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Dinesh Kukreti
If you want to see the beauty of nature, then come to the valley of flowers. Spread over an area of 87.5 sq km, situated at an altitude of 3962 meters above sea level in the high Himalayan region of the frontier Chamoli district of Uttarakhand, this valley is a unique gift of nature for tourists. This is the same valley, which is mentioned in the Ramayana and Mahabharata as Nandakanan.
The first to know of this valley was in the year 1931, the British mountaineer Frank S. Smith and his partner RL Holdsworth planted. Impressed beautifully by this, Smith returned to the Valley again in 1937 and in 1938 published a book called 'Valley of Flowers'. The Valley of Flowers was declared a national park in the year 1982. Surrounded by snow-capped mountains, this valley is filled with self-contained flowers every year after the snow melts. Coming here, it seems as if nature has decorated a plate of flowers among the mountains. Between August and September, the aura of the valley is seen. Naturally rich this valley is also a natural habitat of endangered animals black bear, snow leopard, brown bear, musk deer, colorful butterflies and blue sheep.
UNESCO Heritage
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Nanda Devi National Park and Valley of Flowers, located in the Uttarakhand Himalayas, are jointly declared as World Heritage Sites. In 2005, UNESCO granted World Heritage Status to the Valley of Flowers.
The valley changes color every 15 days
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Shattered disaster clouds
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During the disaster, the way to the Valley of Flowers in 2013 had completely fallen prey to the disaster. Two bridges were also swept along the three-kilometer-long walkway from Ghangharia to Valley of Flowers. Although the construction of the roadway was completed in the year 2014, the Valley of Flowers was opened for tourists for one month only. In the year 2015 too, only 4500 indigenous and foreign tourists reached the valley of Didar, but this time there are record tourists in the valley.
Plastic carry prohibited
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Plastic carrying is prohibited in the Valley of Flowers. The garbage that goes with the food items also has to be brought back by the tourists to the Ghangharia. Failure to do so provides a stringent fine. There is no stopping facility in the valley, so tourists have to return to Ghangharia before the day ends.
Entry fee------------
The entry fee for Indian tourists is Rs 150 for entry into the Valley of Flowers, while it is Rs 650 for foreign tourists. If you have children with you and are under five years of age, there is no entry fee.
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The last bus base in Chamoli district to reach the Valley of Flowers is at a distance of 275 km from Govindghat Tirthanagri Rishikesh, which lies between Joshimath-Badrinath. Rishikesh can also be reached by rail, while the nearest airport is at Jollygrant (Dehradun) near Rishikesh. The distance of Ghangharia, the entry point of the Valley of Flowers, from Govindghat is 13 kilometers. From where tourists can see a valley of flowers three kilometers long and half kilometers wide. The distance from Joshimath to Govindghat is 19 kilometers.
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