Trip to Kedarnath
We, the school friends, had amazing road trip to Leh (
Hanumangarh -> Jammu -> Srinagar -> Kargil -> Leh -> Manali
-> Chandigarh ) in the year 2017 and since then, discussions were going on
to finalize next destination.
The momentum was not enough this year as well where any plan
could have worked out until one of friend ( Pradeep Arora) initiated serious
conversation related to trip, other friend Punnet Jain, created specific
WhatsApp group to discuss on this, in month of May. I suggested Kedarnath and
with some resistance, the destination was finalized. We agreed for following
trip plan:
- 1. Day 0 : Bangalore to Delhi : 14th Jun (flight in the late evening) & Stay at Hotel in New Delhi ( Near Railway Station)
- 2. Day 1: 15th Jun 2019 : Delhi to Haridwar ( Shatabadi Train), Stay at hotel in Rishikesh
- 3. Day 2 : 16th Jun 2019 : Rishikesh to Sonprayag ( Road trip via Tempo Traveler) , Stay at Gaurikund
- 4. Day 3 : 17th Jun 2019 : Gaurikund to Kedarnath ( 16 KM trek to Kedarnath temple ), Stay at Kedarnath
- 5. Day 4: 18th Jun 2019 : Kedarnath to Gaurikund ( 16 KM trek to Gaurikund – Return trip), Road trip from Sonpranayg to Rudraprayag, Stay at Rudraprayag
- 6. Day 5: 19th Jun 2019 : Rundraprayag to Rishikesh, Rishikesh to Dehradun Airport, Dehradun to Bangalore ( Evening flight)
We started collecting funds, booking flight tickets,
finalized hotels at Rishikesh, Delhi and booked the accommodation, confirmed
train tickets for the journey. Preparation was at peak and everyone was excited
for the trip though there was some nervousness as others started to realize the
potential difficulties during the trip.
We had following challenge during the planning phase:
- 1. There was a time when team was thinking of changing the destination to Mussorrie/ Nanital/ or Rishikesh itself. It was difficult conversation to keep everyone intact on the place and, we were able to.
- 2. Fund collection for the trip at right time for different bookings and their confirmed participation for the trip
- 3. Traffic jam : This season was having unprecedented number of tourist travelling to North India hill stations and Kedarnath was also severely affected, because of high number of tourist inflow, there was traffic jam like situation before Sonprayag ( 5-10 KMs of standstill traffic for many hours), accommodation availability at different places and traffic jam between Haridwar to Rishikesh ( it’s 30 KM of distance but, on some days it took 4-5 hours to cover the distance), with the immense pressure because of record tourist coming to visit kedarnath, and the authorities were not able to provide proper arrangements, the SDM of kedarnath resigned in first week of Jun, all these news getting published/ highlighted in newspaper, creating panic like situation in our friends group because everybody wanted peaceful vacation
With all these difficulties, we (
myself, Pradeep Bhateja, Puneet Jain, Vikrant Singh) were talking on daily
basis and evaluating the different options for accommodation & travel to
kedarnath.
I researched and got to know that
there are multiple helicopter service providers
There are following locations
near Kedarnath from where you can have chopper ride:
- 1. Sersi
- 2. Sitapur
- 3. Phata
- 4. Guptkashi
- 1. Sersi helipad to Sonprayag : 8 KM ( 220 KM from Rishikesh)
- 2. Phata Helipad to Sonprayag : 16 KM ( 210 KM from Rishikesh)
- 3. Guptkashi helipad to Sonprayag : 30 KM ( 194 KM from Rishikesh)
- 4. Rishikesh to Sonprayag : 220 KM
The rates are different from these vendors as they operate
from different locations (mentioned above). For Phata to kedarnath, the round-trip
ticket cost for one person is around 5K - 6K Rs. Following are different
operators in this route:
Heritage Aviation Pvt Ltd, Himalayan Heli Services PVT Ltd,
Pawan Hans, UTair India Pvt Ltd, Aryan Aviation, Aero Aviation Ltd etc.
I’d suggest booking helicopter tickets at least 2 months
before the travel to kedarnath especially during the peak season (May &
Jun). July and Aug are the monsoon months and due to rainy seasons, the tourists
are limited in those periods.
I started my journey on 14th Jun, the flight was
delayed, and I reached Delhi at 1:30 AM instead of scheduled 11 PM arrival. I
couldn’t get Metro train as last service is scheduled to run at 11:20 PM from
T3 to NDLS. Metro train starts at 4 AM next day from Airport to New Delhi.
Flight landed at T2 airport and you have to walk to T3 ( around 500 meters) and
can have different options ( Volvo Bus [70 Rs], Ola/Uber [800 Rs], Prepaid
Taxi[500 Rs]) , I took prepaid taxi and reached hotel at Paharganj in 40 mins
at 3 AM, I slept around 2 hours as we had Shatabadi train to Haridwar at 6:45
AM from NDLS ( Platform – 16).
Excitement was at peak and we reached Haridwar at 11:30 AM (Scheduled
time) , took taxi to Rishikesh hotel ( Gayathri Resort – Muni ki Reti/ Tapovan)
– 1300 Rs. The distance between Haridwar to Rishikesh is only 27 KM but, it’s
having infamous traffic jams because of inflow of vehicles from Delhi/ UP/
Haryana. It was taking 4-5 hours to cover this distance a week before per what
our driver told us. It took 2 hours for us to reach the hotel. There are two
railway crossings enroute and also contribute to traffic jam.
We reached hotel( Rishikesh) around 2:30 PM and after having
lunch, checked in hotel. Vikrant managed to get some reference of local river
rafting person and booked immediately for two person while other friends were
on the way to Haridwar.
We went to Shivpuri for River rafting ( 600 Rs per person)
in Ganga ( Around 15 KM from the hotel), it took 2.5 hours to complete 9 KM of
river rafting ( it was 3:30 PM when we started from hotel and operator
transferred us to rafting point in Mahindra SUV). After the brief session on
instructions, captain took us for rafting, since river water level was high so,
rapids didn’t appear to be challenging to cross.
We stopped at point for cliff jumping and they transferred us back to pick point after the rafting activity. It was fine experience owing to the fact that it got planned in last minutes.
We stopped at point for cliff jumping and they transferred us back to pick point after the rafting activity. It was fine experience owing to the fact that it got planned in last minutes.
ganga in full flow, is magnificent to watch.
Day 1: Rishikesh to
Sonprayag ( 16th Jun 2019 : Sunday)
We all got ready by 6:30 AM, we had booked 12 seater tempo
traveler as we were 7 people, cab driver came late due to traffic jam and
reached by 8:00 AM, by that time, we were done with our breakfast and started
our journey around 8:00 AM for Kedarnath.
We had to follow route Rishikesh -> Devprayag( 70 KM)
-> Srinagar ( 115 KM) -> Rudraprayag ( 142 KM)-> Augstyamuni ( 160 KM)
-> Guptkashi ( 185 KM) -> Sonprayag ( 220 KM) -> Gaurikund ( 225 KM)
River Mandakini flows along with the route to Kedarnath. Mandakini originates from ChoraBari glacier and meet Saraswati at Kedarnath. Mandakini rive, then flows towards Rudraprayag where it meets with Alaknanda river. Alaknanda river then joins Bhagirathi( originates from Gangotri) at Devprayag and from there it’s called Holy river Ganga.
River Mandakini flows along with the route to Kedarnath. Mandakini originates from ChoraBari glacier and meet Saraswati at Kedarnath. Mandakini rive, then flows towards Rudraprayag where it meets with Alaknanda river. Alaknanda river then joins Bhagirathi( originates from Gangotri) at Devprayag and from there it’s called Holy river Ganga.
We had multiple breaks in between and reached around 6 PM at
sonprayag. We had break at Dhara Devi which is located at banks of Alaknanda
river between Srinagar & Rundraprayag.
Per the popular belief, The goddess idol was shifted from the temple on 16th Jun 2013 for Hydro power project and coincidently, there was devastating flood ( Himalayan Tsunami) on 17th Jun. The new temple is constructed at same place but, on raised platform so that it can stand above mighty Alaknanda River.
Per the popular belief, The goddess idol was shifted from the temple on 16th Jun 2013 for Hydro power project and coincidently, there was devastating flood ( Himalayan Tsunami) on 17th Jun. The new temple is constructed at same place but, on raised platform so that it can stand above mighty Alaknanda River.
The road widening project is going on and govt is planning
to construct all weather roads for char dham yatra ( Yamunotri, Gangotri,
Kedarnath and Badrinath, Char dham yatra is performed in same order).
From Rishikesh to Augustyamuni, road condition is bit ok as
it’s double road except few points where it’s single lane but, after
Augustyamuni to Sonprayag, it’s all single lane and average speed is not more
than 30 KMPH in this route. So, even if the total distance between Rishikesh to
Sonprayag is 220 KM, it takes around 10 hours to cover the distance. The road
condition is not good, it’s mostly single lane with good traffic, gravel/ dusty
roads. If one is allergic to dust, should carry respiratory masks to avoid dust
as it’ll be difficult for cab driver to run vehicle on AC during uphill.
Everyone must do bio-metric registration before starting
trek,
You can register yourself at counters setup at multiple locations e.g. Haridwar, Rishikesh, Guptkashi, Phata, Sonprayag at free of cost
You can register yourself at counters setup at multiple locations e.g. Haridwar, Rishikesh, Guptkashi, Phata, Sonprayag at free of cost
Or you can register yourself for it by paying 50 Rs
registration fee online at:http://onlinechardhamyatra.in/frmUserRegistration.aspx
You need to provide name/ DOB details along with ID card at
counters and they will issue Registration & Trekking access card for the
Kedarnath Dham yatra.
Following are the operating time of counter at Sonprayag:
·
Opening time : 4 AM
·
Lunch time from 2 to 3 PM
·
Closing is 7:15 PM
So, if you are reaching after 2 PM at Sonprayag, you will be
issued Kedarnath trek access for next day. Since we reached by 6 PM so, we were
also issued trek access card for 17th Jun 2019. Per the plan, we had
to stay at Gaurikund. There was no queue at counter so, we were done in 5 mins
and got access card. In the morning, there can be long line in front of counter
so, expect it to take 30 mins to 1 hour during rush hours ( morning time).
The trekking from Kedarnath starts from Gaurikund 3:30 AM and
goes on till 1:30 PM. These timings are fixed since Kedarnath Dham is located
inside the Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary and this is the reason why pilgrims are
not allowed to trek any time after this.
You must leave your vehicle ( private/ commercial) at
Sonprayag unless you have approval from authorities to take vehicle to
Gaurikund. There is big parking spot at Sonprayag where all incoming vehicles
need to be parked. We left our TT at Sonprayag, got our luggage and headed for
Gaurikund.
Biometric registration counter is around 200 meters away
from the parking lot. You need to walk around 500 meters for taxi pick point
towards Gaurikund. There are lot of vehicle( Mahindra bolero) plying between
sonprayag & Gaurikund. The distance is 5 KM and you need to take govt
operated taxi to reach Gaurikund. Fare is 20 Rs per person and It takes 15 mins
to reach Gaurikund. Taxiwalla takes 12 passengers in their cab ( thrill starts
from here).
We reached Gaurikund at 7:15 PM, we were told that we would
get rooms easily in Gaurikund and with the same optimism, we started searching
accommodation there but, situation looked difficult. We searched hotels for
around 2 hours but, didn’t get single room there to stay overnight.
During the planning phase, we couldn’t get accommodation
booked at Gaurikund because of unavailability there so, it remained in red zone
for potential threats. We were going through tough phase while climbing up and
down during search for accommodation in Gaurikund. Finally, we got one room,
it’s shared accommodation, under the tin shed, at first floor, stinky, small room
where around 15 people had to stay for overnight. All overnight stay options in
Gaurikund are like that, where small rooms where multiple people have to stay,
no bed, one has to sleep at floor usin7g the given thin mattress and blanket,
common restroom for all the rooms. Some rooms that are big, I saw around 30
people were stuffed inside, taking rest for the journey towards kedarnath early
in the morning on next day.
It was around 10 PM, We changed our plan, came down to
Sonprayag again with luggage, got one dormitory ( big hall but, in more
hygienic place) 700 Rs per bed ( mattress on the floor with blanket), had
dinner at 10:30 PM and went for sleep. It’s having common restrooms and one can
expect long queues in the morning 😊
Day 2 : Sonprayag to
Gaurikund to Kedarnath ( 17th Jun 2019)
I woke up at 4 AM, got ready by 5 AM and everybody was ready
by 6 AM to start. We were amazed to see the line for the taxi pick point to
Gaurikund. The time is 7 AM and It was around 1 KM long line and it was going
to take at least 1-2 hours for our turn to come, then, Manish Singla became
savior and used his special skills/ references to bypass the queue and we
reached Gaurikund by 7:15 AM.
We started our trek at 8 AM. It’s 16 KM trek. Gaurikund is at 1800 Meter altitude and Kedarnath is around 3600 Meter altitude.
We started our trek at 8 AM. It’s 16 KM trek. Gaurikund is at 1800 Meter altitude and Kedarnath is around 3600 Meter altitude.
Gaurikund -> JangleChatti ( 4 KM) -> Bhimbali ( 6 KM)
-> Rambara (7 KM) -> Choti Lincholi( 8.5 KM) -> Lincholi (11 KM) ->
Chavni Camp ( 12 KM) -> Rudra Point ( 14 KM) -> Base Camp(14.5 KM) – Sri
Kedarnath Temple ( 16 KM)
So, we not only need to cover 16 KM distance but, need to go
2 KM uphill as well. It’s approx. 100 meter per KM and at some places, it’s
quite steep ascend.
The Kedarnath temple opened on Akshya Tritya and close on
Karthik Poornima. It opened on 9th May and will close on 29th
Oct 2019. This year, all records have been broken in terms of pilgrims visiting
the temple. There are approx. 20K pilgrims visited every day and within 40 days
of opening the temple, around 7 Lakh ( 0.6 m) pilgrims have visited temple and
by end of this season, it’s expected to cross 15L total visitors to Kedarnath
temple. In first week of June, the per day visitor data crossed 35K that
disrupted all services and put administration on back foot and gave them hard time
to get back on track. Due to this, several people got stuck in several hours
There are different ways to reach Kedarnath
- 1. Helicopter – 3500 Rs per person single side, takes 5-10 mins from Phata to Kedarnath, in general, operators recommend for return trip booking ( 7K- 9K return trip Same day/next day)
- 2. Mule ride : Gaurikund to Kedarnath Base Camp – approx. 2500 Rs per person – one side
- 3. Palanquin or Doli ( Carried by 4 Porters) : Gaurikund to Kedarnath : 75 KG person – 4500 Rs – one side
- 4. Sling Carrier or Kandi (carried by a person on his back in wooden basket) : for 70 KG person – 8000 Rs – One side
There are around 8K to 10K mule vendors, 3-5K Doli and
around 2K Kandi operators are active in the route. Mule ride takes 4-5 hours to
reach Kedarnath base camp from Gaurikund. Mule operators/ Kandi/ Doli operators
are heard to be complaining against authorities because of surge in helicopter
services that affected their business. These guys do business from May to Nov
month in a year and out of these months, two months are peak period so,
technically, they get chance to earn in these months.
At Gaurikund, there is Tapt Kund ( hot water spring)
beside flowing mandakini river and one is believed to take bath before onset of journey. Gaurikund is the place where it’s believed that Lord Shiva accepted to marry Goddess Parvati.
beside flowing mandakini river and one is believed to take bath before onset of journey. Gaurikund is the place where it’s believed that Lord Shiva accepted to marry Goddess Parvati.
We started trek at 8 AM from Gaurikund, we were 7 people in
total and soon we got divided into two groups, we were four walking bit fast
than rest three. The start pace was 2 KM per hour but, as it started steep
climb and we got exhausted with continuous trekking ( 1 KM per hour).
Everyone has its own pace with respect to their body and
natural rhythm and one shouldn’t get worried to match the pace with others so,
even if we got divided in two groups but, it was good to be in group that suits
your natural pace. No award in finishing trek but, be in good health will
definitely be rewarding for your entire journey.
It was really a difficult trek as it put immense pressure on
your physical & mental balance. In presence of other factors e.g. mule dung
can make you very uncomfortable with the stinky path and haphazard movements of
mules, running or racing against each other to reach early at kedarnath, can
make you crazy while trekking as you get little space to walk.
You get lot of shops where you can get aloo parathas, tea/
coffee, maggi, cookies, juices etc
·
We are moving forward towards first milestone –
Junglechatti, it’s still 3 KM and time is 8:07 AM, Altitude is 2077 meters,
pressure is 787 and distance remaining was still 15 KM to go.
·
We reached Jungle Chatti at 9:15 AM, had 30-40
mins of break, and started at 9:50 AM for our onward journey. We crossed Rudra
falls and Kedarnath is still 12 KM to go, the Altitude reading is 2400 meters
and pressure is 750 hPa, the oxygen saturation for me stands at 92% and pulse
rate is around 100-120 BPM.
· We reached Bhimbali at 10:50 AM, altitude is
2670 meters. There is new route formed after
2013 Kedarnath tragedy. One can still see the sign of disaster at Rambara
where entire town is washed away in that flash flood of 2013. There is old
route that is bit steep and shorter than newly constructed route. We took
shorter route but, it was bit steep compared to other one. Following image shows the place where there used to be Village 'Rambara' before year 2013
·
· There are few detours that are
called alternate ways/ short-cuts. These routes are very steep to climb but,
can cut good distance. Many people prefer to take these routes and one should
avoid if it’s raining as it can get slippery climbing on these paths. I found
it very challenging to cross even without rain.
·
· It was getting difficult to move forward but, by
seeing elderly people, people carrying their kids, porters carrying tourist on
their shoulders, or sling carriers , you get motivation to continue walking as
you tend to forget your challenges because some people’s earning is based on
ferrying people on their back/ shoulder
·
The Distance between choti Lincholi and Lincholi is 2
KM, Kedarnath is still 7 KM, the ascent is getting steep, the altitude at this Lincholi is, 2840 meters, The temperature reading was showing around 20 degree, it was drizzling and the time was 1:02 PM. By this time, i had climbed equivalent to 125 floors :)
·
I've reached Lincholi and Kedarnath is still 3.5 KM from the place, the time was 2:29 PM, we had covered 12 KM till that point, the journey was getting tougher, after every few steps, we had to stop to catch up with the breath, After Rambara, the trek gets steeper till Base Camp and after that path gets flattens, it was drizzling and temperature was below 20 degree centigrade. The pressure was getting reduced and reading was 690 hPa, Altitude reading at the place was 3050 meters.
· We were walking slowly and taking small breaks and having food/ liquids at regular time, the base camp was still 2.5 KM and Kedarnath temple was 4 KM, The Time was 4:00 PM, we had to take break of 30 mins because of short spell of
rain, pressure was getting low as we climb and reading was 683, the altitude reading was 3211 meter at that point.
·
We had to cross glaciers and specifically that zone was very slippery and have seen Mule getting imbalanced while crossing the Glacier on the way to
Base camp
·
It was 4:45 PM and the Base camp was still at 1 Km, i measured my O2
saturation and it stands at 79, the Heart beat was 122, Pressure reading was 674 and altitude 3304 meters, It was getting colder as we continue to approach Kedarnath Base camp, Temperature reading was around 15 Degress. I got separated with other friends as i was taking VLOG/Photos, this is common problem if you don't pay attention or match the pace so, be careful to remain with friends/ family. I continued to walk and got mobile phone signal near Base camp, called up friends and after some time, we again reunited. We reached Base Camp at 5:30 PM
·
I measured O2 / HR at Base camp and O2
saturation was dropped to 67, whereas Pulse rate increased to 140, it was 6 PM and pressure was dropped to 650 hpa, and it started raining after that
It took around 11 hours to reach from Gaurikund to
Kedarnath temple. I booked accommodation using GMVNL website.
In char dham yatra/ Kedarnath/ Badrinath/ Sonprayag/ Gaurikund, you should book accommodation using this website.
In char dham yatra/ Kedarnath/ Badrinath/ Sonprayag/ Gaurikund, you should book accommodation using this website.
Following is the process of booking accommodation:
·
Go to Accommodation Booking
·
Register yourself
·
Identify the destination ( Kedarnath)
·
Select the property (We opted Kedardome Cottages)
– it’s having bunk bed with thick blanket/Quilt
·
Select from & to date (it should be same on
the day that you are arriving e.g. we arrived 17th Jun at 6 PM and
needed to vacate the room on 18th Jun at 8 AM so, from & to date
will be 17th Jun)
·
Submit
·
It’ll show the availability at this point where
you need to give number of beds = person, the room rate is 600 Rs per bed for
DORM category ( since this was only
available so, you need to be watchful over the availability as it can be
difficult to get rooms during peak season)
·
Always book your stay at Gaurikund/Sonprayag/
Kedarnath before you start your travel
·
You can refer to given phone numbers for your
queries at GMVNL websites, people are quite helpful and supportive in providing
information.
You can get accommodation at different places Lincholi,
Junglechatti enroute to kendarnath for overnight stay through GMVNL sites ( in
case you want to stay)
Day 3: Kedarnath and
Return Journey ( 18th Jun 2019 )
It was raining all over night, we woke up at 5 AM and it was
drizzling at that time as well, the challenge was to deal with icy cold water
and unavailability of hot water. After some follow up, the guy turned up at
5:30 AM and got hot water after paying 100 Rs per bucket. We all got ready in
another 30-45 mins and reached temple by 6:30 AM.
The temperature was around 1-2 degree and it was quite windy
so feel like temperature was near zero degree. We reached temple in 10 – 15
mins, the view was mesmerizing,
we were amazed to see the beauty of nature, it was breath-taking view from Kedarnath temple, we all were quite enthusiast, feeling eccentric with the landscapes around us. It was drizzling at that point, and even after having woolen, were shivering like anything. The queue was getting bigger so, we got into line and completed darshan and came out in 30 – 40 mins.
we were amazed to see the beauty of nature, it was breath-taking view from Kedarnath temple, we all were quite enthusiast, feeling eccentric with the landscapes around us. It was drizzling at that point, and even after having woolen, were shivering like anything. The queue was getting bigger so, we got into line and completed darshan and came out in 30 – 40 mins.
We were there around one more hour, clicking photos, shooting videos, visiting bheem shila ( rock) that got settled behind the temple during
unprecedented flash floods, diverted its path & protected temple from the
mudslide and falling debris from chorabari lake.
We started our return journey at 8:00 AM, had breakfast near
base camp and started again at 9 AM, it took 5 hours for us to reach Gaurikund
and we reached at 2 PM at Gaurikund. It was equally difficult to trek downhill
as it puts immense pressure on knees & pelvic muscles. Due to continuous
rain, the path had become slippery, we had to descend carefully without
attempting to run downhill. The challenge is to have firm step to avoid injury
and bending ankle was always a threat. I did accidentally twisted my ankle couple
of times but, it was not hard enough to cause injury.
We started our journey back to Rishikesh around 3 PM from
Sonprayag. We could cover 100 KM by 8 PM and decided to have night stay at
Srinagar – Garhwal, booked hotel, had dinner together, spent good quality time
in gossiping before went on to sleep.
Day 4 : Srinagar – Garhwal
to Rishikesh / Dehradun 19th Jun
We started at 5:30 AM, Rishikesh was around 110 KM and it
took around 4.5 hours to reach Natraj chowk, Rishikesh from where I got down to
take cab to Dehradun airport. The Jolly Grant airport is around 17 KM and it
can take 30 mins to reach there. Dehradun is around 50 KM from Rishikesh and
from Airport, Dehradun city is another 30 KM. I reached by 11 AM and flight was
around 4:30 PM since Dehradun airport is quite small and not having any outlet
stores at airport for shopping so, decided to visit Dehradun, Paltan Bazaar. I
did shopping and came back to airport around 2:30 PM for my flight to
Bangalore.
There was sense of satisfaction after completing the
difficult trek for Kedarnath temple because it tests your mental and physical
fitness and put you under immense pressure, once you are done, it can be
lifetime experience and extremely rejuvenating. For me, the journey was bit
difficult as I was not doing Gym/ Yoga/ Cardio exercises though I started climbing
upstairs to reach to office two weeks back from the onset of journey.
While returning, It was difficult to believe that I had
completed the trek!!!! The bigger question is what’s next place for vacation,
The Next Challenge…..!!!!
Recommendations:
- 1. Stick with iron base
- 2. Dates/ Dry fruits/ Chocolates
- 3. ORS packets with one-liter water bottle
- 4. Rain coat
- 5. Waterproof backpack
- 6. Be careful with ankle twisting while walking down ( on uneven, slippery, steep surface)
- 7. Woolen sweater/ Jacket/ cap
- 8. Socks/ Thermals / gloves
- 9. Eat banana/ Lime juice/ cucumber/ carbs at different spots
- 10. Take frequent breaks and refuel yourself
- 11. Keep hydrating yourself
- 12. Have raincoat, probability of rain is more after Lincholi
- 13. Keep having jacket even if it sweats during trekking
- 14. Have nail cutter for nail injury during trekking ( downhill causes more pressure on toes)
- 15. Have waist belt and should use during trek if someone is prone to back-pain
- 16. Medicines – Muscle relaxant, Diamox, Acidity tab, Paracetamol, Anti-biotic tab, Volini, Dettol, cotton, bandage, band-aid, tab for vomiting/ loose stool
- 17. Take small steps and don’t hurry to cover the distance
- 18. Be careful with mules and palki wallas while trekking
- 19. Trekking shoes ( waterproof )
- 20. Airtel 4G connectivity is good till Rudraprayag, intermittent after that and mostly 3G/Edge connectivity till Sonprayag. Wi-Fi services on trek route ( haven’t tried), 4G Airtel network at Lincholi and Kedarnath.
