Before my trip to Himachal Pradesh, everyone who knew I was travelling there had something to tell me about the place. More so because this was my first trip there and also because I would be seeing the Himalayas for the first time.
So, I got to hear about the weather, the roads, the people, the rivers, the food, the vegetation, the various mountain ranges, the monkeys, the treks, the hotels, the temples, the local culture, apples, snow, wildlife… But all of them missed out on telling me about the breathtaking Himalayan sunrises and sunsets or for that matter, Himalayan moonrises and moonsets.
The first sunrise and sunset that I saw were at Fagu and Sarahan respectively. They were beautiful and I may have even termed them as spectacular, if I had not gone to Kalpa and seen the sunrises, sunsets and moonrises over the Kinner Kailash range; they redefined the words “spectacular” and “breathtaking” for me.
On my first evening at Kalpa, our group visited a gompa at Kalpa village. Our visit ended around sunset after which we were generally wandering about. Suddenly I heard Doreen, our tour leader, call out to us in an urgent voice to hurry and see the moonrise.
We all rushed to where Doreen was standing and saw a bit of the moon from behind a mountain peak getting ready to make its appearance for the night. And over the next few minutes, I was witness to a moonrise like none that I had seen before and, perhaps none that I am likely to ever see.
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