Monday 19 July 2010

Trip to The Valley of Flower (Part 3)

So after 5 and a half hour of hiking with only one break in the middle, I finally reached Govinddam. Exhausted and out of breath I quickly got a cheap room and collapsed on the bed. But then I realized that I hadn't eaten anything all day, so I dragged my ass back out to the nearest restaurant and ordered some plain rice (good for the tummy). So from as early as the early afternoon, I locked myself in my room trying to rest until the next day, when I could go out again. The Valley of Flowers was another 4KM uphill from the town, but I simply couldn't walk it that day. It was a very painful and boring rest. There was absolutely nothing to do up in the town and yet I couldnt go anywhere because the distances were too far. And once again it was hard for me to sleep because of that small fever that I had, as well as the cold weather up in the mountains that I was unprepared for. Fortunately, that night, the sikhs that I met on the hike up, brought me to their temple to enjoy a hot cup of chai with them.

July 15
After maximum of 2 hours of good sleep, most of which I got in the early morning, I headed out for the valley at 7 AM. But During that time, it was still very hazy and rainy so I had to stop and take shelter under a shop, where for the first time I decided to buy a poncho. It was hard to even see the trees at a distance, let alone the mountains. It was just waves an waves of rain bearing mist rolling over from the top of the mountains and then down into the valley. By 8AM the rain got lighter, but it was still as misty as ever. So I still headed out hoping that things would clear up. 1KM later I reached the ticket booth to the Valley of flowers. They were charging me 600 rupees! That's nearly as expensive as visiting the Taj Mahal, which costs 750 Rupees for foreigners (but i got in free that day :D). I considered not going because it was still too foggy to enjoy the scenery. But then again I felt stupid for climbing all this way up for nothing. It would be like going to Agra but not visit the Taj Mahal because it's too expensive. So I payed the bum, got in and hoped to see my money's worth...

Too lazy to write, go see part 4

No comments:

Post a Comment