This stunning guide is an essential sourcebook for anyone contemplating a venture into India's wild and mighty Himalaya, taking the trekker and climber from the famous forests and rhododendrons of Sikkim on the borders of Bhutan, China and Myanmar. The wide variety of treks includes some newly charted expedition-style routes, while the peaks featured are chosen as a natural highpoint of trekking in a high-altitude region. In addition, there is information on trekking and climbing styles, ecological concerns and health and safety.

If you want to travel the Indian Himalayas but arent sure where to get started, then this guidebook is for you. For ages, the Indian Himalayas have been a playground for backpackers and other adventure seekers from throughout the world. Despite the hardship of mountain travel, the area offers spiritual serenity and beautiful views at an affordable cost. Many have been spellbound by its untouched beauty, including Kirit Rindani, who shares breathtaking photos and traveling tips gleaned over more than one hundred visits to different areas over a span covering almost fifty years. Youll get inside information on Uttaranchal, Himachal, Sikkim, West Bengal, Ladakh, and other areas so you can plan family trips, adventures with friends, romantic getaways, and vehicle safaris over Himalayan roads. As a bonus, youll get details on more than 275 guest houses and hotels to fit any budget. The Himalayas continue to serve as a constant source of inspiration for Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, and others throughout the world. See their majestic beauty in this pictorial guidebook that will inspire you to see them firsthand.

Revered the world over, the Indian Himalaya provide a unique experience and stunning backdrop for any explorer and have been capturing the imagination of travelers for centuries. The 3rd edition Indian Himalaya Handbook will help travellers get the most from this diverse and sometimes demanding region. Footprint's completely updated travel guide to the Indian Himalaya is indispensible to visitors who want to be wowed by rugged beauty and inspired by the unique culture of the people that live here. • Great coverage of responsible travel and the Himalayan Environment Trust Code of Practise, as well as essential advice on the best time of year to travel • Loaded with information and suggestions on how to get off the beaten track, from trekking and climbing to cycling and yoga • Includes comprehensive listings from From Garhwal and Kumaon in Uttar Pradesh, to the Himalaya in Himachal Pradesh, Ladakh and Zanskar, to Darjeeling and Sikkim, in the Eastern Himalaya. • Plus all the usual accommodation, eating and drinking listings for every budget • Full-colour planning section to inspire travellers and help you find the best experiences Fully updated, Footprint’s Indian Himalaya Handbook is packed with all the information you’ll need to get the best out of this spectacular region.

Following his vivid account of traveling with one of the last camel caravans on earth in Men of Salt, Michael Benanav now brings us along on a journey with a tribe of forest-dwelling nomads in India. Welcomed into a family of nomadic water buffalo herders, he joins them on their annual spring migration into the Himalayas, a superb adventure that explores the relationship between humankind and wild lands, and the dubious effect of environmental conservation on peoples whose lives are inseparably intertwined with the natural world.The migration Benanav embarked upon was plagued with problems, as government officials threatened to ban this nomadic family—and others in the Van Gujjar tribe—from the high alpine meadows where they had summered for centuries. Faced with the possibility that their beloved buffaloes would starve to death, and that their age-old way of life was doomed, the family charted a risky new course, which would culminating in an astonishing mountain rescue. And Benanav was arrested for documenting the story of their plight.Intimate and enthralling, Himalaya Bound paints a sublime picture of a rarely-seen world, revealing the hopes and fears, hardships and joys, of a people who wonder if there is still a place for them on this planet.

This book discusses plant invasions and environmental impacts on the Himalayas through a novel procedure, and helps to understand the influences of climate, physiography, soil, and disturbance on plant richness in mountain systems. Assessing invasion risks to mountain space under future climate change scenarios is highly significant for appropriate preparedness, and this book details analytical and modeling techniques to assess the conditions of mountain ecosystem and ecology to better inform our preparation for future environmental challenges. The book presents the state-of-the-art understanding of the species-environment relationships in a global biodiversity hotspot, relatively unexplored areas for the Himalayan life-form richness. The book provides not only the academic but also the professional community and policymakers a review and update on modeling applications for determining interactions of the plant species with the environment of a subtropical mountain ecosystem across a climatic gradient. Currently, there is no book in the market addressing the implementation and applications of modeling in the Himalayan plant and environment continuum, and most of the existing books cover the species richness pattern along the elevation gradient and basic ethnobotanical features of a mountain system. Since the book covers the applications of novel methods and modeling for ecological analysis of mountain ecosystems, it will also be significant for the professional market. Therefore, the book aims to fill the gap between scientists and professionals in the use of modeling strategies to monitor biodiversity in mountain systems for the formulation of conservation, adaptation, and mitigation principles.

This thesis encompasses a study of past precipitation patterns based on six cave stalagmites from different parts of the Indian Himalaya. This is the first speleothem study in the Indian Himalaya that shows a direct relationship between past precipitation and the collapse of civilization. The stalagmites examined were KL-3 from Jammu and Kashmir; TCS and BR-1 from Himachal Pradesh; and DH-1, SA-1 and CH-1 from Uttarakhand. Based on the high-resolution palaeoclimatic reconstruction (35 U/th dates, 5 AMS dates, 1,500 samples for δ18O and δ13C values) obtained for the duration of the Pleistocene–Holocene transition (16.2–9.5 ka BP) and Mid-Holocene–Present (ca. 4.0 ka BP–Present), three major events were identified, namely the Older Dryas (OD), Bølling–Allerød (BA) period and Younger Dryas (YD) at ca. 14.3–13.9, 13.9–12.7 and 12.7–12.2 ka BP, respectively. The study showed a gradual reduction in the precipitation from 4 ka BP onwards for about a millennium with a peak arid period between 3.2 and 3.1 ka BP. According to the findings, the LIA (Little Ice Age) covers a time span from 1622–1820 AD, during which the climate was wetter than that in the post-LIA period (1820–1950 AD). In addition, this thesis supports the assumption that the WDs (Western Disturbances) contribute significantly to the total rainfall in the Himalaya region.

A collection of true stories written by an American woman living in a remote village in Pauri Garhwal, India. A colorful cast of characters takes readers beyond the superficial glimpse of conventional travel narratives, lending humanity to the otherwise nameless faces outside tour bus windows, while giving readers a profound, multifaceted introduction into the unique character and traditions of the Garhwali people: Their deep faith in god, primitive village conditions, the family, Hindu worship ceremonies, tantra-mantra rituals, small-terraced farming, humility, animal husbandry, focus on the group (as opposed to the individual), elaborate weddings, patience, a strong work ethic, ghosts, poverty, complex funerary rites, animal sacrifice, curses, the caste system, adherence to custom, restricted education & employment opportunities, soothsayers, god possessions, an intimate relationship with nature, fortitude, friendliness and immense respect for elders, ancestors & guests.