The most impenetrable place on Earth

NEGI RK Thursday, January 21, 2021

The most impenetrable place on Earth

sharing some of my favourite places in Himachal Pradesh:-

Its my prevelage wiring about Himalayas/Himachal Pradesh. My native place

I am sharing some beautiful pictures of Himachal Pradesh

Imagine a picturesque, quaint and untouched Himalayan village which is inhabited by roughly 150 to 200 people. Let's throw in a picture to exemplify this piece of beauty in your mind -

This tribal village is called ‘Bara Bhangal’. Every year, it is literally cut off from the rest of the world for 9 months straight due to heavy snow on access routes, making it impenetrable from September until the gateways to this heavenly abode re-open around July. The village lies in the Kangra District of the state of Himachal Pradesh in India. Ravi river originates from this village. The village has a localized micro hydro-electric plant but unfortunately it has not been operational since 2015. They do have a primary school up there which houses an Arts (drawing/painting teacher) as well as a Physical education teacher. The only contact with us ‘outsiders’ for those long, cold and treacherous 9 months is a Satellite phone which is charged using solar energy.

So what makes this place so impenetrable? Well, it is flanked on all sides by the Dhauladhar , Pangi and Mani Mahesh mountain ranges of Himalayas. So to get there; you have four1

options -

Hike over the mighty 4550 meters tall Thamsar pass : From road head, this hike takes four days for a local to get to the village and this is considered the least risky access to Bada Bhangal. The pass itself is passable only for three months in a year during the monsoon season. The hike starts from Bada gaon village in Dist Mandi or from Kukar Gundha village across the river Uhl in Kangra Dist; however the trail head to the pass often gets shattered due to landslides and debris falls. For instance, the trail has not been open since 2017!

Mighty Thamsar

Paniyartu - where the mountains came down rumbling down on the trail.

2. Hike from the resort town of Manali via 4800 meters high Kalihani pass: This route requires technical climbing, requires a similar time frame of 4 to 5 days, but requires traversing snow-bedded glaciers and moraines and is hence the road less taken!

Kalihani pass

3. Hike along the river Ravi from District Chamba : Although this route does not require one to cross the Himalayan passes, it is the least used route to get to the village as the trailhead is extremely risky being flanked by thousands of feet of deep gorges and rock faces.

4. Hitch a Helicopter ride : The state gov’t facilitates a chopper facility in extreme situations like health emergencies or severe drought conditions.

In 2018, a group of volunteers from the more prosperous regions of the state arranged (funded via crowdfunding!) a 60-mule strong convoy who hiked via Option 2 to the village to provide the villagers basic rations to keep them going!