Curzon's Trail & Kuari Pass, Indian Himalaya

Day 1 - Fly London to Delhi

Fly overnight from London to Delhi.

Overnight: In flight

Day 2 - Arrive Delhi. Group transfer to the Hotel Regent Grand for lunch. Afternoon train to Haridwar - 6 hours. Transfer to hotel - 2 hours.

You will arrive in Delhi in the morning, and will be met and transferred to the Regent Grand Hotel where you can freshen up and change, followed by lunch in the hotel’s restaurant. After lunch you will be transferred to the Old Delhi railway station to take the afternoon train to Haridwar, a journey of about 6 hours. You will then be transferred to your hotel at Rishkesh, a further two hours by road.

Overnight: Summit By The Ganges Resort, Rishikesh

Day 3 - Drive to Rudraprayag.

After breakfast, you drive eastwards, up river, for about 4 hours to Ruraprayag. Rudraprayag is situated at the holy confluence of Alaknanda and Mandakini rivers and the area is famous as the spot where the famous colonial hunter, Jim Corbett, killed with his last bullet, the Man-Eating Leopard of Rudrapryag, which had reportedly killed more than 125 local people over an 8 year reign of terror. The book is a classic read.

You will stay overnight at the Monal Resort Hotel, near Rudraprayag.

Overnight: Monal Resort Hotel

Day 4 - Drive to Loharjang, 6,561ft/2,000m - 6-7 hours.

After an early start you follow the River Ganges until Deoprayag, the confluence of the rivers Alaknanda and Bagirathi. The road then follows the Alaknanda River, and finally the Pindar River up to Tharali. You are at the mercy of road conditions and while the road is good up until Karnprayag, there are often rough sections to cross up to Debal. From Debal the road runs up to Loharjang. You are likely to be woken to the gentle cries of the myna birds roosting in the nearby trees.

Overnight: Camp

Day 5 - Trek to Didana, 8,202ft/2,500m - 4-5 hours.

You start trekking down into the Gyan Ganga valley, entering rhododendron and oak forest, with parties of laughing thrushes, drongos and magpies. After an hour or so you reach a clearing with panoramic views of steep forested hillsides where you may spot soaring birds of prey and in spring hear the distinctive sound of the cuckoo. You continue to the river valley which takes around 2 hours from the start of your walk, and you follow the river valley before crossing the river and making the steep climb on a good path to the small village of Didana. Your first camp is above the village just below the forest, a very scenic spot in an open grazing meadow.

Overnight: Camp

Day 6 - Trek to Gorati Patal, 11,000ft/3,354m – 6-7 hours.

The day starts with a steep climb up through the forest. After three hours you will emerge above the tree line for wonderful views of Chaukhamba and Nilkanth as you walk along high grassed ridges before reaching the meadows of Bedni Bugyal. This high meadow is the main camp used by travellers on the great pilgrimage to Roop Kund that takes place every 12 years. It is a beautiful place dotted with shrines and temples and the morning gives awesome views of Trisul, as well as of the mountains of the Garhwal such as Nilkanth to the northwest. You will continue for 30 minutes to reach Gorati Patal where you will camp tonight.

Overnight: Camp

Day 7 - Trek to tourist bungalow above Wan, 8,045ft/2,437m – 3-4 hours.

The track makes a long, steep descent through a fine forest of firs and rhododendrons and across a beautiful clearing with much of the track being paved. After another drop, you reach the river 2 hours later. After a climb you reach the main valley, at the head of which is Wan. You camp above the village, by a tourist bungalow, on a wide tree-fringed terrace. Just above the bungalow is the sacred grove of Latu, another famous local devta (spirit), whose temple lies under one of the biggest Deodar trees in India. Unfortunately some of its branches have snapped off near the top. Wan is a fascinating old village where the men and women continue to wear traditional Garhwali brown, homespun wool blankets pinned across the chest. There are lovely views across the valley of small hamlets amongst the steep terraces and forested hillside. The fine forest is a perfect habitat in which to find hooded oriole, laughing thrushes and flycatchers.

Overnight: Camp

Day 8 - Trek to near Sutol via Kunol, 7,500ft /2,300m - 6-7 hours.

Walking on past Latu's temple the path climbs gently up through magnificent cypress trees to the beautiful Kukin Khal pass at 10,070ft/3,069m, reached in about 1¾ hours. There are two graves of holy men here. The path drops down to broad meadows with the track marked with stone rows on either side. Another 45 minutes takes you to the end of the broad meadows to near Kunol. From here the track drops down east again on a long undulating traverse through magnificent forest, filled with monkeys, to the confluence of two rivers where you will camp below Sutol after a further 2½ hour walk. You may get views of Trisul through the trees.

Overnight: Camp

Day 9 - Trek to Ghunni, 8,200ft/2,500m, via Dekhandhar, 6,955ft/2,120m - 9 hours.

A short climb brings you to Sutol, a lovely village with paved alleys and heavy slate roofs. There is a post box here should you wish to post letters. The track now traverses along the valley with a number of ups and downs and huge drops to the river gorge below, through forests smelling of fir trees. After dropping to a river, crossed by a green girder footbridge there is a long steep climb to a little temple on a col at 8,200ft/2,499m. From here, passing fields and small holdings and dropping once again to a side river, there is a good place for lunch after a total of about four and a half hours. A very steep upper track leads you to a bridge and then after a gradual climb through forest you will emerge near farms and fields up to Dekhandhar at 6,955ft/2,120m, on a ridge with amazing views of Trisul, one and a quarter hours from the lunch stop. As you pass through the village of Ala you will see a house with magnificent carvings on the porch. After about four hours you reach your camp by the school of the small village of Ghunni.

Overnight: Camp

Day 10 - Trek over the Ramani Pass, 3,064m/10,053ft, to Jhinji, 1,000ft/305m - 4-5 hours.

From Ghunni you will climb steeply over 1,000ft/305m from the camp on a good zigzagging track to emerge on open grassy grazing meadows. Snow peaks begin to emerge above the forest to the north. You then begin to climb steeply again as the path moves diagonally through forests of rhododendrons, pines and holm oak with more pastures for summer grazing, with shepherd huts below to your right. You may meet flocks of sheep and goats moving along the track. The highest point, reached in two and a quarter hours from the camp, at 3,064m/10,053ft, is the Ramani Pass, also called Binayak Top. There are magnificent views of Trisul through the trees. It is also possible to make out the Kuari Pass which you cross on day 13. From now on there may be a chance to see the multi-coloured monal pheasant but they are very shy, being hunted by the locals for the pot.

You then trek gently down for a while across more pastures and open glades, then into lovely forests of horse chestnuts and walnut trees with waterfalls. The track now starts a steep and long zigzag descent, reaching the colourful village of Jhinji, .

Overnight: Camp

Day 11 - Trek from Jhinji to Kaliaghat, 7,500ft/2,300m - 5 hours.

From Jhinji the trail today carries on down, past small farms through woods. The trail carries on down past small farms through woods to the spectacular suspension bridge at 6,037ft/1,840m across the Birehi Gorge, currently inhabited by a large number of monkeys. From here a very steep climb takes you back to 2,250m/7,382ft where the track eases after one and a half-hours ascent. From here the path is almost flat passing through fine rhododendron forest, with long-tailed magpies flitting about. There are many streams and waterfalls as the route contours round many deep re-entrants. If you look down to the deep gorge below, you can see the landslide and the Gauna Lake, which burst to flood the whole of the Ganga Valley down to Rishikesh in 1898. After going round the head of a horseshoe valley you reach two lovely rivers cascading down under the path. From here there is a short climb to a spot called Kaliaghat, a good campsite near the village of Pana.

Overnight: Camp

Day 12 - Trek to Dhakauni via Sartoli and Domabhiti, 11,000ft/3,353m - 7 hours.

This is another long, but spectacular day. The route traverses above the village and then starts a steep climb up into rhododendron forest, with many zigzags - it is a broad, well-made track but after quite a number of false summits, a col is reached at 9,842ft/3,000m. The path now descends gently, traversing along the valley, to open meadows with views across to the Kuari Pass. The track then traverses down around the side of the valley, across several streams, before it plunges down a very steep and loose section, much of which has been washed away by the monsoons - an awkward and loose descent. At the bottom, you will see to your right that the river has cut through a deep rocky dramatic gorge. This is wild country with no settlements, and blue sheep and Himalayan black bear are said to be roaming here. From the river, it is a very steep climb of about 3,000 feet/900m with a small break about half the way up to cross a large stream. A final climb brings you above the tree line to the campsite on the large pastures where sheep and goats graze in summer, with the Kuari Pass towering above.

Overnight: Camp

Day 13 - Trek from Dhakauni, across the Kuari Pass (Kuari Khal), 12,000ft/3,658m, to Tali - 5-6 hours

The day starts early today - so you don't miss out on the magnificent early morning views at Kuari Pass. The trail from Dhakauni climbs through the forest, past the tree-line...and then you wait. Wait for the spectacular Himalayan views that the early morning sunrise will bring! It's incredible to think that the British Viceroy of India came up here exploring in 1905.

After taking your time to admire the views and take your photos you begin your descent. The trail descends to a fork where you follow the path to Tali that leads eventually to a ridge with a temple and prayer flags fluttering in the wind. From here the two massifs of the divine Nanda Devi (Bliss-Giving Goddess) come into view. On a clear day you would be able to see Dronagiri, Trishul, Changabang, Hathi Parbat and Rishikot as well. This is where you will settle for the night - in a meadow with rhododendron trees, gazing up at this panoramic view of the Himalaya.

Overnight: Camp

Day 14 - Trek to Auli via Gorson's Top. Drive to Joshimath, 6,562ft/2,000m.

The trail from Tali is a gradual climb across the mountain ridge which narrows down until it reaches three grassy dunes, collectively called Gorson's Top. Here the Himalaya achieve a kind of perfection; the view is of a formidable fortress standing guard over the Nanda Devi Sanctuary, a place Sir Edmund Hillary once called a “God-gifted wilderness”, and from the centre rises the divine Nanda Devi, all 7,817 meters of her! Time stands still here and you now understand why the Himalaya enthralled Lord Curzon as much as it did.

Trek completed, you meet your driver at Auli and drive to Joshimath for your overnight stay. Joshimath is a town in the Indian state of Uttarakhand. Located at a height of 1,875m/6,150 feet, it is a gateway to several Himalayan trekking trails and pilgrim centres like Badrinath. The town is said to have special spiritual powers and is believed to be where Hindu guru Adi Shankaracharya found enlightenment in the eighth century before going on to establish a monastery here. Visitors pass through the town on their way to the famous Sikh shrine, Hemkund Sahib, and the Hindu temple at Badrinath.

Overnight: Dronagiri Hotel

Day 15 - Drive to Rishikesh - approximately 8 hours.

A long but excellent journey to Rishikesh with fabulous scenery, especially for the first 50 km or so. Cliffs, waterfalls, rainbows, jungle, views of Elephant Parbat and Horse Parbat. It becomes more tropical the lower you descend with monkeys, palm trees, huge butterflies, and of course it is becoming hotter all the time.

Overnight: Summit By The Ganges Resort, Rishikesh

Day 16 - Rafting in Rishikesh. Evening transfer to Haridwar. Train to Delhi.

Rishikesh is the ancient road-head for all pilgrim traffic and this small town, in the season, is bursting with groups of villagers from all over India, clamouring for seats on the buses to the four hill shrines. The northern part of the town is called Muni-ki-Reti and refers to the silver shores of the river where the rishis of old meditated. Across the Ganga, large, sprawling but well-maintained ashrams teach yoga and publish books on the scriptures. This morning there will be time for some white water rafting before driving on to Haridwar in time for the train to Delhi. The rafting goes from Shivpuri to NIM beach, around 11-12km, and takes a couple of hours to complete. It features roughly seven rapids, both minor and large. Roller Coaster (III+), Golf Course (III+), and Club House (III) are some of the good rapids you will run on this stretch. Expect some large waves, splashes and powerful hits on this fun-packed river adventure. If you prefer not to raft then you can use the time to explore Rishikesh at your leisure. Your train arrives into Delhi in the late evening and you will be met and transferred to your hotel.

Overnight: Red Fox Hotel Or Similar, Delhi

Day 17 - Group transfer to the airport. Fly to London.

After breakfast you will be transferred to airport for your flight back to the UK.