Photos show life slowly returning to abandoned Himalayan villages in India

MARTOLI, India (AP) — Dozens of dilapidated stone buildings are what is left of the once-thriving border village of Martoli, in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand. Nestled in Johar Valley and surrounded by Himalayan peaks — the most notable being Nanda Devi, once considered the tallest mountain in the world — this village had traded sugar, lentils, spices and cloth for salt and wool with Tibetans across the border.

The nomadic occupants of several villages spent the winter months in the plains collecting goods to be traded with Tibetans in the summer. But the border was sealed after an armed conflict between India and China in 1962, disrupting life in the high villages and leaving people with little incentive to return.

Kishan Singh, who was 14 when he left with his family to settle in the lower village of Thal, still returns to Martoli every summer to till the land and grow buckwheat, strawberries and black cumin. At 77, he has a smiling, ruddy face.

His ancestral home has no roof, so he sleeps in a neighbor’s abandoned home for the six months he spends in this village cooking for himself and farming.

“I enjoy being in the mountains and the land here is very fertile,” he says.

In late autumn, he hires mules to transport his harvest to his home in the plains to sell it at a modest profit.

The largest of the Johar Valley villages had about 1,500 people at its peak in the early 1960s. Martoli had about 500 people then, while some of the dozen or so others had 10 to 15 homes each.

About three or four people return to Martoli each summer now.

A few villagers are returning in summers to the nearby villages of Laspa, Ghanghar and Rilkot as they can now travel in vehicles to within a few kilometers (miles) of their villages on a recently built unpaved road.

Among the scattered remnants of earlier stone homes in Martoli, a new guesthouse has sprung up to cater to a few trekkers who walk past the village en route to the Nanda Devi base camp.

The morning sun illuminates Bankatiya Peak near Laspa village, in the northern Indian Himalayan state of Uttarakhand, on Sept. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Satish Sharma)

Travelers make tea as they wait for a mountain road to be cleared of debris near Laspa village, in the northern Indian Himalayan state of Uttarakhand, on Oct. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Satish Sharma)

An earthmover clears a unpaved mountain road of debris near Laspa viallge, in the northern Indian Himalayan state of Uttarakhand, on Oct. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Satish Sharma)

Motorcyclists make their way across a fast-flowing stream, on their way to the Nanda Devi base camp in Rilkot village, in the northern Indian Himalayan state of Uttarakhand, on Oct. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Satish Sharma)

A man loads a pack mule as he prepares with others to go back to his summer home, in Rilkot village, in the northern Indian Himalayan state of Uttarakhand, on Oct. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Satish Sharma)

Nomi Devi, left, sits outside her house and chats with a neighbor in Laspa village, situated on the route of a trek to the Nanda Devi base camp in the northern Indian Himalayan state of Uttarakhand, on Sept. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Satish Sharma)

Trekking guides Pawan Koranga, left, and Raju Goswmi stop to catch their breath as they accompany a client to the Nanda Devi base camp, in the northern Indian Himalayan state of Uttarakhand, on Sept. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Satish Sharma)

Lichen grows on walls of abandoned stone houses in Martoli village, in the northern Indian Himalayan state of Uttarakhand, Oct. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Satish Sharma)

Mules graze in Martoli village, in the northern Indian Himalayan state of Uttarakhand, on Oct. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Satish Sharma)

Kishan Singh walks in his strawberry field in Martoli village, in the northern Indian Himalayan state of Uttarakhand, on Oct. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Satish Sharma)

Raju Martolia holds a satellite phone outside his homestay in Martoli village in the northern Indian Himalayan state of Uttarakhand, on Oct. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Satish Sharma)

Kishan Singh, right, and Vijay Singh winnow buckwheat in Martoli village, in the northern Indian Himalayan state of Uttarakhand, on Oct. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Satish Sharma)

The morning sun illuminates Nanda Devi peak as seen from Nanda Devi base camp, in the northern Indian Himalayan state of Uttarakhand, on Oct. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Satish Sharma)

Prema Devi cooks inside her small eatery, catering to trekkers passing through on their way to the Nanda Devi Base Camp, in Ghanghar village, in the northern Indian Himalayan state of Uttarakhand, on Oct. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Satish Sharma)

Lichen grows on the stone walls of a structure in the abandoned village of Martoli, in the northern Indian Himalayan state of Uttarakhand, on Oct. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Satish Sharma)

An aerial view shows the abandoned village of Martoli, in the northern Indian Himalayan state of Uttarakhand, on Oct. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Satish Sharma)

LJUBLJANA, Slovenia (AP) — Slovenia’s parliament on Friday appointed right-wing populist politician Janez Jansa as the new prime minister, in a shift for the small European Union country that was previously run by a liberal government.

Lawmakers backed Jansa in a 51-36 vote in the 90-member assembly. The new prime minister will need to come back to Parliament within the next 15 days for another vote to confirm his future Cabinet.

Jansa's appointment concludes a postelection stalemate in Slovenia after a parliamentary ballot two months ago ended practically in a tie. Former liberal Prime Minister Robert Golob's Freedom Movement won by a thin margin but he was unable to muster a parliamentary majority.

Jansa and his populist Slovenian Democratic Party signed a coalition agreement this week with several right-wing groups. The new government also has the backing of a nonestablishment Truth party that first emerged as an anti-vaccination movement during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The new term in office will be the fourth for the veteran Slovenian politician. Jansa, 67, is an admirer of U.S. President Donald Trump and was a close ally of former populist Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who was defeated in a landslide election last month.

Jansa in a speech listed the economy, fight against corruption and red tape, and decentralization as key goals of the future government. He has promised to lower taxes for the rich and support private education and healthcare.

Critical of the previous government's alleged “inefficiency," Jansa said the new government will turn Slovenia into “a country of opportunity, prosperity and justice, where each responsible citizen will feel safe and accepted."

Like Orban, Jansa was staunchly anti-immigrant during the huge migration wave to Europe in 2015. Also like Orban, Jansa has faced accusations of clamping down on democratic institutions and press freedoms during a previous term in 2020-2022. This led to protests at the time, and scrutiny from the European Union.

Golob in his speech described Jansa as “the greatest threat to Slovenia’s sovereignty and democracy."

Alleging that Jansa had threatened to arrest him, Golob said Jansa's "idea of democracy is that anyone who dares speak a word against you deserves only the worst.”

Jansa, a supporter of Israel, also has been a stern critic of the Golob government's 2024 recognition of a Palestinian state.

The vote on March 22 was marred by allegations of foreign influence and corruption. The around 2 million people in the Alpine nation are deeply divided between liberals and conservatives.

Janez Jansa, center, addresses the Slovenian Parliament during a session in Ljubljana, Slovenia, Friday, May 22, 2026, before appointing him as prime minister, ending a political deadlock after tight elections in March. (AP Photo/Igor Kupljenik)

Janez Jansa arrives for a session of the Slovenian Parliament in Ljubljana, Slovenia, Friday, May 22, 2026, before appointing him as prime minister, ending a political deadlock after tight elections in March. (AP Photo/Igor Kupljenik)

Janez Jansa addresses the Slovenian Parliament during a session in Ljubljana, Slovenia, Friday, May 22, 2026, before appointing him as prime minister, ending a political deadlock after tight elections in March. (AP Photo/Igor Kupljenik)