LUXURY TRAVEL TO HIMALAYAS

In Sanskrit, “Hima” means snow and “Alaya” means abode. Together, the words indeed become a fitting name for that most picturesque and notorious of mountain ranges, the Himalayas, the most extreme tops of which are perpetually capped with snow all-year-round. With over a hundred mountains rising taller than 7200 meters, the Himalayan range is the highest mountain range in the world, home to Mount Everest. Spanning 6 countries (India, Nepal, China, Bhutan, Afghanistan and Pakistan), the Himalayas is also the source of 3 major rivers in the region, namely the Yangtze River in China, the Indus River—also known as the Lifeline of Pakistan—and the Ganga-Brahmaputra, of which the point at which the Ganges merges with the Brahmaputra is the Sunderbans, the largest delta in the world.
 

The Himalayas are made up of 3 parallel ranges, namely, the Greater Himalayas, the Lesser Himalayas, and the Outer Himalayas, which comprises outlying sub-ranges. The Greater Himalayan region, by far the most typical representation of what people think of when they think of the Himalayas, is almost completely inaccessible, with an average elevation of about 6000 meters. It is also distinct for its deep gorges and magnificent lakes, such as Lake Saiful Muluk. The gorges were carved into the earth by the persistent path of the Indus River, while the lakes are a result of the glacial movement and melting in the area. The common features of the Lesser Himalayas, in contrast, are hill stations and forested ranges and valleys. This was the region where the British colonialists usually retired to for the summer, to escape the gritty heat of Indian towns.
 

Because of its immense size, the Himalayan population is every bit as varied as the countries it stretches across. Almost 40 million people live in the Himalayas, of which the sub- and middle- Himalayan valleys are occupied mostly by those of Indian heritage, while in the east, nearer to Bhutan, an animistic people more resembling the ethnicity of the Chinese are found.
 

Popular activities for visitors to the Himalayas include mountain-climbing, trekking, skiing, and more recently, heliskiing. If one is so inclined, one may also visit Sikkim and Ladakh villages for a glimpse of a culture that still remains, in this age of globalization, mostly tucked away from the rest of the world. Because of its significantly-isolated nature in addition to its breathtaking natural beauty, the Himalayas is definitely the place to retreat to for a peaceful respite from the rigors and pressures of daily work and monotony.