A Silent escape to quietude | Kangra and Chamba (Jan 2014) – Part 4

 

 

[ Earlier posts in this series: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 ]

 

 

 

Day 4 : Bharmour - Chamba

 

The epic day !!!

 

Last night, the bus had started a bit late. It was supposed to reach Bharmour by 5am. I thought I’ll spend some time there, head to Chamba and if possible, Khajjiar. But then, everything doesn't happen as planned, does it?!!

 

(Coming to think of it, I picked Bharmour out of sheer impulse ! At that time, I did not know that Bharmour was more a gateway to the holy Manimahesh Kailash Yatra. My colleague in office (who’s senior and well-traveled) had once mentioned to me that he had once gone to Bharmour to audit a branch of the Punjab National Bank there, and told me how beautiful it was.  And now, while sitting in Dharamsala and deciding where to go next, I was browsing the HRTC (Himachal roadways) website – I put Dharamsala as the source, and in the destinations that popped up, I saw Bharmour listed. And that was it – I booked the ticket on a whim :-D )

 

 

Back to the bus journey - when the conductor saw my ticket and said ‘Aap ne Bharmour tak ticket liya? Sirf Chambe tak katwaana tha, aage raasta theek nahi hai’  (You bought a ticket all the way to Bharmour? You should have booked only till Chamba; the road ahead isn't good), I dint really understand the exact import of it – I had somehow assumed that there’d be snow on the roads and so the bus wouldn't go any further.

 

Anyway, my intention was to see some snow and so I had kind of taken it for granted that I’ll spend some time there and get back by the same bus back to Chamba. I had not thought of any other situation. Mentally I had prepared for some delays the previous night itself when I slept.

 

The bus reached Chamba by 4AM itself. And then, the driver and conductor got down. There were some passengers sitting in the bus, so I had assumed that the bus would go further. So I also continued sleeping in the bus itself. At around 5:30am the conductor comes and says, Oh, you are still here, the bus will not go upto Bharmour.. It can go only upto a place called Luna. I said its fine, I’ll go till where the bus goes [Thank God, the guy was able to understand my broken Hindi with all its possible gender mistakes!!].

 

He then asks me,

‘Aap ko Bharmour main kya kaam hai’ (What work do you have in Bharmour?) – I reply, with a sly smile,

‘Kuch nahi. Aise hii ghoomne aaya hoon’ (Nothing. I’m just going to roam around) –

 

He is amused and asks, ‘Akele aaye hai kya aap’ (You came here alone?) and I reply in the affirmative; and now, everyone around is amused as well !!

 

 

The conductor then says there are only 5-6 people and so, he puts us in another bus that is headed to Bharmour. We all board the bus and I make friends with a guy who is headed to Bharmour. This leg of the journey seemed to take forever – with the bus stopping at all possible places.

 

Beauty unfolds

It was around 7am now and I could no longer sleep. But now, I could see the turquoise Rabi (Ravi) river flowing side by side and also the snow-capped peaks. Some excitement.. the bus is almost empty, so I found a seat by the window and took out the camera. The road conditions weren't that good, and that combined with the poor light ensured that I did not get good photographs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By around 745 am, we reached a place called Luna. The sun was rising somewhere, but the shine on the mountain peaks was super-good. The bus also stopped here for about 20 minutes. The rising sun caught the highest ridges, casting a brilliant golden glow across the summits. Small rainwater puddles along the dirt track reflected the illuminated peaks above.

 

 

 

 

Sunrise picture – unmatched !!!

 

 

There were little puddles on water on the road and the reflection of the peaks on that was also awesome.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I thought that the bus wouldn't proceed, but thankfully, he drove on. Again, the Rabi river running parallel to the road. In about 5 minutes, in the middle of nowhere, the bus driver says, that’s it !!

 

 

 

 

This was the least of what I had expected – I had assumed that the bus would go no longer because of snow.. but then the fact was that there had been two landslides and so the bus had to stop… I hadn't thought of a situation like this, but anyway, having come so far, I did not want to miss Bharmour. I decided to go ahead.

 

There was another guy (local) headed to Bharmour, so the bus driver entrusted me to him and told me he’d guide me to Bharmour. Wonderful !! The guy told me we’d have to walk around 2kms and we’ll get some transport from there...even wonderful !!

 

Time for some adventure

 

We started walking. The sheer drop-offs along the road were intimidating, but the surrounding valley was breathtaking

 

 

 

We crossed a landslide by foot and would have walked for about 10 minutes, then we came to a tunnel – it was kind of exciting to walk inside the tunnel (small thrills  )

 

 

 

By now there was some snow on either side of the road, and I was super thrilled.

 

 

 

That’s my (local) guide 😉

 

 

 

We reached the next village Durghati (or something like that) and a chat with locals revealed that there was another landslide ahead – which meant that we had walk on foot and no vehicular movement was possible anytime soon. It was becoming difficult for me now – I had a 12kg duffle bag, a backpack (which would also be around 5kgs) with a laptop in it.. Umar (the guide) realized I was struggling and offered to share the load – I mean, I was really touched.. first of all, I was thrust upon him (he could have just told me to keep walking till I found transport or told me I had to get back because there was no transport) and then now, without hesitation, he offers to carry my bag for some distance – Definitely, there is something we should learn from these guys – they are from the remote places, so probably, this comes naturally to them – helping another when in need. But for city-bred people like me, this was something like a discovery.

 

Anyway, I was happy, and we continued to walk, though by now it was becoming difficult for me to keep pace with Umar.  We passed through some wonderful places- heavenly it was.

 

We came to the next village, Dakhogu (again, the name may be wrong). By now we had walked almost 4kms and so were tired. We stopped for tea, and there was still that landslide to cross… It was now that I came up with my brilliant idea –  

 

Anyway, I would be returning from Bharmour the same day, so why not leave my bags here and pick them up on my return? I asked Umar if I could do that and he asked the chai shop lady – they were obliging and I left my bags there, including the laptop. I carried just one small bag with some biscuits and my camera.  

 

Even now, I really don’t know what I was thinking when I left my bags and laptop behind, that too in a roadside tea stall and that too in some remote part of Himachal... I mean, what if ?? ... I'll save that thought for later

 

We continued walking now and the scenery continued to unfold – it was a visual treat. I then remembered that I had forgotten to pay for the tea in my hurry to get rid of my luggage… Then, anyway I had to go back there to pick up my bags, so I thought I could then pay… Now anyway, it was time to soak in the beauty..

 

 

 

 

Another landslide to cross :

 

 

Now it was getting a bit sunny and was pleasant

 

 

 

 

We now came to a village called Khadamukh – there were a couple of buses waiting to get towards Luna – Umar enquired with the locals and it seems no vehicle had arrived since morning from Bharmour side – so we decided to wait for some time till some vehicle came. It was getting close to 10 o clock by now. While we waited, I started clicking some pictures... there was nothing else for me to do now..

 

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(stay tuned for the next part)