VALLEY OF FLOWER TREK PLAN

Have you ever dreamt of visiting a place after a chance reading of an article over a coffee mug (of milk drink in my case) at the dining table. yes, it happened to me circa 2019 when a Hindu Metro Plus article on valley of flowers and Hemkund Sahib trek in the Uttarakhand's Himalayan ranges excited me for this monsoon trek to dive upon. And i got to materialize it with lot of discussions and planning and charting our own unique customized itinerary since this summer 2024 and we embarked on this journey as family and friends as a group of 10 of us on Aug. 23rd Friday, 5 years hence.

say it with flowers,
 article 2019 in THE HINDU metro plus
(ignore screenshot, i don't know where i kept it)

Even selection of this 10 days travel trek needed much of data analysis, sampling and in depth online research ,per se, not just for choice of stay recommendations or chronology of visiting different places.

So here am sharing the itinerary that's the result of some in-depth online research and monsoon trek much to the irritation and despair of the entire elders in the family whose BPs peaked with us traversing through the picturesque tapestry of lesser Himalayas or Shivalik's some of the worlds most dangerous roads.

To muster up to write this blog to start with shows what all went into planning this trek and how much of pre requisites needed. So here will share some shopping, travel tips, pre trek regime that someone with minimal exercise routine can also incorporate to be ready for the trek ahead.

Kondarangi hill trek in Feb2024

Deceiving POV but doable

 We love as a family of 4 and so did our friends who came along , did small treks to hill temples in our Kongu belt since this year beginning,  Kondarangi malai at 3825 ft is a very steep hike pointed throughout and gets very windy, we did it and then Odi malai 2140ft had over 1770 steps and is a good place to start with, then we also did the adventurous Shollingur Narasimha temple climb amidst harassing monkeys which is at 750ft height and 1300 steps, so all of these with our 7 yr old keeping us all on our toes as he doesn't sweat or feel short of breath while we would definitely feel the heat. 

 Other than these 10k steps on average day and your gymming or home workout or yoga or pilates or any dance workouts or regular walks routine should work fine and i did some couple of 50km and 25km cycling rides that i do few months before event and some 10km marathon runs. Do it your way at your pace as trekking is about endurance and its never a race. 

Shopping pre requisites for a monsoon trek:

This is something that will add to budget the first time you go and later it can be reused every time so invest wise and for everything a to z there is decathlon. 

Active wear pants and tops( sweat absorbent you need even in those low temperatures) this is something most sportsperson or gym goers will have already.

Padded jacket ( underneath it fleeced sweat-shirt was recommended, but we ended up not using as it was higher Himalayas and monsoon season, and it was humid too, but the padded jacket was need for up the Hemkund Sahib trek higher heights) so bring both and use 1 

thermal wears 2 sets atleast( some chose not to wear, but those who get cold could use it to keep body warm especially kids)

head cap any kind to cover ears well(monkey cap will be sweaty not recommended), scarf(if you need),several pairs of woolen socks( cotton socks will get sweaty and many will catch cold)

the biggest investment would be good trekking shoes(ordinary shoes might make your leg bear the brunt)

trekking bag, good trekking water bottle or light metal bottles, bag would be your choice( any other bags also would work, and there are Bittu wala or basket lifting coolie , you can pool in luggage or use for kids too)

good poncho type rain coat or rain pant and top is a must for these monsoon treks

moisturizer balm, sunscreen lotion, other essentials

From hometown Tirupur to Tirupur 10 days of travel time it was will share more on day 1 to 10 in each of the days posts.

cya! Happy dreaming about your Valley of flowers trek☺☺

curated with love,

Rama