Dalhousie

Finally visited Dalhousie, the hill station that was in my must visit list for a long time.

My first impression – crowded with people and hotels/motels/malls. Fortunately for us our hotel, though next to the Bus Terminus, seemed secluded once we entered and the view of the Pir Panjal 

range of the Himalayas from the hotel premises was magnificent.

Dalhousie, a hill station in Chamba district of the State of Himachal Pradesh, was named after The Earl of Dalhousie, who was the British Governor-General in India while establishing this place in the 1850s as a summer retreat, at a height of 1970 metres above sea level.

Our local sight seeing started with a visit to Panjpula where one can avail of the adventure activities

like walking across the rope bridge and zip lining or chill in a mountain café with a tea, coffee, soft 

drink or maybe a hookah/sheesha of your favourite flavour.  You can start your souvenir shopping 

right here or move on to Gandhi chowk where there is a pedestrian zone for a mall. Do check out the

St.John’s church established in 1863 in Gandhi chowk and then move on to the next chowk, the 

A tiny temple on the path to Subhash chowk.

 Rock art on the path to Subhash chowk

Subhash chowk seen from Gandhi chowk

The mall between Gandhi chowk and Subhash chowk

Coffee if you wish to feel refreshed in the mall.

Subhash chowk, where you can check out St.Francis church built in 1894.

In Shubash chowk there are plenty of restaurants that serve excellent food. We ate at Shere-e-Punjab 

which afforded beautiful views too apart from wonderful service and delicious food.

Next morning we decided to explore Khajjiar, 22kms from Dalhousie, as the roads had opened up a 

couple of days earlier after the snow was cleared. Khajjiar is famous for its bowl shaped, pine ringed 

meadow. It offers a lot of photo ops which we indulged in, had lunch there and started back to 

Dalhousie. 

The return drive was made memorable due to a massive traffic jam in the narrow mountain roads. We were stuck in the traffic for an hour and a half.

A couple of nights in Dalhousie, I think, were good enough, and am glad I knocked it off my list.

Keylong to Leh - Part 4 of my 2 wheeler Odyssey

On our way to Keylong we made our scheduled stop at Tandi for tanking up and filling up our spare cans for petrol as there are just a couple of petrol pumps in Ladakh. 

There is a board outside this petrol pump on the Leh Manali highway which states that the next petrol pump is after 365kms. So after filling up we went onwards to Keylong (11000feet) to stay for the night.

Had a very pleasant stay in Keylong with some superb views from the room to keep us entranced.

Hotel was booked for us by the Central Hotel Desk team of HV Kumar.

Feeling refreshed next morning we set out for Sarchu. Was a beautiful ride through some of the most scenic sights. Only at a few places was the road being resurfaced due to which there was gravel, else was a lovely tarmac winding road through the mountains. On the way we passed the lovely 

‘Suraj Tal’ a crystal blue lake.

Enroute when we stopped for a tea break near Darcha we met a young Englishman on a cycle who 

was cycling all alone to Leh! Admirable spirit indeed!

We soon crossed the Baralacha la pass at 16000feet and reached  Sarchu (14000feet) around four in the evening and bedded in a tented accommodation called ‘’Silent Place’. We were the only customers in the ten bedded tent and had the full tent to ourselves! The temperature dropped considerably at nightfall and we had to cover ourselves with a couple of thick blankets to keep warm and sleep well which we did.

Ref Wiki ‘Sarchu (also known as Sir Bhum Chun) is a major halt point with tented accommodation in the Himalayas on the Leh-Manali Highway, on the boundary between Himachal Pradesh and Ladakh (Jammu and Kashmir) in India. It is situated between Baralacha La to the south and Lachulung La to the north, at an altitude of 4,290 m (14,070 ft).The journey along the Manali-Leh highway at high altitude and variable road conditions, normally takes two days, so travellers and tourists use this spot as an overnight stop. An Indian army camp is sited nearby on the banks of the Tsarap Chu river. The highway and thus the camp are closed during the winter, when snow blocks the high passes along the road.This spot can also be used as a start point for the difficult trek into the Zanskar region of Ladakh.’

We set out for Leh next morning in lovely pleasant weather and clear skies.

Had a very pleasant ride, crossed the Gata Loops and reached the Moray plains which are a delight to ride on. It is like a race track where you can check how fast your vehicle can go! When we were on the Moray plains we experienced the typical Ladakhi weather. On our right was bright sunshine and on our left we could see snow flakes! When we neared Debring we were told by drivers of returning  tourist cabs that there was heavy snowfall in Tanglang La pass and not advisable to continue beyond Debring. Hence we stayed the night at Debring (15634feet) in a tented accommodation called ‘Julley’ (Hello in Ladakhi). Here again we were the only customers and were treated like royalty. 

The charge per bed per night was Rs.100/- and they even covered our bikes with blankets to ensure they would not be snowed under without extra charges! Next morning we realised their wisdom in doing so as the blanket covering our bike was covered with frost. It had snowed intermittently all night.

We were provided with hot water to wash and the lady of the house cooked up some delicious vegetarian meal for us and we could sleep contentedly.

Fortunately next morning the sky was clear and we set out for Leh.

As we neared Tanglang La pass (17480feet) we saw the road flanked by snow and at the pass we were stopped along with other vehicles as there was a patch of road that was covered in snow that was being cleared by a couple of BRO (Border Roads Organisation) officers. Amazingly hard working, dedicated to their job they soon cleared a narrow path covered it with mud and let a couple of trucks go so that it is patted down hard and then let us go across. 

Hats off to the BRO officers who so selflessly work to ensure there is no traffic jammed!

We reached Leh around three in the evening and checked into Jorchung Hotel, again booked by the Central Hotel Desk of HV Kumar. We stayed here for four nights. 
Will tell you all about what we did there in the next post! 

http://magictravels.blogspot.in/2014/12/my-2-wheeler-odyssey.html

http://magictravels.blogspot.in/2014/12/vapi-to-kapurthala-in-my-2wheeler_16.html

http://magictravels.blogspot.in/2015/01/kapurthala-to-keylong-part-3-of-my.html

http://magictravels.blogspot.in/2015/01/keylong-to-leh-part-4-of-my-2-wheeler.html

http://magictravels.blogspot.in/2015/02/part-5-our-time-in-leh-ladakh.html

http://magictravels.blogspot.in/2015/03/part-6-leh-to-tanakpur.html

http://magictravels.blogspot.in/2015/04/part-7-entering-nepal.html

http://magictravels.blogspot.in/2015/06/part-8-bardia-to-lumbini.html

http://magictravels.blogspot.in/2015/07/part-9-lumbini-to-pokhara.html

http://magictravels.blogspot.in/2015/07/part-10-pokhara-to-gangtok.html

http://magictravels.blogspot.in/2015/10/part-11-gangtok-to-paro.html

http://magictravels.blogspot.in/2015/11/part-12-paro-to-ranchi.html

http://magictravels.blogspot.in/2015/11/part-13-ranchi-to-mumbai-via.html

Picturesque Shimla

Shimla also known as Simla, is the capital city of the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh, located in northern India.

Its name is derived from the goddess Shyamala Devi, an incarnation of the Hindu goddess Kali.

Enroute to Simla in the monsoons

An overview of Shimla in the rains

In 1864, Shimla was declared as the summer capital of British India.

The Viceregal lodge in Shimla is where the British Viceroys stayed and governed.

The India Pakistan partition and the Shimla agreement was executed in this building.

A cafe in the premises of the lodge.

Postmasters flat in the premises of the Lodge.

The Summerhill sub post office at the entrance to Shimla.

Horses on hire for a ride through town.

The Ridge in Shimla is the popular place to hang out. In the centre is the State Library and on the right is the Christ Church.

Smartly turned out Police of Shimla.

Samosa kulcha - tangy street food in Shimla.

Sliced Coconut to chew on is quite popular in Shimla.

The Municipal Corporation building of Shimla.

For details please refer to Wikipedia that has lot of information.

A taste of Himachal

When I received an invite for a bloggers meet from Club Mahindra in one of their properties in Kandaghat, I was thrilled for two reasons. One because I would have the opportunity of exploring a new destination and secondly because I was sure of the luxury that I would revel in for a couple of days. Club Mahindra is famous for creating new destinations and for pampering all their guests.

On arrival in their Kandaghat property we were given the traditional welcome by applying the tikka and 

the welcome drink was a yummy ‘virgin apple mojito’. That was an indication that we were in the laps of beautiful Himachal Pradesh.

The rooms were spacious and afforded gorgeous views of the surrounding mountains which were 

capped by thick clouds.

In the evening we were treated to the traditional Himachali welcome with the blowing of shehnai and Dhunturu accompanied by dholaks.

The energetic and graceful folk dance ‘Naati’ performed by Club Mahindra employees from Himachal Pradesh was so wonderful that a few of us were dancing with them before we knew it! We were told they have these performances every Saturday and on special occasions or when specially requested for.

For dinner we had a Himachali thali which had cuisines from all parts of Himachal and it was 

delectable.

The next morning we were shown around their herb gardens where they grow all the herbs used for 

cooking like mint, parsley, rosemary and thyme and more. They also let us indulge in some pear plucking though I would have loved to pluck apples but they were not ready to be plucked yet. Then we went and planted a few saplings at designated spots in their orchard with a promise that they would

be watered and taken care of and pictures of their growth would be mailed to us. After this nature activity off we went to Shimla which is a mere 30kms from Kandaghat but the weather was not conducive as it started raining as we reached the Upper Mall road level. We waited for the rain to subside and then we were escorted to Club Mahindra’s Mashobra resort which was less than 10kms 

away for a leisurely Italian lunch. This property is very compact as compared to the one at Kandaghat

but has all the elements that make for a luxurious holiday.

Then off we went to visit a Himachali village on our way to Shimla and visited all the popular photo op

places on the Upper Mall road and the Viceregal Lodge and returned to Kandaghat tired but feeling good.

Next morning was a trip to Chail which was a couple of hours away from Kandaghat but worth the 

visit for the drive which snaked up the mountain. Visited the Chail palace, an ancient Kali mata temple and the highest cricket ground in the world.

Soon it was time to bid goodbye to the Dev Bhoomi (God’s earth) and back to Mumbai.

ClubMahindra surely is the best place to have as a base to experience Himachal Pradesh in totality for its cuisine, activities and affordable luxury!