Jogni Falls

May 19th, 2011

Around mid afternoon, Charlotte and Pascal suggested that we go and check out some nearby waterfalls, Jogni Falls. We took a rickshaw to Vashisht and I showed them where the hot springs were but we didn’t go in for a dip. We walked along a path through part of the village and then were soon hiking along a hillside. It only took about half an hour to get to the falls and they were quite impressive, very tall with beautiful tree topped rock faces on either side.

En route in the rickshaw:

A random but cool looking house in Vashisht:

Charlotte giving her approval to a cow wandering by:

The path through the forest:

A strange Buddha near the falls:

Jogni Falls:


We hung out for a bit, soaked up the scenery, snapped a few pics and then began our hike back. Our plan was to walk back to Old Manali. As we re-entered the village, we briefly stopped to look at a pickup football (soccer) match happening in a little school yard. Young and old, local and foreigners were all enjoying kicking the ball around. As we started to walk away, the ball came flying over the fence, bounced ten meters down a hill and then unfortunately landed in a small river flowing down the hillside. The ball fell over a couple of small drops but then luckily came to rest, stuck behind a little waterfall. It was retrieved by one teenage Indian, much to the relief of the players and a small round of applause erupted...good entertainment for us passersby.

Me with Pascal and Charlotte...about as close to the falls as we can get:

The hills above:

Pascal and Charlotte crossing a small stream:

Now my turn:

Retrieving the football:

Where it came from:

Anxious footballers:

Pascal getting ideas for his front yard:

Another crazy cricket pitch:

I knew of the pedestrian shortcut down from Vashisht to the river level. Once down there, I mentioned to Pascal and Charlotte about the river crossing we could potentially take. It really was a tourist attraction where you put on a harness and get attached to a rope and use your hands to pull yourself across. Most Indian tourists go half way across, get bounced up and down by the operator on the shore and then get pulled back. We however asked if we could just cross (yes, funny thing to ask at a “River Crossing” I know!). The starting price was 300 rupees but shrewd Charlotte haggled it down to 200 (we probably still overpaid but this was going to save us at least two kilometres of walking).

I went first, followed by Charlotte and then Pascal. I was surprised at how low over the river I was and did get a little bit wet from some of the standing waves but it was super cool. Hanging just a few feet over a rushing, muddy brown mountain river is pretty awesome. It was surprisingly more work than I (and especially Charlotte) thought it would be to get to the other side. My back wasn’t terribly happy with me but it wasn’t too bad (probably good exercise for it).

Crossing the river:

Charlotte's turn:

Nice technique!


Now Pascal:

Disappointed see sawers:

We hiked up to the tree line of the forest that I’ve walked through numerous times before and then back into Old Manali. Nice way to end the afternoon.