Read part 1 here : The landing
 |
| The temple 2 km from Jalori Pass |
We are at the guesthouse, it is still
raining and it is cold. The view from the rooms and the balcony is beautiful. I
love the sight and the sound of the Tirthan river. Three of us are here. Puneet has come for a
trek to Rolla in the Great Himalayan National Park. We had adrak Chai and Paranthas with mouth watering Mango Chutney as we talked for around an hour
before Panki arrived with his welcoming aura.
The trek was cancelled and Puneet would head back to Kullu and come
again in a couple of days. He was kind
and observant enough to notice that we needed something to keep us warm. He
lended his thick woollen jacket for outside protection and a lot of walnuts to
keep up warm from the inside.
We were soon fast asleep to wake up to a
warmer weather. I was lucky to wake up not very late after Panki bhaiya's missed call,
else we would have missed the chance to join two families from Bangalore for a
drive followed by a small trek to Jalori Pass, which is at a height of around
3120 metres. It a narrow road full of caution boards from the road department.
The safety boards on the way advise you to drive only in the first gear.
The onward
journey was a quiet one, everyone either busy enjoying the views or struggling
to maintain seat on the curvy roads. They were two couples and four kids. They
were working different companies like Cisco and DailyHunt. One of them had left
her job at KPMG and worked as a Charted Accountant. It was the time of the year when kids had
their vacations. At
the top is the Jalori Mata temple which is visited by devotees from nearby
villages. We had some Rajma-Rice at one of the local dhabas at the top, which
are warm inside, thanks to the mud architecture.
 |
| Views of the mountain peaks from Jalori Pass |
 |
| Our Jalori Pass friends |
We went for a walk to a nearby campsite and
it was beautiful. The snow added it’s charm to the beautiful colors of the
tents. There is another temple 2 km away from where the views are heavenly.
Around 6:30 pm, we left Jalori Pass to head back to Tirthan. The return journey was much livelier. They
told us about the different places they had travelled. Suddenly, the tempo
traveller was filled with stories of trips, treks and offbeat places. We talked
about technology, about politics, about nature
and had a lot of laughs. We were back by around 9pm at the guesthouse, which I
would like to call home now onwards. It was a bit late when I realised that we
didn’t exchange numbers.
 |
| Fort View Dhaba, where we had our Chai after the refreshing walk |
 |
| Jalori Mata temple |
 |
| The road to the temple and campsite |
 |
| The campsite at Jalori Pass |
It gets pitch dark during the night, and
the only soul which stays awake, moves and roars is the Tirthan River, which is
the life of the valley.
I will soon be writing about day 1.
