Snow Capped

Last week I had been on one of the most memorable trips of my life. It was the first time that I was visiting North India and we were heading to the one of the best places there - Himachal Pradesh. With bags packed we headed to the airport directly from our offices. It was so much of a relief just thinking about the fact that we would be escaping Hyderabad's heat for the next whole week. We reached the airport on time and headed straight to our favourite idly factory and I happily hogged on all kinds of idlies. Very soon we were on our flight to Delhi.

April 30 2010
As the flight hovered over the Delhi Airport, I could see rain drops from the windows. When we got off we were surprised by the pleasant Delhi weather as it had rained and now there was some cool breeze blowing. All the horrors of 'Delli ki garmi' proved to be wrong. Soon we were heading towards Noida and Titun was having a hard time trying to recollect all places from his childhood. We were then stuck in jam at 11:30 pm and were getting a bit scared at the way our taxi driver was squeezing between vehicles. The he suddenly blurted out 'In kuttho ke wahje se hain jam'. I was wondering as to how dogs could cause just a big jam and asked him innocently 'kuttho ke wajha se?'. That's when he pointed out to a group of traffic cops and said yeh dekho kuttha. The rest of the journey we decided not to have any conversation with the driver. Once home, Julie didi fed us to some yummy Pepper Chicken and Meetha Pulua and some seekh kababs. Immediately hit the bed.

May 1 2010
After a heavy breakfast of Alu Paratha we headed towards dwarka to look at our house. The whole journey took up most of the day and after a few games with Ishan we had to head to the bus stop. Soon we were on our journey to Shimla. We had a couple of weird Chines people on our bus, who did weird things like exercising at 12:00 in the night.

May 2 2010
We woke up when the bus conductor shouted out that we had reached and that we had to get out. As soon as we got off the bus we were mobbed by a group of taxi drivers and waiting to dupe us. Most of them were interested in duping the Chinese and kept crowding around them. One of them agreed to take us to our hotel Sukh Sagar and demanded 100 Rs. We had to readily agree as we had no clue and by the time we sat in the taxi it was already time to get off. Our check in time was only 12.00 pm and here we were at the Hotel already by 5:30 am. After requesting and pleading I settled down for a nap on the couch at the reception. At around 8:30 we finally got our room and we quickly freshened up and started out on our day.

We hired a taxi for the day for around 1400 Rs and headed to Nanderal and Tattapani. Our first stop was Tattapani where we had heard we could try some rafting. As we headed towards the rafting point we could see lot of ads for rafting and couple of rafts here and there. Once at the point, which supposedly had Hot springs, which looked more like 5*3 tank of water and was called the Spring View. The Sutlej flowed by this hotel and looked very muddy and too peacefully for a good rafting experience. After waiting for an hour or so, we were asked to board a jeep which had our raft tied over it and headed to a place called Sunni. We were to raft for around 6 km for 650Rs each. At Sunni we walked down to the river bank and our guide gave a quick tutorial as to how we are supposed to row and the instructions to be followed. Soon we wore our life jackets and hopped onto the raft. We would row in sync when he asked us to and relax when he asked us to. We would row hard when we see a rapid ahead and try to go head on against the waves. At some points the rapids ere quite exhilarating. Once we reached the peaceful part of the river, our guide told us that we could jump into the water then. Titun immediately jumped in and froze to death. I quickly followed suit and felt the numbness caused by the ice cold water. After a few more minutes in the water we had to hop back on the raft we were again heading some rapids. The whole experience was great and we were back at Tattapani in no time.
We had a quick maggi lunch and headed to Nanderal.

Nanderal has many stories behind it and one that we were told was that it was named after a British officers daughter called Alexandria Nandheral. I think it has the only Gold Course of HimaChal Pradesh. We took a horse ride up the hill dotted with pine trees. The best part of the price of the ride is fixed and there are boards everywhere giving you the details. You can also easily walk up these hills. After roaming around a while we took the horse ride back and then headed back to the hotel.

After a short recess at the hotel, we headed to the Shimla Mall Road. Though it has no Mall as such it lined with clothes shops, eateries, bakeries and ATMS. A walk on this road gives you a feel of an movie set. You have a tiny police station, a fire station with just a jeep and beautiful old church. We had some yummy pastries and eclairs and stopped by Dim Sums a Chinese restaurant for our dinner. Though the ambience was nothing great the food was quite good. We returned a hit the bed as we had a long day ahead.

May 3 2010
We woke up early around 6:00 and hurriedly got ready and checkout of our hotel. We had booked a taxi for the next 6 days at the rate of 14500 per day and he was already waiting for us. We hit the roads and kept looking out of the window as very view was too beautiful to be ignored. We made our first stop at Wild Flower Hall, Shimla and munched on some Alu Parathas at a road side Dhabha. Then we started our on our long journey to Sangla. We passed through Kufri - Fagu - Theog - Narkhanda - Rampur -
The journey till Rampur was very smooth with hills and valleys filled with pine and deodar tress. There were patches of Apple orchards on the way but no Apples in sight. This whole stretch was quite cool and pleasant too. Once we reached Rampur, we could see the Sutlej, flowing on the foothills of mighty mountains. Now though this sounds good, did not look good as most of these mountains are barren or are used as dumping grounds and the river looks very very muddy and weather was quite sunny too. Rampur as such was a busy place compared to all the places seen in Himachal until then. As we passed Rampur, Sutlej steadily flew along with constructions of barricades on either side of the river though i don't quite understand their purpose. After driving for some time we reached Jeori where you can take a deviation to Sarahan. All the way from Jeaori Sutlej is dotted with Hydro Electric projects. We continued to drive along the river all the way until Wangtoo. This is the places where you had a dam across Sutlej and this place is busy with construction going on the either sides of the road, with huge lorries crawling along and huge bull dozers noisily grabbing mud and stones. This part of the road was the worst part with the roads being in a bad shape thanks to the lorris and this continues until Karcham and Tapri and until you see a Sign board saying Thank You by the JayPee Group. This stretch all the way from Rampur till Tapri was the most taxing as you have no shop, no water nothing all along.

But as the saying goes, it only when you have bad things that you can appreciate the good things, as we passed tapri and took the deviation to Sangla we had our first sight of a Snow Capped mountain. We were excited, thrilled and our driver very aptly played the song 'Yeh Haseein Vadiya' from roja, that definitely added to the thrill we felt as we again passed through pine filled mountains with the snow capped mountains at their back drop. The Sangla valley looked awesome with the road on the edge of cliffs and here the river flowed with a greenish tinge and it looks so fresh, so untouched, so free.

We headed to our Igloo camp and were welcomed by Neelam a very sweet ever smiling guy.
Our tent was called the Snow View and I guess it was aptly names because we see a few snow capped mountains right in front of us and we could see the Sangla Kanda to our right and the Back of Kinner Kailash to our left. We could hear the river flowing by but could not see it from the tent as such.
After a small snack we decided to spend some time by the river as it was already 5:30 and nothing else would have been possible. We ordered a lavish meal of Chicken, Dal, Sabzi and roti and started walking to the river. A nepali guy accompanied us telling us about places in and around Sangla. We had to walk all the way till the sangla market where we reached a bridge over the baspa river and were totally disappointed that the river was not all that clean in that area and the surrounding were not all the good to enjoy the beauty of the river. After asking the locals we were a dissapointed that we had to spend our time at this dirty stretch, we decided to make the most of what we have and sat by the river bank and cooled our heels. The walk back to the camp was again a long one and Neelam was out there searching for us as it was already dark. We hogged on the tasty dinner prepared and had not clue as to how to spend time in the tent with no TV and deafening silence around it. We both took to read a book and soon fell asleep covering ourselves completely with the blanket.


May 4 2010

I woke around 7:15 and could see bright sunlight outside. I went out and the sight was worth a million troubles. There was lot more snow on all those peaks and this snow sparkled and glistened in the sunlight. I came running inside and called Titun out and we both were too excited and happy with the view. After spending more than an hour enjoying the view, we had to get ready to leave to Chitkul. We were hoping that we could find some snow there so that we could play in it. Chitkul is the last inhabited village on the Indian side. The drive to Chitkul was again breathtaking with more and more snow capped peaks now in sight. The road was very narrow besides deep gorges. At times we had to share the roads with big Army trucks and that was scary. Chitkul is sparsely populated and with small temple and a school by the river. It is surrounded by these snow capped peaks which look so accessible that we were tempted to make it over one of them. So we started trekking, walking towards the snow capped peaks. We had the river Baspa flowing crispy clean and ferociously besides us. We walked and walked until we reached the No Entry sign out up by the ITBP. We joined a group of gujarathis who were already requesting the border police to let them in and we tailed along. At the Border Police Camp we met an officer Rajveer Shekwat. He had a funny looking nose and was more than willing to talk to us. He got his sub ordinates to serve us water and tea and started telling things about his camp. He was around 47 years old and looked much more fit than all of us who were puffing and huffing after the long walk. He told us that had lost a part of his nose to frost bite when he was posted in Leh. He told us that there was a camp further ahead that would require a 2 day trek and how the army was well supplied with daily essentials.The best part when he showed us a packet called the Kempo Packet, that had meal for a Jawan. It contained ready to use Rotis, Veg Pulau, Alu Matar Sabjee, Sooji ka Halwa, Tea Bags, sugar and even paper napkins. I realized that are army men are taken very good care of when he told me that they had supplies that would last them more than 6 months. As the snow peaks lay ahead of this camp we were not allowed to go to them. After wishing them by we decided t o try our luck by crossing the river and scale some mountains on the other side of the river. But the river was so fierce that we dare not cross it and headed back to chitkul and back to Igloo.

That evening we decided to take another route to the river. This also was a long complicated one but it was worth it when we reached an isolated part of the river back surrounded by the pine filled tress to one side, rounded rocks on the other and the snow capped peaks further away. I think this was one of the best moments in the whole trip as we spent around a hour, listening to the gurgling of the river.

May 5 2010

The mountains surrounding our tent were so tempting that i so much wanted to climb one of the snow capped peaks and play in the snow. After insisting a lot, Titun finally agreed and after talking to Neelam last night we decided to climb Sangla Khanda, which had a lake on top of it and walking further would take you to the snow capped peak. So we asked Neelam to arrange for a guide and I was thoroughly excited about the trek and the snow and lake did not fantasize me much. Though Titun insisted that we only go up to the lake I dreamt of being on top of the peak. I woke up by 5 this morning and hurriedly got ready and waited for Titun to get ready. He took one whole hour and this one hour I was so restless, that i had literally calm my self down. Finally Titun was ready by 6:40 or so and we rushed out, picked up our breakfast and started walking with our guide.
The first part of the trek was ok where we had to cross the bridge. The started the climb. Our guide told us that this stretch was the only steep part and everything was easy. I am not sure if he said that to keep up our spirits or things were easy for him. Though quite steep , we managed to climb up way behind the locals who smiled at us when we sat down huffing and puffing. After the initial steep, the climb was more enjoyable though taxing at times. We climbed and climbed and climbed. Everytime we asked our guide how much longer he gave a very optimistic answer and climbing for so long we would realize that he was fooling us. The empty stomach and our low fitness levels was already taking its toll on us, we were now stopping more frequently when our guide seemed perfectly fine. I quickly picked up a stick to help me out but not much use. We dragged ourselves along, until we could see the top of the hill that had the lake. Our guide told us that the lake was just after the bend and though we walked and walked the bend never came and by now both of us were extremely exhausted. Then guide got this brilliant idea of taking us by a short cut which meant we climb the hill at almost 80 degree angle. This squeezed the last bit of energy left in us and titun kept threatening to give up. He sat down on this steep hill saying we would not move further and was totalled pissed off with me for making him strain himself so hard. I tried to convince him we inched along and along and then finally we could see the lake. We just collapsed by the side of it and took some deep breaths. I quickly munched on the much needed breakfast and looked up at the snow clad peak still tempting me. But looking at my condition I had to console my self by saying that the grapes are sour and gave up on them. We played the lake for a while, walked around, chatting for some time and decided to head back.

The climb down was initially very relaxing. The view was amazing and for once we could actually enjoy the view. As we went down and down and down, our legs again started aching but we had to move along. By the time we reached the foothills, are legs were shaky with no energy left at all. Finally we reached the bridge across the river and now had to climb back on to the road. This was the worst part of the trek for me. I was so exhausted that I could just not walk. Never felt so tired. Though it was raining by now, I preferred getting drenched in the rain than move along. After struggling we managed to reach the road and called our taxi to take us to our tent. Once back we had a much needed shower, has a heavy lunch of rajma chawal and started out to Kalpa.

The drive to Kalpa let us relax and give complete rest to our feet and we both dozed off and missed the bad part of the road at Tapri and Karcham. When I woke up, again we could see the beautiful mountains and I munched on the cherrys we had with us. It was raining quite hard when we reached Kalpa. We checked into Kinner Kailash, the best hotel in Kalpa. There was no way that we could venture out. kalpa was much colder that Sangla and I enjoyed the Heater for some time. We just lazed around as there was nothing much to do.

May 6 2010

We woke up to clear sky and we could see Kinner Kailash just outside our window and it looked awesome. The cottony clouds just drifted by it and there was lots of snow on the mountain becuase of the rain last night. We quickly got ready and headed to the Rogi Village. The drive to the village was beautiful, again with steep cliffs, pine filled slopes and snow capped mountains further away. Once at the village we realized that there was nothing special there as such, so we just walked around clicking pics trying to get the best shot. From there we walked further to the suicide point and Titun was crawling around there, clicked a few pics and headed to the Kalpa Market.

In Kalpa market, we saw a small monastery, looked more like a Buddist temple. From there we went searching for the Kinnauri caps and could find none, so headed to Rekong Peo as there was nothing else to do the rest for the day. Rekong peo has a much bigger market compared to Kalpa with lots of shows for shawls, footwear, small eat out places and groceries. We roamed around the local market, picked up a shawl and 2 kinnauri caps, had some junk chinese food.

We headed back to Kalpa and spent the evening in the hotel. We went out for a walk and saw the hotel run by Deb Bhumi travels and tours. They had a hotel at Sangla too. So we decided to check them out. Ordered Lemon Juice, which tasted terrible as they made it with hot water. Headed back to the hotel and munched on some snacks.

May 7 2010
We had to leave to Sarahan as early as possible as we had juts a day at Sarahan. We left our hotel by 8 am, bid farewell to the might Kinner Kailash and started towards Sarahan. The journey towards Sarahan was quite long. We had to pass the dreaded stretch from Wangtoo to Jeori and then take take the deviation from there to Sarahan. Once we took the turn towards Sarahan, there were many apple orchards enroute, but all the apples were really tiny. We could see bunches and bunches of roses and they were so abundant as the bougainvilla in our cities. Sarahan again was very scenic, located at the top of a mountain, surrounded by a lot of trees, lots of flowers and your see something like a plataeu of snow capped mountains at a distance. One among them is the Srikand Peak which is again a holy place. We checked into Hotel Srikand again owned by the HPTDC. This hotel had its floors below the ground. So ours was 301, so we had to go 3 floors under. As the hotel is situation on the edge of the mountain, you still get a good view from the window. But Kinner Kailash was much better than this, when it came to the feel, cleanliness and service. The hotel had it large share of roses all around it. All the plants are filled with atleast more than 20 roses each.
We reached Sarahan around 12 noon, and because the menu of this hotel and the Kinnaer Kailash were the same we decided to have lunch else where. After roaming around the market place a while, we decided to settle for a lunch at Sarika which is again owned by the Deb Bhumi tours and Travels (remember?) The place was shabby and the cook looked even shabbier. Because Titun wanted to have 'simple food' we still opted for this place. Had our simple dal chawal and omlette and had to return to our hotel as it was raining.

After relax for an hour or so, it was already close to 4 pm and the rains had stopped and weather looked just perfect. We headed out and first went to the Bhima Kali Mandir the main attraction at this place. Wew had to wear caps, remove footwear, remove all leather accessories, no mobiles and cameras. Luckily they had a locker facility so it was not much of a problem. We quickly went in and were soon out as most parts opf the temple was in accessible with No entry boards all over. Apart from the temple, there is a bird sanctuary with some specail species fo pheasants. But unfortunately it was closed due to the breeding season. So we decided to walk around aimlessly. We passed some fields, a large stadium, playing all the latest hit songs and it looked like a circket match was about to start. We pitch covers were being drawn off and some players walking in. We continues to walk further and could hear the chirping of lots of birds and also could spot some species that we dont normally see in the cities. We walked further along with the road winding through pine forests until we saw some kind of a park which was a view point, as the edge of a mountain giving you a clear view of the plateau of the snow capped peaks. After spending soem time there we headed back as Titun had to watch the T20 match, India vs Australia. The rest of the time was spent in cursing the Indian players.


May 8 2010
Our was almost over :( Waking up to such a feeling was bad. we lazed around a bit and checked out by 10. We were hoping to reach Shimla by 5 or so. As the car made its ways through the winding roads, we had to bid farewell to the snow capped mountains for good. We would not see any of them anymore, atleady not before a year or so. We reached Narkanda around noon and wanted to have lunch in a dhaba callled the New Himalayan dhaba. This place was located in the main market area. The plaxce as such did not look great but the food was yummy. We had Rajma, Paneer Burjee and some Kadi. The service really quick. The rest of the journey we both were dozing off in the car.
Soon we reached Kufri and decided to cover this place too. Kufri si again a hill top, which you go on a horse. Kufri is mainly meant for skiing during the winter months. During the summer there is absolkutely nothing there for a tourist. The is small park with some rides in it which did not interest us much. The place was very crowded and over the experience was not worth the effort. We headed back quite quickly and headed to Shimla. Once in shimla we had to spend the next 3 hours here until we could board the bus. We first visited Combermere, mainly to use their toilets as we were not quite sure we would find clean ones elsewhere. Had a cup of coffee each and left. We romaed around the mall and Titn again had an Eclairs. With nothing else to do, we had a light dinner at China Town on a street just off the mall road. From there we boarded our bus and was on our way back to Delhi, gearing up to face the heat.