There are some places that take a piece of your heart, places that you want to keep returning to, places where you find immense joy in the tranquility it exudes, Pulga will always be that place for us. While searching for some little known places in Parvati Valley we stumbled upon this little heaven. There weren’t enough blogs or information about this charming village and that very instant we knew that we had to visit here. When we finally reached Pulga it was love at first sight!
How To Reach Pulga
We took a taxi from Tosh to Barshaini and our driver dropped us at the bridge. Towards the left of that bridge lies Kalga and a 45-minute uphill walk towards the right, starting along the river bed, will lead you to Pulga. If you’re coming from Kasol, you could either take a taxi or the local bus all the way to Barshaini from where you’ll have to walk to reach Pulga.
Where To Stay
There are a handful of options available but you can’t be spoilt for choice. Since the village is incredibly small but enchanting, we may add, there are a couple of homestays available at reasonable prices. We booked ourselves a homestay on Airbnb that’s located right amidst the apple orchard. He was serving around 7 guests who were staying there all by himself with a big endearing smile that never left his face. We were served freshly plucked apples with cinnamon before breakfast, cookies with our morning tea and delicious homecooked food as you ask for it. The warmth and hospitality of our host touched our hearts and if we ever go back to Pulga we know we aren’t staying anywhere else. Check it out here: https://bit.ly/2XiyOlp
What To Do There
Well pretty much just unwind! When we reached Pulga, we saw a tiny village illuminating as the sun rays fell on the colorful wooden homes. On our way to the homestay, we were greeted by many pleasingly smiling faces and for a moment we felt like we belonged there. The cottage-like houses were hugged by apple trees and there were a few small shops selling groceries and essentials. These shops surprisingly store all the fancy products that you can think of, we’re talking Organic India green tea, dark chocolate, cookies, nuts, marshmallows and that’s probably to please the large influx of foreign tourists there. Over the next days we spent there, Pulga grew on us.
There’s not much to do here and that’s precisely its charm. It forces you to slow down and observe all that’s around, like the quiet mornings, cool breeze swaying the paddy fields, horses grazing right outside our room, birds chirping and munching on apples. Who would mind waking up to these views? We found the village easily welcoming, as we spent our days exploring the village, walking, interacting with the locals, swapping stories with our host and being awestruck by the beauty we encountered at every step.
The village is small enough, so you wouldn’t get lost, yet quaint enough to find yourself suddenly being obstructed by horses, or lead by mountain dogs. Sometimes we walked into the wilderness of the Fairy Forest, sometimes we found ourselves sitting under apple trees but most of the time we were feasting on delicious meals cooked at the many cafes in Pulga.
Where To Eat
Majority of the cafes we visited just offered Italian and Israeli leaving our yearning for local food unsatisfied. During one of our conversations with a local, he enquired, “Did you notice the people here have lands but they don’t grow vegetables on it anymore. They would rather cater to the growing demand for cannabis than provide food”, we smiled thinking he wasn’t wrong after all. Here’s a list of our favorite cafes in Pulga:
Devraj Cafe - It’s one of the oldest cafes in Pulga and has been serving finger-licking food for the past 23 years. Must-Try: Every single thing especially the pizzas.
Library Cafe - It’s one of the cutest cafes we came across in Pulga and probably the only cafe boasting just Indian food on its menu. We didn’t really eat here but had a great time talking to Hemant, the owner of the cafe, over ginger lemon tea.
Boom Shankar Cafe - The owner promised that they serve the most amazing gnocchi and we can say that he wasn’t lying. If you’re craving some Italian food we highly recommend eating here, you won’t be disappointed. Must-Try: Gnocchi and pancakes
Fairy Cafe - “Boom”, uttered the two men before lighting up and touching it on their forehead, loud trance music playing in the background, psychedelic tapestry adorned the walls and hung freely from the roof, like the ones you would probably find in Pushkar. This will always be our first memory of the cafe. While the ambiance didn’t really appeal our senses the food wasn’t that bad.
Pulga will always have our hearts. It’s one of those places we just can’t get enough of. It’s a small world in itself sitting quietly in the lap of the Himalayas and we can’t wait to go back there soon.
Fairy Forest, Pulga
The beautiful houses of Pulga