reaching Kais-Kullu

Kais is a little village in Kullu district of Himachal Pradesh. Its economy is supported by horticultural farms, agricultural farms and tourism. It is also known for a Buddhist monastery. My journey to Kais started on Nov-27th night from Bengaluru airport. I would be hopping flights all night.. Delhi-Chandigarh-Kullu. I was prepared for a sleepless night. The anticipation of seeing Himalayas kept me awake, I guess.

November 28, 2019
It was around 10-45 AM when the propeller plane took off from Chandigarh runway, the city's grid like roads came into view. It was a cloudy day, as the plane climbed the city vanished under the clouds.

It was a short flight, in no time the pilot announced that we were approaching Kullu. The plane descended, flew into the cloud layer and then mountains came into view. We were flying close to mountain tops, the houses were in clear view, could see people carrying out their chores. The sights were captivating, I stayed glue to the scenery, so were the co-passengers. Mist and water would cover the windows time to time cutting off the view. I was wondering where in these mountains was the runway to land this plane.. yeah the P-shaped tarmac came into view, running parallel to a river which later learnt it was Beas. The landing was little rough because of the short runway, the braking was hard. It had rained, small drops still falling, and it was cold. It looked like most passengers were tourists, all excited, starting shooting selfies right on the runway. Wow! this is probably the most tourist-friendly airport.

The airport is surrounded by mountains on all sides. The sight was mesmerizing. I was glad to be here, breathing the fresh cold air, it felt heavenly.

After collecting the check-in baggage, I hired a cab to drop me off at Kais, 20km journey. Unlike a large airport, this was peaceful.

The road to Kais passed through a small town, tight roads with buildings almost spilling out. Though tired, hadn't slept in the past 30 hours, I was all eye for the local lifestyle. I caught sight of long conical cane baskets in a hardware store, it was the type used in farms. Karun, a frequent visitor to Kais had asked me to have breakfast at Sapna Sweets on the way. The cab driver was familiar with the restaurant, dropped me off and went in search of parking which would be a kilometer or two away. I had parathan and sabji, the steaming hot food warmed me up. I bought some snacks for myself and for the cab driver as well. The friendly cab driver happily accepted the snacks :)

In Himachal Pradesh major roads like highways run along along rivers. So did the the road to Kais which is actually Manali-Kullu road. Kais was midway between Kullu and Manali. Here's a view of the river with a little island which is used as a camp for tourists. The river was gushing down, water was little muddy, result of the rain I guess.

At one point, the river went out sight.. what a glorious sigh this was. This was shot in motion. Oh by the way, all these pictures are from Moto-Z.

We entered the monastery campus just before noon I guess. Two senior monks - Norbu La and Sangye La -met me here, in front of the temple. I'd spoken to them but meeting in person for the first time. I felt honored to staying here and working with the monks.

Norbu La showed me to my room in the guest house, a simple building with a ground floor and first floor. My room was the last one on the first floor, with a wonderful view of the valley towards Kullu.

The monastery is situated on the slop of a mountain. These are the mountains behind the monastery and in the front is the valley where Beas flows swiftly. The landscape is covered with apple and plum orchards, owned by small farmers. On the mountain on the left is a village where most houses are traditional structures. The only modern touch is the presence of cell phone towers. As I scanned the mountain, a plan to explore the scene formed.

After settling in the guesthouse, I made a visit to the site which was just above the temple. I met the local contractor Rajesh and his team. For the work for which I was here, material was in transit and my main work was to keep track of the status until it arrived. Having updated the monks, I had some time to look around the monastery. I bumped into this little monk. He seemed to be as brave as a lion. Look at the confident look.

Another little monk, this was one camera shy.In the background are the snow-capped mountains on the other side of the valley. In fact all the mountains on the opposite had snow on them.. the foot hills of Himalayas.

This is the highest point of the monastery. This is the crown of the temple - the golden wheel of Dharma and golden deer. The mountain summits touch the cloud line. On those mountains are roads, orchards, houses and hamlets. Everything looks so still.. such is the size of these mountains.

The weather changed from the time I arrived here. The clouds were clearing and the Sun came out. However, the sun set around 3-30. Yes, the sun went behind the mountains, and this side of the hill was in shadow. Temperature dropped rapidly. By 5-45 it was dark and the temperature must have been 10°C. After 6-30 the monastery is still unless the monks are practicing in groups or prayers happening in the temple.

The evening I had an early dinner and ready to hit the sack by 9-45. Norbu La had given a room heater, it would've been difficult to keep warm without one. Also, the cook had given a flask of hot water for the night. The monks made sure I was comfortable :)

I was lying flat after 36 hours, just slipped into the dreamworld.
.........