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