AWAY FROM THE TOURISTIC ROUTE: KINNAUR VALLEY IN HIMACHAL PRADESH

Along the Tibetan border, touched by three mountain ranges - Zanskar, Greater Himalayas and Dhauladhar - lay the Kinnaur Valley, famous for its sight and the particular mix of custom and culture.

Open to the outsiders only on 1986, the region is still one of the less visited in India and thanks for that, it preserved its charm and authenticity.

From Shimla, taking the old Hindustan-Tibet road (built by the British on 1850) you reach Kalpa and Sangla, a “must” of the valley.

The trip is long and the highway one of the deadliest of the world, but this is what you have to experience to reach a place of intense splendor.

On the way to Kalpa you will cross the typical Indian city on the road, squalid and noisy, and the working in progress of hydroelectric projects.  The picture is definitely horrible and the tears of the mountain spill into the Satluj River, painting it in gray color. It seems that the sun decided to turn away its glance, therefore the lack of light and the perpetual greyness give you a feeling of massive destruction by the hand of human. But I don’t want to put you down so when the dam is far behind you, and the road start to climb toward Rekong Peo, the nature returns to be the undisputed queen of the trip.

Almost at 3000m of altitude you reach your destination, a small village that let you forget about the exhausting trip. Here the view is impressive and mountain’s peaks are above 6000m; between them, the Kinnaur Kailash Mountain is particularly important among the Hindu religion: its lingam shape (symbol related to Lord Shiva) and the homonym mountain in Tibet, make this a destination of extreme pilgrimage and arduous trekking.

Because of the thousand years-old coexistence between Tibetan Buddhism and Hinduism – as much as some local had placed their faith in both religions – and the balance of Indian-Tibetan-Chinese tradition, the atmosphere is much distinctive and the architecture unique in its gender.

The endless Buddhist flags hanged on the top of the stupa and the wooden roof of the Hindu temples, give to the place an atmosphere of peace and harmony.

To head toward Sangla, you have to get again into the Hindustan-Tibet road, but 
don’t worry it is a small stretch and coming close to Sangla you enjoy again the marvelous landscape. The scenario is typical of Himalayan range, characterized by lake, rivers, snowy mountains, forests, orchards and flowered grass.

You can take nice walks in the woods and along the river but the old town on top of the hill will give you the feeling to be in another age. Step after step you walk away from the surrounding reality to a world made of stones, pagodas, temples carved into wood and barns full of goats. The blessed silence and the stillness have a lot to tell you…
If you are in the right season and full of luck, an abundant snowfall will make the excursion much more surreal and magical.

According to the ancient mythology, gods populated the valley and the people of Kinnaur were known as Kinners, the halfway between men and gods.

For sure, this valley has an intense spirituality, found in its people and the astonishing nature. Through vividness and magnificence of the landscape, you experience a compose and dominant perfection: call it Lord Shiva, Mother Nature or altitude sickness but this perception of greatness and splendor will not leave you throughout the whole journey.

It is an itinerary at world’s end where the majestic nature and the precious quite are only legitimate sovereigns.

Info trekking: 

hpkinnaur.nic.in
indiatrekkings.com/kinnerkailashtrek.html
project-himalaya.com/jindiatrek-kinnaur-kailash.html

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