Travel
information in Char Dhama
There are a few types of transport you can choose from. You can go by taxi, which is fairly comfortable, but also expensive. Taxis can be arranged with the Nigam Tourist Office, which can also arrange places to stay. You can also go as part of a tour. Taking a 2 X 2 luxury bus is a good way to travel.
If you do not go by a tour or taxi, you are stuck with going on the GMOU buses, which have five, fairly soft seats across. The problem with these buses is that the seats are much too close together, so you have almost no leg room. For a 1 2-hour bus ride they are extremely uncomfortable.
If you want to take the first bus and guarantee yourself a seat, you must reserve a seat the evening before, regardless of what you are told. Reservation for early morning buses usually starts at evening the day before. If you are told to purchase your ticket an hour before the early morning departure, do not believe this for a second. You can be almost totally certain that the bus will be full when you arrive at early morning. Get your ticket the night before.
The bus from Rishikesh to Yamunotri leaves about early morning and arrives in Hanuman Chatti (220 km) about 9 hours later, around 3 pm. To go to Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath, or Badrinath from Rishikesh you must come at 5 pm the night before to insure yourself a seat on an early morning bus from the Yatra Bus Stand. You can also pay a travel agent in Rishikesh a commission to reserve a seat for You.
Where To Travel in Yamunotri
Bus
From Haridwar or Rishikesh you first take a bus to Hanuman Chatti, which is where the road ends. The distance is about 220 km, depending on the route, and takes 9 to 11 hours. The early morning GMOU bus arrives in Hanuman Chatti at around afternoon. If you take a later bus from Rishikesh you may have to stop on the way to Hanuman Chatti.
The first bus to Gangotri (11 hr) leaves at early morning and must be reserved the night before. After the morning bus, then the buses to Gangotri leave when they are full. The next bus is scheduled to depart at 7 am, and that bus should arrive the same day.There is no sign or booth to indicate where to reserve buses in advance. The people reserving the morning buses sit near a building that looks like a shack, right next to the parked buses.
If you arrive in the afternoon it is a good idea to immediately start walking to Janaki-chatti (3 hr). Janaki-chatti is a much nicer and cleaner town than Hanuman-chatti, and there are many more decent places to stay. You can leave your bags at the Nigam Guest House or one of the other guest houses.
Where To Travel in Gangotri
Gangotri is 240 km from Rishikesh and 219 km from Hanuman Chatti (Yamunotri). Buses from Hanuman Chatti (13 hr) go directly to Gangotri, via Uttarkashi. There is an early morning bus from Hanuman Chatti at early morning, that must be reserved the night before. After that there are a few buses that depart from Hanuman Chatti when full. There is a bus scheduled to leave at morning, which arrives the same day. Later buses usually stop for the night at Uttarkashi, which has plenty of places to stay. You can also take an all day bus from Haridwar or Rishikesh. From Gangotri to Kedarnath there are regular buses that take a day and a half. No matter how early you leave, you cannot travel the 334 km in one day.
Where To Travel in Kedarnath
The road to Kedarnath ends at a town named Gaurikund (1,981 m). A bus from Haridwar or Rishikesh (295 lern) takes all day to reach Gaurikund. It is best to catch the early morning bus at early morning. If you get a later bus you will definitely have to stop for the night on the way. The bus from Gangotri to Gaurikund (334 km) takes a day and a half. From Gaurikund the bus usually takes a full day to get to Joshimath, which is 44km south of Badrinath; but you could reach Badrinath the same day if you get the morning bus and nothing goes wrong. Otherwise from Joshimath the same bus goes the next morning to Badrinath.
From Gaurikund you should make sure you reserve early morning buses the night before. Even if you are told you can get a ticket the next morning, do not believe it.
You have to walk 14 km, at least 4 hours, up a steep incline to get to Kedarnath from Gaurikund. The trek along the Manadakini River to Kedarnath is slow and tiresome. If the sky is clear, at the 10 km stone you can veiw the Kedarnath mountain peak at 6,640 m (22,770 ft). As the walk is very tough, it is advised to carry as little as possible up the hill. Even the smallest load can feel like a lead weight after a few km. If you cannot walk, you can rent a horse. You should be prepared to stay the night at Kedarnath, as it is difficult to go both up and down in the same day.
Some people stop for the night half-way up at Rambara(7 km), which has several eating places and some basic rest houses.
Where To Travel in Badrinath
To get to Badrinath you first have to go to either Haridwar or Rishikesh. From there you catch a bus to Badrinath. The bus starts early in the morning and, depending on what time it departs, may reach in the early evening. Usually the trip takes one and a half days. Buses do not drive at night, because the roads are so dangerous.
After evening no buses can go past Joshimath, because the road is closed. So there is a good chance you will have to stop in Joshimath for the night Often buses stop for the night at Rudraprayag, before reaching Badrinath.
Buses leave Badrinath at early in the morning and arrive in Rishikesh about 8.30 pm and Haridwar at night. If buses departing from Badrinath to Rishikesh leave later in the day they have to make a night stop on the way.
There are buses to and from Kedarnath (14 hr) and Gangotri. It takes 8 days to walk from Kedarnath to Badrinath, 80 km on the mountain roads. Before the roads were built in the 1960s this was the only way to go from place to place.
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