The Himalayan feel

Bhuntar is a small town on the north-western Himalayas, located in India. It’s as far as you can reach in a fancy bus or a plane from the urban world. A 3 hour journey from Bhuntar with the local bus service takes you upwards to the town of Kasol (5200 Ft above sea level). The journey itself is a tiny adventure, a cocktail of sights and sounds. You can hear every crank and shaft of the bus creaking while it drags itself and all its herd of people upwards through the narrow mud roads perched at the edges of the gigantic Himalayan cliffs while the mighty Parvati River rages below. You may think that people would be worried, but no they are chatting to each other, cracking jokes at the ticket collector who’s trying hard to reach the other side over all the baggage and cattle in the way, there are local girls sharing travel tips to the many travellers, a tea seller selling tea In-between all the chaos, the driver cursing the passer-by’s and the car in front while praying the 3 million gods that the traffic stays open. With every passing kilometre, it gets colder, you can feel the cold finding its way somehow through the layers you are wearing and look at the fellow all wrapped up in that fluffy blanket we use at our homes in the winter and reconsider the thought you had the first time you saw him sitting in front “What a weird guy?”, now you tell yourself “maybe I should have wrapped a blanket also!”. Once you reach Kasol you can stop and marvel at the beauty of the magnificent Himalayas rising high all around you, maybe walk towards the sound of the powerful Parvati river, probably roll one and smoke it up as the raging icy waters drown all other sounds; but do not linger for too long as the journey is still not over. You need to either hitchhike or take the 6 hour trek upwards to the village of Tosh, located in the Parvati valley.  Parvati, the goddess of divine strength and power, beauty and love; a fitting name for the valley. The village of Tosh (at 7874 ft) is vertically perched on one of the snowy picturesque peaks while a tributary of Parvati River flows below. You need to climb the vertical streets of the village, passing by the local markets and the wooden houses till you reach the only temple in the village. The temple made out of wooden carvings is probably locked as it has been for years, in front of the temple children are playing football, they will give you angry looks as you cross their little field disturbing the ongoing match but you need to start climbing again the other side. After a while you reach the top edge of the village, the view behind is breathtaking, and you realise that you are near your destination as the sweet music of Pink Floyd fills the air.