KEDARNATH BADRINATH TEMPLE TOUR – REGISTRATION, HELICOPTER AND MORE
What to say about this tour? What is it that makes it so unique that whenever we talk about our travels and the question crops up “Which is that one tour that was the best and will remain etched forever in our minds?” And the unanimous answer is “Kedarnath.” The seeds of this tour was sown one evening when we were visiting our close relatives and just before dinner were having discussions on various topics including travel. It was then that they told us that they had been on the Kedarnath-Badrinath pilgrimage during the last puja vacation. The description of the travel enthralled both me and my wife. When they talked about the scenic views and emotions they had experienced on reaching the Kedarnath valley after a long trek and described the same as amazing, fascinating, surreal and inexplicable, we decided that our next destination would be Kedarnath!
KEDARNATH
A major Hindu pilgrimage of Lord Shiva situated at an elevation of 3584 m in the Himalayas on the banks of the River Mandakini and is one of the 12 Jyotirlingas and also one of the Pancha Kedars. It falls within the Char Dham circuit of Uttarakhand.
It is believed to have been built by Adi Shankaracharya in the 8th Century and has survived harsh climate and the flash flood of 2013. The Mythology says that the Pandavas had visited Kedarnath to atone their sin after the Kurukshetra war. The temple remains open for six months only and is closed during the winters.
It was in the year 2011. We had started planning for the tour from the beginning of the year and chalking out the route. My wife was overexcited and probably a fraction of that overexcitement had spilled over! And, soon, we had company – one of her colleagues joined us with her family. So, here we were, a group of 8 – four from each family.
Train/airport links
How to reach Hardwar?
By Air
The closest domestic airport from Hardwar, Jolly Grant airport, is situated at Dehradun which is 37 km away and the nearest international airport from Hardwar is in New Delhi.
By Road
Hardwar is well-connected by buses from nearby states like Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana and also from other parts of Uttarakhand
By Rail
Hardwar is very well connected by trains from the major cities of India like Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Mumbai, Indore, Ahmedabad, Jaipur and many more cities.
We chalked out a route by ourselves with the help of the book – Bhraman Sangi and the internet. But we weren’t sure whether our plan would be feasible. So, we visited the GMVN Kolkata office which was then located at Dalhousie. The GMVN official went through our programme and confirmed that it would be perfectly feasible and advised us to put up at the GMVN rest houses for the night halts. And, for the same, the bookings were to be done online through their website.
Bhraman Sangi link
GMVN link/ GMVN Kolkata office address
Our route was – Hardwar – Gaurikund – Kedarnath – Ukhimath – Auli after visiting Chopta – Badrinath – Rudraprayag – Hardwar. Hotel reservations were to be made at our places of stay, i.e. Hardwar, Gaurikund, Kedarnath, Ukhimath, Auli, Badrinath & Rudraprayag. The hotels were booked on time and the train reservations made. We decided to reach Hardwar via Delhi. So, for the onward journey, we booked tickets of Rajdhani Express which would reach New Delhi next day morning. And, from New Delhi, we were to board the train at around 4.00 PM to reach Hardwar station late in the evening. With the hotel and train bookings done, it was time to focus on the vehicle that would ferry us across Garhwal.
A few details about tour operators
The responsibility for booking the vehicle was taken up by my wife and her friend. A travel and tourism fair was going on at Netaji Indoor Stadium, Kolkata. This fair is an annual ritual of the city. The duo took some time out from their daily chores, visited the fair, met with many tour operators and after taking rates from some of them, narrowed down to one operator company. The company promised to provide us with an 11-seater tempo traveller that would pick us up from Hardwar, take us to all the tourist spots and finally drop us back at Hardwar.
With all bookings completed, it was an eager wait. In the meantime, we completed our shopping – essentials to brave the extreme cold. Woollen socks, mufflers, gloves, jackets and thermals and definitely good shoes – a must for the 14 km trek to Kedarnath. Also, raincoats were to be taken as rainfall is most common in the hills and mountains and would be most needed during our trek.
Can authority link of shoe company be added?
On the day of journey, we reached Howrah station well in time. The two families introduced themselves – many of them were meeting for the first time. Then, as the train started moving, we settled down and “adda time” started. The train was on time and we reached New Delhi the next morning.
Train route of Rajdhani
Maybe pics of Hardwar and New Delhi stations
Also maybe link of new delhi retiring room booking
Our connecting train to Hardwar was in the late afternoon. And it would have been quite difficult to stay at the station for all those hours with two aged women and two kids. So we decided to put up at a nearby hotel. We had booked two rooms in one such hotel through one of our colleagues and took autos to reach there. On reaching the hotel, we freshened up and had our lunch. My brother-in-law was posted at New Delhi then. He had asked us to come over to his place. But time was a constraint and so, instead, he decided to visit us with his family. It was really nice meeting family after a long time. But, soon it was time to move towards the station again for boarding our train to reach Hardwar.
We reached Hardwar quite late and had enough time to just check-in, have dinner and doze off early so as to wake up in time to start our onward journey. At Hardwar, we had put up at Rahi Hotel run by GMVN. It is a stone’s throwaway from both the bus terminus and the station and is very convenient if you are getting off or on the train late night or early morning. Our tempo traveller reached the hotel on time at 9 am and we boarded the vehicle and much to our amazement, most of us got a window seat. It was an 11-seater with an extra seat beside the driver making it a 12-seater and with 8 persons, fights for window seat was an entire no-no.
RAJAJI NATIONAL PARK
This national park at the meeting of the Himalayan and Shivalik ranges is home to tigers, elephants, panthers, sambhar, Barking Deer, Black and Sloth bears, Spotted deer, Wild Boar, Goral and more than 400 bird species.
You can reach it by air by flying to Jolly Grant Airport which is quite close to the park. The nearest railhead is Hardwar. Dehradun is 56 km away. By car, it is the closest from Hardwar and is 24 km from Rishikesh, 510 km from Lucknow & 220 km from Delhi.
You can get the details of tickets, entry permits, safari bookings and stay in the park by visiting their site https://www.rajajinationalpark.co.in/
Soon the wheels started rolling and voila! Gradually our traveller crossed the Ganges and started moving towards Rishikesh. Our driver’s name was Rathod and till this day his memories live on with us though we have lost all contacts. The distance to Rishikesh is just 25 kms and the road leading to it is mesmerising as a part of it goes through the Rajaji National Park. The roads are extremely smooth, navigable and the greenery along these roads soothe your eyes. Also, the blue, swift, choppy river flowing down along your right as you climb up adds to the essence of the path. Rafting and kayaking are common activities in these waters and the view of the colourful rafts and kayaks on the blue water is striking! There are many operators for river rafting in Rishikesh. The list of Government approved rafting operators is here.