So continuing with my Indian adventure story… the part about the tour description that made me hesitate the most about booking it was the mention of a two day trek that was strenuous and required participants to be in great physical condition. I’m not in bad shape, but I don’t consider myself to be in great physical condition, either. My tour guide didn’t make it any better by harassing me and constantly asking if I wanted to change my mind about doing the trek (there was an option to ride a car to the next destination, which two people did choose).
In the end, it wasn’t as bad as I expected, and the scenery along the way was gorgeous. I did get off to a bad start by falling on my butt twice because we were going downhill on a dusty trail covered with pine needles. And the climb up was really steep. I had to make the group stop a few times to catch my breath, but even with those delays, the tour guide said it was the fastest he’d ever made it up there with a group. It was a lot of fun walking through the small villages because all of the kids would get excited and follow us around, yelling, “Hi!” and asking to get their photo taken. We also picked up dogs as we walked that would follow us for the entire day and then disappear. Temporary pets!
The second day of trekking was a lot easier, and then we arrived in Chamba, where a vehicle dropped us off as close as it could get to Orchard Hut, where we spent the next few days. The idea was to get the real village experience, so the closest road was about 30 minutes downhill. I really enjoyed the stay and the Indian hospitality we experienced there from the family. The food stood out as some of the best food I ate in India, homecooked local recipes that were very different from other Indian food I’d eaten before.
Tired… looks like there will be a part three to this entry :)
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