Our long stay in Old Manali came to an end as we decided to proceed to Parvati Valley, stay in Kasol perhaps and take a look around. To reach Kasol we had to go from Manali to Bhuntar and then board another bus from Bhuntar to Kasol.

Manali to Kasol, a Bumpy Ride

A scenic bumpy ride in the local buses of Himachal Pradesh awaited us, the cost from Manali to Bhuntar was Rs 45 and from Bhuntar to Kasol was Rs 55. Not too much since the journey was approximately five to six hours long. The bus schedule at Bhuntar, you can go almost any where in Himachal from here.
A school bus passing by on the way to Kasol. We arrived in Kasol to be welcomed to some beats playing at the Indrasan Music festival, excited with the thought of an all night party next to the river we scouted for a room. Nothing seemed to fit our budget as people quoted around Rs 600 at the hotel we first asked and as we walked further away from the market we reached Lucky Dhaba.

Run by a group of Punjabi women, she gave us one room for Rs 300, that was reasonable but it wasn't hygienic. However we wanted a place to crash just for one day as we planned to move further in to Parvati, so we adjusted in a messy room.

We refreshed ourselves with Dal, Chawal, Chapati, Salad, Papad and Subzi (vegetable) for Rs 40, made by the Punjabi women, and later on we spent some time on the terrace absorbing the view of the Parvati river flowing just a few meters away. As evening drew by we went towards the party, we were stunned to know that it was Rs 600 to enter and it would last only till 10 pm, that was just two hours from the current time. We were delayed as Bhavika had left our room keys in and locked us out, but with someone called XNoise playing at the party we didn't regret our late entry.

Paying Rs 600 was definitely not worth it, so we just walked around and jumped in from the river side, thankfully we entered free of cost because the music was terrible. There was no flow, the music did not match my taste and I was dissatisfied, anyway we were happy that we got to go for a free party and went back to our room that was now uninviting with a lot of creepy crawlies on every wall.

Into the Wild

We were eager to get out of Lucky Dhaba, it was our priority for the next day. So we began our backpacking journey, on the way we picked up some supplies to have our breakfast while trekking to the interiors of Parvati. The higher altitude comes with thinner oxygen and since we had our backpacks with us, the frequency of our stops was increasing, although the view itself was something that we needed to ponder about. We walked through the forest with birds chirping, the rivers flow varying as per the terrain, speeding up at times and mellowing down at broader spaces. It was beautiful, the trees delightful, the formations that the barks created as they grew in age were vivid.
We experienced the joy of being one with nature, since the possibility of bumping into someone here was rather slim, except the locals who frequent this route to go back to Kasol for their supplies.

We walked for a good two hours to reach a small village in Parvati, which was suppose to be a stop over for our trek to a village beyond that, as the sky was clearing up and it was beginning to get hot. Luckily for us a woman came running up asking if we were looking for rooms to stay, Yes, we replied and followed her. As we walked towards the house we hoped it would be that gorgeous wooden house with a hammock hanging on the porch of the first level.

To our surprise it was, as compared to Lucky Dhaba this was something different, a refreshing change, the spotless carpet, the well made beds, the colour, the sheets, the wooden planks on the floor and ceiling, a lovely room it was. The cost she said, we would have to wait for her husband to come, and as we anxiously waited we thought we would pay about Rs 300 and not more. But we were shocked when he asked us to pay Rs 100, an awesome price that worked out to Rs 50 a day for each of us in this home-like accommodation.

The village was quiet with around 100 people living in 20 odd houses, which were well spaced out.

All the houses seem to be equipped with a shawl weaving machine and the women spend at least an hour everyday to make the shawl, it seemed to be a complex process to us. The good thing is that it gets the family an additional source of income.

We were told that this village too has a hot water stream like Vashisht, so after resting for a while we decided to go for a stroll to the stream. It was early evening when we set off, the temperature had fallen quite a bit. We passed by a statue of the local deity in the picture decorated with colourful garments. The view as you can see is quite interesting, but the walk itself is good fun.

We had to walk for a good 20-25 minutes before we could reach the hot water spring and prior to that, we ended up going down towards the river assuming that the hot water would be there. But with the help of few locals who were passing by, we managed to find the spot where the hot water emerges.

We got to see some lovely patterns formed on the banks of the river.

Unlike the hot water springs in Vashisht, this one was lukewarm a pleasant temperature to the cold outside, the only problem was that it was merely 6 inches deep so you had to pour the water on yourself. I just sat down in it, splashing some water in myself. Unfortunately it started to drizzle, we could feel the cold drops of rain hit our wet bodies, it was time to run for cover.

As we walked back to the village the weather started to clear up, we reached in time for dinner. Rajma chawal and subzi, it was home-cooked food that was simple yet satisfying and definitely tasty. After eating our fill, we crashed and had a good nights rest. The next day we decided to go to Manikaran, pilgrim place for Hindus and Sikhs, and also known for its hot water springs.

Mellow in Manikaran

On the way we went to a restaurant and tanked up on something known as Shiva Lassi or bhang. The walk to Manikaran is two kms from Kasol, once again this is a beautiful, scenic trek.


With the Bhang beginning to take effect in some time, the colours seemed to get nice and bright, the sound of the river forming tunes in the head and by the time we were in Manikaran it had fully kicked in.


Manikaran was bustling with activity, not just human, but there was steam oozing out from many places in every area, though the streets were wet and quite mucky nearly everyone was walking barefooted. We stopped to refresh ourselves with a chai and Aloo Parantha, I took a walk around capturing glimpses of the place.

There are quite a few temples, some old some modern, but you will actually see the similarities in the old architecture in these places, the temple in the picture is similar to the one at Vashisht. There are temples of Lord Ram, Krishna, and Vishnu in Manikaran.





We were quite disappointed with our visit to Manikaran, it was overcrowded and well not peaceful like the surroundings, so we decided to walk back. But before that we were asked to buy a couple of vegetables for our evening dinner from the market place. The vegetable seller was a friendly man with a well-arranged display of the vegetables.


We noticed that the river gets quite dirty as you approach Manikaran, a lot of their trash is dumped into the river. Its really sad, in fact most places where there are too many tourists coming in like Hemkund Sahib in Uttaranchal as well, the surroundings tend to face an upcoming environmental hazard. Although we passed by a raddi walla who fished out plastic and other recyclables from the river.
The scenic route embraced us as we walked back home.


Back to the house to eat some delicious home food before calling it a night.
We still have so much more to display, it seems never-ending but it just keeps getting better!