Tirthan Valley

Hidden in the Himalayan mountains is this quiet little haven in the midst of pine forests.

As part of the initial plan I was scheduled to travel with a dear friend of mine , We must have scouted around the entire map of Himachal and then realised that most places were either crowded or other too commercial . It was then that I reached out to a local from Himachal and asked for suggestions.Thats how this plan for Tirthan was made. We looked around the internet and somehow had very limited information. We were told that we had to go through a travel planner and so we did . We ended up booking our stay and transport way in advance .  It was only a few days later that my friend decided to ditch and I was lucky and blessed that another friend decided to book her tickets . And off we went to the unexplored Tirthan valley .After a 2 hour long flight from Hyderabad to Chandigarh , we waited for our cab that was supposedly organised for this trip. After 2 hour long - frustrating wait , we were finally on our way to Jibhi.This was my first time to Chandigarh and I was mighty impressed by the clean and green streets.We also passed through Mohali and Ropar . On our way we did stop for a quick meal of absolutely  delicious Butter Paneer and Parathas - the Punjabi style. My idea of Punjab had always been fields and farms and so it was . This Dhaba was a funny museum with oversized statues of the punjabi culture .The ride to Jhibbi lasted 7 hours . Yes we were quite exhausted as we reached Tirthan at 1 am .

Pro tip#1 try to reach Thirthan valley before sunset .

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The town was fast asleep but Rana ji's son was there to pick us up . The weather was pleasant and the room was a lovely little cottage in the valley . The best thing we could do was crash 

Day 2 : We woke up to a misty mountain and the feeling of being in the hills is amazing every single time. The air is so crisp and the greenery around is breathtaking.

Our day one was pretty much walking around this small little town . Rana ji came over to meet us and narrated his story and the thought process of the homestay .It is an interesting one and it's lovely to see how much he cares  for him beautiful hometown  and the environment. He has farm that  he tends to with the help of the villagers.Amongst other things , we had a family living next to us - parents and two kids . This family was travelling across the world and the kids were being homeschooled. It was a delightful teaching methods ,where the kids were learning everything they had to travelling across the world .

Day2 :Ranaji had suggested a walk to sareulsar lake and he categorically said it was a gradual easy trek. Now never trust a himachali when he says the "trek is gradual" , because for them its an everyday thing.We drove to the Jalori Pass which was 45 mins and trekked the 7 kms to the lake .The walk was a bit difficult but the end of it was just a gorgeous looking lake. Along the way there was some beautiful flora and fauna .We also noticed a 60+ year old couple who was there years ago and was reminiscing their time there .On our way back we came across tourists and funnily enough they were looking for snow !


Day 3 :  Jhibbi to  GhushainiWe went cruising around to Gushaini and found a sweet spot to chill by the river. 

We basked in the sun till the afternoon and then went back to our little abode in the valley . 

We drove back to Chandigarh the following morning. A beautiful drive but also very scary :).