REGIONAL NOTES e

HARISH KAPADIA Expeditions Expeditions to the Indian Himalaya 2009

SIKKIM

Kellas Kellas Peak (6,680 m) Team :British, Leader: Jeremy Windsor For For the first time in more than 75 years a party of climbers obtained permission to retrac巴 the footsteps footsteps of historic British explorers such as Douglas Freshfield, Alexand巴r k巴llas and Frank Smythe, Smythe, visiting the in th巴 northwest tip of .

Gr油am Hoyland, Mark Lambert , Anindya Mukh巴り巴e, George Rodway , Dukpa Tsering She叩 a, Phurba Phurba Sherpa, Thendup Sherpa and Jer巴my Windsor, a team that had received an Alpine Club grant and BMC approval for its innovative v巴nture, headed north from by 4WD to the district capital of Lachen , then on to the roadhead just beyond Thangu. With the help of the In do- Border Police and a number of b巴mused yak herders，出巴 P訂ty moved west across the Lugnak la to the Lhonak vall巴y, then made a series of camps up vall巴y in an attempt to make the first ascent of Kellas Peak (6,680 m) on the Tibetan Tibetan Border north of Jongsang (7 ,462 m).

During During the 1930 Kangchen unga expedition , Gunter Dyhrenfurth, Frank Smythe and other members had named 出is shapely after 白e highly prolific Scottish explorer ,Dr Alexander Kellas .Kellas, who visited visited the mountains of Sikkim from 1907 to 1921, made a prodigious numb巴r of climbs in the region region and in 1910 completed no less 出an 10 first ascents over 6,000 m, including 7,125 m Pauhunri in northeast northeast Sikkim, at that time the highest summit in the World reached by man.

Through his professional interest in chemistry , Kellas became an authority on the effects of high altitude altitude on th巴 human system, and questioned whether Everest could be climbed without the use of supplementary supplementary oxygen. In 1921 he explored approaches to Kabru (7,338m) to th巴 south of Kangche吋 unga and returned to Darjeeling just a few days before joining the first British Everest expedition. expedition. Sadly , during the approach through Tibet, he suffered a heart attack and died .One of 出e great British British mountain explorers of the tim巴， Kellas was a r巴tiring character, who most often climbed with local Sherpas Sherpas and, unfortunately, wrot巴 almost nothing about his mountaine巴ring experiences .

This This au佃mn Jeremy Windsor’s party was able to reach Kellas Col (6,380m) a, snow saddle on 由巳 border ridge ridge south of Kellas Peak first r巴ached by Alexander Kellas during one of his unsuccessful attempts to climb climb Jongsang. Members of the party also made the first ascent of Pt 6,252 m , but frequent avalanches avalanches and di妊icult hidden crevasses put them off making a serious attempt on k巴llas Peak. However, However, the exp巴dition was able to id 巴ntify a large number of attractive unclimbed peaks in the Lugnak ,Muguthang and Lhonak valleys, which should attract mountain巴巴rs for many years to come providing providing access to this 紅巳a remains possible. ( Lindsay Griffin)

Tingchen Khang (6,010 m) Team: Indian, Organisers: Chakram Hikers, Mumbai, Leader; Mangesh Deshpande A team of five mountaineers was on an expedition to attempt 出is peak in the Sikkim Himalaya. On 19 133 e JAPANESE ALPINE NEWS 2010

October, October, Mangesh and Sekar along with two Sherpas reached the summit by 1.30 p.m. After d巴scending around 100 m on the slopes b巴low th巴 summit, they slipped and fell about 50 m. Both the members were fatally i町ured 組 d died. Sherpa 1但ngma and Sherpa Ang Dorj巴e were also severely I吋 ured. On receiving the news of the accident, rescue operations were launched with the help of local government government authorities, high altitude Sherpas and military authorities. The remoteness of the 紅ea and weather weather conditions made the rescue operations difficult. Both the Sherpas were evacuated by Indian Air Force Force helicopters and were subs巴quently admitted to the hospital and survived .

UTTARAKHAND

KUMAUN HIMALAYA

Nanda Devi East (7,434 m) (1) (1) Team: Polish, Leader: Jan Lenczowaski Since Since the first ascent of this peak in 1939 by a Polish team the climb ers from this country has a special special affinity w1由自is high peak. The 10 member Polish te釘 n established base camp at 4,3 00 min the Lawan valley. They followed the south ridge and put up Camp 2 at 6,400 m on 22 May 2009 . They reached reached 6,900 m on th巴 route. Constant bad weather, insu伍cient time and sickness of one member made them call off the attempt.

Changuch (6,322 m) (1) (1) T1巴am: British, L巴ader: Martin Moran Many teams had made attempts to this unclimbed peak in Kumaun and some of them ended in disast er. At last th巴 mountain selected its climbers and th巴 six member British team was succes sful in reaching reaching the coveted summit in the pre-monsoon season . After establishing their base camp at 4,2 75m in in the Lawan Gad, ABC at 5, 150 m and the summit camp at 5,800 m , they :followed northwest ridge of the the mountain .On 9 June 2009, Martin Moran with Robin Jarvis, Paul Guest, Leon Winchester with LO Ludar Ludar Sin gh reached the summit. They estimated the climb to be of techni cal gra de Alpine D. The y al so att巴mpted east but too mu ch snow, lack of campsites 担d i出iess of two members stopped their attempt attempt at 6,050 m.

(2) (2) Team: Indian, Organisers: Mountaineers’ Association of Krishnanagar, Leader: Basanta Singha Roy Unlike Unlike the British, the seven member team from W巴st Bengal was not successful in iclimb ng the peak. peak. They crossed Trail’s pass en route and entered Lawan g ad from Pindar valley. Th巴y 巴stablished 出eir summit camp at 5,640 m on 29 August on the north west ridge connectin g Changuch with N andakhat. Technical Technical difficulties stopped the attempt at th a t point.

(3) (3) Team: Indian ,Organisers: Altitude High Adventure ,Le ader: Anit Sah This This 14 m emb er Indian team also fai l ed in the post -mon soo n season due to bad we a ther and sno wfa ll. They reached 300 m above their Camp 2, which was esta blish ed at 5,180 m.

Kalanka (6,931 m) Team: Netherland (Dutch), Leader: Michael Robert van Berkel From Jumm a,the 也氏e men Dutch team re a ched the base camp at Bagini Kh紅ak (4,400 m) on 19 August 2009 .They reac hed ABC at 5,000 m but could not proc ee d due to lots of s now. As a consolation, th巴y climbed climbed an unn am ed peak (6,505 m) near th eir bas e ca mp on 21 Sept emb er .

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GARHWAL HIMALAYA

GANGOTRI AREA

Bhagirathi Bhagirathi II (6,512 m) and III (6,454 m) Team: Slovenian, Leader: Marco Prezelj The well-known super alpinist from Slovenia visited with two young climbers, Rok Blagus Blagus and Luka Lindie in the post monsoon S巴ason of the year. They climbed both the peaks in alpine alpine style. Bhagirathi III was climbed by southwest face and all th巴 thre巴 reached the summit on 22 Sept巴mber 2009 .Bhagirathi II was tackled from its south face followed by south ridge and all the three climbers climbers stood on the top on 01 October 2009 .

Kedarnath (6,968 m) Team : Italian , Leader: Giordani Maurizio On 12 August 2009 all the eleven m巴mbers of this Italian expedition successfully reached the summit of 出is high peak in the Gangotri glacier. They followed the むaditional route 企om their base camp at Tapov如．

Meru Shark’S Fin (6,450 m) Team: Slovenian ,Leader : Silvo Karo Another well-known name from Slovenia , Silvo Karo attempted Shark’S Fin of Meru with two friends, friends, Andr巴j Grmovs巴k and Marko Lukic in August - September 2009. They established ABC at 5,160 m . But 出ey could reach only up to 5,800 m on their intended rout巴 on 出巴 east face. Lots of snowfall called for for the retr巴 at.

Unnamed (6,172 m) and Swachand (6,721 m) Team: Italian ,Leader : Giambattista Villa This This unnam巴d peak is located on the left bank of Swachand glacier having geographical coordinates latitud巴 30 ° 47’ and longitude 79 ｰ 11 ’46" . In August 2009, this a member Italian team followed the traditional traditional path from Gangotri - Bhojbasa -Tapovan to Sunderban following the Gangotri glacier and established established base camp at 4,600 m .Bad weather stopped any further progre ss.

CENTRAL GARHWAL

Chaukhamba I (7,138 m) Team: Indian , Organisers: Summiters, Kolkata, Leader : Satyajit Kar 古田 large team from Kolkata approached 出is high mountain 企om Mana .After re a ching Bhagirath Kh紅ak glacier , th巴 y established their base camp at Ghoracha (4200 m）.百rree high camps were established .Camp 3 was established at 6100 m above th巴 icefall . They att巴mpted north face and reached just 40 m below the summit on 25 June 2009 .Bad weather stopped them from reaching the top.

Deoban (6852 m) Team: Indian ,Organisers : Ordinance Factories Mountaineers & Trekkers, Leader : Samrat Basu τbe nine member te 釘n approach巴d located m 出e Amrit Ganga valley m 出e post monsoon s巴ason . They established bas巴 camp at Eri Udiyar on the right bank of Amrit Ganga .Camp 3 was established on Upper Bidhan glacier and summit camp was put up at 6,320 m. Th巴 y started climbing northw巴st ridge 佃d finally finally reached via the west ridg巴 . Leader with Ashim Ghosh, Tapas Dey, Pro s明 it Bagchi along with four high high altitude supporters r巴ach巴d th巴 summit on 28 August.

」川 e JAPANESE ALPINE NEWS 2010

West Faces of Bhagirathi II, IV and Ill (from left to right) with Slovenian routes are marked. Photo Photo by Marko Prezelj.

Mukut Parbat (7,242 m) Team: French, Leader: Albrieux Lionel Th巴 eight m巴mber French team approached hi this gh moun tain from Ghastoli. After ent erin g Khati nala they they reached the Pachhirni (West) Kamet glacier. They established base camp at 4,800 m, ABC at 5,300 5,300 m and the summit camp at 6,500 m on 仕1巴 south ridge. They climbed the peak in alpine style .Lead 巴r with with Damien Cabane ,Sebastien Giacobi, Didier Jourdain, Emmanuel Pellissier ,Ms .Marion Poite vi n and Sebastien Sebastien Bohin reached the summit on 2 October 2009 at 11.00 a.m. Dimitry Muno zs euff red bec a use of acute mountain sickness and returned early 企om 仕1巴巴xpedition. was first c limbed by a New Zealand exp巴dition in 1951 , but from Dakhhini Ch amrao glacie r and North wes t ridg巴 Th ey had r巴ceed the west Kamet glacier approach before but found it too chall enging. Sir Ed Hillary w as member of the team and it was one of th巴 reasons why he was selected to join the 1953 Eve rest exp巴di tion .

Ronti (6,063 m) Team: Indi a n, Organis巴rs: Th e N atures' Foundation , Leader: Deb abra ta Dutta This This seve n m emb er team pro ap ac hed Ronti fr om W an fo ll owin g th巴 route throu gh R anak Dharｭ Gairuli Gairuli Patal- Ali Bugial- Baidani Bugial- Pathar Nachuni- Kailubinayak- Baguabasa- Hunia tharｭ Rupkund - Giunar ga li col reaching 白eir base camp at Silasamudra. Th ey es t ablished Camp 1 at Dodang and th en cross Bara Homkund. On 29 August they reached Ronti Saddle and fin all y the summit at 13 .30 p.m.

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HIMACHAL PRADESH

Fluted Fluted Peak (6,159 m) in Losar valley, Spiti Team: Indian, Organisers : Jad a vpur University Mountaineering and Hiking Club, Leade r: Atanu Krishna Krishna Pathak The team of eight members approached the mountain from the Losar Nala and established two high camps. On 27 June they reached under a cornice at 5,800 m and could not proceed. The attempt was called off . lndrasan (6,221 m) Team : Indian, Organis巴rs: Tarit Memorial Mountaineering & Trekking Association, Leader : Partha M勾 umder A seven member team attempted this attractive mountain near Manali in June 2009 . After establishing Camp l atop Duhangan col (5 , 100 m) th巴 team had to return as bad weather and excessive snowfall stopped stopped the a ttempt at 5,300 m on 12 June .

Menthosa (6,443 m) Team : Indian, Organisers :BEAS Sodepur, Leader :Amiya Sarkar The seven member team followed Urgus nala and established two high camps on the mountain. From their top top camp (5 ,850 m), on 30 July 2009 th巴y mad巴 an a ttempt to reach the summit. But a big crevasse at around around 6,005 m could not be crossed and hence they retreated from the peak .

Papsura (6,451 m) Team: Indian, Organisers: Bhadrakali Padatik, Leader :Prosenjit Mukheηee This This eight member team from West Bengal established base camp at 4,500 m on the Tos glacier .They established established four high camps and the summit camp was at 5, 850 m. From the top camp they reached 6,100 month巴 northwest face of Papsura. Bad weather and lot s of snow prevented them from continuing the ttempt. attempt. Attempt on nearby Devachen a lso foiled due to same reason . On 8 June, Arnn Sen, Dipankar Ghosh, Ghosh, Rajib Bhattacharya , Soma Paul, Jyotilal Soren , Santosh Singh and Subrata Das reached the top of of an Unnamed P巴ak (c. 6000 m) via north ridge. This peak was located on west of their summit camp of Papsura .

Rubal Kang (6,187 m) Team: Indian, Organisers: Kolkata Trekkers Youth, Leader: Ashim Kumar Ghosh Chowdhury This This peak is loc a ted in the West Dibibokri glacier, and was attempted by an eight member team 企om West Bengal. Bengal. They established two high camps on the mountain. From the top camp at 5,836 m , Kakali M勾 umdar and Mohar Singh Thakur reached the summit on 27 August. No further details available .

Shiva Shiva (6,142 m) Team: Indian, Organisers: Climbers' Circle , Leader: Tapan Kumar Mukhopadhyay Th巴 peak is locat巴d in the Pangi valley of Chamba district. From Cherry the village team of nine members followed the right bank of Garotu nala and reached base camp on 27 July. They established Camp 14( ,800 m) on southwest ridge on an icy patch, Camp 2 (5,400 m) on the brok巴n west ridge and Summit Camp 5,800 m) again on northw巴 st ridge. They continued climbing the ridge and on 7 August, August, after crossing an icy hump, the leader with Sushanta Mandal , Laxman Singh Rana and Kendru Singh Rana reached the true summit.

Unnamed Peak (6,184 m) ne ar Gangstang Team : British , Leader: Jonathan Preston The 11 member British team b巴gan walking from Darcha and after passing through Palamo and Doll 137 e JAPANESE ALPINE NEWS 2010

巴stablished ba se camp at 4,284 m . Th巴y establish巴d ABC at 5,008 m and Camp 1 at 5,606 m . Two members suffered because of acute mountain sickness and were brought down by th巴 liaison officer and high high altitude supporters. Other members continued the attempt. From summit camp, south face was climbed climbed and on 5 October Leader with Robin Thomas, David Bingham and Benjamin Fry reached the summit. summit. This was first ascent of 出is peak located at 血 e geographical coordinates Latitude 32 ｰ 49’25” and Longitude Longitude 76 ｰ 58’ 91 ”. Th巴y have proposed to name the peak as ‘Sarasvati’ Their GPS showed the summit to be at 6, 165 m.

Unnamed Peak (6,060 m) near Karcha Parvat Team: Japanese, Organisers: Tokai Section of Japanese Alpine Club, L巴ader: Tsun巴O Suzuki This This Japanese team of three members followed Karcha nala and set up base camp at 4,420 m .Camp 1 (4,700 (4,700 m) and Camp 2 (5,200 m) were established and on 18 July at 2.50 p.m . Ritsuyu Matsubara with three three high altitude supporters reached the summit via northwest face. They proposed the name ‘Lower Karcha Parvat’ to this peak . EASTERN AND

Saser Saser Kangri II (7,518 m) Team: Indian American, Leaders: Motup Goba and Mark Richey 百1巴 Joint ludo-American-British 2009 Sasser Kangri II Exp巴dition included Indians Chewang Motup (coｭ leader) ,Ang Tas凶， Konchok Tinles, Dahn Singh, and Tsering Sherpa; Americans Mark Richey (co leader) , Steve Steve Swenson ,and Mark Wilford; and a British climber Jim Lowther. Our goal was to climb the east Summit of Sasser Kangri IL The west summit was climbed by an Indo-Japanes巴 expedition in 1985 . According According to all our maps and information ， 出e east summit is high巴r and therefore should be referred to as Saser Kangri II Main and would make it the second highest unclimbed peak in the world .

Our 巴xpedition left 出e Nubra valley (3,050 m) near village the of Tigur on 7 August. 京町o days were spent hiking hiking up the Chameshan Lungpa valley to the snout of the Sakang Lungpa glacier. Base camp was established established in a side valley on 11 August above and to the southeast of 白e Sakang Lungpa glaci巴r at 5,180 m. To r巴ach our intended objective of the East (Main) Summit of Sasser Kangri II, we needed to cross over onto onto the South Shukpa Kunchang glacier which was the next valley east of our base camp. We made several several acclimatization and reconnaissance trips up the unnamed glacier behind base camp on 12・ 13 August and 巴 stabli s hed a camp on an unnamed pass above the South Shukpa Kunchang glacier at approximately approximately 6,000 m. We dropped onto the South Shukpa Kunchang glacier on 14 August to explore explore the route to the base of the south face of Sasser Kangri II and then spent till 16 August acclimatizing acclimatizing and exploring the area .We returned to base camp on 16 August in deteriorating weather and waited waited there until 24 August wh巴n the weather improved enough to go back over 白巴 pass onto 白e South Shukpa Kunchang glacier .We spent two nights camped high on the glacier at 6,500 m to acclimatize and then then returned to base camp on 27 August. We r巴ceived a weather forecast for at l巴 ast a week of bad weather weather so we decid巴d to hike back down to the Nubra valley on 30 August to rest for a few days at a lower lower elevation .We hiked back to base camp on 2 September in still unsettled weather but with a forecast for for clearing in a couple of days.

On 6 September we climbed back to 出e pass in cold and windy conditions with only a forecast for a small window of good weather. Becaus巴 the weather window was not going to last long enough to climb Sasser Kangri Kangri II ,we d巴cided to us巴 the opportunity to go up on 出e route for a day and reconnoit巴r the route and assess assess snow conditions. On 7 September we made an advanced base camp below the face and on 8 September September we climbed up the south face to approximat巴ly 6,700 m before rappelling back down. Th巴 bottom bottom of the south face is at about 6,000 m and the map shows the east summit at 7,513 m. The face is 138 REGIONAL NOTES e

all all hard water ice and no snow so the lower slopes w巴re all technical ice climbing. The rock on Saser Kangri Kangri II is high quality orange gra凶te. It is a safe route with no由ing above you to fall on you. 百1ere were a couple of ice cliffs on the left, but if you stay along the far right side of the couloir like w巴 did then anything anything that falls from those ice cliffs is well to the left of you. On 10 September we returned to base camp to wait again for a better weather spell in which to try and go to the summit.

Bad weather kept us from attempting 由巳 peak again until 19 September when we st紅ted up 血e face ag創n with with the intent of going the for summit. We reached a good bivouac sit巴巴arlier in the day at 6,700 m and spent spent the night there since there did not appear to be any good bivouac sites until a ledge system at 7,000 m. On20 S巴pt巴mb巴r we climbed up steep ice slopes in the main gully system to where we veered to th巴 right right into some mixed climbing that would take us onto the m勾 or ledge system halfway up the face. We had a poor bivouac that night on small ledges chopped out of the ice and we were not able to erect the tents. tents. On 21 Sept巴mber we made progress onto the large ledge system and establish巴d a bett巴r bivouac bivouac by spending nearly 4 hours chopping a ledge out of the ice. That night it snowed and due to the poor, poor, cold and windy weather we decided to descend on 22 September. Climbing this high in late September September was very cold. We had night山ne temps of -13 to -17 C and highs during the day if w巴 had sun of of 5 to 9 C. We left base camp on 25 Sept巴mber and arrived at the road in the Nubra valley that same day. day. (Mark Richey)

Plateau Plateau Peak (7,287 m) Team: Indian - American- British, Organisers: The Himalayan Club, Leaders: Divyesh Muni and Marlin Marlin Geist This This five member Indian American team approached this high, unclimbed mountain from the Sakang valley. valley. No expedition was reported to enter this vall巴y after 1985 Indian Japanese team to Saser Kangri Kangri II. Th巴y faced m 如y difficulties in finding the route and ferrying the loads to th巴ir base camp near the the snout of Sakang glacier at 4,800 m. They established ABC at 5,400 m on the moraines of the glacier glacier and Camp 1at5,760 mat the base of the wall leading to the col between Plateau Peak and Saser Kan伊 III. Th巴 y started fixing ropes on 恥 wall in turns and reached around 6,600 m on 15 August. On the the same day both the leaders with R勾巴sh Gadgil and Sudeep Barve reached the Sakang col (6,100 m) overlooking overlooking North Shukpa Kungchang glacier . The weather turned bad and heavy snow followed. Th巴 team decided to retreat from the route due to 由民at of avalanches. They named the route ‘Dog Leg’ du 巴 to its shape. On 26 August, Divyesh Muni with Rajesh Gadgil, Samgyal Sherpa and Mingma Sherpa Sherpa completed a first ascent ofTsumzong Kangri (6,010 m) in alpine style. Th巴 p巴ak is located near the the junction of Sakang glacier with its subsidiary glacier ne紅 its snout. One high camp was established established and from there the climb巴 rs frrst follow巴d north ridge and then west ridge to reach 白e summit. (Divyesh (Divyesh Muni)

ARUNACHALPRADESH

A Visit to Pemako, In In Tibetan Buddhism the importance of kora, or circumambulation, is immense. The famous kora around around Mt. Kailash and Manasarovar lake is a prime example .A kora of Takpa Siri at the head of the Subansiri Subansiri valley in Arunachal Prad巴sh and Kundu Po回ng in Tibet, a li仕le to 出巴 north of 白e Dibang valley also also in Arunachal Pradesh, are considered similarly holy. Over the years thousands of pilgrims have undertaken undertaken th巴se koras, which entail considerable hardship even today.

Often Often an entire region is considered holy ground, like Pemako, the area around the Tsangpo-Siang river. While no actual boundaries define Pemako, it consists of several valleys, peaks and rivers, now spread spread between Tibet () and Arunachal Pradesh () . The concept of undertaking thes巴 139 e JAPANESE ALPINE NEWS 2010

journ巴ys is to the find inner self which only the hardship, coupled with strong faith can provide.

百ie wid巴 Yang Sang Chu (river valley) ne紅白e McMahon Line, is part of the region of Pemako. Literally meaning ‘the hidden valley', it contains three pilgrim sites; Pemasiri, Ruitala and Dhanakosa , each on a high high mountain ridge. Pilgrims, both locals and those from lower valleys visit between July and October. October. Now with roads all the way to Tuting 白e journ巴y is much shorter and is further curtailed by a weekly weekly helicopter flight to Singa, in the centre of the valley . This approach may make it convenient to visit but but it does not take away from the beauty, the hardship of final climbs or the holy spirit of Pemako .

My wife Geeta and I travelled across the Brahmapu住a on a local ferry, always an exciting prospect and an experience one should not miss. We first drove to Menchuka (via Along), which is to the west of the Siang Siang and from where the other major river, th巴 Siyom originates. 百ie long drive was rewarding with large villages villages to begin with and thick forest in the later part. Menchuka is a wide valley and surprisingly the cen仕e of 白e vall巴y is clear of thick forest, open enough to allow large planes to land. The ancient Samden Yancho monastery is situated on a conical hill in centre of the valley . A few kilometres ahead the place place where the Sikh Guru Nanak had stayed has been converted into a 伊rudw征a. The road ahead leads to to the Tibetan frontier.

Back to them創n road to Tuting, at Along, we were joined by very fit Group Captain V K Sashindran and his his wif，巴 Sangeetha . W巴 st紅白d our main trek from Tuting in late October 2009, looking at some snow on higher reaches reaches higher we realised that we should have come a month earlier. Going east, we pas se d many sma ll villages villages amidst the thick forests .It was a place full of s imple b巴liefs as we pass巴d holy stonesy , sma ll monasteries monasteries and crossed few pilgrims. Everyone h ere had undertak en th巴 koras. H alf way up the vall町出E riv er takes a halιU turn almost forming an island .Devekota, a small monastery is located here . It It is a serene place, with one old lama as the sole occupant. A kora around this mountain of Devekota is consid巴red to give merit of all the koras in Pemako. Accompanied by the old lama we undertook the kora on a full moon day, and were introduced to the simple loc al beliefs .From Singa, which w巴 reached after two days of further trekking, we split into two parties with the fitter p紅ty successfully rea c hing Ruitala. Ruitala. They performed the kora and called this route as ‘hardest tr巴k they have 巴ver don巴 ’ ！

We proceeded east slowly through a forest of great b巴auty, remoten巴ss and some di伍culties. Ther巴 wer巴 pilgrim pilgrim shelters and the route appeared to b巴 maintained. After three days we reached a spot clo se enough of of Pemasiri to enable a closer look. It had light snow on 白巴 ground but as it rained 白巴 next day , our plans were doomed. On the route back to Singa we met a sadhu who had stayed at eac h of these thr田 high places places for a month each .When we returned the gro up that went to Ruital a had already flown out by helicopt er.For us it was a lov ely, leisurely 5 day walk back, camping on th e river bank and chatting with villagers, villagers, as a pilgrimage should be.

trail A trail from Kugging village at start of th巴 valley climb s up steeply to Dhanakosha, a high altitude lake. 恥1aps show several lakes near this spot, and the ridges of Paulipik, Doni Lipik and Testapuri are sure to offer offer great views of Tibet and specially of the elusive Namcha Barwa .

The area require s inner lin e permits for Indians (easily obtainabl e) and for e ign trekk ers h ave also been been undertaking these koras (wi出 proper clearance, which is given) .The remote pilgrim sites like these would certainl y shower hidden blessings from gods in this lan d of Pemako . (Har ish Kapadia )

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