Places to explore in Uttarakhand on a 16-day backpacking trip (INR 15000)

July 6, 2019July 6, 2019 admin 1 Comment

“Don’t listen to what they say. Just get out and experience it!!” Well… True that! Isn’t it? Ok, now let me ask you; what’s the first thing that comes to your mind whenever you hear about Uttarakhand. Is it the mountains, refreshing weather or perhaps the holy temples, religious and spiritual centers? Hang on there, did you realize that as you think about the answer, there’s a part of your heart that’s whispering “Dude there are lots of places to explore in Uttarakhand”. Well, honestly mine did that too.Khaliya top trek – Places to explore in UttarakhandFrom last year and a half, since I started blogging, many of my readers asked me that how do I plan for such long tours? Do I opt for a packaged tour? Definitely not!! Why to book a packaged tour when all the information needed for planning is easily available over the internet.

Gmaps, IRCTC, Wikipedia, Wikitravel, MakeMyTrip, and travel blogs are all there to help you in planning the itinerary. Let me put forward my backpacking solo trip of 16 days to explore the must-see places in Uttarakhand.Auli – Places to explore in UttarakhandBefore the start of the journeyGenerally, I don’t plan much!! Just in order to keep the traversing distance to the shortest, what I generally do is, locate all the places on Gmaps that I am planning to visit and traverse accordingly, in order to avoid repeating the road routes. I hope you got what I am trying to convey here.This is how I traversed starting from Haridwar and ending the trip at Nainital.I just pre-booked return journey flight tickets for Pune – Delhi (INR 4500) and a train from Delhi to Haridwar (sleeper class). Being not a full-time traveler right now, I have limited holidays and hence I prefer flights just in order to save that extra day. For stay, except booking Zostel at Rishikesh, I didn’t book anything.Zostel RishikeshUttarakhand is a unique state like any other state in our country and since I had heard a lot about it, I was very curious to visit it and to my surprise, it offered me more than what I expected of it. This land captured my soul.Lakshman Jhula- Places to explore in UttarakhandAs I entered the place, my body got numb and all I remember is the holy breeze that hit my body and made me realize about the part that was longing for this feeling of sacredness. With this warm welcome, I started my journey to one of the most beautiful states of our country “Uttarakhand” also known as “Devbhoomi” (Land of Gods).En route to Auli – Places to explore in UttarakhandNote: All INR spent below are inclusive of everything (travel, food and stay).Day 0 (Pune – New Delhi – Haridwar) INR 2600

Pune to Delhi flight(INR 2200)
Delhi to Haridwar overnight train (INR 190 – Mussoorie express – 22:25 – 06:05)
Are you satisfied with your 9 -5 job? Have you ever put a step forward to work on what you love to do and pursue it as a career? Maybe, a dream career will not give you as much as a 9-5 job, but it will surely give you happiness worth millions. I am happy that I took that step forward.“Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.Nag Tibba Trek – Places to explore in UttarakhandI was excited!! Excited to leave the daily routine in the chaotic city life and travel to the love of my life, “The Himalayas”. With all the excitement of the long trip ahead, I boarded the evening flight for New Delhi. From Delhi, I took an overnight train to reach Haridwar early morning.Devprayag – Places to explore in UttarakhandDay 1, 2(Haridwar – Rishikesh) INR 1500 Haridwar was first on my list. After spending around 8-10 hours exploring the must-see places of the sacred city, I headed for Rishikesh. The distance between Haridwar to Rishikesh is around 20 kms and one can opt for a bus/Tuk-Tuk (shared auto – INR 40) to reach the same.Post for Haridwar is underwriting and will be published soon. For more details on my journey to Rishikesh, check out the earlier post: Rishikesh – Finding your inner self at Yoga Capital of the World (INR 1500 – 2 days)Ganga Aarti – Triveni Ghat in RishikeshDay 3, 4, 5 (Rishikesh – Dehradun – Nag Tibba Trek – Rishikesh) INR 700700 INR for 3 days? Abhi, are you kidding!! No, I am not!! Last year, Bikat adventures organized a photo contest and my photo was awarded the Viewers ‘choice prize. They gave me a voucher worth 5,000 INR which could only be applied to any of their packaged tours. And, I chose the Nag Tibba trek for which the cost was 5,550 INR. Nag Tibba Trek – Places to explore in UttarakhandI took an early morning bus from Rishikesh for Dehradun (INR 55 – 45 kms- 1 hour) where everyone was expected to assemble. For more details on Nag Tibba Trek, you may check out my earlier post: Nag Tibba Trek – An exciting snow trek in the lap of Himalayas.Nag Tibba Trek – Places to explore in UttarakhandDay 6(Rishikesh – Devprayag – Pauri) INR 700I started my day a bit early and took a morning bus from Rishikesh (just outside Zostel) (INR 110 – 76 kms – 3.5 hours) and reached Devprayag around 11 am. To read more about my journey to Devprayag, you may give a read to my post: Devprayag – The confluence of the rivers Bhagirathi and Alaknanda to form “The Ganga” Devprayag – Places to explore in Uttarakhand bAfter exploring the town for around 5-6 hours, next on my list was Khirsu. But, thanks to the concept of Hitchhiking, I ended up at Pauri (40 kms from Devprayag and 20 kms before Khirsu). And, I must admit that I was lucky enough to experience the beauty of this Hidden Gem. It was already 8 pm by the time I made it to the town, hence decided to explore it the next day. That’s the beauty of no fixed plans.