Top Comment
NNarendra Rana2681 days ago
Lots of travel companies are offering trek to the Nanda Devi National Park as its considered a popular destination in the Himalayas. My question was, why should I talk to someone based in Bangalore or Gurgaon for visiting Nanda Devi National Park when the very people who reside in Nanda Devi are present online? My common sense prompted me to first check the credentials of the local operator. After spending few minutes I found Mountain Shepherds Initiative, a local grass root movement and its subsidiary, the Nanda Devi Institute of Adventure Sports, what I found was, they are internationally recognized but not of the top google searches, which we all know is a handiwork of SEO and adsense ! Well I took the chance and booked the interpretive trek to Nanda Devi. All I can say is its a totally different experience. Its not a trek only, its actually more about learning about the place, its history and culture while crisscrossing one of the most beautiful landscape in the world. There are lots of stories, to start with, following the foot steps of Shipton and Tilman,as you learn about the exploratory expeditions of Shipton and Tilman, the entire sequence of events during the late 19th and early 20th century appears in your imagination and sort of makes you part of it. There is no point in visiting a destination if your takeaways are limited to your own selfies or panoramic pictures. The Interpretive trek to Nanda Devi is a treat for people who are passionate about higher order experiences that any culturally rich destination offers. As for trek,the day one is all about visiting the summer village of Lata, the 12 century temple of Goddess Nanda Devi and interacting with villagers, post village visit we hiked to Camp Kanook, a small camping place on top of a cliff, the first half of the day two went in negotiating the steep climb to Lata Kharak and post lunch hike to Saini Kharak, an opportunity to peek inside the inner sanctuary, day three went perfect with gentle climb to Jhindidhar (13700 ft) and descent to Tolma. All went well with arrangements, food and the narration ! I hope people from other areas will take a clue from the interpretive trek to play an active role in the management of tourism in areas, which actually belongs to them, historically, culturally and to some extent legally too. Like the alpine meadows of Lata Kharak belongs to the Van Panchayat of village Lata. <br/>here is a quote from Shipton, don''t ask me who he was ? The question will disqualify you for the real visit to Nanda Devi !<br/>“Return to civilisation was hard, but, in the sanctuary of the Blessed Goddess we had found the lasting peace which is the reward of those who seek to know high mountain places.” ― Eric Shipton, Nanda DeviRead More
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