Old Delhi train station was not that crowded at 9.00pm in
the night. I could see the cleaners sweeping the floors... also I saw
passengers spitting on the go! I should learn to be blind while travelling. It
is very difficult to drive home the culture of hygiene in public places. The
only way is to be harsh by banning Paan, Gutka and to impose heavy fines. The
plat-form was wide enough to take huge traffic but it is the dirtiness that
puts one off. One could sense that people are putting up with these conditions
of bad smell and the spit all over in profound silence and helplessness. Nobody
dares to even politely tell the person who is spitting not to do so... it is
better to turn away from that place and find some other less dirty place to
wait for your train! The wait till 10.00pm was over and the train to Pathankot
arrived. The 2nd AC berth was fine and once inside the train I felt like
breathing normally! Sometimes one wonders if this misery is in one's own self?
Or is it really dirty outside, that it is not bearable and so many people go
around without being affected by it?
The temperature of the air-condition in the train was so low
that everybody in the compartment felt miserably cold and could not sleep!
After some 3 people requests, the technician came at around 3 am the temperature
was brought under control. Train was on time to leave and on time to reach
Pathankot station, morning at 8.14am, September 15, 2012. Last year almost the
same time probably a month earlier I had gone with two other friends of mine to
Spiti Valley via Shimla. The trip of 7 days was fantastic giving us great views
of the mighty Himalayan range. Some of the villages (especially Chitkul) where
we walked through was so picturesque that words cannot express the beauty. One
has to visit these places and see them. The green grass, the yellow, white
flowers on them and sometime purple and red, the mist and the clear blue sky,
the green mountains, the sound and the clear water of the stream, and the snow
peak! To top it all, the driver used to tell us, you cross this mountain you
will be in China! The thrill of hearing this was adding to the beauty of this
place. I am sure the borders of China is close but not that close as it was
told to us every time, "cross the mountain, you are in China"! Coming
from the South of India where sea is the borders, hearing a neighbouring
country is just across the mountain, is too close!
The Spiti valley trip travelling through Shimla, Kaza, Tabo
is an experience in itself. The apple orchards, the plums, the apricots,
almonds all are available through-out the journey. Eating apples fresh from the
garden was very exhilarating. While growing up in younger days, apple as a fruit
was an expensive proposition. Apple was brought home only during festivals! So,
seeing the green and red apple orchards was dream come true. I had seen the
orchards in China while travelling in Beijing but this was real as we also
stayed in "home stay" where the owner had orchard and allowed us to
explore the orchard.
The only unseasonal thing that happened during the trip last
year was the event of thunderstorm, rains and landslides! 2 days out of the
trip went into this and the heavy rains almost made it certain that we would
not progress... however, by god's grace the rains had stopped and we moved ahead
to see the terrain of Kaza and Tabo. Impressive is not the word. Driving along the
river Sutlej and then the river Spiti, leaving them behind we went to Kaza to
see the different range of the Himalayas- dry, desert rustic range! There is a
saying in Kannada, that the eyes are not enough to behold the beauty of the
nature! It is so true in these ranges. Every curve you take, you feel that you
are in a new place and the same mountains are looking different! I think my
friends and I would have taken endless photographs and finally got tired as
these are not to be photographed, this is a beauty to be seen and experienced
by breathing the air in that place, by smelling the mud and feeling very tiny
in front of the huge mountains. It was the season of Green Peas and the farms
in the valley was full of Green peas and the farmers busy harvesting.
Due to the landslide and the road getting blocked, we could
not complete that trip as planned originally and returned back from Tabo. We
were supposed to go to Chandrataal , Rohtang pass and come to Delhi via
Manali. The landslide was quite heavy
and most of the people (tourist and alike) were stranded in these places for
more than 4 days. We came back to Mandi via the same route that we took and reached
Delhi. No regrets of not completing the stretch, another reason to visit the
misty Himachal again!
This time, I checked with Sunil (who arranged the earlier
trip to Spiti Vally) and decided to go to the other stretch of the Himachal and
also visit Dharmashala. For some reason Dharamshala was always intriguing me
and I wanted to see this place where Indian Government has given shelter to
DalaiLama. So, talked to Sunil and he suggested, Pathankot -
Dalhousie-Khajihar- Bir - Palampur - Dharmashala- Delhi route. I would have
added, Amritsar in the beginning, however had to listen to Sunil and skipped
Amritsar. Probably go to Punjab, next time.
The drive from Pathankot to Dalhousie took around 2 hours
and as we moved up the hill , the misty Himachal was at its best. On the way, I
found the downhill area of Pathankot are full of Mango orchards and there are
plenty of mango products like aam pappad (the thick one) being sold on the road
side. Of course you buy some to taste the variety of the mango! Can anyone say
no to anything made out of the king of fruits?!
By the time we reached the Kalatop Forest guest house, few
kms from Dalhousie, the mist had covered the place at afternoon 12.30! I was
wondering if I came in the wrong season? The guesthouse people said, untimely
rains and it has been raining since last two days! Why do I take rain where I go?!
God, Sun God, please come out was my only prayers the next few hours. After
lunch, we went to Kajihar as small town amidst the misty forests! The only
thing that was not there was some haunting music to accompany us.
Of course, finally the sun god came out and the walk in the
misty Kajihar was very pleasant. The weekend crowd was there with family,
friends enjoying the weather and time together. Surprisingly, I did not see
many foreigners on this stretch! Else, most of these ranges are always filled with
foreigners and the vendors mostly attending to them! I see this in many tourist
places in our country and the Indian tourist is always treated second class,
though you pay the same amount or sometime more than the foreign tourists. The
language problem, the food difference, the culture, the dress difference is the
same for us as it is for the foreigners. However, the treatment is very
different when it comes to Indian tourists . If we can get the Tourism culture
right in this country and know how to treat people coming to visit other
places, we need not depend on foreign tourists. If we can be friendly with each
other and show the eagerness to welcome people from other parts of the country,
I am sure the inter country tourism can be the next big thing. Why should we go
to Singapore or Thailand for holidays? Aren't the beaches of Orissa, or the
mountains of Himalayas a great place to be? I hope one day Indian tourists are
respected and treated equally on par with the foreign tourists!
The next day, packed from Kalatop and travelled to Bir via
Khajihar, Jot. This place also housed the army , airforce, their radar stations
etc, etc., Sometimes when you see these, the respect for the armed forces
multiply and at the same time, one feels, why should we have an army at all?
Will a war happen? Will China really attack us one day? Can that happen in our
life time? Or will Pakistan be dare enough to march towards India?
The 5-6 hours of drive was superb. Jot which is at 2400mts
high is one of the highest places of this range. The village would have had
inhabitants of 20 families or so... On the way we found lots of fresh
vegetables and walnuts. The freshness of the vegetables cannot be described.
Reached Bir in the night and checked into the forest guest
house. Guess what happened there after? Thunder storm! heavy rains lashed till
the wee hours in the morning. The next day plan was to trek from Billing to
Rajgonda a small hill which stretches about 12-14 kms. I thought in the night,
hearing the sound of the rains, the trek has to be cancelled and I was thinking
how to spend the day if it rains like this! Anyway, it is very seldom that your
prayers are not heard! The rain stopped around 6am and I had to wake up and get
ready for the trek as my partner was already up.
We reached the uphill by car where we start to walk the path
to Rajgonda and the mist covered mountains the sun playing hide and seek gave a
fantastic view. Again, these cannot be captured by cameras! Eyes and the mind
are the only cameras that can capture such beautiful morning! At 8.15 we
started to walk and most of the villagers do trek this hill to go to the other
village. This is a short cut to reach the village down the other side of the
hill than go via the road which is longer. We could see many of the villagers
already walking and going up-hill. I walk very slow but I do complete all my
treks. On the way, we found a freshly eaten hunt with bones and skull lying
around! No no...we did not find any animals. Walking through the forests, with the
fresh streams (due to rains the previous day) flowing across the hills was wonderful.
Every curve one takes, one feels that we are in midst of a new hill. The
scenery you would have seen seconds earlier disappears and something new seems
to be taking place in front of you! There was mist for an hour or so and then
the skies cleared up and sun god appeared! We need sun in life...without sun we
are nothing, it is simply suffering. One ray of sun is enough to wake you up
and make your body active and energetic. On our way, we saw 2 girls and a boy
coming down hill and checked with them how far is the village for us to reach.
One of the girl saw me and waived her hand saying, Oh, it is far from here', she
was almost indirectly hinting at me that it could be difficult for me to make
it! Funny girl!
By afternoon 12.30, we were on the other side of the
mountain, completing probably 12 kms or so. There was a tea shop catering to
the villagers where we had tea and spent some time around. We walked back
through the sunny and misty mountains to reach back the spot where the car was
parked by 3.30pm. This was indeed a good trek and not so difficult range. I was
happy I could do it! Though I knew, my leg would pain in the evening and the
pain will last for a day.
Bir/Billing is the place where the International paragliding
competition happens every year. Hence it is quite a hot spot with many
lodges/hotels around. We thought we will go to Barot the next day and hence
drove towards Barot and stayed in the Himachal Guest house on the way to Barot.
Guess what happened in the night? Thunderstorm and heavy rains. This time the
rain god was not kind and it rained the next day till afternoon. There were
landslides and one of the roads was closed making it impossible for us to move
from the hotel room! Sometime in the late afternoon rain stopped and we could
feel the sun. Vehicles, buses started moving around. We had given the
vegetables that we purchased up in Jot to the hotel cook and requested him to
make Muli (Raddish) paratha for breakfast and use the louki for evening for
side dish! What better way to eat the fresh purchase?
We went out to go to Barot, but the mist was too heavy by
the time we reached the road which takes us to Barot. We came back to the hotel
room sensing that it will be impossible to then get back if it rains heavily
again. The next day we read in the news papers that there were landslides and
cloud burst in Barot! So, next time, if I come again to the misty Himachal,
will I be going to this place. I think landslides, cloud bursts, roads getting
blocked are all part of life here. Nobody gets too disturbed by these events
and people wait patiently for things to clear up. Last year, it was more than
four days that the landslide of Rohtang pass took to clear! One just manages
with what is available and find way I think!
The next day we went to Dharamshala passing the Khangra
valley and overseeing the Dauladhar mountains with fresh snow on the peak! The
drive was beautiful.
Strictly speaking,
nothing much to do in Dharamshala! Probably it was my imagination coupled with
Dalai lama that I thought there will be lots to do and see in Dharamshala. One
can never see Dalai lama even if he is in Dharamshala due to the high security.
The Mcleodgunj roads are narrow and the streets are full of shops, hotels one
above the other. Anyway, we went around
for a while and saw the place, saw the temple. The night was spent at hill top
place called Nend. Nice hotel, good price (season is yet to start I think!)!
Some facts about Himachal which might actually interest you
to visit this place is that, plastics are totally banned and people use cloth
bags or paper bags. See if you have a will there is a way! Toilet in every
house is the target of the state and they have taken a novel method of ensuring
that ration cards and toilets go hand in hand. You would not get a ration card
if you do not build a toilet in your house! They will ban Gutka/Paan coming
October 2012!
Finally my trip to the misty Himachal had to end and the
rains which accompanied me through-out was also tired and had stopped. Though
there were clouds and mist the next day, there was no rains! Dharamshala is
also famous for paragliding but due to mist in the day there was nothing
happening. The season of paragliding had
just opened (September 15th) and yet to pick up the tourists enthusiasm.
Hopefully once the rains stops it will pick up... better luck for me next time!
Thanks to Rajeev who accompanied me on this wonderful and
memorable trip, in midst of rains and mist! Misty Himachal... I shall be back
again to see Kulu, Manali, Rohtang and Chandrataal!
My photos of this trip is in the below link..... My earlier
photos of Spiti Valley is also posted here.
