The tallest and most respected mountain range in the world, Himachal or Himalayas, carries a certain magical aura that is difficult to explain in words. I came here in hopes of solitude and I didn't have to trek far to bring that to fruition. To many, this is a place to come, get stoned and relax with a beautiful landscape spread before them. To others, it is a place of enlightenment and soul searching. As a solo traveler, the choice is yours. So, why not do both?
Starting in Bunthar, I took a local bus up to Kasol. This was beyond crammed like a can of sardines. The road through Parvati is long, narrow and winds like a snake. It doesn't matter where inThe bus you are, someone is always knocking I to you or is jammed against you. Quite an experience.
Once in Kasol, there a few directions you can go. I chose to take the two and a half hour trek to Grahan through the valley. This was a magnificent hike that led you towards these majestic snow capped mountains. As the valley twisted and turned, I kept heading up towards the mountain top village. As I arrived in Grahan, I am greeted by Thali and fields of yellow mustard flowers. Sitting there in silence eating the warm food really hit home with me. It was a great time to quiet my mind and prepare for Tosh and Khirganga.
On the way to tosh, a lovely phenomenon occurred. Our bus broke down, leaving us half way between tosh and Kasol. So, me, 13 engineering students, and a mother and baby hop into a car and drive up. Talk about clown car huh? The best part about this whole thing was the music... Ace of Base. Hilarious. Once we got to Barsheni, the 13 students and I got out. Talk about clown cramped.
Once I arrived in Tosh, I met a group of Israelis and we hung out most of the day. They come to India to decompress after their time in IDF and/or to take a sabbatical. Ether way, it was really cool to spend time with them. Eventually, it got to be too much and I needed to get some space. So, I took a beautiful walk into the mountains. No specific direction and no end game. The silence that nature offers here is beyond anything I have experienced before. You have the constant low flow of water running down the valley, cows mooing, birds soaring in the wind and dogs talking to each other. Aside from that, it is just you and the crisp mountain air.
Making way to Khirganga was an experience unlike many others. Not only do you have to trek three hours up through the mountainous valley, you have to make way for donkeys, horses, cows and porters transporting goods up to the villages. There are no cars that go up to these tiny villages. Seeing and experiencing this culture is beyond inspirational. They are still using cows to till the land. Not only that, they let nature (mustard, clover, etc.)grow first before even turning the soil. This gives them a rich ground to support their livelihood. More than inspiring.
Now, Khirganga is a magical place. Everyone who lives there works full power all day. From chopping wood to running goods up and down the valley, everyone from child to grandma is putting in work. It is not a profession, they are fully immersed in this lifestyle of survival. These villages seem to be some of the few that depend on each person in order to have a fully functioning community. These places are the true carnation of taking a community to raise a child. This is what we need in the states. The "culture" to our "agri" has been lost.
Spending this time in the mountains has shown me a way of living fully functionally as a cohesive community. Something I knew was always possible, but bloody difficult to emulate in a culture as fast paced and progressive as ours. It has reminded me that we need to take care of the world immediately around us in order to have even the slightest positive influence on the people and cultures around us. That is my goal now; to bring back the sense of a functioning community in the smallest sense possible. From there, it is no longer up to me. I just need to have faith that the snowball will continue rolling and people's eyes will open to the true problems in our world. Namaste.
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