Kumaon Village Trek - New Delhi

प्राकृतिक सुंदरता।

Good

It was nature vs me.. awesome

I have always dreamed of trekking the Himalaya. My dream came true with the help of everyone involved at Kuamon Village Trek. It was an amazing experience. I will never forget it!

Hundreds, maybe thousands of villages are scattered about the Himalaya that cannot be reached by road. In these far-flung villages, a bag of cement can arrive only on the back of a mule. Rods of rebar can only arrive spanning the shoulders between two men walking a path anywhere from two hours to two days in duration. High spirits accompany months of planning a trek as you pour over maps describing the major river valleys draining summits and glaciers. As plans solidify, flights are booked, a training schedule induces a level of fitness that foretells the incredible stamina acquired at the culmination of a Himalayan adventure. In the frontier city, the support crew and provisions begin to assemble. The excitement is palpable as everyone packs into jeeps piled high with duffels and packs and buckets and crates. The medic, the cook, the guides, the porters – we all rendezvous with the mules and their drovers at the trailhead. The moment you step foot upon the path, a luminous blue sky domes above the terrain and massive ranges of peaks begin to appear around every bend. Ascending, the trail leaves bamboo forest behind in favor of the giant oaks lodging giant monkeys, langur and macaque. Climbing higher, ancient rhododendrons anchor the trail to impossibly steep mountainsides who drop thousands of feet to the rolling river below. The forest floor in the Himalaya is immaculately clean and park-like due to villagers collecting fallen branches for firewood. Somehow the tents are magically pitched, the lovely air mattress pumped… always in an amazing setting of sheep and mules grazing terraces while the bells around their necks tingle softly all-night long. A smiling voice offers “tea?” “Coffee?” at your tent door at dawn. Breakfast begins with a tremendous tray of papaya, mango, pomegranate… pegging your table to a terrace with a view of massive ranges of snow-capped peaks. The villages get smaller and smaller yet the wooden doors and window frames are still carved with lotus flowers. Each brick is sculpted from a rock and stacked into walls that are roofed with over-lapping slabs of shale. Poking your head into the barn beneath the hand-formed living rooms-you inhale the sweet aroma of animal husbandry as they keep their sheep and cows bedded in clean leaf litter and straw that is daily hauled to the wheat and lentil terraces as mulch and fertilizer. Men drive their water buffalo at dawn to turn the earth with a plow fashioned from the forked branches of a rhododendron tree. Women weed and harvest the crops in the afternoon in seemingly perfect accord, laughing in their comraderie. They invite us into their courtyards for Chai. A fireplace occupies the floor in the center of their kitchen/living room; it is an honor to share their hearth and drink sweet warm milk from the cow outside the door. On cool evenings in camp, the crew builds a fire that is always a work of art. Men who pick up burning logs with their bare hands. Men whose five children walk five miles to school and home. Men who carry heavy Sherpa loads for the army’s border patrol for extra cash. The load they carry for trekkers is a pittance by comparison. To walk into the highest reaches of the Himalaya is like a vacation for the porters and guides; we see them looking ten years younger by the end of a trek. The privilege of getting to know them is perhaps the most special aspect of trekking. But then there are the primroses in the alpine meadows, the craters at the base of the glaciers, the granite boulders along the rivers, the never-ending ranges of peaks towering over 20,000 feet, the boys hunting cordyceps (Yase Gumbu) at 16,000 feet (the new source of wealth), the shepherds running their flocks at 12,000 feet. Every moment of every trekking day is a spectacular miracle and absolutely the most fun I have ever experienced.

The journey up the Pindar and Gauri Ganga Rivers with Partha's Kumaon Village Treks was definitely the most fun 17 days of my life. Every inch preferred exquisite beauty, from the path itself, the raging river below, and to the rocky soaring heights above. Porters, guides, and mule Wallahs were assembled from the villages nearest the trailheads. To a man - they were experienced, hard working, happy people. Foraging firewood and herbs, pitching tents, constructing Chapatis... They never stopped moving in anticipation of our every need. Our chef prepared over 50 meals and not one of them was anything short of extraordinary. We got pretty choked up saying farewell to each and every young man that schlepped the food and gear that rendered our hike delightful. Trekking in late October, we encountered villages whose seasonal residents had descended to lower elevation for winter. Camp was set up in stone walled farmyards from where we could inspect the ancient architecture of their stone farmhouses perched atop a labyrinth of livestock stalls that fitted out the foundation. The staggering accomplishment of carving a village of terraces out of a granite mountainside was evidenced again and again by landslides we negotiated that had disappeared entire villages into the broiling river below. The most compelling argument for trekking in the Indian Himalaya is to witness villagers who live a day's walk or five day's walk from the nearest road. Everything comes and goes to their villages via the very trails we were privileged to walk. You share the trail with mule trains bearing bags of cement, herds of goats and cattle and men balancing rebar and plywood on their shoulders. Roadless areas are disappearing fast on this planet. It is not like we have forever to experience their majesty.

Kumaon Village Trek: oh when I hear this name I have to remember to a great time in the himalaya with so nice people. We went to the punchachulli base camp and had such a great time. It was great to meet the villagers and spend time with the lovely team of kumaon village trek. With the help of some friends we had also the chance to attend a beautiful village wedding at Sokiyathal village, we really enjoyed it. the time with the villagers was such nice. they let us sleep in the villages and it was great to sit with them at the campfire, dance or listen to songs. It was beautiful to know that we were in India but also in the snow. we could bullied a small snowman and had just fun. thanks to all, for this time. I hope we will travel again!Warm wishes from Germany!! And not to forget, thanks for the great food and always the hot and sweet chai! I loved it.