I have had a trip to Parvati Valley once and wasn't much familiar with the place and wanted to explore little more of what Parvati Valley had to offer me..So I decided to visit Kasol once again but giving more time to places nearby like Rasol and Tosh (these were on wishlist this time).
One of my friend who had also visited these places earlier was travelling with us and this was the first time I was planning a trip to hills in the month of December and had a little idea of how much snow could be present, so backpacked accordingly.
I haven't had a glimpse of snowfall or snow capped mountains in my life before this trip and this is something that fascinates me since I was kid. So I took a step closer to my dreams and converted them into reality with 4 of my friends..
We took an AC Semi-sleeper bus from Delhi to Bhuntar and then to Kasol through local bus.We had rest for a day in Kasol and next day started our trek to chalaal (which is 20-30 min. trek from Kasol), Spending a night here. Chalaal is an alternative to Kasol having the magnificent view of Parvati Valley with calmness and peace of nature all around.
Next day we started our trek to Rasol, an alternative to Malana Village as it is situated on the same height and is much more isolated than near by places. Not many people know about this village and is a home to those who like isolation and peace.My friend had introduced me to this place and I was pretty desperate to visit it. From Chalaal it is almost 4 hrs. of combination of both moderate and diffucult trek as it is very steep.It takes you through the woods and open green pastures providing the views of sky touching mountain peaks and small waterfalls on the way.
We reached half way through the trek when suddenly snowfall started and that was a glorious sight to feel the white crystal snowflakes falling upon face taking away all the tiredness. After trekking further we realized it was heavy snowfall and villagers coming back from the village advised us to return back as the way may get blocked for around ten days.
We couldn't enjoy the serenity of this place but it provided me with an experience I never had and we returned back to Chalaal in a hope of trekking to Tosh next day and enjoy the snow there as it is at higher altitude than Rasol.
Next day we booked a cab from Kasol to Barsheni which was around an hour drive. We shared the cab with a group of 3 friends who were also going to Tosh. There are two ways to Tosh from there,one is a normal 3 km road leading directly to village and other being the trek of 5 km (which is mostly used by villagers). None of us was there to walk the snow covered road so we decided to trek instead.
The trek was not so comfortable but it did provide us with beautiful scenery. Further during the trek we found an open land covered with snow and watching that we just couldn't resist and started playing forgetting everything, you know as we couldn't enjoy that time in Rasol and had no idea what could fall further so we just enjoyed through the moment.
We reached Tosh and headed directly to the top most hotel of the village so that we can enjoy the view. We stayed at Hotel Hilltop for reasonable Rs. 500 for a room/night. It was Christmas week and there was heavy snow everywhere due to which water in pipelines was frozen. But the hotel staff was good and provided us with every possible thing,luckily there was electricity and also mobile network of only Airtel and Idea. Not too many people visit during this month, only seasonal travelers visit and cafes get closed by maximum 9pm but serving the food which you cannot possibly eat without licking your fingers be it Israeli or North Indian. The view from the hotel was something I can never loose from my memories.
There is also a waterfall,trekking further 1 hr from Tosh. I could't visit that because didn't know that time but if you are planning to visit Tosh do possibly visit it.
' fill='%23359391'%3e %3cpath d='M46.1538462%2c43.5714286 L41.5%2c50 L36.8461538%2c43.5714286 L36.8670256%2c43.5714286 C36.3173077%2c42.7142857 36%2c41.6851429 36%2c40.5714286 C36%2c37.4854286 38.4535641%2c35 41.5%2c35 C44.5464359%2c35 47%2c37.4854286 47%2c40.5714286 C47%2c41.6851429 46.6826923%2c42.7142857 46.1329744%2c43.5714286 L46.1538462%2c43.5714286 Z M41.4294872%2c39 C40.6150641%2c39 39.9487179%2c39.675 39.9487179%2c40.5 C39.9487179%2c41.325 40.6150641%2c42 41.4294872%2c42 C42.2439103%2c42 42.9102564%2c41.325 42.9102564%2c40.5 C42.9102564%2c39.675 42.2439103%2c39 41.4294872%2c39 L41.4294872%2c39 Z' id='Location-white'%3e%3c/path%3e %3c/g%3e %3c/svg%3e)
