Shringi Vatika- Himachal Pradesh

Walking in Show, Sojha near Shringi Vatika, Himachal Pradesh

No, I am not visiting the place again but what do you do when you have not traveled in a long time? You write about the travels from the past. So, here is my article on Shringi Vatika at Gonomad. I have blogged about it before about this trip but never got around to putting it all in one place. Finally, I did that.

How Come I Never Posted a Picture of Sidu on My Blog?

Sidu/Sidhu- Himanchali Dish

I have talked about this heavenly Himachali dish Sidu before but it is a sacrilege that I never posted a picture of it on my blog. Actually I got comment from Dilliwala on India Mike and my blog about Shringi Vatika and that prompted me to search for a picture of Sidu on my blog. Then I realized that even though I have talked about it, I never actually posted a picture. And even though the dish looks like the Holi sweet Gujhia, but this one is salty and tastes heavenly. Let me see if I can go back there once again!

Lazy Sunday Photo- Garlic Fields in Shringi

Garlic Fields, Shringi, Himachal Pradesh

I was sitting with the laptop and looking at all my pictures uploaded at Picasa. I have uploaded seven albums (Spiti, Prashar Lake, UK, Coorg, Shringi 1, 2 and Nainital).

I did manage to visit a few places in 2007. But it may not be possible in 2008 as I have 3 day teaching as opposed to 2 day teaching in the January semester this time. But then I am not complaining. I was saying to Sesha, "We will make it up by taking a lot of weekend trips."

Himachal Pradesh Rural Tourism

Avnish of myHimachal forwarded this survey to me. They are interested in promoting rural tourism in Himachal Pradesh. I have filled it. If you have time, please do so. Doesn't take too much of time. After all, Shringi Vatika and Prashar Lake were really nice travel experiences for me.

May Seems to be so Far Away ...

I am going to miss these roads all through April

By my standards I have traveled a lot since December 2006. First there was this college trip to Khurpatal, then we went to Sikkim at the end of the month and were in a train on the new year eve (loved it!). Then in Feb we went to Shringi Vatika and then I went back to Shringi Vatika again in the beginning of March with my younger nephew to get my cell phone back.

Now there are no trips planned till mid May (hopefully we will go to Prashar Lake in May). And there is lot of work to be done in between. How am I going to survive in April? Well, maybe by taking it out while playing table tennis.

Delhi to Manali on a HP State Transport Volvo Bus

When I went to Shringi Vatika (Himachal Pradesh, HP) the second time to get my cell phone back, Sesha did not come with me (he has less number of leaves than me). When Sesha is around, I almost always end up traveling on a Khatara (uncomfortable) bus.

This time around my younger nephew came with me. He is quite tall (6 feet 2 inches and still growing) and he would have been quite miserable if the seats are cramped. At ISBT (Inter State Bus Terminus, Kashmere Gate, New Delhi) when we started inquiring for deluxe buses to Manali, we were told that there was a Delhi-Manali Volvo available at 8.26 that night. The tickets for this bus are sold from the first floor of ISBT.

We headed to the HP counter. The first floor at ISBT was much less crowded than the ground floor. It was just 6.30 in the evening but still the only seats available in the Volvo were for the last row. We decided to take it. Since, we had to get down at the tunnel before Aut, we were given tickets up to Bhunter. I paid Rupees 1590 for two tickets and my nephew immediately remarked, "Bua (Aunt in Hindi) there you have already spent almost the price of your cell phone." The bus was supposed to leave from platform 6.

We went to platform 6 around 8.15 and there was no sign of a Volvo. After a few minutes we asked a bus conductor of another bus and he pointed out the Volvo standing near a wall and said we should head there as it is almost time. After depositing the rucksack in the luggage space we walked in.

This was the first time for both of us in a Volvo and the bus looked comfortable and spacious with lots of leg room, till we reached the last row. The last row seats were really cramped in the Volvo but luckily there were just three of us for 6 seats and we could spread out on two seats. My nephew was in the middle seat which opened up to the aisle, so he had some leg room. I was on a window seat (not originally but since no one turned up I moved to it) with the next seat vacant.

They play a movie in the bus that runs till 12 at night. On our trip they played Bhagam Bhag, a truly silly movie and many passengers grumbled that they can't go to sleep. I am OK with silly movies occasionally.

Otherwise, the journey was comfortable. However, on the return journey we had to travel by various Khatara buses and to his credit he never complained even once.

Call Center: What Call Center?

This time when I was in Shringi Vatika in Himachal Pradesh (March, 2007) I had this conversation with a young lad in his twenties. The conversation took place in Hindi but in spirit, here is how it went.

Young Lad: I wanted to ask you the last time itself but didn't get time. See, I completed my 12th a few years back and now I am wondering what should I do. Do you think doing a computer course would help. There is a private institute in Banjar (nearest town).

Which road to Take?

Me: Umm, what do you want to do the course for? As a help for your own business (he and his family own a small business) or what?

Young Lad: But doesn't your husband work in the private sector in a computer job?

Me: Yes, he does, but he is an engineer ...

Young lad: So where did he study?

Me: An engineering college, called umm IIT ...

Young Lad: I know ITI ...

Me: Err ... IIT is different ... but ... he is basically an engineer ...

Young lad: So, what do you think? Shall I do the course?

Me: Do you know someone who has done this course?

Young Lad: Yes ...

Me: So, what are they doing now?

Young lad: I have not seen the few that I know getting any jobs ...

Me: Why don't you do an English speaking course? There are many jobs in the call centers.

Young lad: I think doing an English speaking course makes a lot of sense ... even for dealing with foreign tourists.

Me: And call center jobs are plentiful ...

Young lad: But what is it that you are talking about, what is a call center?

Me: ... Ummm ... a call center is ... let me see ... when you have a problem with your phone company or you want to know something from your bank, you call this place where people are paid to answer phone calls ...

Young lad: I will have to think more about it, but seems like a better idea, I anyway do not like computers much ...

Me: But why don't you stay here? You will not like a bigger city for sure.

Young lad: Tourism is very uncertain, seasonal ...

Me: But in the next 10 years it can only grow in this region ... kaam nahin hoga (it is not going to go down) ...

The person becomes thoughtful and then we start talking about something else.

I have no concrete solution for the person I talked to. But I do have a wish, that people who want to make a decent living may not always be forced to move to a bigger city. May he find courage to stay back and develop his own business and may the tourism in the region grow. I know, that would mean more crowd and litter but when it comes to making a living vs. crowd, I don't know what to wish for.

Grinding Wheel

The structure in the picture houses a water based grinding wheel at Shringi Vatika. When they release the water, it is fun to watch the wheels turning, a silly video but still I thought I will share.

11 Story Structure and I Missed It!

Priyank writes about a small village near Shringi Vatika that has 11 story structure devoted to the saint of the same name. He has a wonderful picture of it too. Gaurav has also been there has a picture too (Both the pictures of the tall structure are quite similar, the same three people but in different poses, I wonder if they were part of the same team?)

Now if there is such a tall structure near Shringi, I really need glasses now. Why couldn't I see it? Priyank, Gaurav, if you happen to read this post, do tell me more exact location of this beautiful structure. And I think I need to go back once again (but no cell phones or cameras left behind this time, what to do?) The big qustion is when?

Some More Pictures from Shringi Vatika and Around

Here are some more pictures from Shringi Vatika. There is more snow this time around. I also have to conclude my cell phone saga but that will be the matter of a later post.

Back with My Cellphone from Shringi (Himachal Pradesh) Again

Snow in the Garlic Fields: Village Sojha, Himachal Pradesh, India

So, I am back from Shringi once again, with my cell phone this time and I combined it with my general break from blogging. There was more snow around the place. I have tons of pictures (but with old Nikon coolpix point and shoot, the new one is in servicing). Have a lot to write and pictures to upload but before that I have to take a class tomorrow and have to attend to it first. But regular posts will commence now.

The Cell Phone Saga

Sojha, Near Shringi Vatika, I Surely Would Like to Go Back!

By now, I have told to countless people that I left my cell phone in a taxi on a trip to Shringi Vatika in Himachal Pradesh. The next thing that I tell them is that the taxi fellow gave it back to the hotel owners and I have to go back to get it back :))))))) No, it can not be posted back to me for ... insert a good excuse here, the owners of the hotel are old, there i no post office nearby, I do not want to trouble them, etc.

When I told this story to a friend he said, "The taxi guy gave it back! Now that is surprising." The first time it happened I ignored it.

Then the second time my father's colleague well in his 60s, replied' "Write about it, tell people there is still hope for India. Many have given up on our country." That made me aware of the fact that what I was taking for granted, i.e. the taxi fellow returning my cell phone was quite surprising for others.

Then yesterday while having lunch at office, two of colleagues said the same thing again, "So the taxi driver returned it?"

Now is it that so surprising? Only one colleague, who himself has traveled a lot said "Well, it is quite possible in Himachal Pradesh." Why, at Shringi, I would leave the room open with my DSLR lying around. I will of course not do this in Delhi or many other places but a small town in Himachal Pradesh is still safe enough.

Shringi Vatika, Ghiyagi, Himachal Pradesh

I have already written about our journey to Shringi Vatika. So, I will continue from there.

I remember finding the weather very cold and it was raining lightly almost all the time. We had many cups of tea and sat next to the fire that the owners had got going. It was followed by soup and dinner and we retired early the first day. They did not had any hot water that night (as there was no power) and it was a task to use the freezing cold water for anything.

Shringi Vatika, Himachal Pradesh

Next day, I got up late, around 10, I guess. Sesha was out before me. When I surfaced it was Grey with a fine drizzle in the air. Sesha told me we were taking a small hike. The youngest son of the owners, Raju, was coming along with us as our guide. After I had gobbled my bread and omelet with tea and we started walking along the stream. That is when I noticed the smashed up car for the first time.

After a very short distance, the way started creeping uphill. And it kept on going uphill till we reached our destination, Sojha. I am usually very comfortable walking even if it is uphill. But on this one I was not. Initially, when we started walking, I opened my jacket and later on realized that in spite of the climb I was shivering. Once I zipped it up again, it was a bit better. We had lunch at Sojha and later we started walking toward Jalori Pass.

The Road to Jalori Pass

There was some snow around even on the last stretch to Sojha and at many places Raju literally took my hand and helped me walk on snow. As we were walking on the road to Jalori, I saw light snowfall and it is the first I have ever seen. Sesha once again acted superior and said this was nothing, they had to abandon a trek in Manali (student days, I was not into trekking then) because of excessive snow that came down at night. After some distance, there was too much snow on the road and we decided to turn back. Finally, the road started going downhill.

When we were quite near the Vatika (and we had walked in all for about 5 hours) , Sesha in a big singsong voice told me "If walking all day in the rain is your idea of holiday, please start taking them alone." I laughed my head off, he dragged me all the day in rain (it was raining moderately all the day through this walk) without even asking me if this was what I wanted to do. Anyway, we were soon sitting back in front of a fire and I was drying my wet jacket, sipping tea. This was also the day of Kungis soup (Nettle soup) and Sidu (a Himachali Dish).

Snowfall at Shringi, Himachal Pradesh

The next day, thankfully it was raining hard from the word go and Sesha could not drag me anywhere. For the whole day, we were sitting in front of fire and reading and chatting and eating (I wish I would do this more on my vacations). In the afternoon, three other guests came and one of them started chatting with us. In the meanwhile, many of the surrounding regions that were green before were turning white. For a while, wind was blowing, and making the rain and snow run lightly with it. At this point the guest remarked "aap ke liye tou plasma TV laga hua hai samne hi." (It is like a flat screen plasma TV for you and the images keep changing constantly). I was watching the changing scene with my mouth open and how I agreed with him. That is how the third day passed.

After a nice dinner it was time to turn in and look ahead to get up at 5.30 in the morning to start the journey back to the world of 21 inch TV which I rarely watch.

I am definitely going back there in March to get my cell phone back.

The contact details of Shringi Vatika

Manohar Lal
Phone: 01903 227029

Shringi Vatika
Shringpur Ghiyagi
P.O. Jibhi Teh. Banjar Distt. Kullu HP

Kungis Soup: Himachali Cusine

How many of you recognise this plant? Those who frequent the hills, chances are they know this is the bicchu jari (rough translation: scorpion plant, I do not know its real name). It stings if you touch it. Now this time at Shringi, I realized that they make a soup out of it (a different variety from the one in the picture above) and no, the soup doesn't sting. It was called Kungis soup in the menu of the Shringi Vatika and it tastes quite decent. This time around I tried two more Himachali dishes, Sidu and sweet rajma (now what is rajma called in English?) I am no foodie (ten years of hostel food killed all my taste buds) but I enjoyed all the three dishes mentioned here. If you get a chance, do try it.

PS. The full post on this trip is just not happening, give me some more time.

PPS. I might go to the place again to get my cell phone back sometime in March :)))))))))
I will surely bring back a picture of Sidu and then try to describe it.

The Journey to Shringi Vatika, Himanchal Pradesh

The Stream at Shringi Vatika, Himanchal Pradesh

We spent two and a half days at Shringi Vatika in Himanchal Pradesh. Reaching there itself was a task. Both of us are not fond of driving and the motion sickness complicates the issue further. So, we reached ISBT (bus station in New Delhi) to take a bus to Manali (we would have to get off before Manali to reach Shringi). But by the time we reached ISBT, the last bus for Manali had left. In fact, outside ISBT we met at least four touts trying to tell us that at this hour (it was 9.30 in the night, not all that late) no buses apart from their's was available. Once we managed to enter the bus station, we found that the best course was to take a bus to Chandigarh and that is what we did. It was a 2X2 decent bus, the only decent bus we took in this entire journey.

We reached Chandigarh at 4.00 in the morning (I was frozen for the part of the journey, it was cold) and then we took a local bus to Mandi. From there we headed towards Aut. We had to get down at that tunnel just before Aut to take a bus for Banjar (which does not go through the tunnel) which might go as far as Jibhi. We did all this and finally around 2.30 reached Jibhi. I was so sleepy for the entire way because of the Avomine that I took no tea anywhere (this is becoming a habit now, almost, bad really bad I must say). At some point, Sesha offered me a laddu (sweet) and that is all I ate for the entire day.

We walked the last two kilometers from Jibhi to Shringi, rather than wait for a bus that was available an hour later. It started raining lightly on the way. Finally, when we saw the board of Shringi Vatika, it was such a relief. It took us 17 hours to reach the place. How we attacked the aloo parathas (stuffed Indian bread) that were served to us a while later.

The weather was damn cold (after all, it snowed there lightly) and after freezing for two days it was time to turn back (the account of these two days will follow soon). We wanted to start really early on Monday, as I had a class to take on Tuesday morning. There were no buses from Shringi to anywhere before 8.45. So we hired a taxi up to the tunnel near Aut to come back. We left at 6.00 am. I took my Avomine really early. I reminded Sesha to do the same but he threw tantrums. On the way, he vomited once! I wonder why he does not learns his lessons soon enough. Thankfully, after that he had no problems.

We stopped at the tunnel and quickly got a bus to Mandi. Our taxi guy waved us off and as soon as the bus started I realized that I have dropped my cell phone somewhere (as my niece would say, gir gaya). I cursed myself like anything, then I thought better to drop the cell phone rather than my camera (colleagues at lunch today gave further insight, better to misplace machines rather than people! Trust them to put things in perspective). From Mandi we took a khatara (uncomfortable) bus to Chandigarh and from there another kharata mercifully directly to Gurgaon. We reached home 12.00 at night and by this time I had caught a good cold (Sesha acquired it Shringi itself). For the first time, I did not load my photos as soon as reaching back. Took the class the next day. Played TT too.

I called the folks at Shringi Vatika today and I indeed dropped my cell phone in the taxi itself. So, the phone is not lost. The cold persists. It was so damn cold at Shringi that I had to take rum like medicine again, neat, in small quantities. The onward journey was 17 hours and the return 18.

So, I just can't imagine how could the trip had been any better. In other words, I thoroughly enjoyed my trip.

PS. If anyone is heading that way, please get my cell phone back. Sesha is just not saying yes to going back the next month.

Drinking and Driving do not Mix Well, More so in the Hills

A Car that Crashed from the Road above on the Shringi Vatika (Himanchal Pradesh) Premises

Apparently it was a case of drunk driving. Happened a few months back. Out of five only one person survided, he was probably born under a lucky star, he got stuck in some bushes and lived. We were walking along the road from where the car fell and the road was not that narrow and the bend not that steep. I wonder why do people take such chances?