Views & festivals - may 2004

What is a mountainous area without waterfalls? So, of course, there are lots of them around here. They are nice to look at and even nice to go to - theoretically. The best known one, and popular as a half day hike, is Jogni Falls, above Vashisht. Since I am an utterly hopeless case when it comes to a sense of direction or finding my way, my previous attempts of getting to the top of Jogni Falls ended up either in gazing in awe at some matted-hair-shanti-Vashisht-tourist blissfully floating in the small pool at the BOTTOM of Jogni Falls or stumbling over some steep rocky hill side with some unnamed waterfall high above me. But today I finally make it, in Bahang up the nallah, at the correct big rock onto the correct path, a short trot along the hillside with excellent views onto the Beas river bed and I am there. Wow, it's beautiful here, the expected hordes of tourists are not in sight, one lonely eagle - or is it a vulture? - sails above me in the sky. There is a fairly large alcove behind the waterfall, all covered in lush green vegetation where you can stand and have a different view through the spraying water onto the hills around. No wonder it's so popular, just as I leave they come: two big groups of people from both directions. [See bigger picture in photo diary]

It's full moon today. Equipped with plum wine, apple wine and loads of jumpers we head up to the top of the village. Newspapers had announced a lunar eclipse for tonight but I am holding up not much hope since last year's partial solar eclipse wasn't the promised spectacle but rather passed us by - it all took place behind a huge hill. This time we're lucky though, the moon is high up in the clear sky, slowly a black shadow nibbles into its top left corner. About 1.30 in the morning the moon is covered by the earth's shadow, due to refraction of light in the earth's atmosphere it is still visible though. Like an orange lantern it hangs above the Dunghri hills. Beautiful, my first total lunar eclipse!

A side road off National Highway NH21 in Dhobi leads along the Fojal nallah. It's a beautiful valley, rural, peaceful and far less concretey than the area around Manali. A big cluster of houses on the hillside, Fojal village is far bigger than we expected. The village mechanic tells us about 15 English people living in a village somewhere up the hill. We head for the temple, testing several chai stalls on the way. People seem to be relaxed here, it looks like a slow pace of life. In front of the Jawala Mukhi temple sits Pritham, smoking a chillum, not with charas but just tobacco. [See bigger picture in photo diary]

The last phase of the General election in India took place 3 days ago. Today results are being declared. And against all expectations it's the Congress party which has won (see election stats). English Wine Shops which are usually open all year round are closed today. But this is India; knock at the closed shutters or ask somebody who conspicuously lingers around the booze shop and for sure you'll get a bottle of whisky - admittedly for a somewhat inflated price and diluted with cheaper liquor or with some other nasty headache inducing toxins. But cheers, Ram Ram anyway.

Festival season in full swing; the last few days we've been busy watching people, gods and local dancers in Dunghri and Manali celebrating the Goddess Hadimba's birthday. Obviously intoxicating drinks are a big feature during this time. Today we are invited to Leela's house who has the best drink in Old Manali; it's called Sur, it comes in a muddy green-brownish colour (looking a bit like sugar cane juice) and it tastes very VERY moreish. The pujari (priest) of Prini village, on the other side of the river, makes it out of sugar and a herb or "medicine" locally called "jaributti", which grows on the hills above Hamta village. In the Alps you might have wine tasting sessions, at Leela's it's "local-tasting", so we try a bit of Lahauli home-brewed barley-whiskey and a kiddie-pink-fun-drink-coloured beetroot-apple rice wine. Needless to say: we mix in well with the crowds at the mela later: swaying from side to side and grinning happily. Other people have different experiences with the local brew though as described in Jamie's blog on India Mike.

Great idea - get up hideously early to see the virgin snow up at Rohtang pass in peace, quiet and solitude. The bugger is that thousands of Indian tourists have the same idea - and they don't even mind getting up at ridiculous times! It's a stunning 51 km drive of twisty mountain roads from Manali; beautiful with all the waterfalls and weird shapes of rocks and hills. A stunning sight as well once we arrive at Rohtang pass: hundreds of chai stalls and make-shift dhabas, tonnes of rubbish strewn over the area, a plain covered in furry-coat-attired tourists on muddy brown snow, some of them shrieking in exhaust-spewing snow mobiles or being contentedly pushed around in more environmentally friendly wooden sledges. Horse rides, yak rides, skiing lessons, car parks - all the tourist facilities are available. Welcome to Rohtang Pass! More in the blog. [See bigger picture in photo diary]

We are in Shirad, near Raison, at the Kaika mela, a festival which takes place only every three years. It's jam packed with people, none of whom we know since Shirad is "far away" as we were told by Manali villagers (well, yes, it's about 26 km from Manali). Music, drums, dancing, gods and rituals are different to those we are familiar with. We ask somebody why the attending gods go seven times back and forth from one ground to the other. Answer: "It's tradition, you know." We ask why people throw lots of flour around. Answer: "It's tradition, you know." We ask why there are dancing trees amongst the god entourage. Answers on a postcard.

The nicest villages are often off the road, and - grrr, usually - up the hill. We stumble up the path behind Burua village, past the Jamlu (Jamloo) temple and then up the stone steps (yippee, no concrete here - yet) towards the village of Majaj. The path is extremely busy; people, young and old, female and male, pass us, all of them carrying moderately sized to massive stone slabs like those used on the roofs of the old-style house. We are the only ones without a 20 to 40 kg load on our backs - and we are the slowest... A new Jamdagni temple is being built in the village and it's inhabitants volunteer for unpaid work. We admire them for being so incredibly fit and volunteer to appreciate the fantastic views from up here. [See bigger picture in photo diary]