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View from Jalori Pass |
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In our car on the road to Jalori Pass |
There was a knock on the door. Tommy Singh eagerly got up before I could think of anything else and opened the door of our room at the Hotel Hatu, Narkanda.
And I was bowled over!
In front of me was a vivacious beauty of I think of an European origin. Wow! She entered into the room gracefully, a tall figure with a kind of smile on her face I had been searching for a long time. She wore a long high-neck gray pullover, her blond hairs tossed in front of her right shoulders with a face of a super model and green eyes with a rare twinkle!
The blighter! Tommy Singh met her during last night after I had left for my room.
Tommy coughed. ' Kiran, meet Monet.... Monet Mazur, we became pally last evening.'
'Hi,' I said. ' Are you English?'
'No. May I?', she asked to sit
'Of course'. 'Sorry'. 'Please sit', hurriedly I said.
She was Polish, alone traveling in India and when I asked her how do you manage alone, she replied coolly,
'I move purposefully'.
Thought, I understood, keeping in mind to ask her later for the benefits of other foreigners visiting India or that matter any other country. I looked at her. She may have long legs and solid breasts. May be she was from Poznan or Lodz.
I inhaled deeply hoping to get a smell of her body and asked Tommy Singh, 'Should we leave now'
'Well Kiran, we can go via new route to Manali via Jalori Pass .....and Monet will like to come with us'
The old bastard. I thought of Tommy Singh, turning my face to hide a smile.
'But what about the driver. Will he agree?', I asked skeptically
'I checked up everything and already discussed with the driver. He is waiting for us' said Tommy.
I looked questioningly at Monet and was bowled again by her smile which had a request and a promise. I don't know what!
We reached
Sainj down hill from
Narkanda 9000 ft to 4000 ft on the same route to
Rampur we had taken yesterday. As a courtesy, I was in the front with the driver and Monet with privileged Tommy Singh.
Smart old man! Soon we were on a climb on a narrow road. The landscape changed to a beautiful scene as we gained height. I adjusted the front mirror to see whats going on the road at the back and had a glimpse of Monet(?)
The country side was becoming pleasing with the steep climb. We reached
Luhri, a small village on the way to
Jalori Pass. My goodness! What a quaint place! With forest all around with great valleys! There was a lone tea stall for us to warm ourselves with a steaming glass and our body by a fire! Thinking of our bodies, I looked at Monet. She smiled. That was enough of a fuel to the fire.
Viva La Poland!10 km before
Jalori Pass, the gradient became suddenly very steep. The car was struggling hard. We had to get down and push as it got stuck in a ditch. It was cold. I was worried about Monet. But she was okay and tried to pick a big stone to put behind the rear wheel! Eventually we managed and the car went up in the first gear. Then we were at the top of the
Jalori Pass at 11,000 ft above the sea level!
It was a charming and a thrilling sight!
There was a temple, a road, few houses and a 360 degree panorama! It was unbelievable. After a small walk, we stood silently and watched the beauty of snow peaks!
The winding road down hill for about 7 to 8 km was equally treacherous till we reached to
Sojha, nestled on an edge of a hill, a small village, a picture post card with apple grooves, long wooded walks, out of this world! There was a resort and we headed toward it. We passed a smiling bunch of people! Innocent
We headed towards
The Banjara Resorts, Sojha, a cedar wood structure with a great location and typical British, I believe. The lunch was great with
Himachali Rajmah (a kind of beans) and Rice with Chicken!We were told of nearby lovely treks through alpine forests, views of snow peaks, terraced valleys with hamlets of villages and meadows, specially a holy lake
'Sarolsar' which would be frozen and white! But we had to move on so we reluctantly left
Sojha for our onward journey to
Banjar to
Aut and then on a highway to
Kullu and finally to
Manali
Route:Delhi--Shimla--Narkanda-- Sainj--Jalori Pass--Sojha--Aut--Kullu--ManaliResort:http://banjaracamps.com