It is better to see something once than to hear about it a thousand times
This was meant to be a “prologue” trip, a trip to test if I can enjoy the trip when I am on my own, how feasible it is to sleep inside my Car and enjoy some camp cooking using my DIY cooking shelf.
Initial Plan and the drive up to Himachal
My initial plan was to cover Parvati Valley and Thirthan Valley in this trip, but a last minute development required me to be in Jammu (my home town) for couple of days. I decided to drop Thirthan and just cover Parvati Valley as much as I can.
Day 1: With my mobile home ready, I left my immobile home (Mumbai) on a Friday night hoping to reach Vadodara by night. I stopped just before Surat and made myself Pizza for dinner. Reached Vadodara just before mid-night and parked next to a school hoping for a good night sleep. However, the mosquitoes of Vadodara were not happy with an outsider (blame it on immigrant sentiment!). The night went in a struggle.
Day 2: After losing the battle to Mosquitoes, I decided to leave Vadodara at 4:30 am with my bruised ego and quite a few bites. I made myself some egg breakfast little before Udaipur and kept pressing. The rest of the day was quite uneventful and was hoping to catch up on some sleep after a long drive of some 1000 kms. Little before Gurugram, I decided to park the Car on a Toll Plaza and had just dozed off when I heard someone banging and trying to wake me up. The all black look of the car (black colored car with black curtain on all the windows) was enough to make them suspicious. After I was pushed out of the Toll Plaza and travelling a few KMs, I pulled over by the side of a Dhaba for some tea. To my pleasant surprise (and without asking), the watchman there said that I can sleep in the car in the parking area. I dropped the plan to have tea and immediately went to sleep.
Day 3: This was the day I was hoping to reach Himachal. I made a start at 6:30 am and got hit by a blanket of thick fog on the outskirts of Haryana. Treading cautiously, I reached the outskirts of Himachal by 3 pm when I decided to stop for quick lunch. I made myself the fast food of mountains – Maggi. Reached Mandi by 7 pm and decided to spend the night in a Hotel to catch up on much needed sleep after two sleep deprived nights.
Prashar Lake and Parvati Valley
Day 4: The plan for today was to go to Prashar Lake, 50 odd kms north-east of Mandi. I reached Prashar around noon after making a breakfast stop on the way. The last section is a dense forest road that opens up as you are nearing Prashar Lake. After a small hike of 500 meters, you get to see the Prashar Lake, a small lake with a floating (and moving) island with mountains all around it. There is a small but beautiful temple dedicated to sage Prashar who is believed to have mediated there ages ago.
After spending few hours there, I decided to head on and reach Bhunter by night. This was another 50 odd KMs drive through some really beautiful mountain roads. I was still some 15 km short of Bajaura, the point where the road joins the Mandi-Manali highway, when the sun settled for the day. Navigating unknown, narrow hill roads without sunlight is a difficult task. With peaking concentration levels, I reached Bhunter by 7 PM and again decided to book a hotel. Camping in car was out of question as Bhunter is a small but busy town. After freshening up, I decided to go for a small stroll and check out the dinner options. Finally, settled in at OMNI’Z, a Tibetan eatery. The thupka was delicious and filling!
Day 5: The plan for today was to reach Parvati Valley. I made an early start and headed to a village shrouded in mystery – Malana, which is not just famous for its unusual social customs but also for world class weed that is produced there – malana cream. Malana is an uphill drive of 19 KMs from village Jari which comes almost halfway on the road between Bhunter and Tosh, the last motorable village in Parvati Valley. Reaching Malana village requires a steep hike of 3 KMs which is well worth the effort. The views were captivating.
Reluctantly, I left Malana and proceeded to Ninu bhai’s homestay in Village Katagla, 4 KMs short of touristy town of Kasol. While Katagla was less touristy and thus quiet, but I don’t think it will remain so for long. I saw many new structures coming up and the developmental activity was drowning the sweet sound of gushing waters of river Parvati.
Day 6: I woke up early and decided to go for a small hike to Village Chalal, a couple of KMs walk alongside river Parvati. It was quite a refreshing start to the day. After breakfast, I proceeded to Tosh, beautiful village overlooking snow clad mountains. I was at Barshaini, the starting point of 4 KMs dirt road to Tosh, where I met a gentleman from Mumbai who was also on a solo visit to Parvati Valley. He accompanied me to Tosh and after walking the streets of Tosh together for few hours, we decided to part ways. I decided to explore more and headed to a nearby waterfall, which was on the way to Kutla. By the time I came back to Tosh, clouds had started gathering around Tosh and I heard locals talk about the impending snowfall. This news filled me with excitement as I had never seen snowfall before. With hope of experiencing my first snowfall, I came back to Barshaini and parked the car next to a cafe. The plan was to camp inside the car and spend the evening watching a movie on phone (the ‘movie’ plan didn’t materialize as I realized that I had accidentally deleted all the movies from the phone). I do sometimes amaze myself with my smartness!
The Night of Snowfall and the morning after….
I had realized while I was tucked inside the car in freezing temperature that it was snowing outside. I even tried to peek outside and could see in a lamppost’s light snow flakes falling down. Excitement kept me awake that night and I woke up as early as the sun started peeking out. I was amazed at what I saw. Snowfall had stopped and it was white all around. My Car, just like everything else around, was covered in a thick layer of snow. To celebrate my first snowfall, I decided to make myself halwa. It was the tastiest halwa ever!
Day 7: After breakfast, I decided to go on a hike to Kalga, Tulga and Pulga, three villages on the other side of the motorable road at Barshaini after crossing the bridge over Parvati river. The fresh snow on the rooftops, trees, mountains and everything else around had enhanced the beauty of the place to another level. I felt as if I was roaming the streets of a fairy land! In the afternoon, the dark clouds again started hovering over the sky and I realized that another snowfall is imminent. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the time to see yet another snowfall. Jammu was calling…….
The Return to Home
The return journey from Jammu to Mumbai was one epic and insane drive. During the entire return journey of 2000 Kms, I slept for couple of hours on a Toll Plaza and managed to reach Mumbai within 37 hours, tired but pleased. Did I enjoy the trip? Oh, yes!
sushil.is.out.of.office 