Going to Himachal in June will bring on heaps of warnings ... but it’s as safe as Delhi in Rain, provided you avoid the cloudbursts zone and come back before the torrestial rains of July... So here’s to Rain in Himachal.
"SHOJA" in pure Bangla means straight. When I first heard of Shoja, I laughed and quizzed my friend, "That means the route is straight?" Well, any hilly road that doesn’t land you in a ditch is straight.... as long as it takes you straight to your destination.
I would suggest Shoja to only those people who take a holiday for leisure, and not go to Hills for the "Mall walks" and "video parlours" and great second generation Indo(euro)pean cuisine.
Shoja is a quaint name of a wayside hamlet, which attracts very few tourists throughout the year. Which makes it all the more attractive, since it still retains it’s pristine "Hill Station" quality of solitude among the ascetic peaks and the proud verdant pines. It is so forgotten a place that actually I yielded only two good results in the google search... so I thought I must write a bit about it.
Shoja is tucked in the hillside after ANI and before Jalori. Of late it has become famous for its camp, run by the Banjara group. Most people don’t know about a unique feature of Shoja. Come June and this amazing stretch of hills between Jalori (10, 000 ft) and ANI turns visibly blue.
Every June these hills turn on a purple-ish blue attire which is so mesmerizing that you would pray each day that your holiday shouldn’t end. Thousands of acres of the grassland in the emerald cedar forest suddenly becomes a picture postcard, as the tiny BLUE IRIS blooms for miles and miles across as far as you can see.
Many websites and blogs will tell you that these are wild flowers. But to actually be there among the flowers at every step and see miles and miles of blue, leaves you wilder than the tame plants rooted to earth. The pretty flower has a way with people. Forget about the fairer gender’s bias to everything floral, I have seen grown-up men loosing their way into the Iris fields, just to get a better shot. In the process they finished a couple of rolls of film on only various angles of the flower.
VAIN flower you might say... well I have to agree. It’s hard to keep your hand off from them. Either you shoot them or pluck them or decorate your buttonhole or ponytail or room, they just look pretty wherever they are.
There are two ways to reach Shoja
One -- you can cross over the Jalori pass from the Simla valley to the Kullu valley and on your way down to Aut you will encounter Shoja.
Two -- there is a "Shoja" way... that is you drive up from Chandigarh up to Aut (on the road to Kullu). The road on the right goes to Goshaini and Bathad, the last pit stops for an entry to the Great Himalayan National Park. Will tell you more about that later... the road on the left takes you to Jalori pass.
There are buses every half an hour to take you there. Alternatively you can take you own car or SUV. Mind you, the road is STEEP and is full of hairpin bends. There are points where the road suddenly looks like it is vanishing into the clouds.
June is wet season… so requires careful driving and mind the trees.
When I say, "you will encounter Shoja" I actually mean it. There is no other way to describe the feeling. Getting into Shoja is almost as accidental as getting into Mathura. Apart from the smells and your instinct, there is no big road sign or big bus stop to tell you, you have arrived. But if you happen to be there NOW that is in June... the signature blue will start welcoming you from miles ahead. Little tufts and nooks and meandering brooks, everything reflects their colour. And you can’t miss it for miles... unless of course if you are colour blind.
Also the trees will start getting taller and greener as you go higher and closer to you destination. The clouds will get more approachable.
Accommodation and food --
Apart from the Banjara camps there is a PWD house, which requires early booking. Those self-sufficient, could try camping around the villages and eat at the local dhabas.... you will get basic, Dal chawal or roti sabzi. A little adventure may get you a kukkar or murga.
In June rains nothing can beat the smoky roadside taverns….They dish out scrumptious pakoras in a jiffy and its quiet an experience to huddle near the chulha and share folklore with shepherds and villagers over hot tea and more pakoras.
You could try your luck with the locals if they would let you spend the night in the nearby village. There are plenty of small shacks and wood homes that would be glad to offer a room for money. A couple of days stay is must to actually do some good for your body and soul.
What to buy in SHOJA --
Fruits and Garlic, (don’t go together though). Most fruits of the season are available here so you can directly buy it from the farmers. By June the cherries are gone… but you will get plenty of pears (Nashpati), Peaches and Khubani. Don’t try the half ripe plums (alu bukhara) they can be really sour.
The Garlic here is the best. Maybe the size won’t be that good but the smell is awesome. I lived around that area for a long time & saw them farming garlic, and the air was always heady with the smell. Oooh! When I got back home with a sack full of garlic @15 rupee a kilo, I had all my friends queuing up for a handful.
Things that you can do around Shoja –
Take long walks ---- walk into the woods... to discover your own little waterfalls and fairytale huts…. There is actually a tiny little brook, which connects to the Tirthan. It has a little curved yellow wooden bridge over it and a daisy field and a pumpkin patch next to it.
Interact with villagers and learn to weave or learn the unique technique of farming apple on pear. Pears grow on slopes and plums grown on flats…. Do not pluck anything without permission of the owner, which of course you will get gladly, cause the people here are friendly and absolutely guileless like kids.
Just lie down around anywhere among the Iris fields and rediscover privacy…. A friend of mine and I actually couldn’t stop running around the aisles between the fields with out duppatas flying over our head and singing ditties from “yash chopra” movies.
Soak up the sun and silence. Set up camp near the brook and read a book with your own picnic basket of fresh fruits. The only sound would be the cicadas and a few Brahmani Kites hovering above.
That reminds me, Shoja is great for Birding. Take your copy of “Salim Ali’s -- Book of Indian birds”, a pair of binoculars and start your journey into an amazing treasure trove of bird.
If you are a fishing enthusiast then you can try fishing for trout... but you need proper gear, guideance and licence to fish which you can procure from Larji. Don’t be conned by people who try to sell you bony carps as Trouts. Trouts have a single central spine bone and is very delicate almost butterly soft and deliciously smooth on the palate.
I suggest Shoja to those who want to relive their first honeymoons and really are not coochy poochy lovey dovey any more but long to just hold hands and talk into the sunset. What best could be the setting but a field of flowers, whispering rain and clouds which need no password to intrude into your privacy.
UNWIND VERY SLOW is my advice when you visit Shoja.