Who is behind the unexplained disappearances in the Indian Valley of Shadows?

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

In the depths of the Himalayas, one of the most ominous and at the same time little-known places on our planet is hidden. It is very beautiful here, and it is also mortally dangerous, since for many years in this place people have been mysteriously continuing to disappear and die. This section of the Himalayas is located in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh, which literally translates as "snowy province" and this is the correct translation. There is snow on the local mountains both in summer and in winter.

In the north of the state, there is a place called Kulantapita (aka Kullu), which translates as “the end of the inhabited world”, but a few locals often call this place “Valley of the Gods” or “Valley of Shadows” and many legends and myths are associated with it. So they say that somewhere here the Hindu god Shiva once meditated for 1100 years.

These legends and stunning beauty of nature have long attracted adventure seekers from all over the world, and in recent years eco-tourism has been very actively flourishing here.

Someone comes here in search of the mysterious land of Shangri-La (a fictitious name from the book of science fiction writer James Hilton), which is an allegory to Shambhala. Someone is looking for difficult mountain peaks that they want to climb. Someone else is trying to find himself by immersing himself in mystical spiritual practices.

But not all of them are destined to come back. In the last ten years alone, more than two dozen foreigners have mysteriously disappeared here. Some of them were later found dead, but the cause of their death was impossible to find out. Others are gone forever.

In 1997, Canadian student Ardavan Taherzadeh disappeared without a trace, and in 1999, 21-year-old Maarten de Bruyne, the son of a famous Dutch banker, also disappeared without a trace.

In 2000, Russian Aleksey Ivanov embarked on a carefully planned three-week trek through the valley and just disappeared without a trace. The most curious thing is that when a search detachment passed along its route, they found several already quite old unidentified human remains (if they were students who had disappeared earlier?), But did not find a single thing of Ivanov and even his traces (!). The Russian seemed to have been wiped off the face of the earth.

In the same year 2000, someone attacked two German tourists, a man and a woman, while they were sleeping in a tent. They were shot several times with a shotgun, but they did not take any of their things. The man died immediately, and the wounded woman then almost crawling barely made it to the village, where she was helped. Soon after this incident, in the same 2000, a group of unidentified people attacked 32-year-old Briton Martin Young, his wife and their 14 summer son. The attack also took place at night when people were sleeping in a tent. They didn't kill anyone, but they beat them badly. And it wasn't robbery either.

The attackers were searched thoroughly, but in the end no one was found.

In 2013, American adventurer Justin Shetler quit his job and traveled around the world. He successfully traveled to many countries and in 2016 came to Himachal Pradesh on a motorcycle. He ran the popular Adventures of Justin blog, describing his trip and overnight stays in the local caves.

Here is Justin's latest blog entry:

“The sadhu (ascetic) invited me to pray with him. We will live in harsh conditions at an altitude in a cave, meditate and do yoga. I am going there tomorrow and have to return to the world of the Internet from mid to late September. The trail there is difficult and landslides are dangerous in autumn. I should be back in mid-September or so. If I am not back by then, do not look for me."

This post, despite its serious content, was in the usual light-hearted manner of Justin and with emoticons. Therefore, no one could suspect something dangerous. Moreover, there has always been a share of risk in Justin's adventures, and he and his readers are used to it.

But Justin never came back and never came back. He was last seen on September 3rd en route to Mantalai Lake and looked pretty bad. He was emaciated and terrified.

Later, the Shetler family organized a thorough search for Justin and they found a local sadhu, with whom Justin apparently had contact before disappearing. But when the sadhu was arrested and imprisoned, he committed suicide right in the cell. According to rumors, the police themselves killed him so that he would not reveal some terrible secret.

A little earlier, in August 2015, a Pole, Bruno Muschalik, disappeared in the valley. He wanted to go camping in the small neighboring valley of Parvati, collected food, things, got on a bus and … no one else saw him.

Inhabitant of the valley.

What happened to all these people? The most logical version says that they simply could not cope with the local harsh climate. They froze, stumbled and fell into the abyss, got lost and died of thirst, and so on.

According to another version, they still became victims of local criminal elements. Despite having one of the lowest crime rates in India, there are also bandits and drug dealers.

And another version says that people could commit suicide themselves. Still, many foreigners come here in an attempt to solve something in their lives, in search of something else, considering themselves outcasts and not like everyone else. Perhaps they themselves wanted to disappear forever and so that no one would find them.