Rajgundha Valley – A Hidden Gem In Billing
Rajgundha is a village situated in the lap of the Dhauladhar range at a height of approximately 8900 ft. It is a two days trek total of around 14 km starting from Billing.
There are two routes to do this trek
- Start from Billing and then move ahead to Barot valley
- Start from Barot valley and come to Billing
We chose the first route from Billing to Barot.
7th July 2019, Day 1 – Billing To Rajgundha
Reaching Billing From Bir
We were staying at Bir so we decided to start our trek from Billing and to reach there we inquired from a local shop for a taxi he told us we could easily get a local cab in the morning near from our hotel Paul Manor.
We woke up at around 8 am got freshened up had breakfast and packed our bags, as we were going for two days so we thought to check out from the hotel to save some bucks also it would be a waste of money if we hold onto our room just to keep two bags full of clothes only. So we talked to the hotel receptionist and informed him about our plan, without any hesitation or extra charges he agreed to keep our bags with him until we return.
Now we were all set to go for our hike, we saw a cab dropping some passengers in front of our hotel road, we asked him for Billing he said it will cost Rs.600 which was the fair price we quickly get into the cab. The route was the same which we took for our paragliding adventure as we were going exactly to the paragliding take-off site.
We reached there in around 40 to 50 minutes, as we reached it started raining we went to a shop for shade, soon it was pouring heavily everyone who was there for paragliding came to that shop. We bought juice and chocolates for the hike and waited for some time.
Hitting The Trail
After the rain slowed down we decided to move on, Surabhi had an umbrella and I had a rain jacket which I put on and started our hike. After walking a few steps rain started again but we continued on our path after a while it stopped, now we were enjoying the weather.
From the beginning, the trail was stunning, mountains covered with lush green grass and wild flora, on the sides there were rows of trees and the path was covered with green and pale leaves which fell due to the rain. The weather became very misty, we were not able to see anything a few steps ahead of us altogether that was an indescribable magical aura, I can say, that was the best trail from all of my treks so far.
After walking a while we met a guy who was with a group, they started their trek from Barot and came to Billing. As it was drizzling we just had a few words they all were from West Bengal and it was their first-ever and unplanned trek. After this light chat, we moved ahead, the trail was not very steep so we were walking effortlessly and maintaining our pace, after a while, we were at a spot from where we could see the wide mountain range very clearly, we stopped there for a while took some photos and had chocolates.
Importance Of An Umbrella
All of a sudden it started drizzling we had our bag covers and as I said I had a rain jacket but after the previous heavy rain and continuous drizzling it became useless as I was drenched from inside. That day I learned why an umbrella is far better than a cheap rain jacket because when I saw Surabhi she was not at all drenched like I was, then I decided to always carry an umbrella in my future treks.
Lunchtime – Maggi On The Trail
After walking almost a km we reached a shop and decided to have something there and to wait for a while as it was still raining. We entered the shop and there was a fireplace on which that shopkeeper was preparing tea, what a perfect timing and good luck we had. We asked him if he could prepare Maggi for us, he greeted us and asked us to sit near to the fireplace, I took off my rain jacket, shoes and socks and sat there to dry myself and it worked. Then he offered us tea and Maggi after our lunch we bought a packet of bread to have in dinner with soup. We got ready and now the rain was also slowed down, it was just a few km left to reach so we decided to cover them quickly as the weather is playing games. We thanked the shopkeeper for his hospitality and continued our trek.
Elephant On The Trail
While we were walking we saw a local guy coming from a distance after a while he was walking with us he asked a few basic questions out of his curiosity and told us about himself, he has a cottage in the village and asked us to stay there but we told him that we had our tent and all things required. Then he showed us a tree on the trail that looked exactly like an Elephant which we could have missed definitely if he wasn’t there to let us know. Now we reached the Rajgundha village, his cottage was at the beginning down the path so he went ahead. We clicked some photos there of the village and moved ahead.
Camping Under The Starry Sky
We went ahead on a mountain quite far from the village, after reaching a certain height we found a flat place we decided to pitch our tent there. We set up our tent and arranged all the stuff, there was still daylight left so we clicked a few photos and as the sun went down we prepared soup and had bread with it for our dinner. Then listened to some songs, chit-chatted to pass our time. When there was complete darkness we came out and saw the majestic sky full of stars. We haven’t experienced such a glorious twinkling sky ever before so we laid down keeping our tent’s front zip opened and enjoyed the view for a long time. Then after a while, we went off for sleep with peaceful and happy thoughts.
8th July 2019, Day 2 – Rajgundha To Bir Via Barot Valley
What A Wonderful Morning It Was
We woke up around 7 am, it was a clear sunny day we put our last day’s wet clothes on the tent to dry meanwhile we enjoyed the sunshine and there was sparkling dew on the grass, we walked barefoot and clicked lots of photos.
A Little Misunderstanding With A Cottage Owner
We saw two guys were coming to us, firstly they asked us from where we came and when we reached here then they said we had to pay a camping fee which sounds genuine to us but we didn’t see any forest office on the trail yesterday so, we simply asked them where do we need to pay it, they said in the village there is an office we said we’ll pay the fee on our way back. Then all of the sudden one of them asked us did we called them last night for room booking we simply said no as we didn’t call anyone but they didn’t believe us and said we called them at the night for a room that is why they kept a spare room for us which costs them 1000 Rs.
Now we got the hint of what they actually need but we were not ready to pay a single penny to those thugs, then we said what was the number from which they got the call they didn’t share that instead, they asked for our number I told them and also told them about the guy whom we met on the way last day then they murmured in their local language and said ok, we offered them biscuits and had a little chat to cool the things also we asked the way back.
Way Back To Bir
Those guys told us to take the Barot way instead of going from the same way by which we came. We packed our stuff and started descending after walking almost a km we saw a river. That was a very secluded place with rocks on the bank and a bridge of woods, we sat there for a while washed our faces and clicked a few photos. Then we saw a few locals coming from the other side, we asked them where they were coming from, a guy answered, from Barot then we asked how far is that he said, we just had to cross the river and go straight across a little mountain that’s it.
We thought we have plenty of time so we sat there for a while then after 40 50 minutes we started. We had to cross the river from ahead as the bridge on which we were clicking photos became useless as due to the monsoon river was widened up a bit, so we went to a place from where those guys came and we saw a guy with his mules coming from behind. We waited for a while to let him go first so that we can follow his steps as the water was flowing quite rapidly, we took off our shoes and followed that guy. Like this, we crossed the river, dried our feet for a while and then continued.
We were on a steep ascend that was the first time where we had to put some effort, slowly-slowly we moved ahead and reached the flat surface on the top, now on our right side there was Rajgundha village and we were standing in Barot and in between that river was flowing. I googled the river name that was “Uhl river“.
After walking a few km we reached the Barot village, there we had Maggi and juice and waited for a local bus to Bir. At around 10:30 am the bus arrived and we left for Bir with unforgettable memories of this magical trek.
