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Shoja for solitude

Lovely landscape At the small Himalayan town of Shoja

There seems to be a certain general plan that every Himalayan riverbank town follows. There are some traits that are present in all these towns. For example each has a metal girder bridge fording the river and on either end of this bridge you’l l most probably see saffron robed holy men contemplating the world around them. Moving on into the main bazaar, you wouldn’t be in a Himalayan town if you didn’t see a halwai (sweets) shop with his wares displayed blatantly in either red orange or yellow. Next to it will be the little teashop and across the road, general stores selling grain and other provisions.

Luhri off NH22 towards the Jalori Pass is much like this and add to this the cacophony of local buses stopped in the middle of the narrow roads and jeep taxis blaring their horns, some to get the buses going and most to attract passengers.

But it feels good to be amidst this cacophony and chaos because the Himalayan air has certain crispness, every lungful of which soothes and reassures. So what if the town is noisy, a stone’s throw away lie forested vistas, views of snow capped mountains surrounded by tranquillity.

Which is a fact, as the visuals of Luhri vanish from the rear view mirror they take along with them the loud murmurs of the town too and these are replaced by pine forests resplendent with the chirping of many birds.

The road then goes along a tributary of the Sutlej towards another hustle-bustle Himalayan hamlet called Ani, before starting the steep climb upto the Jalori Pass. This road is very susceptible to landslides and the landscape is a picture of upheaval, as if some gigantic hand as kneaded it much like a baker kneads his dough. There is also a huge rock that had come sliding down a few years ago. So massive is this rock that it would rival a small hillock in size and every traveller here sends up the silent prayer thanking his god that he wasn’t here when that rock went mobile. I also felt an involuntary urge to step on the gas and get out of that place. The Jalori Pass bursts into view quite suddenly and is a crowded place as there are tea stalls and quite a big temple dedicated to the deity of the pass. Everyone disembarks here to take in the fantastic views, but I headed on, as my destination was the little town of Shoja, five km ahead.

The landscape of Shoja, if perceived from a distance in July, is a riot of colours. It seems as if a chequered quilt has been carelessly draped across the land.

The next day I did a fantastic trek to the Serolsar lake from the Jalori Pass and then headed down from Shoja to Gushaini on the banks of the Tirthan river and set up my tent by the river.

Fishing is something I’ve never had much luck at but I guess the Tirthan is so well stocked that within a minute of casting a line I had a bite and pulled out a large trout, which my cook fried for dinner.

The Tirthan valley is one of Himachal’s lesser known treasures and hasn’t yet started seeing the kind of tourists that throng areas around Manali and Shimla. If you’re looking for some solitude that’s where you should head.

To stay in Shoja visit www.banjaracamps.com or call 01126855152

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