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Two roads diverged in a wood, and I---

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

-Robert Frost

I looked out of the door of our room.

Snow clad mountains were shining like solid silver in the morning sun. Tea was boiling on the 'Chullah'. For next one hour we will just enjoy our cup of tea in the company of those majestic mountains and the valley below.

Our life was moving to the beat of a altogether different drummer.

We were in 'Hamta'. A sleepy, cozy place stuck there in time all by itself, high above the hill station of Manali. Only approach to our abode was a typical Himalayan road (that means there was no road at many places ☺). I doubt anyone except trekkers travel by that road when 'Rohtang Pass' is open.
     

View From The Room

When you have such view from your room you don't need much else on your vacation. We just soaked in every passing moment.

To our dismay Rohtang Pass was closed due to heavy snowing and cars were passing non stop to Hamta Pass to enjoy snow there. People looked quizzically at a city couple in the midst of nowhere (There was no other house for a kilometer on either side) and my wife did not like that at all. This sudden bonanza was good for the locals though. Local Dhabas were doing roaring business.

This was the most mysterious destination we ever planned to visit. In spite of all the search on net we had no clue where it was and what kind of place it was. Photos showed a ramshackle village house. We were bit scared but ready to take on all the experiences it offered. One thing the place guaranteed, the peace and solitude that was our one point agenda, so we took the plunge.

We just wanted a nice little cozy place and we ended up in a veritable paradise.

This place is beautiful beyond any words. Maybe a 'Wordsworth' or 'Balkavi' (Marathi poet famed for his poetry about nature) could capture this beauty in words but it is far beyond my capacity.

We were surrounded by snow capped Himalayas on all sides with green verdant valleys below. Waves upon waves of those magnificent mountains. Fickle weather showed us all her moods. One moment it will be sunny and within an hour ominous clouds would gather among mountains and it would start raining. This whole play of clouds, sun and mountains was truly mesmerizing.

Madhuri brewing tea on chullah

We had lot of fun lighting the chullah. It's not as easy as it looks. Twigs need to be arranged loosely with lot of space in between them so that there is ample air supply.

Just like life.... We try to pack in too much and fire dwindles.

For this task Madhuri was the expert and I was a trainee. So my job was to break those big twigs into smaller pieces. I was told that this was the way to learn. I could not see the connection but like all smart trainees I kept my thoughts to myself.

Neat stack of wood. It looked interesting.

In the beginning we used chullah only for hot water. Water from tap was so cold that by the time you washed your hands all sensation in the fingers was lost. So hot water was a absolute necessity. By third day we got used to the cold. We used hot water if it was there but it was no longer a necessity. It was a luxury.

That was something new. At home we generally convert our luxuries into necessities.

Spacious Verandha

View from verandha was magnificent and serene. Literally in the lap of nature. I could sit there whole day. without ever getting bored.

One luxury we enjoyed a lot. We made tea on chullah. Seeping it sitting on this veranda was the  stuff dreams are made of.

We did not have any company except for the young lad Gaurav who stayed on upper floor. He was mostly busy with meditation, yoga and reading so we had whole ground floor to ourselves all the time. Our only visitor was this stray dog - or rather he was the local and we were stray visitors ☺- Like a good neighbor, he arrived once in a while to check on us.

One corner of our house and path leading to it.

Our house was little below the road and we had to climb up every time we went to Dolma Aunti's house for breakfast or meal. We found it tough. On my Annapurna base camp trek some 30 years ago I used to run down paths much steeper than this with a fully loaded haversack on my back. If you are an ardent nature lover I would earnestly ask you to enjoy your treks and adventures before age catches up with you. Make do with a smaller car or a bedroom less and seize the time.

I assure you it will be a good bargain.

Aunti-Uncle's beautiful house

Dolma aunty and Kalzan uncle are such a lovely couple. Typical mountain people. Simple and robust. I kept imagining their life 15 years back when current road did not exist. Must have been a scene straight out of 'Haidi'.

Meadow in front of their house

Breathtaking expanse in front of their house with  a stream flowing through it. It reminded me of those pics of Swiss alps. Stream provided them with 24 hr running water. 

Beautiful curving road just outside Their house. These roads are tough on drivers and vehicles for sure but they have a character of their own. They fascinate me. It looks like they are meandering wherever their heart and the gradient of the hill takes them 

On our second day I got up early by 5:30. I was just looking around when sun came up and those peaks suddenly turned golden in a flash. I ran in to get my camera. By the time I returned it had vanished. I never saw that golden hue again...

Why do we want to save everything for posterity? When we know that nothing is permanent. Even Sun was not there some 5 billion years ago and it won't be there after as many years.

In the presence of majestic Himalayas I would be scared to add my touches to the beautiful expanse. But not these tiny flowers. They bloomed anywhere and everywhere.

Some by the sides of our daily path.

Not many people appreciated those tiny flowers in fact very few ever saw them. But that did not deter them. I think joy of creation was the reward in itself for them.

Vanvihar

This beautiful gem we chanced upon because of Madhuri. While returning from Manu Temple she noticed this small gate leading into the Vanvihar as it is called. I was not so sure of the idea but she was 100% for it. How can she be so sure about an unknown path? I think she behaved in the same way when she married me.☺☺

Luckily this time she was not wrong. It was a walk to remember with those huge, tall trees all around us. This was really overkill. Himalayas had already shown us how insignificant we were. These trees nailed home that fact permanently.

Funnily we met very few people on this path when half the Manali crowd should have been here. (This is what they come here for right?) Though this was good for us. We could enjoy the place at our own leisure.

Entrance to Vanvihar at Manali end is ironically hidden behind this wildlife information center. That could be the reason people don't find it easily when they travel to Hadimba temple or Manu temple. Many roads skirt around it but no one notices it.

Oh yes. Our destination was Manali. So this is the Mall area. It is designed thoughtfully with lot of sitting arrangement which was not there when we had last visited some 20 years back.

Only improvement required is that the taxi stand should be moved little away like the bus stand.

So that's it reader. We visited usual spots like hot water springs at Manikaran, mystical Hadimba temple and unique Manu temple because we were there for 11 days in all. But we never fell prey to the hurry and aggression of our everyday life. Our life had a really big margin for those few days. That is why it was not a let down after those five blissful days at Hamta.

In case they ask me at the gate of hell "So old man did you enjoy your stay down there?" I would say "Sir I will need some time to choose from those 25000 odd days but about 5 particular days I am absolutely sure"

Postscript: Talking about wild flowers above I mentioned  that : "I think joy of creation was the reward in itself for them". There is actually a word for this that I came across today. Its "Autotelic".