eSafarnama
Travelogue – For those who are travel addicts
Category: Kasol
Himachal Experience
Its June 2nd… Time for another trek!! Yayy!! and this time in Himachal Pradesh (HP)….for a first!
The plan was to fly to Chandigarh from Bangalore and spend a day in Chandigarh and board an overnight bus to Kasol… Drop off most of my luggage at YHAI base camp at Kasol and carry a day pack to Kheerganga. I had planned to visit Prashar Lake and Barot in HP but ended up visiting some other village.. Read along to find out. And after visiting these places head to Sarpass trek… Spend a day at Delhi and then board Rajdhani express back to Bangalore..
Spending a day alone in Chandigarh was good though it was very hot. Since Chandigarh is an organized and a well planned city I was bamboozled after visiting the city. The dedicated cycling lanes.. The ever ready cops to maintain discipline… The greenery around…people always ready to help and guide you… A beautiful city indeed!! Wish other cities could have taken cues from Chandigarh 😉
All around greenery at Chandigarh…
Anyway, it was time to board bus to Bhuntar from where I had to board another bus to Kasol.. A young gentleman sitting next to me in the bus gave me some tips about how to go about in HP. Since the sun rises early in North India during summers dawn starts around 5am. The sight of the mountains and the mighty river cutting across… The clear blue skies and the reflection of the smiling moon.. Ahhh Nature is welcoming me to the Land of Gods 🙂
Choc-a-bloc with another bus while heading to Bhuntar..
Land of Gods “Dev Bhoomi” welcoming me 🙂
Kheerganga..
I had initially planned to trek Kheerganga alone but it so happens that in the bus to Barshaini from where the trek starts I acquainted with four women who were also heading to Kheerganga.. Perfect timing! I did struggle a bit while trekking to Kheerganga.. Breathlessness accompanied with heavy rains… It took us between 4 to 5 hours to reach Kheerganga. The sight of the hot springs is in itself soo comforting then you can imagine the happiness when your bathing at the hot springs after the trek… I guess I need not say more about it.
In the night when you look up into the sky you can see gazillions of stars… It’s such a beautiful sight that your eyes feast on it —surrounded by mountains and a starry sky… Such beauty that the word beauty fails to describe the beauty..
view at Kheerganga
view at Kheerganga
Kalga…
I acquainted with couple of guys and one of them told me to head to a village called Kalga and one of them accompanied me from Kheerganga to Kalga. So here I was at Kalga with people whose existence I didn’t know of 24 hours before and ended up staying in a guest house for three days with these guys. It’s such a beautiful village that words fail me… And as there was no connectivity it was a perfect concoction for a getaway and for some “me” time… To look back and let go of things that I have no control over… To be in the now..
One of the days while taking a morning walk amidst the pine trees.. When the wind blew a gentle breeze… It created a lull… The hush of tree felt as if the pine trees were talking to me… The sound they emit is soothing to the soul.. The poet in me just had to come out… The hands writhing in pain to etch a poem…
Miles and miles of Apple orchards… Guest Houses here and there… Maize and potato fields…endless number of pine trees… Surrounded by the mighty Himalayan mountains… That’s what Kalga is about…well after a three day stay in this quaint little village had to get back to Kasol to report for my Sarpass trek… The heart still wanted to reside in Kalga… 😉
A spectacular sunset at Kalga
Kasol and Sarpass trek..
After heading back to Kasol base camp.. The camp was a hive of activity. Anyway the 10 days spent in Sarpass trek is memorable in many ways.. One of them being me carrying a trek bag weighing almost 10kgs…!! It will certainly go down in history.. That too accompanied with loose motion and I don’t know what to say.. The ever enchanting Himalayan mountains (although there was less snow) …the raging wild rapids of Parvati river, babbling and burbling, making her way among the majestic mountains. Our last camp site (Bhandak thatch) was especially beautiful one… Surrounded by lofty peaks covered by brooches of snow… Pine trees showing their presence everywhere and meandering Meadows… Horses galloping and wild buffaloes gazing around…clouds playing hide and seek with the mountains… It was nothing short of heaven…
Sarpass trek takes you to a height of 13,800 feet above MSL.
YHAI base camp at Kasol
Parvati river next to the campsite 🙂
Campsite at Bhandak Thatch
A special mention to this cutie who accompanied us for the entire of Sarpass trek 🙂
After heading back to Kasol had a much needed bath at Manikaran Hot Springs…rejuvenation at its best!! And ate hot momos at Shambu’s momo corner and bakery stuff at the famed German bakery…24 hours later I was at the capital city Delhi… Delhi was brutally hot… Hotter than the word hottest..!! I ended up at chandni chowk hunting for parathewale galli and gobble up delicious parathas … But the weather being soo hot I guzzled on sugarcane juice, lassi and kulfi for my body to come in terms with the weather and off course the parathas. After visiting chandni chowk, I must say, hands down, its probably one of the best shopping arena in India. I then visited Lotus temple and Iskcon temple. I started my journey paying a visit to Iskcon temple in Chandigarh and ended up by paying a visit to Iskcon delhi (I’m on the spiritual side so atheists please excuse me)
Parathas from Parathaewale galli at Chandni Chowk
This entire journey has made me a happy soul 🙂 and it was like nature was trying to reverberate on me to let go off things that I have no control of.. To trust and have faith that things will work out as it should as destined by the Divine. I met soo many people who were very helpful and provided warm thoughts and old people blessing me all along the way :).. And off course lot of them were surprised that I was travelling alone soo much 🙂 this has been such a wonderful and memorable experience handling stuff myself that it will be carved in my heart forever…
Travelling alone or solo travelling makes one feel soo confident and ready to take on the world in a much better and positive way ..lot of soul searching. And Trekking in the mountains makes you give your every inch of effort and in turn making you learn life’s valuable yet simple lessons..
P.S – Badly missing the mountains after coming in contact with civilization , the clean fresh air, the Himalayan fresh river water…Hoping the mountains are calling again soon 🙂 🙂
Ending this with the quote by Edmund Hillary “It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves “. Cheers!
Nandini
Nandini |Grahan Village, Himachal Pradesh, Hindustan, HP, India, Kasol, Kullu, Safarnama, SAR PASS, SARPASS, Travelogue, YHAI|JUNE 23, 2016| Leave a comment Grahan is a small and beautiful village in Kullu District of Himachal Pradesh State which is located at an altitude of 7700ft. No transportation to this beautiful village, walking on foot is the only way to get to the place. Distance to Grahan from Kasol (Mini Israel) is almost 9kms will take 5-6 hours, depending on your speed. Almost 60 families are living life in peace and unity.
I will share pictures of beautiful Grahan in short time and it says the remaining things!