This summer travel show : Himachal Pradesh

Lost in the wild woods of Himachal Pradesh. Sojha is one breathtaking village lying in the district of Kullu. This place is a gorgeous village connecting Kullu and Shimla district.

How to reach Shoja

I along with my friend started from Delhi by taking State Transport bus,HRTC at 10:45 pm to Mandi which is approximately 416 km from Delhi. We reached Mandi at around 12:30 pm the next day. The next destination was to reach Banjar which is 74 km from Mandi. We did not take a break for a while as we already had breakfast en route Mandi in the morning. In order to reach the Banjar, there are no direct buses. So, one has to take the bus to Aut which 56 km from Mandi taking about 2 hours approximately. All the buses headed towards Manali goes through Aut. For Banjar, you will have to get down at the Aut tunnel. The tunnel is the mid-point leading to two destination- Manali and Banjar. Get down at Aut tunnel and wait for another bus to Banjar. The buses are very frequent so you will not have any problem. We took a bus to Banjar which was all packed up at around 2 pm in the afternoon. The way to Banjar is beautiful witnessing valley. Banjar to Sojha is a 15 km journey. From the Banjar bus stand, you can book a private taxi or bus whatever you wish. We had taken the bus at around 3 pm. The road to Shoja is very steep and would make you speechless by its spectacular dense heavenly experience. We were already frustrated with the heat but the sights on our way brought back the excitement to witness the majestic beauty of Himachal Pradesh listening to peaceful tunes of trees dancing on the advent of refreshing wind.

On your way to Shoja you will find another popular tourist destination,Jibhi village. (We too stayed in Jibhi  for a day after our departure from Shoja which I shall share later. )Shoja is located at 2692 m from the sea level. The local bus took around 1:30 hours approximately to reach as the road is curvy and steep. But it was worth it to witness the serenity of mountains range and feeling it so deeply.

We reached at 5 pm approx. and were supposed to stay at Fortview Homestay. The homestay is the immediate first house on the left side of the road. (Contact- 09418626634 and 08894900266) We had earlier stayed in this homestay in 2018 accompanied with 6 other friends. They have two spacious room with washrooms attached. Last time, we had accommodated 4 persons in each room as were on budget travel. We decide to stay on the 1st floor which has a cute wooden covered balcony with windows opening to the scenes of the Himalayan range. My friend and I believe in sustainable traveling. The whole marketization and commercialization of Himachal and other places in India have put a lot of pressure on the mother earth and have put locals at an disadvantage economically. During our travel, we had stayed in home stays managed by locals, ate local Himachali food in the Dhabas and took public transports for commuting and sometimes got fortunate to get lifts from the local itself.

We had gotten too late reaching  Shoja so we ended up resting that night. We had Maggi for the evening snack and slept off. Got up at 8 pm in the night for a home cooked dinner by the Aunt. Simple food with rice,chapatti, jeera aloo and dal. We spent the night gazing at stars and lost in the conversation of life sitting in the balcony. You could also take a stroll in the night alongside the road.

The next day we got up pretty late around 10 and got ready by 11:30 after having Maggi and omellete for breakfast. The plan was to head to Jalori pass and then to Serolshar lake. The bus comes a few hours of intervals heading towards Shimla via Jalori pass. You can ask anyone for the timing of the bus. However, we had missed the bus. So we trekked for about 2 km from Shoja. It is a 5 km distance to Jalori Pass from Shoja which is a steep road. Shoja is covered around with so many paths to explore. The whole idea of ‘slow traveling’ by Shivya Nath, travel blogger and author of ‘The Shooting Star’ is what can be truly achieved in Shojha. You can just sit at any place and let the wind soothe your mind and soul. This place has its own melodious songs.

We got a lift,luckily, to Jalori pass after trekking for 2 km approx. by a local. The natives of Himachal would always be willing to give you a lift if they have space in their car. On reaching Jalori pass, you could see many camping sites at Jalori Pass and on the way to Serolsar lake. You could also think of staying there as of May end and June month witness a tourist influx owing to summer vacations. However when we had come in March 2018, there were no such camping sites as the weather is chilling with the possibility of snowfall.

We trekked to Serolsar lake which took about 1 and half hour with a normal pace. The area itself is wild and perfectly photogenic. You would also find cafes on your way to the lake and camping sites are also available at Serolsar lake. Well we do not have any pictures of this day as our phones were not charged so we had left them at our homestay. We trekked back to Jalori pass by 5 pm in the evening and luckily we got a lift down to Shoja by a local.

On our journey back to Delhi after a stay of 2 days in Shoja.  We were dicey about staying in Jibhi. But we had to head back to Jibhi on foot as we did not find any bus. We actually decided to walk a little to dive into the calmness of this gorgeous cute little hamlet.

We trekked down to 4 km and stopped at the Pratap Dhaba in Ghiyagi(a village which comes before Jibhi)For lunch at around 12:30 pm. We had ordered two thalis costing Rupees 60 only. The local food was simple and tasty. It had rice,chapati,kadi,chutney,seasonal vegetable and dal.

We had hardly walked 400 m when we found another spot , a stream. All the villages coming across on the way to Shoja has such cute hideous corners only you have to keep searching one. After that we got back to trekking down further towards Jibhi. We thought of hanging there for a while. Few pictures are provided below.

We stayed at this spot for about 2-3 hours and headed to Jibhi around 4:30 pm in search of the camping site.Yes, we had already ditched our plan to go back to  Delhi. You would find many cafes and home stays on the way and few campsites as well. We came across this property named ‘Maxwell Estate’ around 500-600 m from State Bank of India,Jibhi. This property has temporary tent cottages, houses along with wooden cottage and campsites. It was a walk of about 1-1.5 km  downward towards the stream from the main road The campsite and wooden cottage is built on the other side of the stream. So one has to cross the stream using that wooden bridge (See the below picture). On the way to this property, you will encounter trees of cherry, an orchard of pear and full-fledged grown-up refreshing roses.

The newly wooden constructed house was under renovation. The orange tents were for camping. The bright orange camps what fascinated us at far off distance and luckily we found our way to it. This property lied amidst the forests. We met Mr. Ram Thakur who was working as one of the owners of the property alongside his two friends.(You can contact him over this number- 8219851398; They have just started with their property so you won't  find much promotion of it. It is better to get in touch over the phone about the availability) We asked for the price of the camp for the lowest as possible as we were short of cash. He said, हम भी बाहर जाते हैं और कई बार पैसा नही होता तब आप की ही तरह कोई मदद करता है। आप आराम से रुको।“ His gesture took us by surprise when he offered us the room instead of camp at a really low price including food. We were so overwhelmed. He showed us the room and suggested us to stay there as the campsite was not equipped with electricity. (The campsite and cottage renovation was t be completed within few days as he was sua pposed to host a group of 6 people. We had stayed on the 2nd of June). The room in the 1st floor was covered with glass panes and you could see the hamlet of Jibhi wrapped in the long trees of varied shades of green, forest woods, rocks,streams, wild flowers. Never in my dreams had I thought of encountering at random such a place and staying absorbing all the charm of this place.

The little wooden house in the picture is where we stayed and those orange tents for camping which lured us into finding this spot.

On our journey back to Delhi after a stay of 2 days in Shoja.  We were dicey about staying in Jibhi. But we had to head back to Jibhi on foot as we did not find any bus. We actually decided to walk a little to dive into the calmness of this gorgeous cute little hamlet.

We trekked down to 4 km and stopped at the Pratap Dhaba in Ghiyagi(a village which comes before Jibhi)For lunch at around 12:30 pm. We had ordered two thalis costing Rupees 60 only. The local food was simple and tasty. It had rice,chapati,kadi,chutney,seasonal vegetable and dal.

We had hardly walked 400 m when we found another spot , a stream. All the villages coming across on the way to Shoja has such cute hideous corners only you have to keep searching one. After that we got back to trekking down further towards Jibhi. We thought of hanging there for a while. Few pictures are provided below.

We stayed at this spot for about 2-3 hours and headed to Jibhi around 4:30 pm in search of the camping site.Yes, we had already ditched our plan to go back to  Delhi. You would find many cafes and home stays on the way and few campsites as well. We came across this property named ‘Maxwell Estate’ around 500-600 m from State Bank of India,Jibhi. This property has temporary tent cottages, houses along with wooden cottage and campsites. It was a walk of about 1-1.5 km  downward towards the stream from the main road The campsite and wooden cottage is built on the other side of the stream. So one has to cross the stream using that wooden bridge (See the below picture). On the way to this property, you will encounter trees of cherry, an orchard of pear and full-fledged grown-up refreshing roses.

The newly wooden constructed house was under renovation. The orange tents were for camping. The bright orange camps what fascinated us at far off distance and luckily we found our way to it. This property lied amidst the forests. We met Mr. Ram Thakur who was working as one of the owners of the property alongside his two friends.(You can contact him over this number- 8219851398; They have just started with their property so you won't  find much promotion of it. It is better to get in touch over the phone about the availability) We asked for the price of the camp for the lowest as possible as we were short of cash. He said, हम भी बाहर जाते हैं और कई बार पैसा नही होता तब आप की ही तरह कोई मदद करता है। आप आराम से रुको।“ His gesture took us by surprise when he offered us the room instead of camp at a really low price including food. We were so overwhelmed. He showed us the room and suggested us to stay there as the campsite was not equipped with electricity. (The campsite and cottage renovation was t be completed within few days as he was sua pposed to host a group of 6 people. We had stayed on the 2nd of June). The room in the 1st floor was covered with glass panes and you could see the hamlet of Jibhi wrapped in the long trees of varied shades of green, forest woods, rocks,streams, wild flowers. Never in my dreams had I thought of encountering at random such a place and staying absorbing all the charm of this place.

The little wooden house in the picture is where we stayed and those orange tents for camping which lured us into finding this spot.

We had dinner at around 9 pm. We met all the partners who were working together on this same property. The hospitability was really nice and the food was tasty. The surrounding was so calmative with only music of water flowing in the stream and shrilling sounds of beetles. We spent the night outside the room lying on the mattress gazing at a million stars and also watched a beautiful movie. The night was very romantic. The charm of this place and that moment is beyond expression. I had the most beautiful night amidst the environment and with the person whom I love the most. (P.S. Do carry a bottle of wine if it's your couple trip)

Next day we had our breakfast and left the place at 11 am back to Delhi. We took a lift to Banjar and then state bus to Mandi and then to our destination,Delhi.