In India if you are employed in private sector, the best time to utilize for your short travel goals are the long weekends that you have. Although I am not very calculative about these dates but travelling over a period of time I have mastered the art of planning trip at eleventh hours. The last financial month of this year was starting with such a long Holi weekend.
Me along with two other friends of mine planned for a short tour to McLeodGanj. Little did we know that this would turn out to be one of the most memorable trips of our life. We just booked a cab for McLeodGanj from Gurugram for Thursday, the 1st day of March. We had a rough itinerary in our mind but we didn’t pre-book any hotels due to weather forecast of showers in McLeodGanj. Hence, our entire plan depended on Mother Nature.
Finally our Swift Dzire arrived at 10 o’clock in the night and we were en-route by 11PM, picking up two other friends of mine. Following are the list of things that we had packed specially for the road trip : comfortable pillows, some baked,air-fried non-oily foods for munching, some canned fruit juice (although I avoid them for their sugar content), plenty of packed drinking water, a packet of ajwain, a bottle of fizzy drink(helps during motion sickness) and some common medicines like avomin among others.
It was a long journey, but not very tiring as we stopped in-between for food and refreshments. Murthal was a major stop-over, where we tried some yummy paranthas, dal makhni and tea. We stopped at numerous points and finally reached Bhagsunag, McLeodGanj by 11 o’clock in the morning, taking a neat 12 hours.
Although we encountered some drizzles on the way but it was pleasant in McLeodGanj. After trying our luck in a few hotels, which were supposedly all sold out we checked OYO rooms and within 30 seconds was able to book a very decent place with a good view.
Post lunch we left for the Bhagsunag Waterfall, where we hiked not only to the waterfall but also to the desolate nearby hill where a small monestary atop caught our attention. We were able to click some good feed for our Instagram page. In the evening after receiving some inner peace in the Namgayal Monestary we went strolling down the Tibetan Market.
By 9 o’clock we were dead tired and hungry. Now, since all of us were keen for some authentic Tibetan/ Bhutanese Cuisine, we headed to the top floor of Tibet Kitchen as the place was already quite full. I must say, the food here was really sumptuous.
Returning back our hotel, after a long debate we swapped visiting Dalhousie the next day with Triund Trek. Although the weather forecast showed chances of heavy shower we unanimously zeroed down on the trek.
The Triund Treak: Snow Kisses from Heaven
After a heavy breakfast our car dropped us till Golu Devi Temple which is one of the starting point of Triund trek. However, there was some commotion as our car had a commercial DL number plate. Just wait for the big problem that we will come across for the same. Although we were not properly prepared for the trek, however we carried some necessities as follows: three bottles of drinking water, its very important to keep yourself hydrated all the time, some energy bars, some light foods and two torch lights. Considering Triund to be an easy trek and light edibles are available on the way up so we didn’t carry much, but we did carry two umbrellas as we were not carrying our raincoats.
At the starting point one person from each group has to make the entrée with valid photo id card for the trek. Finally we were enroute Truiund Top. The entire trek was very easy, only when you near the top the route become a bit steep. However, it can be covered very easily, watching the blooming rhododendrons and the majestic landscape . We stopped for around 20 mins in between in a café for some light snacks. Rest of the stops were for photos and short videos. We did encounter some drizzle on and off on the way but it was not really creating a problem for us, in-fact we enjoyed the weather.
After reaching the Mid Way Café (which necessarily is not the mid-way of the trek) we could see snow-capped mountain in the distance. My friend exclaimed, ‘wish we could play in the snow and a snow shower starts…’ I shut my friend by this, ‘ stop day dreaming! We are in March. ‘ A clear and most spectacular view of the entire city, the stadium , etc can been seen through a small telescope. I used my telephoto lens not only to see but also to capture the stunning scenario.
We started at 11:45am and neared the top at around 3 o’clock in the afternoon. Just around 200 mtrs from the top, showing me a few micro white dot on his jacket my friend exclaimed, ‘woo it’s snowing!’ . By the time I could react, a gush of wind with beautiful tiny white feather light particles kissed my face to make me realise that it’s drizzling snow for real. We were quite happy however the third friend of mine was like, ‘I have encountered these snow drizzles many times…’
By the time we climbed those 200 mts uphill our hair and jackets had small dandruff like snow drops. Finally as we reached Triund top it started snow showering cats and dogs. It was chilly cold but everyone there were on cloud nine. The heavy snow shower continued as we sipped some hot tea shivering in the sub-zero temperature. The video of the event can be watched here.
It continued to snow shower continuously as we saw the brown rocks and green pine trees changing white. The entire landscape changed and felt like heaven on earth. Now the cold was becoming unbearable and we started our journey downhill with umbrella in one hand.
Finally we came down without stopping much in-between as it started getting dark and most of the cafes were shutting off (majorly for the snowfall). The snow shower had stopped by now leaving us with a breath-taking experience of a lifetime. That moment would be etched in our memory lane forever. We realised how beautiful our mother nature is.
Once we reached our starting point, we realised that our car was nowhere in sight. I checked my mobile to find nine missed call alert from our driver. As I had mentioned above that we had a cab with commercial DL number hence he was not allowed to park his vehicle there. Our car was waiting at Naddi for us and it was already pitch dark by then around 6:45pm in the evening. Three or four cabs waiting were already booked and had no spaces for three of us. After enquiring from the localities, we took a backside road (from Golu Devi Temple ) in the hills through the woods to Dharamkot. Our only company was a local dog and our own shadows cast by our torch lights for the 1.7 kms(approx.) trek downhill.
We were dead tired after hiking for the entire day but we had no pre-booked hotels as we were supposed to leave for Dalhousie by the evening. However, we had to drop the plan as we learnt from some source that the road to Dalhousie was not accessible for the night as it was raining torrentially. Hence we booked this place in the outskirts of Dharamshala called Highland Village Resort. We called it a day with some local fruit wine.
Picturesque Views
As we woke up and swiped the window curtain we were mesmerised by the view of snow-capped Dhauladhar mountains and the colourful trees beneath in the valley. This was just the beginning; as my friend rushed to the restroom he was marvelled by the view even from small window there. Awestruck by the beauty, we rushed to the terrace with our morning coffee. This hotel had an amazing 360 degree view of the Himalayas and the valley beneath. If you are ready to give up a bit on the service part of it then this property is a must try and did I mention that they have a huge swimming pool which is quite well maintained.
Finally we left for the zoo at Gopalpur. Though there weren’t much species but the one that caught my attention is an African Grey Parrot which could greet you back in proper English if you greet or whistle. Another interesting part of this place is the end part of it where wild sambars stay. This place was quite serene and it appeared as if we have reached some land in the Narnia movies. Checkout this little Narnia here
On the way back we halted at some tea garden to collect some memories for our Instagram feed and finally headed back for Delhi with everlasting memories in the corridor of our memory lane.
Lovely.. beautiful write up and great content 👍