BERINAG
1,740 metres · Kumaon Himalaya
000
What is around you
Every distance on this page is a real road distance, not a straight line on a map. Mountain roads in Pithoragarh district average around twenty-five kilometres an hour once you factor in the bends, the goats and the truck that has stopped for tea. Plan accordingly and nothing will disappoint you.
The full list
Including the ones we think are overrated. Distances are from our courtyard.
Planted under the British in the 1860s and once shipped as far as London. The bushes are old and leggy now, picked by hand by a handful of families. Walk in at seven and you will have the rows to yourself.
The temple that gives the town its name — Beri-nag, the serpent deity. A small stone shrine ringed by deodar, with brass bells that have been rung by four generations of the same families.
At 2,010 m, the classic Kumaon viewpoint. On a clear morning the Panchachuli massif and Nanda Devi stand up along the entire northern horizon. Thirty minutes by car; we go before breakfast and are back by ten.
A limestone cave temple reached down a narrow, wet, chain-assisted descent into the hillside. Not for the claustrophobic. Genuinely extraordinary for everyone else. Allow three hours including the drive.
One of the Shakti Peethas, set in a deodar grove so dense the light goes green. The temple is looked after by the Kumaon Regiment. Combine it with Patal Bhuvaneshwar in one day.
A river town at 1,000 m where the East Ramganga runs green over white boulders. Warmer than here by six degrees. Good for a swim in April and May, unwise in monsoon.
A ridge town with a fort ruin above it and a long, uninterrupted line of peaks to the north. Less visited than Chaukori and, in our opinion, the better view.
The end of the road, at 2,200 m, directly beneath the five peaks of Panchachuli. Three and a half hours each way — we recommend an overnight rather than a day trip, and we will help you arrange it.
Twenty minutes down through oak forest on a path that does not appear on any map. A twelve-metre fall into a pool cold enough to make you shout. Deepak will take you; you will not find it alone.
One street, forty shops, a Thursday market. Buy ringal baskets, hand-ground spices, local wool, and drink tea at the stall by the taxi stand where everyone knows everything.
The district headquarters in a wide, flat-bottomed valley they call Little Kashmir. Useful for a pharmacy, a bank, or a flight of steps up to Chandak for the view back across the whole basin.
Our own sunrise point. Forty minutes up through pine on a path we cut ourselves. Nobody else goes there. Take a torch for the way up and nothing for the way down.
On the map
Select any place to move the map. The road between them is rarely the shortest line and is frequently a great deal longer than it looks.
The three that matter
01
Twelve and a half kilometres, thirty minutes by car, and at 2,010 metres it gives you the single cleanest line of Himalayan peaks available from anywhere near here. We leave at five, we are on the ridge for sunrise, and we are back for breakfast at eight. October to December it works nine mornings in ten.
02
A limestone cave temple twenty-four kilometres away, entered through a gap in the hillside and descended by a wet, narrow, chain-assisted passage that goes about thirty metres below the surface. Genuinely extraordinary. Genuinely unsuitable if you are claustrophobic, and we will say so rather than let you find out at the bottom.
03
A hundred kilometres and three and a half hours each way, at 2,200 metres, directly beneath the five peaks of Panchachuli. As a day trip it is seven hours of driving for two hours of looking, which is why we tell people to stay a night and will arrange it. As an overnight it is one of the great places in the Indian Himalaya.
Distances
Driving times assume a normal day. Add thirty per cent in monsoon and delete the last two rows entirely after heavy snow.
| Destination | Distance | Drive time | Altitude | Worth it? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Berinag bazaar | 2 km | 8 min | 1,720 m | Thursday market — yes |
| Nag Devta Mandir | 1 km | 25 min walk | 1,790 m | Yes, at 6.30 am |
| Chaukori | 12.5 km | 30 min | 2,010 m | Yes, before breakfast |
| Thal | 18 km | 40 min | 1,000 m | Yes, March to June |
| Patal Bhuvaneshwar | 24 km | 1 hr | 1,350 m | Yes, unless claustrophobic |
| Didihat | 35 km | 1 hr 15 | 1,725 m | Better view than Chaukori |
| Gangolihat | 36 km | 1 hr 20 | 1,700 m | Combine with the caves |
| Bageshwar | 77 km | 2 hr 30 | 1,004 m | Only if en route |
| Munsiyari | 100 km | 3 hr 30 | 2,200 m | Yes — but stay overnight |
| Pithoragarh | 55 km | 1 hr 45 | 1,645 m | Only for a pharmacy or a bank |
| Almora | 112 km | 3 hr 30 | 1,646 m | On the way in or out |
| Kathgodam | 160 km | 6–7 hr | 550 m | The railhead |
Thirty metres down
You go in through a gap barely wider than your shoulders and descend on wet limestone with a chain for a handrail. The chamber at the bottom has been a place of worship for as long as anyone can document and probably a great deal longer. Photography is not permitted. Leather is not permitted. Neither is a bad knee, realistically.
Before you set off
Not because it is dangerous in the criminal sense, but because the roads are unlit, unfenced and shared with cattle. All our drivers refuse night runs and we support them.
July to September, and after any heavy night. Roads usually clear within hours. Build a spare day into any itinerary that ends at an airport.
Fill up before Munsiyari. The pump at Thal has been dry twice in the last two years.
It will route you down a track that is a footpath. We send written directions with landmarks, and you should use them.
Continuous bends for four hours. If anyone in your party is susceptible, medicate before Almora, not after.
Card acceptance outside Pithoragarh town is close to zero. UPI works in most shops, but not when the signal drops, which it does.
Two local drivers we have used for years. We charge what they charge us and show you the number.
