A trip to Himnagri, Munsiyari, India

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A trip to Himnagri

We started our journey from Pithoragarh on 26th June at around 2 p.m., not a good time to start a journey especially in the pre-monsoon season in a hill station as it might rain in the evenings. We four lads Banti, Chintoo ,Lalli and me explored Pithoragarh a beautiful valley located on the China and Nepal border in Uttrakhand .Our actual plan was to reach Milam Glacier which later on confined only up to Munsiyari due to the time constraint. Well, we started this journey in our favorite Royal Enfields which we rode from Delhi.

There are two routes from Pithoragarh to Munsiari which can be used to reach this heavenly location in Uttrakhand. The first route is via Kanalicheena, Ogla, Jauljibi , Madkot reaches Munsiyari and the another route goes via Thal, Nachni, Tejam, Quinti, Girgaon, Kalamuni reaches to Munsiari. We preferred the latter one as it is more popular and comfortable.

The area is very close of the Panchachuli ranges of Himalaya where one can enjoy the panoramic view of snowclad mountain peaks of Panchachuli, Nadadevi and other high peaks. This is also a perfect area for tracking aficionados, who can reach

Milam, Ralam glaciers and ultimately can go through Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve ( NDBR) through this route.We had to cover 127 km , the distance of Munsiyari from Pithoragarh and which could be completed in 6 hours comfortably.

Our First Hurdle-

As soon as we started from Siltham (Pithoragarh) , we found the weather turned more sinister followed by showering rain and thundering .We managed to get our tanks filled for the trip at Jajardeval nearby Indo-Tibet Border Police(ITBP) Base camp and proceeded further but only to stranded again at Bhauri just 7 Km from Jajardeval due to heavy rains . As we were compelled to stop here for atleast three hours, we enjoyed the time with surprisingly available Carom Board and had tea , drinks and all other edibles available at that small shophut .We felt it as blessings in disguise, as it was memorable time for our life when we were enjoying Carom with same friends after twelve years. These moments revived our student life memories and we felt ourself enjoying those golden days. It was thundering and lightning with heavy down pouring and had the rain continued for some more hours we could have postponed

the trip. As the rain started to settle down and the reverse traffic was seen going through we decided to proceed further towards Thal which was approx.. 40 Km from Bhauri .

It was 6 p.m. when we re-started our machines which punctuated the serenity of the jungles along rivulets and the holy river Ramganga . The Ramganga river was flowing like a serpent throughout the route with a great flow and agility. Ramganga flowing with heavy water, crossing the rocky serpentines but with a great calmness touched my heart with the message ‘to struggle hard but with cool and calm temper’. The slide zones along the right side of the road and unprotected left really made our riding most adventurous during the showering of rains enroute.

The feelings of adventure worked as a catalyst for us and we planned to reach Thal despite all adversities and we all consented in favor to cover half distance and the remaining distance to Munsiyari could be covered next day. It was also not advisable to travel after dusk and there is always a risk of encountering wild Feline or Bear who can attack anyone .We were really shocked to see the

greenery of the dense forests badly ruined with human interference locally. We also could see the hardships of the area where there were no impressions of social and technological advancements. Jajardewal, Lake (Ghati)are the places where we could shoot some animals but we were not lucky enough to eyeball any such creature. It was around 8.30 pm and we were still driving . Around 9.00 p.m. we reached Thal. At first, we checked the KMVN (Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam)Guest House which is located at Gochar around 2 Km from Thal. It took some efforts to search the Guest House in the dark night. We managed to open the main gate and there was no caretaker. The roaring of the bullet exhaust pipes and thug of the engines in the jungle made the care taker appeared from no where. I think he was fortunate as we were not those typical government officials who could have castigated him for his negligence. He refused to provide rooms claiming that the rooms are booked in advance by someone else. It was observed unanimously not to request him further and grease his palms for the ministrations which could fetch us a room and other services. We were tired and hungry so we took a U turn and left for the market in the search of hotel. The fare at was reasonably fair just Rs. 350 for a day which does not include television. Since we were pretty tired so it was not needed indeed. We had sumptuous food to satisfy our appetite. Mr. Pathak , who was an old man served us whatever is available swiftly. He was a great raconteur and a voluble speaker even without a dram whisky .He later shared some drinks and prepared himself for a long chatting session. He seemed to have enjoyed his entire life in travelling and now also learned to swallow in despair.

Next morning we all were up by 8.00 a.m. and covered some small milestones like Nachni, Tejam and Kweeti. We stopped at Kweeti to have breakfast . We have ordered Aalo-Poori in great excitement but found it pedestrian and rustic. In Kweeti , we have glared at the waterfall from the highway . It was big waterfall and we could see the water hitting the rocks and stones making whirlpool on the ground. We also met with an insane woman near waterfall who made

us burst into laughter even today with her accent, appearance and garrulousness. After Kweeti fall our next destination was the mammoth “Birthi Fall” before Girgaon. The Birthi fall looked awesome, picturesque and quintessentially located for the picnic enthusiast, shutterbugs and nature lovers. There is a KMVN guest house nearby where you can enjoy the beauty along with food. It was magical to see every ounce of water leaving the spout from one end and getting dispersed after hitting rocks several times in the course of completing its fall. We took off our clothes to enjoy the moment as the fine water particles were good enough to drench you completely. After bathing we started afresh riding on our bikes to Girgaon and Kalamuni.

Then on the way to Girgaon we had reached to the now abolished La Jekhla Villages . On 7^th Aug, 2009 night these two villages were completely washed away due to cloud bursting . Nobody lives here now, only the epitaph revealed how catastrophic night that would have been for victims of La-Jekhla Villages.

Thinking about the adversary of nature, we crossed Girgaon stopped in between to clean our muddy bullets and shifted our gears up to

reach at a height of 2500 mtrs for Kalamuni. Kalamuni has a temple of Kali, one of the incarnations of lord Durga. We bowed our heads at temple ,had tea which was really rejuvenating . We could not ignore the thristy of our tastebuds and ordered for some more. This is a place where Panchachuli range of the Himalaya could be best viewed. You can also go to Khalia top which is the highest point of the area to enjoy the beauty.

But we were not lucky enough to see as clouds hovering over entire snow peaks. We started to our final destination Munsiyari which was 10 k.m. down from Kalamuni. We observed the KMVN board and checked for the Room fare and finally booked a Private Rest house “Bramhakamal”. Bhramhakamal, name after lord Bramha is a flowering plant which grows in Himalaya . We showed our interest in self-cooking in the kitchen to the owner who was a journalist in one of the local newspaper. We managed to get a stove and kerosene at a very reasonable price and planned to cook ourselves. After resting for a while, we headed towards Munsiyari market and could see some very small

shops of daily requirements and vegetables. Like in other hill stations of India Chowmin was ubiquitous.

Next we thought of seeing a old Tribal Museum. Though it was 7 pm but we had a hunch to find it open. We were fortunate as it was open and we entered in the Museum with lot of excitement. We met with the caretaker and owner Mr. S.S.Pangti who stood up on request to describe about Museum. He showed us many things right from Agal (door lock)in old Kumaoni houses, traditional women’s dress, Yarsa Gombu also called Kid Jhad(Geass with Insect)Cordyceps Sinensis an aphrodisiac ,old Chilams, bags made from leather of sheeps , coins, utensils and other cooking paraphernalia. Mr. Pangti has also published a book on the famous love tale of Rajula-Malushahi who belong to Uttrakhand many centuries ago during the Katyuri dynasty. We appreciated Mr. Pangti Ji for his sincere effort to preserve the old culture and memories alive through his Museum.

At night we cooked chicken on the roof, under the cloudy sky. The aroma of chicken and eggs added with spices filled the air and attracted two new guests at night. Guess, who could be those new un-invited

guests? Those were the big, hairy “Bhotia” dogs found in cold hill stations like Munsiari who can survive in coldest of the temperatures. We fetch them some pieces of chicken and it proved a party night for them also.

Next day I got up at 4.30 a.m.but it was raining incessantly and Panchachuli was still covered by clouds. Some hours later rain stopped and weather looked improved. After breakfast we visited Nandadevi Temple located in this beautiful valley .The greenery of mountains and villages located at precarious locations was mesmerizing and jaw dropping.

We had decided to leave today as we had to reach to Pithoragarh on the same day. On the return journey we shoot a rare herd of vultures species cleaning carcass of an animal.

We made it to Pithoragarh on the same day, have played enough hide and seek in the nature’s lap where we lost against nature. Nature has proved that she is uncertain and invincible.Our desire to see snow clad mountains in Munsiari was not fulfilled. Munsiari has proved that it has very mystical and unpredictable climate. We returned with a feeling to re-visit the hidden paradise in the coming winter.

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