Silhouettes
of my Soul: A Travelogue.
Ever since my last trip to Kasol-Manikaran-Kheerganga in December 2017,
I had promised myself that I would return to the Himalayas once again very
soon, as it had numbered days, and my soul wasn’t well satisfied yet.
However, it wasn’t to be, amid all the hue and cry of my law school
which wouldn’t give you a chance to even take rest, let alone an escapade.
Throughout the year ‘19, all I could get were weekend getaways, and among them,
the long-sought journey to Himalayas was due.
Life has its own ups and downs. And my life has had plenty of them
already. So I was dealing with it all until one day, two of my friends rang me
up for a con-call. One of them started ranting about how his boss at his firm shook
him for a little mistake in some documentation and how he wanted to quit it all
and run away somewhere far beyond the limits of his corporate life, while the
other was speaking about the discrepancies of the SSC’s results when both of
them suddenly synced on one possible solution to almost all the miseries of
life: a trip into the seclusion.
Now, while commercialization has been taking over the most of the
mountains, warping the beauty of nature around it, we had given to ourselves a
task to think of a place that hasn’t met much socialization and human contact, because
doubtlessly, excessive human contact has only filled our mountains and oceans
with plastic bottles, straws, and other trashes.
We kept searching for a couple of days until I came across a small and
serene place called Tirthan valley, hidden inside Himachal in Kullu district,
and surrounded with Great Himalayan National Park (GHNP).
I immediately opened it up to them and to my surprise, they unanimously
agreed to what sounded like a plan- Traveling to Tirthan valley.
Generally, we don’t agree on things such easily. But things were
different this time and life had lately been too hard on us. So, an escapade
was all that’s needed, come what may.
The other day, they surprised me with a ticket from Lucknow to Delhi
and put a stamp on this plan, so I can’t chicken out, like I always do.
We decided to leave on December 28th, 2018, which was
exactly an year after my last trip to Kheerganga. IT WAS HAPPENING.
A guide to
follow:
On Dec 28th, which was the last day of my semester exam, we
left, with no itineraries. Following is a route map of how to reach Tirthan if
you too are planning for “A trip into the nature’s lap”.
One of the most suitable ways, If you’re travelling from a central
location like Delhi, is by road. The HPTDC has regular bus
services from neighbouring states like Delhi, Punjab and Haryana. To travel to
Tirthan Valley, you can take a bus till Aut which is just 26 km from
your destination. Cabs are easily available from there on till the town. Other
options are Jalori Pass (27km) and Shoja (22km).
So, we took a bus from Kashmere Gate to Aut. It was an
overnight journey and the buswallah dropped us outside the Pandoh Tunnel, an
hour before Kullu on the Manali highway from Chandigarh. From Aut, it is 26kms
of a pleasant drive along the river via Larji bypassing Banjar on the way to
Gushaini.
It took us around a couple of hours from Aut to reach
Gushaini, where Bintu bro, whom I had contacted just before reaching Aut, had
been waiting for us. Here, Bintu is the son of Mr. Dulhe Singh who owns a
beautiful homestay in Tindar village, which is at a hike of around 3 kms from
Gushaini. I had heard of this homestay from a friend of mine who had stayed
here previously and was quite praiseful of it. We reached there and were
awestruck with the kind of place it was. He made us sit on the terrace of his
house and set off to prepare for our tea and breakfast. I was consistently
thanking my friend for suggesting this hideout which was not very crowded and
thus exactly how we wanted it to be. From that terrace, we could see a
panoramic view of the Himalayan mountain ranges; so beautiful and serene that I
could literally sit there for hours smoking tons of native Hashish.
Anyway, that day passed pretty well, apart from my friends
making fun of my smoking habits. Later,
I made Dev smoke some of it (of course because he asked to try), and that was
the end of this fun making scene, since he got to realize “what this thing
actually is”. He was happy and relieved; exactly what he thought he needed
after his Sisyphean urban life.
We wandered in the woods throughout the day,
talked to local people, listened to their stories and how they view himalayas
as a native, about their lifestyle and several other things. It was a
delightful day, and as they say “Not all those who wander are lost”, we
returned back to our homestay while it was starting to get dark outside. A very
important suggestion given to us by one of the locals was that we should reach
back home before 6:00 PM as days are smaller in mountains than they are in
plains. And if you roam around for too long, you might as well get lost in the
woods.
The other day, we drove to Jalori pass via Shoja and trekked
our way to the Serolser Lake which is yet another divine creation hidden inside
the mighty Himalayas.
Next couple of days was meant for exploring the Great
Himalayan National Park, for which you have to take a pass that can cost you
around Rs. 200/-
After receiving the pass, which was pre-organized by Bintu
bro, we set off to GHNP but couldn’t go too far because it can get a little too
much for first-timers. I had to hold up because my friends weren’t too
comfortable about proceeding with the trek.
We put a camp at a decent spot meant for camping and spent
our night there. Bintu was there with us, so he helped us in preparing the
dinner and also got us some of the native himachali wine that was one hell of a
task to finish. We sat there watching stars while listening to Coldplay for the
entire night.
Then we set ourselves back to our homestay as the sun rose
and reached back by 01:00PM.
This was our last day in Tirthan Valley as we started off on
our return journey. There isn’t one person who doesn’t have issues in life. We
have got two ways: either keep ranting about it or just accept them as the
nuances of life while to keep dealing with them in a healthy way. And in my
opinion, the healthiest way to escape your problems is to go and lose yourself
in the mountains for some days and return to sort things out with more power
and positivity. 
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