Tirthan Valley – It took me long to discover this valley in the Himalayas, where I could soak myself in its beauty, my husband can try his hands in photography and my children can enjoy their summer vacation. Positive traveller reviews further increased my excitement to visit this place. The famous Raju Bharti Guest House at Gushiani village was all booked for the season, months in advance. Luckily, we managed to get one room at Tirthan Valley Resort at Tirthan village. The resort is around 8hrs drive from Chandigarh. On the way to Kullu, one has to take a right from Aut towards Banjar. From Banjar, 15 minutes uphill is Tirthan Valley resort.

Tirthan Valley resort is situated on the bank of river Tirthan. There are no roads till the resort so we had to park our car on the opposite bank and take the trolley ride to cross the river. Since it was quite dark by the time we reached there, the staff came with torches and lanterns to guide us. In spite of the long journey, a very warm welcome by the owner, Bhupinder Singh ji, and caretaker cum cook Bhuvan infused energy in us.

We spent the next day simply lazing around, reading books on hammocks, playing different outdoor and indoor games. We also tried rock climbing and river crossing (our experience says it’s better than Manali). Trout fishing is famous here. Bhuvan used to make excellent homely food with desserts, and it was served wherever we wanted – be it on the river bank, near the bonfire or on the porch.

Our stay would not have been complete without the trek to lake Serloskar, a beautiful lake in the valley surrounded by mountains. We started early morning at 6am along with other guests in the resort. The trek to the lake starts from Jalori pass which is an hour’s drive from the resort. It’s a 4-5km trek one way. Delicious lunch was packed by Bhuvan which we had at the lake. Godiwalas are available to carry young kids, we had hired one for our five year old daughter.

I can’t forget the dip in spine chilling river Tirthan. We started the competition of sitting in the cold water on seconds’ basis. To our surprise, my 9-year-old son won!

We stayed there for only 3 nights, but I wish we could have stayed longer.  I am definitely going to visit this place again and this time maybe with my friends.