking pics, n didnt payedattetntion to the pathway.
now next 2 km, are done by walking or for elder people, the porters carry them, its called: Kandi: mymom couldnt walk much as she is an asthma pateint, so she opted forkandi, n she urged me to go in a kandi too, but I decided towalk, man those 2 km walk was the most tough, as I opted the wayof stairs, it might have been more than 1100 in number,
some history of hemkund sahib: Hemkund(Snow Lake) Sahib, as the name itself suggests, is a high-altitude lake(4329 m) surrounded by seven huge now-covered mountains, which are collectively called Hemkund Parvat. Close to the lake is a sacred Gurudwara that is a pilgrimage centre for Sikhs and Hindus from all over the world.
It is said that Shri Guru Govind Singh Ji (the Tenth Guru of the Sikhs) meditated on the very banks of this lake & Lakshman, the brother of Lord Ram performed penance. Besides the Gurudwara, you can also see a temple here. The lake is the source of the Laxman Ganga (alternatively called Hem Ganga) stream that merges with the Pushpawati stream flowing from the Valley of Flowers, at Ghangaria. From this point on, the river is called Laxman Ganga. The lake is about two kilometres in circumference. It has clear, still water mirror images of the Saptashringa peaks(5500 m) that surrounds it.
The hemkund sahib is opened in morning n close by 2 pm in theafternoon as no one stays there, everyone comes back to Ganghariya
WellI reached in time by 1, n its a tradition that before stepping in theGurudwara, one has to take holy dip in the lake, called Hem ganga. Letme tell u all the water was icy cold n my body froze when I steppedinto the water, I just hurriedly dipped my body once, n ran out .
finallyI stepped in the Gurudwara, the last pathw as going on, then there wasardas, n in a hr, it was closed, too, oh I must add there is verydelicious prashad of khicdi that is served there, but I didnt had any, .
Then we started our trek to return to Ganghariya, reached there by evening, rested for the night, the nextday I missed the oppurtunity of going to valley of flowers, which isalso a prime attraction. . we came back to govindghat but it was verylate, so we stayed there n early next day monrnig back to haridwar, thru the same reckless driving by cab drivers, for 12 hrs, n thenfinnally back to delhi, home.
I consider this tobe my most memorale trip coz we rarely take any holy trip, n this was afirst of its kind, and moreover after seeing n experiencing the wholetrekking, I have huge appreciation for the people who, go for char dhamor amarnath yatra, I just went to one place n n the whole trekking nwalking nearly broke up my stamina, I could just praise the courage nstamina of those who go all the way for chardham .
and all the msians, do visit up hemkund once in ur life, n take a dip in that icycold lake, u will feel so fresh, its not that I am promoting sikhism, visit up any chardham or amarnath.I am sure, it will be worth visitingn U too will cherish up the memoried for ur life,
share ur thoughts on the travelogue, n share ur expereince too if u had been to these places before.