The Beatles had been in Rishikesh only a few years earlier and although it wasn’t particularly obvious at the time, tourism was starting to find and take over this holy town on the banks of Mother Ganga.

It has been a spiritual centre since ancient times and there is a complete ban on non vegetarian food and alcohol as they both run against the strict Hindu doctrine which is practiced in these very holy areas. There are many ashrams dedicated to the study of yoga, philosophy and meditation as well as ayuvedic treatments.

We were in northern India, travelling by car (with a driver) from Delhi on our way towards the foothills of the Garhwal Himalayas we had been through the holy city of Haridwar and now were at one of the holiest cities for Hindus and the setting off point for pilgrimage to Badrinath, one of the four sources of the Ganges.

We were aiming for Badrinath with a couple of stops on the way and hoping the treacherous road would hold up for our trip. I have talked of this road already in my blog about staying in a houseboat in Srinigar.

Our first stop was Joshimath where a good nights sleep would be needed for the 14km trek to Hemkund and the Valley of flowers. Hemkund is also a very holy place and a pilgrimage for Sikhs, there is a beautiful glacial lake at 4,600 metres (15,000 ft) and a gurudwara (Sikh temple). The Valley of Flowers National Park is not far from Hemkund and is a World Heritage Site which has been visited by local yogis since ancient times.

We left our trusty ambassador car on the side of the road and headed up the trail, this area is right on the Tibet border and there were numerous soldiers walking down the trail with mules carrying their gear. This was my first encounter with a mean, kicking, biting, obstructing the path mule. They were terrifying.

We made it to Ghangaria and found a room to sleep in – on the floor. Our driver brought us some dinner which we were really looking forward to as a couple of apples was all we had eaten since breakfast. He left the bowl of dinner on the floor just inside the door for us. It was a dark red jelly made with half the water necessary and a spoon standing upright in the middle. I can’t really describe how we felt but we didn’t seem to be hungry. However we had put our order in for fried eggs and tomatoes for breakfast which we were assured was no problem, so we dozed off dreaming of eggs.

Morning arrived, chilly and still. Our eggs arrived on a plate. Rock hard boiled eggs, peeled and fried whole and stone cold.

We quietly set off off towards Hemkund Sahib realising that western food was very difficult for our hosts, most of whom had never seen white women before, especially a Mother and Daughter and we felt terrible that we had caused so much angst.

We soon forgot our hungry tummies as we arrived at the magnificent, holy lake.

Growing around it were many creamy white Lotus flowers as we had never seen them before, this was the Lotus of Brahma (creator of the universe). It is a long held belief that anybody who sees this rare flower blooming will have all his or her wishes fulfilled. Unfortunately it blooms in the late evening and stays open for only a couple of hours.

We walked around the lake and on to the Gurudwara where we were welcomed with big smiles and cups of tea.

We didn’t see any wildlife but snow leopards, black bears and the famous Himalayan Blue Sheep or bharal are found in the park as well.

A short walk further and we had our first breathtaking view of the Valley of Flowers with the seven sages mountains behind. There were hundreds of different species of flowers thriving in this valley microclimate. We had found the home of the famous blue poppy as well as orchids, poppies, primulas, marigold, daisies and anemones all carpeting the ground and surrounded by rhododendrons of all colours. The park has many species of medicinal endemic mountain flowers.

After making our way back down to the car which took all day, we continued on towards Badrinath. The further up the road we went, the more obvious it became that we were a bit of a novelty. We were offered enormous apples from the trees that had been introduced and planted by the British before partition, the Wilson’s Apple in particular. The fruit were huge and delicious. Sunflowers taller than I’ve ever seen were growing in every garden the further up we ventured.

Ninth century Badrinath Temple, dedicated to Lord Vishnu, is one of the four ancient Hindu temples regarded as the spiritual sources of the four holy rivers that become The Ganges: the Alaknanda River at Badrinath temple, the Ganges River at Gangotri temple, the Yamuna River at Yamunotri temple and the Mandakini River at Kedarnath temple. Hindus believe that visiting these temples will wash away their sins and help them attain moksha (release from the cycle of death and rebirth).

Pilgrims on the whole were walking to the temples and it would have taken them months and months.

Up until the 1960’s there were no roads and they had to walk over the mountains. We were very aware that we were entering an extremely holy area and as Christians we felt we were intruding, although we were never made to feel that way.

The hopelessly crowded natural hot springs for bathing and cleansing before making an offering at the temple were a little more than we could cope with, so we purchased a little copper plate of dried fruit, nuts and tulsi (basil) as an offering, left our shoes at the bottom of the steps and walked up into the temple.

I will always remember my Mother saying to me at that moment. “They’ll never believe this back home.”

We made it back down the lethal road full of slips and hurtling buses to Delhi and on to peaceful, beautiful Kashmir.