From Shimla we took a local bus to a town called Bilaspur to meet Ravi (an old friend) with the plan of staying with him and his family for a few days. They picked us up from Bilaspur and took us to their house in the small village of Kerlya.
The house is on a ridge looking down the valley to the rest of the village which sits within the foothills of the Himalayas, it is a beautiful house in an amazing location and we were treated like kings by Ravi, Mampta, Chaitanya, Papa Jee and Mama Jee as they kept us very well fed. The view from the house is beautiful, and we awoke to the sight of what looked like a lake formed by cloud down the valley under the snow capped peaks.
After a couple of days at the house we went on a trip to Joginder Naga to see some more of the countryside. After a fun 7 hour journey involving buses, jeeps and probably the highest roads we have ever been on (many of which brought to mind the climax of the Italian Job - especially when we had to pass other buses!), we were met by Mampta's cousin and taken to his house where we were once again very well fed. Continuing our journeys strange fascination with rail travel we went for a quick trip on a trolley which goes up and down the hillside (at a gradient of up to 48 degrees - that's pretty steep) using a pulley system before taking a quick tour of the fascinating Hydroelectric powerstation that Mumpta's cousin worked in. It was built in 1932, and I thought renewable energy was a new thing.
On our return trip the bus took the opportunity of breaking down at the highest pass we made, rather than sit and wait we climbed higher (over 300 steps) to a small temple on the top of the hill, for some more breathtaking views of the mountains and the terraces that have been cut into the hillsides for farming. Just as we were at the top we got news that the bus was fixed and had to make a quick descent to cut the bus off on the road below us.
Our 5 days passed unbelievably quickly as we had a fun and relaxing time with our adopted family, and we left on another bus with the promise to meet up again in Delhi after our trip to Daramsala, further into the Himalayas - in case you wondered, it's also pretty cold ;o)
The house is on a ridge looking down the valley to the rest of the village which sits within the foothills of the Himalayas, it is a beautiful house in an amazing location and we were treated like kings by Ravi, Mampta, Chaitanya, Papa Jee and Mama Jee as they kept us very well fed. The view from the house is beautiful, and we awoke to the sight of what looked like a lake formed by cloud down the valley under the snow capped peaks.
After a couple of days at the house we went on a trip to Joginder Naga to see some more of the countryside. After a fun 7 hour journey involving buses, jeeps and probably the highest roads we have ever been on (many of which brought to mind the climax of the Italian Job - especially when we had to pass other buses!), we were met by Mampta's cousin and taken to his house where we were once again very well fed. Continuing our journeys strange fascination with rail travel we went for a quick trip on a trolley which goes up and down the hillside (at a gradient of up to 48 degrees - that's pretty steep) using a pulley system before taking a quick tour of the fascinating Hydroelectric powerstation that Mumpta's cousin worked in. It was built in 1932, and I thought renewable energy was a new thing.
On our return trip the bus took the opportunity of breaking down at the highest pass we made, rather than sit and wait we climbed higher (over 300 steps) to a small temple on the top of the hill, for some more breathtaking views of the mountains and the terraces that have been cut into the hillsides for farming. Just as we were at the top we got news that the bus was fixed and had to make a quick descent to cut the bus off on the road below us.
Our 5 days passed unbelievably quickly as we had a fun and relaxing time with our adopted family, and we left on another bus with the promise to meet up again in Delhi after our trip to Daramsala, further into the Himalayas - in case you wondered, it's also pretty cold ;o)
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