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Published: November 18th 2006
Entering Himachal Pradesh
Entering Himachal PradeshAnd this is how it all started…..
One rainy Saturday, I and Dimple, my wife, were sitting at home sipping beer we realized that we had a long weekend break coming up. As always, the first thought that came to our mind was making our weekend getaway plan. Out came Outlook’s 52 weekend breaks from Delhi. And soon afterwards, the locations were decided. We selected Dalhousie & Mcloedganj since we had not visited that valley before. After the selection of the location, what remained to be decided was the mode of transport and the Chosen Couple to travel with us. We got into our regular fight over the mode of travel first, using public transport like trains and taxis or our car. As always, I had to deliver and emotional speech to convince Dimple that this would be the only chance for me to drive, the love of my life which come second only to her. I think the SECOND bit finally got her to relent. Whatever said and done, our car was the chosen mode of travel.
The other thing to be decided was the couple who would travel with us. Normally there is this couple, Shankar &
On way to Dalhousie
Entering Himachal Pradesh Pratisha, who travel with us. However this time around it was Prashant & Juhi's turn to accompany us.
Anyway once the above two were settled, we had to get down to planning the trip, sorry I had to get down to planning the trip. I don’t know why it is always I who is bestowed with the Raju Guide responsibility..Always. So the budgets were settled, and hotels booked. Since it was a long weekend for everybody, we managed to get the entire hotel except for one day in Dalhousie and we left for our holidays without knowing that one unbooked day would result in a very interesting meeting. Anyway, Juhi assured us that she knew somebody in Dalhousie who would help us finding an accommodation. With that reassurance in mind, we just didn’t bother too much and left for our trip.
We got up at about 4 AM and left home by 5. After we had hit the highway, Dimple insisted that she wanted to drive. Now, the one thing that I hate when I am on a trip is when people ask me to get off the wheel. However when it comes to Dimple, I really don’t
On Mall Road
Prashant, Juhi & Dimple mind (Not that I can really dare mind), primarily because she will not drive for more than an hour at a time. So getting back on the wheel is just an hour away. Normally she is a good driver but did manage to cause some heartache to Prashant with her driving skills. We stopped for breakfast at a run down place in Ambala, cant recollect the name of the restaurant. After breakfast, we kept driving and passed Jallundar and Ludhiana on our way to Pathankot. Needless to say, I was back at the wheel soon enough. We took a wrong route and had gone about 20 km towards Amritsar when we realized that we are on a wrong route. We were advised to take an alternate route which would hit the main highway via a village. Now if anybody has heard about the poor state of rural India should visit that village once. Although we were on a narrow road, the road was amazing. All houses were pucca houses and most of them were of 2 stories. The unique thing that we observed in those houses was that on the top of their water tanks they had huge structures built
of football, birds, etc. Since it was just after the Football World Cup, you could understand the excitement with football, but the birds and all the other structures that we say were quite inexplicable. Wonder on what belief is such construction based.
Soon enough we were back on the main highway and on our way to Pathankot. After Pathankot, we started going up the hills. In between we stopped for lunch. We must have again missed a turn from Pathankot to Dalhousie. Hence we reached Dalhousie via a detour. Thus we reached Dalhousie at about 5 PM. Should have reached at about 3 PM, but all the wrong routes delayed us.
Dalhousie is a small and quaint little town at the far end of the north western Himachal Pradesh. Just down the valley from Dalhousie you can see the terrorist ridden Poonch district of Jammu & Kashmir. Dalhousie has an excellent view of the Pir Panjal ranges. However it was very cloudy and hence we could not see any of that. In winters Dalhousie is snow clad. It is not cold though in the month of August. It is famous for the educational institutions around the town. I guess
The street down below
Dalhousie- From our hotel it would be a great place to retire since the whole town seemed to be very languid in its approach. It is also a great place to go for a weekend and do….NOTHING. Just stare out from the numerous view points into the majestic Himalayas.
In the evening we walked around the mall road. By nightfall it had become slightly chilly. We stayed in Hotel Manimahesh that night. It is a HPTDC hotel and has excellent views of the Pir Panjal ranges from all the rooms. The rooms are airy and clean and the hotel is not expensive at all. The food was decent.
Early next day we walked/drove around town before heading for Khajjiar. Khajjiar is a grassy valley which is surrounded by mountains on all sides. It is called as the mini Switzerland since the topography of the place is very similar. It is a grassy patch of land surrounded by tall pine trees and the mountains. It has a lake at the centre but unfortunately is drying up due to lack of maintenance. The entry to the place is marked by a row of horsemen and horses, obviously accompanied by stinking horseshit. But don’t let
The view from the room
Dalhousie- From our hotel that scare you away because you would get over that fast enough. This place is worth a visit because there is no other place like that in India. The drive from Dalhousie to Khajjiar took about an hour. Further down, another 2 hours drive, is a place called Chamba which is famous for its temples. But we could not go there due to paucity of time. We headed back to Dalhousie and reached at about 5 PM. After picking up some necessary consumable, we headed off to Juhi’s relatives place where we were supposed to stay for the night. Now staying at somebody’s house is not exactly my idea of a holiday, but since we did not have a choice we settled for it.
Fortunately the rains held off all day. No sooner did we reach the house did it start pouring. We realized that it was a house which had actually been converted into a hotel. The owners stayed downstairs while the rented rooms were on the first floor. The rooms were clean and airy and the hotel had a terrace which was amazing. We came to know that the place had excellent views, but we were unable
to have any of it due to the clouds. We were told that like all other hotels, we could order food. So we ordered some snacks in the evening. Then a round of cards ensued accompanied by a bottle of Johnnie Walker. Juhi was not feeling well and hence slept off early. We went down to the owners place to have dinner. And meeting those guys that evening turned out to be most momentous occasion of the trip. We came to know that the couple used to run a school which was based on an alternative education system propounded by Rudolf Steiner, an Austrian educationist. We got an insight into what that education system was and it was amazing. It is a system which we had not heard of before, where learning was not limited in the classrooms or to the examination. That education system was based on learning and learning alone, I would say somewhat similar to the Swami Chinmaya mission schools. Unfortunately they could not find many takers for that mode of education and eventually had to close the school down. For those interested in knowing more about this education system can do a google search on Rudolf
Step Plantation
On way to Khajjiar Steiner. There is enough and more matter to read. For the others who may be traveling to Dalhousie, must pay these guys a visit. The name of the hotel is Hotel Silvan and the proprietors are Mr Ranvir Singh and Mrs Smriti Singh. Even if you don’t get to stay in their hotel, you must go down one evening just to have a cup of team with team. They are an amazing couple who would be more than willing to explain the education system to you. You can also contact them on …….. While we were chatting with them, we never realized with the clock hit 2 AM. But when it did, we excused ourselves and retired to our rooms.
Next day, post breakfast we thanked Mrs. & Mr. Singh and left for Mcloedganj. They forbade us from paying them. Since it was being buried under a ton of debt, the best we could manage was that they would take money for the hotel rooms when we returned in the winter to see the snow.
Juhi was at the wheel when we left and I was slightly scared. Not surprisingly, soon afterwards it was me at the wheels again.
Watch the roads
On way to Khajjiar After a harrowing drive through treacherous roads, we hit Macloedganj. However we had to wait another hour to enter the town due to a traffic jam. Anyway, after we got in we checked into Hotel Bhagsu.
Hotel Bhagsu is a place with a lovely garden overlooking the majestic Dhauladhar ranges. The ranges were rocky at that time of the year. It is snow capped only in the winter months. In the evening that day we walked around the town. Macloedganj is a very small place which consists primarily of a couple of streets but you can meet people from all countries there. We went all the way up to the Dalai Lama’s temple. The streets are lined with shops which primarily sell Tibetan goodies. It is a good place to pick up gift items. However at that time of the year, it is not so cheap. Dimple, the evergreen shopper, had to contend herself with a bag.
Next day we were up very early and hit the taxi stand straightaway because I just did not dare to drive around in those narrow streets. Mcloedganj has a good taxi network and one would hardly have to face an issue
Dimple n Me
On way to Khajjiar of haggling over rates if you take a prepaid taxi. We took a taxi which was to take us to three destinations. We were first taken to the highest point around Macloedganj. Unfortunately I cannot recollect the name of the place. It is on top of a mountain with a steep ridge which goes down to the value down. Right in front would be the Dhauladhar ranges, but again we could not have a view of the same due to the clouds. There are hotels there and it would be a great place to stay for a day. On our way down, we stopped by the Dal lake. Due to the monsoons, the lake had acquired a muddy color and was not too good a sight. From there on we went to St John church which is amongst the oldest church in the area and is surrounded by a lot of folklore. While we were on our way around Macloedganj, we realized that it had a number of army outposts and later came to know that there is an army base there. We were left wondering why we have an army base at a place from where it will take
Khajjiar
Watch the colours us at least 2 days to get to the borders, the area of potential conflict. Anyway, we will let that decision stay with the few wise men based in Delhi. Our final stop on our day trip was Bhagsu Nath’s Temple. The temple is like any other temple all across India. However what makes the place special is the Bhagsu falls. One has to walk along the ridge and along a steep climb for almost half and hour to get to the falls. But once you get there, the place is really worth it. The falls has a very heavy flow. The entire walking path up to the falls is marked with signs to be cautious. It is said that there are times when there is a cloudburst on top of the hill which causes a very heavy flow of water. This particularly happens during monsoons and can wash away all tourists. Come to think of it, if that happens, there is no need to be cautious because you have no chance in any case. The water is extremely cold but it is a very pretty sight to behold.
We came back to Macloedganj, had a very late lunch
Khajjiar- The crowd
India-People everywhere at a rooftop restaurant and spend some time browsing around the shops on the streets. Thereafter we headed off to the Dalai Lama’s temple. We saw a strange form of engagement in the temple where there were bouts of debate between participating monks and each time somebody made a point they made a loud peculiar clap. From a distance it sounds as if a fight is raging. It seemed to be the only pastime in the temple. We could not make much out of what they were arguing about as everything happened in the Tibetan language. We came back that night to our hotel with the dread that we would have to leave for Delhi tomorrow.
Next morning we left for Delhi. We took a small detour to Palampur on our way. On our way out of Palampur we bought the famous Palampur tea as gifts for a lot of people. While we were headed back with the thought that we would be careful to avoid wrong turns, we discovered that the main road was damaged due to a landslide and we would have to take a detour over three hills to get back to the main highway. So
Khajjiar- The Pine Trees
Watch the size of the trees the 15 km stretch got converted to a 45 km stretch on a narrow hilly road. The time taken to cover that distance changed from 15 mins to 3 hours. And I was slightly tired at the end of the stretch. But I didn’t like it one bit when Dimple actually got me off the wheel and got Prashant to drive. So Prashant drove till Ambala on our way back, almost a 5 hour stretch with just a single halt for lunch. Thereafter I took over again but was caught up in very heavy traffic on NH-1. Although I drove madly, it was 11 PM by the time we got home.
Thus came to an end our weekend escapade from Delhi. Till the time we are able to travel again, its CIAO.
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Nawab
non-member comment
Awesome!
Hey Buddy!! That is an awesome account of your holiday. Must say that I am really tempted to visit this place. By road! Traveling by road is THE way to travel. You get to stop and relish spots that you encounter which is a serious limitation in public trasport. I too used to write and post pictures about assignments and holidays on my blog (rohytkumar.blogspot.com) but have not updated it in ages. Perhaps because I have not had a vacation (until last month). Pictures have come of that vacation and I am surely going to upload them soon. How have you been? How is the wound healing now? Have you joined office? Cheers!