| photography trail |
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venue: pindari glacier, uttaranchal
date: postponed
photographer: anup sah
himalayan village and soulitudes present a photography trail where the himalayas and the trek to pindari glacier will be the classroom to explore the visual sense latent within all of us. the trek will be led by
photographer and mountaineer anup sah.
a trek to pindari glacier is perhaps one of the best known trekking route in kumaun (uttaranchal). earlier located in almora district, pindari is now a part of the newly created bageshwer district.
situated between the snow-capped nanda devi and nanda kot mountains, the glacier is over 3.2 kilometers long and around 1.5 km. broad connected to the southwestern slope of the outer walls of nanda devi sanctuary. river pindar originates from this glacier and flows down to confluence into the river alaknanda.
the trek is a "soft adventure" experience and well within the capacity of any trekker who
will be amply rewarded by magnificence of the himalayas, the beauty of mountain flora and fauna, the snowy ranges, the hill torrents and roaring water-falls. it is one of the most easily accessible glacier in the kumaon region.
 itinerary
day 1: ranikhet express
leave delhi by ranikhet express from old delhi railway station at 10:45 pm.
day 2: himalayan village, sonapani
arrive at kathgodam station early morning and drive for two and a half hours to himalayan village, sonapani, in time for breakfast. getting to himalayan village involves a 20 minute walk from the main road. himalayan village has an amazing view of some of india’s highest himalayan peaks such as the nanda devi and trisul.
 there will be an orientation and briefing program for the trek. this will be followed by detailed briefing session on our photographic journey.
day 3: sonapani to loharkhet
after breakfast, drive to song. the drive takes six hours with a stop for lunch. from song, it is a 2 km hike to loharkhet where we will set up camp for the night.
day 4: loharkhet to dhakuri
after breakfast, we begin the first stretch of the hike. the distance to dhakuri is 10 km with a stunning terrain of a mixed landscape of jungle, alpine meadows and snowy peaks. overnight at dhakuri.
day 5: dhakuri to khati
there will be an early morning photography session. dhakuri is surrounded by peaks that are over 6000 meters in height. after breakfast, we hike for 9 km to khati. the trek is a gentle one and is along the pindar river. khati village is a picturesque village with traditional houses and where the locals still dress in a traditional way.
day 6: khati to phurkia
after breakfast we trek for 16 km to phurkia. at this stretch we begin to see the change in the terrain where the tree line begins to recede. this is also the closest point to the glacier.
day 7: zero point
from phurkia we hike before dawn to zero point. the pindari glacier is the source of the pindar river. we will spend the day near the glacier as it offers a lot of photo opportunities and camp near zero point. lunch and dinner will be prepared at the camp site.
day 8: zero point to khati
we trek back 18 km back to khati village and spend the night there.
day 9: khati to dhakuri
we trek back the 9 km to dhakuri and spend the night there.
day 10: dhakuri to song
this is the last stretch of the trek (12 km) where we hike back to song. from here we drive back to himalayan village, sonapani. we arrive late evening for dinner and a hot bath!
day 11: himalayan village, sonapani
spend the day relaxing and going over the photographs taken and we learn how to edit photographs to tell a story. we will also learn to manipulate images using adobe photoshop. we will select the 20 best photographs and this will be put up in the
www.himalayanvillage.com and on
www.soulitudes.net as an on line exhibition.
day 12: kathgodam
leave for kathgodam station at 4:00 pm form sonapani. dinner will be at a restaurant close to the station. catch ranikhet express at 8:40 pm
day 13: delhi
arrive at old delhi station at 4:45 am.
package cost
the package cost is rs. 25,000 per person.
the cost includes:
- accommodation and all meals in himalayan village, sonapani
- photography workshop charges
- all meals while trekking
- camping tents and porters
- all car transfers
- train tickets in an air conditioned compartment
- taxes
the cost does not include:
- flights/train journeys to and from delhi
- travel insurance
- sleeping bags
- meals, beverages and refreshments on the train
- additional meals at himalayan village, sonapani
- alcohol, tips, fax/email/phone charges
- items of a personal nature such as toiletries
items to be carried
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sleeping bag that is warm. in some places the min. temp. will be between 0 to 5 degrees |
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rucksack |
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comfortable walking shoes (not brand new shoes) and/or floaters for river crossings |
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warm clothing such as woolen socks, gloves, peak cap, wind cheater/breaker jeans, cotton trousers, a very warm jacket and sweater |
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very basic toiletries, sun block, sunglasses, personal medication |
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digital slr camera with extra batteries, polarizer filters |
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a laptop if possible with relevant connectors to download images from the camera to the laptop |
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chargers/extra batteries and waterproof cases/bags for all electronic
equipment |
note: we will make provisions for the charging of camera and laptop batteries through portable gensets. bookings will be confirmed only after an advance payment of 50% of the total amount is received.
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mountaineers camp in the backdrop of bauljuri
peak at pindar |
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| about anup
sah |
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anup sah is an ace
photographer though many people know him more for his mountaineering credentials. which term describes him better - photographer or mountaineer - is a topic of debate. and to add to the confusion he is also a known floriculturist, environmentalist and
a bird watcher.
talking about photography, he was awarded the international honour AIPC by india international photographic council (IIPC) in the year 1994. he was also awarded IIPC diamond grading in 2002. he has been selected among the top 10 photographers by the IIPC in the years 1990 & from 1992 to 2000
continuously. more than 1300 of his photographs and slides have been exhibited in several national and international photography salons
recognized by IIPC, FIP, PSA and FIAP. to sum it up, he has Won over 250 awards and certificates of merit in national and international salons till date.
he has also authored two books namely 'kumaoun himalaya temptations" (1993) and 'Nainital- The land of trumpet and songs' (1999). he has held many solo exhibitions and his pictures are extensively used in publications.
anup sah, the mountaineer, completed his basic and advance mountaineering from NIM in 1969 and 1971 respectively. he is the
founder member of the nainital mountaineering club, a prestigious mountaineering
institution in the country. he has led and participated in national and international
mountaineering expeditions to nanda devi, nanda khat, pawali dwar, devisthan, shivling, rudra gaira, panchachuli - all 6000+ mts. peaks. he has also led and
organized many trekking expeditions to various remote areas in the himalayas. notably among these is the trails pass expedition in 1994 which was being successfully crossed after 53 years!
presented below are a few pictures from anup sah's portfolio.
please click on the picture for a larger view!
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a
mesmerizing landscape from bedni bugyal |
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a
view of chandrashila peak from tunganath top |
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rajrambha
peaks stands tall near munisari |
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a
himalayan landscape from tiffin top, nainital |
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trekkers...
is that you? |
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