Himachal Trip

On the 5th of Oct, 2011, we started our journey for the godly Himachal.

We would start our journey from Kolkata. Reach Delhi where we had already booked a tempo traveller which would take us to Shimla, from there to Dharamshala, to Dalhousie, to Khajjiar, to Chamba and would drop us at the Chakki Bank station from where we would take a train to New Delhi and from there we would be back to Kolkata.

On the 5th of Oct, 2011, the last day of the Durga Puja (Navami), we boarded the Rajdhani Express from the Howrah Station, Kolkata for New Delhi. It departed at the right time at 16:55. The train started off and was soon followed by some refreshing tea and then breadsticks and soup. We had hardly finished our soup when we were served with bread and butter, jam and banana. The dinner came at around nine. We opted for non-veg and were served with rice, bread, daal, fish fry and chicken including ice cream as dessert.

The dinner menu was nice as was the taste. Bottles of water were served on demand.

The lavatories were nicely maintained and they were clean and without any ugly smell.

The breakfast was served at 8:00 in the morning following tea.

The train reached Delhi (06-Oct-2011) on Thursday at the right time at 09:55. We already had other members of our team waiting for us at the Delhi Station who had reached there at 07:20 the same day by the Purva Express.

We grouped together at the Delhi station and I realized I had left my loving tripod back at home. So, I had to get to Palika Bazar to get a tripod. I booked an auto rickshaw for Rs. 40 to drop me to Palika Bazar. I got a nice tripod for Rs. 600 and bought a battery charger for Rs. 200 although I had one more with me.

I got my way back to the New Delhi Station where our tempo traveler was waiting for my return and set off for Shimla as I boarded the car. The distance from Delhi to Shimla is 370 Km. The driver Sukhwinder Singh (better known as Sukha...

you can read the name at the back of his car) was a trained driver.He was from Punjab but was well versed with the city and its roads in Delhi. Several times during our journey we had asked him to stop by a good tea stall and he obeyed without a question and every time he brought us to a tea stall we found that the tea was really good.

We stopped at a roadside dhaba for our lunch and then set off for our journey again. Our our way to Shimla we stopped for three more times for tea and by then it became quite dark. The roads were narrow with steep curves and without any alarms from the coming or passing vehicles made the driving through those roads tougher.

We, however, managed to reach Shimla (06-Oct-2011) all intact at around 11:15 at night. It took us almost 12 hours to reach Shimla from Delhi. It was a tough journey and we felt a sigh of relief as we reached our destination at last.

We stayed at the Hotel Gulmarg which was just below The Mall. The hotel was good. It was clean, the lavatories were clean. The service was very prompt. Although the rooms were a bit small but the spaces were managed very decently.

The food rates were a bit high. Each room had arrangements for four people to stay. Though the rooms were not that large but they were so well managed that every four of our team members stayed in a single room without trouble.

The hotel staffs said that no one would be let out of the hotel after 12:00 at midnight. But when we asked them if we can get out after finishing our dinner at around 12:30 at night, they agreed and said that we can take our time to wander around and ring the bell when we return so that they can unlock the door.

The next day (07-Oct-2011) on Friday, was the day for the Shimla sight seeing.

First, we went to the Mall, roamed around, had some snacks which were really costly (as per the Kolkata standard) but not that tasty.

One can get some wonderful view of the hotels on mountain tops.

Almost at the end of the Mall we came across the beautiful Christ Church.

The Christ Church

The ladies in our group flocked around to the nearby Himachal Handloom Emporium which was providing 50% discounts on their winter products. They went in and came out with loads of winter wears. As we realized that our purse getting thinner on the very first day of our trip we decided to move on to our next destination - Kufri.

Before reaching there and on our way we came across the Green Valley. It was a good experience with lush greenery stretching endlessly in front of us. The sky was pitch blue and the green valley was looking fabulous against the blue blend of the sky.

Our tempo traveller took us to Kufri. There was a bus stand before which you have to ride a horse to reach the Kufri point or you can trust your legs to take you up, which I later found out was almost impossible.

The women stayed in the bus and all the men and the boys in our group decided to take the horse ride. Each horse would cost Rs. 250/-. As we moved up we saw that the roads are getting steeper and small to medium sized rocks are scattered around the path which made the roads more difficult to travel even for the horses. Some have even slipped on the course of their travel but thankfully have managed to regain their balance. To make the matter worse, the horses have this uncanny knack of riding by the edge of the hill and they would in no way follow the middle of the road. The road was really horrible, to say the least and then there was this knee-high mud for a stretch of almost 3-4 meters. So, it would be really tough for someone to get through this mud unless they have the knee-high boots on.

Before reaching the Kufri point, we encountered a checkpoint where they charged Rs. 10/- per horse.

However, we reached Kufri point after almost 20 mins of pain staking horse ride.

To our dismay, there was almost nothing to be a feast for the eyes. Some flowers here and there (which never looked like a garden), a temple, some tea stalls (with rubbish teas with a high cost) and a point where some people(don't know who???) have set up telescopes for people to view some distant points (which was again not at all thrilling).

We wandered aimlessly here and there in search of something worth seeing but failed in our attempt. At last, we visited the Kufri temple and had some tea and snacks.

Now was the time to take the horrible again back to the bus terminus below on horse back. As we were waiting for the horses to take us down, we suddenly felt a few drops of water drenching our back. A drizzle has started making going down the road worse. The entire area was covered in mist and even the nearest of the objects were apparently invisible.

We, however, managed to get down to the bus terminus without much trouble but by then, it was almost 4:30 pm and we decided to head towards our hotel.

Reached our hotel by 5:30 and decided to take an evening stroll in the Shimla Mall.

The night is Shimla is electrifying with so many lights glittering at a distant. It seemed like Diwali has already made an untimely entry.

We headed towards the Christ Church and the shops on the right side of the Mall being flooded by customers attracted the other visitors, ladies to be more precise.

With sparkling eyes and bated breath, they hastened towards each shop with as much pace as their legs could permit after a strained full day journey.

Meanwhile, we visited the Christ Church and had a scintillating view of it in the midst of the night as it was flooded by yellow lights.

We ended the day having our dinner at the hotel we stayed in, The Gulmarg Hotel.

The next day (08-Oct-2011) on Friday, we had to travel to Dharamshala, our next destination. In the morning we visited the Shimla Kalibari, the Mall once more and got some nice shots of hotels on mountain tops and the Shimla Mall and its surroundings. We had our lunch in the India Coffee House at the Mall and started off for Dharamshala at around 12 in the afternoon.

The roads leading from Shimla to Dharamshala are far more tough than the the one we faced while on our way to Shimla from Delhi. There were some respite for us while travelling through the valley where we had our lunch at a road-side dhaba but by then the sun had almost started to set. And we were on the mountainous roads again after sunset. There were almost no lights on the roads for a very long stretch and the turns and the curves were really dangerous. The roads seemed to go on endlessly as we were waiting with bated breath for a stretch of plain land. At around 9:35 pm we reached Dharamshala and checked into our hotel, The Hotel Kunal.

We had to order the dinner right away as they wont be accepting dinner orders after 10 pm. The foods were good but immensely expensive. And we had no other options as because the other shops around the hotel were closed by then.

The streets were empty, the shops were closed. The only audible sounds were from the vehicles passing by. The area around the hotel had an eerie ambiance.

Three of us roamed around in the street for some night adventure and got back to the hotel around 1:00 am.

The next day (09-Oct-2010) was Sunday and we had our plan of Dharamshala sight seeing. We went to McLeodganj which was almost 10km from Dharamshala and is the cynosure of attention. One can hire an auto rickshaw from an auto rickshaw hiring office in the center of McLeodganj and can visit five different places from McLeodganj.

One can visit:

1. The Bhagsunag Temple.
2. The Naddi.
3. The Dal Lake.
4. The St. John's Church.
5. The Tibetan Monastery.

Each auto rickshaw would take in maximum of 3 passengers and would charge Rs. 250/- each for the five different places. They would then drop the passengers near the Tibetan Monastery from where one have make his way up on foot to the center of McLeodganj.

Though we had our tempo traveler but as we found later that auto rickshaw would be the best bet in those roads as large cars could have hardly moved through those very narrow and broken roads.

First, we went to the Bhagsunag Temple on foot. It was almost 2 km from McLeodganj and the road was good for walking though with a slight steep at some point. Just before reaching the temple we came across some shops which were selling winter garments at 50% off and children winter garments for Rs. 100 - 200/-. They were good in respect to the price being offered. The temple was good with lots of people flocking in. The temple also had a swimming pool inside it. We stayed there for a while and left.

We came down to the auto rickshaw stand and hired one and set off on your journey to The Dal Lake. It was a wonderful experience with peace and tranquility prevailing.

Next we headed towards The Naddi point. This point was a veritable feast for the eyes with a long stretch of mountain ranges, some houses on mountain tops, exotic greenery and a wonderful ambiance.

There are also some people with telescopes who would charge Rs. 10/- for viewing five distant points.

Next was the turn to see the St. John's Church. It as very old church and is now closed for some reasons. It is an Anglican church located in the forest near Forsyth Gunj. The neo-Gothic stone building of the Church was constructed in 1852. The site also has a memorial of the British Viceroy Lord Elgin, and an old graveyard. The Church building is also noted for its Belgian stained-glass windows donated by Lady Elgin. The Church is heavily surrounded by wooded pine and deodar forest. It had a really eerie ambiance around it. The church spreads over a large area and is densely surrounded by large trees. Even in the light of the evening sun some part of the church was visibly dark. Some kind of ghostly atmosphere prevailing as we went through the gate and inside the church area.

The church had definitely seen its days of grandeur once upon a time but what now remains are the remnants of those glorious days, the hidden secrets and the dark appearance.

However, we went out and headed towards our last destination - The Tibetan Monastery.  It is situated opposite the residence of H.H Dalai Lama. It is open from sunrise to sunset each day and is visited by thousands of tourist and devotees. This is very close to McLeodganj and the auto rickshaw dropped us there and we would need to make our way up to McLeodganj on foot. We went inside the Monastery and there were security guards to check for any inflammable items that one may carry. They took away my matchbox and lighter and gave me a token against them. We went inside the main building and saw the big statue of Gautam Budhdha.

There were many Lamas wandering around. The room housing the statue of Buddha were excellently adorned all over from the ceiling to the wall. There are lots of prayer wheels all around.

We moved to the terrace at the back of the building and got some wonderful view of the distant mountains.

It was a wonderful experience as we stayed there for an hour and then headed off for the McLeodganj bus terminus where our tempo traveler was waiting for us. I remembered to collect my match box and lighter as we were going out. The sun was about to set as we moved along the steep way towards our car. On the way, however, we had some snacks to quench the hunger which was slowly creeping in.