Our First Hike in India

At 8.30 Eloise, Kitty, Fiona and I have finished our chai (India tea) and are ready for hiking. It is quite steep, but it gives you the feel of actually getting higher every 10th minute. As we didn’t know the way, we asked someone for the best path. They said we could either take the road (which would take us many, many hours) or we could take a short cut we could not miss the path of. Seeing as we were leaving for Manali later, we figured the short cut was the best idea.

We found the short cut and started walking. After a while you get back on the road again and should find the path again a bit further along the road. We found something which could resemble of a path and took a chance. It was quite the climb with loose rocks making it more of a challenge. Half way I decided to go where there were more grass and fewer rocks. The others decided to stay on the path. I was lucky because the bundles of plants gave me a better grip and it made it easier to get up faster. About 7 metres away the others were struggling. Suddenly Eloise screams out as we hear rocks falling down. Kitty was unlucky and some of the bigger stones were falling down towards Eloise as she was climbing. Fiona who was on safer ground tried to go back again to help Kitty. It was quite the thrill as they all stood on unstable ground and if Kitty would fall, Eloise would be screwed. Fortunately Kitty gets up to Fiona safely, and so does Eloise.

Our rocky climb

Calming down after the a bit too exciting climb

I was so glad I had chosen the other way, but the worst part was that I couldn’t get towards them fast enough to be able to help very much. I could only contribute with encouraging words and advice. We were all quite relieved when we got up to the road. The path had a clear continuance from here and after drinking some water and calming our nerves down we went back on again. As we got closer to the top this strong smell hit us. We were surrounded by marihuana plants all over. Man, did that smell intense! It made me realise how big the drug business must be in India as it is so easily available since it grows wildly all over the mountains.

At the top we visited the temple and a guy who served it gave us blessings and some holy food. It was very sweet so we hid the left over in my back pack and threw it out. I am guessing that by now some animal has eaten it. Lucky bastard, not every day it gets holy food. I bet the other animals are jealous.

It took us about 2 hours and 30 minutes to climb up, and since we didn’t want to go down the same way and the road would take too long; we got a guy to call for a rickshaw for us to take us down. It was a really nice trip down; the view was beautiful and the air was fresh.

Inside the temple

The view from the top looking down at Kullu Valley