The Great Himalayan National Park shelters a number of villages. The villagers along with the wild animals are living their lives under the umbrella of this national park. The Great Himalayan Park is located in the Sainj Valley of Himachal Pradesh. This is my second visit, the first time I had gone to visit Jibhi, Jalodi Pass and Serolsar Lake and this time I left alone on 25th October to stay in Manyashi village for 10 days.
I use Delhi Metro to reach Kashmiri Gate bus stand from home. From there there is a bus at 8 pm which will reach Sainj directly around 7 am in the morning. Because winter has come in the entire Himalayas, I could not sleep in the bus the whole night because it was very cold. I was wearing 3 layers above and 2 layers below, still I don't know why I didn't stop feeling cold.
Well, I get down at Sainj at 8 in the morning and Kappu comes to pick me up. Kappu runs a homestay named "Kappu Home Stay". I reach the home stay with Kappu in his car. After checking in the room, I wash my hands and face and have lunch. This village is Manyashi, the altitude here is 2670 meters and the temperature is just 2.5 degrees. Of course, snow has not fallen here yet but the cold is at its peak. After changing, I have breakfast of potato parathas and tea at the home stay.
I couldn't sleep in the bus at night, so I take a bath and sleep. After 3 hours I get up and roam around Manyashi village. I don't know how old the village is but looking at the houses in the village one can understand how many winters this village has seen. All the houses in the village are made of mud, stone, slate and wood. You can see the beauty of the hill houses in the photos. I will stay here for 10 days and visit the surrounding places. Today I will not go anywhere and will stay here and have fun and eat a lot.
I catch cold easily and the same happened here, when I woke up in the morning both the noses had stopped. Today after breakfast I will go to visit Banogi village which is one km away from Manyashi. Leaving the apple fields, I reach Banogi village. There is an ancient temple here and a big ground where the villagers organize fairs and cultural programs on the orders of the deity. Sitting in the sun always gives me relief when I have a cold. After some time, after drinking hot tea, I go back to my room.
I roam around Banogi village for the next 2 days. Then one day I went to a lake 5 km away from Manyashi village. It is winter time so the lake is dry. I have spent my entire day roaming in the villages around this lake. From here the snow covered mountain peaks of the Great Himalayan National Park are visible. This landscape is so charming that I don't feel like going back from here. There is a school in the village where snow falls in winter, after snowfall the school is closed for 3 months every year. I see children studying in school who are reciting poetry in Hindi language.
For the remaining 5-6 days, I roam around in the apple fields, talk to the local people, some dogs become my friends, going to Banogi and drinking tea has become my daily routine and I like to go to the lake every other day. Started giving relief. Locals say that very few tourists come to this place, and after Corona-19, almost no tourists came to this valley. Seeing the structure of the village buildings was a unique experience. I will always remember the snowy mountains visible from here. I would like to come here again to visit in the future.
On the last day, I take the 5 am bus which drops me at Mandi. From Mandi, I fill my chest with the cool air of the mountains, take a bus to Delhi and reach home. This was my trip to the Great Himalayan National Park which lasted for 10 days. I will also remember the cold here due to which I caught a dangerous cold. I hope you liked this blog. See you in the next post at a new place. Till then stay happy and healthy.
Disclaimer: All the photos clicked by myself from poco f1 android smartphone. Photos has been edited in mobile app lightroom.