Weekend trip to the Khaliya top in Munsyari
Being nested in the hill city of Nainital, the Himalayas have never ceased to fascinate us. As a group of research fellows, we all share a similar fascination and have never missed a chance to trek into the inner Himalayas whenever time permits us. If nothing else, we trek near the hills of Nainital on weekends.
Munsyari is a small town in the inner Himalayas in the Kumaun region of Uttarakhand. We had set our eyes on Munsyari for a long time and when in the month of March this year we got the time, we immediately set off to the place. The view around Munsyari is said to be one of the most magnificent can get in the Kumaon region of the Himalayas with the entire Panchachuli range visible in the proximity. It is around 270 km northeast of the city of Nainital and it meant we had to travel for an entire day, setting off in the early morning. The entire group was very excited and one among us was going to leave the institute hence, it was meant to be a farewell trip for her. We had booked a couple of taxis as the total number of people went up to 13!
Starting off at 0630 from our campus, the early morning ride went through familiar places. From Nainital, we went through Bhowali and Almora as we have been doing countless times. From Nainital through Almora, up to the city of Bageshwar, the road is pretty well and we reached Bageshwar by noon. From Bageshwar, our drivers took a less familiar route through the villages. The roads were bumpy and we all were tired. We stopped at a local place for lunch which served modest yet delicious lunch. By evening we were at a waterfall l known as the Birthi fall with Munsyari almost 40km away.
Birthi waterfall is neither very small nor a very large one but beautiful without a doubt. We spent nearly an hour near the fall. Anyways, after having the 10th or 12th cup of tea during the day, we set off to the final leg of the journey to Munsyari.
We reached Munsyari at around 8 PM and booked a local hotel suggested by our familiar taxi drivers. The hotel Milam inn was pretty comfortable, with good rooms and surprisingly large diner menu! We did not expect such a detailed food menu at a remote place like Munsyari. The food was also very good. The night sky photographers in our group were on their job almost immediately, and despite the weather not being very favorable managed to capture some star trails.
The highlight of this trip was supposed to be the trek to Khaliya top. This trek is famous as it contains almost all the excitement of a Himalayan trek. The route passes through Rhododendron trees, dense forests, grasslands, a high altitude meadow, and of course snow. Yet, this trek is only 8 kilometers long and can easily be done in a day! So we set off in the morning the next day and went right up to a guest house located at 3km from the base camp.
Our plan was to trek to the top and return to the guest house and not the base as we wanted to capture some night sky photographs and stay in the tents provided by the guest house only. This plan was made keeping in mind the views of the Himalayas especially during the Sunrise and we wanted to be right there near the top. Camping is not permitted on the top of the mountain and hence this was our best option.
After having lunch at the guest house, we started for the top. At the Khaliya top, there is a trail going up to the “Zero Point” which should be the actual top as it is located at 4000m and the so-called Khaliya top is 3750m. Anyways, after crossing the Khaliya top everyone wanted to climb to the zero point and it was indeed the best part of the trip.
Alpine meadows welcomed us and we had to walk for almost 2km in the meadows only. Not so far was the fresh snow and we had a lot of fun sliding there! After reaching the top, unfortunately, the cloudy skies persisted and we could not catch the view of the entire Panchachuli ranges, but glimpses could be seen. The journey to the top was a very memorable one, especially the last couple of kilometers as there was hardly any ascent and we could literally walk there.
We spent nearly an hour at the top with everyone clicking photographs in their favorite ways! Being in a large group on a trek is always exciting and we had a lot of fun. Not everyone had the experience of a Himalayan trek before, but the togetherness made the trek quite easy.
Descending down was pretty easy and we reached the guest house within an hour before dark. At the guest house, everything seemed overpriced initially, but as we realized it is quite difficult to carry things up there, we were a bit relaxed. At night the temperature dropped steeply and was well below 0! The idea of sleeping in a tent was dropped instantly and we all asked for rooms. Thankfully, they had rooms available and we managed to lie down. The cold was such that I was awakened at least 3 times during the night despite two layers of blankets over me. In the morning everyone shared a similar experience.
After getting down, we immediately boarded the taxis awaiting us at the base. The journey back to Nainital was a pretty tiring one and the expression of excitement which was so easily visible on everyone’s face in the onward journey turned into a part satisfaction, part tiring one. Anyways, after almost 12 hours of a bumpy ride, we returned back to our campus in Nainital before midnight. This trek was one of the easiest yet satisfying ones I have undertaken. Few of the people in the group were on their first Himalayan trek, and they enjoyed it thoroughly. The company of so many people made sure none of us felt tired or intimidated by the trek. Almost immediately, we started making plans for the next Himalayan trek which most probably will be the Gomukh Tapovan trek in the Garwal regions, another not so difficult but enjoyable one!
Thanks to all the group members: Anjasha, Ankur, Arpit, Avinash, Bibhuti, Biplab, Gurpreet, Mani, Rahul, Sindhu, Shubham, and Tushar for being together on this trip and making it a memorable one.
A brief summary and important points to be noted for this trip:
Trek: Munsyari to Khaliya top (3750m) and Zero point (nearly 4000m), approximately 8km.
The difficulty of the trek: Easy
Distance to Munsyari: From Kathgodam: 278 km, from Nainital: 261 km, and from Almora: 198km. Taxis are available from all these places to Munsyari.
Accessibility: Kathgodam is connected to the Indian Railways network. From there one can take a shared one or book their own taxi to Munsyari. Pantnagar is the nearest airport. Overnight sleeper buses run quite frequently from New Delhi to Kathgodam/Haldwani.
Accommodation: KMVN guest house in Munsyari is the most preferred one. We stayed in Milam inn which provides good rooms at a reasonable price.
Food: Plenty of small eateries and restaurants available in Munsyari. The hotel where we stayed, also provides good food.
