Choosing a holiday destination in India is one of the toughest tasks around. During monsoon, the options are very limited. In summer, all tourists throng to hill stations and the crowds could be quite disturbing. Winters always give you the best and varied options to book a vacation. And once the venue is fixed, the rest of the travel and hotel bookings easily fall into place.
And thus came up our final destination this summer.
Dalhousie-Dharamshala it was. And since the most convenient flights from Mumbai were via Amritsar, we decided to challenge ourselves with the Amritsari heat.
Since we were 7 people in all, the best and cheapest options were villas rather than hotel rooms. Airbnb is a very useful portal to shortlist your preferences as per pricing, number of adults, amenities and location.
Day 1
After landing at Amritsar, we straightaway headed to Dalhousie by a pre-booked Innova that cost us ₹4000 per day for the itinerary that was planned by us.
It’s a 4-5 hrs pleasant drive to our Mystic House.
And we had enough time for some local sightseeing.
Subhash chowk
Marked by the statue of Subhash Chandra Bose, the chowk is flanked by St Francis Church.
The viewing deck around the statue offers beautiful views of the Pir Panjal range ( lesser Himalayas).
St. Francis Church
Built in the colonial era this quaint church has beautiful chandeliers. One can pray on the soft carpeted pews and experience the tranquility and holiness of the place.
There are pictures and dioramas of the stations of the cross inside the church as well as along the path to the church.
Pretty flowers line the path and a grove of pine trees at the entrance add serenity to place.
Gandhi chowk
The equivalent to the Mall roads of other hill stations, it’s teeming with tourists, year round. A very busy square in Dalhousie, it houses plenty of roadside eateries, restaurants and shops. Momos and gulab jamuns seem to be the favs. A special mention of the Kwality restaurant for the Mughlai delicacies and Bon appetit, a small kerbside eatery. The stalls and shops start shutting down by 9.30 pm and the town goes into a slumber earlier than one would expect.
St John’s church
It is the oldest church in Dalhousie and reminds us of the British era.
Panch pulla
There is a waterfall and a number of souvenir shops. One can also do activities like zip lining and rope bridge.
Day 2
Dalhousie Public School
This is a boarding school where any student would love to go. It has picturesque views of the mountains.
The entire road leading to the school is lined with hanging baskets of flowers. The climax of the movie ‘Taare Zameen Par’ has been shot here.
Beeji’s park
Beeji's park is built on the property of the Dalhousie Public School and is a tribute to all mothers.
It has models of aircrafts and jeeps used by the army.
It’s a very well maintained park with many beautiful flowers. A photo-stop here will add vibrant colours to your existing album.
Kalatop wildlife sanctuary
Majestic deodar trees remind us of the famous Robert Frost lines- “the woods are lovely dark and deep….”
Kalatop sanctuary is the home of many birds and beasts like the black bear, snow leopard, serow and pheasants.
You could either hike it up from the entrance or take your vehicle right till the inside and then walk up from there. Spotting the wildlife is a rarity. It is a pleasant walk and gives ample opportunity for some photo shoots.
There is an adventure park for kids too and a shop selling forest products like honey.
Lord Shiva Statue
A magnificent Shiva statue overlooks Khajjiar.
The Himalayas are said to be the abode of Lord Shiva and this huge statue 91m appears taller than the tallest pines among the mountains. It makes us feel liberated and humbled to be so tiny against the vastness of Nature and Creation.
“Namo namo ji Shankara
Bholenath Shankara
Hey Triloknath Shambhu
Hey Shivay Shankara”
Khajjiar
Touted as the "mini Switzerland", it has provided scenic locales for many Bollywood movies.
The Khajjiar lake is at the centre of a vast green meadow lined on all three sides by pine trees and deodar. During the summer, it dries up to a great extent though.
One can get photos in traditional Himachali costumes or play frisbee on the green grounds.
It’s a perfect spot to just sit or lie on the soft green grass and enjoy the palette of nature- green grass, blue skies, white fluffy clouds…”what a wonderful world”🎵
Paragliding is another popular activity here if you aren’t planning to visit Bir-Billing from Dharamshala.
A couple of hours later you would be comparing Khajjiar to Baisaran valley in Kashmir, also titled as mini Switzerland. But IMHO, there is nothing that beats Kashmir in India.
Dainkund peak
It isn’t pronounced as ‘dain kund’ . It is actually ’daayan kund’- meaning a pond of witches. According to folklore, a pond in this area was occupied by witches and the villagers could not use the water. So they prayed to Pohlani mata who freed the pond from the witches.
A 2 km uphill trek takes us to the Pohlani mata temple.
On the way, you come across oldies trudging along for the darshan, and youngsters experiencing the thrills and posing for selfies. There was never a dull moment during the trek.
The hills are blooming with white daisies and the sunlight makes delicate shadows of the daisies on the ground and when the wind blows the dancing daisies uplift the spirits…
The views from the top are equally breathtaking as the vistas along the trek…
Day 3
Chamera Lake and Chamera Dam
As we neared the base of the hills, the view of the dam and the lake from our car was awesome. The dam is built across the Ravi river. The water that is blocked by the dam forms the Chamera lake which has a bluish green hue.
The lake has not much aquatic life and is ideal for water sports and boating.
2 options are: Speed boat which is Rs.500 pp and lasts for 10 mins and Motor boat is Rs.400 pp and the ride takes around 30 mins. The former is always a better option.
As soon as you get out, don’t forget to down a refreshing fruit plate of muskmelons, watermelons, mangoes, grapes and cucumber. A lemon soda would be equally refreshing in the heat.
Rock garden
It is strewn with huge rocks. There are some gazebos where one can sit and an artificial pond in the garden. Just to complete the visit, nothing much to sing about and is in no way comparable to the rock garden at Chandigarh.
Rest of the day was at leisure to stroll at the markets or indulge in some Himachal shopping.
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