Har Ki Doon And Ruinsara Tal Trek

Hi everybody,

I am new to this forum. .I am Planning a Trek to Har Ki Doon and ruinsara taal in may this year.
My queries are as follows :

1) Where from I hire porter / mules?
2) Whether mules can go upto ruinsara taal?
My trek detail is given below.
1st day- haridwar to sankri
2nd day- sankri to seema
3rd day- seema to har ki doon.
4th day har ki doon to jaundar glacier and back to har ki doon
5th day har ki doon to rainbasera
6th day rainbasera to ruinsara taal
7th day ruinsara taal to seema
8th day seema to sankri
9th day sankri to haridwar

Also Do you know where to get the permit for Har ki dun trek and how much does it cost?

will be waiting for some advice

Thanks beforehand

 

1. You can get porters from Sankri. Porters are readily available at Sankri but mules don't ply in this route, I havent seen any.

2. Porters will be happy to go on that route and are available in large numbers at Sankri. You can even negotiate a good price but I would recommend paying a reasonable price even though they under quote themselves, it is hard work after all.

Plan is fine, better to keep a couple of spare days in addition to the planned duration.

Some people find Seema to Har Ki Doon trek too long to be covered in a day. You may want to go up to HKD via RuinSara tal, and return via direct HKD - Seema route. It is downhill, so somewhat longer distance wont be that difficult to cover.

There is no permit required for Har Ki Dun trek. There is an entry fee for Govind Pashu National park entrance which you have to pay and if you are taking a video camera there is an extra charge. It is really not worth mentioning how much it is because it is a tiny amount 100-200 Rs probably, I dont even remember as it was negligible.

Hope this helps.

 

Hello there and welcome to the forum!

Porters are readily available in Sankri. You can also find guides in that village. It depends on how many baggages you carry on just how many porter you might need. But on average, the cost for a porter for a day is about Rs. 550 to Rs. 600.

Some tourist agencies do have mules as well. You can avail of these agencies if you'd really want a mule in your trek. Usually, the mules have an extra charge along with the trekking fee. So you have to be aware of that and ask in advance what's the extra fee. Aside from that, they usually have a limit to the weight of the bag or luggage that the mule can carry.

Of course, if you'd like to ride the mule, that also comes with a fee, especially if the mule is just supposed to carry the bags. So talk with the agency beforehand to arrange all these issues.

Porters and mules can go up to Ruinsara Tal. As I've said, there's a fee to it, especially with excess baggages and if you're going to ride the mule. Mostly, mules can only carry camping equipment and cooking utensils. That's the usual arrangement of agencies. But they do go up to the Ruinsara Tal.

If you had your trek arranged by a tour agency, you won't need to worry about the permits as they will take care of it for you. But make sure to carry the following documents:

• Identification cards such as driving license or voter's ID.

• Medical certificate ensuring you're in good health.

• Passport size photographs.

• Disclaimer certificate ensuring your voluntary participation in the trek.

But if you're doing the trek by yourself or with other people without the help of an agency, you do need a permit:

• The Govind National Park Office in Naitwar is where you can obtain your permit to enter the national park. It is about a 45 minute drive from Sankri. The permit is at Rs. 600 for the first 3 days in the national park. There are also separate fees for vehicles, cameras and filming equipment.

I hope this helps!

P.S.

Your itinerary looks fine enough for me. However, make sure that you carry along some food and cooking equipment with you as there are no eateries in the area. You must also bring your own tent to pitch in. Good luck!