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The day started with a wonderful sunrise! It was around 6 AM when I woke up and witnessed this beautiful scene! Suddenly a rush of belonging and nostalgia kicked in together. The train had already entered Punjab and you could feel the connection. I have captured a short part of that moment and attached here, in case anyone wants to get a feel.
The train reached Pathankot Junction Railway station on time. There are mainly two stations for Pathankot : Pathankot Cantt. and Pathankot Junction.
We were going to Dalhousie! We had already booked our cab before going itself. Anu Bhaiya was already there with his white Swift DZire. He was such a sweet person. We got to know about him from Zostel Dalhousie (Now this Zostel seems to be non-functioning and they are going to start a new one near Gandhi Chowk). We got a pretty good deal from him. On top of that, he was a very professional and experienced driver.
We started our journey with no further delay and decided to have breakfast on the way. The roads were smooth and our ride was also going great. We stopped at a roadside dhaba for breakfast. The first thing that caught my eyes was, the simplicity of the little shop ! There was not much sophisticated seating arrangements or AC rooms even! The view from the rear side of the shop was breathtaking! You could see the mountain range as wide as almost 180 degree! Now, coming to the food, we had the most delicious paratha here. Unfortunately, we were so much busy in eating, we forgot to take pic. Though, by the look of it, it was similar to any regular paratha, but, the magic lied in the taste! We finished food and headed for the road ahead.
I should give you a brief about our plan here. From Pathankot, we were going to Dalhousie which is appx. 90kms. There, we had booked Zostel for one day. We have a wish to visit as much Zostels as possible! Anyway, we had planned to visit nearby places in Dalhousie that day itself. The next day we were supposed to leave from Dalhousie towards Dharamshala. Its about 140 kms journey. There would be couple of days stay in Dharamshala and then back to Delhi. 1 Day stay in Delhi and then back to Bangalore. That summed up our 'little' trip.
The road and the weather were pretty much in good condition till the entrance of Dalhousie. As soon as we entered Dalhousie, the weather changed drastically! There is a famous saying, " Mumbai ka Fashion and Dalhousie ka Weather, kabhi bhi change ho sakta hai!" We reached Zostel after a little trouble to get the exact road.
We were very hungry after this long journey. Quickly we freshened up and headed towards the dining area to inquire about the food. But, unfortunately, there was nothing except Maggi! There was no power and hence nothing could be cooked except Maggi. You need to keep this in mind, there is this electricity problem frequently.
So after having food, we decided to go out and have a look at the local tourist places.
Panchpula is mainly a small waterfall and a good picnic spot for groups. There are some adventure sports activity also recently included. If the weather is good, you can hope for some good pictures with the waterfall as backdrop.
After reaching, we could see only the Zostel banner outside. The main Zostel property was 400 mtrs downhill from the main road! You need to carry your own luggage while going down. As we had ample amount of luggage with us, it was bit difficult. But, the view made us forget all our stress. It was something to cherish for a long time! The first thing that you would notice, is the Calmness of the place! It just soothes your mind and body. Here is a little raw footage, just to give you an idea-
We checked in to our dormitory. We had booked 3 beds in a 4 bed general dormitory. Fortunately , for us, there was no 4th traveler. So, we had the entire room to ourselves. Actually, we were the only group to be present in Zostel at that time.
Its like the mall road of Dalhousie. This place is famous for its shops and especially the Indo-Tibetan Market. You can get good Kashmiri Shawls in the shops on 'Thandi Sadak'. You can visit the nearby shops while taking a walk around the place. In case, you are not interested in shopping, a simple walk down the lanes also will prove to be useful for you. The whole place, though filled with little shops, has a nice peaceful ambiance to it. You can try the Fried/Tawa Chicken here,which is no doubt, full of taste, but, can be little intimidating on your stomach! There is also one more thing to try here, Tandoori Chai! They put the masala tea in a pre-heated ( read red hot ) 'matka' which gives the unique flavour to it.
It was around 6 PM when we decided to head back to Zostel. Our driver said, its advisable not to go out for walking alone after 6.30 PM as the Bears come out for a stroll at those times. There were multiple sights of the same. The whole road we talked about it and wished to witness one such incident ( but,obviously, we were not that lucky ).
In Zostel, we thought of hanging out in the Dining Hall area. We saw that another group had also reached there. The weather was very chilly. We started talking to the Zostel staff. They were very young and full of life. One guy was there from Delhi and others were local. We had an amazing evening.
After having dinner at around 8 PM, we went back to our room. Some times, you may find insects in the washrooms and if you tell the Zostel staff there, they would come and clean it in no time. This happens because of the location of the property, its very remote area and its quite common to have such experience. There is nothing to be worried about. We packed our stuff and kept everything ready.
The next day, we were going to 'The Mini Switzerland of India', Khajjiar!
Find my other blogs:
Gokarna Trip
Bhaksunag Falls Timelapse
Himachal PhotoBlog
Sunrise @ BTM Lake
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This is another attraction of Gandhi Chowk. This church is very old and said to be somewhat haunted. When we went, the weather was adding up to the mystery as well! It is said to be the first church built in that area. While it was a wooden structure in the beginning, around the year 1863 the proper structure was built.
It is said that Freedom Fighter Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose used to come here and meditate here for hours. This place got its name from that. 'Baoli' usually means 'a stepwell'. In this place, you can find a small well from where (it is said) Subhash used to drink water! This place is a good place to get some nice photographs as well.
