Photos show life slowly returning to abandoned Himalayan villages in India

Photos show life slowly returning to abandoned Himalayan villages in India

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.