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Published: June 22nd 2008
Since I last wrote, we have spent much of our time hanging off the edge of a cliff inside a tin-can they call a bus! We left the honeymooners in Musoorie and got an eight hour bus back down the winding road to the city of Chandigarh. According to the guidebook, it is supposed to be unlike other cities in India, the usual urban chaos being replaced by lovely wide tree-lined avenues, and the ox carts and peasants being left behind as the new and modern city emerged. We had high hopes. I was hoping to have a "night off" so to speak, and imagined that we would be wandering along lovely clean and shiny streets visiting hip restaurants with India's yuppie youth. I should have known better! It was just like any other city in India - chaotic, crumbling, and full of litter! It did, however, have numerous roundabouts unlike most places in India. I guess the foreign city planner in charge didn't realize that roundabouts just wouldn't work in India as you have to have some semblance of road rules. The result was a lot of honking (more than usual!) and a lot of near-misses. Our tuk-tuk got side-swiped
by another tuk-tuk, but as the damage was minimal, both just glanced and then carried on!
The only thing we did in Chandigarh was the famous Fantasy Rock Garden. It is basically a garden made out of rocks (as the name suggests) and recycled garbage. We really didn't know what to expect. It actually turned out to be a pleasant surprise, quite fun and a big change from anything else we have done recently. It is worth the meagre entrance fee if you are in the region.
Straight after coming back from the rock garden, we checked out of our hotel and hopped straight onto a bus to Shimla, another mountain town. It was only 90 km so should have been a couple of hours, but no, this is India. It ended up taking just over four hours because of the incredibly steep winding roads, and the fact that the driver kept stopping every hour for about 10 minutes wth no explanation, leaving everyone sitting on the bus wondering what was going on. Scott and I theorized that he must have a different lover in every city!
Shimla was a very strange place to visit for a
Brit who has been away from Britain for too long. It became a favourite retreat with the British Raj in the late 1800s and developed accordingly. Many of the buildings were very British-looking, with black and white beams and old stone churches. The mountain scenery and low lying mist made me think of the Lake District in England, but a bit on the shabby side! Amongst the crumbling elegant buildings were also rickety wooden hovels, like I imagine London to have been before it was wiped out by the great fire. It was an interesting place to just take a wander. The remarkable thing about Shimla was that there were laws in place to stop people spitting and littering. Indeed, the streets were noticeably cleaner. Unfortunately, this didn't extend to urinating (and worse) in public, which was still going on at every turn!
We spent the afternoon wondering around the towns steep streets, drinking a chai as we watched the rain pour down, and then later drinking our first beer in India with Damian, a guy we met in Rishikesh, then Musoorie, and then here. The funny thing was that there are no real quality controls in Indian manufacturing,
at least as far as the alcoholic content of beer reveals. On the label, it said it was no less than 5% but no more than 8.5% alcohol - a bit of a wide spread!
The next morning a thick mist still hung onto Shimla and we decided that there was no way we would get to see the snowy mountains promised in the guidebook. We decided to pack quickly and rush down to try to catch an 8am bus. We got it in the nik of time. We were on our way to Kasol, and hoping that it was a place that we could finally settle down for a few days and relax, our little piece of nirvana.
It was a 10 hour bus ride to Kasol. The whole time we were suspended precariously on the edge of a cliff in a tin-can-like bus, taking peeks at the chasm below us when we dared. Every now and then we would pass by a temple and several locals would mutter a quick prayer. I began to wonder if we should join them! I guess we should have, as just 30 minutes before arriving at our destination, the inevitable
happened - we crashed. It was actually a head-on collision with a teeny tiny Indian Tata car. Luckily, no-one was injured, and our bus wasn't too badly damaged at all, but the little car was all crunched at the front. Instantly, everyone got out to see the damage (this was probably the most exciting thing to have hapened in ages!) and there was a lot of talking and head wobbling until a policeman arrived on the scene. He ended up making the car-guy pay the bus driver a nominal amount, and then we could finally move on. After dodging a flock of sheep and a family of horses, we arrived in Kasol.
Our first impressions were good. It is surrounded by steep mountains and a river, and it is very small, just a handful of homes, guesthouses, restaurants, and internet cafes. It is the backacker HQ of the Parvali valley and is a nice break. We instantly showered, which was a real treat in itself as it was hot water and there was actually a shower head (imagine?!). Recently, all we have had are bucket showers which can get a bit trying, especially after a long dusty trip. We
also headed to get Italian food for dinner - bruschetta and pizza. Even though we love Indian food, it was a nice break and our bowels probably appreciated the change if you know what I mean!!! They also sold the first cheap beer we have found in India - hooray! I knew we were going to like this place!
We ended up spending three days here, exploring the area around the town of Kasol, and then further afield towards the head of the valley. We had intended to do the eight hour hike to a remote village, but things didn't go according to plan. The 18km bus ride took almost three hours, believe it or not, due to the long waits, winding roads, and frequent stops. In the end, we just did two shorter hikes to closer villages, which were nice all the same. I think we were secretly grateful to have gotten out of the long hike! 😉
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Divya
non-member comment
Parvati valley...
Hi Patricia, Your parvati valley pics are amazing - did you happen to make it to Malana? That's the main reason for the 'Hashishi Valley' nickname... I'd been there recently - you can read about in: http://himachalholidays.blogspot.com/ If you're still around the Himachal Pradesh, do make that trek - a must-do!