While starting from Kalpa we viewed the Kinnaur Kailash mountain. The Kinnaur Kailash is at a height of 6050 meters and is considered sacred to both Hindus and Buddhists. The legend has it that this shrine existed since the time of Bhasmasur, a demon who received boon from Lord Shiva after a great penance.
From then on wards began the chapter of our joyride full of thrill, splendor and adventure....
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| On the Way to Chitkul |
Our next destination was Chitkul. While driving to this paradise, we encountered stormy weather. It was a grand experience driving through clouds and mist. On the way, we came across plenty of river crossings. We stopped at one such crossing to capture these sweet memories....
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| Kids having fun near water crossing |
After the storm we could see plenty of pine cones falling on the ground. It was a great pleasure to collect them. All of various shapes and sizes...And believe me they were the only souvenirs we brought back along with us as the places we traveled were all off-beat destinations. The memories of joy we savored are greater than any artifacts and dance in our dreams everyday.
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| Pinecones!! |
We were surrounded by green and white throughout the time. We also saw some mountains getting whitewashed at a distance....
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| Fluffy beauty |
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| Snow and fog |
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| Overcast |
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| On the way to Chitkul |
We reached our hotel early in the evening. Chitkul is the last village near the Indo-Tibet border and so was our hotel. And also you don't get this view from your window everyday....We also clicked pics with the board of 'Hindustan ka akhari dhaba'. The landscapes reminded me of the drawings most of us drew as children. Our ideal nature places: Snow mountains surrounded by green ones and blue rivers flowing between them ...
We were mesmerized by the beauty and secretly happy that there are some wonderlands yet to be made tourist destinations.....
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| @ paradise |
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| Last Restaurant |
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| Mountains and valleies |
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| Live Young, Live Free!! |
On the way we came across many local people. It was very nice to see them so happy even in such harsh conditions...
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| Himachali Family |
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| Icing on the cake! |
The natural fauna was incredible. Pine, Pine and more Pine. We came across many butterfly species as well. We could not identify most of them but we did get some good clicks. Please let me know if you can identify any of them!!
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| Butterfly Id? |
The next day we decided to hike in the mountains to see if we can reach the nearest glacier. It was the most awesome hike I ever had. We had a short trek from our resort, crossing the Baspa river, into the woods. Guru kaka had a kettle and other tea making apparatus. We made hot cappuccino. All the children had a jolly time helping Guru kaka in their own way. The coffee we made was the best one I ever tasted as preparing it was the best time.
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| Making coffee in the jungle!! |
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| Cheers! |
We made our way through narrow walk trails along the Baspa...
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| Trek |
At night Chitkul was freezing at 2 degee Celcius.....
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| New Friends! |
We were unhappy to leave Chitkul back as it had been the most awesome place we had ever been to. But who knew that something much much beautiful was waiting for us ahead !!
The next delight was Shoja. It was a long journey as we were going to travel via Kalpa and Rampur. Like the previous two days we experienced rains. Very heavy indeed! Thanks to the rains as it slowed down our journey towards Shoja. We were saved from hail storm at Jalori pass as we reached a bit late there. We could hardly see anything outside the window. Shoja was as cold as Chitkul...
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| Fire-fronted serin |
For reaching Shoja, we had to travel the Jalori pass. It was the most deadly at the same time most scenic, beautiful, adventurous, muddy, lovely and the coolest dirt track of the trip. It was an adventure in itself... On this road (Pebble track) we had climbed slops of approx 40 degree..
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| Whiskered Yuhina |
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| Yellow Billed Blue Magpie |
The next morning we had a long trek to the Serolsar lake. It was a five kilometers one way walk. It was tiresome but an exciting one.
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| Trek in shoja |
We had a wildlife sighting here as well. It was really disappointing because I DID NOT SEE IT. And more disappointing because my DAD SAW IT. And much much more disappointing because EVERYONE ELSE SAW IT.
The yellow throated marten is an Asian species of Marten widely found and listed as LEAST CONCERNED by IUCN. They are fearless, agile and fast moving and primarily diurnal.
However, they are sometimes said to be largely or entirely nocturnal as
they hunt at night and increase their nocturnal activity during
lunar nights. They hunt mostly on
the ground but are perfectly capable of climbing trees.
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| Yellow Throated Marten |
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| Yellow Throated Marten, Closeup |
We saw this awesome architecture while trekking. A house built inside a boulder....WOW...
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| Amazing, isn't it! |
Then after about an hour of walking, we reached the lake. The lake was cool and peaceful...
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| Serolsar lake |
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| Temple on the top |
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| Serolsar lake |
We ALL saw this beautiful but rare orchid which is called as 'The cobra lily' as it very well looks like a cobra....
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| Wallich's Cobra Lily.. Contributed to Wikipedia |
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| Himalayan Griffon! |
We reached back to our Shoja hotel in the evening to find some awesome insects glowing in the dark. We were exhilarated to see them adjust their lights. When we went near them their lights brightened up and dimmed as we went away. But it was more fascinating when we found out that it was a firefly female!!!
It was followed by a cool game of cards, 'judgement' before we hit the pillows...
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| Firefly Female |
We made some new friends from Thane and Ratlam at Shoja who recommended us to visit
Tirthan Valley near Shoja. Tirthan valley is also known as the valley of gods. This valley is also a gateway to the Great Himalayan National Park from the north-eastern side and is famous for the fresh blue waters of the Tirthan river.
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| Tirthan Valley |
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| Tirthan Valley |
Tirthan valley was fabulous. We were staying in a hotel just next to the river...It was warm and so when we reached every one went into the water to play... We had plenty of bird and insects watching there...
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| Trishna |
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| Himalayan Blue Peacock Butterfly! |
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| Dragonflies |
We had the most wonderful time playing cricket at our hotel!! everyone participated and I could do a batting for one complete innings (to frustrate other team members though ;)
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| High Altitude Cricket |
In the evening we went for some fishing. It was a great pleasure to fish in sparkling blue waters.
At times we could see some blue magpies flying overhead in the orange sunset hue. Rainbow Trout is a freshwater fish commonly found in the rivers flowing in Himachal Pradesh. Pralhad did catch one trout but it rescued itself. At the end we did not catch any fish but it was a great experience.
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| Fishing |
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| And he got it!! |
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| Rainbow Trout fish |
At night we had a fun with some singalongs at the campfire. From there we could see a million stars lighting up the night for us. It was an awesome evening under the starry sky...
The next day we all woke up early for playing cricket!! We had such a fun time that we totally forgot that we had to leave Tirthan valley....We had planned to visit Parashar lake via Mandi and return by evening...The roads were pathetic and we were too late. To reach the Parashar lake we had to travel a ghat in which there were mountains on our left and down was certain death. As the ghat ended we were covered with thick forests, so thick that sunlight hardly reached the ground. As we got near to the top everything was green lawn. We witnessed three types of forest covers just while climbing a mountain. The place was exotic.
When we were half way we started getting second thoughts but eventually waved them off......
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| Dandelion |
We were completely awe-struck when we reached the lake...Situated on the top of the mountain this was the most beautiful sight. The lawn was lush green. I had received a forward a week before for comparing Indian places with other places in the world and this was just the one compared to Scotland.
Though the astounding beauty had mesmerized us we were worried about the stay. It was already dark and there were only two hotels which were all booked. So,we decided to directly go to the temple and contact the locals and we got to know that some rooms were available at the temple itself. And we decided to stay...
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| I edited this!! |
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| The most pretty click of the trip |
Radhika was the youngest of us all and my best buddy throughout the trip. I spent the most lovely time with you, Radhu!!!
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| Parashar Lake |
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| Parashar view |
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| Parashar Temple |
They were dharmashala rooms made for pilgrims and they were totally cool. We all slept in one room. You would not believe me but this was the most fantastic stay in our whole trip. It was the most peaceful sleep I ever had......
They provided us some bedding and we all slept in one room...
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| Stay at Parashar |
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| Layers of Mountains! |
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| ID? |
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| Sunset at Parashar |
The next morning we had breakfast and said our last good-byes to Parashar and left for Bir near Dharamshala.....
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| Good Morning and Maggie |
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| Grey Winged Black bird |
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| I want to stay here.. |
We reached Bir in the evening. This was our last destination in Himachal. Bir is a noted center for ecotourism, spiritual studies and meditation. It is also home to a
Tibetian refugee settlement with several Buddhist monasteries and a large stupa. We did not visit any monasteries but saw many of them from our hotel window. We had experienced horrific rains that day and were disappointed because we had planned paragliding the following day.
Bir is regarded as the second-best paragliding destination in the world after Chiannocco in Italy. Even the 2015 paragliding world cup took place here in October.
But the next day we were extremely delighted when we woke up to find the sun shining bright in the sky. The sky was clear and blue as ever. We rushed and got ready for the last amazing adventure of our trip....
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| Bir Monastery! |
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| View from Hotel at Bir |
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| Airborne! |
The paragliding launch site is in the meadow at Billing (14 km north of Bir), at an elevation of 2400 meters,
while the landing site and most tourist accommodations are in the
village of Chowgan (also spelled Chaugan), on the southern edge of Bir.
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| Bir Billing |
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| Now My Turn! |
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| Ready to Fly |
The paragliding experience cannot be expressed in words. We had a chance to fly over the Himalayas. 1000m drop from billing was a supreme adventurous experience. I remember the awesome view of snow mountains and green pine mountains below us. This experience completed our trip. We treasured our eyes with these landscapes.
It was our last day in Himachal and we savored every bit of it. We then started our return journey- Amritsar-Chittorgarh-Pune. In Amritsar we had a grand feast at the famous Kesar Da Dhaba. In this trip we also tasted the taste of Punjab :)
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| Kesar Da Dhaba |
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| Kesar Da Dhaba Kitchen.. |
Then Chittorgarh was just a transit halt and we reached home....
Himachal had been mesmerizing and one of a kind. It opened my eyes towards a new beauty, wildlife and ADVENTURE. Decorated with blue rivers, white mountains, green forests, beautiful lakes, colorful birds, mighty beasts... Himachal is magical. I have tried my best to express this beautiful country in words but believe me it can't be expressed in mere words. You have to experience it!! No language can describe this purity. I was out of adjectives while trying to express this flawless land. As many people say that "The Himalayas calls you back" I certainly believe it does. Our country has so many undiscovered and unseen heritages. Discover them. You will find enlightenment!!
With many thanks to HVK Sir, Gautam Basak sir and the whole HVK team let me conclude my blog here. It was meticulously planned trip and HVK team was virtually traveling with us all across! It was the best driving trip I have ever had. Thanks to Baba, Girish kaka and Guru kaka for their tireless and careful driving throughout!!
Thanks all for reading my blog!!
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| Approx 5K KM.. |
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