Partial view of the Himalayan panorama from Kalpa.
District Kinnaur, Himachal Pradesh (May 2003)

This is just about half the view of the Great Himalayan range one gets from Kalpa. (and yes the entire journey from Shimla can be made in a Maruti van (38 bhp!) though a better vehicle is recommended...


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Baspa river, Sangla Valley.
District Kinnaur, Himachal Pradesh (June 2004)

This photograph was taken from over the wooden bridge at Rakcham. The Baspa is a tributary of the Sutlej and meets its sister at Karcham. Here it is crossing the second habitation on its banks. The snow-capped mountains on the right are the boundary with Garhwal, Uttarkhand and further up merge with the mastiffs of the Great Himalayan range. A hydro-power station with its dam have been built a little down-stream, which has dried up the lower part of the Baspa river. Sangla itself is one of the most beautiful valleys in the Himalayas, about 10 hours drive from Shimla.

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Panorama from Kalpa.

District Kinnaur, Himachal Pradesh (June 2004)

You can see the Sutlej river (centre, foreground) flowing in a South-Westerly direction. Parts of Recong-Peo town are also visible (right, foreground). Recong-Peo is the district headquarters of Kinnaur and lies below Kalpa village. But the most spectacular part of this frame -- the peaks of the Great Himalayas which here are not the highest of the range despite touching 20,000 feet and beyond.

The Sutlej is the only river which actually manages to cut through the mighty Himalaya mountains. The Indus and the Tsangpo/Brahmaputra have their origin in the same region of Tibet as the Sutlej, but both traverse the entire Northern aspect of the Himalayan range before finding their way to the low lands; its only the Sutlej which manages to find a path which cuts through these mountains. It therefore provides easy access to the regions beyond the Great Himalayan range.

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Manjari climbing towards the orchards above Kalpa,
Dist Kinnaur, Himachal Pradesh (June 2004).
The ranges of the Great Himalayas are visible in the background. Kalpa is 'on the other side' -- it is on the other side of the snow mountains one can see from Shimla or Mussorie. The region is breathtaking in its beauty and .

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