Saryu’s charming, self-contained communities spread along the middle slopes of the upper valley, high above the Saryu river, beyond which you’ll see valleys, waterfalls and snow-covered peaks.Ĭloser to the Himalaya is astounding Pindar Valley, whose river draws its water from the great Pindari Glacier, with an immense sense of space, and mountains on a grand scale. The Saryu Valley ranges in elevations from 1,500m by the river to 3,150m at Supi Chilta. You meet women carrying huge head loads of grass and oak leaves for fodder for the animals and firewood for cooking and heating the homes. Buffaloes and cows are kept for milk, oxen for ploughing goats and sheep graze in the high hills. Higher up the slopes are forests of oak, lyonia and rhododendron trees, whose flowers turn from red to pink the higher you walk. Fruit trees of pear, peaches, sweet lemons and apples abound, as well as walnuts. Finger millet, kidney beans and amaranthus are rainy season crops. The main winter crop is long-strawed wheat, with harvesting by hand in May, as well as Pahari potatoes, famed for their taste. Farming is the mainstay of the communities, supplemented by traditional skills such as ringal bamboo basket weaving in Khal Jhuni, honey production in Karmi and woollen carpets. Here, the villages are larger and more self-contained than those in Binsar, but village life is dynamic and people are highly educated and very aware of the outside world, many having worked elsewhere. ![]() The Saryu and Pindar Valleys are about 5 hours' / 70km drive beyond Binsar, in the heart of the Kumaon hills, in the middle Himalaya, near the borders with Tibet (north) and Nepal (east), with guesthouses in 5 villages: Karmi, Dhurr, Khal Jhuni, Jhuni and Supi. The villagers’ main sources of income are from agricultural and general labour, with many having migrated to find work.ĭepending on your trip, you may also visit the small hillstation of Nainital, set on the edge of a volcanic lake, the vast Shiva temple complex at Jageshwar, and/or Corbett National Park with its wealth of wildlife, including tiger! Hillsides are cloaked in pine forest and dotted with stone houses. But each one shares a sense of the people being attached to the land that goes back generations.īinsar is a collection of six small villages situated in and around The Binsar Wildlife Sanctuary, at the heart of the Kumaon District in Uttarakhand, a mountainous state of northern India: Risal, Dalar, Kathdhara, Gonap, Satri and Matkanya. Importantly therefore, tourism runs alongside to support, but does not displace, traditional rural livelihoods.įor your trip, choose from a range of inspirational routes in two regions in the Indian Himalayas: The Binsar Wildlife Sanctuary, and the Saryu and Pindar Valleys.Įvery village is different. This is what led to the organisation’s creation. Your trip helps sustain these remote agricultural communities with a further income stream and job opportunities where rural exodus could otherwise threaten the existence of the villages. Your guide will help you connect and interact with your hosts in your unique village homestays, where you’ll be warmly welcomed to enjoy delicious local cooking and experience the ancient rhythms of life and community. Your own local guide will trek with you between the villages, while your luggage is carried by porters, leaving you to enjoy the walks, mountain views and villages. At the core of each is a village-owned guest-house, like a home stay. Staying in rural villages where traditional life has been sustained for centuries, you’ll discover these special places through the eyes of the local people. ![]() Walk in your own party with a private guide so you can journey at your own pace, with plenty of time to spot wildlife and pause to admire the views. These walking and trekking holidays in the Himalayas offer options for every level of hiker. Walk from village to village in the Himalaya foothills and discover an extraordinary experience of India’s rural life whilst providing important supportive income to help sustain remote communities. Enjoy India’s real village life across the Himalaya mountains.
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