DAY 2:
We woke up in the morning looking at this beautiful view from the bus window. The weather was getting colder as we reached closer to our destination.
On the way, we saw many small houses & shops which looked quite simple & pretty. We reached Bhuntar bus stand in the morning at 7:30 AM. It was freezing cold for us.
Now to reach Kasol you can either hire a private taxi or board the public bus. The bus frequency is quite good; you can find a public bus in every 40-60 minutes. For more details you can google the timings.
We decided to take the public bus because the fare was cheap. The bus was crowded but luckily we managed to get a seat.
It took us approximately 2 hours to reach the main market of Kasol. Yes, we had finally arrived to this place! This tiny town is surrounded by mountains & trees all around. The sound of flowing river & breeze of cool air made us fall in love with this place.
You can see tourists; Indians as well as foreigners all over the place.
Protip: It is better to get some cash when you arrive at this place. In fact it would be better if you can get all your budget in cash over here. There is ONLY ONE ATM in this entire town.
Now the challenge for us was to find a good place to stay since we didn't book any hotel in advance. All the good & cheap hotels were occupied. After searching for an hour we found a homestay which had private rooms & reasonable pricing.
It had a terrace balcony with a breathtaking mountain view. We immediately decided to move into this place because we were very tired after the long bus journeys.
After relaxing for sometime we realized we were dead hungry & needed to eat something.
So we started exploring Kasol market trying different cuisines at different cafes.
I'll be talking about this in the next part. So stay tuned!
The precipitous valley road climbs past a side valley leading to the village of Malana near the famous tourist spot Kasol. From here, the road passes through the Sikh and Hindu pilgrimage town of Manikaran and terminates at Pulga, where the construction of the Parvati Hydel Project, a hydroelectric dam, dominates the landscape. From Pulga, the footpath climbs to a temple and small dhaba at Rudra-Nag waterfall, apparently after its resemblance of a water snake. Beyond Rudra-Nag waterfall, the trail ascends further through thick pine forests to the spiritual site of Kheerganga where Shiva is said to have meditated for 3000 years. The hot springs at Kheerganga are extremely important for Hindu and Sikh pilgrims as well as many others who believe the waters have sacred healing properties.[2][3]
Looks like you have been to those places too! I'm gonna post about some other places as well. Although we couldn't make it for Pulga because we didn't have enough time. But yeah this trip has definitely changed me!