Evergreen Himachal

It was on the 1st day of June. This time, it's Shimla, my dream city. We arrived at our boarding station, Howrah Jn in the afternoon. Our train, Kalka Mail was scheduled in the evening. Train Journey was Okay to say. We reached Kalka at the dawn of 3rd June. Though it's May, Kalka at dawn was very cold. Putting up sweaters & mufflers, I came out of the train. In the other side of the platform, Shimla going toy train, Shivalik Express was waiting for its passengers from Kalka mail. The train was looking very attractive.

I got a reserved seat near the window. Big glass windows were suitable for the awesome scenic view. The halting stations were well oriented & clean.

At a time, we crossed the scary Barog Tunnel. After crossing the tunnel, the train halted at Barog Station for some time. We all came out of the train. The station is beautifully arranged.

After 5 hours of amazing & fresh journey, we reached the most desired place, Shimla. Previously booked car was waiting for us in the station's parking lot.

With in the car, we reached our hotel, named Hotel Gulmarg Regency.

In the afternoon, we came out of the hotel. We went to Shimla Mall walking on foot. Shimla Mall is a great place to sit for hours. The weather with a little cool mood was perfect.

We entered Shimla Christ Church nearby in the evening. Taking dinner at Kali Bari, we came back to the hotel.

On the next day, I woke up early. Coming out of the hotel, I just roamed around the city. The rising Shimla is very beautiful.

Left by Ramakrishna Mission, I came to Shimla Bidhan Sabha Bhavan.

After that place, I took the hotel returning way. At around 9 am. we entered the car. A sunny day with clear sky & the black clean road covered with Pine trees. As a whole, the weather was too perfect for hangout. In the way, we passed North India's biggest Medical College ie. Indira Gandhi Medical College. Our first halt was at Green Valley. With rain refreshed Pine forest, the place charms our eyes. Next place & the main visiting spot of that day's hangout was Kufri.

We took the horse ride to reach the main valley. In winter, the whole valley becomes covered with white snows. After Kufri Valley, we went to Nag Temple at 10500 ft. There is an Apple garden near this place. The highest point of Shimla (11500 ft.) ie. Sheetalmata Temple, Katik Peak, Shimla Agreement, Indira Bhutto treaty hotel are visible from here via Binocular. Next place we visited was an Adventurous spot. Near this place, there is a Pine forest, what I loved most.

We came back to the hotel in the noon. In the afternoon, we booked a local jeep to reach the Jakhoo Temple. It is a temple of Lord Hanuman. This is, of course, a beautiful place.

5th June. We became ready in the morning. Today's destination is another hill town, Manali, 278 km away from Shimla. Our car was running on NH 88. We took a halt at Mandi & also took lunch in a restaurant at Mandi. At a time, the Beas river started to accompany us. Our next halt was at Kulu. Kulu is famous for its Oswal factory.

Kulu is the habitant of the old 'Kalu' tribe. The name 'Kulu' also came from the name of this special tribe. after a long 8 hours of journey, we reached Manali. We stayed there, in the hotel Solang near the Mall. As it was a long car journey, all of us got tired. Apart from seating in Mall, we just took rest for the rest of the day.

The next day, at 7 am: Lying on the bed I just opened my eyes & saw the best scene of nature at just opposite side of the window. This is why I love Himachal Pradesh ... only for the natural beauty. The snow made crowns of the mountain peaks were looking too beautiful in the early sunshine. Within a few minutes, I became ready to go out of the hotel. I can remember till today that, just coming out of the hotel, I clicked many pics of the mountains of the early sunshine.

But alas, live beauty was not like the clicked beauty. This is why travellers travel around the world ... to see the beautiful world in their own eyes ... which is more satisfactory than seeing natural beauty as clicked pictures. I was walking along the bank of the beautiful Beas river. Also, I spent some time in the Mall.

Then, I came back to the hotel. Today is the day for local sightseeing. 1st place was Hidimba Temple. Though it's a Hindu temple, the temple is like the Pagoda of the Buddhist. The whole temple is framed on wood. The Big Dewdar trees around the temple made it too much attractive.

The next place, where we visited was Manali Club House. The place is nicely oriented with flower gardens, Pine trees, well-furnished shops & of course the evergreen Beas river. I love this place for its nice calm environment.

Visiting Rohtang Pass was the next day's plan. So avoid massive traffic jam, we woke up in the early morning & became ready to go. Our car was running beside the Beas river. The apple gardens beside the road were looking great.

We hired warm woollen clothes & gumboots from a roadside shop. We saw the cowboy with sheep in the greenish mountains. The little houses around the mountains were looking beautiful. After 2 hours of the car journey, we reached the beautiful Rohtang La. But alas! The reality didn't meet my expectations... I thought the place full of snows. But it wasn't. The effect of Global Warming is very practical here. Anyway, we enjoyed that few flakes of snow.

We spent the evening at the mall. You know, both in Shimla & Manali the malls are such a beautiful place that you can spend the entire day by sitting at there.

On the next day, our target was to reach Dharmashala. It was a long journey. In Mandi, we took a halt for lunch at a roadside Dhaba. After reaching Mandi, the temperature fluctuated a lot. The temperature raised very high. Next halt was at Baijnath. There is a very old Shiva temple at Baijnath.

The road is very beautiful here. The feeling was great to go through the tea estates. We saw many beautiful bungalow type houses beside the road.

I can't remember the place, but in our way mostly after Baijnath, there is a zoo. For lack of time, we did n't enter the zoo. From the roadside, we saw a cute Bhalu.

In the evening, we reached the very famous Chamunda Devi temple. When we reached Dharmashala, it was night.

Dharmashala is a nice hill town with nice comfortable weather. On the next day, in the morning we visited the Dharmasaala Cricket Stadium, the highest cricket ground in the world.

That day's destination was Dalhousie. In our way, we visited the Khajjiar, the mini Switzerland of India. It is really a nice valley. In winter, the whole valley becomes covered with white snow. In that time, it's beauty is of another level. In the evening, we reached Dalhousie.

Next day, our destination was Amritsar. In the morning, we left the beautiful Dalhousie city & reached Amritsar at noon. In Amritsar, the temperature was very high. It was difficult for us to survive. In the afternoon, we went to the Wagah, Indo-Pak border. We enjoyed the army march of both countries. At night, we visited the great Golden Temple. For the high rise in temperature, I felt tired. As a result, though the place is good I failed to enjoy the place.