Fun On Wheels -- Bike Trip -- Delhi/Gurgaon-Badrinath-Valley of Flowers-Hemkund Sahib

Fun On Wheels -- Bike Trip -- Delhi/Gurgaon-Badrinath-Valley of Flowers-Hemkund Sahib

Hello World!!! We all seem to be getting engulfed into our monotonous daily work routines. We seldom get a chance to fulfill our long cherished desires. This is a travelogue that collates, cherishes and shares the series of events that unfolded when we embarked upon our maiden 1200+ km voyage on wheels.
It was start of August 2019; the rains had already blossomed onto its fury of downpour. We realized that mid of the month we have two holidays mid-week. What it meant was if we somehow snuggle in 3 days leave, clubbing it with weekends we get 9 days off. This was the best opportunity to plan a vacation.
It was our long cherished desire to go on a long trip on our Bikes (Motor Cycles). It was the best opportunity to fulfill this  wish. My travel readings suggested that Mid August (the rainy season) was the best time to go for a trip to Valley of Flowers as in monsoons the flowers bloom and one can witness the best of the UNESCO world heritage site. Little bit of deeper investigation into the literature of Valley of Flowers revealed that we could club Valley of Flowers with Badrinath and Hemkund Sahib. The trio will suffice for a 9 day trip.
Browsing the Internet for hotel bookings etc revealed the status that it was the peak season, we were too late and most of the hotels and accommodations were already booked. Besides this, one of the bikes had not been started for the last one year. Without the bikes being in working condition embarking on a road journey of over 1200 km was impossible.
Starting this bike revealed some knocking in the engine, brakes not fully functional and a lot of noise from the chains.

Once the 3 day midweek leaves were managed, the Bike was driven for some time for a day or two to remove the engine knocking. The chain was tightened a bit to lower down the chain slipping and noise. The rear wheel brakes were working a bit but the front wheel brake was merely working.
Any how we could gather the courage to take this bike for a 1200 km + ride. During the Journey we would time and again stop to tighten the chain to reduce the noise a bit and carry on. The noise in the chains accompanied us throughout the journey until, during our return journey, we stopped by a mechanic at Rudra Pryag who tightened the chains with big spanners to stop the deafening sound. The front brake never worked, the rear wheel brake worked a bit and was the savior throughout the journey.

Apart from the bike the biggest challenge was that where would we stay and dine. Browsing the Internet we could figure out that we can find some low budget rooms and hotels that are not listed on the Internet. Also some hotels have last minute cancellation which can be leveraged if you reach at a hotel which has spare rooms.
If nothing works, as this route is on a Sikh pilgrimage route to Hemkund Sahib, we can stay and dine at various Gurudwaras (place of assembly and worship for Sikhs) on the route.

We collected some woolen clothes, rain/wind cheaters, some cotton T-Shirts, Jeans, Track suit lowers, sandals, First Aid Kit (having antiseptic liquid, band aids, bandages, crepe bandages, knee & ankle caps an ointment for curing burns, cuts, and bruises etc), some medicines (for curing: head/body aches, fever, loose motions, vomiting on hills etc), Vaseline, muscle pain reliving ointment and some large poly-bags to cover our luggage and save it from getting wet during rains. 

Fun On Wheels -- Bike Trip -- Delhi/Gurgaon-Badrinath-Valley of Flowers-Hemkund Sahib

Once everything was finalized a tentative itinerary was chalked out and finally with almost no prior preparation or bookings we embarked upon our long cherished journey. I think sometimes taking challenges on the face without any prior preparation becomes much more rewarding and memorable as did this trip became. Such trip certainly teaches you some life lessons. Below is the account of the trip. Hope you enjoy reading our experience also I believe it is informative and helps you plan your trip.

** Carry Vaseline and Sunscreens to save you from Sunburns and charred lips & cheeks. Also when you are travelling by road during rainy season in India carry heavy duty rain coat, rain paints, wind cheaters, rain resistant boots etc as there is heavy rain pour and only heavy duty rain cover will last. Carry clothes that dry soon so even if they get wet they dry quickly.

Itinerary

Day 1: Delhi/Gurgaon to Rishikesh/Devprayag(Stay at Rishikesh/Dev Prayag )
Day 2: Rishikesh/Dev Prayag  to Joshimath (Stay at Joshimath)
Day 3: Joshimath toBadrinath/Govindghat (Stay at Govindghat)
Day 4: Govindghat to Ghangharia (Stay at Ghangharia)
Day 5: Ghangharia to Valley of Flower (Stay at Ghangharia)
Day 6: Ghangharia to Hemkund Sahib (Stay at Govindghat)
Day 7: Govindghat/Joshimath to Rishikesh/Dev Prayag  (Stay at Rishikesh/Dev Prayag )
Day 8: Rishikesh/Dev Prayag to Delhi/Gurgaon
Day 9: Rest at Delhi/Gurgaon
                                                                                    

Start the Journey : Day 1

Fun On Wheels -- Bike Trip -- Delhi/Gurgaon-Badrinath-Valley of Flowers-Hemkund Sahib