Showing posts with label Kumaon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kumaon. Show all posts

Friday, January 2, 2026

Experiencing Kumaon Himalaya 2: Trekking in Pithauragarh

The morning of 3rd December! Yesterday I had to spend the night in the open at the bus stop. The bus had left at around 3 am. The ghat- journey at the dawn! The night was so long, I was wondering when will it last! But surprisingly the night was quickly over like a timelapse! When the bus stopped at Champawat for tea, it was twilight. Mountain ranges everywhere! Spiral roads! Sparse houses in the mountains and farming on the slopes! This road comes under Hirak project of "BRO". Then Lohaghat, Gurna and Pithauragarh! The road was not closed anywhere and there was not much traffic also. Reached Pithauragarh at 8:30 am.  

(Here you can listen this article.)

Relatives coming for the marriage are supposed to stay at one hotel. But this Pithauragarh! A city at around 1600 meter elevation. Snow- capped mountains are visible in the distance! I started my walk with the gentle sunshine. Asked directions to some boys and they showed me the short cut path- the walkway! Pahari people are very genuine. Had a wonderful small walk with them. Then met relatives from the side of my wife. It was a good meeting and dialogue. Later on I took ample rest. 

As it is December, the Sun sets here quite early! It is dark after 5:30 pm. The afternoon is not that cold, but the evening is very cold. I observed the night sky from the hotel terrace. There are plenty of city lights and also the Moon is almost full. So for clear sky, I need to wait a bit.

Tuesday, December 23, 2025

Experiencing Kumaon Himalaya 1: Preface

Hello! recently I had gone to the Himalaya for sky watching and for trekking. It was such a great experience, so overwhelming experience that I am compelled to write about it. I had gone to Uttarakhand for around 8 days. There was one marriage in Pithoragarh. So I had gone there. After that I went to Munsyari village which is around 100 KM from Tibet border. It is right in the middle of the Himalayas and it is surrounded by mountain peaks! 

Such a great experience it is always to go to the Himalaya! I left Mumbai on 1st December and my train took me to Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh. From Bareilly, I went to Tanakpur by bus. Incidentally just before arriving to Bareilly station, I observed a leopard in a Farm near Bareilly! So these days wild animals and leopards are everywhere. I could witness this. For sometime I had to stay at Tanakpur as the buses in the mountains in Himalaya do not travel at night. It was very cold but I had to wait at the bus stop. It was very much cold and it was just a glimpse of how the coming days would be like. 



(Here you can listen this article: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4GFJsmxWFKovgAMhKEh5t0?si=zu9mFrTzSKek7OzDy3z4Sg )