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Published: August 14th 2009
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It was raining lightly when we left Naggar and drove through the lush Kullu Valley. We passed many small villages full of slate roofed houses and apple orchards. The roads were lined with shops selling woolen shawls - many of them had men weaving in them though most of the weaving is done by women on looms in their homes. Once again we were following a river valley and after passing through a 4 klm long tunnel we crossed from the Kullu River valley to the Banjar Valley en route to the Jalori Pass and Shimla - our starting point on this trip over 14 days earlier. It was another day full of alpine scenery and terraced mountains, all the time with the river rushing by. We felt like we were in Switzerland again.
I had read about an old wooden temple that we would pass and asked Sanju to take us there. He had never been there so had a little trouble finding the turnoff and a lot more trouble turning the car once we got there! It was up a very steep road and he had to turn the car on it so he could drive down later. We
headed up the set of steps and they just kept going up and up and up! By this time I was thinking it was a very bad suggestion to go there. Eventually we arrived to find a few groups of picnicking Indian families and a very gaily painted temple. It was worth visiting - the view from the top was worth the climb - and Sanju certainly enjoyed the sightseeing. It must be good for him to visit somewhere he hadn't been many times before. The temple had lovely wooden balconies and was topped with an impressive 45 metre high tower.
That evening - the last one of the trip with Sanju - we stayed in the tiny village of Jibhi in an old wooden guest house with a garden full of healthy roses and the river flowing quickly by at the garden's edge. A very pretty place with great food. Our room was reached by a ladder and had a miniature balcony. Next morning we headed up to the Jalori Pass, not particularly high at 3223 meters but the road was very steep and not in good condition - there were not a lot of bends - it just
went straight up! Chai break on top of the pass in a tiny dabha as we watched the mist swirl around the mountain top. Again the scenery was alpine. I bought a pair of finely stitched shoes with coir soles at the chai house for $AUD 3 which the local ladies wear indoors.
Later that morning our last day was marred by a slight traffic accident when Sanju and another car hit each other as we went around a bend. Thankfully no one was hurt though Sanju had a slight dent and the other car a broken headlight. The other driver was going far too fast but after a big argument Sanju asked us to pay 300 rupees to him, which we did. We left and Sanju immediately gave us the money back - ha said that because there were tourists in the car the other driver wanted a lot of money off Sanju. He had to pretend he didn't have any and told the driver he would have to make us pay. The other driver then settled for a lot less money. Anyway Sanju was pretty subdued for the next hour or so but once Jerry and him spent
a half hour pushing the dent out and we promised not to mention it to his boss he cheered up. He had been a fabulous driver the whole fortnight - very careful and certainly not fast. We had always felt very comfortable and secure with him behind the wheel. Sadly later that afternoon we arrived back in Shimla and Sanju took us to our departure hotel. It had been a fabulous 16 days - we would highly recommend both the travel agency - Bandbox, based in Shimla - and the superb scenery of the Kinnaur and Spiti Valleys.
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Anil joshi
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Very beatiful