Dalhousie & Khajjiar : Hill station in Himalayan State of India known for it's natural beauty, high deodars, great weather, colourful birds, lush green meadows, beautiful waterfalls & brilliant hikes
I have been visiting Dalhousie almost every year for last few years and in 2020, we will not be able to go there because of current situation due to COVID-19 pandemic. July is the time when I have visited Dalhousie the most and I love this time because of various reasons. The mountains look so fresh & green during the month of July due to monsoons. It's lot of fun to walk around and plan hiking. Not only that, clouds keep you entertained through hide-n-seek. This blogpost will share in details about how to reach Dalhousie from Pathankot, Chandigarh/Delhi ; main places to explore around Dalhousie ; some interesting activities to do around Dalhousie and some surprise tips which can make your experience even more special. So let's get started and know more about this beautiful hill station of Himachal Pradesh state in India.
In this blogpost, we will talk about Dalhousie, Khajjiar, Chamba, Chamera, Kala top and some of the basic treks around these places.
Let's start with answering the very important question : How to reach Dalhousie from different parts of the country.
The ways to reach Dalhousie and hit the hills :
- Train is best for folks coming from Delhi. Take overnight train to Pathankot and the it's 2.5-3hrs drive to Dalhousie. You can hire a taxi in 1500-1800 Rs (depending upon your negotiation power) or can take bus. Himachal buses are pretty decent and private buses would be much cleaner.
- Folks from Punjab can drive in their own vehicles. Even a group of 4/6+ people can also drive from Delhi in a Cab/tempo-traveller.
- Own vehicle would help you a lot in exploring the place around Dalhousie & Khajjiar. So take an appropriate call.
- If you are fine travelling in semi-deluxe buses (non-AC), a direct bus is also available from ISBT Delhi and Chandigarh.
- Nearest Airport to Dalhousie is Gaggal Airport in Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh. One can fly to this airport from different parts of the country and take taxi to Dalhousie.
Where to stay in Dalhousie or Khajjiar ?
In Dalhousie there are various hotels and few home stays to choose from. It's suggested to do upfront booking during summers and no need to worry about accommodation during off season. If you are there in off-season, you can get great deals and all depends upon your negotiation power :).
In 2006 when I visited Dalhouise, we got a room at 250 Rs, when tariff of same room used to be 1800 Rs during season.
There is great range of budget and luxury hotels/resorts spread around Dalhousie as well as khajjiar. If you have any specific question, drop a comment and we will try to help with appropriate details.
If you drive to Chamba via Khajjiar (which is recommended), come via other route via Chamera Dam. The Ravi river flows parallel to the road. When I went there, we stopped our car and stepped down to the bank of the river. Now that I am aware of my foolish actions, I would request not to go near the river. And if you are thinking why? Please watch videos of Beas river on youtube and you would see some horrifying videos which shows how abrupt flows these rivers can get in hills. So enjoy the beauty from distance.
If you are in a local taxi when exploring this region, your taxi driver would stop the car on the roadside to show this house is beautiful valley around Ravi River. This is the house where Taal movie was shot. This was Aishwarya Rai's house in Taal movie :).
This photograph is clicked from Dainkund Trek. It's a beautiful trek and in above photograph you see Khajjiar, which is most beautiful place in this part. Khajjiar is must go if you are in Dalhousie. You can skip Chamba if the trip is very tight and you are someone who don't like a rushed vacation.
Kalatop is another beautiful trek form Lakkar-Mandi. Lakkar-Mandi is 6-8 kilometers from Dalhousie town. You can also take bus till Lakkar-Mandi. Kalatop is maintained by Forest department and it's a sanctuary. There are black bears in this forest, although we didn't see any. There were lot of birds around us. It's definitely a great place for birders to explore. Above photograph shows the forest guest house in deep forest of Kalatop.
There are some very interesting old structures in this part of Himachal Pradesh. Some of the buildings are in ruins, but most of the british architecture is maintained well.
If you have time and want to explore this place in best way. Find a home stay, travel in local buses for Khajjiar, Chamba or other region. Indulge in some of the beautiful treks around this place. During my 3rd trip to Dalhousie I met an architect from UK who was on sabbatical and we was exploring this region of Himachal Pradesh on foot. He had some great observations captured in his camera, especially different types, shapes of trees.
When in hills, you should definitely find a Chai-tapri to enjoy tea which you don't find in sophisticated restaurants/hotels :). There is tea shop on Subhash chowk. It's close to the church gate and run by an old lady. I recommend a sip of this tea when you are enjoying the walk on Mall road of Dalhousie.
If you walk down from Gandhi Chowk of Dalhousie, you would hit some beautiful waterfalls at around 2 kilometers. There are few shops around the falls and a small water pond for boating. Kids usually like this place, so don't miss if you have kids with you. Last time when I visited, waterfalls were also collecting some garbage although I heard that shopkeepers regularly get the place cleaned, because their business depends upon the tourist visiting these waterfalls.
Evening walk on Mall road in Dalhousie is another must experience thing. The mall road is between Subhash Chowk and Gandhi chowk. And when you are walking on the mall, do plan to visit Churches on these chowks. If sky is clear sunset is amazing. And it looks brilliant when you see sunset hues reflecting from Ravi River.
Khajjiar : The Mini Switzerland of India : The most beautiful place around Dalhousie :
This is the first view of Khajjiar lake when you are coming from Dalhousie. This is the point where you should start looking for parking slot. Road condition is usually not very good during monsoons. Maintaining roads in hills is very challenging, but still Himachal has been aggressive in maintaining it's roads. Especially roads in tourist regions.
During Monsoons, it's very important to keep umbrella with you, even if sun is shining and there is no patch of clouds. This change in minutes and hence very unpredictable. Our day started with clear sky and by the time we reached Khajjiar it started raining heavily. Fortunately we were carrying few umbrellas and borrowed one from our cab driver.
You see a small water body in the middle. That Khajjiar lake which has dried over the years and probably the dried part is this lush green area where everyone wants to walk for hours. If you don't want to wet your shoes & trousers, there are pathways made around it. You will find small vendors selling bhutta during monsoons. Don't miss it. This comes from organic farms of Chamba region in Himachal Pradesh and very juicy. By doing that you are also helping small vendors/locals to make some money. These are some of the practices of sustainable tourism. While I am it, it may not be a bad idea to look for a decent home-stay when you are planning a visit to Dalhousie/Khajjiar.
A few kilometers ahead there is a temple with this huge Shiva idol. Now let me share a very useful tip. If you came to Khajjiar from Dalhousie in a bus and want to go back in bus only. Reach this place 30 minutes back. Usually there are lot of folks who board bus in Khajjiar and it becomes very challenging to get in. Since this temple is a stop before Khajjiar, there is good probability to get in comfortably and also find a seat. There are 2 buses from Khajjiar to Dalhousie between 1pm to 3pm.So if you come early in the morning, the timings would suit you.
These days paragliding is also quite popular activity around Khajjiar. One flies from a surrounding hill. You need to climb of the hill, so be sure about it. After flight, depending upon the flow of wind you can have a top view of Khajjiar, but landing happens in village behind the shiva temple. I haven't done paragliding here so don't know the charges. Bir Billing is best place for Paragliding in Himachal Pradesh and I had that experience.
Pro tip : You might be reading this post while planning. When you are in Dalhousie, Khajjiar or Chamba, you can search for 'Places to visit near me' or 'tourist attractions'. This would lead you to relevant details no matter you reach back to blogpost or other website. Google will provide you relevant details on the run time.
Pro tip : You might be reading this post while planning. When you are in Dalhousie, Khajjiar or Chamba, you can search for 'Places to visit near me' or 'tourist attractions'. This would lead you to relevant details no matter you reach back to blogpost or other website. Google will provide you relevant details on the run time.
Another view of Shiva from road connecting Khajjiar with Chamba.
If you are in Dalhousie/Khajjiar during monsoons, it's a time to try some fresh stuff out of the farms of Chamba region of Himachal Pradesh. Local cucumber is much tastier than what we get in cities through cold storage. During Monsoons, you would see lot of folks selling fresh fruit salad around Khajjiar and what can be best snack when travelling in himalayas.
Clouds make this place more beautiful. I made some videos of clouds covering this place and going upwards to play in woods, but unfortunately we lost those videos due to card corruption. As I see some herbs vendor in above photograph, so let me warn you about a group of folks who sell you local herbs (don't know what that means and I never bought). But I have heard bad experiences of folks who dealt with these vendors. Please note that most of them are not local folks. and things they sell are not locally produced. They bring stuff from Jammu or Pathankot and sell to tourists. So if you can judge the originality of stuff being sold, go have a talk. Otherwise avoid even talking.
Pre-wedding shoots and post wedding shoots are getting popular in our country. And I noticed lot of couples here at Khajjiar with professional photographers. Some of these photographers roam around the lake and click photographs to hand-over in form of prints. Some of the photographers had come with couples, were indulged in finding appropriate location and guiding these couples for some unique shots.
Here is path outside the green meadows, which is used for horse riding. You can hire a horse to have a round of Khajiar or roam around the neighbouring villages. I never took the other route where these folks promise to show village and apple orchards.
Carefully notice this photograph. Imagine the view when these clouds are slowing coming out of these forests. This was the best moment and experience at Khajjiar.
There are lot vendors selling toys for kids. I like some of these things at tourist places which provide opportunities for local folks. Some selling these toys, few making fruit salad and others selling juicy bhuttas. And all these things are also available at reasonable costs if you compare with prices quoted in bigger cities like Delhi. And it's not about money, it's more about purity and love of these local folks.
Names of horses around Khajjiar are very interesting :) ... Romeo, Chetak etc..
If you intend to stay around Khajjiar, there are 3 reasonable options - HPTDC hotel, HPPWD Guest-House and Forest Guest-House. Apart from there are there are various private properties.
Mall Road, Dalhousie, Himachal Pradesh :
If we talk about the Mall Roads that we have visited, the Darjeeling Mall Road tops the list. About the second spot, we are at the loggerheads. I vote for Shimla, whereas Vibha votes for Dalhousie. So we will first talk about Dalhousie and then about Shimla, soon.
The Dalhousie Mall Road starts at Gandhi Chowk. Gandhi Chowk is also known as General Post Office (GPO) and in fact is much more than a post office. Actually this is also the best, in fact the only, place for shopping in Dalhousie. This is the place where students of Dalhousie Public School go for their weekly outings and also with their parents whenever they come to visit their wards.
If you go here on a Sunday, chances are that you will see a lot of school kids hanging around with their parents in restaurants, in cafes, inside shops, having ice creams and other things that students normally like to eat. We happened to be at one of the cafe's on a Sunday and a 12-13 year old boy happened to be sitting right behind us with his dad and was talking about things that they normally hide from their teachers.
Gandhi Chowk is probably the most happening place in Dalhousie town. Dalhousie town is comparatively a smaller town as compared to other popular hill stations and that's why it's a peaceful place. Although don't expect this peaceful environment during summers :), which lot of folks from Punjab come here with their kids to spend vacations. Gandhi Chowk is a good place for shopping in Dalhousie. Check out Apple products and some fruit wines produced in Himachal.
Apart from ice cream parlours and cafes there are several other interesting places where you can comfortably sit and eat various types of food. One such place was Dosa Plaza that serves various types of dosas such as the typical sada dosa, masala dosa, Mysore dosa, and also some unusual varieties such as American Chopsuey Dosa, Schezwan dosa with cheese, Mexican Roast Dosa etc. The restaurant stands out because it is bright yellow and visible from a distance.
Apart from this there is Kwality, Monga's Cafe, Cafe Dalhousie, Bon-apetit Bakes n Fries Fast Food Restaurant. Apart from this, there are several street-side eating places where you can have golgappas, bhutte, momos etc. In short, if you are hungry, there is no dearth of options here.
Coming to shopping, you will find several options here. You can shop for local artwork such as wooden showpieces and Himachali Topis (caps). You can shop for Pashmina and other woolen apparel. Apart from this, you can also buy Himachali fruit wines and ciders.
If you are in the mood to walk a bit, you can head to the Tibetan market where you can buy clothes and scarfs. You can also buy other mementos such as Buddha statues and Tibetan prayer flags. In short, you can easily spend one day just roaming around the Gandhi Chowk.
There are other places, too, to see around here. There is a beautiful church here and if you are in time for the Sunday Prayer, you can experience that too. But if you do decide to do that, make sure you maintain the discipline and do not talk during the service. It is also rude to use a camera.
If you have had too much to eat, you can take a long walk from Gandhi Chowk to Subhash Chowk. This stretch of the mall road is one way and is usually quite peaceful. On good, sunny days, you can also see snow-covered Dhauladhar range. Beware of the monkeys though as they tend to get a little mischievous.
Over in the last few years, the Mall Road has become quite crowded and as a result, dirty. Hopefully steps will be taken to restore the mall road to its former glory. However, as travellers, we should not wait for the authorities to take action. Simple steps such as not littering, not feeding the monkeys are in our control and we should start from there.
These beautiful snow covered mountains of Pir Panjal can be seen from Gandhi Chowk. First two photographs are clicked at Gandhi Chowk. The popular St John's church is situated on Gandhi Chowk.
Mall road connects Gandhi Chowk with Subhash chowk on other side of the town. This whole road overlooks at the beautiful Pir Panjal mountain ranges covered with snow. These hills had got fresh snowfall few days back and they were looking awesome. In above photograph, the bottom part shows cantt area of Dalhousie which is next to Banikhet.
The clouds around these snow capped hills changing the hues and every shade was looking brilliant.
Throughout the mall road, various seating arrangement are done. All these places are quite cleaner. These places are so beautifully designed that you feel like taking a pause and sit there to enjoy the brilliant of nature around Dalhousie. Above is one of the views from Mall road. This is Ravi river which keeps changing her views during the day. Many times, it's not even visible because of dense clouds all around Dalhousie town. During 3 days stay, we saw Ravi 2 times for short span of time.
Mall road in Dalhousie has some of the exceptional private properties, which are quite expensive as well. Above is not a house but a school near church. I intentionally avoided clicking any personal property there.
Clouds keep playing around the town and within minutes you see very contrasting environment. Completely hazy view at one moment and bright/clear view after a few minutes. Imagine clouds passing by you and indicating that be ready for showers in a while, so plan accordingly :).
Subhash Chowk exposes you to the green valley on the opposite side of snow covered Pir Panjal mountain ranges. St. Francis church is located on Subhash chowk, which is much bigger than the one on Gandhi Chowk. There is a small space in this campus, which is dedicated to colourful birds, rabits, ducks. We had a quick round of this church and got down to the Mall road for tea.
Apart from the Mall road, there is another smaller and beautiful pathway which connected Subhash Chowk with Gandhi Chowk. This is supposedly the preferred route for local folks who want to save time and energy :), but tourists love the Mall road walk because it exposes you to brilliant views of Himalayas.
The whole Mall road is surrounded by Deodar trees which add more to the beauty of this town. Dalhousie has been one of my favourite towns and I like the fact that it's not becoming concrete jungle like other hills stations (Shimla, Mussourie etc.)
Walk to PANCHPULA Waterfalls - one of the most wonderful places near Dalhousie town :
Walk down from Dalhousie Gandhi Chowk of Panchpula Waterfalls is one of the most interesting walk and rewarding too.
Panchpula should be around 2-3 kilometers from Gandhi Chowk. Above photograph is clicked at Gandhi Chowk of Dalhousie town, which is a part of mall road.
During walks around Dalhousie town, you find lot of interesting things. Above photograph shows the parking slot of one of the houses built on the hill. This was very close to road and standing on top of high pillar made up of concrete.
There are lot of beautiful villas around Dalhousie town and most of them belong to families who had good connections with britishers, or business families. Good chunk of villas belong of army officers. So overall it gives you a feel of idea retirement destination.
Here is another photograph showing path to a huge village up in the hills. The white compound you see at the distance is Dalhousie Public School and they have installed a huge flag in the campus.
On the way from Dalhousie market to Panchpula there are few places to have rest and enjoy the views of valleys & hills.
As you reach Panchpula, you see this structure which is dedicated to Saradar Ajit Singh. This is the point from where you have to climb up. The Waterfall is just across this structure and on other side of the road. Like other tourist places, there few shops where shopkeepers would insist you to buy some local stuff. I was surprised to see folks selling kesar here and I know kesar is not grown locally. Probably it's brought from J&K.
There are more shops on the way to Panchpula and a cafe close to the waterfall. There is Shiva Cafe which is pretty close to the waterfall. The good part was that I didn't find litter here and I was extremely happy to see dustbins installed by this cafe. It was fun to sip hot tea while sitting in chilled water body near Cafe Shiva.
Some cafe's down the hills, close to the road, had put up tables in the water so that you could sit with your feet dipped in the water and sip on your tea. However, the cafe closest to where we were, Shiva Cafe, hadn't done so. The owner was perhaps being sensible because of the crazily cold water temperature, but we requested him to allow us a little insanity. And to our delight he obliged and placed a table and three chairs in the water pool.
Overall Panchpula is great place close to Dalhousie town. It's fun to walk and have some peaceful time around Panchpula waterfalls.
A small trek to Dainkund or Pohlani Temple :
Drive to Kala Top from Dalhousie and then to the base of this trek, which is entry gate of Air force base. You can park your car there and start the trek. There is well paved path for 1 km, which is maintained by temple authority. This path certainly made our lives easy during monsoons.
This is a view after walking up for 250 meters. The road you see in the photograph goes down to Dalhousie and Kala Top.
Clouds play hide and seek as you go up. At times, they were chasing us and in few minutes sun was shining by clearing them away. Throughout the trek you are exposed to some breathtaking views of valley full of high deodars and birds flying all around. We saw few colourful butterflies on our way but couldn't click them well.
When you look for easy treks in Himlayas or treks you can do around Dalhousie, this is best option given the difficulty level and the diversity of experiences it offers throughout.
On the way, there is a temple which is 2.5 kilometers away from road. Lot of local folks visit this temple. Interesting most of the temples in this region don't have roofs. There is a little shop near the temple from where you can buy snacks and juices.
While walking through the mountains of Dalhousie, Vibha pointed towards this cloud form. With a smile she says - 'doesn't it look like a giraffe?'. Do you think so?
Here is another a beautiful view through clouds while trekking around Dalhousie.
This is 3 kilometers trek which means you need to walk for 6 kilometers. And we had 3 years old trekker with us. Mentioning that to share that anyone can do this trek. It's very easy and the experience can be very rewarding. On a clear day, Khajjiar is visible from top.
Panoramic views from top were mesmerising.
There is small shelter on the way. We took a break here where it started raining heavily.
There are plenty of trekking or hiking opportunities around Dalhousie and Khajjiar in Himachal Pradesh.
Above photograph shows the view you get while coming from Khajjiar to Dalhousie. This is top section on Beeji's Park in Dalhousie, Himachal Pradesh. There is a tank installed on left side of this place.
Related post - Dalhousie Mall Road || A Fun Place to Enjoy Shopping and Great Mountain Views
Beeji's park also has a MIG-21 fighter aircraft presented by Air Chief Marshal N.A.K.Brown, former Chief of Air Staff in 2013. From this you can make out that Mr Dhillon had started it much early but formally the park is named as Beeji's park in 2016. Two surface-to-air Pichora missiles were gifted by Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha, former Chief of Air Staff in 2015 which are installed on one side of this MIG-21.
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There are other landmark weaponry that have been installed in the park, each with its own history. Everything installed as a board alongside to describe what it is, where all it has been used and who inaugurated & when.
Related Blog-post : Places to skip when travelling to Dalhousie, Himachal Pradesh
Beeji's park is a good blend of natural grace and artificial finesse. It is also a source of inspiration and motivation for students to join the Indian armed forces - that how Dr. Dhillon believed & expressed in the past.
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This Amar Jawan section has been added recently to Beeji's park and located just behind the MIG-21.
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Above photograph shows Chugan ground of Chamba, which is main place where lot of annual events take place. Minjar fair every year takes place in this ground with lot of Bollywood stars and singers performing in the evenings.
Beeji's Park : A unique place close to Dalhousie Town :
Dalhousie Public School has been investing heavily in improving infrastructure every year. Apart from School infrastructure, school authorities spend significant time and energy in maintain this whole hill where this school is located. Over the years, school has developed an area which is called Beeji's Park.
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Above photograph shows the view you get while coming from Khajjiar to Dalhousie. This is top section on Beeji's Park in Dalhousie, Himachal Pradesh. There is a tank installed on left side of this place.
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Beeji's Park is on the road which connects Dalhousie to Khajjiar and it's very close to Dalhousie (approx 2km from Gandhi Chowk). The place is envisioned and curated by Dr G.S. Dhillon who is chairman of Dalhousie Public School. This defence park in Dalhousie is dedicated to all mothers.
There is a tank located at the top-most part of Beeji's park which is a Russian supplied T-70 and had played a major role in the 1971 Indo-Pakistan War as well as the 1999 Kargil War. These detailed have been shared by Dr. G.S.Dhillon, Chairman, Dalhousie Public School in the past. This kind of state-of-the-art weaponry and other hi tech defence equipment are displayed at the Beeji's park.
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Beeji's park was inaugurated in 2016 and every year I have seen things added to this park. When I recently visited in Aug'19, there is a Torpedo installed with a model of submarine and a huge anchor.
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Beeji's park also has a MIG-21 fighter aircraft presented by Air Chief Marshal N.A.K.Brown, former Chief of Air Staff in 2013. From this you can make out that Mr Dhillon had started it much early but formally the park is named as Beeji's park in 2016. Two surface-to-air Pichora missiles were gifted by Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha, former Chief of Air Staff in 2015 which are installed on one side of this MIG-21.
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There are other landmark weaponry that have been installed in the park, each with its own history. Everything installed as a board alongside to describe what it is, where all it has been used and who inaugurated & when.
Related Blog-post : Places to skip when travelling to Dalhousie, Himachal Pradesh
Beeji's park is a good blend of natural grace and artificial finesse. It is also a source of inspiration and motivation for students to join the Indian armed forces - that how Dr. Dhillon believed & expressed in the past.
Related Post : Himachali Music for travelers who plan to visit hills soon !
This Amar Jawan section has been added recently to Beeji's park and located just behind the MIG-21.
Related Blog-post : Sky-scapes from Dalhousie, Khajjiar & Chamba, Himachal Pradesh
Lot of folks coming back from Khajjiar to Dalhousie stop-by and spend some time around Beeji's Park. When I see this, one thing concerns me the most that it's located on road-side and many tourists park at random places & start walking towards the park with kids. It's also a road turn so there are various blind spots. If you ever plan to stop by and see this place, please be careful about parking the car at appropriate place & cross the road by keeping an eye on all directions on the road.
Beeji's park is open throughout the day but it looks best during sunset time when there are beautiful colors in the sky and everything places in this defence park has amazing lighting.
Above photograph shows a view of main school campus from Beeji's Park. Dalhousie Public School has a huge hill with multiple facilities spread across this hill. Whole area, including road crossing through this hill is maintained by Dalhousie Public School. Above photograph shows a very small part of administrative unit. There are multiple hostels across the hills.
Above all I love the passion which has gone behind this beautiful defence park in Dalhousie and credit for this goes to Mr G.S.Dhillon, Chairman of Dalhousie Public School. It's his thought leadership and focus which has lead to such wonderful & well maintained place in Dalhousie. And not only this, there are multiple things around Dalhousie which are built/maintained by Dalhousie Public School and worth appreciation. Dalhousie also has highest flag in Himachal Pradesh and that's also installed inside Dalhousie Public School near to teacher's residence called Rashmi Villa. I always love walking around this place and encourage you to see the place when in Dalhousie.
Beeji's park is open throughout the day but it looks best during sunset time when there are beautiful colors in the sky and everything places in this defence park has amazing lighting.
Above photograph shows a view of main school campus from Beeji's Park. Dalhousie Public School has a huge hill with multiple facilities spread across this hill. Whole area, including road crossing through this hill is maintained by Dalhousie Public School. Above photograph shows a very small part of administrative unit. There are multiple hostels across the hills.
Above all I love the passion which has gone behind this beautiful defence park in Dalhousie and credit for this goes to Mr G.S.Dhillon, Chairman of Dalhousie Public School. It's his thought leadership and focus which has lead to such wonderful & well maintained place in Dalhousie. And not only this, there are multiple things around Dalhousie which are built/maintained by Dalhousie Public School and worth appreciation. Dalhousie also has highest flag in Himachal Pradesh and that's also installed inside Dalhousie Public School near to teacher's residence called Rashmi Villa. I always love walking around this place and encourage you to see the place when in Dalhousie.
A Drive to Chamba Town through Khajjiar :
Chamba is district headquarter in Himachal Pradesh and comparatively bigger town. Certainly much bigger than Dalhousie in terms of population. Many times viewers of Travellingcamera.com have asked about main places to visit in Chamba town, which was quite surprising for me. But then I understood the reason. Most of the folks book taxi to visit Khajjiar and Chamera dam from Dalhousie. Chamba is an easy option comes on the way and if you have whole day, you can certainly stop at Chamba and visit the famous Bhuri Singh Museum, Laxmi Narayan Temple, Chamunda Temple and the famous Chaugan.
Chamba weather is bit harsh and it's harsher when you coming down from Dalhousie & Khajjiar. If you are in Chamba town, do visit Bhuri Singh Museum which showcases some of the old things from local kingdom and how it was related to art & religious beliefs. It's in middle of the market and easily approachable. Entry ticket would cost you 20 Rs.
Laxmi Narayan Temple is also near market, so you can walk from Bhuri Singh Museum to the temple. I would recommend to walk around the town as you would come across various interesting architecture. Try local food. It's different from other parts of Himachal.
Chaugan is again near market and if you to other end of Chaugan, you can see Ravi river flowing through hills and various water streams merging into it. The view is even better during Monsoons.
Chamba Chappal is very famous for it's artistic work & colours, so if you like shopping do check out some of the footwear shops. Also check out local stuff in Buttico for pure wool wears. Chamba rumal is again very special. You have to see it to believe. Although I am not sure if it's worth thousands. It was depends upon your interest and how much your pocket can afford.
Above photograph shows Chugan ground of Chamba, which is main place where lot of annual events take place. Minjar fair every year takes place in this ground with lot of Bollywood stars and singers performing in the evenings.
CHAMERA DAM :
When you are in Dalhousie , you can plan a day drive through Khajjiar, Chamba and Chamera Dam. Chamera Dam is around 40 kilometers from Chamba Town. It takes approximately 1.5 hrs to reach the place is road condition is good. Overall it’s a little dry terrain as compared to Dalhousie and Khajjiar. And temperature also goes up as we go towards Chamera Dam.
As you move out from Chamba town, you follow Ravi river for some time and then take right. After 45 minutes of drive, you get a glimpse of Chemera Dam. Above is the photograph clicked near a waterfall on the way to Chemra Dam.
Finally when you reach the entry gate of boating station, you see lot of tea stalls which would offer maggie, snacks, lemonade etc.
The ferry motor boats which can accommodate 8 people at a time and single ticket costs you 300 Rs. For kids, it’s 200 Rs. It’s 30 minutes ride. I didn’t find it worth as you don’t see anything exceptional. It’s worth if you haven’t done motor-boating in such huge dams. I would rather prefer speedboat, which is relatively costly. It costs 1200 Rs per couple. I tried motorboat in Banasura Dam in Wayanad, Kerala. That experience was much better than Chamera.
And if you are not interested in boating, don’t come to this side of Chamera. Just take the highway from Chamba which connects Dalhousie through Banikhet.
Monsoons can be best season to click sunsets, especially just after rains. Either the sky is very clear or clouds are refined and help making shares of light and colors.
Most of the photographs are clicked from place where we stayed in Dalhousie. After every 5 minutes there was something new & interesting to click in sky. It was hard for me to chose what to post here and what to skip.
Colors in sky keep changing, especially during sunset the change if very fast. So you have to be fast in clicking and choosing your favourites. And that's a common phenomenon in hills.
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Here is a vertical shot of clouds up the sky and river in the bottom of the photograph. Just compare the size of river you see and clouds, & try to imagine the scale. This photograph is clicked from the road around Dalhousie Public School, which is spread across the neighbouring hill of Dalhousie town.
Imagine the height of these clouds and how fast the wind is changing the path for them. A scene just after rains, when sky if bight blue and clouds are dense white to create this perfect contrast. Such natural phenomenon will surprise every now & then in Dalhousie hill station of Himachal Pradesh.
This photograph is clicked with phone camera and now I realise that I should have created a video of these clouds moving us from dense deodar forest at Khajjiar.
Dalhousie is Birders' paradise in Himachal Pradesh :
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| Streaked Laughing Thrush |
Birds eluded us for most part of our trip to Dalhousie. They were no where to be seen when we arrived. The stayed hidden even when we spent our second day at the campus of Dalhousie Public School. They did, however, entice us by their constant singing and chirping. In fact until the morning of the third day, the only birds we had seen were some bulbuls and doves. Things were looking bleak.
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Oriental Turtle Dove
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Fortunes turned when we decided to walk to Panchpula waterfalls, which were at 4kms from the school. We hit jackpot when we reached the waterfalls. And there we realized that birds, like some mythical fairytale creatures, were actually all around us. One just needed to sit still and wait for them to emerge.
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| Great Barbet |
So there we were sitting at one of the many kiosks, near the water, waiting for our pakodas to arrive, when we noticed a slight movement on the wet rocks. It was a tiny little bird, almost round, expertly climbing the rocks, pecking at some tiny creatures we could not see. At the first glance they all looked the same. It was only when we got home and took help from some birders to identify them, that we realized that there were no less than 3 different species among them.
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| Plumbeous Water Redstart |
And then after that birds of all shapes and sizes emerged from everywhere and started hopping around the branches that hung low on the waterfall pool. At first they were no more than darts of colors between the leaves, but when you paid attention, they started materializing. We even managed to capture a few photographs. You would need to excuse the quality this time. These birds, they were moving around.
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| Blue-throated Blue Flycatcher - Juvenile Male |
Among the little round birds were the Plumbeous Water Redstart and the Blue-throated Blue Flycatcher. These were the cutest birds I have ever seen. Rather like the birds we draw as kids. A circle with legs, a tail and a beak. And these birds were at various stages of their lives. Some were adult, while others were juvenile. As a result, the color of the plummage varied considerably, making it difficult for amateurs like us to identify them as the same or different birds.
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| Plumbeous Water Redstart |
As the jungle came alive, more and more birds started making appearance. This is where we met the Great Barbet again and got to know it better. Not only did we recognize the bird by its appearance, we also learned to identify its song. Great Barbet is present in large numbers here in Dalhousie.
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| Green-backed Tit |
There was a large variety of little tits and sunbirds that flocked around together, hopping from tree to tree, singing and chirping as they went along. They were hardly ever still and very difficult to capture through our pretty basic camera. We did try however. Some that we were able to identify were the black-throated tit, green-backed tit, and a few more little birds that we were not able to identify.
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| Black-Throated Tit |
We also saw various varieties of starlings. Unfortunately, these too we were not able to identify clearly. But they did appear out of nowhere, peering down at us from among the lush foliage. They seemed to be as interested in us as we were in them. Starlings are anyways known to be adventurous and fearless. Some of the common starlings around us are the Common Mynah and the Brahmny Starling.
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| Unidentified Starling |
There were some birds that we saw from a distance that looked like flycatchers. However, with our limited knowledge of birds, we are still so helpless that we were not able to identify them properly. If you could help us with this, it would be simply great.
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| Unidentified Flycatcher |
Another surprising aspect of birding in Dalhousie is the sheer variety of woodpeckers you see at work. These busybodies continue with their labour, pecking and poking at the barks, oblivious to the cameras pointed at them, struggling to capture them despite their continuous movements.
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| Yellow-Crowned Woodpecker |
Magpies were another species that we were very lucky with. We spotted several jays and magpies all hopping around and foraging for food, unafraid of the human presence around them. Laughing thrushes too are our friends and never fail to make an appearance. This one posed for us for several minutes.
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| Black-headed Jay |
At the end of it, what we thought would turn out to be a dull trip, birding wise, became one of the most enriching we have ever had. We did not expect a hillstation as lively as Dalhousie, and as popular with tourists to be teeming with birds that were never too far away, almost always just hidden in plain sight.
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Grey Bushchat What to skip around Dalhousie if you have less time or only want to indulge in specific things around Nature : Internet is full of articles about main places to visit, top things to do, what to eat, how to commute to a particular place. Here we are also including places/things you can skip while in Dalhousie. Wondering why this thought came to my mind? Many times, we don’t have much during the vacation and we don’t want to rush just on the name of 10 points to be seen around a place. I realised that as a traveller you have different kinds of experiences and as a blogger it’s a responsibility to highlight things which can be skipped to save time & money.
There can be multiple reasons to be choosy about it. It can that you want to enjoy the main places and don’t want to rush through multiple things. Everyone has own style of exploration. Some like peaceful place more than the hustle bustle and for some a trip is not complete without shopping. Here I will try to categorise the post for different kinds of needs. And please do read explanations and don’t skip mentioned places blindly. There is a reason why people visit them and those reasons can be important factors for you as well.
First let me talk about the places you can skip, if you intend to enjoy the vacation at your own pace without rushing through it. Wherever needed, I will try to provide details why I think a place is avoidable.
1. Chamera Dam : First of all, have you heard of it? If not, you are good. Are you crazy about boating? If not, you are good. If you have heard of it then it’s important to know why it can be skipped. It’s a huge lake in the middle of mountains. You need to drive to the place where boating happens and it would eat your half day. It’s only recommended if you like boating and that too in such a lake. Please also note that they don’t have pedal boats, so you would be riding the bigger motor-boat with strangers. And it’s expensive. You can choose to enjoy speedboating, but cost increases accordingly. I have done speed boating at different places and personally don’t like those 15+ seater boats.
2. Kalatop : It’s Wildlife sanctuary without wild animals. Please note that you are allowed to walk from entry gate to Kalatop Guest-house which is deep inside the forest. Does it mean, there are no animals or it’s just the carelessness. I would assume, there is no animal. 8 years back I had walked through it and didn’t encounter a single animal. Saw few birds, but you can see them around Dalhousie/Khajjiar forests as well.
3. Shiva Temple (near Khajjiar) : Over the years a Temple has become popular near Khajjiar Lake. There is a huge Shiva statue. It can be skipped unless you have religious reasons to visit. At times it’s misleading when popular travel websites start showing these as main tourist spots.
 4. Boating at Panchpula : This is biggest flop show. And if you are going to Panchpula for boating, please don’t waste your time. Since it’s just 4 kilometres away from Dalhousie town, people prefer going here for boating. When I say no, it’s for boating. But you can certainly go there to see beautiful waterfalls. Especially if you are there during Monsoons. Waterfalls look beautiful during Monsoons. 
5. Ganji Pahadi : There are various treks around Dalhousie and Ganji Pahadi is one of them, which is clearly visible from various parts of Dalhousie. Why am I saying no to this trek? It can tiring and then you have better options to trek. When I say better options, I mean other treks like Dainkund can expose you to better landscapes with relatively lesser effort. If you are in group, there is high probability that all of those can do Dainkund while Ganji Pahadi can be stressful for some. If you are a passionate hiker, just do hiking wherever you can and skip all those fancy places :)
6. Rock Garden on the way from Dalhousie to Chamba : Personally I like the initiate by one of the local Panchayats to build this rock garden on the main highway which connects Dalhousie with Chamba, but it’s not very interesting place to spend time. And if you are someone who is not bothered about specific places and have some time for tea, take a break here and see what it is. If you visit, please do share your experience here in form of comment.
Quick Summary : Main places to explore around Dalhousie & Khajjiar -
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