Misty Himachal - September 2012

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.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/12177005@N04/