Travel Travails

Trip To Himachal Pradesh - Travelogue

Samir Shah (India, 21/09/07)

My first trip to Himachal Pradesh was in 1977. Dalhousie-Khajjiar-Chamba-Dharamshla-Palampur-Mandi-Manali-Rohtang-Kulu-Kufri-Shimla-Kasauli-Bilaspur. My first experience of what heaven could be like...

Besides the Dhauladhar, which is an acknowledged part of Dalhousie, the Kalatop which is now a sanctuary, it was the constantly changing colours of sky which occcupied most of my attention... so many colours to the sky! Fascinating! We were put up on one of the upper storeys of Hotel Meher (if I recall correctly), the winding paths suddenly opening up to allow a glimpse of the majestic Dhauladhar, the small little market, the beautiful flowers on kalatop, the sparse but "quality" population. Yes, more than anything else, the people were as close to "human" as one can be... Cheers Himachalis!!!

11/26/06

The winding, shaded road to Khajjiar, going downhill, with occasional views between thick forest cover giving a glimpse of lush green fields in small terraces on the mountains, neatly dotted with clean, slate roofed cottages of deodar and pine wood. In between at two places there was a rivulet flowing right across the road as if demanding it's right of way, the driver of our vehicle struggling to find a safe spot to cross the water. The journey was so pleasant that we did not realise it had taken more than an hour, when we finally arrived at Khajjiar. There was just one building that housed the HPTDC Hotel Deodar (if I remember correctly), a few rooms, it was perched right on top of the bowl shaped meadow, lush with green grass with thickly pine-forested hills on all sides, the dark green of pines in stark contrast to the lush green of the lawn. A small pond in the middle of the meadow, a temple, a cottage (PWD Rest House) and another cottage at the far right hand side end were the sole occupants of this paradise. Spent one whole day just staring at this view, taking it all in, alongwith the quiet stillness, no other sounds (it has paid me rich dividends, can replay the whole scene with sight, sound, smell, feel even today after 30 years). On the first day, thought one could stare like this for a whole life and not get tired. However, the next day, walked up the hills to explore further and to have a glimpse from the other side. Did not run into anybody while trekking for a good four hours, a few squirrels and rabbits were always there but no humans. There were no shops, no reataurants, no one trying to sell anything. the HPTDC hotel staff treated us like family, and we felt at "home". Confirming, that Himachalis are one of the warmest people one can come across. Heaven on earth!

On day three, with a heavy heart had to proceed to Chamba...

11/29/06

After Dalhousie and Khajjiar, Chamba felt warm and a bit of a let down on arrival. We went to the museum, saw the famous "chamba rumaal", while we were getting tired of the heat and sun and getting a bit irritated, suddenly a strong breeze started blowing, bringing dark clouds with it. It started drizzling and the place just opened up like a beautiful flower. the water was chilly cold, the smell of raw earth, the clouds, everything seemed to change within minutes. We took shelter in a restaurant overlooking the river Ravi, I think. Such was the change that one got the feeling that of the three Chamba was the better?! When we were leaving Chamba, came across a young girl who was knitting a floor mat out of a centimeter thick yarn of chindis cut from used plasic bags of various colours. The most creative recycling of plastic, so pretty was the half finished mat! Once again, the creative Himachali scored over all else.

12/7/06

The scenic journey continued throughout, enroute to Dharamshala. The Hotels were full so we decided to stay at Palampur, a decision that we never regretted. Majestic Dhauladhar and the nicely pruned tea gardens, different shades of green, the heady smell in the air. A quiet town. Next day we proceeded to Manali via Dharamshala and Mandi. The road was carved out of the mountain with the river Bias on the other side accompanying throughout the journey from Mandi to Manali. Quiet, serene at some places, gushing at most places. Pristine waters. On the way we stopped by the river just to touch the water and take in the fresh air alongwith the landscape. One of us who had been there before offered a prize to whoever could sit in the river for five minutes. I tried, but man, was the water cold? It was ice. 20 seconds was all I could manage.
After almost a day's journey we reached Manali.

12/19/06

By the time we reached Manali it was almost night. Thus far, throughout the tour, we had started off early morning. By 7am we would be on our way. Most distances were covered in 4 to 5 hours. Reach the destination by noon, occupy the room, freshen up, have lunch, relax for a couple of hours, in the evening go out, walk around a bit, gather local info, visit the market, feel the place, go back to the hotel, have dinner and after preparing the next day's sightseeing plan, retire for the day, was the routine. This, many in our group of 16 found a bit stressful initially, especially the waking up in the early morning cold and embarking upon the journey but this routine started working so well that we all started enjoying it. The advantages were many... the weather was cool, we were having the local aloo paratha - dahi, lassi, milk etc. for breakfast at some dhaba instead of the toast butter, cutlet, omelet, corn flakes - milk menu offered by most hotels. It was more suitable to both the stomach and the pocket. Any delays like puncture etc. could be easily dealt with. Less traffic on the roads. The sunrise made sightseeing much more attractive in the early morning than say the noon. Therefore, arriving Manali after almost a 12 hour journey, late in the evening, was not something that we were used to. The limbs were tired from balancing the body on curved roads, the stomach felt churned, plus we did feel a bit dizzy and bored despite the nature and scenery...

The first impressions of Manali were not that great, especially after having seen so much alrerady, aching limbs due to the long journey, not finding accomodation in the Log Huts or the other HPTDC property etc. etc. We were forced to check into a private hotel. The smell was not very good. The sight was even worse. Plus we (children/non couples) were all put up in one dormitory while the couples had a room each to themselves, simply because there were not enough rooms available. When I hit the bed, I realised that the mattress had a hole in it, right in the middle, exactly where the lumbar would be. Switching ends, inverting the mattress, did not work. The previous guest had very neatly cut a nice hole and taken all the cotton out of the mattress. Late in the night there was no substitute mattress available. Stuffed some T shirts there and managed to sleep. At the break of dawn, the body rested, reached out to open the window, to find a snowcapped peak staring back at me. The effect was electric. Grabbed a pair of jeans and T shirt and strolled out in the open. The fresh cold air bit at first but it was a great feeling.

Later that day we did the local sight seeing... Hidimba Temple, Vashishtha Hot Water Springs etc. etc. A majority of the afternoon was spent sitting by the Beas River, perched on a rock, with feet dangling and feeling the water every now and then while staring at the beautiful landscape, with the sun and the clouds playing hide n seek and changing colours of the sky and snow peaks into different shades of orange, the dense forest on the mountain slopes, different shades of green, the play of light and shadows in the crystal clear waters of River Beas... the "sinking-in" feeling!

We left early morning the next day to Rohtang Pass. The weather was very uncertain and we were lucky that the road had opened after a typically inclement weather. Enroute to Rohtang, the geography, the flora and fauna changed every now and then The green forests turned to treeless black rock mauntains with starkly contrasting snow peaks. As we turned a corner we saw snow on the mountain wall. We started screaming wildly, enough to irk the driver who turned back and said "yeh toh kuchh nahin hai aage bahut milegaji". On arrival at the pass there was snow and alongwith it there was sun, thin air, low pressure, with piles of clothes on the body. Most of us had a slight difficulty in breathing, we were perspiring inside with heavy clothes, caps, while it was cold outside, the glare of the sun in the snow. Not such a happy feeling. Someone rushed out of the vehicle and scraped a ball out of the hardened snow and threw it at us. Boy, did it hurt? Like a rock. Huh! Sab ki hawa nikal gayi. Luckily for us a local Himachali passing by, understood our plight and he offered us boiled potatoes that he was carrying, wrapped in a towel. After initial hesitation one of us had it and it felt really good. Soon all of us put all sabhyata behind us and had those potatoes. It really worked wonders. We sort of got equalised and started enjoying all over again. Later we learnt that smelling camphor also helps in such situations. Nothing has ever tasted better than those potatoes. Thanks to the kind Himachali soul!

12/24/06

The weather which was nice and sunny suddenly changed to cloudy, thunderclaps and a light drizzle. Everyone rushed to the cars. It was a good three hours after our arrival but time was either frozen or just flew past? It felt like heaven on earth, after the initial acclimatisation problems were sorted out. On the way back was glued to the window, taking in the view, the sounds, the smell, the feel of the air, all together. Who knows if and when will ever come back?

On reaching Manali we had hot tomato soup, rested in the afternoon (it was tiring), spent the evening in the small local market.

Next day we were off to the other side of the River Beas on to Naggar. It was a funny name in the sense it was like naming a city CITY! It was about an hour's drive and boy, was the place tranquil? That's the first impression one gets on arrival in Naggar. It's a small town with Roerich's castle, now a museum as the main historical attraction. Naggar is very quiet, thickly forested with pines, overlooking a valley gorged by the Beas. As we came out of the museum, the road was on the edge of the valley. A shepherdess (gujjar lady) was having her siesta on the edge. If turned she would fall in the valley. Her back was towards us while she was facing the valley. Fast asleep. Not a care in the world. True Faith in the Almighty. We made some noise to wake her up, as a knee jerk reaction, but soon gave up when we realised that she knew what she was doing. Our conditioned minds cannot accept such acts of Faith and consider it naive rather than brave?!!!! Again, another colour of the true Himachali!

Jan 8th 2007

From Manali we proceeded to Shimla. On arrival we were greeted by a city which was most happening, after so many days in quiet towns. We soon realised that the city was packed, there was not enough accomodation for all of us in one place and there was scarcity of water which was available in bucketfuls. We moved on to Kufri. In those days Kufri was like a village. There were no great resorts then. We spent a night in Kufri, another in Kasauli which was very pretty indeed. We briefly touched Bilaspur but it paled in comparison to all that we had already seen. Back to Delhi and then Bombay. I made a promise to myself that soon I shall visit this land of Gods again. It took another sixteen years before I could set my foot again on Himachali soil is another matter. the experiences I had then, changed me radically. Bliss!!!!

1:38 am(20 hours ago)

Flash Forward...

circa May 1993.

The last vacation I had was in 1987 when had visited the US of A. To someone who vacations at least once a year, that was a long and tiring pause. Those were hectic days work wise and was feeling jaded. Managed to find two weeks of time in between and grabbed a package deal to Manali, Mandi, Kangra, Palampur, Dharamshala, Dalhousie, Khajjiar and Chamba, all thrown into a neat bundle in a newspaper ad. Fell for it straight away. Before I could count ten, was in Manali Resort. Manali had grown leaps and bounds. Manali resort was a fairly new property built on the banks of the Beas. The roar of the river audible in the room. Was so enamoured and charmed by the river, started spending a few hours daily, just being by the river, listening to it, seeing it, feeling it. (Flashback, had developed this ability/habit of talking to trees, communicating with them).

On the third evening while sitting on a rock by the river with the advantage of placing my feet in the water or placing them on the rock when it started feeling too cold, was taking all the natural beauty in, the trees, the sun, the mountains, the sky, the snowcapped peaks... was feeling drenched with love showered from all and sundry mentioned above. A thought crossed my mind that I should try and communicate with the river just as I did with trees. The next fifteen or twenty minutes were spent in trying. No headway at all. It did not work with the river. I decided to stop after that. Suddenly, it started. As I was listening to the roar of the river, as I closed my eyes, the river started communicating. I opened my eyes, pinched myself, well I was awake, in fact awakened! There were sparks happening inside my head where the ears are, I could see the mouth of the river from where it started as a tiny trickle and slowly grew into tributaries, right upto the point where it was sheer force, where I was sitting. All this with my eyes closed. As I opened my eyes, I saw the currents, the fizz.....

1:48 am(20 hours ago)

An overwhelming feeling of jumping into the river almost overtook all my education, logic, sensibility. Somehow managed to overcome the urge, but the purest feelings of love continued to fill my whole being without a break, in waves, one after another. This went on for quite some time, until I decided to quit. The analysis had started as to what had just happened, the brain was left totally flummoxed, with absolutely no clue as to what was happening and unable to control the rest of my being from partaking in this BLISS.

True bliss. Slowly, gently, I retreated and sought permission to leave from the river. Later, I concluded that this experience was "spiritual identification with nature" and left it at that. It surely was an eye opener. A blissful one.

That one experience has changed the way I look at nature. While the vibes one gets from River Beas at Manali are like those of a blushing gushing teenager, a bit shy, full of energy and innocence, the vibes one gets from River Ganga at Rishikesh are like those of an eternal, all pervading mother.