Dalhousie - Mini Switzerland

Hey People!!!

My travelogue about my first trek with YHAI – DALHOUSIE WINTER TREK

I had been to Dalhousie from 20th – 25th Dec ‘07 with Youth Hostel Association of India (YHAI). Before leaving I was really cynical about going for trek all alone as I didn’t know anyone there. But I should agree to the fact that I was completely wrong to think so, as I had amazing time with new people. I had enrolled my name in 2nd batch which consisted of 43 of which we were only 3 girls (what luck ;P). Being the only 3 girls in the batch we were looked after by everyone. Now let me talk about my experience in details.

I started my journey on 18th Dec. My train departed from Pune at around 5:20 pm. So I had to travel from Mumbai to Pu is located on the western edge of the Dhauladhar mountain range of the Himalayas. It is surrounded by the beautiful scenery of snow-capped peaks. Dalhousie is situated at 6000-9000 feet above sea level. Like-wise YHAI base camp is situated in midst the snow-capped mountains and the city. A beautifully constructed hostel gives excellent view of Dhauladhar ranges. After checking in the hostel I went to roam around as no one from batch had reported till that time. The entire roads were covered by snow so I was finding it difficult to walk. I walked till Gandhi Chowk & returned back to hostel as it started getting dark at around 5-5:30 pm. When I reached back I found out that two more girls have reported along with other batch members. It was then we were told that our batch had just 3 girls. We went off to sleep by 10:00pm as were supposed to get up early morning.

On second day i.e. on 21st Dec, we were woken up at 5:00am. It was really cold that early morning but this was one of the rules we were informed about earlier. After tea we went for jogging till Subhash Chowk and there we did some stretching exercise. After coming back to base camp we had our breakfast and gathered in the ground to bid farewell to the first batch that proceeded for the trek. After they left we went for acclimatization walk till a place known as ne by Bus. The train journey was uneventful, actually too boring. I reached Chakki Bank on 20th Dec at around 9:45am from where I went to Pathankot by auto. Both Pathankot & Chakki Bank lie in Punjab. From Pathankot I took a bus for Dalhousie. The bus journey is for about 3 ½ hrs. After Banikhet bus-stop the journey was exciting as I could see snow everywhere. Banikhet is 7kms short of Dalhousie where the road bifurcates for Chamba & Dalhousie. This was the first time I saw snow. I was so excited thinking about what laid ahead. It was amazing feeling. I reached Dalhousie at 3:30pm.

DalhousiePanchpula which is around 3-4kms from base camp. Panchpula stream is the main source of water supply to Dalhousie. There is an elegant monument erected at Panchpula where several streams meet at one point. This monument a samadhi was built in memory of great revolutionary Sardar Ajit Singh who breathed his last in Panchpula. We had great time at Panchpula as we had snow fights amongst ourselves. I had a great time there as we started knowing members of our batch during the fights. After reaching back to hostel we had our lunch & were asked to pack only the required items in sack provided by YHAI for higher trek. We deposited our extra luggage at the hostel after which we had an orientation talk by our camp leaders. We were explained the do’s & don’ts to be followed during the trek. After dinner we had a small camp fire where we sang regional songs, some did mimics & some cracked jokes.

The next day i.e. on 22nd as usual we woke up at 5am had our tea & breakfast and did our final packing. At about 8am our batch along with 3rd batch gathered in the ground where we were bid farewell for the higher trek to Kalatop. Kalatop is 10 kms from the base camp & is situated at an altitude of 8000 feet. The trek till Barapatthar was more or less even with no snow. But beyond that we encountered snow everywhere. It was such a serene experience to be standing in-midst snow on every side. From here we had slight difficulty walking on snow but I was helped a lot by my group. Those who had hunter shoes had better grip so they leaded the group and I had to place my legs in the footholds created by them. It was such a fun to walk in the snow. The spot really commands a panoramic view of the surrounding landscape. One can see the hills, snow-capped mountains, the valleys, the greenery and the ruggedness standing from the place. The place has been declared a wild life sanctuary by the government as the forest comprising of the deodar trees and various bushes provides a safe habitat for wild animals. Our camp site at Kalatop was beautifully placed right at the top with breathtaking view everywhere. There were 3 cottages of which one was canteen, one was our girls’ room and the other was boys’ room. But all the three cottages were quite apart from each other with snow-laded roads. We were off to bed quite early as we had to proceed to Khajjiar the very next day.

On 23rd we were off to Khajjiar. Trek is about 11kms from Kalatop. Pre-lunch trek was quite smooth as in we didn’t face any difficulty to trek. During lunch we had halted at a very beautiful place overlooking a small wooden bridge. We were entertained by the locals with there folk (pahadi) songs. The post-lunch trek was the most difficult part of our three day trek. The climb was highly steep, no proper footholds, loose rocks and soil. There were branches which had grown in such a way that we had to climb it and cross or crawl from under. It was a painful but most exciting part of the trek. But we had been instructed by the guides leading us not to sit as we could face difficulty after rest. So to relax a bit we were asked to stand for a minute or so before resuming our trek again. The trek downhill was as difficult as the climb uphill. But the trek was fun as we had to trek through the forest to reach Khajjiar. A small pictorial saucer-shaped plateau surrounded by dense pine and deodar forests, Khajjiar is designated as “Mini Switzerland”. It is situated at an altitude of 6,500 ft. above sea level. Set against the backdrop of dense pines, deodars and lush green meadow, Khajjiar is elegantly nestled down in the foothills of the grand Dhauladhar ranges of the Western Himalayas. Khajjiar has an islet with a small lake surrounding it.

On 24th Dec we headed for Chamba early morning. The trek was about 8kms from Khajjiar. This stretch of trek was not as exciting as the previous ones because of the route which was mainly road. Due to this we were actually quite bored and more tired. A single suspension bridge is the only access to the Chamba town. Below the bridge flows the river Ravi. It was fun to walk across the bridge as it used to swing. For me this was the only exciting think of the trek. The Chamba valley lies enclosed between two principal spur ranges of the Great Himalaya, the Dhauladhar and the Pangi-Pir Panjal. Chamba has often been referred to as the Florence of the Himalaya, for like that Italian city, it abounds in street and curbside art treasures as well as a host of magnificent temples & idols. The Chamba city hosts the famous Laxminarayan group of temples. After reaching our camp at Khajjiar we rested for sometime before heading towards the city. For the first time in last 3 days we broke one rule (to go off to bed by 10pm) by staying awake till midnight to wish each other Merry Christmas. We were entertained by Kaustubh. Must say he is a very good mimicry artist. We had a great fun watching him mimic everyone from the group.

On 25th Dec, our last day of trek, we headed back towards Dalhousie base camp by bus. After reaching the base camp, we were presented our certificates by secretary of YHAI-Dalhousie. Before checking out we decided to celebrate Christmas and B’day of two of our batch members by bringing two cakes. The Christmas cake was cut by the youngest member of our batch. We had hired a bus as we 22 of us were to go to Pathankot together. From there 4 Mumbai people headed towards Amritsar and remaining of us headed for Delhi.

This was the by-far the best trip till now. I thoroughly enjoyed my trek and it was great meeting so many new people. I definitely found some good friends too.

So this was all about my experience of my first snow filled trek. Hope u all enjoyed reading it.