Jim Morrison Cafe: A Hidden Paradise ☕

After 14 hours of travel for Bhuntar, we were losing our patience. It was mainly hunger and desperation to reach our camp. Our focus was on the beauty of Kasol, which was visible from Bhuntar. But the struggle was, “How to get transport to reach Kasol?”

__ “Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet”: Aristotle

We had a tight budget so our first choice was obviously a public bus. Unluckily, during that period there was a huge crowd at Bhuntar bus stand. So we decided to alter the plan. We went to the taxi booth, but no success achieved. Now, we went hopeless and we were not sure how to continue. As usual, MC came with a conclusion out of the topic, “Let's skip all and have some momos!” No doubt we were hungry, and we couldn't deny his proposal. We settled at the Momos shop and we were eating like a monster. We spent an hour eating and resting. As we over, we ran toward the taxi booth as an empty taxi was approaching the booth. Luckily with some patience, we were finally on our way to Kasol.

__ Expect the unexpected

We were somewhere in between the 30 km route. Bhaskar was vlogging. Punnu and Iuc were clicking pics. MC was on the front seat and I was looking at the road, river, and mountain from a big screen of the back seat. While enjoying the dazzling view of the Parvati river running between road and mountains, I noticed a picture on my phone. It was a tissue paper with a list of official dates and destinations for the second trip. And believe me, Kasol was not even nominated. Strange? But it's true. From nowhere we chose Kasol. And I guess this is why people say “Expect the unexpected.”

__ Ninja trick to take shower in cold water

In the next 1 hour, we reached our camp base. It was located about 2 minutes walk from the center of the Kasol. Since the camp was located in between farms with a view of mountains, so no one won't feel themself in the city. Joy could be witnessed on our faces. As we got our allocated camps, we immediately settled in them, and then we planned to get ready in the next 30 minutes so that we can have lunch and visit the local market. Everything was fine but taking a bath at 6°C with cold water was unbearable. Though MC suggested a ninja technique, I guess that gave me courage but I still feel the chills. With a delay of an extra 30 min, we were on the city streets.

__ Google aunty doesn't work properly over hills

We had a list of cafes where we planned to go. Since we were unknown in this city, so we asked Google aunty to help us in finding those cafes. We went to the first cafe, which was just 5 minutes away but unluckily there was unexpected waiting, so we skipped to the next one which was nearby and skipped it too due to extremely smoky ambiance. This way either due to unpleasant ambiance or waiting, our list ended. After some time we were able to find a suitable cafe which was satisfying our criteria. Without wasting our time, we had meals of our day. After this, we decided to visit Jim Morrison Cafe for pancakes and waffles. So we asked Google aunty to guide us. After walking twice on the same street, Google aunty failed to locate the exact location of that cafe. Our food was almost digested in this process. At last, we turned off Google aunty and started finding the location in the traditional way.

__ Paradise is hidden that's why it is hard to find

After asking almost every person on the street, somehow we managed to get the trek which will lead us to the cafe. A trek? Yeah, there was neither a direct road nor gully. The sun was almost on the horizon, the sky started to get dark. And there was rice light and signboards which were helping us get to the cafe. We turned our phone torch and walking to reach the location. As we were able to hear some music, we got sure the cafe is here. After 15 minutes of trekking in dark, we were at the cafe. Jim Morrison Cafe is mostly in the TODO list of visitors. Its ambiance, trance music, and the special UV light were awesome. With the reflection of UV light, my white t-shirt was glowing. Although the waiting list was large, so we skipped that place after spending some time there. But I will try to visit another time.

Gaurav Purwar