“maiñ akelā hī chalā thā jānib-e-manzil magar
log saath aate gae aur kārvāñ bantā gayā”
While living through a robust fast-paced life, to catch a breath you scroll through social media posts, right then and there you get awestruck by something mesmerizing. There was an advert about a trip with an unknown lot to Kasol and Grahan. With a shine in my eyes, I just looked at my partner and at that moment we decided to go for this trip.
Enroute to Kasol
On the day of reckoning, we were on the bus to Kasol with 27 strangers and 3 trek leads. With all the cold stares and self-indulgence around, the three trek leads decided to break the ice by one of the most common Indian way possible –‘Dumb charades’. They divided the whole group into two groups: ‘aage vale and piche vale’. And in no time without knowing each other’s names we started to get along so well and those 234 miles were covered very quickly.
Day 1: A Day in Kasol
We reached Kasol…..taken to our camps to rest and to have a bite. The view from our camp was so serene where we all got lost.
First thing in our itinerary was to visit Manikaran Gurudwara. Amidst the glorifying architecture and the hot springs, the environment was so soothing that all our tiredness just faded. The Gurudwara itself is surrounded by the hot springs which emanate hot vapours and their fog engulfs the shrine. The beautiful harmony between the cool fresh wind and the hot steam is a delight to experience. After the darshan, we went for a little visit to the inner market.
Afterwards, Roaming in the streets of Kasol exploring the scenic view, experiencing the sparkling Parvati river and savouring the delicious local cuisine on the roadside shops.
Finally, we ended the day with karaoke, dancing, drinking and jollying around these now friendly strangers, yelling “How's The Josh!!”.
Day 2: Grahan - The Unexplored Village
It was a beautiful morning with a lot of tiredness but there was excitement on the other hand because of the next voyage of this trip which was the hidden village of ‘Grahan’; it was 9 am and it was important to finish the morning routine quickly since we had an 8-10 km hike coming up.
The trek started from our campsite, and we had a local guide with us along with our two trek leads.
The weather was pleasant and there were no difficulties for the initial hours. Grahan village trek runs parallel to the riverside. With a spring in our step, we were happily walking along the glittering waters of Grahan Nallah. It was enjoyable to be amidst the jungle, with the chirping of birds and the gentle whispering of the wind on the pine trees.
So we kept trekking for hours and finally reached our halfway benchmark at a Maggi stop, and I don’t need to explain the moment where we were savouring the deliciousness of Maggi in such a spot where you can enjoy nature in all its glory.
After recharging ourselves the trek continued, and it started to become more steep and slippery. Regardless of that, no one’s excitement was getting waived, so they started to hold each other’s hands and started singing ‘hum honge kaamyaab’.
After the hardship filled with excitement and adventure, we finally reached our destination, the hidden village of ‘Grahan’. Completely covered with snow, yay!
Here we got surprised that our local guide Mr Uddham Singh was our host. He took us to his house for our Home Stay where his wife was waiting for us with a smile on her face. Mr Uddham started to prepare bonfire while we all went to freshen up. And after freshen up Mrs Uddham served us with some delicious pakoras with our all-time favourite chai.
We ended our night with dancing, singing, playing games and homemade dinner made by our hosts.
Day 3: Exploring Grahan
A fresh day began with lots of selfies and picture clicking in the snow with the dogs. The next thing in our itinerary was to visit the waterfall. The surrounding was filled with the sound of the waterfall and light breeze. The visit to the waterfall was like serendipity to our luck while exploring Grahan. That place was so pure, unaware of the human touch, the view was so serene that you wish you just be there forever.
Next thing we know we were half covered in snow(let me tell you I am 5 feet tall) we were all humming in the tones of ‘mast magan’, we were having snow fights, putting snow in each other’s clothes, in short, we all were feeling like we were on cloud nine. After all the snowy fun got over, the next thing in our itinerary was to trek down to Kasol to catch the bus back to Delhi. While the sun was just above our heads we started trekking down, slipping down or falling down as there was a lot of melted snow and the path was very steep. So we were keeping track of who was falling how many times and surprisingly the record was held by a guy who fell more than 12 times. So the most adventures and the unexpected moment of the trip had arrived
‘The Bridge(a thick log) through which we were supposed to cross the river was all covered with melted snow, and it was very risky to cross the river through that, it was getting dark, and we were getting late, thankfully one of our trek lead was aware of the surrounding, and he knew about a bridge for which we had to take an alternate 3km route which although made us later, and worst of all was that the cellular networks were unavailable so the people down there were not able to locate our whereabouts so after a couple of hours we were back on the original route and fortunately people down there were able to contact one of our guys and coordinated the rendezvous point ’. Those two hours were the most exciting part of the trip because none of us knew the nature and the length of the route apparently, we were so anxious that we didn’t care whose company we were sharing while we were trying to get back on track.
With a smile on our faces, satisfaction in our eyes and our body drenched in sweat in 5 degree Celsius we completed our trek.
“My shadow's the only one that walks beside me My shallow heart's the only thing that's beating Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me Till then I walk alone”
About the Writer
An automation engineer by profession and a traveller at heart. She has a strong desire of travelling and exploring new places. She is fun-loving and friendly by nature and always carries the curiosity to meet new people wherever she travels. She turns crazy when dhol hits up and can beat anyone when inflow. Apart from these special characters, she is a good singer too.
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