After spending two memorable days in Jispa, it’s time to move now. To a new place, to meet new people and to change the landscape.
There was no initial plan, on the way back to Manali we were just thinking of the places we can go. Truly speaking I was not bothered about a new place as I was still imagining what we should do on our next trip to Lahaul Spiti.
A Sudden Plan Of Jibhi
As we were reaching the Atal Tunnel Surabhi said we are going to Jibhi now, I was like what! Today! She said yes, we’ll have something for lunch on the way and then we’ll directly stop in Jibhi.
Ohh I forgot Joey! Just kidding, he was sleeping in the back seat. He has this exceptional talent for sleeping quietly on every journey, whether for 5 hours or 15. Let’s not wake him up by talking about him, his ears perk up whenever he hears his name. So, let’s change the topic now and continue our journey, we really have to go a long way.
It was around 3 pm when we reached Manali and estimated by 7 or maximum by 8 we’ll be in Jibhi (estimation! Huhh, that day I guess a lot of people might have the same estimation).
Crowd In Jibhi
Till Aut roads were good but after that your patience and driving skills both going to be pushed to the limits. Due to the long weekend, a lot of people were heading to Jibhi, it was totally chaotic with so many bikers, taxis, minibuses, cars and whatnot(really frustrating).
Anyhow we reached Jibhi at around 9 or 9:30 and now looking for accommodation which all were pre-booked, whole Jibhi was packed that day. After calling so many places and visiting four places thankfully we found a place, Shivang Homestay. It was late already and after this long tiring and frustrating day, we had our dinner at Riverbrate Cafe which was just by the side of the stay and called off the day.
Beginning Of The Good Times
The next day, aah what a wonderful and peaceful morning we woke up to, we had our Tea & Coffee in the apple garden and Joey was also enjoying the place, running around, sniffing flowers and chewing grass just like a bunny.
Plan for the day hike
As we were enjoying the sunshine, Homestay’s owner came and sat with us and then the conversation started about the places to go, the stories behind them and a few of the hidden gems in the region, he told us to go for the Serolsar Lake hike (hiking, can’t resist this word) so, we then decided to do that, also it would be a new experience for Joey and for us too first time with him.
We then booked a cab to drop us at the Jalori Pass the starting point and bring us back in the evening, it cost us 2k which was totally worth it as the cab driver had to wait for the whole day there for us. We then got ready and packed a day hike backpack.
At 11:30 our cab arrived and on our way, we crossed Shoja, a beautiful little village on top from where we could see the snow-clad Himalayan range and the whole Jibhi as a bird’s eye view(we must stay here on our next visit).
Joey, let’s hit the trail
We reached the Jalori Pass and started our hike, as we began, Joey catches a lot of people’s eyes, people there petted him and wanted to walk with him, a group of people joined us and one of them is now holding Joey’s leash(he has abandoned us), naah, just after a while Joey started pulling towards us as we were ahead of that group so they had to give Joey back to us(only we can keep up with his pace).
From the beginning, the hike was through a dense forest with clear trails. This is an easy trek, ideal for beginners. After around 40 minutes we reached the first milestone of the hike which is a 360-degree viewpoint (which is now ruined by a zipline on a side), people were saying that a scene from the movie Yeh Jawani Hai Diwani was shot here. We clicked a few pictures there and had Maggie at one of the cafes. After this refreshment break, we continued our hike towards the lake, as we were reaching near we found traces of snow here and there which excited us even more.
The lake was surrounded by pine & deodar trees and the scenery looked majestic with the snow on the ground and dense forest around it, we then visited Budhi Nagin’s temple, played in the snow for a while and clicked a few pictures. It was Joey’s very first experience with snow so he was hesitating a little.
Feast in the forest
After this snow fun, we decided to head back, now looking for a place away from the trail to cook our lunch, we were carrying Tortillas and beans and were very excited about this little picnic. Before the 360-degree viewpoint, we found a flat ground a little far from the trail and we decided to set up our kitchen there. We lit up our stove to heat the beans meanwhile Joey was enjoying his meal, we spent around an hour there enjoying our feast in the forest.
As we crossed the viewpoint it started raining and snowing, not much but we increased our pace as we didn’t have umbrellas with us. Joey was in more hurry than us(afraid of getting drenched), he had taken the lead now we were just following our guide and trying to keep pace with him. Within the next 20 minutes, we were back at the starting point and by then the rain was also stopped, our cab was waiting there we hopped in the back seats and reached our stay by 6:30.
What a cheerful day that was, we then had our dinner at the same Riverbrate Cafe and started planning for the next day’s spot.
Another Day Of Adventure
It was around 8 am I & Joey were still sleeping but Surabhi woke up a bit early today and prepared everything for our morning ritual (Tea & Coffee). That was a relaxed day so without any hurry we enjoyed the serenity for a long time and as usual Joey was sniffing, running and having fun by himself, he was in paradise.
Surabhi found a place to go on Google, called Mini Thailand, locally it is called Kuli Katandi. We then got freshened up and left for our foreign tour and that too without passports. This place is on the way to Jalori Pass, just a km or two from our stay. There was a signboard on the right side indicating the way, the hike or should say walk to the spot was quite easy.
Just like any other tourist place, this was also packed with a lot of people and a few local children who were enjoying bathing in the stream.
The spot is famous for its circle-like rock formation and all the people were there just to click a picture standing under those rocks!! Seriously, this is a kind of silliness nowadays people are doing, after watching social media, they want the same angle on the same spot, a kind of monotonous travel people are doing and completely forgot to explore the places on their own.
We skip that instagrammable spot and directly went into the stream, first to the knee-deep and after a while I couldn’t stop myself and went ahead and had an awesome swim.
It feels really good when you do something different from the people around you.
Ending Of Our Jibhi Adventures With Flavour
Later in the evening, we went to a nice cafe The Enzo’s (it was recommended by a friend of ours) and had a flavoursome dinner. Joey met a new friend there Milo and we all had a great evening.
This is how we spent a whole week travelling randomly without any plans or set destination. Our new way of travelling!
