Travel Tips

Khajjiar, with its green meadows and dense forests is often called mini-switzerland or Switzerland of India. This is one of the major destinations for people going to Dalhousie. But, given the beautiful surroundings, this makes for a good staying option for 2-3 days. HPTDC operates Hotel Devdar here and this makes for a good staying option here. There a multiple types of rooms offered by the hotel. But staying at the Khajji Cottage is an experience in itself. It is secluded, being situated at the far end of the meadows. There is a dedicated caretaker who stays in a small caretaker's bungalow behind the   Khajji cottage. Review of  the hotel is available here . Khajjiar has lush green meadows surrounded by dense forest of devdar trees and a small lake in the center. There are number of activities that can be done here like horse riding, zorbing, etc. The distance from Dalhousie to Khajjiar is around 25 Kms. and takes about 40 mins. Enroute to Khajjiar, there are 2 beautif...

Went to Dalhousie in the first week of May. This was the second stop on our journey - the first being Dharamshala. The road from Dharamshala to Dalhousie was covered in 3 1/2 hours. (around 140 kms). We stayed at the Manimahesh Hotel operated by HPTDC. A review of the hotel can be found  here . Bookings for the hotel can be done online here .The hotel is situated very near to the taxi stand from where you can plan your local site-seeing. There is a tourist information center here as well. A 2-3 hour taxi tour covers all the sight seeing points that Dalhousie has to offer like Panch Pula, Saat Dhara and Subhash Bowli.The real fun, I feel, is in walking around Dalhousie. The walk from Subhash Chowk to Gandhi Chowk offers some great views. Shopping can be done at the Tibetan Market situated near Gandhi Chowk. One can shop for mementos, trinkets, bags, handicrafts, etc. The prices though looked to be on the higher side. People staying in Dalhousie, generally plan a trip Khajjia...

This is the largest fort in the Himalayas. This may be amongst the oldest as well. It finds mention in the war records of Alexander the Great. It is situated around 20 kilometers from Dharamshala. This is a well maintained fort. A well designed audio guide is available for visitors. During the course of its history, it saw ferocious wars being fought with Mahmud of Ghazni, Jehangir, the Gurkhas, Maharaja Ranjit Singh and finally, the British. The British occupied the fort till 1905, when it was heavily damaged by an earthquake. There is a Jain temple and a Laxmi Narayan Temple within the fort's precints. The Laxmi Narayan Temple was a beautifully carved temple. This was almost completely damaged in the earthquake of 1905. Only the back facade of the temple remains. But it does give an idea of what the grandeur of the temple would have been in better times.  The fort provides some great views of the surrounding lush green valley and the Himalayan snow peaks in the distance. ...

With the summer around, and a week available with Club Mahindra, we decided to book its resort in Dharamshala in the first week of May. This was my first experience of Club Mahindra. I had heard a lot of good things about their hospitality, but was still pleasantly surprised when we experienced it. More on the resort review can be found here . Kingfisher operates flight IT 4351 from Delhi to Gaggal. Club Mahindra resort is around 15 km from the airport. The weather in Dharamshala was hot. A slight drizzle on one of the days cooled down the place.  McLeod Ganj is a short drive from Dharamshala. All the major site seeing spots are in McLeod Ganj. Located at a higher altitude, this was perceptibly cooler than Dharamshala. The Dalai Lama's residence is in McLeod Ganj. Other spots covered as part of local site seeing are the Bhagsu Falls and the St John in the Wilderness church. There are a number of tours that can be planned out of Dharamshala. Spots covered include Azhanga...

On the recent trip to Dharamashala, I had a day's stop over in Delhi. We utilised this to see the Qutub Minar. This is one of the 3 UNESCO world heritage sites in Delhi. The other 2 being Humayun's tomb and the Red Fort. This is the world's tallest brick minaret. The construction of this minaret was started by Qutb-ud-din Aibak who won Delhi from the Prithviraj under Muhammad of Ghori. It was subsequently extended by Iltutmish and Alauddin Khilji. Tomb of Iltutmish The complex has a number things to see like the Ashoka Pillar, Tomb of Iltutmish, Tomb of Alauddin Khilji and the Alai Minar. The ASI has installed an audio guide system in this complex. It is available in multiple languages. Different places in the complex are marked with numbers. On pressing that number in the audio guide, you get the information for that particular place. This is a must-try for the visitors to the complex. Other places of interest near this complex are the Jain Temple and the Lotus t...

View Larger Lonar crater was created due to the impact of a meteor hitting the Earth. A huge salt water lake has been formed within the crater. There is a MTDC resort near the crater. This is an ideal option when planning to see the crater. Overnight stay and early morning trek into the crater would be ideal. The manager at MTDC resort arranged for a guide into the crater. Taking a guide along is a must unless you know the area. The guide took us down the crater to the lake's edge. On the way we saw a few old temples. Of note is the Daitya Sudan temple which has very beautiful carvings. The lake water is alkaline in nature with a pH value of 11. The guide had brought along a litmus paper to display the alkalinity of the water. He also displayed the magnetic nature of the soil around the lake using the magnet that he had brought along. The brochure that we bought on Lonar Lake mentions that it is a habitat for a number of birds and animals. Was able to see some ducks. The gui...

Amazing place.....  Photos below More photos below