Travelogue With My Guddu - Part 2

Till Here: A girl embarked on her dream trip........And into two days of journey

My tired mind had dozed off to a dreamy sleep, the bus came to a sudden halt, which I felt like someone had pushed me with all the force in their body, I woke up with a stir, it was still dark outside and the bus had reached its destination for the day. I got down with my guddu, it was written in bold “HRTC Bus Stand, Reckong Peo” (HRTC stands for Himachal Road Transport Corporation) This was like a main bus hub for Spiti valley being the administrative capital for one of the least populated district – Kinnaur. From here on I did not have a plan in place. I was looking at the map and decided to go to Chitkul, I had heard a lot about this pretty little village and wanted to stay there for a day. Since it was early morning I could not find anyone at the enquiry, there was a timetable on the wall which said there is a bus at 0930 hours. I found myself a seat in the bus stand and was dozing off slowly. As the light start spreading, I could see snow covered peaks from the bus stand windows. I walked outside, the chill of the mountains hit my face, the sight made me overwhelmed and tears started flowing involuntarily, I could not control that emotional slash of the moment. I calmed myself, my little tummy started screaming for food, I went around the bus stand, there were no shops open, came back to the bus stand canteen, Same paratha greeted me which I was eating from two days..!

Time Table In Reckong Peo Bus Stand

As I had mentioned earlier one has to take ticket a bit in advance to get a seat. I was told by the canteen daada to ask for a right side window seat which I got with a little struggle, he did not tell the reason though. To be honest, deciding to travel the Spiti circuit by HRTC local busses is one adventurous decision. One amazing thing that I liked about HRTC is that there is a lot of concessions for different categories, for women there is 25 % straight discount on the ticket fare for all the ordinary intra-state buses, motivation to travel right..!?! One of their ways of empowering women I call this as..!

The Beautiful View of the Reckong Peo Bus Stand

The bus started sharp at 0930 hours. Now I understood why canteen dada had recommended right side seat, the view to the right side is spellbinding, the lush green valleys, lined by picture perfect villages, baspa river flowing amidst the pine and deodhar forests, snow-capped peaks, such a delight to the eyes..! The road to Chitkul is one of the toughest stretches I have ever travelled. Impregnated with high and sharp ascends, hairpin bends, definitely not for the faint hearted. It took around 6 hours to cover just 46 kms, most of the turns made my heart skip a beat every single time. Such adventurous and treacherous mountain roads, the bus drivers in this part of Himachal are amazingly skilled, I said to Guddu.

Views from the Bus window

I was enjoying the views and talking to a friend on phone with the excitement of being in the mountains in my mother tongue with all the confidence that people around would not understand the language, to my surprise once the call ended someone tapped me from behind, a pretty girl in her late twenties, she asked me if I was from Karnataka, I jumped up from my seat screaming a loud yesssss..! Hi, naanu Meena antha (My name is Meena) she said with a strong female voice, she turned her eyes towards the girl next to her and further said, ivlu nan friend Priyanka antha, naavibru ottige travel madta idivi, bangalore navru (She is my friend Priyanka, we are travelling together, we are from Bangalore) Our native language gave us an instant connection. As we three girls were in the introduction phase, the bus came to a halt. We had reached our destination for the day.
I picked up Guddu and got down. Waiting for next ten minutes, curious I peeped inside, Priyanka was breathing heavily, understood they required help. I helped them with their bags to get down and found a place to sit for Priyanka. Meena was a very shy girl and this was her first trip with a friend, and she was scared as Priyanka was sick. I spoke to the locals and found a Government clinic and we took Priyanka there, doctor gave her some colourful injection and she was little better after a while. They had booked a homestay beforehand to which we walked. They asked me about my stay, I said I have not booked anything as I was on an unplanned trip to which they both gave me a bewildered look. Priyanka said stay with us today, this way I can tell you my thanks for all the help you did. I agreed for it, we found a place to fill our empty tummies. Later on they both decided to sleep and I decided to explore a bit of the place.

Views from the Bus window

Let me give a small brief about the place. Chitkul is a small hamlet on the Indo-tibetian border, looks and feels like a paradise, enchantingly surreal landscape, surrounded by snow covered Kinner-Kailash ranges, Baspa River flowing in all its glory, dense forest cover ornamented by deodar and apple trees, and small little houses with wooden plank roofs. Another best part is there is absolutely no network here, no ATM, no Petrol pump. Situated in the Kinnaur district of Himachal, at an altitude of 11,319 feet above sea level (3450 m) and is the last Indian inhabited village with around a population of 600 souls. The Indian roads end here!! The place remains snow covered and cut off from rest of the world for most part of the winter season and is indeed very cold almost all of the year. The Indo-Tibet border is approximately 90 KMs from the Chitkul village. However, no civilian movement is allowed beyond Chitkul, which is why it is famously known as the last village before the Indo-Tibet Border. The area beyond the village is in control of the Indo-Tibet Border Police.

The LOC.!

As I was exploring the village I saw Zostel*, I decided to stay for another day, and to my luck there was a bed available for the next day. I went down to the river and started walking, I found three kids playing, with all their childish innocence they flashed some pretty smiles at me. After some quick introduction they became my tour guide for the day  they took me around the village, the very famous Matha Devi temple, post office, finally their homes, and ended up in a playground where I met more kids who were playing volleyball with a rope tied considered as the net.

The Beautiful Matha Devi Temple.!

As a little girl I had fallen in love with volleyball, and so I could not resist playing a game with these pretty kids. After a tiring game I gave some chocolates to the kids, the Sun had already bid bye for the day. I had to return to the homestay. I told my thanks and bid good bye to the kids, my tour guides were actually disappointed with me going back, one kid in her sweet voice told, “Didi aap mere ghar mey sojao na iss raat ko, mera maa bahut khoob rajma aur aloo banati hey” (Sister, you can sleep at my house for the night, my mom cooks nice kidney beans and potatoes) My heart melted for those words, such warm pure hearted kids. But then I had a thought it is not fair for me to stay. I promised to meet them tomorrow at the same spot and left with a heavy heart.

The Pahadi Kids whom I met.!

Clock showed 2130 hours as I entered the room. Both Meena and Priyanka looked fresh after their nap, though Priyanka still looked tired. Me and Meena went out for dinner and packed some food for Priyanka. After 68 hours I had a bed to sleep, yes I was continuously travelling for almost three days. As we lay on our bodies under the cozy blankets we exchanged our life stories, travel tales, laughed at our funny encounters and slowly escaped into a deep slumber as though I was hypnotized.

The Beautiful Baspa River.

I woke up before the alarm to witness those first rays of the Sun, we had a plan of trekking up to the last point of LOC, Nagsati ITBP camp (Indo-Tibetian Border Police). Priyanka was feeling better and decided to join us. As I had a reservation in Zostel for the day, I picked guddu and dropped him at the Zostel.

The Zostel.!

I could see those kids whom I had met yesterday at the same place, I ran down the hill and the kids jumped on me, I felt so much loved..! I was running around with these kids, when Meena and Priyanka joined. We all trekked up to the ITPB chatting, shouting, and singing. It was lunch time when we returned. Kids suggested we will go to “Hindustan ka akhri dhaba”. The views from this dhaba is something one can sit and stare for a whole day. After filling our tummies, our tired bodies was craving for some rest, we decided to rest for a while. We gave some more chocolates to the kids who took it with so much joy, with a heavy heart again I had to bid good bye to the kids.

The famous "Hindustan Ki Aakhri Dhaba".!

After a power nap I walked down to the Baspa River to chill out. I was sitting on the bank and enjoying that solitude. I could see a pretty bridge, I walked upto it, crossed the bridge. Little paradise was awaiting there. Those moments re-awakened my soul. I sat there for hours just mulling about life and feeling how inconsequential my daily life issues were. Just staring at those snow covered peaks filled so much joy in me. The non-existant clouds of the afternoon had decided to come with a vengeance in the evening creating beautiful patterns in the sky and the temperature dropped suddenly, It was freezing. I felt an urge to listen to some songs, I was playing a kannada song in my mobile and suddenly out of nowhere I heard a girl’s voice, Kannada Kannada she screamed. With a glint in her eyes, she asked if I was from Karnataka to which I said yes. She was Geetha from Bijapur, she was with her friend Ojus who was a meditation master practicing in Vietnam. I understood that they were on a “Himalayan Retreat” trip for 20 days with a group of meditation students from Vietnam. It is always delightful to meet people from your state when you are travelling outside, we spoke for a bit and I returned to Zostel.

Beautiful Chitkul.! 💓

I slept early as I had to take the early morning bus back to Reckong Peo. I woke up with a strange feeling all of a sudden, mobile showed 0030 hours, the weather outside was crazily freezing, and something inside me urged me to go out, me being a curious and restless soul decided to follow my instincts.  And there, I was walking alone on the banks of a gushing river with my mobile flash light, the temperature dipped even more and to my surprise it started to rain, I was not even wearing a jacket. I started to shiver in the cold, decided to walk back and something magical happened. It started snowing, I pinched myself to believe it. My joy knew no bounds, feeling the fresh snow on my body post-midnight was something I had not even dreamt off. That mountain chill, fresh snow, mighty Himalayas staring down at me, gushing river, magic of the place and myself…………!!!!!! Fantasies do come true indeed I said myself..!!  I walked back to Zostel feeling ecstatic..! I could not sleep properly after this..!

To be continued……..!!

*Zostel - Zostel is one of the largest network of backpackers' hostels founded in India, and one of the country's first. The chain of hostels has presence across 36 locations in India and Nepal

Travelouge With My Guddu - Part 1

And the alarm rang at 3:00 am, though I knew I would not sleep the whole night “Day-dreaming” of “MY Dream Trip” I had kept alarm anyways just in case to wake me up on time so that I would not miss my bus to the airport.!

I had quit my 5 year old corporate job, and decided to embark on this journey. As I had earlier mentioned I always had dreamt of travelling with no plan, absolute unplanned trip, and so I had only booked flight from Bangalore to Delhi, rest left to the days to come..!

A Girl travelling Solo Unplanned is still seen as a difficult thing to do in India due to obvious reasons, but trust me the excitement it gives is worth the risk. There is a thrill in the unknown, not knowing where you are headed, making decisions in the spur of the moment and landing up in magical places..! I was completely with an open mind, ready for all the pleasant and unpleasant surprises this trip would throw at me..!

My backpack (Lets call him Guddu from now) seemed as excited as me to get out of the house, the clock on the wall ticked 4:00 and it was time for me and Guddu to leave, my excitement bid bye to the house and its members in a minute and I started looking for an auto, we Bangaloreans know how difficult it is to find autos, the bus stand was only 2 kms away from my place and it was early morning, they had all reasons to not come. The uncertainties of an unplanned trip started right here, I was left with only one option, walking to majestic bus stand, I walked with Guddu all the way day dreaming of the Himalayas, found a Volvo bus which would start at 5:00 am, I thought this is perfect and boarded that bus. I was so very happy to see the empty streets of Bangalore, we all know the traffic of our city, as it was early morning and the hustle bustle of the city had not yet started, bus driver drove the bus in all the josh singing and enjoying the drive, and we all reached the airport in just 50 minutes..!

All excited I went into the airport, checked in Guddu. I could see a long long queue in the security check, I wonder why we humans do not have wings instead of legs, we could have skipped all these when we travel, harsh reality I had to wait for an hour for the security clearance, I was walking towards the entry gates, I could hear, “This is the final boarding call for Ms.Chaitra travelling to Delhi on flight number 6E-2228. I paced up my speed, I was the last one to board, the bus was waiting for me, the other 5 people in the bus gave a cold stare at me, I wanted to tell them It was not my mistake of humans not having wings.! :p Anyways I felt privileged for being the last one to board, all eyes at me..! Yes this is how my journey started, I told myself wait for more surprises to hit..!

Maybe the pilot was in a good mood, the flight had a very smooth take off, the visuals I saw after that was surreal, the plane was zooming on the sea of clouds, I just felt like jumping out of the flight and grabbing one of those cloud masses..! I said myself, calm down girl..! We flew 2000 plus kms in 2 hours and finally time to land, this time pilot’s mood had changed maybe, the landing was too scary..!

The Magical Sight from the flight window.!

Finally I was in Delhi, very near to my fantasy land. Picked up guddu from the luggage belt, I knew I should go to Himalayas, had a very vague idea about the further path.! As I had done Kashmir & Ladakh in full and was not intending to step into north east yet, I was left with either Himachal Pradesh or Uttarakhand, I had chosen Himachal Pradesh..! I found a nice seat in one corner to sit and decide the further path.

I had three to four weeks with a minimal budget, and had vaguely one state to explore.. I decided to start with Shimla. I was at the Old Delhi Railway station in the next one hour. After a few enquires got to know there is a night train from Delhi to Kalka and I could further take toy train from Kalka to Shimla. I left my Guddu to take a nap in the cloak room and started roaming around the streets of Delhi, travelling in Delhi metro, rickshaws and tut-tuks is an experience in itself, taking in the charm of Jaama masjid, exploring the colorful narrow streets of Chandni chowk, never realized how the time passed. It was evening, I had to head back for the train, and then my tummy started calling out for food, I made my way to the paratewale galli, people around were talking that this is Virat Kohli’s favorite place to eat..! But I didn’t expect Kohli to come that day as I was excited about my own journey..! 😛

Lovely sight of the Masjid

Reached railway station, picked up guddu, and the train arrived, typical Indian train, it was filled to brim..! As this was unplanned I could not make a reservation, the general compartments did not even have space for a small puppy, it was jam packed..! Now what to do Chaitra, get into the reserved compartment I told myself, This compartment was no less crowded, I made way through the infinite number of people trying to get in, made myself a small place on the foot board of the train, yes there was no other place left..!

Colorful displays of Chandini Chowk

Train started to move, I was holding guddu tightly and was slightly dozing off and the tadaaaaa a thunder storm woke me up from my slumber.. Yes it was lightning and thundering. Never even in my dreams had I thought I would experience such moments, yes it was like a fairy tale to watch those lightning striking  the sky from a moving train sitting on the foot board..! Those were the most gorgeous lightning I have ever seen in my life., pitch black sky and those beautiful white electric lines striking .. A night journey worth to remember..!

Next day morning around 04:00 hrs the train reached Chandigarh, and all the people except for a handful got down, finally got a proper seat to sit for another 2 hours. I was half asleep, somewhere after 20 minutes or so it started to move and again halted after ten minutes, a guy came into the compartment and switched off the power supply, me and the other 6 people in the compartment were puzzled at this and asked him why he was doing so, and the answer he gave, “Arey aa compartment toh yaha kaat gaya, baaki train Kalka chal gaya, Roj aisa hee hota hey”.. I was like what the hell just happened, I had no idea that compartments would get divided like this in middle. I asked the same guy what to do now, he asked me to get down and walk to the Chandigarh railway station and take the next train to Kalka..! Such a bad day I thought, and walked to the station half asleep..! The next train arrived and to my luck it was more crowded than the previous one, why is India so much populated I asked myself, with no answer I got into the train, became one among the infinite passengers in the train.!

Finally the train came to a screeching halt at Kalka, I liked the Kalka station, it was a small pretty and clean railway station with European architecture..! Enquiry counter was empty, I waited there and understood that the next toy train (Kalka-Shimla Himalayan Queen) was at 12:30 hrs, bought myself a general ticket and further waited for the train to arrive..!

Kalka-Shimla toy train journey is an experience in itself, it was a pretty little toy train with big windows, the general compartment was full as usual, I waited for the train to move and got into the reserved compartment and sat on the foot board again..! This was a very small compartment with some 50 odd seats and all the of it was occupied.. I silently sat on the foot board, there were two other travelers (lost souls like me) in the compartment standing and they were looking at me amazed.. What connected us was the “Paper Boat” juice we all had in our hands 😍 We instantly became friends for the journey..

Paper Boat in Train.!

The UNESCO World Heritage listed train started to chug up the hills leaving behind many picture perfect landscapes and the smoke of the coal, first sightings of the Himalayan foothills made me shout out with joy..! The sheer beauty of the ~ 100 km stretch will leave you wanting for more - total of 103 tunnels, 864 bridges, and 919 curves, the sharpest being 48⁰, all serve the 2’6” track connecting the summer capital to the plains below..! It is a celebration of slow travel indeed. Hours passed by as the gentle rocking of the coaches took me into time immemorial..! Me and my two newly found friends were shouting inside every single tunnel, as the tunnel echoed our voices, the silence just after that, the water that dribbled inside the tunnels, the bridges that passed, the constant sight of the hills etched a permanent memory in my heart..!

The curves.!

The Train was delayed by an hour, it reached Shimla at 6:30 pm and guess what I had to catch the bus from Shimla to Reckong Peo at 6:30 pm (Yes forgot to say this earlier, I had decided to enter the Majestic Spiti Valley from Shimla and had booked a ticket to Reckong Peo online in the afternoon) I had to run from the railway station, thankfully I had the HRTC Enquiry number to which I called and confirmed that the bus was late by ten minutes. Finally boarded the bus, And yet again I could see the entire population here, as I had a reservation I got a seat to sit..! I understood that Himachal buses, especially in the Spiti Valley stretch are extremely crowded, as there will be only one bus to a particular place in a day, and all the locals depend on this one bus for their daily commutes between the villages. So I told myself – for the rest of the trip, come to the bus stand early, stand in the queue and take the ticket so that there is a chance of getting a seat to sit..! As the bus started, slowly I slipped into a dreamy sleep as the Bus made its way up the Himalayas..!

To Be Continued.....................