Family Trip To Kinnaur

I have returned to talk about the wonderful time I had. We went to Kinnaur District of Himachal Pradesh. That place is just so beautiful. It was almost an 18 hrs drive from Delhi. And since we weren’t sure if our bodies could take so much strain, we decided to halt at Sarahan, Shimla District.

We travelled all night, starting from Delhi at 10 20pm. The cramped quarters did not matter because the enthusiasm of going someplace new was coursing through us.

We stopped for tea right after starting the climb up the hills at around 4 o’ clock, at a small roadside dhaba. It had just opened. And they were preparing for the day with peels of onion and potato and peas littering the floor. We got out of the car. And could certainly feel the difference in the temperature. I was shivering.

I religiously took out my camera and snapped a few pictures.

The fun just began…

Then came the sight of the sun rising from behind the twisted contours of the hills. I love it. the twilight, the most MAGICAL time of the day. The birds chirping. The tiny pinpricks of light on the hills. Absolutely Magical.

And since I was shooting from my car, the pictures blurred to make interesting images.

Then we reached shimla at around 6 am but could getout only by 8 am. The roads were so jammed and then we ran into this huge jammmmm, a hold up rather. Mostly due to the non intelligent and random driving skills of the locals. We were supposed to have breakfast there but to escape the jam, we went further up to Kufri and stopped outside the main city at Ras Resorts, right on the road for breakfast. I got out my big camera, and started shooting stuff finally. I mean… oohhhh!!! What joy!!! The whole of Srikhand range!!! Snow capped mountains with the sun beating down on them.

The brilliance of the sight burns a long lasting picture rigt into your mind that you will not forget for a really long time.

At Ras Resorts.

We were seriously hungry after that 12 hour ride. Actually more than that.

We proceeded on asking for directions at crossroads. Though the path is very simple to follow and basically you have to stick to the NH22. I had printed the map before embarking on the journey. They are easily available on the internet. Our destination was Kalpa basically which is just 7 km from Recong Peo, the district headquarters of Kinnaur.

We passed Fagu after Kufri till

Theog,

Continue on NH 22 towards Matiana

Narkanda,

Continue on towards Kingal, Nirath

Rampur,

Go Straight on NH 22 cross Jeori, Chaura

Karchham

Continue on NH 22

Powari,

At Powari, Turn Left towards Rekong Peo

To Finally arrive at Kalpa.

But we need to stay over at Sarahan. It was still a 6 hour drive from Sarahan to Kalpa. After Rampur comes Dhar, a small village. After that comes Jeori. Right after Jeori, we take a right turn from the NH 22 to proceed to Sarahan, a very scenic little village. We stayed at hotel Snow View, a budget hotel. The staff was extremely helpful and most cordial with very clean rooms. The food also was very passably good. We had done the bookings from Delhi on phone. The no. and the names of the hotels were searched on the internet.

Finally it had started to seem that we are finally close to our destination. From here the mountains seem so beautiful. The whole of Srikhand range, so radiant with the setting sun’s deep red rays. It looked as if the whole range was on fire. After having lunch and getting refreshed, we went for a walk in that beautiful little village. That place is teaming with birds and is in fact a birder’s paradise. I at Kinnaur, I saw loads of Himalayan bulbul, flycatchers, other bulbuls, loads of drongos (the black, the white bellied, the spangled and the racket tailed), shrikes, swifts, babblers, titmices(many species), robins, the shama, sunbird(scarlet sunbird among them), minivets, the yellow billed blue magpie, the Eurasian and the grey winged blackbird, the red billed chough,a lammergeier, mynas, loads of sparrows,

some munias etc. Sarahan is beautiful pine forests and oaks and small jharnas flowing past at your every step. It also has the Bhimkali temple, one of the 51 Shaktipeeths of India. With its exquisite carvings, it’s a very fine example of the loose Indo-Tibetan architecture. I had originally not been able to identify it as the temple. The Bhimkali temple also gives lodging to people but then with prior bookings. Other local attractions include the well maintained bungalow of (Raja) Vir Bhadra Singh, the former chief minister of Himachal Pradesh. I clcked some really nice pictures there. And then again made friends with the (royally) handsome guard dog. A funny thing about these mountain dogs is that they are such quiet, almost dreaming creatures throughout the day. And at night they just don’t stop making noise.

                                                    The Black Drongo

                                                                                   
                                          The Bhimkali Temple.

  

My Friend: I made friends with so many dogs….

What they call the Rajar Baari (the King’s Palace).

People interested in trekking and adventure sports can do so too. Just Google out the necessary information and well you are there.

We went to attend the Sandhya Aarti at the temple, a enriching experience at 7pm after a stroll through the village. After 7 30pm though, no shops are open and as such there isn’t anything to do. But then, its one of the best environments to catch up with one’s family and to recuperate from our otherwise busy worlds. Its quite cold there even in may. So its advisable to take jackets and sweater and socks. Heavy woolens wouldn’t be a bad choice either cause if it rains then, the temperature drops below 3 degrees. Also take some caps or mufflers to keep the head and the ears covered. Next morning, I went for a walk at around 5 30 with a slightly reluctant cousin brother. We saw many of the above said birds, and in the end it was worth it. The locals also are so helpful and chatty. Its was wonderful there, at Sarahan. After breakfast, we proceeded for Kalpa. Had tea at Rampur, to break for refreshments. Then finally had lunch at Recong Peo. As and when we proceeded towards Kalpa, and the snow caped glaciers seemed nearer and nearer, the weather turned colder, we realized how high up we are. We had crossed 35 or more mountains to reach Kalpa. You feel as if you could almost touch these mountains.

                                       The Kailash Parvat.

It started raining at Recong Peo, and instantly the temperatures dropped. Recong Peo has some nice hotels and restaurants. It also has 2 ATMs, one of State Banks and another of Punjab National Bank. It has almost all modern ametinities and could almost pass for a town. After lunch we proceeded to Kalpa. It was very cloudy. I took some amazing photographs, but then they were nothing in comparison with what one can witness with one’s own eyes.

That evening we took this walk in the village and talked a bit. I had taken my father’s laptop with some movies in it. So I watched them later on in the night. At 21000 ft there was no signal in our mobiles of Idea and Vodafone. So we took a local Airtel sim, against the hotel manager’s no. This hotel also was booked from Delhi named Hotel Blue Lotus. The staff again was very helpful and room service good. The food again was passably alright.

For the first time ever, on this trip, I and my sister got our own room. Yay!!! It felt great. A benchmark may be at being recognized as eighteen plus. We planned a trek to the nearby glacier for me and my cousin with a local guide. My sister had gotten a terrible cold and was unwell, so she couldn’t think of accompanying us. But then because of the cloud cover, my parents were reluctant to let us go. Though we were supposed to be back by 12pm. And as luck would have it, it started raining by 12 30. To think that I missed the trek for no reason. So instead, we all went for a walk through the village. Kalpa has beautiful chilgoza forests, apple orchards, and may other orchards too. The village is so green and scenic. There are mountain streams running down every few steps, nourishing the fields. The locals there hang old shoes at the gates etc of their orchards to probably ward off evil spirits and bad luck. And hence we find hoards of abandoned shoes along our journey.

We visited the local temple and the monastery. And then spend some time playing cards, sleeping, watching the sunset, seeing the pictures I had taken till then on the computer, talking etc. Beautiful and peaceful.

The next day, when we were supposed to leave Kalpa, the cloud cover had shifted to give us brilliant sunshine. We were supposed to go back to Delhi. But instead we decided to stay over at Sangla valley for another day and then go back. So we reached Sangla, booked rooms in the guest house and proceeded to Chitkul, one of the last villages in India. Its really high up and very beautiful. Its surrounded by glaciers. The landscape is barren mostly due to the altitude. The motorable Indian roads stop there. Its small village of 650 odd people. The Sutlej River originates from the glaciers there and keeps us accompany throughout our travel in Kinnaur. After Chitku; which is an hours drive from Sangla, we returned to our Guest house. Had our lunch, the food being excellent. Again the afternoon was spent playing cards and watching TV.

The next day morning, the final morn, me n dada went for a walk, came back a bit late after the regular breakfast, we left for Delhi at 10 20 am. Just stopping for a tea break in between and then dinner at Punjab, at 1pm, we reached home by 4 am in Tuesday morn.

It was all good fun and heavenly… For more pictures, readers, you all can check out my facebook account for more.