An overnight journey from ISBT Delhi and I reached Shimla in the morning. From Shimla, I took another bus to Narkanda and from Narkanda, I rented a cab and reached Kotgarh in half an hour or so. I had checked in the hotel (13 Forest B&B) by 11 AM if I am not wrong. After taking some rest, I had the first meal of the day. Being a small village, I wasn’t aware of options for food in Kotgarh, thus at first, I only thought to eat at the hotel.
Traveling is challenging often and food turns out to be a big challenge for me. I am a vegetarian and a teetotaler. I don’t even drink tea. So, I get to face challenges. I remember once I went to the Nizamuddin area with a friend of mine who was a non-veg eater and I had a great time there. When I was in Sainj when I did a trip to Shangarh, I was looking for a good veg eatery and all I could see was chicken and rice. I was already done eating Maggi again and again; no offense Maggi is a savior. But after walking long, I feel like taking a proper diet to recover the energy consumed in walking so long.
I pretty much enjoyed the food in Rajasthan on my week-long trip. We roamed from village to village and tasted the local food there. On the other side, when I come to places like this, especially the area where veg food isn’t available that easily or costly or any other reason, there is a problem. People who practice both i.e. veg and non-veg are better in situations like this; flexible to eat anything whatever that is available.
How was the food in Kotgarh? At the hotel and the restaurant
I had lunch, dinner of the day one, and breakfast of day two at the hotel itself. The food at the hotel was amazing, it was lip-smacking and I pretty much enjoyed it. The guy whoever had cooked that food, really deserves appreciation which I did when I told another hotel guy while we were sitting at the bonfire at the hotel. As it was a weekend trip to Kotgarh and I came here without any planning, so I had very less options of where to eat in Kotgarh or you can say no option at all. I just thought to go with the flow and check whatever comes along the way.
Lunch at the hotel on the first day
Trying to take that perfect shot
After lunch on the first day, I did trekking to Thanadhar from Kotgarh. It took me around 3 hours to reach Thanadhar from Kotgarh with lots of stops on the way. The village had a small market like area and I spotted a small café where I ordered a plate of noodles. Well, noodles, Maggi, etc. are the easiest available dishes you can get, especially in Himalayan areas. I remember my one day Dehradun trip where I badly needed to eat and all I could get was Maggi. Well, I returned to the hotel at the night and had a nice dinner there at the hotel.
Noodles in a restaurant at Thanadhar
Breakfast at the hotel
The next day or on the last day of Kotgarh trip, I had breakfast at the hotel. It was a plate of cookies, some veg sandwiches, coffee, etc. It was nice but not enough for the motor to keep running all day. So, after roaming in Kotgarh till noon, I found a small restaurant in the market. I took a breath of relief and thought I would get something nice to eat here. However, I won’t say it was nice. But it was okay. It made the engine run for the day. Nice enough! The village had a decent market, though I didn’t get to explore more options for food in Kotgarh. Some of the advantages of traveling unplaned.
Lunch at a restaurant at Kotgarh (on the last day)
After lunch or whatever it was (it wasn’t lunchtime certainly), I moved to the bus stop. I had to wait long for the bus and then it started raining. That was the last bus which could make me reach Shimla on time so that I could reach Delhi on time. After waiting for long, the bus came and I got in. But the way to Narkanda got blocked due to snow and it didn’t go Narkanda.
