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After the first day of resting and Papa�s feat of crossing the white water of the Baspa River via harness and steal line, we had a nice dinner and attended the blazing bonfire get-together at night. The next morning the sun was shining bright and warm and after breakfast we hiked to the Barseri village. The pleasant and easy walk took us across meadow plains and then through a forest with high trees: the smell of the fresh pine was heavenly. Mummy shot loads of film of the friendly people and their wooden homes. The focal point of the small village was its unique wooden temple, being reconstructed. We watched in amazement how the panels were being hand carved. The temple was very different from other Hindu temples because of the carved wood and latticework. Intricately carved wooden shingles dangled from the roof. You see, we were in an area called Kinnaur, long time isolated from the rest of India and therefore with very different characteristics: the people looked more like the central Asians of northern Pakistan or Afghanistan; their houses were all of a particular architecture and made of wood; and their religion had a lot of Tibetan influence as we could see prayer flags everywhere. We also attempted to hike to some snow but were stopped by a huge stonewall set up to prevent avalanches from hitting the village. On the way back we crossed small streams and tracked through fields, finally returning back to camp in time for lunch. Papa also did a small hike later that afternoon and decided it was a great one for us to continue on the next day. We did just that the next morning and had a great little walk along the river, past grazing cows. Our destination was a waterfall with huge boulders. |
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After lunch on the third day we packed our stuff and prepared our departure from our little campground. We hitched a ride to the village of Sangla and checked into a small hotel (Mt. Kailash Hotel). It was OK but I think all 3 of us were missing our deluxe tent. For the next day Papa booked a Jeep to take us to the end of the valley (Chitkul). Surely the route through the Sangla valley is one of the most beautiful we�ve seen with snow capped mountains crowning the golden fields below. About an hour and a half later we arrived at Chitkul, the very end of the line and this gave us some unprecedented views of the mountains ahead. There were many great treks to be made there and we encountered a few foreign hikers accomplishing this. I could see the folks |
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were truly wishing they could attempt some of those hikes and if not for me around, they no doubt would have. They decided instead to walk around the village taking photos, speaking to some locals and admiring the views. This was one of the more primitive and therefore nicer villages we had visited. The very typical architecture was rustic and extremely photogenic with all those colourful prayer flags. Once again I could only hear the hum of mummy�s cameras as she undoubtedly took advantage of the pleasant personalities of the local men and women there. We stopped to view baby goats, baby calves and baby zoes, and saw preparations taking place for a wedding. In retrospect, the folks would have liked to spend some extra time there just looking around (I think mental notes were made to add this to their itinerary in the future). The village had only a couple of guesthouses but there were definite signs of construction going on to remedy that. |
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A couple of hours later we headed back to the Sutlej Valley and climbed high up to the village of Kalpa taking the same Jeep. We lunched along the way and then arrived by a steep road with lots of hairpin turns. this offered fantastic views of the surrounding valleys. We were at 2,900m high with face-to-face views of even more snowcapped mountains. Ok, it was cloudy and rainy but we knew the views were there. Most of the places were booked out and after a number of back and forth from hotel to hotel we managed to secure what seemed like the last room in town, at Kinner Villa, a very nice place. After settling in we met up with a few other Indian tourist families and found them to be a noisy bunch with the kids going wild jumping around at night. They seemed to be having so much fun I wanted to join them but alas my papa put a stop to the rowdiness at 11pm. We woke early the next day to bright sunshine and the amazing views of the mountains just in front of us: the |
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snow seemed so near you could almost reach out and touch it. After breakfast we met up with the large group and we instantly became friends. I helped the folks hang up the laundry and then we left for a hike to the tiny village of Rogi. Our walk took us along an amazing road on the edge of the mountain cliff; there were very few cars and only the odd locals walking the 5 km. distance. We stopped numerous times to take in the full beauty of the mountain peaks across the valley and the high verticalcliffs just off the road: unobstructed views of snowy mountains on the other side of the valley. The |
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village itself was ok but still unique, as all the wooden homes seemed to be hugging the cliffs. Along the way we stopped by the 3-room schoolhouse to chat with the couple of teachers and a few students. This proved interesting to the folks as it gave them a chance to compare the similarities and differences of the educational system, with what they knew in the west. Later we also walked around Kalpa, appreciating the old Hindu and Buddhist temples. |
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