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Kinnaur - My love
Kinnaur--- a land laden with its apple orchards, cedar forests, deodar trees and with a texture of narrow and wide valleys extending to various unknown snow peaks . The gems of Hindu - Buddhist architecture blended with the silence, the pristine glory of nature and an indigenous but tranquil culture untouched by contemporary changes--- a serene locale with deep integrity towards the Lords of the Nature.
The strenuous drive on the old Hindustan to Tibet road, through the cool forest of Kufri and Narkanda, with a companion Sutlez river, through the ups and downs on the hills is quite fascinating. From Shimla you climb to Kufri and then reach a bit higher to Narkanda, say 65 kilometres covered in 3 hours normally. The high altitude road and the view of small hills at your feet seems to be an achievement and the photographs of such valleys is a souvenir in it-self. AT every 2-3 kilometres you would see the sign-boards that praise your achievement of reaching at such an high altitude. And every time I see such boards I saw young couple standing by the boards to be photographed with a sign-board divulging the altitude of the spot. A momentum to be remembered that we had been to such heights……
The cool deodar shade (often too cold) , the monkeys and langoors (monkey with black face ) are a common sight. Beware, they may snatch any eatable from your HANDS also…… The hills with green creepers climbing on the huge fat tree trunks and the white and bright red small flowers, swaying at the slightest touch of the breeze attract the travelers eyes…….
The drive is just like horse riding------ can say horse riding in a vehicle…… the twists and turn on the narrow road give you the feeling of horse riding and the sudden death breaks, which need to be applied on every third curve is sufficient to refresh the camel ride memory . nd then again from Narkanda you have to glide down to Kingal where Sutlez becomes your companion . One one side you have Sutlez river flowing with all its might and on the other side you see the green fields….
I must add if you have a weak stomach, please take some pills which prevent vomiting because many tourists are unable to enjoy the ride just because of their weak stomach.
And again after reaching Rampur Bushahr, say 60 kilometres from Narkanda, or 125 kilometres from Shimla, you find your self again at a very low altitude…… but do-not worry, the climb again starts when you reach the Nathpa-Jhakri Dam. And At Juri, you have a choice to continue your journey to Kinnaur or to make a diversion and reach Sarahan .
At Sarahan, the famous temple – “BHEEMA KAALI” . This is a wooden temple with his glorious architecture and art work on the walls and doors especially. In yester years there was a tradition of Human sacrifice and then animal sacrifice in this temple which is now banned. This temple boasts of Gold images of Goddess killing Mahishasur and other demons. It has two other temples of Raghunath and Narsingh Dev temple. The religious discipline and the adherence of the old tradition is so naturally carried out that one feels going back to the old centuries.
And now back to our climb to Kinnaur, specifically to Kalpa, a small town perched on a hill top. And then we reach the Charang Ghati, heaven for the photographers, a paradise for he nature lovers…… even an artist would feel astonished to see the curves and creations of nature on the mountains…… ah… at 6100 metres altitude, the Nature has preserved her art-work. (For details you may please see my Blog named… from Manali to Moon)
And , next is the experience to climb the virgin glaciers….. how come virgin… because every time it snows, the glaciers become fresh and give you the feel of their “virginity”. Here one has to be very cautious and has to follow the guide-trek leader very seriously. On the way one may see the local Kinners walking on the pagdandi ( a small path created by walking on the hills). The voice of local music instruments and men-women drinking Chaang and singing can also be seen at ‘sun-spots’……ooppsss….. the spots where the rock is un-covered by the snow and people use it as a place to sit and bask in the sun (when-ever they get to see it ).
Village Charang in the Tirung valley is in it-self a preserved museum of old days….
And then the religious Parikrama starts, a strenuous walk around the Kinner Kailash, a full one day trek on foot , covering 18-25 kilometeres depending on the altitude from where
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