Dalhousie - Mini Switzerland of India

Day 1 Amritsar to Dalhousie:
I took the evening bus to Dalhousie from Amritsar bus stand. It was not more than Rs 200 for bus charge. I got the window seat and soon the bus was filled up with local people. I reached Dalhousie at 9 pm. I inquired at the bus stand and took the taxi to the place where I had decided to stay hosted by Sunayana.  The caretaker Kunj had already got the dinner ready for me. I had food prepared by the care taker and took early night off. 

I woke up to birds chirping and making soft music in the morning. I decided to take morning tea at the seating area outside. 

The house is situated overlooking the valley and beautiful mountains. I could see colonel houses every where. Beautifully constructed the house had a ethnic feeling to it. I hired the taxi who had dropped me previous night to visit all tourists places. He took to all nearby places which I could cover in a day. He drove to first destination Khajjiar. Khajjiar, is called as mini Switzerland, is as beautiful as a painting. The entire valley is covered in green pasture, lake and tall trees. The landscape is surrounded by evergreen cedar trees. Khajjar Lake has a breathtaking view and best part is you can find crowd everywhere, still you can find a place of your own to sit and admire the lake or walk around the thick pine trees. I could see children enjoy the freedom of movement. There are activities like Paragliding, Zorbing and Horse-riding. There is trekking trial of 14 km trek. I was approached by the people who wanted me to try the horse riding. I gave it a skip and just sat down on the thick green natural pasture to enjoy the untouched nature at its best. I could also see the paragliding team trying to catch some air to fly it high. 

A little away from the lake, I saw temple of Khajji Nag. I decided to visit the place. It read on the instruction near the temple it belonged to 12th century and is made by the king Preeti Singh. The temple is also known as 'Golden Devi Temple' because of golden dome. In the center of the temple there are images of the Pandavas and Kaurvas. Temple has beautiful wood carvings. This temple is dedicated to snake and has snake idols inside then temple. The temple also has idols of Lord Shiva and Goddess Hadimba. As I hail from south of India, worshiping Snake Gods hits closer to home. 

Next stop was at Panchpula is one of the beautiful places to visit in Dalhousie. Located approximately at a distance of 3 km from Dalhousie. When I reached there driver informed me it was a major tourist attraction, I saw many people hovering over the place. Next stop was at the Satdhara waterfall, which offered a wonderful climate. As the Satdhara signified the blend of seven streams, the water from this waterfall looked like it was stream of 7 into one. 

My next stop was to Dainkund Peak, as the car drove to the base from where the trek had to start towards the temple at the peak, I could see endless mountain peeks that kissed the clouds. The snow kissed mountains made a beautiful sight. I started my walk and took more than 60 mins to reach the top as was stopping all the way to click pictures. On the way I could hear the birds singing and making their own music. The breeze touched every place on the peak. There weren't many tourists which helped me to have a peaceful walk on the way up to the mountain.  

The peak offers an panoramic view of the valley. There are two major attractions of the valley, one belongs to the defense and other the temple of Pholani Devi temple. 

I entered the temple and offered my prayers. Felt strong gust of wind ready to blow me away. I went to a made up shack where two of the natives had arranged for a temporary eatery. 

I ordered for a maggi and tea. I love to strike into conversation with the natives as it feels connected to origin. They informed me, during winters, the temple is fully covered in snow and only statue of Devi, which I could see on the mountain would be visible over the snow clad mountains. I was happy to witness this wonder and hear to the stories. I decided to thank Mother Nature for this wonder and decided to descend my down hill journey after admiring this beautiful place of worship. Met few of the tourists who greeted me and asked how far is the temple, to which I said "few more steps" and bid them good bye with "Jai Mata di". They smiled and greeted me back and continued towards the temple. 

I returned back to house and decided to freshen up before exploring the Tibetan Market in Dalhousie. It was at walking distance from the house. It is situated at Gandhi Chowk and is one of the best places to buy handicrafts and Tibetan jewelry. You can also find good imitation shoes and bags which can be bought at reasonable price. They also had displayed woolen clothes, colorful carpets, Chamba slippers and shawls.

As night came to an end, I returned back to the house with heavy heart as it was last night in Dalhousie. I had my dinner at the house and went to sleep. Next day I took first bus out of Dalhousie as I had afternoon flight to Mumbai. As the situation hadn't improved in Amritsar, I did not want to risk the travel. As I saw the clouds turn from white to black, I felt the air turn to chilled wind and drops of water hit the roads. 

The bus stopped just before it entered the city limit of Amritsar to another bus. People flocked near the bus offering food from near by Langar. I had not seen this anywhere in my travel. I was happy to see people helping each other. People shared the seats as it was crowded. More smiles and happy people. One of the kids from family that was sitting next to me was shifted to my leg and I did not mind as usual the friendliness from the family was heart touching. They shared their food and they continued singing in praise of their Guru.

I reached Amritsar at 1 pm, and as I had time for some shopping I decided to visit the Market. Unfortunately, only few shops were open. Fortunately I got a apparel shop run by a family. The "Pancham", is a shop at the corner in the market, which had beautiful silken material. I purchased few materials as did not have space in my travel bag. They told they also offered material stitching services and home delivery to any place in India. I was super happy to hear that. I paid the money in full and left to airport. 

As the journey ended with me reaching Mumbai, I looked back at the entire journey. It was more than a trip of a beauty and excitement. Even with so much tension in the state, I saw people offering help to a new person and added to my list of good people, who are still there in this world.  Now you must be thinking, did I get the materials which I purchased? They arrived in 10 days and were beautifully stitched. The owner called to check if I was satisfied with the dresses. This call ended my Amritsar trip with a sense of satisfaction and fulfillment.