offbeat destination

Day 1: 19th Dec: evening
A weekend trip to Khajjiar, HP That was planned last minute. tatkal tickets getting confirmed.

we board our sleeper compartment to discover the berths soaked in water [cleaning effort from indian railways ;)]

3 newspapers spent to soak up water and clean up the mess. we are set to go.
fellow passengers share the info - the train arrived 7hrs late.
north india winter fog - we just keep our fingers crossed, to avoid delay.

an awesome chicken curry & rice for dinner [courtesy wifey]..oops i forgot to pack another spoon, manage with 1. a lower berth and an upper we get ready to dive into our sleeping bags as we cross panipat.

NIGHT 1:
lights out, at ambala here is a ghost capture:

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DAY 2: 20th December 2013

we reach pathankot cantt station 2 hrs late at 6am.

pitch dark and chilled, a small tea stall, refreshes aswita with a sad cinammon tea.

out of the station, via platform 1 - tempos waiting to take us to the bus stand for a sharing of rs.20 each.

a 15 mins bumpy ride via empty and lightless streets of pathankot, we cross gandhi bazaar [info courtesy android, google maps]

at the bus stand we find the first private bus heading for dalhousie.

we occupy the first seat behind the driver,

testing times for the drivers skill - almost zero visibility

EARLY MORNING: 20th Dec
the ride continues for another 2 hrs....sunrise, and after 2 hrs the bus stops for breakfast, 3 dhabas in vicinity - different owners 1 name - Famous Punjabi Dhaba
we skip the oily choley-batoras for breakfast and decide to go by biscuits, cake & juice
another 1 hr we reach Banikhet - the highway goes to Chamba we take a right turn for Dalhousie anothr 8kms.

15min stop at dalhousie bus stand, we decide to take the only option available for khajjiar - taxi
fixed rates, dalhousie taxi stand - 1 way to khajjiar for Rs. 700, whizzing past some awesome streets maintained by the dalhousie public school, we are soon out of the city.
climbing up - reached Kalatop, our driver offers us to take to diund peak, detour for some extra 200 bucks [10kms]

we trek the last 1.5kms to have a peek at the mighty pir panjal



some more scenery

heading towards khajjiar

40mins and we reach khajjiar - 24kims from dalhousie
super hungry, we check in at HPTDC Hotel Devdar

concise menu but awesome food at HPTDC Khajjiar. Chicken Masala with an egg gravy, Dal Tadka, Aloo Jeera & Roti - all tasted too good, not very oily and only green chillies used. Fresh and ready we hit the meadows [could see the vista from the large windows in the room]

by 6pm we are back at the hotel, it's pin drop silence outside, dark and not a single soul.
khajjiar at the first impression had looked impressive and not great

the commercial private hotels & shops right in the middle of the glade spoils nature
a quiet evening with again an awesome dinner [food was really the talking point, that evening]

early morning i am out to see thru my lens, reminded me of Jishnu's experience a few days back - 'thin layer of ice around everything'

MORNING: DAY 2: Early Morning Stroll

so here we are now back at chamba, onward we had a ride to pathankot and a train to delhi. both on the run without reservations and we got some really good comfortable ac berths.

some experiences change the way you live, this was one such. experience of a lifetime.
hope you enjoyed the trip. please +1 the link if you like it.
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