[earthian]

This is a travelogue about a trip we made to the Kullu and Kangra Valleys of Himachal Pradesh during October 2020, self-driving from Ahmedabad. Yes, we covered other areas of HP too but the bulk of our stay was in these two valleys, known as “The Valley of the Gods”.

Let me assure you-The description is spot on.

Pristine atmosphere, no pollution of any sort- light, air or noise. The stars, the rushing water, the mountains-What more could one ask?

The Mission and planning:

This year we had originally planned to do the trip during end of March, but the Covid lockdown put a spoke in our plans. Apart from a couple of day trips with a picnic lunch to nearby (~100kms) isolated places, we were mostly confined to our house and the urge to move out became stronger as the lockdown progressed. It became clear that one had to learn to live with Covid-19, till a proven vaccine emerged and the population inoculated. While responsible behavior mandated social distancing and wearing of protection devices, apart from avoiding unnecessary travel; after much debate we decided that we could travel responsibly and God willing ensure that we brought about no harm to fellow citizens or for that matter, to ourselves.

Last year, my wife and I had made the trip to Kumaon, but this year we invited a couple of our good friends to join us and they immediately accepted. You can read about the Uttarakhand Trip report here: (Uttarakhand: Abode of the Gods) This was in September 2020 and all four being senior citizens, it was imperative that we do the planning carefully. Stay options needed to be vetted carefully and the route so planned so as to minimise pit stops. All of us underwent health checks and though not mandatory, got ourselves tested for Corona Virus. The normal medicine kit got bigger with two small oxygen cans, oxygen meter, and medicines for treating Corona Virus, though of doubtful therapeutic value.

Food became an important issue and two bags stuffed with all kinds of dry nasta, durable theplas and bhakris, precooked dry ingredients, sweets and other stuff. We have stopped using disposable plates and glasses - as far as possible - and stainless-steel quarter plates, spoons and small steel tumblers were also packed. Water bottles have been our bete noire, but in absence of practical alternatives (Last year many members suggested alternatives, but we either found them impractical or uncomfortable) we had no alternative but to carry water bottles. 2 cases - 24 bottles ~ 25 kgs. We figured that we would use these for the long distance travel and also fill them up for reuse whenever feasible. As usual, we carried bed-sheets and thin – but effective – coverlets. No space for pillows this time since there were four travelers instead of the usual two. Apart from our personal stuff, I had my camera bag, tripod and trekking sticks, along with a small backpack for carrying stuff for side trips.

We were going to take the GLE and the first issue to be fixed was the (absence of a full size) spare wheel. The GLE has only a baby spare wheel and hence I got a second hand rim for Rs 13,000/-. During 2018 during our visit to the forests of Madhya Pradesh, we had a blow out and we had replaced two Conti stock tires with Michelin Latitude 3 tyres . Though the two remaining Continental Sport tyres were 3 years old and still had useful life left, I had the firm conviction that they were quite soft and prone to punctures. Accordingly, the next order of the day was to replace two old Continental tyres with Michelins. This proved to be easier said than done with most dealers in Ahmedabad stating that they did not have stock. They held the Atmanirbhar Bharat programme responsible since imports of tyres were stopped since late March or so. One dealer did have the requisite tyres but refused to sell two of them, falsely claiming company policy. One would have to buy a set of four. A phone call to the area manager of Michelin soon put that right and soon the GLE was sporting two new Michelins, along with the others about 2 years and 6000 kms old. As debated here in Team-BHP, I asked the dealer to put the new tyres in the rear wheels, much to his annoyance and insistence that it be placed in the front wheels. The best part was that there was a poster by Michelin at his shop stating that it was safer to put new tyres in the rear. He was not convinced, but I had my way. (Later, I took up the matter with the product manager of Michelin based at Gurugram and his point was that they recommended fixing new tyres at the rear to optimize braking efficiency and prevent skid. The point of view of the dealer was that a tyre burst in the front wheel would have far more disastrous effect with the possibility of the vehicle tumbling over. No doubt, our members would be able to put this matter at rest.)

One of the old tyres went into the spare rim and the baby spare wheel was chucked out. The problem was that the spare tyre well was molded to fit the baby spare wheel, particularly its tyre width. With the full size spare in the well, the well cover would not fit since the normal size tyre juts out 3 inches. A temporary cover was made out of poly ethylene roof sheeting and the boot top flexible cover was removed so as to provide space for all the luggage.

A 4" dia tube used to secure the spare wheel.

Note the small oxygen canisters on the right along with the sanitiser spray.

The other stuff carried for car maintenance were puncture kit, compressor, duct tape, additional tools, towing rope, jump start leads, spare tube, engine oil. The GLE was due for service and 10 days before our trip, it was fully serviced along with replacement of engine mount bushings, filters and brake pads. Bloody expensive! (That’s another story).

The route plan was:

A’Bad - Jaipur - Kasauli - Tirthan Valley - Kasol - Palampur - and back. The return route would be finalised depending upon our appetite for further meandering, our general mood etc. After doing an exhaustive DD on various home stays, we finalised 5 nights at Tirthan Valley in a homestay right by the Tirthan river; 4 nights in a beautiful homestay right on the banks of Parvati river; and 5 nights at Palampur in a plush resort. There could be pit stops within Himachal and we decided to do that on the fly.

In planning the trip, I would like to acknowledge the inputs of a host of members including maheepgupta, Hellzboy, DeepakS, filmaka, singh.saab, and AdityaDeane. Aditya deserves special thanks for making a WhatsApp group of members based in Manali (Eric, Khushal, Ramandeep) who guided me on places to stay and visit. Too bad we could not do the Manali meet up guys. Maybe the next time.

The plan was to leave at 0630 hrs on the 11 October and the previous night, we all got together and stuffed the bags, cases, water bottles, food and stuff in the car, taking care to ensure that RVM line of sight was not blocked. I estimate that we must have lugged about 150 kgs.

It was overkill definitely.

[earthian]

A’Bad - Jaipur – Kasauli

NH 48 is undergoing extensive 6 laning and the road conditions were reported to be bad. We therefore took the alternative NH 62 via Palanpur, Beawar and then joined NH 58 to Jaipur. I had mentioned it last year in my trip report to Uttarakhand and I am again mentioning it now. The state of roads in Gujarat is quite bad and I am very ashamed of it. Nothing has been done since the past two years and Gujarat – once famous for its good roads- now was the worst we experienced amongst the roads of all the states we passed through. Rajasthan roads were very good. In fact, excellent. The speed limit in most stretches is 80 KMPH and the police take efforts to enforce the same. In my opinion, 80 KMPH is abysmally low for such roads and I kept a wary eye.

We reached Jaipur at 1630 hrs and checked in the Jaipur Marriott, which we use as a pit stop in our journeys North. The hotel is well managed and the rooms extremely comfortable. The best part is that they pack a hearty breakfast for travellers like us. We had told them that we would start at 0700 hrs and would like Puri- Sabzi packed in the SS dabbas we had brought along with us. They packed the Puri-Sabzi, threw in some sandwiches, some muffins and fruits. Good service.

We had an early dinner at the restaurant, watching an IPL game and it was off to bed by 2100 hrs.

We had not unloaded all the luggage at Jaipur. Just a small backpack containing the essentials for a night’s stay and clean clothes for the next day. It was comparatively easy to stuff the small cases in the boot and we were off to Kasauli. Though Google Maps recommends the route via Delhi (WPH); we were forewarned to take the route via Rewari, Rohtak and Panipat. The roads were excellent and we made good time.

I would like to report an interesting fact. I maintain the pressure in all tyres at 34psi (~235 kilopascal) as recommended by MB ( as well as by the product manager of Michelin -Between 32-35 psi). When travelling on bitumen surfaced roads the pressure increased to 40 psi (~275 kp); whereas on cement concrete roads, it increased to 44 psi (305 kp). The ambient conditions, driving and speed were more or less comparable, so there was a 10psi increase in pressure on cement concrete roads – which would correlate to an temperature increase of approximately 100 F (~ 38C) on the tyres. Assuming that the ‘at rest’ temperature of the tyres was 20C, it translates to a tyre temperature of about 58C when travelling at 120 kmph!
Any idea whether such temperatures are okay? It would definitely impact tyre life, braking performance and increase possibility of blow outs. I remember that when the new Delhi-Agra Taj expressway was opened, there were a spate of accidents due to blow outs. Most of them were from premier cars such as Merc, BMWs and Audis. Hope some research is being done on this subject by CRRI. Would welcome discussion on this subject.

In view of the Covid situation, we did not stop for leak breaks at Petrol pumps or wayside restaurants ( as we normally do) but preferred the open, arguing that it was safer. Similarly, since the hotel had done us proud by packing a good spread; we had sandwiches for breakfast and puri sabzi for lunch, thereby we avoided stopping for any food. We made good time and arrived at Kasauli by 1600 hrs. However, thanks to the eccentricities of the GPS triangulation system in the mountains and Google Maps, we spent an hour searching for our place of stay, Glenview Manor, a part of the Welcome Heritage hotels.

We had planned for a two day ’sort of pit stop’ here since we didn’t want to push ourselves too hard. It was a okay hotel with not too many guests. The rooms were comfortable, but there was nothing heritage about the property. In fact since we didn’t see any ITC mention anywhere, we were apprehensive that we had been taken. Still, it was good to relax and generally chill out. We preferred not to go out anywhere.

The scene from the balcony of our room was great and the weather just fine.

Everywhere you see the houses nestled among the hillside enveloped within the trees. Makes a great sight.

[earthian]

Kasauli - Narkhanda - Tirthan Valley


We started out after breakfast from Kasauli at around 1000 hrs. We planned to go via the more scenic, but possibly worse, route to Tirthan via Narkhanda. Actually our members in Manali suggested a more adventurous route to Narkhanda, but after weighing the pros and cons we opted for the scenic, but not too bad, route.

There is no doubt. The views were beautiful and we cruised along enjoying the scenery and the atmosphere. I normally drive with the driver side window open so as to be able to hear traffic coming from the opposite side and take preventive action. Most of these small roads can just about allow two small cars ( Maruti Fronti) to pass each other, if at all. No way a big SUV can pass. These roads have wider ‘lay bys’ at regular intervals so one can tuck into these and allow the traffic to pass. The code in the mountains is the person who has the nearest lay by, tucks in and waits. It is a code and discipline practiced by most locals and happily most outsiders too, except for the occasional idiot with a big SUV and with an excess of testosterone. I am usually quite harsh with these idiots, making them back up.

As mentioned earlier, we had not booked any accommodation for the night at Narkhanda, preferring to see how the land lies. One of my friends recommended the Forest rest house at Narkhanda, and my experience has been that the FRH in general have a 5 star location, even though the maintenance may be found wanting. I quickly accepted his suggestion and soon we were on our way to the FRH at Narkhanda. It was a huge disappointment. The Forest authorities had leased it out to a private contractor and the whole place was a mess. Very shabby with unclean bathrooms. It was not a FRH, but a trekkers camp. Worse, the “restaurant” was very dirty and smelly. And the last straw: The location was not so great too. It was already 1600 hours since we had stopped at various locations to take in the sights.

Going forward was not an option since it gets dark by 1700 hours and so we hunted out a homestay called “The Wilderness”, which I had researched earlier. As expected the whole place was empty and it was a beautiful property. The hostess, recently back from studies at Oxford, to help her father run the property, was delightful and we thanked our good fortune in finding an excellent place.

The room had a balcony and I was thankful of that, wanting to shoot the night sky in relative comfort. However, much to my disappointment, the balcony faced North ( for an excellent view of the mountains, no doubt) and the Milky Way, and the Galactic center in particular, was visible for two short hours in South West! It was pretty cold and not wanting to trudge up unknown territory in the night, I solaced myself by shooting the night sky to the North.

The night landscape is also very beautiful with small houses silhouetted and lit up amongst the slopes . It was a great sight and i spent an hour in quiet contentment gazing at the night sights.

Narkhanda, situated at an altitude of 2700 meters is a skiing resort and is also famous for apple cultivation of Satyanand Stokes fame. Nowadays, cherries are also grown here. It is a nice place and we were unhappy that we were staying only one night here. Unfortunately, our accommodation at Tirthan was booked and paid for and we did not have the luxury of modifying the program.

The next morning, I got up before sunrise to shoot the landscape. The mountain range was pretty far out and we had been spoilt by the ranges and peaks at Uttrakhand, which one could almost reach out and touch. Still, it was a very pleasing sight and very peaceful.

After a nice, sedate breakfast sitting out in the veranda overlooking the mountains, we again headed out to Tirthan Valley via the famous Jalori Pass.

Narkhanda - Tirthan Valley

The roads are not great, but the views make up for it. The majestic Sutlej river flows through the valley and it’s a great sight. We drove slowly, taking in the incredible expanse of nature all around us. No doubt about it. If you want to truly see India in all its glory, you would have to travel by road. We must have made umpteen stops till Jalori Pass.

We reached Jalori pass and parked the car by a small tea shack. The range could not be seen due to the cloud cover. The pass was not very crowded and there were but a handful of cars. We spent some time walking around and taking in the atmosphere. A trek of 6 kms leads on to the beautiful Serolsar lake, but unfortunately we had not planned for it and hence couldn’t do it.

Soon we were on our way to Tirthan Valley and reached our place of stay- Sunshine Himalayan Cottage- by 1430 hrs.

[earthian]

Tirthan Valley

The Valley is quite narrow and the Tirthan river passes through it. There are many homestays and stay options-some of them right beside the river.

One of the best attractions of this valley is the Great Himalayan National Park. Unfortunately, it was closed due to the Covid situation. Unlike other parks, GHNP can only be accessed by foot, which I feel is a great boon. Other national Parks have been exploited and commercialised beyond belief and the pristine environment ravaged and cluttered with thrash.

Our home stay was a nice wooden cottage right by the river. It had 6 rooms and a nice sit out overlooking the river. I spent many a morning lazing (dozing) with the roar of the river creating a stuporous effect.

The roar of the river is to be heard to be believed. 24x7..on and on, ceaselessly. It awes and delights at the same time. Here is one of the guests meditating in the river, while basking in the sun. Idyllic!

I am afraid Tirthan Valley is going the over exploited tourist place route. There are permanent structures and obstructions along the river. Some of them on the river bed!. I have no idea whether these are encroachments. In some places, the river has been diverted and a structure built on the reclaimed land. In Gujarat, there are local laws which prohibit building any structure within a certain distance from the river banks. I am sure such laws would be there in HP too. However, money talks and encroachments happen. In Gujarat too. Everywhere.

If there is a cloud burst in the mountains, it would be a Kedarnath waiting to happen.

The place where we stayed seemed to be on authorised land and there was a Government of HP trout farm right beside it. This homestay was also one of the few properties that had a dedicated parking available.

[earthian]

Tirthan Valley (Cont.)


We had a very pleasant stay at Tirthan. Absolutely idyllic. No fixed agenda. Get up in the morning, go for a walk, talk to the locals, have a leisurely breakfast, get ready and drive to some nearby attraction. Have a frugal lunch, read a book or snooze, bond with the other guests, have an aperitif or two before dinner and then off to bed by 2100 hrs. Here are some pictures that I shot with the phone during one such morning walk:

Dogs and i instinctively bond together. I was accompanied by most of the street dogs i met on the way- often for about 1.5 hours. They would see me back safely at the homestay and they go back to where ever they came from. This happens to me frequently. Maybe they recognise a dog lover when they see one.

If I am shooting the night sky, then I would take off between 1830 hrs and 2000 hrs to some vantage point. At this time of the year, the galactic center is hardly visible and if you do have a vantage point (elevated) then you may possibly see it for 45 minutes or so. The galactic center would start becoming more visible after March 15 in the Northern Hemisphere.

One day we drove to a small village called Sarchi- about an hour away. The road was single track in places and bad in patches. We drove to the end of the road. A quaint village.

Took the car to the neighboring town for a wash one day. In Uttarakhand and in Himachal Pradesh, it is common to see car wash facilities at every corner. Obviously, the locals care for their vehicles. I don’t think car wash outlets are common in big cities – unless they label it as Car Spa and charge accordingly. This guy charged Rs 250/- and did a thorough job which lasted an hour.

Upon my return one morning after my walk, i encountered these gents who were riding from Mumbai. They had parked the bikes here, staying elsewhere. I shot the breeze with them and enquired whether they would be writing about their experiences in any fora? Team-BHP perhaps? Not heard of it, they replied.

On a similar vein, i spotted a Team-BHP sticker on the car of the homestay owners and asked them whether they were active on Team-BHP? "No, not really. Some one had interviewed us and gave us the sticker."

[earthian]

Tirthan Valley- Kasol

We enjoyed our homestay at Tirthan valley. After a delectable 5 nights, it was time for us to move on. Accordingly, on the 20th October morning, after breakfast, we were on our way to Kasol. Unlike in Uttrakhand last year, we did not encounter any landslides or road blocks in Himachal. Spoke too soon, I guess. The first order of the day was a road block which was being cleared.

The route was picturesque and the roads okay. The roads in Himachal are wider and better than those in Uttrakhand- particularly the state and village roads. Apart from local cars, Chandigarh, Punjab and Haryana registered cars were the most commonly seen. A sprinkling of Delhi and Uttar Pradesh cars. In our 20 days, apart from the states mentioned above, we saw two Gujarat cars (A’Bad, Surat), two from Maharashtra and one from J&K. No other state cars seen. At least by us.

We stopped for a tea break at a tea shack. There was this small weaving machine, used to make small mufflers. We bought some lengths. The couple running the stall were cheerful ( in spite of the Covid hardship being faced) and did multiple jobs to earn. They had cows, traded in walnuts, had some small land holding, did weaving and ran the tea stall. The tea was delicious and attributed to the quality of the milk of their cows- which led to my wife asking for a cup of milk. We sampled the walnuts – they were being sold by the piece Rs 5/- apiece. Never heard of walnuts being sold on piece basis, but seems common in HP.

We took our time reaching Kasol, stopping every now and then and taking in the sights. I often tell people to enjoy the journey and not be fixated on just reaching the destination. What is the use travelling by car, if one is in a mad rush to reach his destination?

We reached Kasol in the afternoon and arrived at our homestay. It was a beautiful property, on the banks of the Parvati river. We had the entire first floor ( 2 bedrooms, dining, kitchen, sit out) for ourselves. There was a care taker-cum-cook who would provide our culinary requirements.

A litter of puppies and their mother welcomed us to the cottage.

We put our feet up in the sit out overlooking the river and relaxed.

Shortly afterwards, i could smell smoke. In the slopes of the valley behind us, there was evidently a forest fire. What started small soon became quite big and as it grew dark, the flames were quite prominent.

There was some talk that the locals set fire to the grass and shrubs to encourage new growth of grass. This is particularly done when the rainfall is sparse, as had been so this year, it seems.

I was not convinced. However, in the morning the fire was out.

[earthian]

Kasol

Kasol is known as a backpacker's paradise. It also has a large presence of tourists from Israel who stay for long durations in the villages surrounding Kasol, most popular of them being Tosh and Malana. In Kasol, it is common to see signboards and menu cards in Hebrew and many cafes boast of providing Israeli, Italian and Indian food - in that order! The advent of Covid-19 has blunted the influx of tourists this year, which is being felt keenly by the various service providers – Taxis, hotels, restaurants, small shops etc.

I went down to the river and took some shots. It was a peaceful place-quiet except for the chirping of birds and the roar of the river. Anyway, that is not noise. After breakfast, we decided to take a chakker of the place and stepped out. Kasol is as such a laid back place and in these Covid times and early morning ( 1000 hrs is early in these parts); it seemed that most of the town was still asleep. We moved around aimlessly and decided to ask the taxi Union Office about places to see in the neighbourhood. Manikarna, Tosh and Malana was the reply. Parking is a big problem in these places and the roads are very bad. It would be better if you hired a car. There were some drivers hanging around with no customers and we decided to give them some business.

We got a Tata Sumo for going to Manikaran and Tosh. It started out well, but just when we were crossing Manikaran, there was a sharp bang. The bushing of the leaf spring had snapped. Joginder – our driver – stopped the car and got a mechanic within minutes. The car was jacked up and a strong 1.5 feet long tapered log of wood was hammered between the leaf spring coupling and the top of the shaft pin. That’s it! I had thought that it would take an hour or two, but it was over in 10 minutes. I balked at riding on this makeshift repair job, but Joginder looked so crestfallen and when he promised me that he would attend to it properly when we were in Tosh, I agreed.

The road to Tosh was exceedingly bad and after about an hour and half, we reached the end of the road. The parking lot was full. We got down and started walking towards the village and onwards to a waterfall.

Look at the rooms that have been made in this small village. I have blown up that portion for a better view. While Malana and Tosh have similar offerings to the pleasure seekers, Tosh is more accessible since the. road comes up to the village. Malana on the other hand, is isolated and an hour's trek is required to reach the village from the nearest road point. Malana is the oldest democracy and has its own laws, rules and regulations. More on that later.

It was a typical Himachal village with people going about their business except for two significant changes. There were homestays and hotels everywhere and small cafes and restaurants.

The 20 minute walk turned out to be more. We had walked up for half an hour when we saw the water fall about half the distance away. Oh well! What’s in a waterfall? Took some pictures and turned back.

The foreign influence is evident in such places with Jim Morrison café, Pink Floyd café, and Che Guevara posters

Manikaran


On the way back from Tosh, we stopped at Manikaran. The famous Manikaran Gurudwara was closed due to Covid-19 ( some staffers tested positive there), but the Ram mandir and that of the residing goddess Naina Devi were open. The name has an interesting myth behind it.

We did not take any hot water bath in any of the kunds, but did see one. The sulphurous smell was evident.

We paid our obeisance at the Ram mandir and were invited to partake of prasad which consisted of Rajma, Chaval, a sweet preparation and rotis if you wanted them. The Mandir surroundings is undergoing renovation and there was cement and dust everywhere.

Manikaran may be a special place for the devout, but we did not see anything special about it. The lack of people and pilgrims made the place look woebegone and even the eating joints looked listless and deserted.

There was the usual trash dumped at a convenient spot and i wondered why the Government or the local body for that matter did not levy a small fee from visitors to tackle the menace.

After aimless wandering for some time, we repaired to the parking and took our Taxi back to Kasol.

[earthian]

Well, i will stop here for a break and continue with Part -II later on. Part -II would see us checking out the newly opened Atal Tunnel, going up to the fabulous Rohtang pass, Checking out Malana (!) and then going to a different valley. Hope you liked the report till now. Leaving you with a teaser picture of Part-II:

[BlackPearl]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to Travelogues. Thanks for sharing the lovely travelogue earthian!

[Deadpool]

Fantastic write up, enjoyed reading it. All pictures are very good but those night pictures under the starry sky needs special mention.

Eagerly waiting for part 2.

[Pr_007]

Amazing travelogue Sir! The pictures looks so good. Tempts me to take such a vacation.

Waiting for the part 2..

[ShivrajG]

A perfect time to take this trip! Very well articulated and crisp travelogue with awesome pictures.

I am waiting for the part 2 like I was waiting for Mirzapur

[earthian]

Originally Posted by Deadpool

Fantastic write up, enjoyed reading it. All pictures are very good but those night pictures under the starry sky needs special mention.

Eagerly waiting for part 2.

Thank you, Deadpool. Shall do so soon.

Originally Posted by Pr_007

Amazing travelogue Sir! The pictures looks so good. Tempts me to take such a vacation.

Waiting for the part 2..

Thank you. What's stopping you? I found many people "Working from the Mountains". Most homestays now offer good bandwidth and the monthly packages are quite affordable too. We met one family who were working from the homestay. The father handling his business; the Mom a teacher taking online classes and the daughter, studying in school via online classes.

Many people are taking advantage of WFH to go to such beautiful areas and work from there. Have your cake and eat it too.

Originally Posted by ShivrajG

A perfect time to take this trip! Very well articulated and crisp travelogue with awesome pictures.

I am waiting for the part 2 like I was waiting for Mirzapur

Mirzapur was good. I binge watched it. Thank you. Glad you liked the report.

[DBeast]

A great write up earthian, with equally amazing pictures to accompany. Not to forget, the night shots!
The thing I liked about your vacation, is the "time", reach - stay - enjoy & relax thoroughly, and then move on to the next destination!

Eagerly waiting for the second part!

Cheers!
-DB

[earthian]

Originally Posted by DBeast

The thing I liked about your vacation, is the "time", reach - stay - enjoy & relax thoroughly, and then move on to the next destination!

We have now understood that it is way to travel- at least for us. Stay for a week at the preplanned destinations and then explore the nearby surroundings at your own pace and wish. Take every day as it comes.

We try, as far as possible, not to have a checklist - though it is easier said than done. Unwittingly, one does tend to optimise sightseeing. In this trip i would have liked to visit the Lahaul side, which we didn't.