The biggest reason for me to love and remember the trek is the beautiful valley itself. When you stand at the entry of the valley you see ahead of you a colourful carpet laid out.  The valley is at least a couple of kilometres wide and more than 10 kilometres long. In front of me was the carpet with waves of pinks, blues and yellow flowing along with the breadth and width.

A narrow path in between the flowers beckons you to go deeper. You now start seeing a variety of flowers. Not only in colours but in shapes, sizes, textures and smells. A few tens of steps bring you to a new variety of flowers. You wonder who got them here. What made the variety change? It was also interesting to see the big fauna change along with the changing flora.

I stood by the flowers, sat down beside them, and lay down on the small exposed trail trying to immerse myself and feel a part of the multitude of flowers in the valley. The cool mountain breeze coming from the glacial end of the valley brought with it scents that I had never known before.

Valley Of Flowers is a moderate trek but the climb to Hemkund challenges you to the next level. In 6 km you gain almost 4,000 ft. This not only introduces a new challenge but also takes you to a scenic zone that you did not expect.

I loved the entry into the alpine zone while climbing up to Hemkund. You almost get a drone or helicopter view of Ghangaria and the Valley of flowers while on the way up. You can see where you came from and where you went the previous day. A bird’s-eye view puts so much perspective even on landscape scenery.

As you climb up steeply you go through varied experiences. Leaving the tree line, entering alpine meadows, feeling the thin air and looking up to the pure alpine cliffs.

Once at Hemkund Sahib, the quietness of the lake and the surrounding mountains stun you. The majestic lake reflecting its surroundings – the mountains and the Gurudwara makes you reflect in gratitude about your entire journey. For many, it is a moment of quiet reflection on their entire lives.

Valley Of Flowers is not just a trek. Along with a trek to the beautiful valley, it shows you an incredible journey of faith undertaken by humans. You see youngsters, middle-aged, elderly, children, and toddlers on this incredible climb to the lake at 14,000 ft. Many take the support of ponies or even porters but quite a few of them climb on their might.

It was heartwarming to see volunteers sweeping every section of the trail to keep it clean and working at Hemkund Sahib Gurdwara in freezing temperatures. It was a wonderful feeling to wake up in Ghangaria at dawn to the parade calls of the Sikh Gurudwara. The trek shows you a world you would hardly see otherwise.