Kinnaur - "Intermediate Trails" - Itinerary advices?!!

I'll visit Kinnaur into 3 weeks again and look for possible itinerarys. The HTR is open till Wangtu at the moment and the Bhaba link road to Katgaon/Kafnu too, right?!

Now, I think about to walking: Katgaon - Khasyan - Bagain kanda - Rora kanda - Kashang Kanda - Asrang/Lippa (6 days) and back: Lippa - Pangi - Kalpa - Roghi - Urni - Chagaon or Tapri - Wangtu

It could become a nice "Kinnaur experiance" at old footpaths again, in spite of all the flood desaster ...
An innerline permit shouldn't be necessary till Lippa?! - Changmang and the Temcho lake are situated in restricted areas, thats true?

Is it possible to hire horseman/guide or porters in the Wangtu/Bhaba valley?
Any advice or ideas on my itinerary would be really appricated.

Hey Dhananjay, what do you think about my ideas... ?

Cheers
AndreasW

Hi,
Thats a great walk to be done ... It is walking the old footpaths ... I am sure you have the Deepak-Dhanu book on Kinnaur .. This is mentioned there ... You can get horses at Kafnu ... however in three weeks time it will be great ... Mid august - Mid September is the greatest time to be in Kinnaur and you have chosen the right places for this ... I would also suggest dong the Tapri - Wangtu - Nichar - Taranda - Chaura - Paunda - Sarahan walk ... That would cover almost all lower Kinnaur .. Also I would suggest to stay at rest houses rather than tenting out .. The rest houses are great small two room accos and have a nostalgia value to them .... If not the Bhabha valley then definitely it is worth staying at the rest house in Roghi and Urni ... you get magnifiscent views of the Kinner Kailash massif from there ... If you want guides I would again suggest getting in touch with Pradeep Negi in Sangla ... also the news from Kinnaur is encouraging ... they are planning to let the road be open for small vehicles by august second week ... The bridge at Khab is still under repair and the news is it should be traffic worthy by august third week .... and it is worth going to Ribba once you are in Kalpa and sip on the pure angoori in the village where it was first brewed ... Happy travels ..

Any help Any time

Cheers,
Dhananjay

Hi,
I dont know if we can do it ... Attaching a google earth image for the area

Cheers,
Dhananjay

Your timing synchronizes with my Pin Parvati Pass trek... else I would have come for a small 3 or 4 day portion.

Anyway, glad to feel your presence in the same district... we might meet up somewhere.....

HAPPY TRAILS!!

dhananjay, how did you attach a google earth pic here?

I 'll be in Shimla for an hour... If you are near the bus stand, I'll come and say hello!

Hi Dhananjay,

thanks for your quick response and suggestions. - Yes, Deepak-Dhanu's book is "my Bible" on this region. I've plenty of time for staying in Kinnaur, 23-24 days...
Old friends from Kullu (guide, driver and cook) will support my ideas, but they enjoy the Parang La Trek at the moment.
I know some places since early visits - Roghi, Kalpa, Pangi, Ribba, Purbani etc. - I'm sure, we'll find a village to sip on the pure angoori during the Phulaich celebrations...

It sounds great, what you wrote: "The whole HTR should be traffic worthy by august third week for small vehicles" - We'll seen! - Perhaps, if it's possiblle, I'll visit at first the villagers in Purbani and look, whether they starting their "Kinner Shivling yatra" during full moon time???

Look....
http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=31.60...&z=6&t=k&hl=en

AvidTrekker: Why not, the world is a little village!!! - Happy journey too!

Cheers
AndreasW

PS: Dhanajay, hope I've a little bit more time in Shimla (10/11h Sept.) - Do you stay in your Park Cafe during this time?

Hi,
Our cafe is on the Mall ... Avid please do come ... Itll be great to meet you ... Andreas Im in Shimla during September ... Do come .. Welcome anytime ... The traditional dates for the Kinner Kailash Parikrama this year are 25th, 26th, 27th August ... People now usually start from Thangi ... the walk is about 4 days and ends at Chitkul from where people prefer buses now to get back to their places ... Andreas the best angoori is brewed in RIbba ... the place to be .. hehehe ... Happy travels Avid & Andreas

Email a google earth image to your account ... edit a bit if it is big .. and post it ..

Cheers,
Dhananjay

Hi Dhananjay,

this Parikrama is well known, did this trek last year! Photographs here - But I look for an other date, when the locals visit the Shiva lingam above Purbani.


Kinner Kailash Shivling saw at Kalpa

Deepak-Dhanu wrote (page 120; 2.Edit.):
It sounds interesting for me. Did you heard anything about this yatra?

And thanks for your invitation! - Great, hearing good music after long time again...

So long
AndreasW

Hi,
Andreas this is a very well known yatra undertaken by people in Kinnaur ... Starts from Purbani and hits the valley bottom before they start the steep uphill ... This is also done in August as Deepak mentions it .... Ill try to find out the dates ...

Cheers,
Dhananjay

E-mail the google earth image to account.

So simple!! Now why can't I think of such things??

Thanks a ton!

Hi Dhananjay,

Do you know more about the background of this yatra? Which valley bottom do they hits before - the Sutlej? Is it a Devta-procession too?

Did the upper walk last year from Purbani to Ribba with great views and know the steep paths... I'm sure, I'll need one day extra for this "hard days climb" to the cave!

thanks
AndreasW

Being inspired by this thread, I´ve been looking in to a combo bus/walk-in solution for Ladahk via Spiti in early September.

My prelim plan is to go via Shimla - I´ve started to look forward to the Park Mall Cafe

Starting with Kafnu-Sangam : only a payment of trekking fee in Shimla , no other formalities -- is this correct ? Formalities off the beaten track in Spiti ?

Are there any better maps than the Leomans series ? (I´ve been looking at the AMS series, which seem better for topo info but names and roads are abysmally incorrect).

The Pin Bhabha Pass is not in the current "inner line" by definition. Sagnam, Mood, Kaza are also NOT. Jangi to Sumdo on the highway is current inner line, hence permit reqd. [ its almost the actual border so the inner line is just a notional one here ]

Even if you do take a permit for the Bhabha Pass, it won't harm you... it may save you trouble from some "army types checking papers"... some Indians have crossed the Borasu Pass without papers and they were "let off" by the Army Officer with half a days' detainment which included high tea and biscuits.

...again, the random cruelties of the Indian Army

"Now-one goes this ways..." said the locals to us! - But we did it! - Strenuous, loneliness, unique and beautiful...



Photographs and description follows later.

AndreasW