Himalaya Masala

photo-montage of the Indian Himalaya - click for a map for the Indian Himalaya

Map of the Indian Himalaya,
showing the location of images on this website.

The simplest reason for travelling across mountains is to get to the other side. Himalaya Masala isn't about that. And it isn't about getting to the top.

Trails >

About Himalaya Masala >
Himalaya Masala grew out of a series of journeys through the Indian Himalaya. Look inside for travel articles, photographs, treks and background about the Himalaya and Himalayan countries.

On the Blog...

Self-Immolations in Tibet

It's time for the silence over the self-immolations in Tibet to end
Lhasa 1959

The month of March is a time when Tibetans reflect on their history
Rules, fees, permits

In the 90's you could trek in the Garhwal with a minimum of formality. But that was then and this is now.

Himalayan Journeys >

Mountain spirits - the Gangotri Glacier

We were at the edge of a wide green meadow at the foot of Shivling. The Gangotri Glacier was below us and there was a wall of rubble behind us where a side glacier tumbled down from a cirque of granite peaks
Trans-Himalayan Trails - Trekking routes and Traverses

The simplest reason to trek through mountains is to get to the other side. My journeys were directed at no such thing. India’s western Himalaya stretch from the Indus to the Nepalese border - a distance of perhaps 750 kilometres as the crow flies. I wanted to travel along the ranges, staying as close to the high peaks as I could.
The source

A wide sheet of water slides quietly out from beneath the glacier, complete and self-possessed as a newly hatched crocodile. This is Gaumukh, the main source of the Ganga - the River Ganges. Without Ganga, India could scarcely exist.
Himalayan Borders

The border between Tibet and India is a British invention, imposed secretly on Tibet while China was in eclipse. India and China went to war over it in 1962. South of the international border there's another border - India's "Inner Line. " It divides Indians and plagues travellers.
Kedarnath

A towering wall of rock and tumbled ice blocks ithe valley. At its base there is s a huddle of stone buildings, immeasurably tiny. This is Kedarnath. The temple is dedicated to the god Shiva. Some of the ashes of Mahatma Gandhi are scattered nearby.
Ganga's story

Granite crags pressed the township tight against the Bhagirathi River. Cold shadow rose up the valley like canal water behind a lock gate. The Bhagirathi is just one of a a skein of Himalayan streams that join to become the River Ganges. They run as wild as a woman's hair across the mountains because this where the river goddess Ganga fell to earth.

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