Shyam Saran goes trekking among Himachal's rain-drenched orchards & forests

The monsoon season in July is not usually conducive for trekking expeditions but rain-drenched Himachal with its lush green forests and orchards laden with ripening red apples has its own charm. My plan was to hop from one homestay to another in the most picturesque mountain locations, do day treks, weather permitting, which would then prepare me for a week-long camping trip in the Miyar Valley that lies in the rain shadow area of Lahaul. As it turned out, the rains mostly spared me during the first half of my trip, while the really heavy rains came in Lahaul most unexpectedly. The approach to the roadhead from where I would have started my Miyar Valley trek was washed away in flash floods, while my return to Manali through the Atal Tunnel was delayed by a day as the main highway was also washed away in a massive landslide near the district headquarters at Keylong. I finally made my escape via an unpaved mountain road on the opposite side of the Bhaga river. It was treacherous and slippery at places but 35 km later, I was back safely on the main highway bypassing the breach. For the residents of Lahaul and incidentally for me, this was coming face to face with Climate Change with a vengeance!

But to get back to more pleasant and memorable encounters with nature.

Bhaga River en route to Manal | Photo Credit: Shyam Saran

Over a period of 10 days in the last fortnight of July, I spent a couple of days each at modest but comfortable lodges at Chail, Thanedar, Sojha, Sonaugi and Gemoor Khar. The lodge at Thanedar was right in the middle of apple orchards with the fruit ripe for harvesting in a couple of weeks. Apple growing was introduced to Himachal by Samuel Stokes, an American missionary. On one of the walks, my guide showed me a spacious natural cave just off the path where Stokes is said to have practised meditation for two long years under the guidance of a local sage, Sadhu Sundar Singh. This is what led to his later conversion to the Hindu faith. What is interesting is that the cave has become a pilgrimage spot for young Japanese who come here in small groups, armed with mats and sleeping bags, to engage in meditation exercises. How this Japanese connection was established is a mystery.

Kathkuni House at Sunaugi | Photo credit: Shyam Saran

Sojha and Sonaugi are quaint little villages high up in the mountains. The lodges in both places provided panoramic views of thick pine and oak forests with the snow mountains emerging at rare moments through a dense canopy of rain clouds. At Sojha I enjoyed a relatively easy 7-km trek from Jalori Pass to the sacred Serolsar Lake, the dwelling place of Budhi Nagin, a local snake deity. Pilgrims do a parikrama of the lake while leaving a trail of clarified butter along its banks as their offering. Even before the lake becomes visible, the air is thick with the strong and pungent smell of ghee.

Mountains capre enroute to Baralacha Pass | Photo Credit: Shyam Saran

I did a longer trek to Raghupur Fort from Jalori Pass. It had rained in the morning, so the path was slippery and there was a moisture-laden mist hanging over the narrow trail. This was a fairly steep ascent with thick deciduous forests framing the trail. A couple of hours later one emerged on to a vast rolling meadow carpeted with fresh and lush green grass. A short walk across the meadow brings one to the ruins of the Raghupur Fort, which was apparently a summer resort for the rulers of Mandi. Only the old stone walls and a small temple survive.

Petroglyphs at Gemoor Khar Lahaul | Photo credit: Shyam Saran

Sonaugi nestles in the hills near Naggar, a quaint little village better known for its association with the Russian philosopher and painter Nicholas Roerich and his son Svetoslav, also a painter, who married Devika Rani, the well-known Indian film actor. Their family home is well preserved and the art museum has some fine paintings by the older Roerich. The family estate has a rare collection of memorial stone steles of the ruling families of Himachal. Some of these are exquisitely carved with images of the rulers, their queens and their deities.

In Sonaugi, I stayed in a lovely “kathkuni” cottage, which is made from intervening layers of wood and stone. The local people claim that this style of building makes the structure earthquake resistant.

Mountains cape from Gemoor Khar, Lahaul | Photo credit: Shyam Saran

The newly built Atal Tunnel, about 50 km from Manali, provides access to the rain shadow areas of Lahaul. Emerging from the 9-km tunnel, one is greeted by a landscape dominated by snow-capped mountains and white ribbons of melting snow coursing down their steep slopes. Keylong is about 50 km from the tunnel. About 15 km further is Gemoor Khar, a small village where I stayed at a nice guesthouse run by Ashok Thakur, a former civil servant whose family comes from this region. His granduncle and grandfather had served as wazirs of Lahaul. He proved to be a most solicitous and informative host, in whose company I was able to visit a couple of old Drukpa gompas, the ruins of his once impressive family home and some ancient petroglyphs etched on a large boulder surrounded by fields growing Brussels sprouts and ice lettuce. Thanks to the tunnel, the urban markets of north India are now accessible for the sale of such exotic vegetables and this has brought visible prosperity to these once poor and deprived regions of the state. Gemoor Khar is on the highway that links Zanskar and Leh in Ladakh from the Himachal side. A drive to the 16000 ft Baralacha Pass was memorable with its incredible snowscapes.

While there was disappointment at having missed out on the Miyar Valley trek, the rest of the trip was most enjoyable. Staying in comfortable lodges, doing strenuous day treks and returning to a hot shower and a freshly cooked meal is a more relaxed way of negotiating the mountains. But it is no substitute for camping out in the wild.

Shyam Saran is a former Foreign Secretary and an avid trekker