Tour of Uttarakhand - Enroute Joshimath

Part 1 National Chambal Sanctuary is here.
Part 2 Lansdowne is here.
Part 3 Enroute Joshimath is here.
Part 4 Badrinath is here.
Part 5 Auli - Tapovan - Kanchula Kharak is here.
Part 6 Chopta Tunganath is here.
Part 7 Devariyatal (Deoriatal) is here.
Part 8 Kakdagaad Haridwar is here. 

DAY 5

A 0445 hrs start on our drive to Joshimath gave us ample time to stop for birding and halts at scenic places to take in the natural splendour of the Himalayas. Satpuli was one such place which was spread out in the valley below looking absolutely enchanting in the morning light. 

Satpuli

Jacarandas

Plum headed Parakeet

 Moving on... the road getting narrower and higher taking us to Paudi and then to Shrinagar was quite a lonesome stretch where we went for tens of kilometres without sighting a soul!

Shrinagar was a bustling town and also the point where we joined the regular yatra route making for extremely long lines of vehicles going up towards Kedar/Badrinath. At points we were barely crawling along... tiresome really!

Shrinagar

Himalayan Griffon

Stopped for lunch at Karnaprayag and looked for the sangam there in vain! I thought there was one ....! Only on ascending the road further towards Joshimath did we manage to see it. The beautiful green waters of the Pindar joining the frantic turbulence of the Alaknanda! A beautiful sight indeed!

Pindar before the sangam at Karnaprayag

Nandaprayag

Made Joshimath quite uneventfully that evening and settled in early for the night in anticipation of the next day’s outing to Badrinath!

View from Joshimath