Trekking options open up in Uttarakhand

Dronagiri in Chamoli district has been identified as the 'trek of the year' for 2017. This is the village from where Hanuman is believed to have procured the mythical 'sanjivani booti' to revive Laksman. Another location similarly identified is Chaainsheel in Uttarkashi. Environmentalists are worried about these spots can sustain tourism practices because these areas are considered to be ecologically fragile.
This has been reported in indiatimes.com dated 10 May 2017.

Tourists would not be allowed to carry tents or plastic bottles or eatables in plastic packets because food would be served in biodegradable crockery and there would be people stationed across the trek route to remove any debris or litter on the way.
The schedule of trekking -
for Chaainsheel will commence on June 10 and will be sponsored by the state government till July 6. The tourists will stay in the tents and camps provided by the state tourism department. Chaainsheel is located at a distance of 230-Km from Dehradun, state capital of Uttarakhand and is spread over a distance of 25- 30-Km and is surrounded by the mountain ranges of Bangad region of Kotigad valley of Mori block in Uttarkashi district. The trekking event will consist of several batches and the duration of each batch will be 6 days
Dronagiri trek is 23-Km long and will commence from May 21 onward from Joshimath. There will also be two smaller treks of 3.5-Km each to two religious places Dronagiri Parvat and Nandi Kund


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Father-son duo of Dehradun set a Limca Record in trekking through the Thar Desert

A father-son duo of Dehradun have set a Limca Record in trekking through the Thar Desert - they have completed their planned trek of The Great Indian Desert (Thar Desert) covering on foot a distance of 305.17 kms in Bikaner-Jaisalmer area along the Indo-Pak Border in 9 days.
Both of them are products of Doon School - the father Manmohan Bhardwaj is an ex-student of the school batch of 1980 and his son Madhav Bhardwaaj is now a student of class 12.
This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 19 October 2016.

The earlier record of maximum length trek in desert was in the name of Indian Army with 261.59 km in 10 days in the month of February 2010.
After completing their record, the father-son duo had applied to the Limca Book of Records to consider their longer trek as the new record, in view of added achievements like less time, early summer hot weather as against February of the Army and being a father-son duo. The Limca Book of Records have accepted their record.


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Valley of Flowers in Uttarakhand an amazing tourist attraction

Valley of Flowers is located in the picturesque Bhyundar area near Joshimath in Chamoli district in the Upper Himalayas and is kept open for visitors from Wednesday. The valley is home to a variety of rare flowers, herbs and wildlife and usually remains snowbound for most parts of the year. The visitors get only for a small window lasting for a few months and, this year, they can enjoy till end October.
This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 1 June 2016.

On the first day, there was a good response with around 100 visitors who came to get enchanted by the beauty of the valley. The weather is good and the roads are in decent shape besides which flowers like Marigold, White roses and Trisula are in bloom. As far as the famous Brahamkamal flower is concerned, it blooms at a height of 6700 metre and, professional trekkers can get a glimpse of it. The monsoon will only increase the blooming flowers and more tourists are expected in days to come.
Online booking or advance booking has not started for VOF and interested persons would have to undertake a 5-Km trek from the Ghangaria village till the VOF gate from where they can buy their tickets. (For Indian visitors the entry charge is Rs 150 and for Foreign visitors the entry charge is Rs 650). The tourists can enjoy the beauty till late afternoon and must head back before dusk falls.


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Tourists can expect more and better facilities at tiger reserve and wildlife sanctuary

Tourists at Valmiki Tiger Reserve and Pant Wildlife Sanctuary in Bihar can look forward to enjoying better accommodation and allied services like transport and security facilities by virtue of an eco-tourism plan of the tourism and forests departments. VTR offers jungle safari and trekking.
This has been reported in telegraphindia.com dated 23 May 2016.

The forests department will draw up comprehensive plans to provide visitors facilities such as online booking, transport, lodging, food, sight-seeing and security at VTR, and also at other eco-tourism destinations in the state. The procedure at present is that hotels or guesthouses have to be booked through the divisional forests officer or the BSTDC office. However, tourists do not know about the travel options and other arrangements.
Under the modified plan, tourists can book accommodation at most eco-tourism destinations either by visiting the office of the divisional forests officer or contacting the BSTDC offices. These facilities will be available at VTR and the other destinations such as Pant Wildlife Sanctuary in Rajgir, Kakolat waterfalls in Nawada, Rajgir and others and will be introduced from the next tourist season (October-February).
There are a number of options for tourists like the forest guesthouses at Madanpur, Manguraha, Ganauli, and Govardhana ranges. Two eco-huts had been inaugurated at Kotraha and Madanpur ranges in November 2012. Moreover, there are six eco-huts at Govardhana and Naurangia Don ranges. In addition to these, several old and dilapidated wooden watchtowers and guesthouses have also been renovated recently.


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