Munsiyari - The Mini Kashmir

Every year on Christmas eve, I go on a trip with my college friends. So I decided this time to go to Munsiyari. We were eight people. Some of my friends had never heard the name of Munsiyari.

Munsyari is famous for the view of Panchachuli peaks, and it’s a very quiet place. As Musyari is approximately 550 Kms far from Delhi, it is less crowded generally.

Places to visit near Munsyari

Munsyari village
Panchachuli Peaks
Khaliya top trek
Nanda Devi Temple

How to reach?

You can’t go to Munsyari from Delhi without breaking the journey. Below was my itinerary:

Day 1: Gurgaon – Dhamas
Day 2: Dhamas – Musyari
Day 3: Munsyari
Day 4: Muynsyari – Gurgaon

Best Time to Visit

The best time to visit Munsiyari is mid-Dec to Feb. You can see snow in this period.

Travel Booking

We booked a 12 seater tempo traveler. It cost us ₹17/- Km. Tempo traveler doesn’t have the blower, so I’ll recommend you guys to take the traveler including the blower. Daily driver charges were ₹450/-

Journey

Day 1 – Gurgaon to Dhamas

We left from Gurgaon at 12:00 AM for Dhamas. We took 2-3 stops for breakfast and snacks and then we reached Dhamas at 3 PM.

Dhamas is located near Almora. It’s far from the city and the market, so it’s totally isolated. Dhamas is the place where you can book a hotel and just relax. We booked an Airbnb for one night and 8 people. The booking cost was ₹12,000/-. The name of the guest house is Vidyuns. You can see below the Guesthouse that we booked.

There was a caretaker who was also cooking for us. We enjoyed the beautiful evening view of mountain peaks from the balcony. You can see many peaks from here – Nanda Devi, Panchachuli, etc.

The caretaker arranged a bonfire for us in the late evening. We enjoyed the evening at Dhamas and probably it was the best Christmas for us.

Day 2 - Dhamas to Munsyari

We woke up in the morning. We explored the nearby area, clicked some photos around there. The caretaker cooked breakfast for us. Below you can see some glimpse of Dhamas morning.

We left for Munsyari at 11:00 AM from Dhamas. We took a stop at Almora for the lunch and to visit the local market. It all snow-covered Enroute Khaliya.

It took us too long to reach there. We reached there at 12 PM night. We called the resort to cook dinner for us.

Booking:

We had booked Himalayan Glamping for 2 nights from their website. It cost us ₹15,000/- for 8 people. It’s a very nice resort. It looks like a tent but has beautiful wooden flooring. Let me show you some pics of the resort.

Trust me if you will stay here, you don’t want to go to visit anywhere. You will just want to chill here. Breakfast was included in the package. But for lunch and dinner, you have to pay.

Day 3 - Munsiyari

We woke up late in the morning as we slept late, so we missed the sunrise, but let me show you what I saw when I woke up.

You can see the clouds around the peaks. This started with sunrise only.

Our caretaker called for breakfast at the dining hall. There were too many varieties of breakfast and it was really awesome. The caretaker also started the bonfire at the hall for us.

So we decided to chill out for some time in the resort. We played games, clicked on some pictures. Photographers, this is a very good place to click pictures and capture time lapse as well. I also did the same.

We had lunch there in the resort and then we decided to visit the local village in Munsyari. So we left at 3 PM to go to the village. It’s a really quiet place. We haven’t seen any tourists there. We talked to some locals there and then we found a place to see the sunset.

We traveled too far to see the overall village and then we entered some forest part, there we found a small river.

In the evening we went back to the resort to the evening view of Panchachuli. It was burning coal.

Day 4 - Munsiyari to Gurgaon (The Sunrise Day)

This was our last day in Munsiyari. So, obviously, I can’t miss the sunrise. I woke up at 6 AM and I set up my camera to capture timelapse. Below you can see the breathtaking views of the sunrise.