My son and I recently got back from a holiday in the Himalayan foothills of northern India and I thought I'd share a bit of it with you guys.
We stayed in a town called Mcleod-ganj near Dharamsala in Himachal Pradesh. It is the seat-in-exile of the Dalai Lama and an important centre for thousands of Tibetan refugees. The town itself is 5,000 feet up in the foothills and is a great base for walking in the mountains, an activity which took up a fair chunk of our time there.
At this time of year the weather is like a British summer should be - warm but not hot in the day and cool at night. The highlight of our walking was an overnight trip up into the mountains, to a place called Triund, which is little more than a grassy ridge 10,000 feet up in the hills. Here it would be possible to hire tents and sleeping bags so we could stay the night up there. From Mcleod it was a six mile walk up a steep, rocky path to get there and we set off around mid morning. My son skipped up the path but I didn't find it so easy; the altitude left me gasping for air and before long I was panting like a clapped out steam engine.
There were compensations. The scenery was breathtaking. A waterfall, festooned with Buddhist prayer flags, for one:
Rhododendron bushes, with a profusion of deep crimson flowers, formed a vivid contrast with the bare rock and the snow capped peaks in the distance. Trees were mainly Himalayan cedar although there were some deciduous ones as well.
We eventually arrived at the ridge in mid afternoon and the sight that hit us made every airless step worthwhile. A row of 18,000 foot peaks on one side and the north Indian plain stretching out below us on the other. Triund was inhabited by three storekeepers hiring camping gear and selling food and drink out of their timber framed huts covered with tarps. One told me they lived up there full time for nine months of the year, only retreating lower during winter. Food is brought up by donkey. The guy also mentioned that bears and leopards are not unknown as they live in the forests lower down the mountain. I made sure there was no food in the tent that night and reasoned that the half dozen feral dogs who were permanent residents on the ridge would prove enough of a disincentive to a hungry wild animal.
The temperature was in the mid twenties when we got there but, with a clear sky dropped to about 4C overnight so the woollens we lugged up the hill proved their worth. The starscape was fantastic, yet even here there was some light pollution from the plains below us.
Our refuge for the night.
Luckily it was a calm night. I can only imagine that spot when the winds get up. Next morning after enjoying the sun rise over the peaks, we breakfasted on dahl and rice before heading down the mountain. Overall, a great two days out.
We stayed in a town called Mcleod-ganj near Dharamsala in Himachal Pradesh. It is the seat-in-exile of the Dalai Lama and an important centre for thousands of Tibetan refugees. The town itself is 5,000 feet up in the foothills and is a great base for walking in the mountains, an activity which took up a fair chunk of our time there.
At this time of year the weather is like a British summer should be - warm but not hot in the day and cool at night. The highlight of our walking was an overnight trip up into the mountains, to a place called Triund, which is little more than a grassy ridge 10,000 feet up in the hills. Here it would be possible to hire tents and sleeping bags so we could stay the night up there. From Mcleod it was a six mile walk up a steep, rocky path to get there and we set off around mid morning. My son skipped up the path but I didn't find it so easy; the altitude left me gasping for air and before long I was panting like a clapped out steam engine.
There were compensations. The scenery was breathtaking. A waterfall, festooned with Buddhist prayer flags, for one:
Rhododendron bushes, with a profusion of deep crimson flowers, formed a vivid contrast with the bare rock and the snow capped peaks in the distance. Trees were mainly Himalayan cedar although there were some deciduous ones as well.
We eventually arrived at the ridge in mid afternoon and the sight that hit us made every airless step worthwhile. A row of 18,000 foot peaks on one side and the north Indian plain stretching out below us on the other. Triund was inhabited by three storekeepers hiring camping gear and selling food and drink out of their timber framed huts covered with tarps. One told me they lived up there full time for nine months of the year, only retreating lower during winter. Food is brought up by donkey. The guy also mentioned that bears and leopards are not unknown as they live in the forests lower down the mountain. I made sure there was no food in the tent that night and reasoned that the half dozen feral dogs who were permanent residents on the ridge would prove enough of a disincentive to a hungry wild animal.
The temperature was in the mid twenties when we got there but, with a clear sky dropped to about 4C overnight so the woollens we lugged up the hill proved their worth. The starscape was fantastic, yet even here there was some light pollution from the plains below us.
Our refuge for the night.
Luckily it was a calm night. I can only imagine that spot when the winds get up. Next morning after enjoying the sun rise over the peaks, we breakfasted on dahl and rice before heading down the mountain. Overall, a great two days out.
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