“I wandered lonely as a cloud; That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd; A host, of golden daffodils”
-William Wordsworth
In 1802, Wordsworth and his sister Dorothy chanced to encounter a field of daffodils while on an evening walk. They were surprised about the expanse of the area, its beauty and the simplicity of its existence at the same time. They were surprised as to how something can appear so huge when looked closely and yet so peaceful to not disturb the existing rush of life around it. The same things can be said about Churah valley located in the Chamba district of Himachal Pradesh.
Our trip to Churah was designed for a course – Shodhyatra, an experiential course – a journey for search of knowledge, creativity and innovations at the grassroots led by Prof. Anil Gupta and Prof. Navdeep Mathur. We were accompanied by the team from Not-On-Map, a travel organisation operating in Himachal. The course attempts to touch the untouched part of the places around us. We went to multiple villages during the trek and every village had a similar yet different thing about it.
If you have never happened to visit such a village, you might be missing out on the following experiences:
A. A Trekking Experience
 |
| Somewhere on the way |
It is one of the good places to trek if one is a trek enthusiast. The trek is a mixture of slant road and high mountains. Some climbs are difficult for beginners however, for others it will be pretty decent. The sights on the way are brilliant too. There are some beautiful waterfalls on the way. We went to Mangli as the last village on our trip and to a nearby point for meditation, which was also beautiful.
B. Culture and Food
 |
| During a Bonfire session |
 |
| Before Dinner |
The food was amazing. It was very simple – not spicy, not sweet. But something I could eat for one week and didn’t get bore. We ate four meals everyday – all cooked by someone who volunteered to feed us at their home (amazing, I know!). One of the speciality was their pickle – Chukh – which most of my travel mates binged on like a snack.
C. People
I was sick for one day during the journey and had to separate from the group since I couldn’t trek. I spent the whole day with strangers but they were amazing people. The people are generally very friendly and open for conversations / to help you out without looking for anything in return. I think this generosity is also a factor of most of the families’ attitude to try being self-sustainable by growing their own crops.
Further, the education rate is one of the best. All students go to school (a long travel of an hour at least), and even for someone who’s been in the Capital all life – the gender ratio is envious.
While some of these factors might not directly impact your travel journey, I do believe they enhance your experience in terms of the quality of interactions you get to experience with different people.
For this reason, I think even if one goes solo on this trip, one is unlikely to be bored / homesick. Also, I realised on this trip that I can stand between the lower and upper berth of the train, which was hilarious. (Refer this - goo.gl/thZDwN, if you are not aware about the Indian train system)
To be honest, I’m not a very big travel fan, I am still not. But I am glad I went to this trip. Probably places like these help you in developing a different perspective. Also, learning about the lives of different people also makes you more empathetic. A great trekking experience, good food, amazing people and perspective on life, there’s nothing to lose for in this!
Or sometimes we lose ourselves, to find ourselves. J
(Note – Picture credits to friends accompanying, I wasn’t using my phone so didn’t really take any pictures)
Comments
Post a Comment