My Exploritales: August 2015

On the trail nature trail near green valley.....

The travel bug bit me and how!
I have always aspired to travel all around the world and to begin with I have made a long list of places I would like to visit in Mera Bharat. If wishes were horses I would have been all around the world by now but life is all about opportunities and hence here I am taking every opportunity I can to travel around the country.After Jammu and Kashmir a few years back and Rajasthan last Diwali, this may I planned to tour Himachal with Mangal Darshan Travels.The tour was from 11th May to 18th may 2015.From the word go I was excited as I was travelling to Delhi by the famous Rajdhani Express for the first time!I nearly missed my train due to some miscommunication between my tour operator (a dear friend of mine,Nikhil Agharkar who is the proprietor of Mangal Darshan Travels) and myself.Anyway,I made it on time and enjoyed the journey alone in a compartment away from the rest of the group and I did not mind at all.Made the most of the special treatment in the Rajdhani Express- Tea and snacks,hot tomato soup with bread sticks,dinner - rotis,pulao,mix vegetable,daal fry,papad followed by ice-cream!!!All these came in quick succession as soon as we boarded and I was happy to have the newspaper too. After that had a sound sleep and a hearty breakfast the next morning in the train.!Travel time was well-spent in reading the newspaper,eating,sleeping, listening to songs and reading a novel.We had to cross seven states to reach Delhi. Regular announcements were made on the train.Reached Delhi by 9.30 am and waited for the rest of the group.The journey was exciting and enjoyable, just the opposite of what the return journey was to be.On the scheduled day of departure there was a rail-roko by the Gujjars and agitations all around India that led to maximum train cancellations.The result was that our train was cancelled and we all had to take a long and tiring bus journey from Delhi to Gujarat and then to Mumbai!What an exhausting and challenging time we had as we rode in a bus in the scorching heat of May instead of the luxury of a train.This was all about the journey,now moving on to the destination.....

As we waited for the rest of the group we visited Humayun's tomb and another tomb of a Mughal scholar nearby.My first ever visit to the national capital and I was happy!A long ride in a tempo traveller which became our companion for most of the route.before that we rode to Chandigarh .Saw many fields along the highway and saw the Red fort and a huge indoor stadium while passing by.We reached Simla after midnight and were welcomed with piping hot and tasty dinner.Had a sound sleep in the fanless room(no fans anywhere in Simla they said) and got acquainted with the rest of the group at dinner.It was a small group of twelve people.All through the tour we had great food.We had parathas,paneer sabjis,puris and rajma chawal too.We all took a ride in the mall road lift at Simla about which I had heard many a times. The view from Mall road was fascinating.I never imagined Simla to be so crowded! the hills were all covered with residential and commercial housing.every nook and corner of that hill was occupied.It made a pretty site,the colourful rooftops of the houses and restaurants.Unfortunately we could not visit the Himachal zoo but we went to Nanderla.T he view was awesome on the way up.We halted at Green Valley for amazing view and clicks.We walked a short but enchanting trail and saw the Naag mandir and the Naldera golf course. Choc-a-block traffic greeted us on our way back to Simla.We toured the mall road and enjoyed the beautiful sunset and the crowds there.It was a paradise for shoppers.We saw the local church and ate momos and chaat in the cool night breeze.

The next morning we passed Kulu and halted at Hanoi Mandir, Pandah and also saw the famous Vaishnodevi Mandir on the way.The Beas river looked amazing and kept flowing on for miles till as far as our eyes could see.We reached the luxurious Chandertal Hotel in Manali which came with an awesome view of the snow-clad mountains.We visited the Van Vihar near the Manali Mall Road and also walked down to the flowing river Beas and enjoyed some lovely time there splashing in the cool waters.After that we had a long and tedious climb to the Hidimba temple which was an ancient wooden structure where they say animal sacrifices were done to appease the Goddess.Once back at mall road we shopped for stoles,sweaters and Himachali coats and caps.There were unexpected rains and I was really thrilled to see the rainbow after many years.What a beauty it was!We ate chat and mini gulab jamuns which were hot and yummy.We were shocked to hear about the transporters strike due to which we were unable to visit Rohtang pass so we took the local bus and went to Solang valley instead.The view at Solang was breath-takingly beautiful.I had my first ever rope way ride to the top(Rs 500/-)It was great to see the snow capped peaks at close range and the view only got better as we went higher.We met some Himachali school kids and chatted with them awhile.

I was an early riser throughout the tour.This made it possible for me to have an early morning walk around the area and I enjoyed myself thoroughly.On our way to Dharmshala we stopped at Kulu and bought some shawls and stoles.After that we experienced the thrill of white water river rafting.We met a family from Thane and went rafting with them.It was an unforgettable experience for me and it was a tick on my wish-list for the year.We were drenched in the cool waters of the Beas and I had a super time in the raft screaming away in joy and exhilaration.We were given a CD of the thrilling adventure we had.Then at Dharmashala we visited the Baijnath temple and also the Bagasurnath temple.We also went to the nearby waterfall which was teeming with tourists.On our way back we saw the St.Johns church which had withstood the earthquake of 1901.That done,we went to dal lake which had boating facility and had two Shiva temples nearby.After lunch we went to the HPCA (Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association) stadium which was simply mesmerising.It was the stadium at the highest altitude in India. It had the backdrop of high snow-covered mountains and the stadium was really colourful and a sight to behold. We had a long photo session there before riding back to Chamba road, Banikhet which was near Dalhousie hills.The hotel had a forest of pine trees and deodhar just outside the hotel window which made for a great view.Here too I went for a morning walk and enjoyed being in the lap of nature with the sounds of birds and cool breeze and trees for company.here too we had an evening walk at Dalhousie Mall road. At Dalhousie we also trekked to the Kala Top hill and saw the lakkad (wood-cutters) settlements.The walk up was invigorating and enjoyable.At the end of it we had hot coffee and spicy masala .At Dalhousie we went to Khajjiar which was an open green patch where the tourists came in droves.there were many adventure activities there like zorb-ball,paragliding and horse riding.We clicked many photographs there. At night we watched the Mumbai Indians-CSK cricket finals which we won!!!That was the last night of the eventful tour.After that we went to Delhi station where we learnt of the train cancellations and made the jugaad for returning back to Mumbai.

All in all it was a great tour.I was in a small group and I really enjoyed the company of my friend Nikhil and another elderly couple.They too belonged to the teaching fraternity so I had so much in common to discuss with them.They were eager to take in the beauty of the new places they were visiting and we had a good time discussing our previous travels.The only thing that marred the tour was the train cancellation and the tourist bus strike.Had a great time taking in the beauty of Himachal Pradesh and clicking pictures . For me it was another destination struck off my list. As usual I made plans for my next tour around India.Hopefully,I would be visiting New Delhi ,Agra, Amritsar and the Wagah Border by this year end.
Ummeed par duniyaa kaayam hai!
Hopefully by this year-end I will be writing about my visit to those places.

Here are some of the snapshots of my visit to Himachal.