The Barot valley : a jewel of Himachal

Barot valley is a very beautiful valley made by Uhl river . It lies in Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh state in India . Barot village which is the center of the valley is at about 1650 meters above from sea level .
                           Barot valley is a very popular tourist place because of its natural beauty and peace-fullness . Barot valley is blessed with two beautiful glacier fed clear water rivers , dense cedar forest , beautiful landscapes , lot of waterfalls and peacefulness .

Uhl river at Barot valley

Uhl river is first in Country which is used for generation hydroelectricity.  Barot is also known for Trout fish and this hill station has trout breeding form operating by Himachal Pradesh fishing department of Agriculture University, Palampur. Barot Valley is not only known for its man made projects but recognized as most beautiful destination in the area.Barot Valley is providing vast range for Tourism activities.Barot valley lies in mid Himalayan region and thus it have forests with cedars , oaks , pine and other beautiful Himalayan vegetation

Barot Valley is not only known for its man made projects but recognized as most beautiful destination in the area.Barot Valley is providing vast range for Tourism activities. In some locations of Barot valley you will find places full of wild flowers some of which are really very beautiful , rare and have great medicinal value .

Some wild flowers at Barot valley

  

                                             Activities to do in Barot valley 
 Here in Barot valley you can do various activities like  picnic , Camping , trekking , fishing , all types of Adventure sports like river crossing , rappelling , rock climbing etc.
Also you can swim in  Uhl river or just enjoy the natural beauty of Barot valley .

• Enjoy holidays  with fresh and health full environment. here are many hotels and cheap home stays that provides stay and food .
• Camping in Barot valley . You can enjoy camping in pure natural environment along the banks of Uhl river in Barot . Many tourists come here only for camping . Thandi Golai camping ground in very famous here where camping is provided . Also many other activities like river crossing , rock climbing , rappelling also provided here 
• Trout fish angling . You can enjoy trout angling in clear water glacier rivers of Barot valley here . Barot is very famous among fishing lovers .
• Trekking in the Barot valley. Barot valley providing wide range of treks, these treks provide you the glimpse of local cultural heritage of Himachal, villagers are living their traditional life and happy with that. Natural heritage which offer you option for bird watching and wild life. Amazing views of snow covered mountains of Himalaya’s.
• Village walks in the Barot valley surprise you. Villagers here are very rich in culture and very helpful. They are good local guides .  They grow organic vegetables, fruits, pulses and more then that they are weaving warm clothes in the houses with sheep wool. They have small units at home to prepare shawls and local pattu’s. You can buy all this stuff by paying to them and this is the true help for them, Villagers are very honest and hardworking.

                                                How to reach Barot valley

 1. By road: Route from Delhi will be Delhi – Chandigarh – Bilaspur – Mandi –Ghatasni - Barot              (About 500 km)  
    From Pathankot, the route will be Pathankot – Palampur – Jogindernagar - –Ghatasni - Barot               (about 206 km) 

2.By Train : Delhi – Pathankot and then narrow gauge track from Pathankot –Kangra  Jogindernag  then by road to Barot via Ghatasani .

3.By air : Barot is 127 km from Bhuntar airport near Kullu. You can also reach Barot from Gaggal   airport near Kangra, approximate distance is 97 km
 
               Ghatasni is place where road to Barot branches off from NH 20 ( on Jogindernager to Mandi highway )

 Barot is about 66km from Mandi and 40 km from Jogindernagar.
 Public transport buses available from Mandi and Jogindernagar.

Denasar lake trekking journey

Denser Lake is one of the highest lakes in Dhauladhar range. It is located at an elevation of 4250 Mts. on the foot hill of Ghora Lotnu Peak. This lake like other lakes of Outer Himalaya is held very sacred for the local people.
                   Dena Sar or Dyna Sar is a crystal bowl located at the border of Kullu and Kangra. The glacial slopes of Ghora Lotnu peak feed this crystal bowl and it remains frozen until late July.

                          See full set of trekking images here 
  This lake is beloved to belongs to Lord Shiva .Every year on ‘Bhadon Bees’ (20th of the month of Bhadon according to Hindu Calendar) pilgrims from Barot , Kullu, Chotta Bhangal and nerby areas make trekking journey to take a dip in this lake. People believe that Lord Shiva and Goddess Parv
ati ji comes here to do the holy bath . Also it is believed that only person with true faith can see them . Also monsoon starts  receding by 20th of bhadon and the medicinal effects of herbs is maximum in the glacial waters. A holy dip helps cure skin diseases.
                      We also did trek to this holy lake and also had holy bath there  . We trek from Barot and via Denasar lake , we finally reached Kullu . So here is some details of our journey of
TREKKING FROM BAROT TO KULLU VIA DENASAR LAKE .  

Day 1 : We started about at 7 AM from Barot and have a cab up to Polang village which lies in Chotta bhangal valley

Polang Village

Polang village is about 9 KM away from Barot and is the last village accessible by road . After this you have to move on foot . So our trek really started from Polang village which is a very beautiful village in chotta Bhangal valley . houses of this village as you can see are built in old fashioned Himalayan style .
                                  After Polang village we move along a water stream in dense forest . Water from Denasar lake also feds this water stream . The trek is not very steep here and the scenic view is very beautiful .

About after trekking for 2 hours a very steep trek starts and also you gets disconnected from water stream . You are advised to fill up you water bottles at last point of water stream as after this you shall not find water for a very long time say for about 3 - 4 hours on the trekking way .

The steep trek 

As you can see in pic the trek here is very steep and you have to climb this mountain . For the next 2 -3 hours you just climb , climb and climb . Really very challenging even to experienced trekkers , climb with patience and have rest but not too long . After you cross first steep trek through dense forest you reach at this place .

After this dense forest ends and you shall find yourself in very high mountains . Dense forest ends but not the steep trek , not too steep but yet very challenging . Since you are now at the heights where bog trees refuse to grow due to less availability of carbon dioxide you shall find yourself trekking in mountains wit little plans , shrubs and most importantly a lot of beautiful Himalayan flowers . 
Many of these plants are used in medicines and are very difficult to find .

Some flowers you shall find while trekking

At this height weather can change all of a sudden ad happened in our case . The sky was clear and all of a sudden clouds came from nowhere and there was fog everywhere and we could not see after few meters . Also it started raining , luckily only for some time

Trek to Denasar lake 

After some time you shall notice that even flowers and shrubs disappear and only grass and stones on mountains . This means that now you are at that height where oxygen is low and you notice you get tired very soon . This point of trek where low oxygen starts to show its effect is very difficult . You have rest a lot for climbing little heights . Climb slowly and have patience .

Low oxygen trek

It was getting dark but luckily we reached at the point after which denasar lake was just one climb away about 20 minute trek . We decided to pitch our tent here as we were very tired to climb upto Denasar lake that time . Tents of other people were also there who came for holy bath .

Camping at Denasar lake

So we rested for  some time , then have dinner and then we slept , what a relief after the trek . The weather was extreme cold , but the sky was clear . You should have your woolen cloth here .

Day 2 : So we stared to trek again at morning and after a short trek we finally reached The Denasar Lake  .

The Denasar lake

Many people had reached lake already and many people were taking holy bath when we reached there . There are small temples of deities where people worship and takes blessings . We also had our holy bath and had prayers in temples

A temple at Denasar lake 

After staying for some time at Denasar lake and seeing the beauty of nature we started our journey from Denasar lake to Kullu .

Trekking from Denasar lake to Kullu  : The trekking journey were almost similar as that previous day but you have to trek down , means no steep climbing and also fresh new landscapes , but this is also not easy to trek down from great heights as you have to walk with caution and you legs starts to pain more than climbing .
 While trekking down to Kullu , you shall see many waterfalls and glaciers on the way   . Also you shall see another lake on the way , small but very beautiful

On the way we found many shepherd and also people seeking for medicinal plants . The trek is very beautiful and natural beauty is a t its best in this trek . Beautiful mountains with green greass and trees makes your day .

While trekking you shall see many waterfalls which are very beautiful but are not reachable . For walking all day long we finally reached last village of Lug valley which is connected to road with Kullu town  .

 

The Lug valley

Last village of Lug valley connected to road 

  After this we took bus upto Kullu town . So the final destination of our trekking journey from Barot to Kullu
.
So this was the trekking jorney from Barot to Kullu via Denasar lake . Trekking lovers must do this trek once in their life . Hope you enjoyed the blog . Thanks

We also have a video of the journey .. Enjoy it ..

Shanan Power project at Barot valley

Big reservoir at Barot

Shanan power project  is made in Barot and Joginder nagar , whereas main power house is made in Joginder nagar , water reservoir is made in Barot.  Shanan Power House (commissioned in 1932) was the first hydro-electric power station of India in Megawatt capacity. British Engineer Colonel B.C. Batty and his team in collaboration with the then ruler of Joginder Nagar region, Raja Karan Sen, designed and created it. It is situated at a distance of 2 km from the main city.

A water slide at canal at Barot

 The water of Uhl river is diverted to form two big reservoirs at Barot using a barrage diversion . These reservoirs are very  beautiful and large and adds up in the beauty of Barot valley. Then a tunnel is made in the mountain to take water to Jogindernagar where electricity is made .

Barrage at Uhl river Barot

In 1932 there was no road facility to Barot so to bring men and material for work to this place, a railway line was built from Pathankot to Joginder Nagar. To deliver construction material to hill top for making water reservoir at Barot, a funicular trolley way system popularly known as haulage trolley of Barot was created there.

Beautiful water spillage at reservoir , Barot

   
  Shanan power project at Barot and Joginder nagar still have machinery of British times and still in use . Most of them are imported like from Glasgow , Hungary etc .
A beautiful water slide and a garden also made at Shanan power project Barot and it is one of main tourist attraction if Barot valley . Haulage trolley is also a main tourist attraction . It is discussed in other post of this blog .