ADVENTURE TOURISM

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TRANS HIMALAYAN JEEP SAFARIS

The Himalayas are a paradise for the adventure seeker. For those with limited time and wanting to cover more destinations, the ideal way to explore the Himalayas is by road. Himachal, Ladakh, Garhwal and Kumaon have an excellent network of roads passing over some of the world’s highest passes and through breathtaking landscapes.

ALONG THE OLD HINDUSTAN TIBET ROAD
The road from Shimla to the Tibetan border extends into a loop which connects with the main Manali-Leh highway just north of Manali, following the rivers Sutlej and then the Spiti through Kinnaur and Spiti. Winding itself along the base of the town, the road passes through densely wooded spurs of oak, pine and rhododendron. A blue Himalayan magpie gliding across the road is not an uncommon sight. The fragrance of wildflowers, the intoxicating heady smell of pine and the cool chilling sight of the white snow peaks make your senses soar as you head east towards Kinnaur bypassing Kufri-Himachal’s best known ski resort and Naldhera whose nine hole golf course was laid under the personal supervision of Lord Curzon and is believed to be the oldest in India.

Through picturesque apple orchards, past fertile potato fields and a series of tiny hamlets, the main road snakes its way through Theog, Narkanda, Kotgarh, Thanedar onto Rampur. Short of Rampur, from Luhri, a diversion to the left and then to the north across the Sutlej, leads to the pristine Kullu valley via the Jalori Pass, Shoja and Aut.

Towards Sarahan, 40 kilometers east from Rampur, en route is another diversion to Kullu, this time over the Bashleo Pass (3277m). The quaint little town of Sarahan is situated at a height of 1920 meters and its slopes are covered with apple orchards. Sarahan was once the ancient capital of Rampur Busheher. It has a fort and the strikingly beautiful wooden Bhimkali.

The road ahead is exciting as it runs through Cliffside cuttings along the left bank of the Sutlej, from Wangtu to Karchham, where the river Baspa joins the Sutlej from the south. Climbing up to the Baspa valley is a hair raising experience by a precipitous, winding, rough road up to Sangla. The valley has a pristine silence in which romance, mystery and tradition still tiptoe their way around. It has been secluded for centuries. The old Kamru Fort, where the Kinnaur rahas were once crowned, is situated north of Sangla. The road winds itself through pine trees and apple orchards to a pleasant campsite. One can either stay at a Camp for a period of four to six days exploring the countryside enjoy light treks to the villages of Raksham and Chitkul or try a hand at trout fising in the River Baspa.

Carrying on along the Hindustan-Tibet Highway, the road takes you up to Recong Peo and Kalpa, passing through coniferous forest which slowly thin out as the mountains turn bare and rugged beyond Morang. Continuing on are Jangi and Puh. Turning off to the left, the road follows the Spiti upstream and to the right the old Hindustan-Tibet road disappears over the Shipkila towards the Tibet border.

The upper Kinnaur region is dominated by the Leo-Paryal II, the highest peak in Kinnaur. Crenellated battlements and buttresses, spurs and pinnacles are evidence of a steep gradient, as howling winds sweep across the mountain face. Further up the valley on the left bank lies the beautiful village of Chango. The basin of Chango Glacier is fringed by seven peaks over 20,000 ft., five of them still remaining unconquered.

Sumdo is the last village of Kinnaur, situated at the divide between the Hamrang Valley and the Spiti Valley. Vegetation is arid with small patches of cultivation in summer of potatoes, peas and barley near the snow melt streams. Located on the leeward side of the high ranges this region receives virtually no rainfall. This area has one of the harshest climates in the world. The region of Spiti was in one geological period the bed of the Tethys Sea which separated the continent of Gondwana from Mainland Asia. As the Tethys drained away, the Himalayas rose and Spiti today is a premier geological museum. The mountain faces and river valley document the pre-Cambrian to the recent. A marvellous panorama of rugged crags and slopes change colour from pale pinks to bright scarlet, alternating with violets and greens, and the startling white of the glaciers. Yaks, goats and sheep grazing across the wild barrenness are a common sight. The road continues to follow the Spiti river passing by double storeyed houses of stone and unbaked clay bricks. Parallel on the other side of the Pin river is the Pin Valley, known for its snow leopard and ibex population. Climbing up to Kaza at 3600 m the Ki monastery is visible from the road. The road continues up to Kunzum La which gives access to Lahaul, which forms the upper catchment of the Chandrabhaga on the Chenab river. Enclosed within the high ranges on Zanskar, Greater Himalayas and the Pir panjal, Lahaul is accessible only over a few high passes for a very short time from early July to October.

Driving along the Chandra via Chhota Dhara just short of Khosar the road joins up with Leh-Manali Highway at Ghamphoo. Heading north, on to Leh with night stops at Keylong and Pang and on to Leh over the Taglang La, another 450 Kilometers. On turning south, the road climbs up to the Rohtang Pass. Rohtang is unpredictable, closed for over six months, and is an awesome barrier. Swift changes occur in weather with high winds. The steep road down loops past alpine meadows which are summer grazing pastures for the nomadic Gaddi shepherds. The bark of the birch trees flutter in the breeze, and the snows melt causing torrential waterfalls. Wild iris, primulas, daisies and buttercups form carpets of different hues. The rhododendron here are clusters of mauve, pink and white. The pinnacles of the massive deodars seem to reach for the skies as you literally come down to earth and civilization, heading downstream the Beas to Manali and the Kullu Valley.

CORBETT’S KUMAON-ON THE TIGER’S TRAIL
Traveling east from Delhi on NH24, one can bypass Ghaziabad, leaving the modern tall buildings for the open countryside; an area where two crops are cultivated each year, mostly rice in the monsoon and wheat and sugarcane in the winter. Countless bullock carts trundle along the highway and line up outside the refineries.

Just after Hapur the road crosses the Ganga at Garhmukteshwar, with temples and ghats on its west banks. One comes to Moradabad, a city well known for its brassworks. You have the choice of continuing on NH24 to Haldwani and Kathgodam and then up to Nainital, or turning left and driving north via Kashipur to Ramnagar and the Corbett National Park. From Corbett there is a direct road to Ranikhet, and if you backtrack to Ramnagar, you can reach Nainital via Kaladungi by an attractive metalled forest road.

For the more adventurous, cut across the tarai, Rudrapur-Kichha-Sitarganj and meet up with the Bareilly-Pithoragarh Highway at Khatima. Heading north, skirt the Sarda Sagar till Tanakpur. This area was once completely covered by dense forests known as the tarai. It extended unbroken from Hardwar to the north-east corner of Bihar and was approximately 50 kilometers wide. It was largely impenetrable and provided an effective natural barrier between the hills and the plains. The Corbett National Park and the Dudwa Sanctuary are the last extensive tracks of the tarai in India.

The Sharda meanders onto the plains at Tanakpur. The climb begins, through tall sal forest, troops of monkeys rhesus macas, sun themselves nibbling at berries fallen on the road. There is hardly any habitation, small clusters of huts now and then. This is the area made famous by Jim Corbett’s ‘Man Eaters of Kumaon’. Champawat is well known in the tales of the man eating tigers and leopards, which were eventually tracked and shot by the famous hunter, Jim Corbett. On the roadside you come across a bright yellow sign “Jim Corbett shot a tiger 3 kilometers from here”.

The forests are cool and dark, clusters of rhododendrons in full bloom and langur monkeys leap from moss covered oak trees, the chirpings of birds mingle with the sound of the rumbling stream. The sighting of a leopard or a tiger on this particular stretch is not an uncommon sight after dark. Champawati is situated in a valley and was once the capital fort, now housing the Tehsil office and other relics testify its historic wealth.

Fourteen kilometres from Champawat is Lohaghat, where a road from Bhimtal via Mukteshwar links up. Another road leads to the confluence of the rivers Kali and Saryu, where there are a number of temples at Pancheshwar. The river runs parallel to the Nepal border and is an excellent beat for mahseer fishing and offers some exciting stretches for white water river rafting right down to Tanakpur.

Back from Lohaghat, on the road to Pithoragarh, is the village of Morarakhan from where a 2 kilometer dirt track winds itself around a wooded hill.Pithoragarh is a 60 kilometer drive. With hazy glimpses of the snow capped ranges, you cross the river Sarda at Ghat. The wind is chilly and prayer flags flutter in the breeze and prayer bells on the bridge toll gently. The road from Almora joins up here and then begins a 29 kilometer steep climb to Pithoragarh. Situated at an altitude of 1650 m, it is a wide sprawling valley about 5 kilometers long and 2 kilometers wide. From viewpoint Chandak you can see the complete panorama of the ranges extending from Trishul to Nanda Devi, the Panch Chuli group and Mt. Api in Nepal.

It is however, beyond Pithoragarh that one witnesses the real beauty of Kumaon. Heading north the road winds itself steeply, this is also the route for the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra. The road journey terminates at Tawaghat near Darchula. From there pilgrims have to trek through the beautiful valley of Kali on to Chota Kailash. To carry on the Journey, from Jauljibi the road turns towards Didihat, a well established I.T.B.P. (Indo-Tibetan Border Force) setup. From Didihat to Thal the road is heavily forested with oak, rhododendron and chir.

A direct road from Pithoragarh links up at Thal. For roads in such remote areas, the conditions are surprisingly very good. Thal is situated on the banks of the Ramganga, and at the crossroads the road heads north to Munsyari. Munsyari is snuggled in the folds of the snow capped Panch Chuli range, with attractive bugyals (meadows) at an elevation of 7000 ft. The view is really grand and Munsyari is also the base for treks to Milamand Ralam glaciers. Retracing one’s path to Thal, crossing the river you drive through fruit orchards and climb again, the forest is dense and coniferous. To the right are the rolling hills of Kumaon and to the left, looming large and almighty instature, evoking a sense of all that is holy and spiritual, are the peaks of Trishul, Nanda Devi and the Nanda Kot. The vantage point at Chaukori, is a rather gruelling climb through oak and rhododendron forest to a musk deer breeding farm.

All along the drive to Almora the spectacular panorama of the eternal snow appear, each vantage point exposing a different aspect of the awesome Himalayan peaks. Binsar and Kasauni are two such well known points on this route. 300 kilometers of jagged grandeur pierce the vision. Only in Kumaon do the peaks wear such individual character. The central spread of Trishul leading up to the Nanda Devi is balanced to the west by the conning tower shape of Nanda Gunti. To the east of Nanda Devi, the peerless drape of the tooth-like Nanda Kot is followed by the Panch Chuli whose startlingly matched peaks extend from Trail’s Pass to the trading inlet with Tibet at Lipu Leh.

Jagesjwar And Baleshwar are significant religious places in Kumaon. On the outskirts of Almora, the Gaur Bhairav temple enshrines Gollu Devta, the much loved deity of the Kumaonis. Entering Almora is an unwilling return to civilization. The road from Almora to Nainital, is wide and in good condition and rather busy with considerable truck and bus movement. At the crossroads at Bhowali, a road heads north-west to Ranikhet, south-west to Nainital and south to Himtal and eventually down to Kathgodam and the busy highway back to Delhi.

WHERE TO STAY

Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam Tourist Rest Houses: TANAKPUR, CHAMPAWAT LOHAGHAT, PITHORAGARH CHAUKRI, JAGESHWAR BAGESHGWAR, KAUSANI BINSAR, RANIKHET BINSAR, RANIKHET ALMORA.

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