Pin Valley The Pin Valley lies off the beaten track. At the head of the valley lies the famous Pin-Parbati Pass which leads into the Parvati Valley. This remote uninhabited region is the location for the Pin River National Park, which lies at the head of the Pin River, the most important tributary of Spiti.

A traveler recalls a visit to the Parbati Valley. (Download Realplayer)

Clouds envelop the high mountains Credit: Discover India

With large parts under permanent snow cover, the park is home to many of the larger mammals including the elusive Snow Leopard and the Ibex. The Ibex, capra ibex sibirica, is well adapted to the extreme environment, making it a fascinating, if extremely difficult to get at, study. A thick winter coat helps against the intense cold whereas the summer coat is a thinner dark brown. Ibex seem to cultivate danger, frolicking on the most hazardous of slopes with gay abandon, and to all indications, spend their winter on steep cliffs that are highly prone to avalanches. In fact, unlike other Himalayan animals the Ibex do not descend in the winter and remain at the sub- arctic regions above the summer snow line. No wonder, then, that it has been estimated that winter avalanches account for as much as 10% of the population over an average winter.

The Pin Valley is also home to the Buzhen, wandering minstrel lamas who move from village to village enacting comedies, miracle plays and singing ballads. During the bleak and harsh Spitian winter, they make their colorful way through the monochromatic landscape entertaining the populations of far flung villages.