[Wanderers]

Just completed the Char Dham Yatra in comfort of my own car Ford Endeavour. May be this thread will be helpful for people planning to do char dham yatra by car (private or taxi) This also includes some details for taking elderly along on the yatra. For me this char dham yatra was specially for my mother and all planning was based around the same.

Char Dham Yatra Vaisakh, Vikram Samvat VS 2080





Yamunotri Dham



Gangotri Dham



Kedarnath Dham



Badrinath Dham



Car and the driver- yours truly

[Wanderers]

Planning

Planning was very important as I was taking my 70 years old mother on a pilgrimage. I started planning for char dham yatra last year itself. To make it a success, I kept myself updated with Char dham news which was made available from time to time. When I heard the news of yatra registration starting in last week of Feb-23, I finalised the dates beforehand and waited for registration to open.

Registration Procedure

This year the Govt of Uttarakhand decided to cap the number of visitors at each of the shrine but owing to the pressure from locals (as yatra is important component of Uttarakhand GDP) the cap was lifted just before the yatra started but I had done the registration during cap.

One can do registration both online as well as offline but initially only online registration was possible as the offline set-up was yet to be done.

One can download App (both ios and Android) Tourist care Uttarakhand or visit website

https://registrationandtouristcare.uk.gov.in/signin.php

Registration is free and easy and only photo is mandatory. Most of the details like Aadhaar and id proofs are optional. Sometime you need to keep trying between app and website if the form is not getting submitted or giving error.
I would recommend putting Aadhaar number as same is automatically picked up if you are booking additional services like helicopter or while generating Trip card (more about it later) otherwise you will be entering it manually as Aadhaar is mandatory for said services.

I registered for all dhams on first day of opening (except Gangotri as both Yamunotri and Gangotri opened on same day)

Yamunotri- 22-Apr-23
Gangotri- 23-Apr-23
Kedarnath- 25-Apr-23
Badrinath- 27-Apr-23

One needs to mandatory choose a available date for each of the dham but even without all the dates it will save and you will still have registration. Add/delete and all sorts of corrections are possible and you can even do 2 sets of registration (which I had done thinking what if I miss to go on the registered date) but now I know following.

Once you have registration for a particular date, you have flexibility of +/-2 days ( as shown during helicopter booking which only shows days of booking options based on your registration number/dates) but even that is not checked. Also when cap was removed one can always change or select a later date. So don’t worry about dates flexibility.

Soft copy of registration pdf is good enough and no printout needed. Print out is mandatory for Helicopter tickets though. Mobile screen should be bright enough to scan QR code. I had carried plenty of print outs though.

Offline registration kiosks is put up on the route at multiple places and you don’t need to keep an eye for it as police will stop and ask you to do registration if not done already. If registration is done you may be asked to get it verified by getting QR code scanned, which is 1 minute job as the volunteers keep moving around laced with hand held machine for scanning and no queue there. Also the scanning has to be done again at all the dhams for generating token (see photo) but nobody bothers, have interest or even have facility to check token at the temple due to excessive crowd. Registration team and temple team as not in sync.



Registration is most important along with proof of hotel booking incase the police try to limit people moving towards a particular dham. This could be due to adverse weather condition and in such case police allow people to proceed ahead if they have confirmed hotel booking and registration for those dates. Thus online registration and hotel booking is highly recommended.

Green Card / Trip Card

Good news is that Uttarakhand allows all outside state taxi or commercial vehicles but made online green card compulsory for all commercial vehicles including taxis. This is addition to state tax. The entire process is online.

https://greencard.uk.gov.in/

After obtaining green card one has to make the trip card, which is again online and available at same website. The trip card picks up dates and passenger detail from your group registration number.
From this year only the trip card is also made mandatory for private cars. One has to pay just Rs 50 to register your car and generate the trip card for the given car registration number and yatra registration number. The only catch here is that both vehicle as well as driving license detail should be available in Vahaan. My driving license is old time and hence could not proceed as driving license number is mandatory along with car registration. I could generate the trip card with my wife driving license although in yatra registration I had put my name as driver.
Good news is that no one checked trip card or for that matter was even aware about it. For commercial vehicles it could be different story. One thing I can say about Uttarakhand police is that they are super friendly and you would never face any problem. Same is the story or all local cabs and boleros, they have no grudge against outside states cars.

Hotel Booking

All the 4 dhams are located in difficult terrain and getting a decent (forget good) hotel remains a challenge as all the outlets and establishments operate only during yatra session and remain closed other times.

Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam (GMVN) offers decent to good choice all along the yatra route and at the dhams but they get sold out immediately.

https://gmvnonline.com/

Please try to book in advance and also consider choosing a location enroute to shrine (within 2-25 km) of dham/base location. At dhams, you are most likely to get dormitory options but nearby you can get good rooms at lesser price. You can always drive, park, visit and comeback to your booked location.
Consider 15-30 km = 1 hr drive for planning.

I had following bookings done as soon as I registered for yatra.

21-Apr-23- GMVN Jankichatti (base of Yamunotri, GMVN Phoolchatti a better option 2 km before)
22-Apr-23- GMVN Uttarkashi (100 km before Gangotri, there are GMVN in between as well)
23-Apr-23- GMVN Uttarkashi
24-Apr-23- GMVN Rampur (2 km before Sonprayag- Kedarnath base)
25-Apr-23- GMVN Nandi Complex Dormitory at Kedarnath top.
25- Apr-23- GMVN Karnaprayag (booked this on 25-Apr itself after completing the darshan and deciding to proceed further. The Nandi base camp was no show)
26-Apr-23- GMVN Pandukeswar (22 KM before Badrinath)
27-Apr-23- GMVN Pandukeswar

Average GMVN hotel rate was Rs 2000/night but some like Karnaprayag can start at as low as Rs 1100 and place like Badrinath and Gaurikund can go as high as Rs 3500.

Please consider each day as separate booking incase you need to cancel based on delays/ early completion.

GMVN Jankichatti is not recommended as this is 800 mts uphill from base enroute the trek path and you need to carry luggage. Elderly cannot walk as it's a climb. If you get GMVN Jankichatti Annexure building same can be considered as it has small parking place as well as there is no climb but it is still 200 mts from main parking and you can be stopped or unable to proceed with your car (due to traffic jam) and may be asked to park at main parking or before.

Best is to book GMVN Phoolchatti , drive, park and start trekking.
Jankichatti is not well organized and parking is a pain (less space and common with bus) but if you can walk best is to park at some location before the main parking. Easy in and out. Cars are generally safe but take usual precautions like not putting any visible stuffs in car. Since I reached on the eve of opening days the town and the shops were still trying to put up and there was big rush of goods carriers, shop set-up stuffs as well as horses/ponies reaching the base for business next day morning.

I parked at a private parking place (almost left my car deserted at an open place as could not proceed further due to Jam) which was only manned next day when I was taking my car out.
100-200 mts away from trek start point and things were looking better and I would recommend parking before the main parking.

Regarding Jams, suddenly I was stuck in no movement Jam and thought oh God where have I come and decided to park my car at any location. 10 min later while returning to hotel there was no Jam. Moral of story: be calm and patience, things improve soon.

GMVN Uttarkashi was booked for 2 days as I planned to proceed further after completing Yamunotri and it is kind of mid point and looked possible drive after Yamunotri trek. Next days hired a bolero and did to & tro Gangotri- Uttarkashi. Its 4-4.5 hrs drive each side. I did not drive, trying to get some rest but looking back it is a scenic drive highly recommended although roads are narrow at some section but people are very cooperative. You can easily follow local bolero or tempo traveller and avoid getting stuck.

Helicopter Booking

This year onward Helicopter booking for Kedarnath is done through IRCTC.

https://heliyatra.irctc.co.in/

Online yatra registration is mandatory as the starting point of booking after login is registration group id which populates all travellers names with their Aadhaar number. You can choose one or all member for booking a helicopter ticket. Once you tick the travellers, that many seats get blocked ( if available at that time) and you have 15 min to complete payment. If you get stuck, go to bookings and cancel ticket which is showing pending payment and start again as there is no provision to continue a failed or stuck payment. Good news is that once you cancel those seats are again made available and likley that you get it again. No, there is no russ like Tatkal and tickets get sold only after sometime and not in 1-10 mins. I had to try 4 times over 1 hour.
The slots get opened from time to time and same is announced in advance so keep visiting the webpage.
As said before hard copy is mandatory as helicopter operator need them for their record before issuing boarding pass.
Don't worry too much about weight, its easily taken care of. You may need to pa some money but there is no embargo. These operators also acts as good carriers. I saw all sorts of courier item going up there.



If you are very sure that you and all members of your group will only travel by helicopter, book form Guptkashi as this will avoid an hour additional travel and ticket prices are not very different. However Phata is most common choice situated 15 km before Sonprayag (base of Kedarnath)

I booked from Sersi which is 6 km before Sonprayag as I had booked GMVN Rampur which is 4 KM after Sersi. My thinking was that incase I could not avail helicopter (helicopter booking was done later but even then, what if the helicopter is cancelled due to weather etc) and I had to move via pony, I wanted to be near to the base.

Weather

Weather plays a important role and everybody has different level of comfort and acceptability with extreme environments. During char dham you have to deal with snow, rain as well as direct sun. Most important the weather is very unpredictable and you have all kinds of warnings coming as sms and WhatsApp but ground reality could be very different. You would here news about yatra getting stopped, people not allowed to move further but remember all these are temporary and unfortunately theses are just news maker and do not report if the things came back to normal after an hour itself. So utmost you can decide which is the best time to visit based your preference. Be prepared for the unexpected weather (warm clothings, rain coat and a hotel booking on top) and leave the rest to God. Weather is very unpredictable specially during summers. I am told that there are less crowd nearing end of season but it's also cold, so not sure which is the best time to visit.
If you decision is going to be based on rush, avoid going on first few days of opening. I faced big crowd at Kedarnath and Badrinath but I had no option of going later due to other constraints. There was snowfall at Badrinath but things improved sooner than expected. Also at Kedarnath weather keeps changing but things do not stop for long.

Choice of Car

Char Dham is busy route except for last few kms of all four dhams. You can travel in any car without any problem. I saw all kinds of cars apart from local taxis & boleros- i20, Honda City, Camry, Swift Desire. Just make sure the car is well services & has good sets of tyres. There were no water crossing but in peak summers there are. I also found that in these region, stones were sharper and likely to damage tyres in comparison to Leh Ladakh region stones. I made sure the tyre pressure was on higher side and checked them every morning. Although I was driving a SUV, given a choice I would prefer smaller SUV or cross over as winding roads causes too much body roll in high CG SUVs and cross overs like venue were much better off.

[Wanderers]

20–Apr-23: Delhi-Haridwar-Rishikesh

While the real yatra was planned from 21-Apr-23 and one can travel directly to Yamunotri base (Jankichatti) we decided to start the yatra in true spirit by taking a holy dip at Har ki Pauri Haridwar. Started leisurely at 9 am from Noida and reached Haridwar by 12:30 pm. After holy dip lunched at Chotiwala which is located at ghat itself, thereafter, proceeded to Rishikesh. Had booked a budget hotel (Hotel Ganga Ashok) which I booked only few days earlier, when we decided to start a day early.
After some rest took battery rickshaw to Ram Jhula and completely the Rishikesh visit with Aarti at Triveni ghat. The dinner was at hotel rooftop restaurant (nothing great there) and retired to room. Next day we planned to start early and reach Jankichatti by afternoon so that we have good rest before trek next day morning.

Har Ki Pauri, Haridwar





Ram Jhula, Rishkesh









Evening Ganga Aarti at Triveni Ghat, Rishikesh



21-Apr-23 Rishikesh- Jankichatti

Started early morning from hotel at Rishkesh and google showed a 7 hours journey to Jankichatti, which seemed alright based on the feedback from travelers.
The new all weather road to Yamunotri is different and not the usual Dehradun- Mussoorie-Barkot route but the Rishikesh-Narendra Nagar- Chamba bypass (tunnel)- Dharasu- Barkot. From Dharasu bend you can either go to Yamunotri or Gangotri. I must say the Uttarakhand govt is serious about access to char dham and inspite of very difficult terrain and weather conditions, the govt is doing a good job of keeping roads motorable through out the year. Except for the landslides stretches (which are many) roads are wide with markings as well as shoulders and some kind of barrier nearing edge at most of the required places. Just remember road are not straight but the typical hilly roads with bends, ascends and descends so average is not going to be more than 30-40 Kmh.

Breakfast stop at scenic location enroute Rishikesh-Chamba





Roads are wide and marked.





Few kms before Dharasu bend, where the road to Yamunotri & Gangotri separate out.



Just after crossing Barkot and just when we were thinking that another hour drive and we would be at our destination for the night, we were stopped by police due to major landslide which had resulted in road completely washed way last night. We waited for 5 hours here. Good things was that police stopped us at place which had many road side eateries and access to beautiful Yamuna river stream accessible from road.



Beautiful Yamuna 35 km downstream of Yamunotri





Once the road was cleared, we left for Jankichatti and finally reached GMVN hotel by 6:30 pm. The small town or village of Jankichatti was just preparing for the tourist to arrive and non of the hotels, eateries or even private parking place were ready. Due to traffic jam, decided to park at to be a parking place (as told by nearby shop which was being set-up) and walked/climbed 800 mts to the GMVN hotel. I must say this was the worse experience as it was dark, not enough light and helping my mother climb those shortcut was not good start to the yatra. The morning cleared many doubts and things looked bright including the weather which remained sunny for 90% of our trek uphill.

[Wanderers]

22-Apr-23 Jankichatti - Yamunotri Trek - Jankichatti- Uttarkashi

We got up early, had tea and started our journey to Yamunotri dham by 7:00 AM. We could see that people have already started much earlier. hired a doli for my mother (Rate- Rs 6000 as it was first day, can go upto Rs 8000) The pony cost Rs 2000 to 3000 both side.

I must say that 6.5 KM Yamunitri trek is more difficult that 16 km trek to Kedarnath (I may be wrong as we did not trek Kedarnath but have seen videos)
The trek is steep climb and 90% of journey is climbing the not so well designed stairs.

22-Apr-23 was first day. Mata doli proceeding to dham from winter seat Kharsali (a tiny village near Jankichatti)



With my mother



Mother with my father. Miss you dad!



Wifey posing in cold but bright sunny day.



Finally at Yamunotri dham



Paid our respect and puja at dham around 11 AM. We took 3-1/2 hours to reach up, and finally had tea & samosa after puja. There are many eateries on top as well on the way. Food is little expensive but totally justified considering the transportation cost. Tea cost Rs 30 per cup and samosa costed Rs 25/pc. Water bottle Rs 50/litre bottle.
Did not rest much and started our descend by 11:30 AM. By the time we reached our hotel it was 2 PM. Took 30 min rest and started walking towards the parking as we had another 4 hour drive before we can reach our destination for the night- GMVN Uttarkashi.
At Yamunotri, you could take the entire day and also be tired, so looking back it would have been good idea to stay back near Yamunotri itself and proceed to Gangotri directly. But Gangotri would have been 8 hours drive so not sure which is the best choice, may be a day gap in both the dhams.

Started drive to Uttarkashi by 3 PM and crossed the narrow stretch easily as traffic was very less from opposite direction. I decided to follow a tempo traveller as they have good idea when to stop incase of any uphill traffic and narrow road. Roads are wide & well laid nearing Barkot.

Even on return, we had to stop for road laying work but it was pre-planned/timed stop by police and we completed our late lunch (maggi, parathas & tea)



Weather is unpredictable and soon we could see clouds all around but we kept driving



Narrow road but this will soon be history as the 4.5 km tunnel (90% complete) between Silkiyara bend & Barkot would reduce the overall distance by 25 km. Infact that the reason they have not widened this 30 km stretch.





Tunnel as seen from Silkyara (Uttarkashi) side.







Road width improve as we cross the tunnel location but there are stretches of bad roads due to landslides & rains.







Finally reached GMVN Uttarkashi at 7:30 PM when it was still daylight.







The location of GMVN, Uttarkashi is very good. Good food & parking.

[Wanderers]

23-Apr-23 Uttarkashi-Gangotri-Harsil-Uttarkashi

I did not drive this day and hired a local bolero instead. My wifey suggested I should rest myself considering overall duration and she also saw me reading team-bhp discussion (me asking Samba on his thread) wherein roads were told to be narrow & traffic control (one-way) measures in place. However after completing this stretch, I must say that I should have taken my car as this was one of the most beautiful part of the journey. Yes roads were narrow but tarmac was good with river Bhagirathi flowing by the side. Having driven in Yamunotri stretch this would have been easy.

The Gangotri was least crowded of all the four dhams and generally remains so (as told by locals). There is good parking place and distance to the temple is around a km which does not require any climb except when coming out of parking. Since ours was a local cab, the driver was able to go little inside saying they have some priority parking right on the main road itself and also did not pay any parking fees.















The river Bhagirathi flowing next to the temple. Unlike Yamunotri which is birth place of river Yamuna, Gangotri is not the actual birth place of river Bhagirathi. The actual origin is 15-20 km uphill at Gaumukh. One need to trek in order to reach Gaumukh, which I am told is a difficult one.

Also accordingly to hydrology, river Bhagirathi is not the main stream for river Ganga but it is the river Alaknanda. Hindu Mythology recognizes river Bhagirathi as main stream of river Ganga but also gives due credit to river Alaknanda, which is another holy river. Happy to be enlighten here.







Gaumukh is somewhere up there.





While returning from Gangotri & before Harsil



Beautiful road, well done BRO.









River Bhagirathi flowing deep down below.



We decided to stop at Harsil which is is a beautiful tourist town. People exclusively plan to visit Harsil and also cover nearby attractions but we only made a brief photo stop.



Apple tree. The apple season was still sometime away.











You can decide to stay at GMVN Harsil



The beautiful Harsil town



Harsil town is famous for shooting of Raj Kapoor's hit "Ram Teri Ganga Maili". There are few spots which locals claim that has been used for filming including this post office. The original post office was somewhere inside but they have used the banner at new location to claim the fame.





On way back to Uttarkashi





We returned to our hotel at Uttarkashi by 5:30 PM, took early dinner and retired to bed. Next day was going to a long one.

[Wanderers]

24-Apr-23 Uttarkashi-Ghansali-Tilwara-Sonprayag (Kedarnath base)

We checked out of GMVN Uttarkashi by 5:45 am and next 6 hours was never ending winding roads with frequent ascend & descend. I even had to stop & stretch my hand and allow my family to walk around in order to prevent motion sickness. There was hardly any traffic and road was good all the way up to Tilwara. From Tilwara, we joins the traditional route to Kedarnath which is coming from Rudraprayag & further down Rishikesh. At Rudraprayag, the Kedarnath is detour from main NH which goes all the way to Badrinath or the First Indian Village- MANA. Yes this has now been named as First Indian Village.
We joined the Rudraprayag-Kedarnath route from Tilwara. Road is good till Kund. Kund-Guptkashi is horrible road with ascend. Road width is not the problem but deep potholes & undulations are. Things improve a bit after you have climbed up from Guptkashi.



We stopped here for breakfast. Breakfast options are limited to Parathas, maggi & tea. Similarly dinners are Dal, roti, rice, mix Veg, aloo gobi & sometime paneer gravy. What "Dal' is to Uttarakhand, "Rajma" is to J&K, Ladakh & Himachal.







Our stay for the night, GMVN Rampur, which is just 2 km before Sonprayag (starting point for Kedarnath) beautiful location in valley down below on bank of river Mandakini. Good parking but limited food options.









Night view at 8 pm. On the eve of opening of Kedarnath temple, we saw constant flow of yatris towards Sonprayag to catch first glimpse of Lord Shiva when doors opens in the morning.





Car parked at helipad. Just to give you an idea that Kedarnath or Sonprayag Road is quite wide with good shoulder width and parking on both side is very common and does not effect traffic. The parking at end point is well organised as well. Buses have separate parking little before the car parking so everything well organised here.



Way to helipad. There are 8-9 operators, all having separate helipad at starting points located at Guptkashi, Phata and Sersi. However at Kedarnath its a common helipad and a helicopter drops, picks people and fly back to their base, no stopping on top. The ride is 5-7 min, drop and pick up takes less than a minute. Typically one operator is giving continuous 4-5 slots/trips before they switch off for cooling the engine.







The helipad at Kedarnath. There are two landing place and two helicopters can land or fly simultaneously.



You still need to walk almost a km to reach the temple. The queue can come all the way to helipad. In our case it was still some distance ahead. The temperature was close to zero and as we near the temple, the pathway was covered in snow. But nothing could stops the devotees from seeing Lord Shiva. The entire atmosphere was electric and people did not realize or bother about low temperature, snow or even rain (we did not witness any rain but I was told it was raining before) I was worried about my mother and low oxygen but she could walk almost a km each side with some climb/steps nearing the temple.
Things may not be the same for everyone & people do face problems including heart attacks and breathing problem. The medical facilities are available but can't trust or depend on them. No we did not take any Diamox tablet as we did during Leh Ladakh. I can only say that at 11500 fts, things were not be as bad as Pangyong Lake or Khardung La. Also we had flown up there so saved on our strength which all trekkers may not have.
My perspective at Kedarnath is based on visit by a helicopters and may not be true for people who trek the entire distance. So please consider enough time and resources required to visit by other means- walk, pony, Doli etc. Same day return is very challenging but still better option than staying up there in extremely cold nights.





Jai Shri Kedar!



Construction work in progress. Up there, there are limited space and establishment. Only 5000 people can stay overnight among various options but mostly tents. Some trekker carry tents but finding a good space for camping is challenge. Some of tents were put on snow cladded roads and area behind temple.



Clicked while waiting for our helicopter. The waiting area is make shift arrangement and its quite cold out there in open







We returned to Sersi, Sonprayag by 10:30 am and went back to the hotel. Even though I had vacated the rooms but not technically checked-out early morning as we had time till 12 or 1 pm. The caretaker gave back our rooms. Since we completed Kedarnath early and Badrinath opening only a day after, we had all the time in the world to move to next destination (Pandukeshwar, 22 km before Badrinath) but GMVN Pandukeshwar booking was only from 26-Apr-23 and I needed rooms for 25-Apr-23.
To be on save side (incase of unforeseen weather & delay in return I had booked dormitories at Kedarnath top (GMVN Nandi base camp) which was useless now as I had returned down. I checked GMVN online and could find rooms at Karanprayag which was 3 hours drive and on the way to Pandukeshwar. Moreover the rooms were cheap and there was no point staying any further at Sonprayag. At Sonprayag the walk-in room rates for mushrooming hotels were north of Rs 3000/ night.
After some rest and completing the hotel booking online decided to move to Karnaprayag.

[Wanderers]

25-Apr-23 Sonprayag- Karnaprayag

Started driving leisurely as we had less than 100 km to cover. after crossing the bad stretch of Kund started looking for restaurants for lunch. There are many but non look promising. We wanted little more than dal, mixed veg & rice Having covered 3 out of 4 destinations, we were kind of cool and relaxed.

Stopped for a photo session by the side of river Mandakini. Beautiful view and from same location could see a restaurant which had overlooking balconies towards the river. Immediately decided to lunch there. I must say this is one of the most scenic located Restaurant around 20-25 km before Rudraprayag and caters to tourist visiting Chopta.

Restaurant name: Omkara Kitchen
Food was very good. We tried chinese and both quality and quantity was good.

















View from balcony of the hotel



After lavish lunch & some lazy time spent around, we proceeded to GMVN Karnaprayag, our destination for the day & night stay. Karnaparayag is small town but still a confluence of river Pinder with river Alaknanda. One can stay in Rudraprayag, which is a bigger town and also visit confluence of river Mandakini with river Alanknanda. But we just wanted to spend a night before proceeding to our next destination.
GMVN Karnaprayag turned out to be good choice. Beautiful location with decent parking. The hotel was renovated recently so we liked the rooms as well although we had taken economy rooms which are too small but same facilities and bathrooms.









Car parking at the hotel.



26-Apr-23 Karnaprayag-Pandukeshwar

Today again, we only had to drive approx 100 km to reach our destination for the night. Last few days have been early morning wakening and this was going to be a big exception. Tried to sleep late but its not easy in any new place, atleast for me. So after tea when down to the river and spent good 45 minutes before returning for bath & check-out.

Started from hotel at 10:30 am and took almost two hours to reach Joshimath, which is base town for famous tourist destination Auli. This is usual hill town full of tourist, plenty of stay & food options but we did not stop.



We stopped at Govind ghat for lunch. Beautiful location with river Alaknanda flowing down below.
For Shri Hemkund Sahib & valley of flower trek, one need to take detour from Govind ghat. One can drive another km or so before the trek commence. The parking is available at base Gurudwara.










We reached GMVN Pandukeshwar around 3 pm. This is another good GMVN property but structure is made of porta cabins and rooms are called huts.

No problem with car parking.





After some rest & evening tea we decided to visit local attraction, temples of Pandukeswar. This place is famous for Yog Badri temple, which also serves are winter seat for Lord Vishnu & Kuber who are moved from Badrinath dham when temples closes during extreme winter. The temple was decorated as just before our visit, the doli carrying Lord Vishnu & Kuber had proceeded to Badrinath for temple opening next morning. This winter when both return here, Kuber would be worshipped in a new temple exclusively built for him.
The King Pandu of Mahabharat spent quite sometime here with his two queens and this is also the birth place of Pandavas.









The new Kuber temple undergoing final finishing and decoration



Beautiful School near the temple.



Local pointed out that the cliff seen on other side of the river is the place where Kind Pandu use to play Dyut (Juaa)



On the main Badrinath road. The temple is down below close to river Alaknanda.



Warning sign.



The nights are extremely cold in this region & these porta cabins are no good but we had good bedding and retired to bed after usual basic dinner (Roti & Mix Veg ) The next day was going to be final destination of char dham before we commence our return.

[Wanderers]

27-Apr-23 Pandukeshwar- Badrinath-Pandukeshwar

We left our hotel around 6 am after tea and took little less than an hour to reach Badrinath. Badrinath town has good hotel options and also has a four star hotel (Sarovar Portico) but weather could be challenging and hotel prices are exorbitant high. This is the reason we had decided to stay little down at warmer as well as cheaper place.
Since this was the first day of temple opening, town was filled with VVIPs and police. The parking in on both side or roads along with some pockets of dedicated space but all along the same road. The police team was doing a wonderful job of managing all vehicles. There were more than 2000 of them but this don't get worried as it was still one of better ones I had seen so far.

Shri Badrinath- the temple town located on either banks of river Alaknanda. Devotee eager to take holy dip before the darshan, we did not go for it.





This year Badrinath got a another & new bridge so way to temple was not straight forward and quite confusing. Luckily, one can see the temple & keep try to find way in that direction, however return was not easy & ended up walking up & down which otherwise could have been a walk with undulations.

Moreover when you cross the bridge, the queue to the darshan gone far and one heed to negotiate your way till the end. Space is available, authorities can do better so as not to mix incoming & outgoing devotees. We feared stampede but people were calm. Also there were instances of purse snatching (by female) so keep your stuff secure.
Having said this, the place is a divine & one forgets all the trouble & pain after the successful darshan and we felt blessed & happy to be here. Thank you O God!





Jai Shri Badrinath!



Heavy rush but people kept calm. I now do not recommend visiting in opening day or for that matter entire opening week.



After darshan, we had breakfast and immediately proceeded to the famous tourist attraction- The Last Indian Village- Mana, which has now been renamed as The First Indian Village.

As told by locals in Pandukeshwar, the Mana village is also a floating population and move down to Pandukeswar & other location during winter. In Winters, Army takes over entire town & no traffic is allowed beyond Hanuman Chatti (10 km before Badrinath)




Vyas Gufa, where Mahabharat was written with help of Lord Ganesha



The famous mythological Bhim Pul made by Pandav Bhim for Draupadi to cross on way to Swarg. Yes the way to Swarg is through Badrinath and we were almost there.



The river Saraswati emerging from the mountain and suppose to be going underground before meeting Ganga-Yamuna at Prayagraj (Allahabad) Sangam. However here it looked to be flowing into river Alaknanada, which is coming from Satopanth glacier upward of Mana.



Confluence of Sarasawati & Alaknanda







The water from Glacier looks straight out of painting.



We returned to our hotel by 1 pm and took a small nap before ordering our lunch. The darshan can take 3-4 hours at Badrinath.

In evening it started raining heavily and we started receiving alerts for hailstorm, rains, snow, Avalanche and what not. We have been receiving such message everyday & nothing actual happened. God was kind.





28-Apr-23 Pandukeshwar-Rishikesh-Delhi

We could have started back home yesterday itself after darshan but eventually stayed somewhere on the way. Since we were not sure how much time we would take for Darshan, we had booked 27-Apr as well as same location. You would notice that i had kept 2 days for both Kedarnath & Badrinath incase of any uncertainties or weather intervention. Also the Registration process do not allow you to choose two consecutives days for Gangotri, Kedarnath & Badrinath. Only Yamunitri and Gangotri can be booked on two consecutive days. However if you are visiting by helicopter, a good car & do not mind stretching you can do Kedarnath & Badrinath in two consecutive days as roads are not challenging and one can easily drive till 9-10 pm. You can always register two of them as separate tours in same login. Also even with one registration, one can visit a day before & no one would bother.

After early morning tea, thanks to the caretaker, we could start our journey back home at 5:00 am. My Mantra is simple start early reach early and take rest, avoid night driving specially in hills. The return was uneventful (thankfully) with no road blockage or stoppage. Unless there is overnight landslide you will not have early morning road blockage. Also road repair or rock blasting etc. are done during 9 to 6 working time only so you are generally better off driving before or after this window. Having said that please do not drive before 5 am, as most of the stone falling, landslides are reported late night or early morning.

We did not stop anywhere all the way to Rishikesh, where we stopped for fuel & bio break. Rishikesh traffic is real pain. The police divert you on a bypass which is basically a narrow road and has all sorts of problem inspite of strong presence of police through out. Haridwar Rishikesh would take 2 hours. Finally we stopped at Bikanerwala after Haridwar for lunch and reached our home at 4:15 pm.

With blessing of almighty I was able to complete the Char dham yatra, which was very important for us considering it was for sure once in life time for my mother. I spent quite some time in planning and our Team-BHP itself was the main source of information. Thanks to Samba, Laluks, steadfast, Dodge_Viper, anbaras, gajadonga & others who have shared details via their travelogues and or replied to my queries.

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[airguitar]

The completion of Chota-Chardham is certainly a milestone in everyone's life; more so for our ageing/aged parents. Kudos to you for taking them along and successfully completing it. More than ourselves, on these trips, our concerns generally are about their health and how it will hold up during the difficult trip. Was this your first time to the CCD? If yes, more credit to you for going the DIY route, especially when many things can go wrong in planning ( as new rules come in each time, one has to keep their ears to the ground all the time). When I went the first time (solo), I did a DIY, but when I went the second time with my parents, I left the planning to a travel agent. Also, you seem to have completed the trip in a relatively shorter duration ( I would have done the same over 12-13 days), hoping you didn't miss important places ( e.g., I didn't see pics of the Rudraprayag Sangam or the Koteshwar mandir at Rudraprayag or for that matter any of the other prayags or the Bhairobaba mandir above Kedarnath).

Above normal snow this year? Quite a lot still left for end of April

Here is what I think are the biggest variables in planning and some additional tips:

1. The climb up to Yamunotri, especially if traveling with aged/kids, is difficult. Plan well.
2. The Heli booking. If you don't know when they open the sites for booking, the tickets may be sold out for the day you need making your planning more complex. So take an agent's help at the least to tell you when the bookings open.
3. The Heli ride itself. Subject to weather. Has the potential to delay or break your plan. Always have a buffer day between Kedarnath and Badrinath and also if possible, always stay a night at Kedarnath : lets you do additional places around Kedarnath (Shankaracharya samadi and Bhairobaba mandir). A lot of people are so exhausted by the time they do the Darshan that they forget there are other places to visit in Kedarnath. Further, staying overnight allows you to see the evening Aarti and Shrungar Alankar and also allows you to do the Shivaling pooja / Abhishek in the morning.
4. Traffic jams. Plan for early exits from your hotels to the destination of the day. Always stay very close to your destination for the day (typically it will mean stretching the travel the previous day).
5. Accommodation. Difficult to get good accommodation at reasonable prices and for the dates you need. Plan ahead, and as soon as the Kapat opening dates are announced.
6. New rules each time (pilgrim count cap, registration process changes, trip cards, pooja registration tickets being sold out online). Remain tuned in to all the relevant portals and websites. And always remember that there will be people on the ground (Pandas etc) that will get the Darshan done (even if at a high cost) - so no chance of missing out on the Darshan anywhere.
7. Badrinath : If traveling with parents, always choose to be there for the Abhishek pooja in the morning. It costs a lot, but it enables you to get a 2 hour darshan of Lord Badrinath Saligrama from close quarters. It is an experience that you will not forget. However, you will have to combat unscrupulous tour operators who will try to position their clients at vantage points, be prepared to fight it out with them to ensure what is rightfully yours ( they might put their clients ahead of you in the queue etc).
8. Always travel with 3-4 days extra to visit additional places in and around the circuit. Tungnath, Kartikswamy, Basu Kedar (the drive to which is exhilarating often touching 10000 ft elevation), Triyuginarayan, Kalimath, Karmajeet Mandir (Pillu), Panchabadri temples, Deoria Taal etc are fabulous places that one may not be able to visit at a later time.
9. If first time, avoid DIY and take the help of a good agent to reduce stress in booking and planning.
10. If going via a travel agency, learn to manage the taxi driver well. They are notorious for complaining and will try to avoid extra places on the route. So tip them earlier in the trip a bit and have an open communication with them that you will "take care" of them.
11. Lastly, always visit the Dhams within 1-2 days of them opening to ensure minimal crowd (but never visit on the opening day itself); or a week before closing. Avoid strictly in the monsoons ( Mid Jun to Sep end )

Well done on your trip, sir!

[Shitij]

Really interesting and detailed travelogue, I visited Gangotri last year in first week of October. It was a surreal experience.

Best part of visiting in October is that there is the almighty and you. No jams, no crowds and you are free to spend as much time in the temple as you want.

I stayed in 1 night in Bagori in a decent homestay and another night in harsil. I would definitely recommend staying in harsil as the bridge to Bagori is a work in progress and you need to leave your car which makes taking your luggage difficult.

Since the Apple season was in it's last stage, I got to pluck apples directly from trees and get them for family.

[Pkumarblore]

Hello @Wanderers, a divine & great review! Reminds me of my first visit to Badrinath in 2016 along with my elder brother and mother(around 69 years then). We flew from Bangalore to Dehradun and travelled to Badrinath up and down in a Fortuner(with a driver). It was a great experience. I have been craving to do another trip in detail visiting all important places on route to Badrinath., hopefully I do it in this year. Your travelogue will be of immense help to me then. Kudos and thanks for your travelogue once again.

[gajadonga]

Nice writeup and some good suggestions for people doing the Char Dham Yatra.
Yamunothri when we trekked there was a landslide in the trekking path and almost 100 metres had a single walking track with rope on the side had to hold the rope and crossover to the other side and was manned by two people either side to help people.

Kedarnath is a tougher trek and takes about 7 to 9 hours depending on the pace which we ascend. Poni takes a little shorter time. You were very lucky in Kedarnath with good weather otherwise if it rains and snows it is quite tough trek. In fact I prepared 2 months ahead will all kind of exercise and stretches.

Appreciate the efforts to take your Mother along and finishing the Yatra as per Schedule.

[Aakash118]

Wow, great travelogue. We went to Badrinath in 2017 in a Innova & to Kedarnath in 2019 in a City. Must say each of your picture brought back those memories. I thought of writing down the travelogue many times but never managed to do it. Here is one pic of enjoying the ‘hilly race’ between a Swift & S-Cross while taking the meal in a roadside dhaba.

[Vijay T]

Dear Wanderers,

Thank you very much for this beautiful & crisp travelogue.

Really understood the basics of planning a Chardham Yatra.

It would really help me as well as many fellow BHPians in planning this trip.

It actually looked very easy trip from your description as opposed to what many write as difficult one.

Thank you once again & wish to read many such helpful travelogues in future