Tirthan, Kasol & Manali — Six Nights in Kullu's Three Valleys

North-east from Chandigarh through Mandi and the Aut tunnel, then off the Manali highway and up the Banjar road into the Tirthan valley — about 270 km and eight hours, the last of them on a single-lane road beside a river that runs clear and fast over boulders. The stay is a riverside homestay or small lodge near Gushaini, at the western gate of the Great Himalayan National Park. Nothing is scheduled after arrival except the river, which is enough.

A guided day walk in the park's ecozone — the buffer belt where the villages are — from Gushaini up the Tirthan gorge, with the permit issued by the park office at Sai Ropa. The trail follows the river through oak and pine, past the last hamlets, and turns back at a point set by the group's pace; six to eight hours with lunch by the water. The park holds snow leopard, Himalayan tahr and the western tragopan, none of which a day walker should expect to see, and a river full of trout, which the licensed anglers do. Evening at the lodge.

Up the Banjar road to Jalori Pass at 3,120 m — closed by snow in winter, which is why this product is sold in the shoulder seasons — and the level forest walk from the pass to Serolsar Lake, about five kilometres each way through oak and rhododendron, with the small temple at the water. Back down through Jibhi, with its waterfall a short walk off the road, and then the road round by Bhuntar and up the Parvati to Kasol, about four hours. Kasol sits at 1,580 m on the river; the evening is the Chalal footbridge and the cafés.

The trek day. A car to Barshaini at the roadhead above Kasol, and then the trail up the Parvati gorge to Kheerganga — about twelve kilometres up to the meadow and its hot-spring pool at around 2,950 m, and the same back, seven to nine hours on foot with a guide. It is a steady climb rather than a technical one, and the springs at the top are the reward. Those who want a gentler day take Tosh, the village at the roadhead, and Manikaran instead; both are on the same road. Back to Kasol for a late dinner.

Manikaran first, 3.5 km up the road, where springs come out of the ground close to boiling within metres of a snow-fed river and the gurdwara cooks its langar in them — a site sacred to Sikhs and Hindus alike. Then down the Parvati, across the Beas at Bhuntar and up the main valley by the Naggar road: the castle of the Kullu rajas in its timber-bonded stone, and the Roerich house below it. Into Manali by late afternoon, about three hours in all.

The reward day at the valley head: Solang in the morning, with paragliding and the ropeway in the warm months, then the south portal of the Atal Tunnel 25 km from Manali and the nine kilometres under the mountain to Sissu in Lahaul, open in every month with no permit. Lunch by the Chandra river and back through the tunnel for Vashisht's hot springs — the third set of springs on this trip — and a last evening in Old Manali.

The long descent of the Beas and out through Mandi to the plains, about eight hours to Chandigarh and more to Delhi, with nothing else asked of the day. Your Live Traveller journey ends at the airport or the station. Bhuntar airport is an hour below Manali if you prefer to fly, on the understanding that the valley cancels flights often.