“…and we somehow reached Gushaini
late at night, must be around 8 or 8.30pm. It was pitch dark & we could see
nothing. Nothing at all. We thought, where the hell is hotel we had booked. It
was just us two girls & a driver…so naturally we were a bit scared too. All
we could hear was the sound of a gurgling stream & a moon shining high
above at the cliff.
This was
what the hotel had in stock & Musafir was sceptical, as Hasina is not a
beer drinker at all….and to give her Godfather, especially when she was
irritated…oh man!! Hasina threw a dirty look when she was told this is all the
hotel had…& resigned to fate (J J) downed the Godfather. This is when
she experienced an epiphany of sorts:
...and some interesting pics like this...
In an hour’s
time, after having a refreshing drink of fresh Apple Juice…we carried our beer
& wine & headed to the stream that flows just by the property (there is
a comfortable way right from the main cottage).
The benefit of
being at such a height was that we could see the full view of Raju’s cottage
& the valley from top…
…and what a sight it was.
While many
think mountains get dead evening onwards, we did not feel that in the least.
Evening was the time of bonfire & hence a time to put on the music….sitting
by the blazing fire, with a clear vision of moonlight washing the river &
the valley below us & listening to lovely songs.
The fire here had a green hue too...that memerised us!! We thought it's something magical & pure :) Till we were told the green flame is due to a green paste that is applied to these trees to save it from insects!! (duh!!) We need to watch lesser of Game of Thrones!! :) :)
Suddenly we saw a light at a
distance…zooming slowly towards us. Before we could fathom what that was, a
voice said very politely, “Please sit in this (god knows what), one person at a
time…don’t worry about your stuff, we will get it”. I awkwardly sat in a metal
chair & before I knew I was whizzed over the gurgling stream…excitement
surging through me & washing away all my tiredness. We were at Raju’s”
-Swati Seth
(a dear friend of ours & one of the most adventurous travellers we know
of).
We were
mesmerised hearing this account some 3 years ago from now & had made up our
mind right then, that one day & soon, we will go to Raju’s cottage &
plan our holiday around it…
Cut to
2014…we did get some good holidays from our respective workplaces & coupled
with some leaves that we took, we had good 8 days in our hand. We were wanting
to zero in on a place where we could go & were considering many options,
when this story came flashing back in Hasina’s mind. One discussion between
Hasina & Musafir & the deal was sealed. Kullu it was from 11th
April to 19th April.
The first
task was to get an accommodation at Raju’s homestay, as trust us, it is easier
getting cheap flights to Goa in 3 weeks’ time of your making a decision to
visit Goa; but it is very difficult getting an accommodation at Raju’s. Such is
the popularity of the homestay. We booked our stay with them in late Jan/early
Feb for an April stay; some of our other friends, despite trying hard, could
not get the stay at all.
That
done…our planning for the trip started. We had decided that though this was a
vacation, this will be a trekking trip for us as well. We had read so much
about the beauty of Gushaini, that a trek seemed the best way to explore the
beauty of the village.
Hasina
especially wanted to open her aptitude to treks. Having undergone a knee
surgery just some years back, her capacity for sporting activities had greatly
reduced (not that she was ever into it J), but she also acknowledged that you
get to see & feel the real beauty of Himalayas when you trek. Hence our
trip looked somewhat like this:
· Cycling in the hills catching trails
(we would take our Firefox along with us)
· Trekking in Jalori Pass, Nagini
Village & some other trails that we get to know of there
· Trekking & camping in Great
Himalayan National Park
· Trekking & camping in Lake
Parashar (not a part of Gushaini)
· On our way back to Delhi we were
supposed to stop for a day in Mashobra for something special J J J…will tell you soon!!
We had
decided driving down all the way in our Ford Figo.
With this
rough itinerary chalked our preparations for the trip began. For first half of
the trip, we booked Raju’s cottage (https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Rajus-Cottage/206648742685574); for GHNP & Lake
Parashar we booked our trek & camp through Ankit Sood of Sunshine Himalayan Adventures (http://sunhimalaya.blogspot.in/).
We were
lucky to get a last minute holiday on 10th April due to Delhi
elections that added one day more to our schedule.
So, here we
start with our journey…sit tight & hope you enjoy J J
10th
April:
7am: Casting
of votes J J J and exercising our fundamental right was most crucial. We
did that first thing in the morning!!
11am: We
came down all packed…bag & baggage & cycles to start our journey J J
The first
task was to tie the cycles on the back of our car, which none of us knew!!
(duh)…so we (Musafir particularly) spent minutes struggling with the stand
& the cycles trying to figure our life, all irritated & sweaty &
annoyed (the guards & many passer bys would not help but look curiously
& start grinning instead), when Hasina came up with the idea of Youtube.
Youtube mein sab milta hai!! J J One click & we saw at least 20 videos of “how to
harness a cycle on the back of your car”. 15 minutes & the job was done!! J We set sail at around 11.45pm from
our home.
5pm: After a
5 hour comfortable & traffic free journey, full of songs & jokes &
lunch breaks & rather uneventful scenery (although WE proved to be an
eventful scenery for people driving on Delhi Chandigarh highway that day!!
People were looking at our car & us, because of the harnessed cycles, as though
Mowgli had escaped from Jungle Book & come to roam in Chandigarh!!)….we
reached Chandigarh & headed towards Manali highway!! J J
Think of the
joy in our hearts when we saw this sight….like a pathway to 9 days of nirvana!!
….and then
the nightmare began!! The smooth as a silk road took an extremely nasty turn
from Swarghat to Bilaspur (some 70 kms.). The road was as bad as you can
imagine. This was not a case of potholes in the road…but vice versa!! The only
saving grace was that the road was very broad & though we do not know why,
but it was somehow a saving grace.
The scenery
on either side of the valley from Swarghat to Bilaspur was lovely…but who can
see it, when you have to drive in & out of potholes only. We had earlier
decided to break our journey at Bilaspur for the night, so that we can start
afresh next morning for Gushaini; therefore we had already booked HPTDC’S Hotel
Lake View Inn (Bilaspur) for the night. But reaching there seemed like a task
at this moment.
Musafir to Hasina: Bohot trek karne ka man than na…lo ho gaya car ka trek (you wanted to
trek all through the trip, right?!! Well, here you go…trek sitting in the car
itself).
9pm: Yes,
that’s right. It took us 3-4 hours to cross a 70km stretch. We were tired,
broken, irritated & needed to eat & crash desperately. Hotel Lake View
Inn appeared before us like an Oasis in a desert. Where we had earlier imagined
reaching there at 6.30ish & then spending the evening relaxed with music
& travel talks…here we were wanting to not talk to anyone at all.
The hotel
staff was nice & immediately showed us to our rooms. Despite our tiredness
we quite liked the hotel. The rooms are fine, clean & basic…but the fact
that all rooms (ours was a 1200/- per night room, the cheapest in the hotel)
faced the Revalsar Lake was refreshing & nice.
We obviously
& most desperately needed something to help us bust our stress, & here
it was:
Hasina: This
is the BEST alcohol I have had!! Like EVER!!
Musafir: I
know…I know.
Hasina:
Noooooo…no no no no!! I mean it
Musafir: I
know..i know
Hasina: Who
makes it??!! This guy should be put on the global map.
Musafir:
Hmmm…I know!!
…and so we
crashed to sleep after eating food (which was quite decent). Tomorrow further
journey awaited us.
11th
April:
7.30am: We
checked out of Hotel Lake View Inn in Bilaspur, all fresh & rested, to
resume our journey further. The road ahead was again smooth as silk &
broad, making us think whether last evening’s drive was real or just a
nightmare.
Anyways, the
songs were on…the weather was lovely…the birds were chirping & we were
happy..happy..happy!! Holiday had started. We had to drive roughly 150 kms.
& the guy at the petrol pump nearby told us that the roads were good all
along. So we were in no hurry & stopped for so many things on the way:
…and on we
went to capture the hills in their springful glory J
Check out the spelling of Chinese on the board below...hehehe...so bucketful of food required?? Well look no further!!
Despite such
beautiful & interesting scenery, there was one thing that made us feel irritated & that
was the presence of ugly hydra power project plants, that have not only ruined
the gorgeous look of the valley, but is also playing with the eco-system of the
valleys by making the water beds dry. It was sad & heart wrenching to see
miles of river dried up because of these ugly project plants that hang in
haphazard shapes on the green slopes of hills, making the whole valley look
awful!!
After 4
hours of comfortable drive & many, many photo ops we arrived at Raju’s.
The scenery
along the way was indescribably gorgeous…something we had only seen in films
but never seen so far.
Although we
had heard a lot about the now famous entry of Raju’s guesthouse…experiencing
this was no less than super thrilling:
FYI, Hasina
knows Musafir was super thrilled…he just has to show he’s too cool for any
surprise (boys, typical boys!!)
We were
welcomed very warmly by the man himself – Raju Bharti.
Raju came
across as an extremely sweet & simple man. We were asked to leave our stuff
to be taken to our room (while it was being prepared), and we excitedly took
off to explore the grounds.
Our first
spot was this gorgeous little sit-out that was done up very tastefully & is
ideal to sit, relax and read a book with the noise of a gurgling stream right
in front of you. We were absolutely in love already!!
We spotted
some of the most gorgeous butterflies one has ever seen.
What a
beautiful, laidback time this was (sigh!!)
We chilled
our beer & wine in super cold Tirthan waters, & listened to songs,
while they chilled. It was the most beautiful moment spotting gorgeous birds J & absolutely
crystal clear waters of the gurgling river right next to us.
Seated in
that valley, happily drunk on the cool, sunny afternoon…we felt we were in
another world..until it was time for lunch.
The lunch or
dinner or breakfast in Raju’s cottage is another big point worth discussing.
All food is home cooked by Lata aunty, Raju’s wife. Lata aunty’s food can be
best described as the ultimate comfort food!! It’s the kind of food you want to
eat while on vacation…it isn’t some 5 star gourmet experience, but in our mind
it was much more.
It is
simple, home cooked food, with less oil & perfectly wonderful. Something
you have in your home made by your mother – unpretentious & soul
satisfying.
The food
served is buffet, made for all guests. It generally includes a normal spread of
vegetarian dishes & one non vegetarian dish. You can request for trout fish
when you desire to have it, but it has to be done 1 day in advance.
We ended up
hogging double of what we generally eat & could not decide how to get up!!
(could somebody please arrange a sleeping bag for us right there??!!). This is
when we were told our room is ready & is on top of a cliff (gasp!!) &
entails a 5 minute hike to go there (oh no no no…why did we eat so much).
Anyways we
braved the hike (which wasn’t that challenging frankly) to reach here
…and what a sight it was.
The cottage
here has roughly 3 large rooms…two on the top (one of which we were living in)
& one large room below (ideal for large families). The whole cottage was
packed. We were sharing the floor with a firang family & a Mumbai based
family; and despite entire families being there, it was as peaceful as you can
imagine!! The common area of our rooms was well stocked with tea/coffee maker
& cups, teas & cookies. It also has stacks of travel, lifestyle,
fashion magazines like Outlook Traveller, Conde Nast Traveller, Rolling Stone,
Cosmopolitan, Vogue…which was such a delight.
Anyways,
tired & happy we plonked off to a deep sleep for the time being.
7pm:
(We had a
mix folder of 80s & 90s retro numbers – both Hindi & English…hehehhee.
Yes yes, so while that does mean encores of Uptown Girl by Billy Joel, it also
meant encores of “Roz Roz aankhon tale” from the film Jeeva. While it meant
listening to long lost numbers like “Suno Zara” from Bada Din, it also meant
encores of Backstreet Boys & “Someday” by MLTR….god remembering our
school/college days with these songs was so much fun).
Extremely
happy with our bonfire, we went down to have dinner at 10pm (last ones to
dine!!) & again overate (what to do…the food was so good).
Back post
dinner, we again came back to our bonfire area & sat on gazing at the stars
& moon & listening to the peace, quiet & the sound of the
valley…broken only by the soothing sound of the gushing river…till it was time
to call it a night.
Coming Up Next: A cycling trek in the village &
a Trek to the gorgeous Village of Nagini to spot a waterfall!!
