Trekking India's Himalaya

Explore remote India on a NOLS alumni trip.

This hiking trip travels the Kumaon region amongst the high peaks of the Indian Himalayas. The staggeringly beautiful Kumaon, also known as the "Abode of the Gods," is rich in Indian myth, culture and history. It is the birthplace of the holy Ganges River and a crossroads of ancient trade routes between India and Tibet.

You will trek, with some donkey support, along the Pindar River to the toe of the Pindari glacier. Along the way you'll visit tea houses and hike past villages and fields still worked with water buffalo. You'll backpack through forests of maple, oak and rhododendron and through high alpine pastures to Zero Point at 12,000 ft. The sole occupant of this area is a Hindu holy man, Babaji, who lives here year round. After a day of acclimatizing, and depending on interest and fitness levels, we will trek to an alpine meadow at 14,500' to spectacular views of the twin peaks of Nanda Devi (25,790') and the rim of the Nanda Devi Sanctuary where most of the peaks are above 22,000 ft.

This NOLS alumni trip is unlike anything else we offer, and you will experience India as few foreigners do. Indian NOLS instructors with extensive knowledge of the region and its human and natural history will be on this trip.

Don't miss this opportunity to immerse yourself in India's Himalaya. This 13-day trip, beginning and ending in New Delhi, is organized so that you can leave the US on a weekend and return two weeks later on another weekend.