Heavenly Himachal
This time I am sharing one of my travel story.As the the title says, yes its about Himachal Pradesh. Its about the two different Himachals I visited.
The first time was on a September with my college friends and only one spot was covered.As all the new generation mallu people want, we went to Manali. I was a guy who went to only Munnar and Wayanad, it was a spectacular experience for me. All the big mountains, beautiful Parvati river and the evening strolls through the Mall Road.All made that trip wonderful. Had good sleep in the cold night, a good hike to the Jugnee falls and a breathtaking sumo ride to the Rohtang Pass. Also we can’t forget the apples.It was the time of harvesting.I never had apple that fresh before and we can easily tell that the one we get in our state is crap.So that was the first time, the Manali in autumn. All covered in beautiful green and I thought that was the best sight of Himachal.But , I was wrong and I found that after 2 years.
This time there was no group. Me and my cousin only.Last time was an all planned trip. But this time, no plan at all. We got couple of tickets to Chandigarh. From there, we took a bus to Bhuntar. It was the end of January. When we reached Bhuntar at 4AM, the temperature was well below -9. And the windchill also. No bus ,no taxi and also a never experienced coldest climate. After 15 mins , we got a cab. We skipped Manali and decided to go to Kasol. Kasol is an Israeli settlement. A beautiful small town with a lot of souvenir shops, cafes, bakeries and hostels. we took a room without any heating provision and slept with all 3 layers of cloth, boots and jacket.After having breakfast ,we started walking towards Manikaran temple. We walked 4 km, and there it was.In the middle of the cold valley ,a boiling hot spring. We were not prepared to take a bath, we could see people passing out after experiencing the temperature change. We then went to the langar and had a good meal. walked back to Kasol.
Next day we packed our bags and started walking to Manikaran seeking a travel option to Tosh Village.Due to snowfall ,no one was willing to take us there.Then a guy in an omni told us “Give me 100 Rs each, I will take you to Tosh, but if the car starts to slip on ice, I will drop you guys there”. We said yes. After 17 km , we started losing balance on road and as he said he asked us to leave the vehicle and start walking.After 1.5 kms of hike, we took a break.We were chilling on a rock for some time. Got some company there, restarted the journey with them. What was waiting for us on top of that mountain was absolute happiness. After 2 hrs we reached Tosh, snowfall has started.It was one of the most beautiful sights I saw in my entire life.It was an entirely new Himachal. If anyone is going to Himachal, go twice. It can make you speechless more than once. I won’t miss any chance I get to travel to Himachal Pradesh.
