Day 1:
Our honeymoon was planned,re-planned and finally finalized only to be cancelled abruptly. From a rough wish of lazing in Garwal(Uttarakhand), to trying the viability of Italy,we zeroed down to Nepal and booked tickets to Kathmandu via Delhi.
With Nepal under a rubble, we shunned the idea of looking for another location abroad as our marriage had already sapped our meagre funds. We decided to make use of the Delhi Flight tickets and head over to Himachal. As wildlife enthusiasts and birders, Simla-Manali were quickly thrown out of the window. We wanted to explore the hills of Himachal without being in the company of (other) honeymooners. We quickly zeroed down a decent trek operator and decided that we must head to Mungla. A trek in GHNP with our base being a lazy village sounded promising.
We landed at a warm Delhi by an early morning flight. With time on our hand, we watched "Piku" till it was time for our bus to Mungla. The bus journey to say the least was horrible and ended at Aut from where we were to catch a taxi to Mungla. We picked up some fresh cherries and mangoes and took a taxi drive which would quickly erase the horrid memories of the over-night bus journey. The road twisted and all along hugged the Beas river while presenting us with amazing vistas of the Himachali hills - doting with fields of wheat,plum orchards and traditional country houses built at great heights. We hadn't chosen a bad place after all for honeymoon, we told each other. We finally reached our base, Mungla at noon, tired but content :).
We met the guy from Himalayan Ecotourism at Mungla by a riverside homestay. We quickly sorted out our rooms, chose our trek plan and decided to freshen up and have some lunch by the riverside. While we were checking out our rooms, we realised that we had clear vistas of the hills of the Tirthan valley right from our room. These hills were dotted by vultures and griffons.We then headed to the riverside for our meals and then we turned our attention to the rocky river side. A rowdy lil black redstart was chirping his head out, trying to attact a female. This was a common scene for us for the next few days. We took a few pictures of the birds and our selves and retired to our rooms. Only to be woken up for a mid night dinner by our hosts. With eyes half open, we stuffed food and retired back to our beds.
With our trek pushed a day ahead due to rains, day 2 was a day for chilling, birding, rock climbing, exploring mungla and more chilling.
With a good day and half's sleep(interrupted only by late night dinner), we got up early for birding. Our early morning bird walk along the Tirthan river was full of lifers for me. The village was teeming with bird activity and as soon as we stepped out of our rooms, we saw russet sparrows and another bird that would continue to follow us, the grey bushchat. We then saw a raptor fly by, rosefinches and great barbet among-st other birds. The weather was beautiful and we really beamed in the early morning sunshine. To just walk 500 meters, it took us about an hour as there was so much to observe and savour. We passed by the fisheries department buildings and a beautiful old temple with rock tiles. We returned back to our room only to realize that the spare camera battery was missing. Deepika went in search of it frantically and found it lying among-st wild strawberries along the road side which we had stopped to observe. Back at our room, our host was getting the breakfast ready. Our guide Mohan told us that we can do a bit of rock climbing and rappelling during the day. We had mangoes, breakfast and spent some time id-ing the birds.
We then walked up to the spot where Mohan had set-up the rock climbing apparatus. The walk yielded some more birds but not unseen. Neither of us could muster the effort to do rock climbing but I managed to complete the rappelling while Deepika was scared and DNF-ed.
On our way back, we passed by the Sairopa center run by the Forest Department and wanted to pick up GHNP t-shirts and shopping other quirky stuff only to find it closed. The return back from the rappelling spot was yet another opportunity to bird. That we never left our room without binocs or camera helped. More lifers, this time a rufous sibia at close quarter and a couple spotted grosbeak funnily foraging on some fruits. We also saw a crested kingfisher by the river.
We walked past quaint fields and old houses to reach the Trout Valley Nagini's cafe. The cafe was beautifully done up with wooden fences, flowers, wooden steps and a beautiful aisle as seating area. We enquired if the cafe was open that night for dinner and left.
After a bit of resting, we took an evening walk to the other side of the Thirthan river, crossing a suspension bridge. 2 firang anglers were looking to scoop up trouts for game. The river side was beautiful in the evening light. We passed upon a pool of tadpoles and some really wicked looking lizards. We were giving us a chance to sight the brown dipper, another bird we had not seen before. Unluckily the bird was not to be seen. I decided to take a sip of water from the river while Deepika trained her binocs at the rocky riverside looking for birds. Suddenly she was screaming and it went on. I turned back to see her - eyes closed and screaming with fear. I looked around to see the devil which scared her, nothing to be seen. I went to her to check if she was alright but she kept screaming. And then frantically tells me than one of evil looking lizards passed by her leg. The fear only multiplied as she looked at the lizard through the binocs. We left the place, crossed the river again and saw a tiny little house in ruins. It was a gharaat - a stream powered mill used by Himachali villagers to grind their grains. We returned to our rooms, rested and took off for a late night walk to the Trout Valley cafe. We were tired of the daal rotti and rice and this cafe and it's ambiance really helped. Pasta and pizza awaited us. We polished off plate clean to end one of the most beautiful days of short married life.
Day 3:
We got up late the next day. All the walking the previous day had made us tired, along with all the backlog sleep from marriage preparation. It was a cold, rained out morning. We lazily packed our bags while we waited for Mohan to pick us up. We took a jeep drive to Gushaini from where our trek was to begin. Mohan left us at Stephan's place where we briefed about the trek. By around 11, we finally started the trek. The initial part of the trek was next to the the Tirthan river and the landscape was getting better by the minute. We came across a few day hikers and villagers during the initial part of the trek. We unsuccessfully tried to observe and photograph some birds in thickets. We did get a good glimpse of a great barbet and a flock of yuhinas.
We then reached a small village Ropa where we had Rhododendron juice and continued our trek. Rejuvenated we continued the trek up to the view point. However, our progress was slow thanks to rising elevation and our heavy packs.The first view point which was also the last point to catch a mobile signal provided amazing vistas all around from a house disconnected from civilization to a giant pyramid shaped rock face. As soon as we lowered our packs, we saw a fire-capped tit - a lifer for both of us. We ate our packed lunches here and then proceeded to the entrance of the NP. Our trek again began to skirt the Tirthan river. The river flow seemed to get more and more turbulent as we walked along towards the park entrance. It is here where we saw our first brown dipper - not a stunner by it's looks but an amazingly brave bird. We saw jump in to the river currents to collect it's food. We also then saw a female dipper feeding young chicks. Brown dipper's hunting/feeding technique was nothing like we ever saw.
We then reached a small village Ropa where we had Rhododendron juice and continued our trek. Rejuvenated we continued the trek up to the view point. However, our progress was slow thanks to rising elevation and our heavy packs.The first view point which was also the last point to catch a mobile signal provided amazing vistas all around from a house disconnected from civilization to a giant pyramid shaped rock face. As soon as we lowered our packs, we saw a fire-capped tit - a lifer for both of us. We ate our packed lunches here and then proceeded to the entrance of the NP. Our trek again began to skirt the Tirthan river. The river flow seemed to get more and more turbulent as we walked along towards the park entrance. It is here where we saw our first brown dipper - not a stunner by it's looks but an amazingly brave bird. We saw jump in to the river currents to collect it's food. We also then saw a female dipper feeding young chicks. Brown dipper's hunting/feeding technique was nothing like we ever saw.
Satiated, we continued with our trek to Rolla camp. The camp again was set next to the river itself. The tent was ready by the time we reached the camp. The cook also had prepared piping hot maggie and tea ready. Temperatures began to drop and Mohan and his team set up a little camp fire. We ate dinner by the camp fire and decided to end the day early. The low temperatures and the flimsy tent and sleeping bag got to Deepika and her ear started to pain. She barely slept while I slept intermittently.
Day 4:
The next day we woke up in better spirits. I woke up a little earlier while wifey was still sleeping.
I took a stroll around the camp and took a few pictures. We had a late breakfast and started our trek to Shilt.
We slowly made our way back and continued whenever we saw birds. Mohan called up a cabbie to pick us up from Sairopa.We again sipped Rhodo juice while we waited for him to turn up. The drive was amusing as school kids had blocked the road at multiple places with big boulders. It was their way of revenge as the cabbie had not offered them a pick-up on his way to Sairopa. We reached Mungla in half an hour and it was time for some well deserved rest.
Day 5:
We woke up very late, packed our bags and it was time to leave. It was hard to cut short our trip, but in hindsight was a good decision. We went for a short walk before it was time to leave.
