Backpacking to Kasol - Challal - Choj

Kasol is a small town located in the Parvati Valley of Kullu District, Himachal Pradesh, India. 

Situated at the heart of Parvati Valley, Kasol is an offbeat retreat for backpackers. Although the nearby villages of Kasol is quaint, Kasol has sufficient modern amenities such as travel agents, internet cafe and restaurants. 

Reaching Kasol : By  flight or bus to Bhuntar.  Regular bus plies to Bhuntar from Chandigarh/Delhi which takes approximately 7-8 hours from Chandigarh and 13 hours from Delhi.

From Bhuntar bus plies every 30 minutes to Kasol.  

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Reached Kasol on the morning of 18th October, 2014 with all excitement to explore the Parvati Valley. Upon arrival in Kasol, we were startled to find touts didn't approached for hotels which is usually common in any tourist place in India. Moving on towards Manikaran for 200 meters to find an inexpensive stay we found a beautiful place, Himalayan Guest House, owned by a local family. 

Our senses evoked as soon as we opened the balcony door. The view of the Himalayas, the ripple of the Parvati River as it hopped over the stones, the chirping of the birds; everything was so calm and serene. Soon we got fresh and had our breakfast in Moonlight Cafe/German Bakery and set out to explore the Parvati Valley.

Himalayan Guest House, Kasol

 Himalayan Guest House

Approach road for Himalayan Guest House

View outside room - Himalayan Guest House- Kasol

View from our room

Toast with Peanut Butter and Coffee

Choj

Choj is a hamlet, situated at 10 minutes walk from Kasol. 

Towards Manikaran

Bridge connecting Manikaran Road and Choj village. 

Challal

After exploring Choj, we headed towards Challal. The trail to Challal takes about 30-40 minutes. Travellers and locals can be found on the way and  human inhabitation is sporadic. The terrain is rugged and it is advisable to walk at a medium pace.  

Challal is a sleepy village with few cafes. The villagers are heart warming to talk with and they are always full of ideas to make backpacker's journey comfortable.   

An alluring thing that I found among the natives of the valley is that they are happy in their own terms. Right from a child to an old man everyone seemed quite joyous and their face resounded happiness. Perhaps their understanding of comfort and luxury is far more deeper because their comfort is to share a smile and luxury is to make a backpacker's journey comfortable. 

Bridge connecting Kasol and Challal

After crossing Parvati River

Road to Challal

A traditional house on the way to Challal

Parvati River

On the way to Challal

A village lady of Challal

Kids posing from their school ! 

In the village I meet the same kid  from the previous photograph and I gave him a Cadbury Dairy Milk. 

Barn

Interior of Challal

After roaming around the village for sometime and striking conversations with the locals we had our lunch in Freedom Cafe and headed back to our room in Kasol. 

Hello September !

Another month, another bunch of wishes, hopes and a long to-do list. As a new month approaches I find myself overwhelmed with joy. Both from academic and personal point of view as a new month begins I make a mental to-do list of courses to be covered, places to travel, things to buy etc. 

This month I have decided to live a soulful life and to inculcate daily habits into my life. I have picked few daily habits from Zen Habits by Leo Babauta . 

Apart from inculcating the daily habits I have decided to invest few hours daily for yoga and meditation.   




quote by OSHO :  Only one thing is going to remain with you : that is your witnessing, that is your watchfulness. This watchfulness is meditation.

Wish all my readers - A Soulful September !  

Comments are highly welcomed!

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University of Petroleum and Energy Studies - Instagram Photos

#Instagram photos of University of Petroleum and Energy Studies, Bidholi, Dehradun.  

These photos were taken over the last one year. 

Thanks for viewing.

Comments are highly welcomed!

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A Story of Snow : Mussorie

I called up dad to inform I have reached Mussorie, it was the highest snowfall in Mussorie in 14 years. Dad asked me whether it is full of snow and cold out there. I squeaked - Yeah! It is and it is freezing. Enjoy your time, dad told me and I hung up the call.

For most of Indians snowfall is a distant dream, it doesn’t the fit the pattern. It is something totally out of the world, which occurs only in movies and in west. The moment you tell someone that you have experienced snowfall their eye glistens, even the most uncurious person will spare a moment to ask about it.

It was raining heavily for few days and on January 21^st morning the hills in front of my hostel was covered with snow. I picked up my phone and called Dinesh, Akhil and Varun to get ready to go to Mussorie, no questions asked. Even Kasi promptly decided to join us with his roommate Amar and I was quite surprised.

We reached Dehradun Railway station at about 1 pm and hired a cab. The cab driver warned he holds no responsibility if we can’t make it to Mussorie as the traffic is stuck due to heavy snowfall. We took a leap of faith to continue hoping that we will find a way in case of any traffic jam. And yes, right after leaving Dehradun the traffic ceased to move. Most of the cars were returning back and prompted us to return back as police is not allowing any more cars onwards to Mussorie. For a moment we thought all hopes are gone and we have to return back.

As they say hope is a brilliant thing, another cab driver who is a local guy of Mussorie told our cab-driver to follow him to reach Mussorie via an alternate rural route. That moment when our cab turned and took the other way I knew we will make it, we will make it for sure.

In another one hour reached 2 kms short of Mussorie and had to leave the cab because no cars were moving to heavy snow in the road.

And the snow journey starts here. 

Akhil, Varun, Amar, Kasi, Dinesh and yours truly :)

  

 

Sun, Scenery, and Culture Combined: Five Unique Travel Destinations.

-Guest Blog Post-

Sun, Scenery, and Culture Combined: Five Unique Travel Destinations:

Last year, the following places in the world that has received the highest number of visitors who comes from all the parts in the world. Here are the five unique travel destinations :

1. Colombia
Until recently Colombia has been one of the most visited place due to the unique attractions found in the area. The country has friendly people, with rich culture that will make you have the best moments whenever you are visiting the place. Never forget that it has one of the oldest tourist attractions that will make you have the best moments whenever you are visiting the country. If you are thinking about the best place to have your holiday then, this country should always be your choice. 

2. Laos
The city of Laos comes as second in terms of uniqueness for the tourists who may be looking for the best place to have fun moments in Asia. The city is crowded with people who have different kind of culture, abusive street-hawkers as well as chaotic traffic. This will enable you to enjoy the sun at the same time seeing the beautiful sceneries that the city offers to the guests who comes from other parts of the world. This has made it possible for those people who may be looking for something that is unique especially when having fun moments after the New Year celebrations. The city also has 32 temples located on the streets with full saffron-robed monks that form lush scenery of the nature reserves in the city. 

3. Turkey:
The country offers a mixture of ancient history as well as rich Islamic culture that has fabulous food & modern nightlife it is no wonder to the Turkey’s capital called Istanbul. For those people you want to enjoy a unique culture, then this is one of the destinations that you should always think about whenever you are planning for your visit. You will definitely have the best moments as you explore more about the history of the country during your holiday. 

4. Iceland:
The bizarre as well as spectacular landscapes of the Iceland have made it appear as among the unique destinations in the world for those people who want to have an amazing holiday. The sun, scenery and the culture of the people truly makes it one of the best places to visit. You will the exciting capital of the Reykjavik, where you will find majestic glaciers, snow-capped mountains, and lava fields among other natural wonders in the country. This has attracted people to come from all parts of the world to come and enjoy what the country offers. 

5. London
The city has friendly people, with rich culture that will make you have the best moments whenever you are visiting the place. Never forget that it has one of the oldest tourist attractions that will make you have the best moments whenever you are visiting the country. This will enable you appreciate the British culture when compared to other cities in Britain.

Author Bio:

Melody Cleo is a passionate blogger from Manchester, UK. In her free time, she writes articles on various topics such as technology, gadgets, travel...etc. As of now she is focusing on renew driving licence, which provides driving licence services for UK people.