We started our journey towards Dalhousie from Chandigarh around 7AM.
We hit the road via Rupnagar route to reach Pathankot and then finally Dalhousie. (around 9PM)
Dalhousie Town was named after The Earl of Dalhousie, who was the British Governor-General in India while establishing this place as a summer retreat.
Dalhousie is a high-altitude town spread across 5 hills near the Dhauladhar mountain range in the north Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. It's home to colonial-era buildings, including St. Francis and St. John’s churches, which date back to the rule of the British Raj in the 1800s. A trek up Dainkund Peak leads to Pholani Devi Temple. To the north, Subhash Baoli is a peaceful area with pine trees and panoramic views. ― Google
First thing we did was a morning walk to have the astonishing views of the hills. And we were not disappointed at all. With beautiful sun rays kissing these big snow capped mountains, it was just magical.
We had our breakfast from "Friends Shere-e-Punjab" which was simply great.
After the breakfast, we headed towards "Chamera Dam", it's located at distance of 33KMs from Dalhousie main market. Road to "Chamera Dam" is just amazing.. (No rough patch at all)
After enjoying our afternoon over the dam, we headed towards our next destination i.e "Kalatop".
While going towards Kalatop, we witnessed one of the best sunsets we have ever saw.
With clear sky ,snow capped mountains and with presence of moon , it was like living in a dream.
And the view is best explained by the following quote “The moon rested right above the mountains, a place I call home.”― Daniel Wallock.
Kalatop is known for its wildlife sanctuary and the lush green surroundings.
The story behind the name Kalatop is that even after the sunrise, this place doesn't gets full sunlight as it contains too many 100-150ft Pine trees. Avoid strolling in the park after (5/6PM - 5:30AM) as this wild life park consists of bears and leopards , and no sane person wants to witness them in full dark.
Over kalatop , there are few hotels and one can enjoy their stay by pre booking.
Today, firstly we explored Kalatop and did some photographic sessions.
And then we headed towards "Dian Kund" which is a 7KMs drive. Dian kund has a small 2KMs trek. And one can reach it easily.
"Dian kund" itself is a historical place wherein Goddess Kali incarnated in small girl and fought with demons. And then later, goddess appeared in one of the local people's dream and stated that, this place is safe and free from evil spirits. You can easily travel from this peak by making a small temple.
And from there on, many visitors and the people who had faith in Goddess Kali came here and took the blessings.
One can also enjoy the mighty "Manimahesh Kailash" peak view from here.
After some more photographic sessions, we headed towards back to our hotel in Kalatop. (where we were again blessed with one more amazing Sunset)
It's our last day of trip and we are in no mood to leave this heaven. So treading lightly, we packed our bags and headed towards Khajjiar (Mini Switzerland of India). It's a 19KMs drive ( if started from inside the wildlife sanctuary gate) otherwise it's a 16KMs drive.
Reaching Khajjiar, it was just serene.
The high altitude Khajjiar lake is surrounded by Cedar forest.
Story of Mini Switzerland
So inn July 7,1992 the then Vice Chancellor and Head of the Chancery of Switzerland in India, Willy Blazer, called Khajjiar the ‘mini-Switzerland’. The comparison came into his mind due to the striking topographical resemblance of the place with Switzerland. Upon his instructions, a sign board was installed at the place which showed the distance of Khajjiar from Bern, the capital of Switzerland.
He was so taken by the place that he even took a stone from Khajjiar and installed it amongst the stone collage in front of the Swiss Parliament to remind them of the ‘mini Switzerland’ thousands of miles away.
(Source Google)
After this, we headed towards Chandigarh - our city beautiful.
In all, this short trip really elevated our spirits in this chaotic world.
It's a must visit place and one can fully enjoy this trip with family and friends or even solo.
