Despite being from Himachal, I hadn’t done any trip within Himachal by myself. Our school in 2015 made a trip to Dharamshala and Mcleodganj and then me and my friends from college made another trip to Kasol-Kheerganga in 2021. That’s it.
I chose Shoja because it apparently was “off-beat”. I very well knew how crowded the hotspots like Manali, Kasol, Bir, Shimla get during the season and didn’t want that. On top this, a long solo drive was also on my plan and I didn’t want the traffic. I didn’t expect much; a good drive and a peaceful stay with mountain backdrop. Until the last day before trip, I had no idea on which treks/waterfalls could be done in Shoja.
I started at 6:30AM on 12th June and reached Shoja at 2PM, had a coffee break in-between. The drive till Aut was uneventful and had some serious views on the Mandi-Aut stretch. The real test for me and my car began after Aut; the roads were broken and it had rained recently, making it all muddy. There were stretches of traffic jams on congested parts of the road. Shoja is about 7kms uphill from Jibhi, enroute Theog(the road splits here to Shimla and to Kalpa) after passing the Jalori Pass. I was tired from the drive, but not scared as I did not find myself in a difficult situation, although I had an idea on how difficult it can get when a bus would come with a long tail of vehicles uphill. I settled down and took a nap in the hostel.
Shoja is a small village, but the cafes/hostels/hotels are plenty. All the stays looked full and there were a plenty of people around from many different parts of the country. Vehicles continued to ply on the road throughout the day. The place didn’t feel off-beat at all. Local people mostly farm and support the tourism industry; drive cabs, host homestays, work in hotels/hostels, etc. In my first impressions, I found the mountain silence and the cold breeze to be eerie. I haven’t completely found the reasons for this feeling but I have some hypothesis. Maybe it is because how far places like these are from normal civilization. Maybe because it is an unfamiliar setting and me not able to place normal life activities there: there’s not plain stretch of ground anywhere. It could also be because of pace of time there; the light moves differently in the mountains. Or it’s just the uncomfortable feeling of seeing unexplored mountains and jungles, some of them having no means to reach to them. The first evening went into these reflections. I read for a while and planned for Raghupur fort trek the next day.
On Saturday(13th) I woke up early and it was raining. The trek was just 3kms, so I decided I’ll do it in the noon, hoping the weather clears up. Took a bus and reached Jalori pass at 2PM. Not much to my surprise, the place was full to the brim with people and vehicles. I started the trek, which was like a walk around my society in Bangalore for the first 1.5km. The remaining 1.5km was a steep incline. I could do it in a single stretch, though I did feel that my endurance needs some work. The top of the hill were green meadows with many small flowers sprouting between the grass. The views were incredible; I could see Manali’s Himalayas towards the north, whole Shoja and Jibhi down below and Shimla’s range towards south. The weather had cleared up a bit, Shoja was still covered with clouds but the snow clad mountains over the horizon were clearly visible. I laid down for a while and tried not to think anything, just soak in the grandiosity of the nature. People usually camp at the top in tents for stargazing. I did not feel like camping; just because of logistics and I felt the stars were as clearly visible from Shoja as well. While returning, I noticed the place was flooded with even more people. Some discussing what to do on the evening, where to get the booze and some discussing which places to cover tomorrow and the day after. A group on girls in my dorm had their entire suitcase laid open, clothes spread and were involved in deep discussion of matching the outfit to the trek; more comfortable for Raghupur fort trek and something trendy(idk what that means) for Serolskar lake trek. I couldn’t find any good spot to write/read that evening and ended up on my bed(while the outfits were being chosen below). I thought about what makes people travel and plan to write a blog piece on it. I had dinner and called it a day early with no plans for tomorrow, apart from changing my hostel to Firgun.
Although Firgun had a ‘vibe’, the quality of rooms was not at par with Zostel. The deck and common hangout place were beautiful and firgun served drinks, which is what I think brought the max crowd there. I checked in, ordered lunch and was reading in the common area when a group sitting next to me invited me to a game of ludo. They were college mates, now working(same age as me) and were from Azamgarh, Kerala and Gujarat. Things went along and we ended up together on a trek to Shoja waterfall, which I did’t know existed until then.
I came to the firgun deck around 9:30 in evening and saw so many people. There was a live music event and people were sitting/standing everywhere. I made some friends. We talked through the night, sharing our stories. By 1 the hostel volunteer called the remaining people on the deck for games. We slept around 4 after talking about everything and stargazing. Parts of trips like these is what makes me do more of them. I get to see different ways of thinking, different identities being themselves and how I fit in.
I woke up at 10 the next morning and had some part of me telling me to stay one more day. But I didn’t. I left around 12 and met some serious traffic and driving situations downhill. The drive till Aut was excruciating but enlightening. I got back home at 7 in the evening with a lunch break on Mandi bypass.