Beyond Barot - Exploring Rajgundha and Badagram by HRTC bus | बरोट-बडाग्रां -राजगुंधा | Himbus
Hello friends, welcome to our YouTube channel. Right now you are watching our Magical Chauhar Valley series, 3 parts have already been published and today we will watch the 4th part of this series Before this part we traveled from Delhi to Bir, then via Barot, covered Lohardi, Polling and Bhujling villages of Chhota Bhangal. In today's video, we will go from Barot to Rajgundha which is a part of Chhota Bhangal region.
So let's start this video now. Right now I am in Barot and staying here at Hotel Hidden Heaven. From here at about 10:15, an HRTC bus goes to Badagram, a village before Rajgundha.
So I am going to go to Badagram by the that bus. Today I have checked out from this Hidden Heaven Hotel and am going there with all my luggage. The time is now around 9:30 am and the bus will come here only after 10 o'clock.
So I stopped here near Barot Barrage to bask in the sun. There is a school nearby and the school children are playing with the puppies here. After this I came here to Barot bus stop.
The sunlight here is very good in the morning because it is winter season and it is quite cold. Within some time, the bus going to Badagram also arrived here. This bus departs from Jogindernagar at 7:45 am and is the only HRTC bus going to Rajgundha side. Apart from this, many private buses also go in that direction throughout the day. This straight path leads further towards Lohardi where I went yesterday and today we have to take left from here and go to Rajgundha.
After crossing this bridge, further ahead is Multhan village which is in Kangra district. Then here in Multhan our bus stopped for some time because the fixed time to start from here is 10:15 and there are still 5 minutes left. As we told you in the previous parts that Chhota Bhangal and Bada Bhangal are the most inaccessible regions of Kangra district. Tehsil office has been opened here in Multhan so that the people here can get the best facilities at their doorstep.
On the other side of this bridge is District Mandi. Soon it was time for the bus to departure and now we were leaving from Multhan towards Badagram. Multhan is a main town of this valley and many government offices of Chhota Bhangal are located here Multhan is in the center of both the valleys of Chhota Bhangal, one on the Lambadugh side and the other on the Rajgundha side. Now we will slowly climb uphill Barot and Multhan are situated on the banks of the river but Nalhota and Badagram are situated at a slightly higher altitude. The road below left from Bakhlog village leads to Mayot village.
There is also a direct bus from HRTC Mandi depot to Mayot. Below, on the other side of the river Uhal, is the district Mandi. Across the river in front, the trolley line which was laid from Joginder Nagar to here over the mountain is visible. Hydro project goods were also brought here through this trolley.
Now this trolley is out of use and has been damaged at many places. And above this place there is also Government Degree College. Beyond Multhan, we slowly climbed uphill and reached higher altitudes. On the other side of the river Uhal is Mayot village, which is the last village on this side of district Mandi. Soon we reached Kothi Kohar village.
Multan and Barot are quite developed now, but looking at these villages here it seems as if we have come to a slightly interior region Now roads have been built here, but when there were no roads, this region was far away from the rest of the world. A little further from Kothi-Kohar, an another village comes, Nalhota. There are many houses here too and all the houses are clustered together. Today there is good sunshine so I can roam comfortably in this valley. Badagram comes forward along with Nalhota and our bus will also come till here. Badagram is visible in front and the bus stop is right here.
The road beyond this is unpaved and no bus go beyond this. Rajgundha is about 6 km ahead from here. The bus has stopped here on the side. It's 11:15 am now.
It took us 1 hour to reach here from Multhan. The bus has to come and go here, which means that the bus has just reached here and will stop for 2-4 minutes and go back. So the bus has dropped me here. Right now I am thinking what to do next.
Rajgundha is visible from here but if you go by road then it is 6 kilometers away. I also have my own luggage, so I can't walk there with this much luggage. So even if I want to go back tomorrow, I will have to take a bus from here. So I thought that today I will stay in some homestay or guest house.
I can keep my luggage there and then go to Rajgundha. I talked to the shop owner here, he called the owner of the guest house and called him here. He told me that this is the right option, Rajgundha and this Nalhota both are similar so you stay here only.
So this is a homestay here in Nalhota which is run by Mithun Brother, he gave me a room here and I got this room for Rs 1000. I was going to keep my luggage here and proceed on foot towards Rajgundha. But Mithun Brother said that he was also going in the same direction on bike so he would drop me somewhere further. So this is our Mithun Brother who will now take me towards Rajgundha on bike.
Let's go. This is badagram. So this is Badgram which is a main village of this valley and buses also come here till only. Beyond this, the road has been built till Rajgundha but it is still unpaved and widening work is going on.
Ahead we found a herd of sheep and it was not easy to get ahead of them. Before going further, I thought of having lunch here because then I don't know if I will get anything further in Rajgundha. There is also a homestay and a campsite here but nowadays very few tourists come to this place. Here I ate dal and rice for lunch. - Yes, I am coming, you go. Then Mithun Brother dropped me here at this bridge and now I will go by walk towards Rajgundha.
Mithun Brother has come here for some work he said that he is here till 4 o'clock, till then you should roam around and come back here. This bridge is built on the Uhal river and behind it, Dhauladhar mountain and Thamsar stream are visible. The river Uhal originates from this Thamsar Glacier after traveling a long distance, it joins the Beas river between Mandi and Pandoh. Here along this river, the road also goes to Bada Bhangal which is on the other side after crossing Thamsar Pass. So these people are repairing that road which has been damaged due to landslides here. There is no road to reach Bada Bhangal, it can be reached only by walk or by helicopter.
So you can imagine how difficult life there would be. Currently, it is impossible to reach there during the winter season. In such a situation, only they know what circumstances the people there would be facing. Despite being so difficult and inaccessible, this Bada and Chhota Bhangal does not fall in the tribal region. It has been placed in the OBC category.
So now I have started moving from here towards Rajgundha. This road further goes towards Billing and Bir and the work of making it paved is also going on. So you can come here to towards Rajgundha via Bir to Billing but you will have to come by your own vehicle or taxi only. And you can guess the cold here from the frozen water on the side. So moving ahead from here I reached Rajgundha.
Rajgundha is a small village in Chhota Bhangal region. Rajgundha, located away from the modern world, is still deprived of many basic facilities. The work of paving the Bir to Barot via Billing-Rajgundha road is going on. I believe that roads are the basis of all other facilities, whatever be the area.
If the village is connected by road then other resources are available. Well, this remote Rajgundha is very beautiful and you can enjoy the views of nature in these valleys away from the crowd. Right now this entire valley is dry and waiting for snowfall.
With the arrival of winter, all such high altitude regions become dry and the vegetation dries up. In the future, when snow falls, several feet of snow will accumulate in this area and the entire area will turn completely white. It is not easy to reach here during that snow. By the time March comes, the snow reduces and these mountains start becoming green again.
However, the best time to see the beauty here is during the rainy season. At that time, this entire area is green and clouds remain camped on the mountains. However, the condition of the roads remains a bit bad during the rainy season, hence coming here from the end of August to October is the right option. Here I am continuously moving forward towards Billing and the cedar forest has also started here.
The work of paving the road is going on and laborers are laying gravel here. If this road becomes paved then it can be easily reached here from Bir and Barot. Go a little further on this road and come to Chahina Pass and here you can do camping. There is a shop here and it is these people who organize camping here, otherwise you can also pitch your tent here by paying a charge of Rs 200 per day.
There is also a small temple of Mata Vaishno Devi here. From here, Badagram and Nalhota villages are visible from where I have just come and I have to go back there also. Rajgundha and Nalhota Valley are the emerging tourist destinations of this region.
Most of the people do not know about this area but gradually the arrival of tourists here is increasing. There are many hotels, homestays and many camping sites to stay here. Here in Rajgundha, there is also a Zostel here which has been built for a long time and along with it there is also a trout fish farm here. When this road is completely constructed, it will definitely become a good tourist destination. Still you can come here from Bir via Billing but you will have to come by your personal vehicle or taxi only. If you want to come by bus, then the option is the same as I have come.
Here you can comfortably spend 2-3 days and can also trek on the surrounding hills. Looking at the way the work on this road is going on in full swing, it seems that the work will be completed soon. Once the road is built then HRTC will start its buses here also.
And now I started back from here towards Nalhota. It's about 3 o'clock and the sunlight has gone away from here and as soon as the sun goes down it starts getting very cold. And the laborers working here have to keep the fire burning. Then I reached back to the bridge of river Uhal from where I started walking today. My up and down trek of about 6 kilometers has been completed. Here from this bridge a trek is made along the Uhal river which further goes to Bada Bhangal.
Further ahead on this route comes a place named Palachak and many people go there for trekking and camping. The original place of Ajaypal, the revered deity of the valley, is also in this valley. Mithun Bhai, the owner of my homestay, had told me to meet him here at 4 o'clock. But I don't know where he is. Anyway, I feel like going to Nalhota by walk because even walking on a straight road is a lot of fun.
It's good that I left my luggage there otherwise I would not have been able to walk that far. There are many camping sites near the bridge where these days it is off season so there are less setups but during the season time many camps are set up here. I am feeling a little hungry now, so let's have lunch at this restaurant. The taste of food also doubles in such valleys. Rajgundha is in front, from where I have just returned. So they are face to face but there is a river named Uhal deep between them, there will be a shortcut to cross it but it is also better to go by road.
This is Badagram and there is a school here too so the children here do not have to go far for schooling. And this is Ghraat, Ghraat i.e. Flour Mill. In this mill, natural water is dropped under the pressure of the mortar due to which the mill rotates.
Just like the turbine is rotated in a hydro project. Inside the mill the stones rotate in a mill which grinds the grains and makes flour. So now the evening has come and I have reached back to my destination. After coming to my room, I rested for some time and after that I went out to the shop and had food. Brother has prepared chicken rice today and in cold I also had 2 pegs of rum.
After this I went to my room and slept. We end this video here. We hope that you would have liked this tour of Rajgundha Valley and also got information about the options to come and stay here. In the next and last part of this series, we will take you on a tour of this Nalohta village and after that we will go back to Mandi from here.
So see you in the next part. Thank you.
2024-02-07 12:33
