Leh Ladakh Road Trip

28/02/2022

Information for bike riders

16/02/2022

Least travelled trails!

Shimla Countryside, Himachal Pradesh. India.

16/02/2022

11/04/2021

Pack your bags, choose your machine, let's go your mountains are calling!

11/02/2021

Alpine Camps, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh.
India.

12/01/2021

Presenting, off the map handpicked Himalayan destinations for 2021.

19/11/2020

We showcase Himalaya as never before with its generations old rich and deep-rooted traditions and unique culture. The following day of Diwali, the local deity come out from shrine to meet and dance with His devotees

08/11/2020

Mountains are calling and we shall go now!

28/08/2020

Looking forward to welcome you back soon for yet another episode of Great Himalayan Outdoors!

20/05/2020

We are looking forward to welcome you soon! June 2019, Shikari Devi Wildlife Sanctuary. Himachal Pradesh, India.

19/01/2020

Excellent Hiking Options through the villages of Shimla.

16/01/2020

Thinking of snow camp, think of us.

13/01/2020

Let's enjoy winters at our Four Season Camps in Shimla.

01/01/2020

Alpine Winter Camps. Let's Enjoy Winters

16/12/2019

Planning Winter Vacations, think of us.

10/12/2019

The heritage town of Shimla is an ideal destination to start your Himalayan Adventure for year 2020. Photo taken today from The Ridge, Shimla, looking, Elysium Hill in foreground and Shali peak in background.

27/11/2019

Plan your Himalayan winter vacations with us. Woodville Palace Hotel, built in 1938.

11/11/2019

Toy Train Shimla Hills.

27/07/2019

"Don't believe what I say, believe what I do." Anonymous.

28/05/2019

We create what we call Great Himalayan Outdoors!

14/05/2019

Trail Run. Strictly for those seeking Adventure!

And the very important route profile of the inaugural edition. http://beingoutthere.in/tours/outlive-the-himalayan-trail-run/

10/05/2019

The route from Shimla via Kinnaur, Spiti, Lahaul, Manali and ending at Shimla offers an unforgettable adventure! For more details of the tour option do write to us at [email protected]

13/04/2019

Of beaten Destinations!

THE OLD HINDUSTAN TIBET ROAD
- Not a classic - class apart

This one conjures up images of a rich past, a valley flanked by the Trans Himalayas and The Kinner Kailash range, a road along the river Sutlej, flowing in from Mansarovar Lake in Tibet in gusto through the narrow gorge. The people are as rugged as the land,... and Buddhism prevails alongside Hinduism, a place dotted with Monasteries and Temples. This is not the Manali - Leh classic
.. This is the road journey tracing the route taken by the River Sutlej, flowing in from Tibet. And it is the fastest flowing river India. Approximately 350 km starting from Shimla - The road has been the mainstay of trade and commuting in the valley since known history. The first travelers known to have traversed the region were Gerard Butler, Jacquemont and Hutton (very famous explorers of the Nineteenth century).The first official records were bought in by a commission led by One Thomson in 1847.The more famous travelers would include 'KIM' from Rudyard Kipling's book of the same name and 'AUFSCHNAITER & TREIPEL' from Heinrich Harrer's Seven Years in Tibet, when they used this trade route to escape from Tibet.

Dalhousie, once a Governor General in the pre independence era, in the middle of the nineteenth century who ordered work to begin on the Hindustan Tibet Road in June 1850. Various reasons are cited for the building of the road that connected Kalka and Shimla to the Tibetan border. The system of begari prevalent in the hills, where unpaid labourers were pressed into service – including for the transport of timber and files to Shimla – is said to have upset the Governor General so deeply that he wanted to improve the road these men trudged.

Lord Dalhousie also wanted to create trade ties with Tibet and this is felt to be the real reason for initiating the road and for his own trip to Kalpa in Kinnaur. The immense machinery at the disposal of the East India Company was pressed into service and halfway down the nineteenth century, work on what was then styled as the Great Hindustan Tibet Road began under the charge of the Commander-in-chief Sir Charles Napier. Beyond Shimla, to the Shipki pass on the border, the route took 228 miles. While the Dalhousie road brought the route into focus, the area had long been on one of the peripheral trade circuits of the legendary Silk Route. The path that passed the tract carried goods like musk, borax, wool, livestock, dry fruits, precious and semiprecious stones to and from Tibet, Kashmir, Ladakh and Yarkand. Maintaining a vibrant tradition, Rampur’s Lavi fair dates back to the trade agreements between Tibet and the former state of Bushair.

And part from the goods that plied on the path it was the myriad cultural and historical influences that established the true worth of the Road. His official sojourns to the place, bought about the extension of the bridle path which over time found its way towards 'Shipki La' - The pass which the protagonists in 'Seven years in Tibet' crossed to get into India. The development of this bridle path as the main commuting route led to the development of rest houses along the way, and no wonder their existence today is seeped in History, with the old visitor books showing names of famous visitors like Marco Pallis or Giuseppe Tucci.

To quote 'Deepak Sanan' & 'Dhanu Swadi' from their book 'Exploring Kinnaur and Spiti in the Trans Himalaya' -"The romance of the old HT road lies not only in the excitement of retracing a legendary route trod by many adventurous feet but also in the fact that it chronicles in its passage a remarkable transition in climate, vegetation, terrain, people and culture. From the monsoon fed greenery of the foothills, through the snow clad peaks of the main Himalayan ranges, to the barren aridity bordering Tibet, the people and their lifestyle change as vividly as the landscape

"In its early days, the OLD HT road was a broad bridle path. While most travelers wrote accounts of their journeys from Shimla onwards, it is believed and should hold true that the Road actually starts from Kalka, which means it’s a total journey of about 450 kms to Shipki La from Kalka. In the olden days horses were used to transport the people and luggage to Shimla, when there was no Railway and The now wonderful Kalka-Shimla highway.

It started from Kalka, found its way into Kasauli and Gambhar Pul (where a bridge still stands as testimony to its glorious past) and past small villages of Subathu, Kunihar reached Shimla. From here it wound its way through Narkanda, climbed towards Baghi and followed the ridgeline through Khadrala and Sungri to reach modern day Taklech from where it descended to Rampur (Bushahar), however there were two bridle paths which were built one going over the Daranghati pass over to Mashnu and then reaching Sarahan, home to The Goddess Bhimakali. Sarahan onwards it kept on the higher ridge, with the Sutlej far below and wound its way through Chaura, Taranda,Ponda, Nichar, Tapri,Urni and finally Kalpa.

21/03/2019

Chandra Valley - Lahaul & Spiti, Himachal Pradesh India. August 2018. [email protected]

24/02/2019

Embark yourself on range of amazing Outdoors for 2019 with us.

31/01/2019

Winter Magic - Great Himalayan Outdoors Winter Camps!

04/10/2018

Twisting Trails - Shimla Countryside. Himachal Pradesh. India.

06/08/2018

Ready - Get - Set - Go!

02/08/2018

Be a traveler, be a wanderer and experience Great Himalayan Outdoors ~ Your Himalayan Connection!

26/07/2018

Before winter sets in, experience something exclusive. Himachal Buddhist Tribal Circuit. Shimla - Kinnaur - Spiti - Manali. For details, itinerary and best quotes inbox your e mail to us.