Triund – India – August 2009
Triund is seasonal pasture land located about 1000m above Mcleod Ganj and is where I spent six days just wandering around the surrounding hills, meadows and valleys, eating Maggie and drinking too much instant coffee. Initially, I was planning to trek Indrahar Pass but decided that I would rather spend my last few days in India in laid-back leisure rather than in hard-core trek. One can see Indrahar Pass in the photo below…it sits between the two peaks in the background…the steepness of this route takes the term “pass” to the next level. The weather was also being unpredictable and I wasn’t keen on being stranded on some mountain slope with a flight leaving Delhi in 7 days. I did climb halfway up the pass to a ‘cave’ that one would set up camp in should they wish to attempt the pass.
Looking down into the Indian plains. The urban area directly below is Dharamsala and the reservoir on the hazy horizon is NOT the Sardar Sarovar Project, but I’m sure it has all of the same problems (inside joke for my SURP 811 peeps).
Not a Swiss girl in sight.
Triund pasture has a few tea houses selling typical trekking staples, renting out tents and selling beer (which is apparently illegal as they are not licensed). Most people will hike up for the day, with some venturing a bit further into the hills and then returning to Triund for the night before heading down to Mcleod Ganj. I liked it so much, I just stayed in my tent and ate at the Tea Houses…I don’t think I’ve ever lived that cheaply before. New groups of people would come up each night which made for a variety of interesting campfire conversations. 
I broke my camera just before Triund and because being up there without some sort of camera was not an option, I dropped my stuff and blasted back down to Mcleod Ganj and picked up my old point-and-shoot Olympus (which these photos are a product of) and went back up to Triund the next morning. Unfortunately, the SD card on the Olympus became corrupted and 75% of the photos I took are unreadable…these were the only ones that I managed to salvage. 
Triund Teahouse.
From Triund there are great day hikes further into the hills. The most common is up to the ‘snow-line’ which is about an hour above Triund. From there one may continue further toward Indrahar Pass or explore one of the other surrounding valleys or hills. Snowline pasture below. 
he remnants of an old guesthouse. Apparently 10 years ago this area was at the snout of a now deceased glacier. 
Trail marker for Indrahar Pass. 
Moving up toward the Indrahar Pass cave. It’s not really a cave, but rather a massive sloping rock one can take shelter under.
Last day at Triund. Amazing sunsets, nightscapes, full moons and the occasional full rainbow at 3000m. This wasn’t the last photo of India that I took (I have some crappy mobile phone shots from Chandigarh) but I like to think it is. 
Northern India – 2009 :-)
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11 Nov 2009 01:07 am Bryan 2 comments
wow – amazing pictures! I did keep expecting to see Julie Andrews somewhere singing The hills are alive.
That little camera took some really nice shots with some great color.
Thanks!
Yeah, the camera worked for what I needed it for. I really missed the wide angle though…
Triund is one of the most relaxing places I’ve ever been – I only left because it started raining again…and I had a flight in Delhi.