Deodars, Firs and Pines

Hoch Poch . 23 rd July

Kalka mail left Asansol station at 12 30 Am . As we waved goodbye to Papa standing on the platform , I was finally relaxed enough to contemplate how our trip came to be.

Which had started out as a lone trip , gathered a few people on the way and then was back to only 2 people on the day of departure.

Some things are best left unexplained, like how a 5 friend trek to Beas Kund turned into a most marvellous , unplanned, impromptu trip of Mummy, Pompi and me.

The first glimpse of The Himalayas
25 th July

The 10 to 11 hour long car journey from Chandigarh to Manali wouldn't have been memorable if Hir and her brother, Shriram wouldn't have joined us.

     We left Chandigarh station at 2 am that night. Having had been locked inside home for more than a year and a half now and not having felt the Himalayas for this long a time, it was something that had never happened to me earlier. Previously,  I had always escaped to the Himalayas right before my normal life here  could get to me .

     When the Sun's rays scattered in the sky, and I got the first glimpse of the mighty Himalayas, once again as always, she left me mesmerized, lost and completely immersed in herself.

     Maybe Himalayas is truly a 'Dev Bhoomi', otherwise how can a place make you feel so small so inconsequential yet so beautiful and so complete in yourself.

    Beyond our expectations, The Hosteller turned out to be an awesome stay for us. Not knowing what lay ahead, without any working idea as to where the trip would take us ,we booked  the Hosteller for the last day of our trip.
The logistics- we didn't care!!

       Very unlike Riju, Pompi and me joined two friends for cafe hopping in Manali that evening. That evening was all about Rum cake , walnut date crunch , Macaroons , Momos , Pasta and walks around Manali..

      Life tries her best to give me ' good' people experiences , I just need to open my heart and mind to accept them and their thoughts however they come my way.

The Magical Land of Gulaba ,A lost Forest , An unexpected journey.
26 th July.

On the morning of our departure on 23 rd, with a chalk in hand and my head in a swoon, I was sitting at the dining table with 50 options staring at me written in chalk all over the table.

         Having cancelled the trek at the last minute, what would we be doing for the 7 days  planned in Himachal?

Planning had never seemed so difficult ever before. Enter- Dibyendu Da with a full itinerary ready for us and I could do nothing but jump at the opportunity and accept it however it was presented to me.

     When we left Manali for Kothi on the 26 th Morning , none of us had expected anything even close to what we were to experience that day.

     A walk amongst tall,old Deodars and a dense forest without a person in sight. Manoj , our guide guided us through that dense pathless forest as effortlessly as if it were his own village and the trees , shrubs and beetles his long known friends.

     As we went deeper and higher into the Gulaba forest, mist and clouds enveloped us all around.

      I had  never known before that silence could sound so beautiful, that trees, barks, flowers, fern and lichen were so decked up even if nobody looked at them. The old Deodars and Pines just stood there, unmoving, unaffected, unreactive to all that happened below. ( perhaps It is these old trees that have reached spiritual union, they observe but don't react, they don't judge )

      Mushrooms and flowers of different kinds jutted out of different nooks and corners all over the place.
Falling and slipping,we finally reached the Gulaba top , only to discover that the path we had to take had been consumed by a landslide.
There's no adventure without some danger right?  As if the loose , shifting soil, the incessant rain and the unexpected landslide wasn't enough , we had to change our route because 2 mama bears had given birth to 5 bear cubs .The whole Gulaba village below and all the others related to the forest were wary of this fact .
5 cubs were being taken care of by 2 Mama bears and an entire village.

Another route was planned and unplanned and then planned, we traversed the ridge right above the landslide, anything could have happened.
But perhaps that is the beauty of Himalayas,I trusted her, she would decide what was to happen and I would be okay with whatever she chose for me.

Slowly and steadily ,we came back down from the forest,our minds full of memories and an elated feeling that we carried with us all through the trip.

Trance
27 th July

As excited as ever, Pompi left the hotel early that morning to take a walk, talk a little more ( more than usual), to meet a few more doggies and to just be there a little more. So engrossed was she in clicking pictures with the wild husky , the bloodstains on his coat and the musty smell of a recent kill escaped her completely .She hugged him to herself clicking pictures all the way.

   That morning ,we had a lovely breakfast at a smiling Aunty Uncle's little shanty . Our morning started with Momos, Maggi and a delicious local dish , Siddhu, all made taster by their smiles.

    We then proceded to Kasol via Hidimba Devi Ghatotkach temple and the old Naggar castle. Pompi finally got to visit an apple orchard too.

Natural people at Naggar were not very forthcoming and appreciative of our next visit to Kasol. One of the cake shop Uncle's said " Okay you are going .. but you won't like it there, that place is only for people indulging in drugs ." We reached Kasol that afternoon , kept our bags in the hotel and went out for a walk . Kasol turned out to be a drab visit. None of the people, shops ,cafes or bakeries were interesting enough to hold our attention.
     Kasol was all colours, psychadelic paintings and music.
     Somehow all three of us were not in for a good experience at Kasol. It was just a place in Himachal where we went for a visit, with no intention of visiting again.

Naggar, A lazy town, tasty food and a Family.
28 th July.

After a disappointing stay at Kasol , we looked forward to visit a little walled off community in the Malana Village. A village with it's own unique language, it's own law and order system and culture, and from there a trek to Weichun valley.

     But Nature just could not accept a planned holiday amidst an unplanned pandemonium,  and so she rained , she rained and rained , and rained all night till she blocked the road to Malana. Now, Malana and Weichun out of the picture , Dibyendu Da planned for us to spend a night at Naggar.

     Happy in the mountains, we were up for anything offered to us . As we reached the pretty little village of Naggar, we were greeted by the smiling faces of Nishant Bhaiya ( the owner) and Dibyendu Da.
Nishant Bhaiya was the porter , housekeeper, waiter, guide and the owner. Our room overlooked the old Tripura Sundari temple and the sprawling hills behind. Without a moment to lose ,we threw our bags ,freshened up and left on foot to explore the quaint village of Naggar.

    As with whole of Himachal, conversations here too were effortless and we met,spoke and  laughed all the way with many a locals.

    We made our way to a little rooftop cafe ,the wool cafe and indulged in delicious pastas , sizzlers and pizzas. The view from the cafe was breathtaking. When the sunlight slowly dwindled,and the lights came on ,we saw stars scattered over the mountains. After spending a leisurely hour or two in the cafe ,we went back to our room and spent the rest of the evening having a myriad of conversation with Dibyendu Da, Nishant Bhaiya and his mother. Aunty had cooked delicious, simple home food for us.

     It was the most warm , welcoming and happy stay with a family we had ever had.

   Our conversations that evening ranged from mountains to ascetics to dainis to dakini and joginis and from flora and fauna to local customs..
    When we went to sleep at 1 30 that night, our minds were swimming with many a thoughts and stories we had heard over the evening.