The Forbidden Paddar Valley in Kishtwar is Opening Up after Decades 

Thank you for sharing this. Very interesting.

@indiainmotion Namaste bhai. Wow i know many from paldar or paddar Valley. When i was a young teen in 2006 me and my dad had walked over ~Rohtang la when still late winter and was under deep snow. We followed the keylang postmaster over and some other Lahauli. Then there was no outsiders on Lahaul bcos closed off for winter. We went all throughout Lahaul and stayed many places. And we walked from udaipur to the first village In pangi called Purthi. (The road was blocked bcos huge Rock falls and etc) After we stayed we got ride to capital of pangi kilar and stayed there and went up to some bhoti Buddhist village like Sural Bhatori we just walked up into village and asked a Bhoti man if he can put us up (my father speaks Hindi and Tibetan well but I only very little Even now so I just learn haha) We stayed in his simple but warm house for a few nights as deep snow came. Later we returned kilar and went on that very scary road from kilar to The big town of paddar gulabgarh but sadly didn't stop or go up paddar properly. Then we went to kistwar where there was incredibly heavy tensions. With people and army. Later I found out at pretty much exact time we were there some extremist had did incredibly terrible things in villages near Doda. I since then have spoken to many people from paddar. They also have connections to villages we went in pangi and etc. Bhai I hope this valley doesn't to soon get to much tourism. Truly this place should be left. The traditional culture,pristine water, food, belief is much much more important then a few making money off to many tourists. Yes its incredibly tough life especially in winter but the still are incredibly happy. I talk to some also that go study In jammu and etc. This area should truly not be pushed into mass tours and etc. Its a true Gem. I was born and brought up as a Tibetan Buddhist and 5 of my siblings were born in India. 1 in Karnataka and 4 in Himachal Pradesh. I truly love India and especially the Himalayas. You are one of the best on RU-vid a you respect these people and you also do things that many not do like trekking and camping in winter in Ladakh, spiti etc. Me and my dad did the ~Parang la from Kibber in spiti to ~Tsomoriri and onto Karzork and Leh. I seen your videos u in the area. I talked to a guy from Madras who is on Twitter with name Kyang and he meet you I Ladakh I think in winter!! Like you he is intrepid. Plesse encourage that this place not be overly touristy to fast. I dnt think it will as I asked some people there and I know you understand what I mean as you spend much time in places where not so many go and also at times of the year where almost none go. And you stay quite long periods with them and they treat you as like family. Your videos truly make me happy. You have a genuine heart my friend. Thank you

There are many stories about the discovery of sapphires in Paddar. One such story is that locals initially found these gemstones and mistook them for quartz. They sold them to a trader from Lahol along with bauxite, who then sold them in the Shimla market. There, the blue stones were shown to a jeweler who recognized their true value. For decades, illegal extraction of sapphires continued, with the innocent Paddari people selling the sapphires for salt on a weight-for-weight basis. Eventually, the Maharaja learned about this and sent his army to take control of the sapphire extraction

Precious information. Many thanks!

Great part of knowledge . Very very thanks 🙏🙏🙏🙏.

Thank you so much Harsh.

Thanks Danish

I did the route in reverse (Kishtwar, Killar, Sach Pass) on the now closed off Cliffhanger section. That section was absolutely epic to ride.

@@Whatreally123 indeed that cliffhanger is show stopper, however it was closed during my trip☹️☹️ - now i m planning Sach Pass again this time frm Manali side in Oct ...😎😎

@@vinodbisht261 ya. When I was there in 2021, they were building the new route. Thankfully I did the Cliffhanger. Sach Pass is amazing. Good luck to you. Manali to Pangi valley will be adventurous 👍🏽

@@Whatreally123 lucky u my friend, thanks for ur wishes.... happy exploring//riding to u Mate🤝🤝

@@vinodbisht261 It will soon be opened for the riders again once the roads above it are properly built leaving no scope for fallen stones etc.

You are welcome Tim and thank you so much for the support!

Yes, definitely

Thanks Vishal..

bhai vlogger bol ke beizzat mat karo. this is almost documentary level filmmaking

Glad you enjoyed it!

That is wonderful to hear. Thank you.

That's great to know. Thanks for sharing.

Glad to hear that.. thanks so much for watching.

Hi. Were the shoes shown at the end the grass shoes that were commonly used in snow bound expeditions in the old times ? Explorers used to carry 7-8 pairs of them for an expedition it seems .

@@anindyadasgupta3606 I dont remember the conversation that lead to them showing the shoes. But it definitely wont be used for snow bound expeditions. Their traditional yak leather and yak wool shoes would be better suited for that purpose.

oh really? that is interesting to know

Thank you

Thank you very much!

He was such a character.

they don't exist anymore?

Glad to hear that.. thank you.

thank you for the suggestion.. i will try it next time i visit

Thanks Arup

You are welcome..

Thanks Kaushik

@@indiainmotion You are just amazing 👏! You deserve a ton of praise!

Thanks Anoop

Thank you so much.. that trek must have been amazing. I want to try it sometime but afraid of the glaciers and I do not like going with big groups.

@@indiainmotion sir, I was student then...knew little about the landscape and appropriate know how's about the trek...we took the Akshow la pass.the very last village of the western side of the Zanskar Stod valley. It was in April- May Month...The best is to hire a good local guide or a porter from Sumtsam village...from Paddar valley. One Lama Dokpa in Karsha Monastery is very well known guide for this route.. Sep/Oct is also a good time to start for this trek/ post monsoon. Omasila is higher pass ,,,is also good option. Take very good precautionary measures beolfore you head on!! Wish you a good luck ! Finger crossed for another long awaited episode.

Absolutely.. both of them have been incredibly helpful for me.

My pleasure. Thanks for watching.

Thank you

Yes.. I just read that story in the 1889 archives of the Geological Society

You are welcome Maria.. Roads are being built to these places as we speak. I give it a couple more years before these places are 'developed'

Thank you so much Gourav

thank you

Thank you so much 🙂

Thank you so much Arun, glad you enjoyed the video. It was great meeting you as well. All the very best on your fitness journey.

lol.. he was quite a character

You are welcome. Thanks for watching.

Thank you so much 😀

Thank you so much 😀

Thanks Rohit

I've been using that drone for a very long time.

@@Balidan2412 kishtwar is part of Kashmir, people speak Kashmiri in kishtwar, giving it to Jammu to divide kashmir won't change the reality. Jammu is just a city not a geographical area

Thank you so much.

You are welcome.. glad you enjoyed the video and found it informative.

Thank you so much for the support