I often entertain romantic notions about embracing the mountains for good — of leaving city life behind and finding my home in the hills. But since I still need to work for a living, I try and partially realise my dream by often getting away on a bus to Himachal Pradesh or Uttarakhand.
And so, in January this year, over a long weekend, I set out with a friend for Kasol in Kullu. There were two things on the agenda — to get away from a stifling weekend of choked roads in Delhi and to see snow. “I will decide if I want to trek. Mostly, I want to chill,” Ishika tells me as we wait for the bus at Majnu ka Tila, Delhi’s Tibetan resettlement area. There go my plans of long misty walks around Kasol. I silently pray to the weather gods for a clear night so we reach safely and for a foot of snow at the other end.
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At 7 am, I wake up to a series of lurches, foggy windows and what appears to be a sky preparing for torrential rains. I wipe the window and see the colossal Beas. My jaw drops at the sight, but I am brought back to earth: my head bangs against the window. Mountain roads! The river starts teasing you a little after Mandi, inviting you to dip in, until the very end. But you are in a lurching bus with Mrs Malhotra behind you, and the possibility of stopping off for a picnic is remote.
We reach Bhuntar around 10 am. There are no direct buses to Kasol from Delhi. One buys a ticket to Bhuntar on a bus which is headed to Manali and then takes a local bus or hires a taxi. Kasol is an hour from Bhuntar and a taxi ride should not cost you more than ₹ 900. Kullu also has an airport, if you wish to travel by air. A taxi ride would take you an hour from the airport and costs ₹ 1200.
There is a constant downpour, but I am distracted by another sublime river. This time, it is the Parvati, the wandering queen on whose banks sits Kasol and its neighbouring hamlets.
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We reach Green House Home Stay in New Kasol, our crash pad for the next two nights. Kasol offers a range of cheap homestays and hostels, ideal for the backpacking community. These range anything from ₹ 300 - ₹ 1,000 per night. Green House Homestay is run by a young man named Amar Nath Bhandari and his family. A seasoned trekker and a local, Amar has seen the place develop from a small cluster of homes into a market of businesses, breezy homestays and cafés. A tiny bridge separates old from new Kasol. The market brims with cafés that serve delectable Israeli cuisine. We hog some well-recommended shakshuka at Evergreen Cafe and later lay our hands on a very English breakfast at Moon Dance Cafe.
Teeth chatter, hands shiver and we layer ourselves. When we are warm and the bustle of the market is behind us, we hear the gentle, meditative sound of river Parvati. After a walk in the woods, we find her meandering over pebbles and rocks, fondling the loose sand, often humming, content in her ‘stream of consciousness’.
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Since we have no hope of snowfall, we decide to visit Tosh the next day, completely banking on Amar’s word that we will definitely get to see it there. We hire a taxi which takes us through Manikaran, a pilgrimage site for Sikhs, and Hindus and reach Barshaini an hour later, the last stop before the hike to Tosh. We start the trek, our fingers paralysed with cold. As we close in on Tosh, our smiles are warm and happy, at the first sight of a white, soft landscape. It had snowed heavily in Tosh the night before.
Walking on sleet with feet soaked, Ishika and I pat each other’s backs after a 1.5-hour long hike. An otherwise motorable road is now being used only by snowboarders. I try to keep myself from turning green, watching their skill as well as the cool factor at play.
As we settle down for dinner with Amar, I casually ask about the neighbouring village called Malana and the high cannabis consumption in the area. Back in the day, locals used cannabis for a variety of things: medicine, food, recreation. “The chillum was often offered to guests as a part of a tradition, until the foreigners made a business out of it,” he explains.
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Amar says that the villagers in Malana believe they are descendants of Alexander the Great. It does make for a splendid trekking destination for enthusiasts, a village which still retains the old Himachali architecture in parts. Another remarkable trek takes you to Kheerganga, beginning near Barshaini and Tosh at a village called Guachha. You may take anything between five-six hours to reach the top. It is recommended that one camps the night atop, for the star-studded sky and the cold breeze. There are also day hikes from Kasol and Tosh to Chalal and Kutla respectively.
One side of the phenomenal trek to the Pin Parvati Pass also begins at Kheerganga. At a height of above 17,000 feet, it is a feather in any seasoned trekker’s cap (not ours!). Tracing Kheerganga — Thunda Bhuj — Thakur Kua — Mantalai Lake (the origin of Parvati) — Pin Valley Base Camp — Mudd (Spiti), requires optimum fitness levels and at least 10 days of going off the radar.
Late at night, as we step out, the electricity goes out. We look at the stars. There is no such thing as too many.
