Overview
I have a personal project of running 1000 miles on every continent. On May 27, I started my third continent: Asia. I am currently attempting to run as far as I can through the Indian Himalaya mountains inspired by the “Great Himalayan Trail” (GHT), a concept of linking the Himalayas together in one thru hike.
Why am I doing this? Well, of course for fun and self-empowerment and to feel alive… and also to raise money for charity. My runs have raised over $20K for charity since 2024. In this run, I chose to support Rise Against Hunger, which provides school feeding programs across the world. You can learn more about RAH and donate here.
You can view my route so far here. It updates when I connect to Internet. Asia Day 12 was another writing/travel day, so without further ado, here is Day 13.
Day 13: June 8 Dhankar
On my day off, I took a bus from the village of Kibber to the bustling touristic town of Kaza. There, I saw a photo of Dhankar, a village carved out of a cliff, and wanted to go. The owner of my homestay, Rajesh, told me there was a way: “Go to the monastery and ask the monks for the path.”
Rajesh told me I would be hiking through touristic villages all day. I looked forward to having some company. I also couldn’t complain about the weather on this side of Parang La pass: no clouds in the sky and warm.
Monk 1: hey i got an auspicious idea
monk 2: what?
Monk 1: let’s climb to the top of that mountain over there and make a pile of rocks and hang a bunch of prayer flags.
Monk 2: good idea. I think that’s gonna be really auspicious.
when I got to the first village, Hikkim, a group of tourists formed a line to take pictures with me. They couldn’t believe I traveled on foot. I decided to ask for a photo too, which gave them some confusion. I hope my Grandpa Don Karp will be pleased to know that people are lining up to take photos with his grandchild.
Demul-Hikkim pass
Demul was like Macchu Picchu if it was still alive. Built into the mountains, stone houses, the villagers walk everywhere, and farm terraces with hand tools.
I asked the villagers in Demul “Dhankar?” They pointed me to a trail that led straight down a canyon into the Spiti River valley bottom
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I climbed back up out of the valley around sunset and finished the way to Dhankar
Some of the other guests at my homestay in Dhankar asked where I came from. “Kaza.” “You came from Kaza today?” Yep. “On foot?” Yep. “Are you on a mission?” Yep.
Image Source: Lonely Planet (I never got a proper photo of Dhankar myself, but it was every bit as stunning as I hoped)