The road up the Darma river

The Panchachuli, which means "five chimneys", are a group of five ultra peaks in north-eastern Kumaon. One way to get there is up the valley of the Darma river, which ia fantastic hiking trail because there are villages spaced optimally along the river.

The first order of business is to secure mules to haul our critical supplies, that range from tents to food for man and beast:

The road, or rather, the trail, is extremely narrow at times, with steep drop offs to the Darma river:

We occasionally encountered some local colour, that our guides assured us were domesticated, even if they didn't look so

The trail went up the river valley most of the time, offering stunning views of the entire valley and of the mountains looming around us.

Village Hopping

The nice part of this hike was that we got to stop at a village every night, sleeping under a solid roof, and availing ourselves of the luxuries of civilisation, like hot tea.

Sometimes, we were glad for any sort of shelter, and even meagre amounts of warmth, after hours of hiking in pouring rain, and having your pack get heavier and heavier from the incessant downpour.

We often needed to cook indoors, by torchlight, as the rain and the wind made cooking outdoors impossible.

No matter how bad the weather was, there was nothing a good night's rest couldn't fix, and we wake to a glorious morning.

I spend the morning exploring the village, which seems mostly abandoned. The houses are locked as their owners haven't returned from their winter homes further down the valley.

A few of the village folk enjoy the morning sun admiring the view, catching up on the latest gossip, no doubt.

The road to Sipu

Meanwhile, we soldier on. Our ultimate destination is the village of Sipu, which is the last village on the trial, beyond which only Yetis and the Indo-Tibetain Border Patrol venture to.

On the way, we stop to startle some donkeys.

Soon afterwards, we catch our first glimpse of the Panchachuli. Donkey for scale.

After a miserably wet day, we finally reach our destination, Sipu. Sipu is a charming little village, spread out over a little knob of the mountain, with the Darma river flowing around it.

We find refuge in a friendly hut, and warm and dry ourselves as best as possible.

Panchachuli

Early next day, we race up the side of the mountain to see the Panchachuli up close. You can see massive glacier-fed waterfalls at the base of the mountains.

Climbing up the side of the valley, we get some closer views of the individual peaks: