The Journey
I heard mixed reviews about Kasol, a tiny village in the state of Himachal Pradesh, India. People would tell me all kinds of stories about Kasol– some good, others bad. But I was pretty much determined to visit this place. Since my husband is from Shimla which is also in Himachal, it was his idea basically to show me around in Himachal. We decided on a day towards the end of July. With our driver/tour guide we headed towards Kullu (a part of Himachal) from Shimla at 8 in the morning. The peak season in Kasol is over by the end of August. There are decent food joints on your way up there. As north India is famous for good food you will not have issues finding good food here. Wherever you choose to eat you will be served with delicious food. After taking few stops here and there for a snack or tea, we reached Kullu district in around 8 hours thanks to our driver friend who drove us really fast there.
When you reach Kullu, you will see the river Beas– a furious river that flows with great force all the way up from the Himalayas. You can get a view of it along the sides of the road on your way up to Kasol. This view is spectacular as you are moving up toward Kasol and on your left is this river which is flowing all along with you as if it is accompanying you as your acquaintance. As you reach Kasol through the busy streets the river now on your left is Parvati which eventually meets Beas down there where you came from and merges into it. We had finally reached to our destination of Kasol.
The final destination
As we never planned where we were going to stay exactly and left that decision to our spontaneity, we looked around in our car and found a peaceful guest house called the Alpine Guest House with exotic views. This is the only guest house there which is located right next to the Parvati river. So if you want to visualize on one side of you is the guest house and the restaurant seating area and on the other is this ferocious river flowing with all its energy giving you the best view you can imagine. And not just the river but the lush green mountains which surround this river and the entire town. It gives you the greatest of all views. We really loved this guest house. As soon as we arrived we decided to take a walk near the restaurant area where there were few people sitting and ordering delicious food.
Moving on, my husband started to talk with a couple of friendly looking guys. People who belong here and those coming there as visitors are all so friendly and amazing. There we sat next to the river and ordered food.
The evening stroll
As I get dressed in the most bohemian way which is my favorite style of clothing, my husband sat outside in our small river facing balcony chilling out. It was already around 9 pm. Soon we were on our way on to the road to wander a little in this little town which was lit up with small road-side shops meant to sell Israeli clothes and beautiful accessories. We stopped at one to take a look and decided to buy some the next morning in the day light. As we didn’t have much idea of what exactly to do we decided to take a stroll. As we were walking on the silent streets, we moved past a board advertising a Jim Morrison cafe.
Jim Morrison Cafe
As the name sounded tempting we soon were heading in the direction of it. The road to this cafe wasn’t exactly a road rather it was a small trek up on the hills. Everything was pitch dark and a bit scary as we couldn’t see the proper way to move in a particular direction. We still kept our hopes high and followed a small group of people who were also headed into the same direction. We kept walking and eventually saw another board suggesting that the cafe was still 200 m away. We reached on top and there were still no signs of the cafe. Even that small crowd whom we went past seemed to have already given up on this little adventure to the cafe. Finally we see a small meadow, a very scary small path leading us somewhere, showing us some direction to move toward. As we already came this far we decided to keep going. We kept walking on the small path and out of nowhere we see a gigantic gate which at first we thought is a private house of someone local there. We were really scared to even walk any further as there was no way or path except for that huge gate. With some courage I knocked at the great door. Someone peeked out of it. We thought we really have landed into a private property and with a doubtful face I asked “Jim Morrison Cafe?”. To our great surprise the guy let us in.
Finally a sigh of relief. I signaled at the mysterious crowd who were still following our lead, to get inside the great door. As we entered inside, there was a strange and dim ambience accompanied with a very amazing sound system and a projector screen on which they were broadcasting Johnny Depp’s Black Mass. What a movie it is! I felt for a second that none of this is real! Unlike an urban cafe which is full of crowd and noise, this place was quite with only sound of the movie on the projector. The sound of the movie was a mix of music and some dialogue. I looked around to find the prefect spot for us to sit and soon after we found a nice spot on the mattresses on the floor. Once we regained our senses was the moment when hunger strikes. As my husband ordered the best pancakes and pizza. There were some board games placed there which some of them were busy playing with while others smoked shisha (Hukkah). There were also some people who came there all alone and were busy in their laptops or books while rest were engrossed in conversations.
We finished the movie, we had the delicious food and conversations before we left for our guest house through the same way that we came from, but this time with less fear as we already knew our way down.
Once we got back to our guest house, all the shops on our way back were closed and number of people on the streets was reduced to almost 0. At night the river looked dark and musical. Looking at deep rivers, I feel connected to them as if they are trying to tell me a story about where they belong and where they come from. As if they are the only ones who have seen the topmost edges of the Himalayas. If only one could imagine what it would be like sitting on the summit of a rocky mountain and seeing the whole world unwind right in front of you in a circle!! It was 3 am yet the sound of the river convinced me to sit there in silence. For a while I just wanted to stop, take a deep breath and forget everything, forget that I ever have to return back home. With our exhausted minds and bodies, we crashed into our hotel room.
Day 2 – Oh Magic View!
The next morning we sat in the same restaurant ordered some breakfast and were thinking for our next course of action. Our initial plan was to stay only for a day in Kasol as everyone told us there isn’t much to do there and head for Manikaran which is another good place. But we were in love with the place and didn’t want to leave just yet. From the restaurant we could see a half broken bridge crossing the river just minutes from our guest house. So we decided to explore the other side of he bridge. We couldn’t resist the temptation that we saw in that adventure. We decided to take a leap. We prepared our little trek backpack and got ready in comfy clothes and shoes and headed towards the bridge. On our way there we had to cross the same streets that we saw last night and we stopped to buy some really cool stuff from there. They didn’t only sell clothes and jewelry, but also offered some cool hippie stuff like bongs, pipes and ashtrays that you can buy to gift someone. We bought an ashtray for our friends. We then got back onto our road towards the bridge. As we walked onto the bridge, it was the most amazing experience to be over the middle of the river. The bridge was easily 1000+ years old ? At least that’s what it looked like to me, and it had with a broken fence on one side. But I loved standing in the middle of it and inhaling the freshest air. We crossed to the other side and from there it’s your choice if you want to continue trekking or take a break and chill at a cafe along that way. We decided to walk towards a cafe called Oh Magic View which was a small trek on the way up. As we reached the cafe we were greeted with a friendly owner of the cafe who liked to call himself Chilluminati. We sat there relaxing, intrigued by the view which boasted of the glorious mountains all around. This guy played some of the best music and spent time with us along with some other friends of his sharing his funny stories.
Finally we bid them adieu and decided to keep moving. As we moved ahead into densely forested village, we inquired with some people and found out that further ahead on the straight path was a small village called Chhalal. There were also other good places on top of the trek called Tosh village, Rasol etc. which we couldn’t cover this time but we promised ourselves to go there the next time whenever we come back. For now we headed for Chhalal. It was an interesting trek with some really great views on either side. On one side was the same river which kept us the company last night. As it wasn’t peak season, the crowd was really small and the cafes were either closed or had hardly any people in them. We stopped at another lonely cafe in the dense mountains of Chhalal after a few hours of trekking. As we were so tired I slept on one of the small beds meant for sitting. In the meantime, the cafe guy arrived with the world’s best freshly cooked white sauce Pasta and chicken sandwiches to satisfy our taste buds. We couldn’t thank him enough and left from there to come back to our guest house. It was late at night and we spent some time sitting outside listening to the sounds of the river. We sat there this time in silence and this is how our day ends.
The next morning we decided to end our Kasol trip here with heavy hearts and head toward our next destination– Old Manali. We had a lot less time on hand which we had managed to steal from our hectic work lives back in Singapore. We bid farewell to this beautiful, calm place. But we are going to come back!
Best way to reach –
1. Shimla to Kasol by car/taxi – 8 hours
2. Delhi to Kullu by Air, From Kullu airport to Kasol by taxi – 2 hours
Best place to stay – Alpine Guest House tariff 1500 INR
Things to do – Trekking, Fishing, Cycling
Attractions – Jim Morrison Cafe, Oh Magic View Cafe, German Bakery, Moon Dance Cafe