Lug Valley

Lug Valley in Kullu district takes in around 90 to 100 villages, among them Bhalyani, Tiun, Telang and Churla. Its people have worked for some 150 years as forest contractors extracting timber, and the British Forest Department is reported to have first used cables and trolleys here to carry timber out of Himachal forests in the early 20th century. Since 2016 many farmers have switched from apples to persimmons, and the area around Churla is now a major persimmon-growing centre.

A route through the valley starts at Bhalyani, with the Katrusi Narayan temple, a deodar said to be 500 years old and a natural cold spring. Beyond lie the large meadow at Mathasour, with the Fungni Mata temple and a lake on the heights, a lake in the deodar forest at Badasour, and the high ridge of Taraur Garh, before Kaisdhar and the descent to Kullu by Peej or Lot.