Kheerganga without the guided-trek markup

It is twelve kilometres from Barshaini and you do not need a guide in fair weather between May and October. You need shoes with grip, two litres of water, cash for the dhabas, and to start before eight. We will draw you the route on the whiteboard. In snow or heavy rain, take somebody who knows the ridge — that is a different sentence and we mean it.

Written from the verandah, with a cup of chai going cold.