Well sadly it’s gonna be the last installement of the trip being the last day. But, if you missed anything these here is what I have indexed you for rest of the parts right from the day we left…Don’t miss the Day-2 action if you have missed…

Day 5 – 27th April, 2010 | Tirthan Valley to Delhi

Well it was a lovely morning at Tirthan Valley and everyone was looking forward for the day in the lap of Great Himalayan National Park. Unfortunately, the call from office was about to fall on the plans. There was some seriously urgent work at office and I knew my manager would never insisted me if it wasn’t urgent, so I had to leave back home for the same to join office the very next day, even if it meant a continuous long drive. We had some disappointment 🙁 at last on not seeing the inner boundaries (at least the waterfall that were planned today) of Trithan Valley and may be it was a reason to dedicate a trip just to Tirthan Valley sometime ahead. A preview…

It was early morning and was time for some clicks of the Trithan River…I went to have walk around the rocks and almost got hypnotized by the calmness of the river and place. The music of flowing Tirthan River still trance me up. The early soothing morning sitting besides such river, it was quite a feeling. I captured some of the moments and here are they…

Good Morning Tirthan Valley…
Good Morning Tirthan River…
Close Up…Tirthan River :)…
Ultra Close Up…Tirthan River :)…
Rocks at Tirthan River…
Another View of River Side Resort…
Am I Trying Something???:lol:…

After very prolonged nature and solo photo shoots, we were called for breakfast. Well again the breakfast had a good taste especially the eggs. I feel it’s was with the quality of eggs apart from the preparations. After having it I called my manage once last time again just to make sure if it can be managed at office, may be I can come over a weekend and do the job. But, talking to him and understanding the situation I felt it cannot. He is probably the best guy I have worked with so far and won’t think anyone better in near future, hence I made a call to head for home. (The case if he was not my manager I won’t have listened to anyone else for taking such a pain of very long drive just to be present in office on an approved leave :D). Well as other prepared to leave, some had last round of volleyball and I was busy settling the bill and appreciating the conversation with Mr. Bhupinder Singh, the owner of River Side Resort. I must say that these guys have done a remarkable job for getting their act together to build such a place. Very near to civilization yet very near to mother nature, the place has got all that one ask for to make a perfect holiday point. Being residing in delhi and yet managing such property to serve better and even better to tourist at such reasonable rates is commendable in itself I just hope that as more and more people flood in to Tirthan Valley, the River Side Resort maintains it standards, policies like flexible rules of check-in/ check-out and remain flexible for number of people staying in one room, and the reasonable rates they offer. I really wish that reasonable/decent rates are not the publicity strategies.

Enjoying Breakfast…

Well after a nice cup of tea with Mr. Bhupinder Singh it was time for us to say Good Bye. This time the luggage would travel across the pulleys not humans being on the declined side and manually operated. After all heavy breakfast demanded a nice little walk in the woods towards beautiful parking. We asked everyone to wait for the cars after crossing the hanging bridge and we took the cars there.  From there we had to first pick the luggage from the front of the resort and came back to venture towards Aut Tunnel. It was exactly 12.00 PM that we started to move towards Delhi and keeping in mind that it would surely take 12 hours to reach home. This time the route was other way around i.e. Tirthan – Larji – Aut- Mandi – Bilaspur – Chandigarh – Ambala – Delhi and we knew that this highway is too good to relish.

A bit of shade in sun…
Tirthan River…Another Beautiful View…
Tirthan River…Cherishing the Final View…
Hanging Bridge at Tirthan River…
Zoo Zoo Dance :lol:…
It’s time to GO…

As we were short of fuel so Larji, where the Petrol Pump of the region lies had to be the first stop. We got our tanks filled and bought some snacks along. There while cutting I didn’t see a big rock aside and got my car’s bottom frame beneath the door, dented :(… But not much damage done. One the way towards Aut tunnel some beautiful pictures…

Irony or what??…Tree without leaves in the middle of water :shock:…
Well there is company…
Temple and Shedded Tree..God Please Save It…
Complete View but got Tilted :lol:…

We left from there and everyone insisted for a stop at HPMC juice bar near Thalot, where the Hanuman ji’s temple is present on the highway itself just before Pandoh, I beleive. We were already short of time and some more got wasted in the shopping. This meant a skip of lunch so we did it. Till sunder nagar highway was just in one gear mode and as soon as we reached Sunder Nagar the excellence of drive started faded with the presence of trucks. As we reached ahead they even created there presence more and more and once you reach Bilaspur their dominance pisses your journey. They drive like mad elephants with so much load on their back and not letting you pass by on each and every curve. Most of time it felt on each bend they plan to trouble the traffic behind and you are forced to drive behind them waiting for the road to give you clear picture. One should be very careful over taking these beasts as you never know the other side of the lane on a blind curve there would surely be one these beasts over taking the other. It was seen so many times that I just dropped slightest idea of over taking them until and unless I see the complete road (which I always follows, let’s be safe :)). We even found one the beast turned up side down and that happened not much before we reached there. The jam killed almost 30 minutes.

The Beas River…
What a place to have house…
Oops…That’s me waiting…
Grounded Beast of Highways…

We all were hungry and finally just before Ropar we found a restaurant to stop for some tea/coffee and snacks break.  I must tell you that restaurant belonged to some Star group of hotels had pathetic quality of food/snacks/tea/coffee and even water. Never stop by it even though it looks quite decent but it’s only looks nothing else. The prices are rocket high and quality is very very poor graded. We quickly finished up the things and it was 7.30 PM. There we clicked the last pictures of the trip…

Pathetic Sea Star Hotel…
Inside Pathetic Sea Star….
SUN or TORCHLIT in Sky….
The Last click…It’s a CANAL…

My wife forced me to leave the driving seat and relax for the final few hours of the entire trip. It was the first time I left the driver’s seat of my car in the entire trip after almost driving more than 1200 KMs. My cousin took over and somehow we were in shock state by one incident when one truck almost from the opposite lane tried to run come on to us or we managed to go into it 😆 …Anyhow that was gone we were short of money as I didn’t en-cashed from ATM. We almost run out of money even for the Toll but thankfully that was not too much, just 50 odd buck for both cars. After that we were empty but thankfully at Roop Nagar we spotted an ATM and withdraw the money. Then again change of drivers on some silly argument with a joke and as we were approaching Chandigarh an oil tanker gave us the pass and suddenly moved in the lane…we shouted so many words in just second but since the speed was not that high, brakes were managed in time. A wake up call and example of driving at safe speed. And of course I always drive dZire in safe limits as it has one of the worst brakes of all Indian lots (at least mine) and Maruti guys has no answer to that, very strange.

Our final stop was Neelkanth restaurant at Karnal where we had blasting dinner with lassi and after which everyone slept. The food tasted great, and finally my wife realizing the mistake agreed on me taking the driver seat. I kept driving for next few hours and just before Murthal as I was feeling too sleepy, I handed over the car to my cousin who was driving at limited speed. Thanks to my wife as she was always awake be it me or my cousin and ensured that driver don’t sleep by engulfing us in her chatter box (chit-chat) :D…Finally at 12.30 AM we reached District Center, Janak Puri, Delhi which was the assembling point for us. After exchanging the luggage, a good bye;  my friends went home from there and 7 of us adjusted in my dZire somehow to reach my home near Dwarka, Delhi at 1 A.M.. All had a sleep of a time that night but I had to be present in the office next morning :sad:…

This concluded one of the remarkable trips of my lifetime. The trip had everything nature had to offer rain, snow, sun, river, hills, plains, valleys, gorges, woods, etc…I hope it was pleasant reading and seeing for all of you. Of course what’s more better than jotting your lovely memories here and sharing with all of you.

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I am Dheeraj Sharma - a traveler, techie, and Himalayan lover. Since 2009, I have been helping thousands of travelers every year plan memorable & budget-friendly trips to the Himalayas - Smartly, Safely, and responsibly.

19 Comments

  1. Comments section gets closed in 90 days. To ask your travel questions, you can follow my YouTube Channel for a faster reply or for a much slower reply follow me on Instagram. :)

  2. CA.Rajesh Dutt Sharma on

    It was almost reading an adventurous novel,Dheeraj.Wonderfully stated and includes everything from information,knowledge,fiction,facts and above all beautiful pictures.Especially the description of the second night and wandering for accomodation.
    Thank you so much.I have got a site which provides information with a smile.

    • Thank you so very much Rajesh, feeling awesome as of now that you loved the way my journey to Tirthan and Kinnaur Valley was described 🙂 🙂

  3. awesome pics (and of course, the story).. likes the part especially when it snowed there in April.. For a moment now I am wondering whether I should move out of Bangalore and shift to Delhi / Chandigarh so that I have more trips to Himachal on extended weekends 😉 Awesome place and Awesome pictures !!

    • Thank you so much Vinod!! If you wanna live closer to Himalayas, it may be good move 😉 … Stay connected for updated pictures and other stories 🙂

  4. maaja aa gaya bhai padh k…..jarur jaunga yar jan end me ya feb startng me….hum byke pe ja sakte ha na pakka bhaitirthan tak??????

    • thank you brother for reading it completely. Glad you liked it and I am sure you will like the place as well. Both are really good destinations to enjoy and now the link for Day 4 has also been fixed. Just explore it 🙂

      Regards
      Dheeraj Sharma

  5. ATUL SAXENA on

    Excellent narration. I could almost see myself there with you guys. Keep up the good work, wishing u luck for many more journeys to come.

    • Thanks alot Atul, if you have time do stay tuned with my latest story of Ladakh – 2012 journey at the starting at link here, though still into Day only 😉

      Regards
      Dheeraj Sharma

  6. Hello Vijay,

    You must check Raju’s Bharti Homestay Phone Number: 09418149808 (01903-225008 not sure of this one if it is working or not). The charges were 1350 (veg.) / 1600 (non veg.) which includes all meals and stay but that was about an year back. Raju Bharti Homestay is best option of stay in Tirthan Valley. You can also check Christopher's Himalayan Trout House which is bit expensive but a nice place to stay. River is few Mtrs down the cottage.

    You also have the option to stay at Shringi Vatika but that is not exactly in Tirthan but I guess ahead of Banjar town on the road towards Shoja. Rest there were some tents which comes right before River Side Resorts, my friends stayed there and gave us good reviews about them. I think Ankit Sood
    sunhimalaya@yahoo.com is the guy running them, but not sure.

    I hope this helps.

    Regards,
    Dheeraj Sharma

  7. VIJAY SHARMA on

    Dear Dhiraj,

    Please suggest some other resort near tirthan valley other than river side resort

    Thanx

    VIJAY SHARMA

  8. Pratyusha on

    Hey the story is wonderful except that your manager called you and you came back…you shdnt have picked up the call 😉

    The pictures are wonderful…..

    Last year I too had visited Sarahan,Sangla,Chhitkul,Kalpa of Kinnaur Valley…….It's really heaven…….

    After watching the awesome pics I am looking forward to visit Tirthan Valley next year…… 🙂

    • Thanks alot Pratyusha!!! Yups I do feel so about the call ;).. I am glad you liked the pictures and yups the Kinnaur is awesome. But, Tirthan is one place where you can just forget about everything in the world and can have great relaxation in the lap of mother nature. It offers many treks into the Great Himalayan National Park as well…. If you have no budget concerns then do stay at Raju Guest House and for sure you need to pre-book it well in advance, may be 1-2 months before the season starts next summers :)…. It would be a different experience altogether.

      For more info you check my Tirthan Valley Travel Guide at Tirthan Valley Travel Guide

      Do share some of your trip stories and pictures, if you can.

  9. Hey guys, even better the last part…so all is well that ends well ….and it ended with splendid, admirable ,sublime and magnificent TIRTHAN RIVER and TIRTHAN VALLEY …so it was gr8 fun in all….hope to go for another joy ride soon 😆

  10. Nikhil Dixit on

    Always remember if your manager calls you on your vacation….its ALWAYS gonna be emergency and critical. So best way is to not to pick the call !!!

    And Thanks for letting me know this place – Tirthan Valley. We had a fabulous time last week there 🙂