Hello everyone, hope you all are doing well and happy almost holidays to those of us who celebrate Christmas! Here is a festive photograph to match:
A rare sighting in Dharamshala - a stove! Spotted at Common Ground Cafe, Dharamshala which also hosts a paper back of our first edition handbook on the western Himalayas. Holler at the super hospitable + knowledgeable Lobsang Rabsel the next time you find yourself here.
But before we move ahead - a gentle reminder to share this newsletter with your fellow nature lovers and make a donation towards our corpus! Rs. 500 covers a ton of bills in electricity, Rs. 5000 funds an internship and guess what, Rs. 50,000 funds our lease for an entire year!
Alright folks, there is a lot that can be said about the topic of this newsletter but as they say - a picture is worth a thousand words. So get ready for a lighthearted newsletter full of amazing photos straight from a valley just behind the mountains you see in this image:
These as you might know are the Dhauladhars as seen from our side of the valley. We’re located in Kangra valley. But what lies beyond? Let’s find out.
It is called the Chamba valley and personally, we feel that it is the wilder, more unexplored and beautiful version of Kangra valley! But first, a map:
You see, the boundary between Kangra and Chamba districts is mostly lined by inhospitable mountain ranges including the Dhauladhars - so it’s a comparatively more difficult access
You need to know how good the honey from Chamba is. The entire district is full of tribal people who depend on forest produce to sustain their lives and honey is a big part of that (if you want this honey, might we recommend Tenacious Bee Collective?)
This is it - what you see is the epitome of Himalayan honey straight from the extremely remote Kugti Wildlife Sanctuary. Scroll on to see what this place looks like. Tasting notes: High mountain mist, the good kind of tang, rare forest flowers
But where is Kugti Wildlife Sanctuary? What does it look like?
You see the blue pin at the bottom third? That’s where we are. Right above is the white diagonal which is the Dhauladhar range and beyond lies the Chamba valley. At the border of Chamba valley and Lahaul valley (which is a complete desert) lies Kugti. The Pir Panjal range divides Chamba and Lahaul valleys!
The Pir panjal range in the background. Beyond that mountain lies the Lahaul district which arguably in turn is the wilder, more unexplored and beautiful version of Chamba
The Kugti Town Square
Yes, a remote Himalayan village that comes with its own cloak room. In the background are wood supplies for the next couple of months of harsh winter when the village will become completely cut off from nearby settlements (yes, no external food, no electricity and only snow and ice as forms of water)
Did you know that this village lies inside a protected area where human/anthropogenic activity is heavily restricted? One wonders how the people navigate these relatively new age restrictions:
That’s right - no fires, no weapons, no plant extraction, no hunting and no entry without permission!
The people here store biofuel such as wood and cow dung in the bottom floor (along with livestock) to keep their entire house warm. These houses are made entirely of wood + stones and are highly earthquake resistant!
You see how the wood and stones are laid out? This is an ancient technique called Kath Kuni that is almost extinct now. These houses are far more resistant to earthquakes as compared to modern concrete architecture.
Most houses have some kind of artwork on them. What’d you reckon this means?
That’s right, traditional weighing scales and barter systems still thrive in this part of the world. Oh and the best kidney beans (Rajma) of India are found in Chamba valley (Rs. 200 per kilo). This sir was generous enough to share some of the honey pictured above (the beehive is places in his house itself, in the area where biofuel is stored - everyone lives together in peace
Dense deodar forests on the way back to Bharmour, the nearest relatively large town
This was the wild wild part of Chamba valley! In the next one, we will share some bits from Bharmour and Chamba city to showcase this amazing part of the Himalayas with you all. Here is a trailer though:
Carvings from a 1400 year old temple complex called “Chaurasi” in the ancient town called Bharmour!
Regards,
Himalayan Advocacy Center
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Postscript:
As you may know, we are a small non profit in the environment + law space located in the Indian Himalayas. We are completely bootstrapped! This means no foreign funding and no fancy headquarters - just a small community - of which you all are an integral part - in the long run we hope!
What’s more - we, at the Center, are determined to localise efforts for the planet, without compromising on the best that the law has to offer. If you have the means, and want to support a committed local undertaking, please do consider contributing to our corpus. We hope to pleasantly surprise you with detailed information on where you money has been spent!
