Dalhousie,chamba and khajjiar in 2 days flat
Sunday, February 26, 2006

We took an auto from chakkibank railway station to Pathankot(Fare 10rs/head), which is a clean and quite city . There is a big bus station there with buses that cover the whole himachal later i got to know that pathankot is a travel hub. It's on an ideal geographical location and is a meeting point of three states, Punjab, Himacha and Jammu Kashmir. It is used as a base camp for going to picturesque foothills of Dalhousie ,Jammu and Kashmir Chamba, Kangra and the deep Himalayas. We took a bus from pathankot to banikhet (75 rs each)and hired a jeep from there to Dalhousie (100rs).Dalhousie is a a hill station par excellence . Established in 1854 by the British Empire in India as a summer retreat for its troops and bureaucrats, the town was named after Lord Dalhousie who was the British Viceroy in India at that time.

<--This is what caught my eyes in as soon as i got off at Dalhousie in the city centre.

It is situated 563 kms from Delhi and is the gateway to Chamba, the valley of milk, honey, springs and streams.Also a popular spot with honeymooners. It is built on and around five hills. and situated at 6000-9000 feet above sea level. Scottish and Victorian architecture is prevalent in the bungalows and churches in the town. If you love old world charm , victorian buildings (remember movie Black),you're going to find it similar .There are about five Churches and i was able to catch 2 of them

St. Francis Church, Dalhousie - 1894
It has beautiful glasswork and intricate stonework. The architectural design is Scottish.(it wasn't sunday and we're not allowed to go in)

St. Patrick's Church, Dalhousie Cantt - 1909 ( seating capacity for 300 people. )

we're were told that there is a nice spot called Panchpulla or the Five Bridges where the water from a natural tank flows under five small bridges. it was about 2 km from city centre . It took us 35 minutes to go down in the hill but the walk was worth it There was a beautiful monument erected in memory of a soldier. One more thing that attracts tourist there is these shawls and they're priced perfectly . At 500-600 it is a deal. and if you're good at negotiation than you can have it really really cheap. I remember we got so tired coming up that by the time we reached up in our rooms ,we simply crashed on to the bed and i woke up an hour later to find that the party has already begun . Now , here's one thing ,one should know .The best place to purchase alcohol is not himachal(it's quite expenisve there) but the last liquor shop on the border of Punjab and Himachal.That is where every bus /tourist vehicle stop for a while before moving up in the hills. We purchased 4 packs of bacardi/smirnoff and i know it really works like tonic ,when you're in a hill station and everybosy must carry one.Sardi ka pata hi nahi chalta do stiff pegs ke baad

Next day we got up really late and by that time we had already missed the morning bus to go out and there wasn't another for next 3 hours . We hired a cab(Maruti Alto) which was the only other way out and within 90 minutes we were near Khajjiar,which is a small picturesque plateau surrounded by dense pine and deodar forests, is one of the 160 places throughout the world to have been designated “Mini Switzerland”. About 24 kms from Dalhousie; at an altitude of 6,500 ft. above sea level. The moment one enters the picturesque Khajjiar, there is a Swiss sign for ‘hiking path’ which reads “Mini Switzerland”.

Khajjiar was officially baptized by the Swiss Ambassador on July 7, 1992 and as per records, a stone was taken here and forms part of the stone sculpture erected in Berne, capital of Switzerland.

posted by Vj @ Sunday, February 26, 2006,

5 Comments:

At February 26, 2006 10:24 AM, Dawn....सेहर said...: Amazing info...its a dream of mine..to go frm Kashmir to Kanya Kumari...:)

good...I will be more often here :)

cheers
At March 01, 2006 7:04 AM, Ghost Particle said...: hi, thanx for the remarks in my blog. u have a pretty decent blog here. good luck.
At August 09, 2006 9:46 PM, Anonymous said...: Great info. I will be going there soon. Lotsa useful tips. Great photographs. Looks like u ppl had great fun. Thanks.
At April 29, 2007 9:52 PM, Nandan Jha said...: Good read. I plan to read your other blogs. We are trying to build a community of fellow travel writers at http://journeytor.blogspot.com/

Check out in your spare time.

Thanks and best wishes
Nandan
At May 01, 2007 6:59 AM, sanjiv said...: ya thats grt dude.wish i was there when u guys were there so that i cud give u a spin i a paraglider 300 feet up in the air.....!!!never mind catch u next time buddy....