DAY 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 : TEERTHAN VALLEY, RAMPUR

Day5: Wednesday, 27^th May’2009: Kasol – Aut – Sojha

Now I got confirmed news about Kunzum, so I thought instead of wasting my time here I shuld go first towards Spiti and then cross Kunzum in another 20 days or so. I packed my stuff, paid my bills and left Kasol. I liked that place, a good option for any group or for solo travelers.

I traced the same route back till Aut, crossed Aut tunnel and took a left towards Sojha. Last time we crossed Jalori pass on our way back from Sach Pass ride. I always wanted to spend some more time there, so I decided to stay in Sojha for a few days. I crossed Banjar and Jibhi to reach Sojha, Banjar had a market, bank, mechanic and many other shops. I liked Jibhi too, a friend Kamal had offered me to stay there at his farms but I chose Sojha over Jibhi because of its proximity to Jalori Pass. I took a modest wooden room in Parmar Guest House in Sojha for 150Rs per night.

 There was still a lot of light left in the day so I walked to Jalori Pass from Sojha. Met a local guy and we covered that 6 kms distance. I felt very tired so ordered a little to eat in a tea stall at Jalori Pass. Jalori Pass at an altitude of some 3150 meters, offered a spectacular view of beautiful mountains, lush green forests and small villages in between. My memories of last year visit to Jalori were revisited. I met a Bengali group there and I guided them about Sarahan, Sangla and Kalpa. And while coming back from Jalori to Sojha I kept thinking about my next destination, Sarahan or Sangla or Kalpa or may be stay at all of these places. I was tired by that time and to add isult to injury, rains played a prefect spoilsport. And I spotted a couple of Jackals, now I had to be watchful as somebody told me in Sojha about a stray bear around.


After walking for about 2 kms, I saw a school bus coming, I immediately stood in the middle of the road and the driver stopped. He told me to ask master ji if I need a ride. I had no option but to jump inside the bus, and ask master ji if I can board the bus or not. Master ji was not a typical sober master but a young guy from Kullu who took his batch for a picnic to Selosar lake. He greeted me and so did other young students, a few of them had mixed whisky in a Pepsi pet bottle and offered me which I gladly accepted. And then they started singing songs and made me feel comfortable, one of them even asked me to propose a girl on his behalf. And the bus stopped at Sojha, I had to get down inspite of wanting to spend more time with them.

Back in my guest house, asked Didi to cook simple food for me, and she mistook it for Khichdi. Good for digestion, bad for taste but best when you have no other option to eat. I ate and slept.

DAY6, 7: SOJHA AND AROUND

In the morning, I thought of going to Raghavpora fort, a 3-4 km trek from Jalori pass. Just when I crossed Sojha, I had a slip as the roads were very slippery from last night rains. And my battery cover was broken, so I went back to Banjar for getting it fixed.

While mechanic fixed the bike I bought some biscuits, cold cream, moisturizer and torch and then rode back to Sojha. I stopped at a beautiful location on the way, a stream of water passing through rocks.

Also I must mention the road from Banjar to Sojha was beautiful, steep between Jibhi and Sojha and big trees made it dark near Jibhi. So that day I thought of walking in the village and talking to people there. I was surprised to know that Sojha had a lot of Onion, beautifully grown in step farms and transported to as far as Tamil Nadu. Somehow this was not very convincing but I had to agree to what I heard from people there.

Later that evening, I got to know from the lady running the guest house that she is 23 only and got married 4 years back, and I was calling her Didi.

Day 7 was an exciting day for me, early in the morning I reached Jalori pass again and parked my bike there at a tea stall. I inquired about the way for Raghav-Pura fort and followed a thin trail leading to nowhere but a dense jungle.

 After walking a couple of kms, I finally saw one man, who assured me that fort is just a few steps ahead on the inclined path. And these few steps turned into a lot of distance and I had no water with me, but then it started raining again and as I moved ahead, rain turned into a hail storm.






I was stuck in the middle of nowhere, and just when I was losing hope 4-5 guys suddenly appeared from somewhere and were running for a cover. I asked them how far is fort and they said -

“Sath mein ho lo”. Aah on the top of the mountain was the ruins of an abandoned fort having a rich history.

I took a cover inside a small temple room where there were some 10 odd people sitting. They greeted me and gave me blankets as suddenly it became too cold there. The weather conditions deteriorated further and it was dark all around. The guys, a few of them local villagers trying a short cut and few working at fort for some restoration work lit some firewood and that really helped in maintaining temperature inside. A lot of time passed inside, those guys cooked rice and dal and we all shared the food. Then they made lemon tea and it was perfect for that weather.

 Then they started singing folk songs and we all danced to their tunes. I had to spend that night there and I woke up many times to the sound of cloud bursts that night. At 3 a.m. I heard some commotion and the locals were leaving the place, weather was good now and one could see the stars. I felt left out as I really didn’t wanted to walk all alone in a different direction at 3 a.m. in morning. A senior guy in the group ordered his folks to escort me till Jalori pass, I wrapped a blanket around myself and we walked on that slippery path and reached Jalori Pass. I didn’t had words to express my gratitude, I felt so good of their gesture. Back home I could not think of 1 contact that would ever do so much for a villager if he is stuck in our city. Their spirit made them a hero in my eyes and I sent their clicked pictures later to their addresses with a letter saying thanks.

Day 8: Saturday, 30^th May’2009: Sojha – Jalori – Anni – Luhri – Sainjh(On Nh-22) - Rampur

After coming back to my guest house at 5 a.m. in morning, I slept for some more time. Later the guest house people told me that they kept waiting for me last night and were worried about my safety, but they were happy to see me safe in Sojha again.

I left Sojha after giving chocolates to a few kids whom I saw waiving at me till the next bend.

 Weather was good, but my clothes were wet and it was too cold in the fort last night that I started feeling a bit sick. So I decided to stay in Rampur which, from my previous travels I knew,  was at a much lower altitude and a comparatively hotter place.

Just after crossing Luhri, came Sainjh and I took a left on Nh-22 and started moving towards Rampur, 28kms from Sainjh.

I took a room in Narinder hotel, INR 242 net for a double bed room with TV and hot water. I ate some good food after 7 days and slept.

Day 9: Rampur and around

Day 9 was a leisure day and I visited the house of local politician which was earlier a palace. It was good, kept my stuff out in sun and had to sit in the hotel keeping a watch.

 Went for a shave and called friends back home. Later in the evening went to lower Rampur and crossed a bridge on the river Satluj only to know afterwards that I am back in Kullu district. That bridge at Rampur divided Shimla and Kullu districts. 

Bridge dividing Shimla and Kullu districts

Khopdi mandir

Next day was scheduled for moving ahead of Rampur.




















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DAY1, DAY2, DAY3: PARVATI VALLEY

Day 1: 23^rd May’2009: Chandigarh – Kasol

My first destination was Kasol, I was misinformed there by a local that Kunzum pass would get open by 1^st June and Rohtang is already open, so I thought of spending a week in Kasol and Old Manali and then cross Kunzum and move towards Kaza. To my dismay, I later found Kunzum closed and eventually had to alter my route.

I was on the highway and hit Ropar road in no time. Early hours of morning looked beautiful, I was dreaming about different places and was excited to reach my destination. On the way, I stopped after Bilaspur to have tea and biscuits. Then again I continued almost non-stop till Pandoh dam, where I had my breakfast. I gave lift to a Russian guy who was in India from last 2 months and didn’t had much money. He told me how he survived on hitchhiking, staying in sikh temples and eating free food outside temples. Well, different breed of people, with language barriers but without any fear, he was surviving in India. Reminded me of an old friend Puneet Sahani, who never hesitates to sleep under the stars when he is on the road.

11:45, read the clock. I took a right from Bhunter and reached KAsol at 12:30pm. An old lady approached me at Kasol bridge and told me to take a room in her guest house known as Lucky guest house which was on KAsol-Manikaran road. It was good and cheap and had amazing views of river, pine trees and mountains so I settled there. Took a bath as it was sunny outside and slept. 

In the evening, I woke up to find myself in the company of 2 guys from Turkey, 1 from Japan, 1 from South Korea and 1 from Israel. Well without an Indian, no group is complete, so I joined them for a tea in the evening just outside my guest house.

Then I had my dinner, sat at the river in night and came back to my room after chatting with the family running the guest house.

DAY 2: SUNDAY – 24^TH MAY’2009: MALANA AND CHALAL

I didn’t slept well and kept thinking about Malana all the night. Next morning, I decided to go to Malana. At 5:30 a.m. when most of the outsiders in Kasol must be sleeping, I reached Dunkhra. It is between Jari and Kasol. 20kms from the cut at Dunkhra, right if coming from Kasol side, and Malana village was visible.
I imagined it as some kind of creepy, hidden village with an active drug mafia. However, it looked like any other village in Himachal. I parked my bike outside police post and started walking towards Malana.
I was greeted by literally everyone I met on the way. In contrast to my imagination of unfriendly villagers there, I found everyone so happy and amiable. In around 1 hour, I reached village Malana on foot, and when I thought I would drink some water I heard an old voice – “Aap shayad yahan pehli baar ayein hain, kuch kaam tha? Kuch chahiye?” I immediately realized what is behind his offering, must be Malana cream.




Malana village was destroyed by a fire a few year back and houses were under construction. Then I met a group of old villagers who mistook me as a foreigner but then I met an amazing local guy – Khime. He took me to his friend Krishna’s place and they rolled a joint there. Khime was in his early twenties and Krishna had 10 kids. They told me about Malana 10 years back, when it was closed for visitors and now. I also got to know about certain things forbidden in their culture and that they never had to report to police and they had an internal body which made their own jurisdiction. I got to know about ‘Devtaas’ of village and that Harijans(lower caste Hindus) and Muslims were not supposed to touch the temple. They called themselves Rajputs and were not supposed to touch or make any contacts with Muslims or Harijans, who formed a majority of work force of peasants there.

Those who don’t know about Malana, let me tell you that Malana cream (a kind of hash) is world famous and is considered of superior quality then weed grown in other parts of world.

I left the village at 1 pm, somehow declining numerous requests from people to stay with them. I met a few other villagers on my way back to Kasol. At 3 pm, I was at my hotel room, sat with the foreigners. The Turkish guys showed us how they can play music from tin, water tank and many waste things there.
In the evening I crossed the river and sat on hot rocks caused by sulfur water, it was relaxing. I met a baba there who told me that he is absconding and is wanted by Delhi police. He must have considered me a harmless guy; I was striking well with the locals. Baba asked me to give him some English whiskey and I bartered a few things with him for whiskey. From there I walked to Chalal, a place famous for nothing but drugs and trance music.

Then again I came back to the river outside my guest house and with a blink of eye many hours passed sitting idle there. It was very beautiful, in the month of May the water was very cold and clean off course. I gazed at stars and then slept, this time a lot of sleep.

On the way to Malana

Malana village

 

In Malana

Day3: Kasol – Tosh

After having my breakfast I walked towards Manikaran, which is 3kms away from Kasol. Manikaran has a sikh temple – Gurudwara and the best part about it was the way people cook their food there. Rice and Dal is being put in a pot, covered and immersed in hot water and rice is cooked with it. I got a local bus from Manikaran, buses stop there for 30 minutes, and I just boarded it not knowing about what is ahead. After a few minutes the bus stopped at it’s last stop – Barchaini. 
From Barchaini I just walked. After walking for some 30-35 minutes on a trail passing through weed fields and some forest area, I reached village Tosh. It was a beautiful village away from all the glares of city life, peaceful and pure.
I spent my day in Tosh and then came back to Manikaran and visited the gurudwara Manikaran Sahib, then walked slowly towards my hotel in Kasol.

It was dark by then and the sound of flowing river was amazing. I had no torch but bright stars showed me a blurred way to Kasol. Then I thought of exploring some nice trance café in Kasol and I found one with some amazing continental cuisines. I had a couple of beers there and walked back to my hotel. I thought I would leave Kasol the next morning.

Manikaran Sahib Gurudwara

Base camp in Kasol for Sar Pass trekking

Day 4: Local Kasol

I did nothing but just sat in the sun on 4^th day, talked with lot of people; locals as well as visitors. 

Did a small round of nearby trails on bullet, and then went to a petrol pump to get my tank refueled. Later in the evening, Monu - a local shared his story with me, he was a drug addict but the most interesting guy I met in Kasol. 

Next days' story

Puneet and Vaibhav in Dalhousie - Khajjiar, a cool weekend with bikes and beers

With riding already in blood, Vaibhav suggested we do Baderwah - Chamba (BC road) on our bikes.

One fine Friday evening in March 2009 and we 4 guys left for the ride.

Day 1: Chandigarh - Pathankot - Banikhet

Vaibhav and I decided to go to Chamba, take a halt there, Yadav and his companion wanted to go to Kashmir so we rode together till Pathankot, from where they parted us for Kashmir.

At 1500 hrs sharp Vaibhav we left office, tied our packed bags and were outside Rail Vihar in Panchkula, it was sunny and Yadav kept us waiting for around 40 minutes. We even came back to Infy to say goodbye to a friend who wanted to see us before we leave.

Finally we left and reached Dasua in Punjab for our first stop.

"Yadav kahan hai", I called him after getting down from my bike and Vaibhav was sipping water at  the roadside. "Peeche reh gaya hoga wo", Vaibhav said.

"Bhai maine Dasua paar kar ke aage tumhari wait kar ra hoon". Wow, that was quick and unexpected from Yadav with a pillion, but Pulsar 200 scored over Bullet and CBZ Xtreme in the first leg :)

At 2000 Hrs, I again met Vaibhav at a ptrol pump before Pathankot and we decide to meet again at the diversion from Pathankot - Jammu highway for Chamba. This time Yadav took lot of time because highway was under construction and he had to ensure the comfort of his pillion rider.

And there he came, at 21:30 giving us enough time to feast upon fried boiled eggs and fish.

We exchanged a few wishes and told Yadav to stay somewhere in Pathankot as it was already late, but he said he will continue upto Jammu and will stay there. A final goodbye and Vaibhav and I left for Chamba.

It was already late and I was sleepy as I was in office from 6a.m. that day. We decided to take a halt at Banikhet and after searching for sometime, got a hotel room @ 300Rs for that night. After some usual chit chat we dozed off for the night.

Next morning at the hotel, we discussed about the BC road from the hotel owner but he told us that the road is closed due to construction of some bridge at some point 50 kms from Chamba.

It was not the kind of news any rider would like to hear. Ok, so we will stay in Dalhousie, go to Khajjiar, will have lot of beers and come back via Kangra.


Day 2 : Banikhet - Dalhousie - Khajjiar - Dalhousie


We woke up early and discussed our revised itinerary. In no time, we left for Dalhousie and got an awesome hotel room just for 200 Rs. The fare of that hotel in season was 1400 as told by the owner.


We rested for some time and then left for Khajjiar. The road to Khajjiar was beautiful, with pine trees around.  In Khajjiar people, families, couples everyone was there.

Khajjiar is surrounded by green meadows and dense forests. It is about 6500 ft. above sea level in the foothills of the Dhauladhar ranges of the Western Himalayas and snowy peaks can be seen in the distance.

Khajjiar at around 25 kms from Dalhousie can be reached by bus or private taxi. Activities at Khajjiar 

includes Horse riding, Zorbing, nature walks in between the trees. 

People were busy doing these things and while we were sitting at a bench, a man selling beers came to us. Well not a bad idea, we had one each there and then started back for Dalhousie.

Back in Dalhousie and we went to see Panchpulla, dedicated to some martyrs. From there we came back to our room and ordered beers. The chottu had a good time we gave him enough time to make him happy for a next few days at least :)

After having a good 5-6 beers each we slept, and next morning we went out to see a few of the local churches.

Day 3: Dalhousie - Kangra - Chandigarh


Last day, Sunday was a busy day. We just continued all the way upto Chandigarh with eating breaks in between.
Both of us were riding at our own pace and were enjoying riding the inner roads of Himachal.

Well, back to Chandigarh in the night, we had a good time and celebrated the end of another successful right with a few more beers at Vaibhav's place.