Welcome....

Welcome to Kingdoms in the sky, a very personal collection of words and images from twenty years of Himalayan trekking and travel.
Enjoy!
Joel

NANDA DEVI TREKS

The fact of the matter is that once you trek to Nanda Devi nothing will ever be quite the same again...

accept no substitutes!

(for details go to project-himalaya.com...soon!)

Ghost traders of the Himalaya; Nanda Devi

Pic; Tibetan salt left to dry in Milam. One of many puzzles in the ghost town.


Every year hundreds of trekkers make their way to Milam., high on India's border with old Tibet, despite the fact that the glacier they come to see has retreated and there are better places for looking at the sacred peaks of the area.


Pic; interior of traders house


What many trekkers miss is the beauty of some of the old towns of Milam, Martoli, Burphu and Pachu; looking like a bombed out london blitz site from the distance, the careful and seeing trekker finds evidence of the old trade with Tibet in Salt, grain, and livestock.

Pic; village square, Milam in early spring

Below the villages on the nutrition rich flats are long abandoned barley fields. The heavenly sisters of Nanda Devi and Nanda Devi east still see the villagers returning to graze their flocks, but they no longer bless the huge caravans of salt and wool laden yaks and goats that Bill Tilman saw on his way back from climbing Nanda Devi in 1936.

This collection of images gives some idea of the size of that trade.

Pic; trekkers on old trade route

NANDA DEVI

Both of our spring 2006 Nanda Devi treks were real all round Himalayan adventures, from the night time craziness of loading our gear at Delhi railway station to the cool serenity of middle hills camps under the pines.




Our first trip kicked off with a hitch; the army were refusing to let anyone, trekkers or locals, to trek up the Johar valley; it was a scant few days before Steve and Lois were due in, so some phone calls were made to our friends in Munsiari, and the alternative plan was hatched; trek across country to the base of the Pindari valley, then up to the Western side of Nanda Devi. We were told this was a good trek, but we really had no idea it was going to be that wonderful. From day one we were stunned by the beauty of the trails we walked through the middle hills; flowers bedecked passes, langur monkeys scattering from our path, deers shying from our camps, and campsites that were a vision of paradise. Yes, it really was that good. By day seven we were heading up the Pindari valley as thunderstorms and torrential rain drove us into the old bungalows that Lobsang warmed with huge fires. Our day to Zero point (if I did not know better it was Annapurna base camp, before the trekkers) was blessed with stunning weather, and we managed side trips to the Kafni glacier and 'Pungi top' probably one of the loveliest alps in the Himalaya.






Above right, post shower at our base in Munsiari at happy hour; Kim, Lauren, Cliff, Paul and Tom; snow pic, our first team en route to the base of Nanda Kot; Main pic above, old Mani stones in old corners of Milam evidence the lost trade from Tibet, and very top, wall art in Khati.

Above, Kim with Hardeol and Tirsuli (NOT Trisul!!) behind, below, the trek cake.

At the end of the first trip I heard that my mother, missing my late father, had passed on quietly in her sleep and it made this trek even more important to the memory of the woman who had, along with many others, taken great joy in what I did; and the group of Kim, Paul, Tom, Lauren and Cliff proved excellent companions as we shamelessly altered our itinerary, spending lazy afternoons at Milam and Burphu, and climbing high above our camps to see the heavenly sisters, Nanda Devi and her young Sister, the star of the east. My sister Kim, despite this being a holiday, kept the dining tent in line (shoes, cliff!) and all of our group got through tummy bugs and sore ankles.



Shipton and Tilman hovered around us as Kim and I laughed at Tilmans' descent of the Lwanl Gad, and we pieced together the scant history of the Johar valley from their accounts.

Lobsang and the horsemen and I built a bridge over the Lwanl gad that would doubtless have had the sherpas of the 1934 trips admiration, chopping down trees and swinging over awful drops to get it in place, and despite Joel and Lobsang crossing and recrossing it to show it was safe, our trekkers (probably wisely!) turned it down, and we had a great night in Nainital instead.

In a few hours we board the train to Delhi and sadly what Tom (or Peter as Lobsang calls him) called a real 'All round Himalayan experience, must end.

Thank you all!

Joel






above, the sisters.