Unforgettable Himachal

So, Delhi is been a place where you have to come if you wanna go anywhere in north. It’s a transit place. Because of this we have been in Delhi many times so we had seen mostly all the well-known places so we decided to go to an off bit place this time. Me and my dad are big fan of railways so we found this amazing called National Rail Museum in chanakyapuri. Established in 1977 on February 1st, the museum strives to preserve and protect the 163 years old railway heritage of India. There are nearly 100 real-sized exhibits of Indian railways in the museum – some of which are still working. On the other hand, there are also some static exhibits, antiquated items, old furniture etc. For rail nerds, this space is a haven where you can immerse in the rich history of Indian railways.

Price: Weekdays – Rs.50 for adult, Rs.10 for a child

Weekends & Holidays – Rs.100 for adult, Rs.20 for a child

Timing: 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM (Entry closes after 4:30 PM). The museum is closed on Mondays.

We went to Amritsar in mid-march so it was really hot there. So we decided to go to Alpha One mall. Which is the biggest or one of the biggest in Punjab I am not sure. This was a happing place. It was full of crowds. It was so huge, I was tired in an hour so, I decided to seat at the food court. My mom dad were busy in shopping and I was enjoyed Gold Medal Ribbon as usual one of my weird food choice at Baskin-Robbins.

So, After 2 hours wondering in alpha one, we decided to go to one of the places for which I came to Amritsar. Nah, Its not Golden Temple. It is “Jalliyanwala Bagh”. It was around 3-4 kms away from alpha one. So we took an auto and reached in 10 minutes. Jalliyanwala bhag was full of local people as it was the perfect evening time. Old people were sitting there in the ground as well as kids were playing on the lawn. First we went to the small museum-type gallery which was made thereby Punjab Govt. they have put some bullets, mortars as well as clothes of people who died on “black Sunday” 13th April 1919. After that we visited the walls which are full of bullet marks. After that, we went to see the famous well of which we all have read in our SST textbooks. Well, it was really deep. After seeing those marks, clothes, and well, I was able to recreate the whole scenario, what would have happened at that time, how brutal it would be etc.They had a great light and sound show there but due to some reason Punjab govt. stopped it suddenly.

After knowing that the light and sound show is shut, we approached our next destination. Which was of course “Harmandir Sahib” aka “The Golden Temple”. We walked through the market and reached the main gate of harmandir sahib. I was stun when I saw a huge number of people volunteering for different things some were giving Seva of giving cloth to cover your head, some people were taking care of your footwear, some were serving cold water, and whatnot. After giving them our footwear and covering our heads, we stepped inside the temple. The Gold plated temple surrounded by Sarovar was looking epic in the night. We sat near Sarovar for some time then we joined the line and did darshan. I felt a different level of patience in the people, as volunteers were letting the people which were too much behind in the line to have darshan before us who were standing in the line for around 2 hours still local people didn’t utter even a word whereas the tourist like us started shouting and some had a fight with volunteers as well. It was a really good place you will feel the inner peace while sitting nearby the Sarovar. After darshan, we had the famous “Khada Prasad” and trust me it tastes amazing. Though I am not a fan of sweets, you will find me ready to stand 2hr-3hr in queue for this. I don’t know why but every Prasad has amazing taste. Take it as Somanath Temple’s Prasad in west or Tirupati temple’s Prasad in south or Jagannath Temple’s Prasad in east all tastes amazing.

This was a super chill tour for us so we woke up late had amazing breakfast and as everyone say if you wanna know about a city walk across it so we decided the roam city on foot. We chilled and walk around mall road and the streets of new and old manali it was really satisfying. We started with 3 in one ice cream at mall road and it ended at amazing Maggie and panipuri near monastery. Mark these 3 things you should try if you are coming to manali.

Next morning we started our side seeing from gulaba. Known as a great snowy region, Gulaba is also famous amongst sports and adventure enthusiasts, who drive in large numbers to the village to partake in adventure activities. Some of the major activities one can enjoy here include skiing, trekking and hiking, as well as paragliding and snow-scooter riding. Most of the activates were closed as we went at the start of season.

So, We head towards Solang Valley from there. The beauty of Solang Valley is unparalleled and many people visit the valley every year just to enjoy its pristine, snow-white magnificence. Especially in winter, when the entire place is covered by fluffy, milky white snow, the whole place appears as if it is straight out of a movie. groves of emerald green trees dotting the pure white landscape, clear blue skies, and magnificent mountains as far as the eye can see – Solang is truly at its most splendorous in winters.

We went early in morning so we were back in the town by afternoon. So we decided to utilize the time and went for the city tour.Which started from renowned Hadimba Tample. Conceived in 1553 CE by Maharaja Bahadur Singh, the Temple is built around an ancient cave inside which Hidimbi Devi is believed to have meditated. Surrounded by Dhungri Van Vihar, a lush cedar forest at the foot of the Himalayas, the structure is built on a massive rock piece jutting out of the ground because of which this place becomes a heaven in evening. We enjoyed our time a lot there.

After there we went to club house. Its basically a market made by himachal tourism, You will find local items there and there are some rides for kids and you can enjoy river crossing there.But ya I would say that if you wanna do river crossing then only visit there.So we ended our day wondering at mall road as usual.

This was our last day in manali.We went to kullu for river rafting as well as nagar. We started our day with laxmi mata mandir in kullu which is really amazingly designed. They didn’t have much space but they have build it in 3 floors and it’s just amazing.After that we went to do river rafting. A must do activity if you are in manali unless you have water phobia.It was really amazing we enjoyed a lot.

After enjoying river rafting we went to nagger castle. Now a Heritage Hotel, the medieval Naggar Castle was built by Raja Sidh Singh of Kullu around 1460 A.D. Run by Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation, Naggar Castle is still a visitors’ favorite because of the breathtaking view of the forested hills of the Beas Valley. It was amazing we enjoyed our lunch there in the restaurant. It was good but a bit overpriced according to me. On the way we visited an amazing reasturant/café/tapir near jana waterfall. We got to sit in middle of the water fall and food was amazing as well.