Khajjiar & Dalhousie

sojourn to DalhousieHi folksHow are you all folks ? It has been A long TIME since I posted my last blog on this site. I am highly obliged for those who stopped by my blogs and took time to pay their valuable comments. During these days to take a break a took a journey to Queen Of Hills = Dalhousie and Khajjiar. It was a memorable journey. Wish i could have been able to post some more photos for your pleasure and glimpse of natural beauty. The weather was pleasent and calm. It surely gave all of us from our family a respite from the hectic life schedule and scorching heat. The scenary was so pleasant that it could not be explained in words and could only be experienced by onself. The place was so calm that even your own foot steps created a lot of noise. It was pleasently cold and had to use blankets at night.There nothing special to be seen in Dalhousie except admiring the natural beauty of the place which is beyond any words. The air is clean, weather is pleasent and above all there is not much traffic. Every body seems to be in joly and playful mood. We stayed at Hotle Grace Mount, which is at two and half kilometers on Khajjiar road. The view from the terrace and room balcony is magnificient. The food served in the Hotel is also very good and not much costly considering the difficult terrain and its situation. But the other eatables and packed water is much costly is almost twice the MRP. There a few spots nearer to Dalhousie like SATDHARA ( seven Streams) seven streams fall orginating from some famous lake that I forgot but the speciality was that each stream had a different taste. Further to that a place called Panchpula is also prominent. It has a magnificient water fall but it a small terk away form the panchpula but worth seeing. You could have ur tea and other snacks at small tuck shops. The next stop was at Khajjiar. The plae as compared to Dlahousie was much good enough ( i found so). It stayed at Hotel Mini Swiss it is just at the entrance of Khajjiar city. The hotel was not good enough as compared to Dlahousie's Grace Mounts but certainly it was amongst one of the bets available hotles at Khajjiar. The food served was also so so. but the other eatbale specially beverages were exteremly costly ( beware alcoholics). It was a nice place and extremely Picturesque. I took almost 75 photographs and every one was picture postcard perfect. There are also some spots neraby Khajjiar. A place near by is JOT it is about 11 KMs from Khajjiar, a hill top. The weather was cool. The only Hotel available served cooked food. And till the food is readied, one can easily take a small trek to a hill top in front of the Hotel. The journey is memorable and one can easily forget all his tensions and worries. And replenish himself with pure and fresh air.There are many ways to reach there. Railway goes upto Pathankot to chakki bank and further from there motorable road leads to Dalhousie, which is about 84 KMS. Khajjair is at 24 KMs from Dalhousie. Many hotels are available at both the places and tariffs ranges form 500 bucks onwards. Many State guest houses are also there but prebooking is a must otherwise one may face disappointments. The guest house are cheap and neat. I under took the journey in a Scorpio. The journey was comfortable. I performed the journey from Yamunanagar(Haryana) to Dalhousie and henceforth via ambala-Ludhiana-jallandar-chakki bank - dalhousie. The route was hot uptill Chakki Bank and ran the AC on full settings. On my return journey i took the route via Jwalaji - anandpur sahib - nangal - ropar - chandigarh. This route was nice and enjoybale. Paid Obeisance at Godess Jwaliji's temple. The eternal light is worth seeing.Now it has been a week since i came back but the memories are still fresh as if i am still there. It was a gooooooood break.
Some tips = 1. Prefer to stay at Khajjiar and visit nearby places, enjoy and come back.
2. Please chack the hotel accomodations prior to booking other wise u may turn up living in a very small and dingy room.
3. Dont forget to carry water.
4. Also try fresh fruits available there. Apples are delicacies.
5. A lot of bargaining is there in hotels. So use ur skills to bring down the tariff to ur acceptable limits.
6. Dont rely on public transport prefer to have ur own transportation facilities.
7. Drive cautiously and avoid alcohol. Always remember some body is waiting for you at home and ur live is precious.
8. Take some regular medicenes and bandaids. I needed them most due to my itching shoes.
9. Prefer to use sports shoes. and dont forget some light woolen ( In summers) though u may not rquire them. But nothing vould be said about the weather.
10. Be humble to local people other wise u may land in trouble.
ABOVE ALL PRESREVE THE BEAUTY OF HIMALAYAS. DONT LITTER THE PLACE WITH PLASTIC WRAPPERS AND OTHER NON BOIDEGRADABLE WASTES. HELP PRESRVE THE BEAUTY FOR THE SAKE OF OUR FUTURE GENERATIONS.HAPPY MOUNTAINEERING.