Budget for Valley of Flowers

For a solo trekkers, budget is always a concern, so I am going to give a breakdown of the cost here.

The most important thing to keep in mind is that Joshimath is the last place where you might find a working ATM.
One should carry at least Rs. 5000 per person if his/her hotel is booked at Ghangria.

Breakdown of the cost is from Joshimath- Ghangria- Joshimath

Joshimath has good amount of hotels where you can find standard double from for Rs. 500-600. I would suggest to look at the rooms before you book and specially check the bathrooms and the heaters in it. Sometimes the bathrooms are filthy and heaters don't work. Make sure you don't take the basement rooms because they are quite humid and this can affect your health. The deluxe rooms are quite nice and they cost Rs. 1500 for double rooms. I would recommend these rooms. The prices can vary from hotel to hotels but it will be in the range of Rs. 1500-2000.
There are very few good restaurants which serve good food. I would not recommend chole bhature or aloo puri as it is quite oily and the oil used is not very good either.
The new badri kedar restaurant serves good quality food. We went for the Punjabi thali and it was awesome, it was enough for two of us as I and my brother don't have a large appetite. Here is the menu for a better idea-

                     

In the morning you can start your journey to Gobind ghat which is 20 kms from Joshimath. Shared taxi for one person from Joshimath to Gobind ghat ( where the trek start to Ghangria) can cost between Rs. 50 to 70
At Gobind ghat you can have your breakfast. I will list down the price few items you get there.
Aloo parathan- Rs. 30
Maggie- Rs. 30
Tea- Rs. 20
Coffee- Rs. 30
Parle g- Rs. 10
Mineral water- Rs. 30

These are the common items you will find in shops end route your trek. As you go higher the price go up by Rs. 10 each item and at Ghangria the price will be double.

I also bought my trekking stick from here which is made of wood for Rs. 20 each. I used it throughout my trek and then left it at one of the food shops on return. May be they fix it and reuse the wood to make a new one.
A road has been created of 4 kms which you can choose to trek or take a shared taxi for another Rs. 40-50.

I had my personal bottle with me and I saved one mineral water bottle which I kept refilling on the way. On the trek route, there are taps installed at intervals which have clean drinking water which tastes as good as mineral water and I had no health problems so I would recommend that to save some money.

Oh yes, the cost-
Tea- Rs. 20
Coffee- Rs. 30
Parle g- Rs. 10
Maggie- Rs. 40
Parathan- Rs. 40-60
Mineral water- Rs. 40
Buttermilk- Rs. 20

Any packed item will be double its MRP

A porter will take your bag and leave it at your hotel for Rs. 200 per bag, you can trust them. If you are unable to trek, a mule from govind ghat to ghangria will cost you Rs. 800. I carried my own bag, it was tiring but worth the experience and walking gives you an opportunity to take as many pictures as you want stopping at every breathtaking view.

Once you are in Ghangria, you won't be able to find any drinking water taps, so you will have to buy mineral water for Rs. 40. I tried drinking the normal water provided at the hotel and restaurant but I didn't like the way it tasted. Ghangria is very expensive, so every meal for two person will cost you around Rs. 400-500 at least. A standard twin/triple sharing room will cost you around Rs. 1500- 2000.
Here is the menu for hotel Preetam and Gangotri. It is the same place, has two names don't know why. It is the only place where you can find good food, it is in front of gmvn hotel. This is where we stayed as well.

                   

                     

The ticket to enter the valley of flowers is Rs. 150 for Indians and Rs 600 for foreigners, which is valid for three days.
I would recommend you to contact, Mr. Raghubir Chauhan as a guide to the valley of flowers, he has been doing this for more than 15 years and knows a lot about the flowers and the spirit of the valley. A very interesting guy, fun to talk with and also took awesome pictures recommending the right spots. We went deep into the valley with him and it was worth it, he motivated us to go further and we climbed down to the base camp in 1.5 hours which was the promise he made.
 

You can fill fresh drinking water coming from the mountain tops on the way here, no need to buy anything. No food is available at the valley so make sure you carry something to eat.

Hemkund shaeb is a difficult trek and it was poring the day we went, so we took  a mule which cost us Rs. 1050. You need to have good bargaining skills! They were asking for Rs. 1200-1500 and as we had a big group, we could bargain at that price.
A Kandi (bamboo basket on the back of the Carrier) will cost you Rs. 2000 for the same route.
Everything is quite expensive on the way here.
Parle g- Rs. 25
Tea- Rs. 25
Coffee- Rs. 50

I don't think they served anything hot like Maggie or parathan here. You can have langer at the gurudwara. They serve you tea with khichadi which was a perfect meal for that weather.
When we returned from Ghangria, we stayed overnight at Gobind Ghat because we wanted to go to Badrinath the next morning.
You can have free lunch here at the Gurudwara. Simple meal (not punjabi) at a restaurant will cost you Rs 200 for two people.
Badrinath is 20 kms from here, so a shared taxi would cost you Rs. 70-80 per person. Food is again expensive at Badrinath, I would suggest to buy a fixed thali  which would cost Rs 100-120 and will enough for two people with small appetite and you can order extra chapati. There is one ATM in Badrinath which is not usually in working condition, neither is the one at Gobind Ghat, so make sure you have enough money on you. Souvenirs are available from Rs. 20 and above, so you can buy according to your budget. One of our fellow traveler got Badrinath coins which were Rs 20 each and looked like a very good item to give as gift. Panch mukhi Rudraksh were available for Rs 100. You can have your pick, there are unlimited number of items to buy from.
Mana village is just 3 kms from Badrinath. You can buy local herb, jhambu (Allium auriculatum) from here which costs Rs 10 for the seasoning and Rs 20 for the tea. Hand woven woolen clothes are available here for quite reasonable rate. Jumpers and sweaters from Rs 200-400 and woolen hat for Rs 60-80. There were hand woven rugs available as well but I am not sure about the exact price, the big ones were for around Rs 2000-3000 I guess.

Hope this helps!