Trail through woods and Apple Orchards - Hike to Goshal Village in Manali

Travelling - It leaves you speechless and then it turns you into a storyteller. By Ibn Battuta 

How true this quote is when I write my experience of a hike to a small village on outskirts of Manali which left us speechless with our walk in woods and through heart of Apple Orchards near old Manali. It all started with culmination of our Leh Ladakh journey and a day to spare in Manali. After a week of travelling by car in Leh Ladakh and ending the trip in Manali, It was a relaxing day for our group, We decided to spent our day by visiting Hidimba temple and do a stroll in old Manali. Old Manali is around 3 kms from New Manali which is separated by bridge over gushing waters of Beas river. A complete uphill climb, Old Manali lane is flanked by restaurants and cafes serving wide varieties of International cuisines from Israel to Korea. More frequented by foreigners, We can find shopkeepers and cafe owners talking fluently in Hebrew or Italian or French.

The last stretch of old Manali lane is a steep climb lined with few village houses and ends at magnificent old temple dedicated to sage Manu who is suppose to be the creator of the world and writer of Manusmriti.

Glimpse of old manali house

Glimpse of old manali house

Manu temple

Just before the temple we spotted a board "Trek to Goshal Village - 2 kms, Trek to Solang Valley - 11 kms". And that just set the ball rolling in our head to atleast trek till Goshal village. It was mid afternoon and we had all the time in our hand and more importantly it was a clear day in rainy month of August. Just a few blocks behind Manu temple lies this last cafe on the road called "Rocky's cafe". The cafe provides one of the most spectacular views of the Manali Mountains. One could spend like an entire day sitting in cafe sipping on tea / coffee reading a book or just plain sit and watch the mesmerizing view of the mountains. They also offer stay in neat & tidy rooms and have a restaurant serving simple lunch and dinner. 

R-cafe location and magnanimous view was too alluring for few of our group members who decided to spent rest of the afternoon at the cafe enjoying the hot cuppa while for four of us, the sign board of 2 km trek to Goshal village was too appealing and we decided to go ahead.

The road ends at R-cafe and steps carved into the rocks leads us into the woods. As it always happens on treks, there were these two dogs which followed us on the trail like our guide in the woods. 

The initial steps gave way to a narrow path in the woods with pine trees on both sides. The rainy season had turned the mountains in green belt with lush greenery all around. 

After a walk of around 30 minutes the path became precariously narrow with deep valley on one side with just enough space for one person to walk and rocky mountains on the other. The trail seemed exciting and we decided to continue as it was only 2 kms and we could always turn back if we got lost. At one of the spots there were steps cut on rocky patch. 

The rocky patch climb gave us the most amazing view of Manali valley & cloud covered mountains on other side. As we walked further from here we were welcomed by trees laden with Apples as far as we could see. This was most beautiful part of hike - A hike through heart of Apple orchard. With no one to look over us and ever inviting apple laden trees, it was difficult for us to stay away and not pluck apples.

We did come across few houses in the orchard but they seemed to be empty. Our trail at some places was confusing with two paths going in different directions but we decided to stick with path which was more prominent. Our walk continued for over 2 hrs but still there was no sight of Goshal village. We blindly followed our path which was now leading downwards away from apple orchards.

To our disappointment our hike ended abruptly on a tar road which was not something we wanted or expected. But we could sense human activity and roar of engine few meters away and decided to walk further on tar road. Around few blocks from where we entered tar road were some shops where Apple was being collected after being plucked from the orchards. 

We asked the villagers around who confirmed that we were indeed on right path and Goshal village was few hundred meters away. With sigh of relief we decided to at least get a glance and few pictures before starting the return journey. We reached a nice rocky spot overlooking a Goshal village where we took our final halt. 

Goshal village was a pretty quaint village with few houses and narrow winding lanes in between. But the best part was the exotic village location with Solang valley further ahead and Vasisht village & temple on opposite mountain. The village is away from Manali hustle bustle, right in middle of mountain and Apple orchards all around. For someone looking to stay in calm and peaceful location then this village would be ideal place. The village is around 3kms from Manali through motorable road while it is 2 kms through the path we took from old Manali.

Happy Happy

Return journey begins

Happy to have reached Goshal village and after clicking few pictures we decided to follow the same path to reach old Manali. Our return journey was bit tough for the downhill path we came from was now our uphill climb and there was no longer any excitement left. 

But we managed to complete our return journey in half the time it took for us to reach Goshal village. Highlight of our return journey was a small spring of water in the rocks from where SB decided to quench her thirst, it turned out the water had weird taste and when asked how was it ? she made a funny face saying "AMRIT "which made all of us burst in laughter.

The hike to Goshal village was worth all the effort and may be on our next visit would love to try 11 kms trek to Solang valley. We signed off our trek with hot cuppa and some rest for our legs at Rocky's cafe before heading down to our hotels. 

From Rocky's cafe 

Our Hot Cuppa

Have you done any treks, trails or a small hike in Manali ? How was your experience ? Do share your experiences.