A Mini Road Trip

An impromptu plan to the neighbouring valley(s)

Last week after procrastinating for almost 2 weeks, I gave in and decided to travel to Shoja, Tirthan Valley to spend time with my friend at his hostel.

It’s not like I didn’t want to meet him, it was the idea of travel that was exhausting me. Besides that, since it’s monsoons here I was afraid to get stuck in the furious rains of the Himalayas. After dodging his invitation for a few days, I decided to push myself out of my comfort zone and go for it.

Last week on Thursday, I left early morning from Bir to travel to Shoja, Tirthan Valley. A distance of 150 km took me a good 5 hours to traverse, thanks to the edgy, curvy and sometimes dangerous roads of the mountains. While I thoroughly enjoyed the ride, it left me quite tired owing to the dust and heat. I rested it out that day while managing some work that I had. I was quite hungry and the cafe was running busy that evening which was great because good business day for my friend but it left me quite hungry. So, when dinner was served that night, I ate a bit too much.

1. I was extremely hungry.

2. The food was extremely tasty.

3. There was a special kind of wild vegetable served whose taste left a lingering taste in my mouth. It tasted like jackfruit but meatier and I confirmed that it wasn’t chicken (I’m vegan) The other 2 obvious options were mushroom or soya and I knew that considering the kind of place we were in, it being a mushroom was a greater possibility.

I was proved right when the chef showed me a photograph of the mushroom he foraged from the bark of a tree while on a trek the previous day. The mushroom was red, attached to the bark of a huge tree and was growing sideways as if extending its shelter to the grass below it. I don’t recall the name of the mushroom but Google tells me that it could be Ganoderma lucidum (Curtis) P. Karst which is also called the popular Reishi mushroom. It looked like this. (Photo Credit)

Regardless, it was amazing and I couldn’t sleep at night till about 2 because of how heavy my stomach felt due to all the overeating.
My friend had gone to sleep and I decided to walk for a while. The hostel faces the deep valley in front of it. Under the moonlight, the forest was looking quite mysterious. The light from where I stood in the hostel premises illuminated the little flowers and plants in front of me so I decided to take some photographs. It was quite dark and my phone was unable to take any photos. However, I did get a few good shots in the evening so I spent time looking at those.

Let me know if you liked any :)

The next day, I woke up later than anyone in the hostel and proudly so! A fellow bike rider deserves his sleep. The next day also I spent most time in the hostel wandering around, soaking in the beauty of the forest, talking to my friend and managing to do some work in the middle. I realised that even though I live in the mountains now and have built my dream life, there is still so much joy and beauty to travelling around, meeting friends and just spending time in other places. While I love Bir and my life there, I realised it’s important to also not get stuck to the idea of living in one place forever. Just before my train of thought would take me to an uncomfortable, uncharted territory, I got up and went for a walk.

After spending a heartful time at my friend’s hostel, I rode down to Manali for a day. There was no purpose as such to go to Manali other than the greed of visiting it since I was already so close. Manali was a comfortable ride away from Shoja and I reached in the morning by 10:30. The plan was to meet a friend from Bir and then head to another village near Manali called Karjan where I was supposed to crash at a friend’s house for the night.

I met my friend for coffee at a beautiful cafe overlooking the mountains. The mountains here unlike in Bir are all the more tall, grandeur and huge. Manali is a gateway to both Lahaul - Spiti and Ladakh and hence I have a soft corner for it regardless of what it has become now due to the tourist influx. Later, I went to drop my friend at her place in a village near Old Manali. She lived a few metres away from the main road and the tiny walk towards her home was very beautiful. Thoughts from the previous day’s reflection kept appearing in my mind, “Should I move to Manali now and live an even more remote and solitary life?”

From Old Manali, my other friend’s place was around 30 minutes away. Nestled in a remote village on the Manali - Naggar road was Karjan, the place where my friend lived. Even her house was a bit away from the main road. After parking my bike and walking the bylanes of the village, I saw a familiar face. That was my friend at her house.

I spent the entire day with my friend and her lovely dog. Her house, a standalone 1-storey structure was in the middle of an apple farm which was also blessed with a green grass carpet, a few pear trees and a handful of persimmon trees. The terrace overlooked the mountains far away and gave an uninterrupted view of the landscape. It was hard to resist answering the question “Should I move to Manali now and live an even more remote and solitary life?“

We spent the evening chatting about life in the mountains, our career choices, our daily life and the life that used to be (in Bombay)

After a hearty meal of Idli, Sambar and Paniyaram, I called it a night.

The next morning we woke up to go for a short hike near her home. My friend and her partner hike every day to the mountain behind their home with their lovely dog. Today, I decided to accompany my friend. This is where we hiked. It was beautiful.

After spending the last 4 days being on the road, it was now time to head back home. I checked Google Maps and it showed that my home in Bir was exactly 4 hours away. I decided to take it as a challenge. I left from her place at 11:45 and by 3:40, I was at my home in Bir. A little excited, a little proud and a lot more exhausted and broken after the hectic non-stop journey. There’s something about beating Google Maps that I thoroughly enjoy on road trips.

Thanks for reading through my mini travelogue!

This weekend on Saturday, I am planning a Creative Writing Space. It will be a bit different from the spaces I have had till now. I am trying to experiment with new exercises and formats. If you’re available this Sunday, join in! It will be fun.

Here’s the link to register - https://topmate.io/rishabhkhaneja/1095578

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As a feature of all my newsletters, I share one song, one book, one plant-based meal, one film/video that inspired me, and some photographic updates from my life.

• I have been listening to Kahe Kahe by The Yellow Dairy. The music video is amazing too!

• I am still reading this book I was reading last week. Due to the travelling, I couldn’t find time to read so I am still on it.
  A very fascinating book that I came across a few days back is The INFJ Writer. As per the MBTI personality test, I am INFJ and to find a book so niche just felt like coming across a gold mine. I have just started reading it but still to have something so suited for me already makes this book a special read.

• I mentioned the locally grown wild mushroom dish I had at my friend’s hostel. This is how it looked. To be honest, the dal gave a tough competition as well.

• My favourite travel storyteller and a very dear friend Shivya started a very interesting series on YouTube. Check it out! This short documentary film explores community-based tourism in the Indian Himalayas, with a focus on the journey of Tirthan Valley’s first group of rural women guides. In a male-dominated sector, these local mountain women are challenging traditions and social norms, with the support of social enterprise Himalayan Ecotourism.

• Lastly, here are some photographs from the past few days. Hope you enjoy them :)

Thank you everyone for reading and sharing my work. It means a lot to me. Like always, have a brilliant week ahead and my love and hugs to everyone!