Ten Day Backpacking Trip to Himachal Pradesh

I wanted to spend my birthday in a different manner so I decided that I was going to travel and be on the move for the next ten days in Himachal Pradesh. I'd already been to Himachal once and stayed there for a month and realised that the digital nomad life was very much possible for me.

This is where I work and travel from wherever I want and also enjoy my days creating content on social media and selling pictures and collaborating with brands and working as my own boss!

I packed my backpack and left for Delhi on Friday evening with a flight ticket and reached Delhi at Midnight. My student was kind enough to welcome me to his place and I stayed there till my bus for Kullu was to depart in the evening at 7 pm!

The bus reached Patlikhul the next day at about 8 am in the morning and I took a taxi to Naggar the very same day!

Naggar is a small village in Himachal Pradesh which I absolutely love to live in my heart belongs to Naggar and I was lucky to cover all the places I missed the last time + discover the local Himachali Culture of the place!

Exploring the Naggar Castle, Roerich Art Gallery, Jana Waterfalls, eating at the Woodstock Art Café, doing the darshan at the mandirs and making new friends at the cafe's and bakeries were some of the fun things I did at Naggar! Stayed at the Himalayan Homestay for the night and left for Manali the next morning!

I hadn't explored Manali properly the first time I went and even this time I only went to the Mall Road and rented a bike and explored the Atal Tunnel and Keylong/Jispa/Darcha road towards Leh on a scooter which was thrilling for sure! I met a few friends in Manali and left my luggage at their place and travelled far off for a few road trips and stayed in Keylong on the night of my birthday!

Keylong is in the Lahaul Spiti District and I figured I had to move from there so moved onto Darcha where the police didn't let us go ahead because the BRO was still cleaning the roads towards Leh Ladakh so had to take a U turn and return to Manali. Ofcourse the ride had my entire heart and I was above and beyond pleased because my soul was singing.

I came back, booked a hotel room at Hotel Hilltop and crashed. I was so so done for the day. I didn't have the energy to go on and was woken up with a surprise of cakes from my friend Jeremy and we all had a celebration at Hotel HillTop. A travelling birthday indeed.

The next day we decided to explore Old Manali and visited three temples : the Manu Temple, the Hadimba Devi Temple and the Gatotkach Temple and then sat in the Lazy Dog and Atrangiz Café and then moved back to Manali planning for the next day. We wanted to go to Jibhi but then the plan was postponed to the next day.

Taking a bus from the bus stand in the morning towards Jibhi I chatted with a few locals and decided that Tirthan was a better location for me to stay the night. I stayed at the Blue Sheep Hostel and went down to a small pool for a dip and then saw the Tirthan Valley from a cliff. It was a breath-taking sunset.

I loved the bunkbed lifestyle at the hostels and it was super cozy with nature all around me. That's the only kind of life I'd like to live to be honest!

The next day up and about towards Sojha Village, halted first at Firgun Café then took the bus to the Jalori Pass and trekked to the Seruvalsar Lake and my intuition stopped me from camping there so I decided to return from there and take the bus to Anni which is in Shimla District. Anni is a small village and I had absolutely no contacts there but I called a few friends who helped me figure the PWD Guesthouse there at a minimal rate and I was able to stay there for the night.

Caught the early morning bus at 5.30 am to Shimla and reached there by 10 am and headed towards the Old Railway Station only to discover that my periods had arrived earlier than usual. Grabbed a bite at the canteen at the railway station and then moved towards the Bhulku Museum close to the station and explored it for a while before hopping onto the Toy Train at 2.15 pm and getting over 3 stations later! Hopped onto a local bus and headed towards Mall Road and managed to explore the churches and the cafes there and make imaginary stories in the Lower Bazaar about the people. The Indian Coffee House was truly a treat and the old churches grounded me to grow closer to God.

Shimla is more beautiful than Manali and I say this because I truly felt at home here. To go Café Hopping in Shimla was a choice to enjoy the hill station's old stories and tales of old a delight and I will always go to Shimla when I feel lost.

Took the City Lines Bus back to Delhi the same night however made a quick hault at Sonipat to meet my beautiful sister who missed me.

I imagined the reunion to be somewhat dramatic but it was much simpler. She saw me. She hugged me. And asked me how I was. I live for the simplicities of life and am I not truly blessed to have held her once again like I did before when we were in Mumbai.

O.P Jindal University has a vibe of it's own and after freshening up I decided I needed to explore the campus, speak to my sister's friends and see what the people in Jindal actually did. Seems like the stories were true I saw it live and believe me you'd want to see it too.

Taking an Uber back to Delhi - Dwarka Sector 7 awaited me as my student welcomed me and we had lunch before I caught my flight back home to Mumbai.

To have covered so much in 1o days with no plan just love in my heart is truly a miracle. I am blessed above and beyond for the friends I have made on my travels - the experiences I have had and the places I have explored.