Don’t you feel uninterested and irksome about recurring and frequent mention of Kasol-Kheerganga trek from everyone who visits Parvati valley. I was also sailing in the same boat when I decided to trek Kheerganga – Once, twice, thrice to finally put a screeching halt and end the periodicity then and there. The trek is indeed beautiful and green but the summit is not that alluring. The major setback for me was immense human-traffic. Be it any season, people throng to kheerganga which makes it more commercialized and I, personally, don’t favor to visit those places anymore.

Not in the mood & spirit of long trek and not in the mood to travel anywhere else other than mighty Parvati, I finally decided to explore the trio village of Kalga, Pulga and Tulga – starting from Pulga.

Pulga is a small settlement of people attracting majorly hippies for its own reasons. Uniqueness of this village are the houses which are still in the same shape and of same material as they were built many years ago. I have rarely witnessed such beauty and charm-ness of antique village homes in the vicinity of kasol. You will find less Indians and more foreigners in Pulga as it used to be in Kasol prior to 2008.

How to reach Pulga

Take a bus (or Drive) from Delhi to Kasol. If you don’t find an occupancy in the bus to Kasol, book a bus till Bhuntar. From Bhuntar bus stand, You will find local buses plying from Bhuntar to Bershaini. Also, you can opt for shared taxi.

You can also break/disintegrate your journey from Bhuntar to Kasol (30 kms) > Kasol to  Manikaran (4 kms) > Manikaran to Bershaini (16 kms).

In order to reach Pulga directly (and not via kalga), you don’t have to start your trek from the hydroelectric dam – Kheerganga and Kalga starts from here. 100 metres prior to the dam, between some shops, you will find a small descend that leads to a bridge over the river. That is the point for you to start for Pulga. (Check out the video below). After crossing the bridge, follow the trail upwards to reach the exquisite Pulga.

 

 

 

What to do while in Pulga

Pulga is lovely, elegant and well crafted village in its own way. You should give a day at-least to sink in the beauty of this hamlet. Travel around the village, meet locals, dine-out in the antique himachali-styled cafes, show us some of your photography skills :). If you are wanting to sip some alcohol at chilly nights in Pulga, remember to buy it from bhuntar or kasol or manikaran. In Pulga, you will get it at sky rocketing prices.

Pulga is surrounded by Fairy Forest from its 2 sides. The name depicts it all. From Pulga, it will just take 5-8 mins of walk to enter this forest area. You will witness enormous and gigantic pine tress in massive number as soon as you enter the forest. The view is breathtaking. Explore the forest, camp under the trees, listen to the melodious chirping of birds and endure the ultimate peace leaving the city chaos behind.

 

If you inquire from the locals, they will guide you to a small Waterfall leading through the same fairy forest. A small ascend and you will reach there in next 10 mins.

But this waterfall is not watery and hydrous enough. I, your digital travelling mate, therefore, will guide you to another waterfall which will give you chills in the spine upon its first site. Find the big, green water-pipeline passing through the forest and follow it impulsively but cautiously. At some point while walking along the pipeline you will definitely conclude not to move ahead, but go on – it’s totally safe. And finally, you will reach this big, enormous waterfall which is still unexplored. I will advice you not to go very close to the waterfall as the downpour is at a very high rate.

Take a Complete video tour of Pulga Village here:

Where to stay in Pulga

There are a plenty of home stays and cafes to give you shelter cum pleasant stay in Pulga. To name a few famous ones’ – Om Shanti, Boom Shankar, Baba’s Home stay, Tripper’s Paradise. Check out the rooms and tariff as per your comfortability and agreeable terms. You will get the basic rooms in all these places at around Rs. 500-700.

 

Pulga to Tulga

After having a pretty descent and admirable stay of 3 days in Pulga, although not wanting to leave, I started to walk towards Tulga (on the way to kalga). Tulga, from Pulga, will not take more than 15-20 mins of walk. Just look for a directional sign saying (Tulga –> ) on a big rock after crossing a rivulet OR a small stream of river.

Tulga, not as prominent or famed as Kalga & Pulga, is an extremely small settlement of ancient and classical inhabitants. With zero or very less commercialization, this village is so noiseless that you may even perceive a little horrifying sense at night. Just Kidding!

I stayed only for 3-4 hours in this tiny village. Upon Socializing with locals, I found out that they are still deprived of basic necessities of life there, but still, they are well pleased and contented about the fact that Tulga is not as crowded as Kalga and Pulga right now.

 

 

Tulga to Kalga

Kalga is around 20-25 mins trek from Tulga, including a little ascend. Wherever the trek is bisecting into 2 further ways, there is always a directional sign on rock pointing towards right direction, just keep looking for those (Kalga –>).

It was raining heavily when I reached kalga, so couldn’t explore much. To be honest, even in the short span of time, I didn’t get that vibes from Kalga which I acquired from Pulga. I coudn’t get a glimpse of snow covered peaks from most of the places in Kalga, but from a specific points only, unlike Pulga. To my opinion, one night stay should be enough to explore Kalga.

 

Where to stay in Kalga

Some of the best places to stay in Kalga are –

Apple Cottage ( Rs. 400-500 per room) , Tafri Cafe , Holy Cow cafe (Rs. 300-400 per room), Sacred Garden (Rs. 300-400 per room), Brahma Guest house (Rs. 300-400 per room).

You can directly ascend from Kalga to Bershaini in about 20 mins and reach the Hydel Power project Dam.

If you are in Kalga/Pulga/Tulga : You can trek to Kheerganga, Buni Buni pass or you can again do a short trek to tosh village.