Tuesday 7 January 2014

Kareri Lake ~ a poetic trail

A lake is the landscape's most beautiful and expressive feature.  It is earth's eye; looking into which the beholder measures the depth of his own nature. ~ Henry David Thoreau
Natural lakes to me are the songs of mother nature which she sings in her different moods with different flavours and different notes, but the melody always remains the same, sometimes low sometimes high. So this time again, I ventured on a solo wandering into the mystical land of Himachal Pradesh to relish these sweet but lesser heard melodies. Choices were many, but time was limited, so I had to look for something which I could do over the weekend. Kareri Lake in Kangra had long been on my radar and it seemed to be the best option for my weekend plan. But since it was rainy season, it was not at all advisable to go to Kangra as it is deemed to be the place with highest rainfall in Himachal Pradesh. But the itch was so strong that I decided to overlook the weather. However before leaving I did check the weather forecast and it showed that it would rain heavily on Saturday and Sunday (the two days I was going to be around) with thundering and the weather would be fine on Monday (the day I was supposed to be back in the city).
The plan was quite simple…Leave Friday night for Dharamshala ex Delhi, trekking and camping overnight at Kareri Lake on Saturday under the star studded sky and return back to Delhi on Sunday night. So I left for Dharamshala by a pre-reserved bus from Delhi on Friday night that got me to Dharamashala the next morning by 6 am. The weather was looking to be nicer, but very unpredictable. There are various routes to reach Kareri Lake (approx. 2934 Mtr) and I chose the most conventional route via Ghera Village (1306 Mtr) and Kareri Village (1746 Mtr). There are buses available to Ghera Village (nearly 20 kms) from Dharamshala at intervals from where the trekking to Kareri Lake starts. While I was at bus stand, I checked the bus timings to Ghera from locals and it was advised to be arriving by around 8 am. So it was a good hourly break for me to freshen up and to chance upon some light breakfast. It was going to be a long day of walking as I had decided to camp overnight at Kareri Lake. Kareri Village is around 3 km walk from Ghera Village and Kareri Lake is further 14 km from here, so in totality it was going to be around 17 km uphill trekking this day. As soon as the bus arrived, I took my favourite window seat to enjoy the views outside. Though it was just 20 km journey to Ghera Village, but it took us around 2 hours as the roads were intermittently damaged majorly due to rains.
Kareri Village through a misty cloudy sky
Kareri Village through a misty cloudy sky
Since there are no shops at Kareri Lake, my concern on reaching Ghera was if there would be any provision of food at the lake side. The answers from locals were confusing, so I had some light brunch and packed some light eatables for the way. Now I was temporarily a bit free from any worry except the weather which luckily was still looking good. Without wasting any more time in Ghera, I started making my way towards my destination for the night. On the way, I caught hold of a local forest ranger who was going to Kareri Village. He proved to be very helpful in providing some information about that area and also offered me to stay at Rest House at Kareri Village. The trek to Kareri Village is majorly uphill and fairly tiresome at some stretches if you take the shortcuts through jungle. Since I had to reach Kareri Lake before sunset (expected plan was to reach there by 6 pm), I did not touch my camera at all. I was sure if I the cat is out of the bag, I will not be able to reach Lake before sunset. The village seemed to be comparatively bigger than what I had imagined it to be. While I was taking a resting halt at Kareri Rest House, it started drizzling a bit which prompted me to leave the place and to proceed further. After crossing Kareri Village, I was all alone just with a little drizzling. I was very excitedly moving ahead. And looking at the kind of views mother nature was presenting before me, I could not stop myself capturing those moments. After walking for around ½ hour on road, I reached a place from where the road was going upside crossing a bridge. Ahead it was going to be a jungle with confusing two sided trails at places as advised by locals, but the mantra was “just follow the stream coming down and stick to the way onto your left side”.
The bridge where you leave the road & turn rightwards into the woods along the stream
The bridge where you leave the road & turn rightwards into the woods along the stream
To the lost man, to the pioneer penetrating a new country, to the naturalist who wishes to see the wild land at its wildest, the advice is always the same -- follow a river. The river is the original forest highway. It is nature's own Wilderness Road” – Edwin Way Teale
While I was lost in the melodic charm of mother nature, there came such a confusing way leading to two different sides, initially I was in a dilemma where to go. But soon I remembered the golden mantra and chose the way crossing the stream towards left. The way this side was going up and up and the stream was now getting out of the sight. It did create a doubt in my mind for a moment about my choice, but then after a bit of tussle I kept my feet moving on the same path. Passing through the dense oak, pine and rhododendron jungles, it again started drizzling and not a single soul was at sight for miles away. The wavering clouds and the density of forest were giving me a feel as if it was already evening and I had barely covered 6 kms of way.
Initial mood of the jungle
Initial mood of the jungle
But very soon, the closed jungle seemed to open up bringing a whip of fresh crisp mountain air and an energetic feel. The recent drizzling had brought along a new look on the attires of mother nature and the leaves were shining so fresh and looking so lush green. After walking a bit further, I could hear the roar of the stream again which was an indication that I was on the right track, I was elated to witness this. As the jungle was opening up and hill tops were looking to be nearer, I could make out that I had covered nearly half the way. The weather too had taken a sudden pleasant turn with comparatively a clearer sky.
“Does the walker choose the path, or the path the walker?” ~ Garth Nix
“Does the walker choose the path, or the path the walker?” ~ Garth Nix
Nature had started casting its spell on me and I was enjoying this surprisingly beautiful journey with the sound of the lapping stream and fascinating flower beds where many a times these colourful birds would come and play around without letting me capture them. I was now walking non-stop keeping a watch on the time. Till now I was surviving on the brunch that I took at Ghera in the morning. But now, hunger and tiredness were taking its toll. At one place, I found a very good camping site before the lake and thought to camp there, but then the charm of spending night near the lake was constantly floating in my mind and I could not afford to miss it.
Pure stream flowing down…
Pure stream flowing down…
A treacherous pathway
A treacherous pathway
Cross the stream once again…
Cross the stream once again…
Some smiling mates on the way…
Some smiling mates on the way…
I finally got to see some rural folks in the jungle after a long walk, they advised that the Dal (locals usually call Kareri or other lakes as Dal) was nearby now, so with their encouragement I kept walking. Before I could loose my senses and collapse, I met a boy who informed me that Dal was just beyond the coming hill, I mustered courage and finally a patch of glacier was in view indicating that it was flowing down to lake, I was surely delighted to see this and wanted to have the glimpse of the lake as soon as possible. The dragging feet got recharged all of a sudden and I was happily heading up the hill.
Little wanderer
Little wanderer
Cobra Lily, a very common plant in the upper Himalayan region
Cobra Lily, a very common plant in the upper Himalayan region
Shining sun…
Shining sun…
I looked at my mobile and it was just 5 pm, I had made it before my expected time…! But the lake was still like a newly-wed bride under the veil, I had to make a final stretch going up before I could unveil its beauty.
Temple flag in view
Temple flag in view
Mesmerized I was…to feel it in all its glory shimmering before the setting sun, the lush green grassy meadows with smoking clouds were just adding colours to the canvas the nature had painted before me. Deliriously amazed I was for some time…gazing at this marvelously serene beauty. There stands a Shiva temple up on a hill with concrete stairs directly leading down to the lake. I did not learn much about the mythological significance of this lake, but like other lakes in Himachal, this one too is a sacred one and is frequented by the local pilgrims.
Kareri Lake…reflections testify the purity of the water
Kareri Lake…reflections testify the purity of the water
Kareri Temple
Kareri Temple
Lush green meadows…
Lush green meadows…
From the top of the temple, you spot some little cheerful and colourful souls running around on a green carpet that mother nature has spread near the lake. This looks like a wonderful camping site for the overnight stay. Fascinated by this marvelous sight, you rush towards the greener pastures where you find a bunch of cute and friendly gaddi kids playing with their goats, sheep and cows. Life seems to stand still here for a moment, everything looks like a dreamland so beautiful and so magical.
Gaddi kids with goat kids…
Gaddi kids with goat kids…
Your presence near the gaddi houses makes you a point of curiosity and fun for the kids. They stare at you for a moment and then whisper in one another’s ears and then laugh heartily and you give them a smile back and accompany their laughter which helps breaking the ice a bit. But you still are a foreigner for them trying to intrude in their territory. You start taking their photos and they happily pose for you. You further take advantage of this situation and call them and request them to click your photo. Seeing the camera, one of the kids comes near to you. You teach him how to handle it carefully and how to click the photo. Just the sound of ‘click’ from the camera makes him super happy and he seems to be all set to shoot like a pro. You remain near him for a few clicks and then let him take the photos of his friends who still hesitate to come near you. But after a click or two, rest of the kids are excited too and suddenly all of them surround you to have a glimpse of their photos. They are so happy to see themselves frozen merrily in this little box, so your camera again helps you making friend with these lovely gaddi kids who narrate you their beautiful stories.
The three musketeers…
The three musketeers…
Kids jumping & playing
Kids jumping & playing
With my nomad friends…
With my nomad friends…
Gaddis are basically a nomadic tribe who mainly lead a pastoral life depending on their cattle for their livelihood and wander in the high altitude alpine meadows for green and protein rich grass for their cattle and the nectar like pure water. These gaddis seem to be the happiest souls in the world without any worry cheering and living life happily in the lap of mother nature enjoying her eternal and purest beauty to the fullest. You envy at their life for a moment and then wish if you were born a gaddi, maybe in your next life…:)
Gaddi huts with greener pastures
Gaddi huts with greener pastures
After a while, your hungry belly brings you back from this dreamland. You go to a gaddi hut nearby, they offer you some hot tea made from pure cow milk, it tastes like heaven, so refreshing. You only have biscuits and some namkeen as your dinner, you enquire about some real dinner and they happily welcome you to be their guest over the dinner for tonight. They also check with you regarding your sleeping arrangements, but you are here for camping and you inform them of this. Their expert advice to you is to sleep in their hut as it gets very cold outside in the night. Also you don’t have any mat or even a blanket with you to protect you from the cold in the night, the only protection is a bedsheet that you intend to use as mat and blanket both. But you remain persistent with your decision of spending night near the lake in the camp humbly refusing their offer. But they know it all since this entire land belongs to them, so they give you some more options to protect yourself from cold just in case. They give you a blanket and most importantly they offer you to knock at the door anytime you feel cold and wish to sleep inside the hut. You are overwhelmed by their kind gestures. They advise you to pitch the tent near the hut while the dinner is getting cooked. Your friends follow you and help you in preparing your bed for tonight and what a wonderful team work, the tent is ready in few minutes!
Kids enjoying inside the camp
Kids enjoying inside the camp
Setting sun
Setting sun
It’s around 7:30 pm and there is a call for dinner. As you enter the mud hut, the fragrance of the smoke from mud stove reminds you of your village...a plate with a layer of chapatis and a delectable locally grown hilly vegetable is eagerly waiting to tickle your taste buds. While your mouth is busy relishing the delicious food, your other senses too are at work. While observing, your eyes suddenly take a halt at a rifle which is lying in a corner, the signal goes to mind and a very obvious assumption takes birth. To clarify you check with your host if it is to protect themselves from the wild animals in this area. The answer comes ‘no’, a question is fired at the host ‘so’? The answer flows ‘it is to hunt some smaller animals for food’. Though you are totally against any sort of animal killing, looking at the kind of harsh conditions these gaddis live, you prefer not to argue with your generous hosts on this. After having enjoyed one of the best dinners of your life, you wish to enjoy a sound sleep after a long tiring day from Dharamshala to Kareri Lake. Before retiring to your bed, you do enjoy the amazing star studded sky teaming with twinkling stars for a moment. A very cool breeze outside and heavy tired eyebrows are enough to push you inside the blanket. You go inside and try to sleep, you fall asleep for a while. But the cold start showing its affect on you and you start shivering, but you somehow manage the cold with the help of blanket. But then in between, it seems somebody is constantly trying to pull or to push the tent with some very strange voices. You take it to be some wild animal. Suddenly a sort of fear creeps in and all the stories that you have heard of wild bears or some other wild animals attacking the tent start flashing in front of your eyes. The combination of the strange growl, constant pulling/pushing and the cold would not let you take a sound sleep now. You wish, but you cannot dare to peek out of the tent to see who that animal is. You feel you have had the same experience before…oh yes, it was like the same sleepless night that you spent on a machan during annual animal census at Ranthamore National Park. The feelings were almost same full of excitement, but you were enjoying animal sightings at Ranthambore and here probably they were enjoying you. Between all these moments of excitement and fear, you could take some intermittent sleep which was enough to relax your exhausted body.
The dawn breaks and you finally dare to peek out of the tent to pleasantly witness a bunch of goats, sheep, some cows and horses munching on their green and healthy protein rich breakfast.  You laugh at your fear of wild animals of last night for a moment and then come out to explore the morning glory and added charm of the lake painted with a different colour by mother nature during this time of the day.
Enjoying a healthy breakfast
Enjoying a healthy breakfast
A kid enjoying a mesmerizing lake view from his breakfast table
A kid enjoying a mesmerizing lake view from his breakfast table
You set out on a short morning walk around the lake to experience its charming beauty from different angles. On the way, you encounter some friendly buddies who are a part of this magical painting. Almost an hour’s mesmerizing walk through the gardens of heaven brings you back to your tent where you again meet your friends with their friends, you play with them for a while and adore these lovely baby goats. You are again called for a morning tea, wow! While enjoying the refreshing sips of the tea, suddenly you get a reminder that it’s a Sunday and you have to get back to your concrete jungle by tomorrow morning for work, you rush out and again seek the help of your friends in dismantling and folding your tent. Really touched by the selfless friendliness and generosity of the gaddis, you bid a warm bye to this wonderful lake and its amazing inhabitants with a promise to come again next time for venturing out across Minkiani Pass into Lam Dal area which is again a wonder waiting to be explored soon.
Campsite
Lake-view campsite
Morning walkers
Morning walkers
Morning colours
Morning colours
A dose of vitamin D after a heavy breakfast ~ sun-basking
A dose of vitamin D after a heavy breakfast ~ sun-basking
While trekking up yesterday, this entire area seemed to be still untouched by the flock of tourists testifying to this were the least material footprints of us so called ‘modern civilized human beings’ who care more about their fun and entertainment playing with the purity of place and do not even shy away from polluting such heavenly places. So crisscrossing your journey backwards enjoying these lovely trails, you decide to take back whatever little your fellow human beings have left here to impure this charming little heaven. While you are picking up some of this stuff, you again meet some gaddi kids going down and you befriend them to join your bandwagon. Once they know why you are doing this…a lollypop, a bit of lecture and some photos do the trick here and they become your eco warriors. You try to inspire them to keep this land as clean as they could with their efforts. You see them throwing the wrapper of the candy after gulping it in and you remind them then and there and they instantly realize and pick it up and throw it in the garbage pack that they are carrying…you see a bit of change happening! You learn some of their interesting stories and tell some of your stories picking up the garbage whatever little we could encounter and the distances seem to have disappeared.
Some more smiling buddies on the way back
Some more smiling buddies on the way back
Eco warriors…
Eco warriors…
You started at around 8 am in the morning and by 11 am, you seem to have covered around 10-12 km, enough time to get back home! You say good bye to your eco warrior buddies with a smile and some biscuits. People had advised you to take a different route while going back as there were more options from this place (you forgot the name of the place, probably Nora or Kutharna) to reach Kangra or Dharamshala. You always prefer to take an alternate route on such wandering, so it was great exploring a new way through some villages and beautiful jungles.
Coming out of the woods leaving the wonderful trail behind...
Coming out of the woods leaving the wonderful trail behind...
Nearing the roadhead & the fulfilling journey
Nearing the roadhead & the fulfilling journey
After almost 2 hour’s walk, you reach the place (probably Kutharna or Nora) where you are supposed to get a bus for Shahpur (on Kangra-Pathankot route). As per local folks bus is about to come, weather starts taking a turn and suddenly it starts drizzling. While waiting for the bus, you wish to enjoy the weather with a hot lip smacking hilly Maggie which is made on order. The camera again goes back to the bag not to come out again on this trip. All of a sudden people start rushing out of the shops in that drizzling running towards a bus that has just landed in the village. You too make your way towards the bus to grab a window seat with a good view. Winding through the hilly bumpy roads, you arrive at Shahpur and see a bus going to Kangra (around 20 km from Shahpur), you waste no time in jumping into the bus and catching a seat. You are delighted to reach Kangra bus terminal between 3-4 pm as you think that you will reach Delhi in time and will take some rest before rushing to office. Since you had no prior reservation for return bus to Delhi, you go and check the ticket window for the next bus going for Delhi, but to your surprise all the buses are running full tonight and there is not even a single seat in any of the buses. You meet some other disappointed people who have to go to Delhi/Chandigarh. Now you repent on your decision of not reserving seats back to Delhi. You check out seats on internet from some other nearby stations like Dharmashala, Palampur etc. Luckily you get to see a seat in a bus from Palampur, you instantly get onto a bus ready to leave for Palampur and ask your brother to book this seat. After the bus has left for Palampur, you get a call from your brother ending the possibility of reaching Delhi the next day as that lucky single seat has already been occupied. On reaching Palampur, you see a number of buses coming from Joginder Nagar to Delhi but all full. You have no option but to stay overnight in Palampur. You book a ticket for first bus to Delhi in the morning and go to a lodge for overnight stay at least for a sound sleep after such a rush. Next morning you get up early to catch your bus and reach Delhi in the evening enjoying the hills on the way. Wow, what a relief…you have a sound sleep at home now before rushing to office the next day!

Thursday 20 June 2013

Prashar Lake - A Hidden Gem

Summers are already in, cities are heating up, school are closed for summer vacations, children are craving for an outing, isn’t it enough to drive you to take a relieving soujourn somewhere in the mountainside. So here we go on a stroll to such a refreshingly beautiful and serene lake in the lap of the majestic Himachal hills.

It was the end of March and I had taken a long break from my work to wander in the mountains. When it comes to choosing a destination, a detailed map does come really handy along with some google searches. Since I have an inclination towards hilly lakes, it was almost sure to be a place covering a lake. I had been hearing about Prashar Lake (approx. 2600 mtr) a lot in the recent past and it was near to the place (Mandi) where I had been a couple of times, so it was an obvious choice. A couple of years back, I had seen some photos of one of my friend who went to Prashar Lake sometime in March and was lucky to find himself surrounded with a whole lot of snow. They had gone there on their bikes and the amount of snow was such that they had to leave their bikes much before the lake and had to walk upto the lake. Since then, I had this ambition of visiting this place when it is a bit snowy. While I was planning to set out on this wandering, I shared the thought with a couple of friends who might have liked the idea of exploring this place and finally one of my friends (Bibhuti) showed his interest in joining me.

As always, we took an overnight bus to Mandi from ISBT Delhi which took us to Mandi via Chandigarh, Bilaspur, Sunder Nagar on Delhi – Manali Highway. We reached Mandi the next day early morning and it was good for us as there are very few timely scheduled buses to reach Prashar and we were lucky to get onto a bus taking us towards our destination. The distance between Mandi and Prashar is approx. 45 kms which can be covered by local buses to nearly 35 kms till Bagi via Kataula and it normally takes approx. 2 hours to reach Bagi. Though there is a motorable road till Prashar Lake, but the public buses run till Bagi only after which one has the option of either hiking or to take private vehicles. Our motive was of course to choose the hiking which provides splendid views of the valley passing through jungle and some open meadows at times. It is an easy enjoyable hike (approx. 8 km) to Prashar Lake from Bagi which takes between 3 to 5 hours depending on your speed and stamina. Before we would start our hike uphill, we thought it was good to pick up some stuff to eat on the way and then we proceeded. One of the major reasons that we do not plan much and let the surprises come our way is to rely on locals for their expert advice on where to stay, how to reach etc. which always proves pretty economical. We were trying the same this time too and were chatting up with a village girl who was on her way to home, she told us that we should not worry about accommodation near Lake as there are a few options available (Forest Rest House, PWD Guest House, Temple premises etc). But then, she thought for a while and said that it might be a bit difficult to get accommodation today as there is a big puja ceremony going on in the temple and we might not get space to stay at temple. While bidding us bye, she offered to come and stay in her village in case we did not find any place to spend night at the lake…I was pondering how large hearted  and welcoming the people in hills are, their hearts surely are much more spacious than their homes…
Traversing through jungle
Traversing through jungle

While we were proceeding enjoying our gossips and the gifts of mother nature, Bibhuti felt a bit hungry as always. He is such a brilliant companion in the hills who is ready to step up with you however demanding the walk is untill he is fed well. So I make sure to keep enough supply with me whenever travelling with him, the food is his power…whenever I see he is getting a bit slow, I just give him something to munch and he is back on track after a few bites. So we chatted, passed through jungles, took short breaks, clicked some pictures, ate some food.
Junglee in the jungle…
Junglee in the jungle…

After all this we were nearing a place which seemed pretty open and some surrounding hills were now in sight. It was an indication that now we were at some height and were about to reach the lake. It was feeling good to be out in the open sky after a long trail of the poorly lit jungle.
Desi jugaad in an open meadow
Desi jugaad in an open meadow
This was a place where we enjoyed some beautiful views and rolled on some slanting meadows. Further walk brought us to a larger meadow where a bunch of horses were grazing and when we came near to them, they were throwing tantrums as if they were some royal horses…though some of them were really looking royal. It was here, we could spot a forest rest house. We crossed some mud huts, some cattle houses (gaushalas) and here we were on the road that connects Bagi to Prashar and we could see some private vehicles on the road who probably belonged to the devotees who came to offer prayers to the deities.
Grazing horses and FRH in the background
Grazing horses and FRH in the background

But among all this, one thing was strangely missing that we were trying hard to find and that was ‘snow’…’hey not a single patch of snow’, was I befooled by my friend who came here during the same time witnessing tons of snow?…and here we were trying to look for imaginary snow that we had visualized all through the hike…even the search for snow made us forget Prashar Lake for a while, but then we realized it was not the snow mainly that we were here, it was the lake…so let us relish this hidden gem.
Roadhead to Prashar from Bagi…
Roadhead to Prashar from Bagi…

Just above the roadhead towards the lake
Just above the roadhead towards the lake

A rhododendron hanging on the fence
A rhododendron hanging on the fence

We further started climbing up towards a barbed wired boundary and the lake was supposed to be across this boundary downwards surrounded by small hills as seen in the photos. Seeing a place in photos and seeing it revealing itself in front of your eyes are completely two different things, the second one is surely an experience that one cherishes forever, it gets captured forever in your memory by the best lense that the almighty has given us. When we reached at the top, we were stunned at its majestic beauty. Surrounded by beautiful small hills it was looking like a small gem in the middle and a pagoda styled temple was all adding charm to this serene lake. We kept sitting on a small hillside for a while silently enjoying this marvel.
Here comes the lake with temple…
Here comes the lake with temple…
Then we saw some locals passing by and thought to visit the temple. As the name suggests, this temple and the lake is dedicated to Rishi Prashar who meditated here on this place. It’s a 3 storey pagoda styled temple constructed by King Bansen in 14th century. When we reached near the temple, a big feast was going on in the backyard of the temple. First we went inside the temple leaving our lather stuff outside which is not permitted in any temple in himachal and paid obeisance to the deities. The temple structure and carvings were pretty impressive. When we came out, we first checked about staying options, but since there was a small gathering of locals there, so we were not hoping to get any accommodation in the temple premises. But they asked us to come a bit later to see how many devotees were staying back and how many were leaving. So we started exploring the lake from different angles and different view points.
Prashar Lake from a different hill
Prashar Lake from a different hill
After a while, Bibhuti was a bit hungry and a bit tired too, so we came back to the shop near the temple and ordered 2 plateful of maggi. While we were waiting for our maggi lunch, we met a guy from UK who was travelling alone and had come with his entire camping gears…I was hoping that someday, we will do the same. We chatted for a while and enjoyed our maggi from the lakeview dhaba.  We again started our exploration this time towards the road going ahead of Prashar, here we could get to see some small patches of melting snow. We were getting ourselves clicked in such poses so that it looked as if we had a lot of snow around us. Since we had clouds all over us, we could faintly see the majestically scattered Himalayan ranges which were filling us with awe on closer examination. We kept loitering around for some time and when the sun was about to set, I asked Bibhuti if he wanted to come up and try to see the sunset (which was seeming to be almost impossible with such cloudy weather). He was tired by now and his straight answer was ‘NO’. So I asked him to check out the staying option near the temple while I was going up to try my luck with the weather.
Prashar Lake & Temple from a higher view point…
Prashar Lake & Temple from a higher view point…

Posing on a rock
Posing on a rock

At such a place, the higher you go, the better the views are. I kept following a long ridge in the parallel direction of the sunset, but except few sunrays, everything else was covered by dark clouds. I kept walking along the ridge for nearly an hour and it was getting dark now, so I decided to move back. Though I could not witness sunset, but the views of the deep valleys were amazing from atop.
 Walking on the ridge…
Walking on the ridge…

Clouds playing hide & seek…
Clouds playing hide & seek…

When I reached near the lake, I saw Bibhuti seating on a rock waiting for me. He told me he was tired and did not go to temple to check about accommodation. While we were enquiring about the stay at the shop, the caretaker of a Forest Rest House (FRH) had come to shop to buy some supplies and said if you want you can stay at FRH. Bibhuti was tired, so we thought let’s check out the FRH. The caretaker told us that normally he doesn’t allow people without booking, but since it was empty he would let us stay there. When we checked about the rates, he said it was for Rs. 500 for two of us which was a bit high for us at that time. So we started negotiating with him for a lower price and our constant request did help and he finally agreed to give us room for Rs. 350 including a good dinner to our fill. Since it was a bit cold there at that time, he also arranged for hot water for us, it was not a bad deal at all. After dinner, we came out in open to stare at the star studded sky for a while and then went back to sleep with a promise to witness a sunrise early morning. I guess we took a good decision to spend night at FRH as it was cold during night at this height and we were not sure if would get blankets/quilts at temple premises. Before sleeping, we checked with the caretaker about the timing of the bus that would get us to Mandi as we had to get back to Delhi the next day. My faint memory says that the bus was supposed to be leaving perhaps at around 9/10 am.

The next morning when we woke up after freshening up, we dropped the idea of going uphill as the sky was still not clear and we had high chances of missing our bus to Mandi. So we bade a goodbye to Prashar with a promise to come again sometime in future. The night’s sleep helped us get refreshed and we were rushing downwards like the hilly goats. We reached Bagi on time, the local folks were waiting for the bus. It was a good opportunity to grab some light breakfast, we picked up a cup of tea with some biscuits. In the meantime, we heard the bus coming and here it was. Since there were very few locals at Bagi, we were not in rush to get onto the bus to get seats. We boarded the bus, got a seat with good views and reached Mandi enjoying the enchanting views enroute. We did not want to be in Mandi for long, so hopped on a bus which was destined for Bilaspur as soon as we arrived Mandi. When we reached Bilaspur, we had enough time here as the bus to Delhi was leaving in the night at around 8/9 pm. So we thought to walk around Gobind Sagar Lake and explore nearby areas which was again a good decision. We walked along the lake and were enjoying to see people trying to catch fishes and waiting for the boats to cross the lake. All these sights were forcing us to discuss some silly things among ourselves.
On the bank of Gobind Sagar Lake…
On the bank of Gobind Sagar Lake…

We came up from the lake side and visited a small temple nearby. We did a good use of our leisure time in Bilaspur, we had our dinner at a local dhaba before we boarded the bus to Delhi and reached Delhi the next morning. This trip was a short weekend getaway, very much recommended to city dwellers who wish to go out on weekend with family or kids to some destination far away from crowd in the peaceful and awe inspiring mountains…so what are you waiting for?

Sunday 2 December 2012

क्रिसमस @ कमरुनाग

कमरुनाग – हिमाचल की हसीन वादियों के गर्त में छुपा एक अनमोल रत्न. शानदार घने जंगल के बीच से गुजरते हुए, सहसा ही एक छोटे से खुले स्थान में इस झील के दर्शन करना अपने आप में एक अलौकिक अनुभव है. तो मैं और मेरा दोस्त बाली निकल पड़े इस छुपे हुए खजाने की तलाश में. मंडी बस स्टेशन पर आते ही, थोड़ी देर में रोहांडा के लिए बस मिल गयी. रोहांडा, सुंदर नगर – करसोग मार्ग पर बसा एक छोटा सा गाँव है जहाँ से कमरूनाग तक 6 किलोमीटर की पैदल यात्रा से पहुँचा जा सकता है.
 
सुंदर नगर से रोहांडा तक का मार्ग कुछ अदभुत प्राकृतिक नज़ारे पेश करता है जो मैंने अपनी पहाड़ी यात्राओं में पहले कभी नहीं देखे थे. ऐसे में मुझे कई बार बस से उतरकर पैदल सफ़र करने का मन करता था, पर समय एक बड़ी बाधा थी. वैसे कुदरत के नज़ारों का भरपूर आनंद लेने का जो मज़ा पैदल सफ़र करने में है वो किसी और चीज़ में नहीं, और ये मैं मजाक में नहीं बल्कि अपनी कुछ पिछली छोटी – छोटी पैदल यात्राओं के अनुभव से कह सकता हूँ.
 
पैदल चलते वक्त हम न सिर्फ कुदरत के विराट स्वरुप का आनंद लेते हैं, बल्कि यह हमारा परिचय प्रकृति के उस अनमोल रूप से भी करवाता है जिसका स्वाद हम अन्यथा नहीं चख पाते, जैसे की राह में दिखने वाले पशु / पक्षी / कीट और उनके मधुर स्वर, मीठे पानी के कुदरती जल स्रोत / नदियाँ / झीलें / झरने, अचंभित कर देने वाले पेड़ / पौधे और उन पर लगे मनमोहक फूल और मीठे फल जो आपको एक पल रुकने पर मजबूर कर देते हैं, भोले – भाले पहाड़ी लोग और उनका रहन – सहन, छोटे – छोटे पहाड़ी रास्ते जिन पर चलकर शरीर में एक नई उर्जा का संचार होता है और अंत में इन सभी यादों को सहेजे रखने के लिए इन्हें कैमरे में कैद करने की लालसा. ये सब न सिर्फ कुदरत की इस अदभुत रचना को नजदीक से जानने की प्रक्रिया होती है, बल्कि प्रकृति और अपने बीच के रिश्ते को समझने और अनुभव करने का भी बहुत अच्छा अवसर होता है.


मंडी से निकलते समय भ्युली पुल के पास भीमकाली मंदिर