Trekking in the Indian Himalaya

FROM ISSUE # 167 (November 2009) | IN THIS ISSUE
	REFER TO FRIEND		PRINT THIS ARTICLE

Destination: Garwhal, India.
Trekking in India is one of the country's best kept secrets.

The Indian Himalaya, overshadowed by Nepal's higher profile trekking and mountaineering, is not only just as spectacular, it is also, in many ways  more accessible and hassle-free. Remote valleys that in Nepal would take a week to walk to can be reached in a day-and-a-half drive from New Delhi.

Hikes in Garwhal are usually through wilderness areas whereas in Nepal, you are never too far from a settlement. So one has to camp, and the 'tea house' trek model that has made Nepal's tourism such a big economic pump for mountain valleys is less common here.

The Nepal Himalaya is a series of 'himal' massifs more than 8,000m high sliced by deep gorges. The treks in Nepal are along the bottoms of these valleys (which restricts the views) and the ups and downs when traversing them are much more vertical.

Here in Garhwal, the mountains are much more manageable. The steep parts can be negotiated by road, so the ridge walks are gentler and the views of surrounding peaks like Bandar Punch, Kalanag, Jaunli and Srikanth are consistently superb. Comparable ridge walks in Nepal would be the Panch Pokhari trek in Sindhupalchok, the Panchase trek in Kaski or the Tijure rhododendron walk in Terathum.

Because of the network of highways in Garhwal and Kumaon, the trekking possibilities are endless, but here along the upper reaches of the Bhagirathi River near Gangotri they are mostly meadow walks.

What in Nepal are known as kharka are called bugyal here, but unlike in Nepal these high altitude grazing pastures are extensive and you can trek for days from one meadow to another, walking on a velvety carpet of flowers. It is Khaptad multiplied ten times. The resplendent impeyan pheasant, their monal to our danfe, is also Uttaranchal's state bird.

KUNDA DIXIT

These mountains were lost to the British after the Sugauli Treaty of 1816, but there are still signs of Nepal everywhere. The Gangotri Temple was built by Amar Singh Thapa and the place is full of pilgrims from all over Nepal taking the holy dip. The road signs point to famous battlefields from our history books like Nalapani and Kangra. The Garwhali dialect people speak here is close to the trans-Karnali lingo in western Nepal. Rising living standards in Uttaranchal mean that it is hard to find locals to carry loads, so the trekking porters are from Nepal.

Most, like Pasang Lama from Sindhuli, go back to Nepal in the trekking season and work here during the monsoon carrying loads for pilgrims. "It's not like working in Nepal, here we are outsiders," complains Pasang.

But in the evening by the campfire, it is the Nepali porters who are the first to get off their feet to dance and sing. They teach the Garhwali muleteers Nepali folk songs. Ravi Rawat, who leads treks in Ladakh and Himachal in the company of Nepali porters, knows Resham Phiriri by heart, but with slightly modified lyrics:
"Resham phiriri, resham phiriri...
Rafting ma monkey,
Trekking ma donkey, resham phiriri...
Kodo jharyo makai jharyo
Jyan payeko chhaina..."