We are the locals of Munsiari and these are our mountains

Journeying to unexplored destinations often leaves you speechless, bringing out the artist within you. Set apart from an urban lifestyle, is Munsiari, a heaven on earth. Almost overlooked by tourists due to the snow-clad mountain peaks of the Panchachuli and Rajrambha (6,334 meters), Munsiari, is located in the Pithoragarh district of Uttarakhand.

Malika Virdi, a 58-year-old farmer, activist, and trekker, recalls how in the early 90s, this region was a sleepy rural settlement where villagers were highly dependent on livestock and agriculture. Accompanied by her family, Virdi came to Sarmoli, in the year 1992, and soon settled there. Later, in 2003, she was elected as the Sarmoli-Janti Van Panchayat, Sarpanch, of the village and soon engaged herself with matters related to mountain farming and the regulated use of natural resources like firewood. "I felt the need to have a non-extractive livelihood option and came up with the ideas of homestays. Hence, in the year 2004, we began a naturebased, community-owned tourism program called the Himalayan Ark Tourism," explains Virdi. Although it began with 13 affordable homestays, today Munsiari has 26.

Twenty-nine-year-old travel blogger Shivya Nath visited Munsiari on hearing of the sheer beauty of the place, backed by the snow-capped mountains. "During my one-month stay, I got the opportunity to conduct a simple hands-on session on the basics of Instagram and photography for five young, villagers. They were very keen on experimenting with social media and soon started an Instagram account called 'voicesofmunsiari'. Today, about 30 villagers have access to this Insta account. Virdi explains how earlier this May, she introduced nine smartphones to the villagers. Instead of having just another Instagram workshop, she focused on the many aspects of photography. "We had sessions by Bangalore-based photographer Jayashree Ramaswamy that was attended by tourists and villagers. She focused on composition, exposure, plagiarism, property rights, Creative Commons and even licensing."

On an average, Munsiari sees 450 visitors each year, and the village relies heavily on word of mouth and blogs by travel journalists, for their livelihood. "As city dwellers, we think that villages cannot cope with technology and English. But my stay at Munsiari completely changed this perspective. Only they don't have access to opportunities like us, something that Malika and her team are working on," says Nath. At 124 posts, the account has 6,652 followers. From everyday life, to mountains, to activities, to rare birds and other creatures in the area, the group stays true to its profile description – We are the locals of Munsiari. These are our Mountains, our forests, our way of life. These are our stories. Come meet us!

Activities for visitors

Craft expedition
Learn to weave with wool and bamboo from traditional weavers. Visit villages where Pashmina, Angora wool is used.

Traditional farming
Learn to conserve open pollinated heirloom seeds and farm crops.

Food trail
Cook food on a wooden fire with fresh vegetables from the field.

Monsoon flora
Climb to high altitudes to find rare medicinal plants and alpine flowers.

Birding expeditions
Explore an Important Bird Area (IBA) – the Askot Wildlife Sanctuary, famed for the White-browed Fulvetta, the Great Parrot Bill and the Western Himalayan Bush Warbler.

High altitude lake expeditions
Week-long to ten-day expeditions in snow-leopard, blue-sheep and musk-deer territory at rarely visited alpine lakes high above the glaciers.