Click here to read this travelogue from start...
I had planned the day to be a relaxed one, doing very little or nothing. Even doing nothing at such a place is an experience in itself. We had planned to not have breakfast in the guest house and trek till Gushaini, find some local dhaba and eat something local (if we could find something).
After we took our showers, we got ready and started our stroll to Gushaini at a very relaxed pace, with no specific agenda in mind (and we carried a water bottle this time!). Right about 50-100 meters from Trishla Homestay, there is a local temple built inside a beautiful green property, walled and having a small iron gate. A couple of rooms in a corner of the plot served home to the priest who stayed there. We thought to pay a visit to the temple casually. We took our shoes out and entered the temple. It was a cool and fresh morning and the atmosphere inside the temple was manifesting the divinity aptly.
We had just casually prayed at the Shiva-Parivaar (family of Lord Shiva) and turned to look around, an old man wearing light woollens, sitting on a cotton-mattress with a couple of blankets around caught our eyes. He appeared to be the chief-priest. We went up to him and greeted him touching his feet. He muttered some blessings and asked us to sit there with him, on the mattress. He started talking to us by first asking where we had come from. We told him how we had casually stopped on our way to Gushaini to look around this place and he told us to go ahead and visit the other deities and roam around.
The local priest, much younger to the baba we talked to, appeared to be preparing morning tea for all in a small kitchen. We paid our due visit to all the gods and went to baba to thank, and then leave for Gushaini.
"Arey, baitho abhi. Chai pi ke jaana." (Wait, have some tea first), baba said.
We said "Arey nahi baba, hum log Gushaini naashta karne hi ja rahe hain, wahin pi lenge. Aap log pi lijiye" (Oh its OK, we are anyways heading to Gushaini for breakfast. You carry on, please).
But baba insisted that we had tea with them, and the junior baba immediately poured us some steaming hot tea in steel tumblers. We had no option but to sit there, humbled, and drink the sugary, creamy and energizing concoction, the way I like it. Quickly finish the tea, we asked for leave and headed out. Baba's cordial treatment and serene aura topped up with the calm and spiritual air around, which left us smiling for a couple of minutes even after we were out, walking towards Gushaini.
"This is going to be a lovely day ahead!", I told myself.
We moved on to find some breakfast in Gushaini, but got confused when a bridge appeared on our left. Lay ahead on and beyond the bridge was a neatly paved road on the other side of the river, while the trail further on our side went rough and steeply sloped upwards. Quickly figuring out that the right way was the left one (you know what I mean), we took the bridge.
About 10-15 minutes walk along the river brought us to this small, quaint village that is Gushaini. There is nothing quintessential about the place, but I was glad to be here to finally have paid my long overdue visit. Along the river, you can find number of guest houses and home-stays, all offering the same set of facilities - the activities, the trout etc. One of them is Raju Bharti's Home Stay, which as a matter of fact was the sole reason why I was there. It wouldn't be exaggeration if I said that he is the man who made this place this known among enthusiasts like me. I'm not going to write much about his home-stay here, as one can find a thousand articles on the internet specifically about that.
We walked a little further and reached the village. Half the shops were still closed and we could not find any shop that we could say was restaurant or a dhaba for sure. Most of them were chai-shops serving hot tea, some breakfast items and local sweets. We finally came across a small restaurant that was still empty. We could only get momos and parathas there, so we both settled for paratha and chai. Strange as it is, the very basic things like an aaloo-pyaaz paratha and chai, which we can get everywhere in north-India, can satisfy your hungry soul when you are at such a beautiful place where you least expect anything better.
We filled ourselves, thanked the cook and headed back. I had one resolve though, I just had to visit Raju Bharti's guest house even though I knew we'd not really be welcome there without a booking. We still tried our luck. Standing at this end of the rope-way and waving blankly to the other side hoping that someone spotted us and pulled us there, we spent about 5 minutes. I did not really know at that time that the mechanism they used in making the rope-way did not require anybody to pull you to the other side, you can pull yourself.
So, we jumped in the basket and crossed the river one by one. A guy standing there was looking confused, figuring out who we were and what we were trying to do, till I told him that we just wanted to have a look at the place and that I had been wanting to see this for more than 5 years. He allowed us to take a stroll inside the property and told us not to enter any room (obviously!). It is a huge and beautifully mended place, with wooden cottages, a bon-fire area surrounded by benches to sit, a lot of rose shrubs and other trees. We thanked the guy for letting us check the place out and he guided us on how to sit properly inside the basket and pull ourselves while crossing the river.
Aahhh! That was another item checked in my checklist. I had nothing more to accomplish out of this trip now. On our way back to the hotel, we bought a couple of bananas, hoping to find another sweet miracle in it, but they were just like "normal" bananas...what was I thinking? Anyway, we came back to the hotel and talked to Aman if we could get a ride to Aut in the evening, we had a bus to catch. He said he'd take us there in his car and Deepu would also come to see us off.
We spent the rest of the day sitting in the sun, beside the river and talking to Aman. He told us a lot of stories about his childhood in the village, the growing-up years he spent in a college in Sundar Nagar and other things. He talked us about general philosophies of his people, his desires to gain experience doing what he does and also that he wanted to write a book to keep a record of everything he has to say. I found him very genuine, grounded and mature for his age.
In the evening, we thought it would be best to keep an hour of buffer with us and leave a little early. We got stuck in a bad traffic jam in Banjar, but still reached Aut before time. Now, we only had to wait for the bus, so I asked Aman and Deepu to leave. They said they'd stay in Aut till late, meeting up with a few friends, but they would see us off first. The bus was late, which was making me uncomfortable. The bus had to start from Manali, so I called up the Manali number mentioned in the ticket. Aman talked to the guy at the other end and was told that the bus had already left Manali. He gave us the bus-conductor's number which was continuously out of the coverage area. While Aman and his friends were speculating the current location of the bus, me and Aman kept on trying calling the bus-conductor.
Finally, my call got answered and I was relieved to hear that it was on its way to Aut and would be another 10 minutes. I had also confirmed that our names were on the list of passengers. The wait had ended and the bus had arrived. The conductor stepped out of it and looked at us.
"Ohooo!!! Aap ho?" (Oh, so it's you guys!), he said smiling broadly.
It was the same bus we took from Delhi to Aut, he was the same guy. We greeted each other cordially.
"Itni jaldi chal diye waapis?" (Going back so soon?), he asked.''
I said sadly, "It's been three days, have to be back in office tomorrow".
"It's OK, you can come again and spend more time then". We smiled.
We took our seats in the bus, looked outside the window where Aman and Deepu were standing, waiting for the bus to pull-off. We waved at them, said our 'Thank-You's and sat back.
The journey back home was more annoying, somebody in the bus had the most smelly feet ever and wasn't ready to put his shoes back on despite a lot of complains by people in the bus. Soon, our noses got adapted to the smell and we fell asleep.
The returning-home part is the most exciting part of each one of my trips - mainly because I love to be home with my family and also because that's the time I can close my eyes and look back at my experience of the whole trip beginning-to-end, checking-out all the pictures we'd clicked and talking about things we liked most and things we could've done better...and also promising ourselves that we'd come again for sure.
I haven't really kept such promises (apart from McLeod Ganj), but will try hard to keep true to this one. How can one resist?
We moved on to find some breakfast in Gushaini, but got confused when a bridge appeared on our left. Lay ahead on and beyond the bridge was a neatly paved road on the other side of the river, while the trail further on our side went rough and steeply sloped upwards. Quickly figuring out that the right way was the left one (you know what I mean), we took the bridge.
 |
| Bridge to Gushaini |
 |
| Rope-way to Raju Bharti's |
We walked a little further and reached the village. Half the shops were still closed and we could not find any shop that we could say was restaurant or a dhaba for sure. Most of them were chai-shops serving hot tea, some breakfast items and local sweets. We finally came across a small restaurant that was still empty. We could only get momos and parathas there, so we both settled for paratha and chai. Strange as it is, the very basic things like an aaloo-pyaaz paratha and chai, which we can get everywhere in north-India, can satisfy your hungry soul when you are at such a beautiful place where you least expect anything better.
We filled ourselves, thanked the cook and headed back. I had one resolve though, I just had to visit Raju Bharti's guest house even though I knew we'd not really be welcome there without a booking. We still tried our luck. Standing at this end of the rope-way and waving blankly to the other side hoping that someone spotted us and pulled us there, we spent about 5 minutes. I did not really know at that time that the mechanism they used in making the rope-way did not require anybody to pull you to the other side, you can pull yourself.
So, we jumped in the basket and crossed the river one by one. A guy standing there was looking confused, figuring out who we were and what we were trying to do, till I told him that we just wanted to have a look at the place and that I had been wanting to see this for more than 5 years. He allowed us to take a stroll inside the property and told us not to enter any room (obviously!). It is a huge and beautifully mended place, with wooden cottages, a bon-fire area surrounded by benches to sit, a lot of rose shrubs and other trees. We thanked the guy for letting us check the place out and he guided us on how to sit properly inside the basket and pull ourselves while crossing the river.
Aahhh! That was another item checked in my checklist. I had nothing more to accomplish out of this trip now. On our way back to the hotel, we bought a couple of bananas, hoping to find another sweet miracle in it, but they were just like "normal" bananas...what was I thinking? Anyway, we came back to the hotel and talked to Aman if we could get a ride to Aut in the evening, we had a bus to catch. He said he'd take us there in his car and Deepu would also come to see us off.
We spent the rest of the day sitting in the sun, beside the river and talking to Aman. He told us a lot of stories about his childhood in the village, the growing-up years he spent in a college in Sundar Nagar and other things. He talked us about general philosophies of his people, his desires to gain experience doing what he does and also that he wanted to write a book to keep a record of everything he has to say. I found him very genuine, grounded and mature for his age.
In the evening, we thought it would be best to keep an hour of buffer with us and leave a little early. We got stuck in a bad traffic jam in Banjar, but still reached Aut before time. Now, we only had to wait for the bus, so I asked Aman and Deepu to leave. They said they'd stay in Aut till late, meeting up with a few friends, but they would see us off first. The bus was late, which was making me uncomfortable. The bus had to start from Manali, so I called up the Manali number mentioned in the ticket. Aman talked to the guy at the other end and was told that the bus had already left Manali. He gave us the bus-conductor's number which was continuously out of the coverage area. While Aman and his friends were speculating the current location of the bus, me and Aman kept on trying calling the bus-conductor.
Finally, my call got answered and I was relieved to hear that it was on its way to Aut and would be another 10 minutes. I had also confirmed that our names were on the list of passengers. The wait had ended and the bus had arrived. The conductor stepped out of it and looked at us.
"Ohooo!!! Aap ho?" (Oh, so it's you guys!), he said smiling broadly.
It was the same bus we took from Delhi to Aut, he was the same guy. We greeted each other cordially.
"Itni jaldi chal diye waapis?" (Going back so soon?), he asked.''
I said sadly, "It's been three days, have to be back in office tomorrow".
"It's OK, you can come again and spend more time then". We smiled.
We took our seats in the bus, looked outside the window where Aman and Deepu were standing, waiting for the bus to pull-off. We waved at them, said our 'Thank-You's and sat back.
The journey back home was more annoying, somebody in the bus had the most smelly feet ever and wasn't ready to put his shoes back on despite a lot of complains by people in the bus. Soon, our noses got adapted to the smell and we fell asleep.
The returning-home part is the most exciting part of each one of my trips - mainly because I love to be home with my family and also because that's the time I can close my eyes and look back at my experience of the whole trip beginning-to-end, checking-out all the pictures we'd clicked and talking about things we liked most and things we could've done better...and also promising ourselves that we'd come again for sure.
I haven't really kept such promises (apart from McLeod Ganj), but will try hard to keep true to this one. How can one resist?
2 comments:
Well,is rajus cottage better than trishla home stay ? I booked in trishla for this christmas.
Raju's is more scenic and a complete setup in itself, like a resort...camp-fire area, dining area, rooms and well kept garden...and its not on the road, you have to cross the river to get there...via a rope-way kinda thing...! Trishla is right on the road, and right on the river-side, a small setup but very beautiful. Very courteous staff, very clean and amazing sitting space almost in the middle of the river. All in all, I found Trishla more accessible but Raju's is more exotic.
Post a Comment