On 29th July, I started my journey into the Himalayas. To keep my friends and loved ones informed, So let’s start the journey!

1. My 7 Days Solo Biking Trip into the Himalayas
After completing MBA in May 2015, I went on a three months solo biking trips to
explore North-Western part of India (mostly Himalayas). Some of the places I explored
are: Rishikesh, Mussoorie, Dehradun, Nainital, Dhanaulti, Chamba, New Tehri, Karn
Prayag, Rudra Prayag, Dev Prayag, Valley of Flowers (VoF), Hemkund Sahab etc.
On 29th
July, I started my journey to VoF. To keep my friends and loved ones informed, I
shared my experience throughout the journey on my Facebook page. So let’s start the
journey!
July 30 2015
Starting of the Journey
Day 1: Started a bit late at 10 am than planned (6:00 am) from Delhi as the packing was
the trickiest part and took far more time than anticipated (especially if you are going
solo on biking trip for 7-8 days, that too in monsoon season in Himalayas). Some of the
items included in the survival kits are:
1. Binocular
2. Waterproof digital watch
3. Power bank
4. MP3 player
5. Swiss knife
6. Table tripod, approx. 20 cm
7. Multipurpose key ring
8. Survival knife
9. Trekking torch
10. Some common medicine

2. Still searching for a better cocktail than listening to Pink Floyd while biking in the nature's
paradise!
Reached Dev Prayag at around 8pm. The drive was far easier than anticipated as there
was no interruption due to rain. Some stats for stat lovers: distance travelled- 335 km,
time taken: 10 hrs, 4-5 small halts of an average time of around 10 minutes.
Due to last year's incident and al-nano defying monsoon, the place is almost free from
holy pilgrimage (such an irony, they don't trust their respective Gods!).

3. Got a very decent hotel at low cost near the river with nice view. Will start a bit late
tomorrow and try to reach Joshimath. No hurry though as unlike before, expecting to
invest considerable amount of time in the rest of the journey from now onwards on site
seeing and capturing.
July 31 2015
Exploring the Intimidating Mystifying Beauty
Day 2: Started the journey today from Dev Prayag at
12:00 noon. Reached Joshimath at around 8:00 pm.
(distance covered: 185 km, time taken: 8 hrs). Again got a
good deal to stay (just Rs. 250 for 5 bedrooms stay, are u
kidding sincerely!). Unlike earlier, the drive was
challenging and truly adventurous. At around 5 pm, it
started drizzling and the very welcoming Himalayas
suddenly regained its Intimidating Mystifying Beauty!
Learned few good things about biking in such difficult
circumstances which would be very useful for future
endeavors!
People here are very helpful and humble. They are still untouched by the toxicity of the
city! They don't know how to negotiate. Really need some serious BATNA-ZOPA tablet

4. course. So now the next 3-4 day is going to be full of trekking and very less biking. Will
first visit Hemkund Sahib tomorrow. Wanted to visit VoF first but dropped the idea at
the last minute. Itching to explore the mysterious source of energy (first) which draws so
many passionate devotees (esp from Sikh Community). By the way, I was typing this
post while admiring the Himalaya's beauty.
August 1 2015
Most Exciting Trek Starts
Day 3: Govindghat is the last place one can travel by motor vehicles. From there
onwards, one has to trek to Ghangharia. Mules and horses are also available. Earlier the
distance was 13 km, but due to flood disaster in Uttarakhand in 2013, many routes were
re-build at higher altitudes and the new distance has increased to 16-17 km. This has

5. not just increases the distance and time required to reach Ghangharia (nearest town to
(Vof and Hemkund Sahib) but also the efforts.
As per the advice of many travel experts, one is advised to start the trek from
Govindghat to Ghangharia as early as possible (by 7 am in the morning). But as I wanted
to create time pressure to push myself and test my level of fitness, I started at 2:00 pm
in the noon. The calculation seems pretty simple at the starting. With average walking
speed of around 3 km/hr, I was supposed to reach Ghangharia between 6 to 7 pm in the
evening easily.
I started my most adventurous trek very enthusiastically, but alone. My energy level vas
very high in the beginning. But with every unit distance covered, the energy level started
to decline. The trek which is generally flooded with many tourist and pilgrimage were
secluded.
At around 6 pm in the evening the visibility started to decline rapidly. After walking
alone for a long while, I spotted a rare open recreation stall. Though, recreation and tea
stalls are ubiquitous here, most of them were closed as there were very few travelers. I
learned from the stall owner that I still need to walk 6-7 km to reach Ghangharia. This
was really surprising and shocking to say the least..! I had already covered around 10 km
distance and as per the on-line advice of many travel experts, the remaining distance
supposed to be around 3 km.
So, there I was practically in a forest; alone and tired; with no weapon apart from
walking stick and trekking torch (if you consider it as a weapon!); it was almost dark; and
6 km distance still to be covered. I started to feel butterflies in my stomach!
It’s 6:30 pm and it is almost dark. I started walking briskly while watching carefully
around for any predators. This richly diverse area is home to rare and endangered
animals, including the Asiatic black bear, snow leopard, musk deer, brown bear, red fox,
and blue sheep. I was aware that predators fear us and as far as possible try to avoid us.
Also, they fear light. I keep walking while hitting the ground hard with my walking stick.
The trekking torch was the ultimate survival tool. I was using it to create a circle of
around 50 meters to warn the predators to keep away.
After walking for almost 2 hours and covering distance of around 5 km, at around 7:00
pm, I spotted a tea stall. This was a big relief! The stall owner was very happy to see me.
They are poor people but very honest. Their bread and butter entirely depend on the

6. tourist which was far below the expectation due to reasons mentioned earlier. He was
insisting me to stay with him and share the stories of the city life and world. But I was
really tired, both physically and mentally and was desperate to check-in in a lodge. As I
started at 7:10 pm rom the stall he warned me about the danger of possible bear attack.
For the first time in the journey, I was really-really frightened! 
I was galloping very carefully, using all my senses; listening every small sound; hitting
the ground hard with walking stick and creating 50 m circle with the torch. With every
single step, I was getting close to the destination. My fear was melting like the
intimidating Himalayan glaciers melt in summer.
Finally, I was able to see the dark yellowish light in the sky generated by the town! 
August 2 2015
Trek to Sri Hemkund Sahib
Day 4: As planned earlier, I started the trek to Sri Hemkund Sahib at 7 in the morning.
Got a very nice stay in Ghangharia and was feeling very refreshed after nigh sleep. The
weather was very damp and cold. In fact, it was drizzling. I bought a plastic raincoat
from a shop in the town.
The trek was tough, which got even tougher due to adverse weather. A 1,100-metre
(3,600 ft) climb on a 6-kilometre (3.7 mi) of stone paved path leads Hemkund. Overnight
stay is not allowed at Hemkund Sahib and so it is necessary to leave by 2 pm to make it
back to Govindghat by nightfall. While walking steadily, I spotted a foreign traveler.

7. As he was also trekking to Hemkund, we starting trekking together. His name was Harry.
He was from England (25 years) and his home town was Cape Town. We share many
common interests and in no time developed a deep bonding. He has very keen interest
in studying Nature and is currently pursuing many related hobbies. Also studying
Acupuncture. Next day we visited VoF together and he helped me to identify many rare
plants in VoF.
August 3 2015
Trek to Valley of Flowers
Day 5: The Valley of Flowers, a UNESCO World
Heritage site is renowned for its meadows of
endemic alpine flowers and outstanding
natural beauty. Valley of flowers is snow clad
for most of the year and it becomes accessible

8. only in the month of June. Officially valley of flowers opens First
June every year. Valley of flowers is always beautiful. It depends
upon your taste that what you would like to see. The Valley is a riot
of natural color and splendor in summer time. Well over a thousand
varieties of flowers, shrubs, orchids and plants in myriad hues,
differing textures and colors paint the valley in a gorgeous display.
This natural plantation surrounded by dazzling snowcapped
Himalayan peaks provide a spectacular panorama. In the morning
one can enter at 7.00 am and the last entry is allowed by 2.00 pm
One should come back by 5.00 pm It is advisable to start the trek
backward by 2.00 pm.
Harry and I started the trek to VoF together from Ghangharia at 6:30 in the morning. To
enter into VoF, one has to trek around 3-4 km from the town. The trek was very steep
and wet due to yesterday’s rain. Upon entering VoF, we met one more foreign traveler,
Ryan. He was from USA and was staying in Gurgaon. He was very friendly and tall, 6 feet
4 inches!
Come to the Valley of Flowers and see the Heaven on Earth!

9. So, there I was standing, in the midst of the heaven on
earth, completely enthralled by its virgin beauty and
mesmerized by nature. I had to slow down to take
pictures while Harry and Ryan continued their trek to the
end point near glacier. There was a dog, who was
following me from the beginning while maintaining a safe
distance. I will call him Zoro for the sake of the story. With
the passage of time, Zoro started to become more
friendly and less fearful. There were some points where it
was little bit difficult to identify the right path. Zoro was
completely aware of my perplexity. He keeps showing me
right direction by walking ahead of me at such points.
This was really amazing and quite new experience for me!

10. In the return journey, I tried many shortcuts used by the local people, which shortened
the journey time. We started our return journey from VoF at 1:00 pm and reached
Govindghat at 6:00 pm in the evening.
August 4 2015
And the Unexpected Happened!
Day 6: I spent the last night in the hotel room, which I had already booked two days
back in Govindghat. Today’s plan was to start the return journey to Delhi after visiting
Badrinath and Mana. Mana is a village in the district of Chamoli in the Indian state of
Uttarakhand, located at an altitude of 3,200 meters. Mana is the last village and is 24 km
from the border of India and Tibet/China. The village is at a distance of about 3 km from
the Hindu Pilgrimage Badrinath.
Is it River or Road, Confused?!

11. I started my journey to Badrinath-
Mana from Govindghat at around 7:00
in the morning. As the first and second
gear of my bike already got damaged
while travelling to Govindghat from
Delhi, I was initially using third and
later fourth and fifth gear on upward
slope. After travelling for around 19
km towards Badrinath, all gear-chain
set of my bike got completely
damaged. At one point, I was in a
really tricky situation!
Fortunately, 5-6 local women who were passing, spotted me in trouble.  They helped
me to bring the bike at a safer place. I thanked them! I decided to abort my journey to
Badrinath and Mana.
I had to push the bike for almost 19 km to bring it back to Govindghat. There I got my
bike checked by a local mechanic, but he was not skilled enough to repair it. He advised
me to get it repaired at nearby town, Joshimath, around 20 km from Govindghat. I
waited there for around 2 hours for a carrier vehicle, but couldn’t find one.
Last night, I met with a guy Satish while having my dinner in a hotel nearby my stay in
Govindghat. He was working there and was from a village in Chamoli district, around 35
km from the town. He was not satisfied with the waiter job in the hotel and wanted to
return back to his village. He was very helpful and courageous. So, we started our
journey towards Joshimath slowly at around 9 in the morning.
The first 9 km of the journey was easy, as it was mostly downwards slope. There was a
small halt after 9 km. From there onwards, it was mostly upward slope. We waited there
for approximately one and half hour for help but couldn’t get one. So, we resumed our
journey at around 1:30 pm. Pushing 150 kg bike on upward slope is no child’s play. We
were taking rest after pushing the bike for every 5-10 m. With this speed, it seems
impossible to reach even Joshimath by night. But, despite of all this, we were very
energetic and excited to be the part of adventurous journey!

12. Fortune favors the brave is not just a phrase! Within half an
hour, we got the help from Uttarakhand Rescue Team. They
are the real hero!
We got the bike repaired within 2 hours. My plan was to
drop Satish at his village and continue my journey towards
Delhi as far as light permits. Satish insisted persistently to
stay for at least one night in his village. I accepted his offer as
I was feeling very tired and wanted a good night sleep. Also, I
didn’t want the risk to bike in the night. I was already
suffering from adventure overdose! 
View from his village at evening View from his house in the morning

13. August 5 2015
It’s Time to Return, no more Surprises, Please!
Day 7: Started the journey early in the morning at 6. Today’s plan was to reach Delhi
which means covering a distance of around 500 km in a day, out of which around 250
km in the mountains. Tough but possible! 
Only after Rishikesh, you can drive freely in plains. Surprisingly, it took around 11 hours
biking from Chamoli to reach Rishikesh. My estimation was 7-8 hours. Throughout the
day, it kept raining, unremittingly. Also, I took frequent halts to rest which was really a
good decision. I was tired and little bit week from my 7 days’ trip. Besides, my shoes
were wet and my feet were..! 
I resumed my journey from Rishikesh at around five in the evening. New calculation,
distance to cover 250 km, average speed 70 km/h (only one to two halts), around 4
hours! Pretty simple, huh..!
But there waiting my biggest surprise! It was Shravan Mass, falls on the fifth month of
Hindu calendar, starting late July and ending by the third week of August. The star
‘Shravan’ rules the sky during Purnima (full moon day), or during the entire of the
month. Hence the month is known as Shravan Month or Mass. The legend of Shravan
Month is that the Samudra Munthan or churning of oceans took place in this month.
During the churning the Halahal (poison) that came out was consumed by Lord Shiva,
which turned his throat blue. Hence Shiva is also called Nilkantha (blue throat). To
reduce the impact of poison, Lord Shiva wore the crescent moon on his head. To lessen

14. the effect of poison, the Gods and people started offering the water from the Holy
Ganges to Lord Shiva.
The whole road from Rishikesh was inundated with Shiv devotee. There were many
diversions, extra bumpy speed breakers and blockades! Most part of the highways were
operating as one way, as the other side was reserved for the devotees to stay.
Reached Delhi at around 11 in the night. This was really a lifetime experience which I will
cherish till my last breath!
About the Author: I am Kumar Mukund. I am from New Delhi, India and my hometown is Darbhanga, Bihar. By
profession, I am a freelance Sustainable Development Consultant. I am a nature lover, an adventurer, a fitness
enthusiast, a photographer, and a biker. I love travelling; exploring new places; meeting new people; trekking;
cycling; gardening; reading and playing cricket, badminton, carom and chess.
Feel free to connect with me:
https://twitter.com/Mukund_Jha
https://in.linkedin.com/in/kumarmukund14
https://www.facebook.com/I-Love-Nature-Photography-416657351856888/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel