Dalhousie is one of the most serene and peaceful hill stations I have ever visited. The breath of fresh air, the view of majestic mountains peaked with snow, the gentle coolness of the weather all added to my wonderful experience.
Despite the fact that it does not boasts of many tourist spots, yet just a walk across the mall road or a trek up the panch pulla is stimulating and gives you a lingering memory of the summer capital. The open vast fields of Khajiyyar, surrounded by jungle of pine and fir trees are a treat for the eyes that have been seeing the city traffic.
I reached Dalhousie by road from Pathankot. Pathankot is easily approachable from Delhi via train or the Volvo buses. An overnight journey by either mode from Delhi is easily available. On reaching Pathankot, you have a choice of either taking a bus or hire a taxi to Dalhousie. The journey from Pathankot to Dalhousie takes about 4 to 5 hours by taxi. The entire journey you are made to realize that the plains are being left behind and your are approaching a hill station. The snow peaked mountains are visible throughout the route and offer a beautiful scenery. I reached Pathankot in the morning and Dalhousie in the late afternoon. In the off season we were able to bargain for 50% discount in Hotel Shangri La and got a room of our choice. The room had a big balcony and the view of the mountains was enthralling. The hotel was 5 minutes walk from the Mall road.
In the evening we hired a taxi to visit spots that were close to our hotel that include Rock Garden and Panch Pulla. Despite the fact that Rock garden was a disappointment, yet we enjoyed Panch Pulla. It has a running stream that tears across rocks of all shapes and sizes. The adventure of finding the source of the stream by walking on the rocks was stimulating and enjoyable.
The next day we hired a taxi to visit Khajjiyar, Chamba and other places. Khajjiyar is about 45 Km, from Dalhousie and it takes about 2 hours to reach there. The route to Khajjiyar offers one of the most amazing sceneries I have ever come across. Even in the month of April, we could see the snow melting on the roads. Khajjiyar is a valley with a beautiful vast garden with a pond in between, a pony track all along the garden and dense pine forest.
The journey to Chamba is about 45 Km from Khajjiyar and again offers a beautiful scenery. Chamba boasts of the big market place and offers many things to the shoppers. It also has some old temples and museums that can be visited apart from shopping.
En route to Dalhousie from Chamba the taxi stopped at a place where we could see the river Ravi flowing in its full force. The scenery of river flowing in between the mountains is heavenly and is picture perfect.
The last day we decided to explore Dalhousie on foot and moved through the local markets. Despite the fact that Dalhousie market is very small as compared to markets of other hill stations, yet the bargains we received were excellent
We came back to Delhi the same day with a promise in our heart to visit the place one more time, this time for our 25th honeymoon.