Offline in Grahan: An Unforgettable Trek Experience
Come on an unforgettable trek with me as I am off to Grahan, an enchanting remote remote village in Himachal. A day that started with a bit of a shock and something you don’t tell your parents about until afterwards, turned into one of the most memorable experiences of my life.
Sorry Ma’am, no guide
As you can imagine, my day started with my favourite Nutella Pancake a la Hosteller. Heaven! Not so heavenly was the information that there was no guide for my trek since I was only one person. I had asked one of the hotel guys 3 times for the same during breakfast and he was like “Yes yes, confirmed”. I doubt he had even understood me… At 11 am, when the trek was supposed to start, they informed me that it was not possible. “But no problem, it’s an easy trek, you can do it by yourself. Just follow the stream and the red arrows. And there are a lot of homestays up there.” Huh! Well, OK then, but better not tell my Mom till I’m back 😉
No internet, no connection at all, fully offline for more than 24 hours! Noice!! 🙂 But how do all these kids survive that, being unable to use Snapchat or post everything they do in a story? (Spoiler alert: They just compensate with loud music and whooing.)
Before starting the trek, I took a break at Moon Dance Cafe to get a sandwich for on the way and charge my phone for a bit more. According to the hotel guy, there was no electricity up there as well and I wanted to lose neither camera nor step counter (any steps taken without it don’t count after all, it’s like going to the gym without posting it on Facebook). The sandwich was amazing! Home-made bread from their “German” or rather a Nepali bakery, chicken ham, and tasteful cheese… nom nom 🙂 I saved the other half for after my trek.
Let’s do this! Off to Grahan
The trek started just next to Moon Dance Cafe, and only 5 min later this rave hell hole AKA Kasol was behind me. There was hardly anyone going up to Grahan, only now and then some people coming down. And the best part: no littering! I couldn’t believe it! After all that trash all over the place yesterday, I finally found a clean area! Only now and then I came across some garbage but all in all, it was very clean 🙂
The entire 9 km trek was incredibly beautiful! The path was mostly next to a stream, and I even wondered when it would finally get higher up. The first few kilometers, it was all about getting deeper and deeper into the valley, later it went higher and higher up the mountain. I lost my connection after only 15 min of walking.
At one point, I had to decide whether I wanted to continue on the easy or the tough path. I guess the tough one would’ve been shorter but steeper, so I decided to go for the easy one. #lazybum At the same point, a signboard informed me that from here onward, alcohol was forbidden, and carrying/having it would be punished. Later I found out that the reason for that was a religious one: the local devta (deity) of Grahan was so strong that when someone had liquor, something bad, like an accident, would happen to them. If a villager would catch you with liquor, you would be asked to leave immediately, even if it meant in the middle of the night.
The hotel guys were right about the homestays: the closer I got to Grahan, the more “ads” for homestays I saw, written on every second bigger stone.
After some time, some villagers, a family of three, with their calf appeared before me, who also went up to the village.
The only tricky part – apart from the path becoming very steep – was when I reached a small waterfall and stream which I had to cross somehow. I had the choice between a bridge made of two rather narrow stems which didn’t lead to the path but to a big rock. The second option was to cross via wet and slippery stones in the water which led directly to the path. The family had chosen the latter and waited a bit further up for me in case I needed help (really sweet 🙂 ) Since I have the tendency to slip and fall, I chose the bridge and climbing over that rock to get back to the path. Wasn’t too tough after all.
It looked like rain and a bit before reaching Grahan, I felt some raindrops. I would’ve been fully prepared, carrying my rain jacket and even pants but once again I didn’t get a chance to finally use them.
The last bit was rather steep (nothing in comparison to the tough way though as I found out later) and when I finally reached the village, I only wanted to find a homestay to relax. The easy way up ends between Grahan and Pulgi. There are some homestays on the Pulgi site as well with a nice view but I preferred staying in Grahan itself. There are lots of options to choose from but a lot of them play such loud music non-stop (can’t escape the rave 🙁 ), so I kept walking till I left the music behind me. I decided to stay at the Howling Owl, the first place you cross when reaching Grahan from the tough path.
The rooms were very nice, the bathroom was a common one but had a proper western toilet. They even had electricity up here to my surprise (the guy from the Hosteller had told me that there is none)! The mattress was quite comfortable and there were lots of thick blankets in the cupboards to survive the cold night.
The food also turned out to be quite good: I had the Tuna Cheese Pasta for a late lunch and finally got to try the traditional local dish Siddu served with Ghee for dinner, made of a yeast dough which takes hours to prepare. Was a bit like a German Dampfnudel. It was very delicious, make sure you try it when you happen to be in that area!
The rest of the day I spent relaxing and reading on the small balcony and later the seating area. It started drizzling for a bit which was so beautiful. 🙂
They lit up a bonfire and for the first time after 5 days, I talked to people – in this case, the guys from the homestay. Two of them were from the village, another was a young guy from Mumbai who gave up his job some years back and moved to the mountains to start an adventure company. I can fully understand him, I felt the strong urge to leave the city life behind and just move to the mountains. It’s amazing not to be reachable for a while, the whole urge of constantly checking your phone just disappears.
The only disappointment was that it was too cloudy to see that many stars, not even to think about the Milky Way as one of the hotel guys showed me in a picture. 🙁 Still – what a perfect second last day it was! I finally found what I was looking for: peace.
Can it get any better on my last day? Let’s see!
The Summary
Distance covered
By foot: 10 km
Accommodation
Cost: 400 INR/~6 $ (I found it online for 900 INR/~13 $, but they started with 500 INR/~7 $ for 2 people and gave me a discount since I was alone. I guess I could’ve gotten it for a bit less also)
Rating: 4/5 (very nice room, comfortable bed, lots of warm blankets, electricity even, very good food, bonfire in the night; con: a bit too much of music for my taste but much better and leas than at other places)
Food
Breakfast: Nutella pancake, Ginger lemon honey tea
Cost: 220 INR/~3 $
Rating: 5/5 (My favorite place for Nutella pancakes, be it in Rishikesh or here in Kasol; good ginger lemon honey tea, they give the honey separately. At other places, it’s often too sweet)
Lunch: Grilled ham and cheese sandwich, Ginger lemon honey tea
Cost: 280 INR/~4 $
Rating: 5/5 (great ambiance, the grilled ham and cheese sandwich was amazing, with homemade bread; good ginger lemon honey tea)
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