Close proximity to the Alpine area. Great contrast in landscape, involving greenery, alpine and deserts. Opportunity to explore age old Buddhist monasteries in Spiti.

No other trek in western Himalayas matches the degree of geographical variation as one observes during Pin Parvati Trek which links the Parvati Valley in Kullu with the Pin Valley in Spiti. We begin in the Valley of the Gods, the green valleys of Kullu, on the southern side of the Great Himalaya Range. Gary Weare, expert on the western Himalaya and author of Lonely Planet’s Trekking in the Indian Himalaya and more recently A Long Walk in the Himalaya - A trek from the Ganges to Kashmir claims the Kullu Valley is “without doubt one of the most beautiful places on earth with the snow capped Himalayan peaks as a backdrop and the sparkling Beas River running through it.”

Following the Parvati River, a tributary of the Beas, we climb through superb conifer and oak forests nourished by heavy monsoonal rains and into alpine meadows often carpeted with wildflowers of buttercup, gentian and primula. Waterfalls fall from sheer cliffs, and above them high Himalayan summits with hanging glaciers. These glaciers are the headwaters of the Parvati River. We pass camps of Gaddi nomadic herders who bring their flocks to the high Himalaya for the brief summer.

The glacial lake at our camp at Mantalai, sits under towering Himalayan peaks and glaciers. This lake is of high religious importance, a pilgrimage site for Hindus and Sikhs. From just above Mantalai, the path to the top of the Pin Parvati Pass crosses snowfields and glacier. The pass offers a magnificent panorama of the Greater Himalayan Range and the Zanskar Range to the north.

Crossing the Pin Parvati Pass into Spiti, we enter a bare and rugged landscape of chocolate colored mountains and valleys almost devoid of vegetation. Little rain crosses the Himalayan barrier and the only notable precipitation falls as winter snow between September and May. The Himalayan passes are closed and the whole region north of the Himalaya is cut off for up to six months.

Descending from the Pin Parvati Pass into Spiti, our first village is Mud. This region of the Pin Valley is the only place in Spiti area where the old Tantric Nying-pa sect of Buddhism is followed. Kungari Monastery in the Pin valley, believed to have been founded by Padmasambhava, the original Buddha, is the sect’s main centre.
A jeep will meet us here and drive us to the famous Monastery of Tabo. Next day we will visit the ancient monasteries of Lalung Dankar, Kye and Komik, rich in Buddhist imagery and murals.

Spiti has a haunting and unforgettable beauty. Isolated for centuries, Spiti cultural life focused around its many monasteries. In the Spiti Valley the development of Buddhist Lamaism can be traced from its very early Shamanistic, Bon Pa beginnings to the more recent (14th century) Gelugpa (Dalai Lama/yellow Hat) order, the major Buddhist philosophy practiced today.