A Hike to Solang Valley: Following the Cotton Candy
I woke up to a clear blue sky and a warm sun – which already made my day (not knowing yet that I would curse it later and beg for some clouds to appear).
The first and most important thing to do before starting my hike to Solang Valley, was to finally wash my hair! The hotel didn’t have a hair dryer and the thought alone of drying them in the cold air made me fall sick.
This time, they unfortunately called me downstairs for breakfast and I saw their breakfast buffet for the first time: paranthas, poha, scrambled egg… everything was slightly spicy though. I still ordered a bread omelette to eat on my balcony afterward since the view is the best part of the hotel 🙂
I started my trek a bit after 9 am and right away became friends with a dog who sat in front of the hotel, whom I called Dexter. He followed me for at least 2 km. What a cutie he was!
The view was as expected even better than the day before and although the weather app showed 9°C, it felt like 20°C in the sun! I walked all the way to Solang Valley in my T-Shirt – fatal without sunscreen as I realised later (once again)… ich – einfach unverbesserlich… story of my life it seems.
The way to Nehru Kund was the same as the day before, but instead of crossing the bridge, I followed the road all the way to Palchan. Somewhere on the way, I met yet another cotton candy seller, a kid this time. After 5 km we started talking now and then and turned out, even he was from Manali and on the way to Solang Valley. Just imagine, more than 20 km by foot, and I suppose almost daily…
Once again, I followed the cotton candy all the way to the goal. After Palchan, he showed me lots of shortcuts to avoid the main road.
Finding the Beauty of Solang Valley
Finally, after around 10 km, we reached Solang Valley – and I could hardly have been more disappointed. Seriously, this is it? The “beautiful” Solang Valley? I somehow had expected something bigger…
It was super commercialised – which I had expected – and there was a gondola up the mountain (650 INR/~9 $), paragliding (1000 INR/~14 $) and horseback riding. And people with huge white Angora rabbits with which you could take a picture. I had seen a woman walking around with such a rabbit the day before and was wondering what she was doing with it. Now I had the answer.
I checked on the map, still not believing that this was it. The map showed some viewing points but written in Hindi 2 km away, close to the river, and decided to walk there. Turned out to be harder than I thought as the map was apparently not correct. And nobody I met knew this point or how to get there. I ended up at the Solang Power House close to the Beas River and since I was already down here, I walked along the river bank for a bit. Which was rather scary and not even very nice, being all by myself in the middle of nowhere and only construction workers around…
Disappointing… almost as much as the rest of Solang Valley… but I didn’t give up yet. Since I was already there, it would’ve been a pity not to go up in a gondola, that’s always nice. After having super watery Maggi (another disappointment) and exchanging my sandals for rubber boots for the snow up there, I went up. I heard some guy saying it’s 900 m, not very high. My phone connection worked perfectly up there even!
Finding Peace amidst the Snow
I’ve read something about skiing down there so seeing this tiny space was again rather disappointing. One single person tried skiing, in a space of maybe 10 m. Many people just went up the hill, sat down, and sledded down on… their butt? Seriously? Not even sleds? I think my view on this is way too German. Stop being so critical, woman!
Nevertheless, I still didn’t give up, hoping I’d find something nice up here. For 20 INR/~0.30 $, I borrowed a walking stick to walk in the snow – which was definitely needed, especially uphill. A bit apart from the crowd, with the view over the snow-capped mountains and snow all around me, I finally got in the mood.
Eventually, I found a beautiful spot completely away from everyone, hearing nothing but birds with a fantastic view. Finally, I felt that all the effort was worth it.
A RED Awakening
Before I went back, I had noticed how red my arms had become… but even wearing a jacket didn’t help much. The sun was fully in my face and I had to cover another 10 km… in the end, I really didn’t care anymore about any landscape, the only thing I wished for was my bed and shade.
I took a break at The Cider, around halfway, where they had a swing in a cute garden. I ordered chicken fingers and a sweet lassi, both just okay types. The break was urgently needed though…
Finally, after another 2 hours or so, I reached the hotel. 24.3 km… I was simply dead. The actual shock came when looking in the mirror though: I was fully burned. And the moment I saw it was the moment it started hurting…
The original plan was to take a short nap, go for dinner, check the bus timings to Kasol, and get money from the ATM to pay for the hotel (hardly any place in the mountains accepts cards). I was not able to leave my bed anymore for the entire night and finally ordered at least some egg Maggi for dinner.
Let’s see if I was able to wake up on day four!
The Summary
Distance covered
By foot: 24.3 km
Accommodation
Treebo Trend Celebriti
Cost: 1800 INR/~26 $ (via Booking.com)
Rating: 4/5 (awesome view, clean and spacious room. Breakfast buffet is OK)
Food
Maggi stall at Solang Valley
Cost: 40 INR/~0.60 $
Rating: 2/5 (way too watery and rather tasteless. Usually, maggi is better than anywhere else in the mountains, so that’s a disappointment)
The Cider
Cost: 350 INR/~5 $
Rating: 3/5 (chicken fingers way too dry, served with Coriander dip which I personally didn’t like. The lassi was okayish, it had some fruity stuff inside which I hate… Ambience wise it’s a very nice and clean place)
Treebo Trend Celebriti
Cost: 100 INR/~1.50 $
Rating: 4/5 (Egg Maggi, simple but good)
Entries/Others
Gondola: 650 INR/~9 $
Rubber boots: 100 INR/~1.50 $
Walking stick: 20 INR/~0.30 $
One Comment
Pingback: