A Himachal Travel Anecdote

CHANDIGARH TO KASAULI

The next morning, we parked our vehicle at the resort we stayed and headed over to the most charming hill station of Himachal, Kasauli, in the taxi that we booked.

Kasauli was just 2.5 hours from our resort at Chandigarh. So now you know why it was sensible to experience a night at Chandigarh instead of straight away heading to Kasauli at a rush.

Sticking to our ‘lavish and meagre trip’ plan, post a lot of searching, we came across this place called ‘Meadows on the ridge’ by ‘Vista Rooms’ which is in the outskirts of Kasauli. The first picture that popped up at their site was enough for us to lock it for booking. And OMG!! what a perfect decision to stay there!

Out of all, this place and accommodation has my heart.

‘Meadows on the ridge’ is a beautiful Victorian style villa built in 1960s on the edge of a hill. We stayed in this cute vintage style room ’Mountain Breeze’. The room along with the attic space upstairs (fulfilling my childhood wish to stay in such attic space) and bathroom boasted of beautiful English designs. Also staff at this property from helper to chef all were the sweetest and the most polite people we met in our whole trip.

This property , added to the excitement and charm that the hill station naturally carried. The sunset was to live for! We had an amazing time filled with peace and serenity, perfect to get into the vibe of the trip.

This place can also be a perfect get away for a weekend for people staying in Chandigarh or Delhi .

KASAULI TO KOTGARH

We left Kasauli with a heavy heart and a huge smile to head over to Kotgarh Village which is around 5 hours from both Kasauli and Chitkul, lying in between. Yes, Chitkul, a famous village in Himachal, was our next ultimate destination, but due to a good 10 hours distance between Kasauli and Chitkul, Gaurav, came up with this idea of relaxing at the village instead of spending all the hours, travelling.

Tip: (If you are someone who wants to avoid night travelling or someone who believes that, ‘Journey is more beautiful than the destination’ try breaking the journey and halting at some unexplored villages and enjoy the nature to its fullest.)

Getting back to itinerary: Being a travel bug, I came across this network of luxury home stays called Zostel X that has home stays in some offbeat locations and so we booked one for our stay at Kotgarh.

The hosts of Zostel Kotagarh warmly welcomed us with big smiles. They were a family of six, actually eight because they owned a cat and a dog. But we could only meet the Grandma, her son, his twins and their cat, Snowy from the family. Grandma owned an ageless beauty while her son owned a great knowledge about travel and always willed to help us.

The room was luxurious having wooden floors and walls with a beautiful balcony. Kotgarh got us experience a yet another beautiful sunset, apple orchards, moon rise and star gazing late at night, all of which were perfect for a view straight from our balcony! It was an off season for apples so we couldn’t relish eating them but walking amidst the orchards where trees were covered in white nets (to prevent birds from nesting in hedgerows). Other attraction near Kotgarh is hike to Hatu peak (but we preferred laying back and enjoying the beauty of our property and the surrounding).

I made sure to not miss the sunrise at 5 in the morning as we know how often do, we ‘busy people’ underestimate the chances to admire this natural cycle.

And oh! How can I forget the food? The best part was that Zostel being a homestay, we got our ‘Ghar ka khana’ feels as grandma served us with some delicious Himachali cuisine with fresh fruits plucked out straight from their farms which we had with them in their dining space. I mean far away from home, how awesome is that, one can simply imagine!

KOTGARH-RAMPUR-SANGLA-CHITKUL

Here begins the day of our most awaited journey to Chitkul. Our journey began right from passing through the luscious apple orchards to entering thin roads with huge mountains that allowed the great Sutlej river flow out of their bellies. As I write this, I get into a major nostalgia feel of the fresh air, breeze and soulful sound of the river that I experienced there.

We took a halt for lunch at Rampur, town in Shimla district along the way and left for the famous Sangla Valley lying in the district of Kinnaur. Honestly, the roads along the valley were too rocky and full of hurdles, but the driver of the car that we’d hired was experienced enough to make sure that our ride was more about the beautiful views with refreshing breeze and less about the obstacles along the way (will be mentioning the details of our travel agent at the end of the blog).

We entered Sangla to visit the Kamru fort, the sacred place of Sangla which required hiking for 20-25 mins through Kamru village.

Tip: Carry your water bottle (avoid plastic bottles though) we being in a hurry to get out of our car and go for hike forgot to carry our bottle but I must say, the Pahadis are heaven yeah, the sweetest people you’ll come across! Seeing us exhausted due to sudden rise in altitude, they offered us water with big welcoming smile.

Post hiking for 10-15 mins was a temple and the next 10 mins got us to the fort. A fort with a different tradition: no leather belts or wallets were allowed, we were given holy belts for our waists and Kinnauri hats for our heads. While talking to the guards of the fort we came to know that no one is allowed to enter the fort except the Pandits for Puja once a year.

Our next destination was finally, Chitkul. The route to Chitkul was the best in the entire trip! We passed through Rakcham village and as it was almost sunset, The sky view guys! It had that perfect blend of orange pink and faded yellow color reflecting on the mountains and mesmerizing us to the core of our hearts! (Oh, this reminds me of owning a dress of that color blend. Designer here, anyone? :p )

Also, Chitkul is at an altitude of a good 11320 feet! Thus, people with Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) must carry their medications along. Nearing Chitkul gave us that instant satisfying sensation. For our stay, we again had chosen Zostel and my pre-booking idea got us a room there which otherwise would’ve been impossible due to the peak travel season. Okay so for the first night, we stayed in dorms which was a bit of an unpleasant experience. Now dorms are decent for a stay, but my major cuss at this dorm were the bathrooms. Pretty unclean!

Nevertheless, the music of the river flowing by the side of Zostel and fresh air taught us to neglect the flaws and cherish the beauty of the moment instead (which also is a major life tip.)

The cafe at Zostel had these pretty fairy lighting and benches to just sit, relax or have a talk and chill for hours. The common room is the most interesting part here and my favorite too. :p It has all the colors of the world and everything else to keep you entertained throughout the stay.

Meeting strangers from different places, with different careers, chit chatting with them while drinking our favorite hot chocolate, playing games, listening to their stories and what not, one can hardly miss any of this! Also, this was a world cup season and voila! We witnessed a match where India was to play and people from different parts of the world were all cheering for our national team. Another sight and experience to behold! Humans are beautiful, too, after all! ????

Coming to my disappointment again were unclean kitchens and their timings. The food was good but the kitchen and pantry, so not good! Choosing a chain of luxury hostels, this stay was a bit of a spoil sport in terms of cleanliness for me. (FYI, I am also a cleanliness freak, but still.)

The staff was sweet and cooperative though, must say. The beauty of nature and people got us well distracted from this mess, so I was good.

Also don't forget to carry a sweater or a jacket and if you are a Mumbaikar like me then carry gloves, monkey cap, thermals because this place gets pretty cold in nights even in June.

CHITKUL TO KALPA

The next morning, boys decided to go for cycling to ITBP post, by the cycles available at Zostel. But they had to return halfway through as the curves of the road were sharp for regular cyclists.

Also, this place had no network, no Wi-Fi, all in all, zero digital connectivity to the world, except for BSNL users. Well, this makes the place even more special because you actually live every bit of your time there by meeting and talking to the people who are visibly around you and not just virtually. Truly, a must have experience for our technology driven generation.

We now left for Kalpa, a small town in the Sutlej river valley, back in Kinnaur, around 2 hours, 40 minutes from Chitkul. But in between we decided to halt at Rakcham, a completely unexplored village. While chatting with one of the local from this village who was 82 yrs old and owned not only a stationery shop but also the sweetest smile, gave me the details of this place with a population of just 845 people but famous for the most expensive variety of potatoes, Kinnaur Aloo which are widely exported.

I came to know a little about this place while researching about Chitkul. (Yes, I believe in researching about places of the trip and advisably, everyone else should, too. :p) but couldn’t find as many details as I did for the other places, So we decided to explore this village by ourselves.

Getting there we did a small hike through the farms and visited a school having 18 kids studying in different classes but having similar cuteness. Also had the Kinnaur Aloos at Rakcham café.

Oh, what a wonderful experience spending time there! Also it was so peaceful sitting on the rock at the top, felt like we are so small in front of these mountains and still cry on countless issues.

And people living in such villages live a simple and sorted life.

This place has my heart. I can say that it is a must stop while visiting Chitkul. Highly recommended!

Moving towards Kalpa now, that is known for its beautiful Kinnaur Kailash sunrise and sunset views, we crossed the Reckong Peo town which also comes along the way to Spiti Valley. Unfortunately, due to the clouds, we couldn’t see the sunset and its lights dazzling on the snow caped mountains but we went for a village walk and visit their school monastery, temple and fort had Momos from the small blue local restauraunt.

Walking through thin roads, we got back to our hotel Kalpa Deshnag (roads to the hotel is too thin, be careful if you have big cars) , again the staff was very polite and guess what they made us Bhajias(pakode) ,we sat in our balcony and enjoyed the light drizzling and the view of Kinner Kailash covered with clouds along with Pakodas and Chai.

KALPA TO THEOG

As Kalpa to Chandigarh is again 10 hours long journey so we decided to break it and stayed in Theog for a night which was 6 hours from Kalpa, the route from Kalpa to Theog was straight out of a postcard with wide roads surrounded with luscious green trees. Again there is not much to do in Theog ,but we did hear about an amusement park in Kufri which is just 30 mins from Theog.

Coming to the stay, we booked De Exotica Crest (the most unpleasant stay), no doubt the property’s location was great but when it came to maintenance it was very poor (unclean pool water) . We were highly disappointed as this was our last stay in Himachal .

Nevertheless the views kept us happy.