Rohtang Pass

Rohtang Pass. The name “Rohtang” means ‘ pile of corpses’  due to people dying in bad weather trying to cross the pass.  The Pass is located 51 Kms from manali and connects Kullu Valley with Lahaul & Spitti Valley. Rohtang Pass is located in Pir-Panjal mountain range of the Himalayas at the height of 13050 Ft.

                  

But unlike its name meaning, Rohtang Pass is a beautiful place in Himalayas with pristine white snow all around, chilled weather, breath-taking views. It attracts 2.5 lakh tourists from India and the world every year. It is a popular destination for Adventurous & Winter-sports loving people and Honeymoon couple. Pass is open from May to November, in other months it receives heavy snowfall.

We started our journey to Rohtang Pass from Solang Valley. Distance in between was 44kms. Since me and my friend were on bike so we decided to ride 22km each. Travelling to Rohtang Pass on bike is an advantage as, road is narrow. 

                                      

Traffic jam is daily and common in may-november. Cars, Trucks got struck while bikes enjoy easy passes.So keep this thing in your mind.

The journey towards Rohtang Pass on bike is like “Wow”. Scenic nature enthralls people all around the year who come to visit or pass through this heavenly pass. View of tall majestic snowcapped Himalayan Mountains touching the sky, lush green views, flying parachutes, waterfalls etc. 

Many Bike-Riders can be seen going towards Leh-Ladakh on their Harley-Davidson bikes. Besides the road small dhabas could be seen selling hot beverages, Maggie, momos ,biscuits etc.The weather of Rohtang plays in very flirty manner. A moment of warm sunshine can change into heavy rain with snow.

In the way we got struck due to landslide of snow on the road . Luckily, snow moving vechile was available there at the distance ,and it cleared all the snow. 

Finally we reached Rohtang Pass. The whole area was covered with pristine white snow. Huge crowd of tourist was present there before. Children’s and adults were throwing snow on each other. Couples were clicking selfies and photographs. One can do skiing, trekking, paragliding, yak-riding there.  Also rides of snow-mobile ,all-terrain vehicle is also available there. We also stayed there for some time and  had done trekking , yak-riding ,  snow throwing  on each other etc.

Rohtang is a beautiful place which every nature lover would love to visit with great  degree of enthusiasm. Pass is a surreal place of glaciers providing panoramic views.

Do visit this place and spend some moments..:-)

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Kufri

Kufri is a green hill station located in Shimla district of Himachal Pradesh. It is located just 13 kms away from Shimla. The name “Kufri” is derived from the local word “kufr” which means lake.

While my visit to Shimla ,I visited this place also. This place always comes into news due to heavy snowfall there in winters. Tourist enjoy skiing, winter sports and heavy snowfall here.

Following are the things to go around in Kufri:

1. Kufri-Zoo

                Kufri has a Himalayan wildlife zoo, where one can see Himalayan antelopes, birds, leopard, white tiger ,bear and many more species of fauna. One can also see Himalayan monal, the state bird of Himachal Pradesh. Entry to the zoo costs only 25 per person.

2. Kufri-Fun World

               One must visit Kufri-Fun world there. It is located at a height of 2.5 kms and one can do trekking to go there at the height. But the best way to reach there is by taking the horse ride. It fills you with excitement and fun.

During winters this place is full of snow ,and thus become a destination for skiing. There is also a a small market at the height where you can buy woolens ,sweaters ,hats ,mufflers etc. One can also enjoy Yak-ride here.

3.Go-Karting

                Kufri-Fun world features world’s highest go-kart-track.  Kids and adults can both enjoy

go-karting there.

The best time to visit Kufri is Jan-March. Do visit Kufri and enjoy your trip..:-)

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Shimla "Queen of Hills"

“Shimla” also known as “Queen of Hills” is the capital of the Indian state Himachal Pradesh.  In 1864 ,Shimla was declared as the summer capital of British India.  Shimla today is one of the most visited hill station that attract tourists all over the world throughout the year. One can enjoy the sceneric beauty of that place and can rejuvenate in the lap of Himalayas.

Day 1

On the first day, firstly i  visited the Mall Road also called The Shimla Ridge. It is located in the Centre of the town. It is one of the most famous tourist destination . One can enjoy the view of mountains from the the Ridge. Christ Church can also be visited on the mall road.

Then I headed to Summer Hills in the local bus. Summers Hill  provides spectacular views of Shimla valley from the height. Himachal Pradesh University ,is also located on the Shimla Hills. When I visited the university the students were doing practice of some cultural programme. One group was singing Himachali songs, while the other was dancing on the songs. They were doing “Nati”. It is a Himachal form of dance. I loved the way in which they were singing and dancing, making me to sit there for a moment and enjoying the show.

Then I visited Viceregal Lodge, which is also a part of Institute of Advance Studies. It is a must visit place and depicts an excellent work of architecture. One can have spectacular views of the hills surrounding the estate.

In the Evening I enjoyed Coffee at the Indian Coffee House.  One must enjoy  coffee and local food experience here.

Day 2

Next day in the morning I went to Annadale. It is a beautiful place and is situated 5 kms from the Ridge.The Britishers used to play cricket , polo and  golf here.

After visiting Annadale, I went to Naldehra. It is 25 kms away from the Shimla. Local people told me it’s the must place to visit full of greenery in the surrounding. The atmosphere there was cold due to long deodar tress making the surrounding shady. Northern Himalayas can be seen from there covering with snow .One can do horse riding there in the dense forest.

Naldehra is also famous for its Golf Course.

 Later I went to Jakhu Temple. It is situated 2.5 km from Shimla on Jakhoo Hill at the height of 8000 feet.  This time I did trekking and went to height on myself. The temple is beautiful. 

Here a huge and tall statue of Hanuman is built, considered as world’s tallest statue of 108 feet at the height of 8000 feet. The temple is dedicated to god, Hanuman.  The temple is very nicely maintained and, a park is also available for the kids.

On the evening of my last stay at Shimla, I hang around in the Ridge visiting the Lakkar Bazaar. 

This place consists of shops that are famous for their wooden works. Youcan buy key rings, kitchen utility things, watches, interior decoration items, toys, bangles etc. made of wood. One must visit this place to do some shopping here.

The night view of the Shimla at the Ridge is very good. One can view Jakhoo hill and the tall Hanuman statue from the ridge. Shimla looks more beautiful at the night .It seems as if the sky full of stars has falled down in which the lights of the houses acts as a stars.

                           

Do visit Shimla and spend few days......

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BAIJNATH

Baijnath is a beautiful town  situated in kangra district of Himachal Pradesh. Baijnath is famous for its beauty and ancient temple of Lord Shiva . Several monasteries also exist of Buddhist monks nearby. The temple is situated on the bank of river Binwa..

Baijnath Temple is famous for 13^th century temple dedicated to Lord shiva. According to Hindu mythology it is believed that during Treta Yug, Ravana pleased lord shiva by offering his 10 heads. Influenced by his worship the Lord Shiva restored  his heads .Lord  Shiva also converted himself into Shivling and gifted the same Shivling to Ravana  ,and warned him that not to place Shivling down on the ground on the way. Ravana in the way towards south feel the urge to answer nature’s call. On seeing a shepherd, Ravana handed over the Shivling to him and went away to get the relief. The Shepherd finding Shivaling very heavey  Put the linga on the ground .Thus Shivalinga got established there in the form of Ardhanarishwar.

In Baijnath,  Dussehra is not celebrated as, Ravana is repected here and is not burned in flames. Also there are no blacksmiths in the town.

The temple is very beautiful. There are lot of inscriptions on the walls , doors of temple. Temple is enclosed with high walls from all 4 sides. Prayers are offered in the morning  and in the evening daily


Downside the temple ,stairs lead you to river Binwa ,also called "kheer ganga". One can enjoy bath here in the river.

One can also visit the market of Baijnath ,and can buy things. Local food is also very tasty and they keep cleanliness in the shops.

Choukling Monastery is situated in a place named Bir, which is 10 kms away from Baijnath. Monastery is very large and  beautiful ,and a must place to visit. Small monks can also be seen living and worshiping together.

One can also visit places like Bir,Billing, One can enjoy aerosports here. Paragliding can be done. World Level Paragliding Championship is held here.

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Trip to kullu-Manali

Trip to Kullu-Manali: Since my school days… I always heard friends talking about kullu-manali trips, movies showing the beauty of that place, honeymoon trips of couple to that place.

Finally one good day me and my friend decided to visit that place on our bike… we started  from jogindernagar(H.P.)  Jogindernagar  is hill town in Mandi  district, named after Raja Joginder  Sen. Riding the whole way from Jogindernagar ,we reached Mandi.  Mandi is a beautiful district of Himachal Pradesh. River  Beas flows though  it.  Gurudwara  Shri Guru Gobing Singh ji ,is located in Mandi district. It consists belongins of Guru Sahib’s such as holy bed , holy gun, holy rawab ,holy mattress etc. Gurudwara is very beautiful.

After visiting Gurudwara and bowing our heads…we moved   further towards Kullu.  Few kms away ahead from Mandi, some sound stopped us…and the view was exotic. It    was   Pandoh Dam. It is on Beas river in Mandi. The sound of water hitting ground was so much that it could be heard from a km easily.

 Then we start moving towards kullu. In the whole way river beas accompanied us. It flows besides the road. Several hanging bridges of iron could be seen on the river beas.

Then we came across a huge tunnel of 2.8 km long.It is called Kullu-Manali tunnel.  Smell of wet rocks  can be felt inside it.

Finally covering 120 kms we reached Kullu. Kullu is located on the bank of river beas. Here the flow of river beas is very  fast. The water is also very cold of the river …as it comes directly from the glacier. One can enjoy river-rafting, rope-way river crossing ,camping & trekking here.  We enjoyed river-rafting there. Our stay was at hotel “kailash”. The market of kullu is also good. One can eat and shop here. We spended night at   hotel. Whole night I was curious to visit “Manali”.

Next  morning we started moving  towards Manali. Manali is 40 kms away from kullu. While moving towards Manali we stopped our bike at  “bhunter” after reading a board. It was a rabbit- farm named Angora Rabbit Breeding Farm. It was started by Mr P.P.Gupta in 1965. There are large number of  rabbits there of bigger  size. One must visit this farm .Finally driving the whole way we reached Manali.

Manali is a beautiful hill station covered with snow mountains. Foreign Tourist also   visit this place. One can do skiing, paragliding ,hill climbing, camping and trekking here.

First we went to Hadima Devi temple ..also called Hindimba Devi Temple. It one of the most  beautiful and most visted place of Manali. It is  in waiting list to become UNESCO world heritage site.Acoording to Hindu Mythology, in the era of Pandavas(Mahabharata) Bhima married hidimba, after killing hidimb(brother of hidimba).Temple is sourrounded by beautiful cedar forest consisting pine and deodar trees.

Temple consist  of three  square roofs covered with timber tiles, and a brass cone  shaped roof at the top. Inside the temple there is a huge rock with a small brass image representing Hidimba Devi. At the gate of temple one can ride on yaks. Local boys who provide yak-ride are available there.

                         

 Then we went to  Vashist Temple. It is 3 km away from manali.Temple is at the height and near to a market. Temple is good and inside the temple there is a black stone idol of Vashist Muni. According to mythology it is 4000 yrs old. There are wooden carvings on the temple. Temple also consists  hot water springs which is believed medicinal. Separate bathing arrangements for men and women is avialble.

                               

At the night, we enjoyed and roam 
across the market in manali. The market looks beautiful at the night. It’s a really good place for shopping and food. You can buy Sweaters, Shawls , Stoles , Mufflers and many things. Local food is also tasty…and a lot of restaurants are also there to hang around.

Do spend some time in Manali. Enjoy scenery around river Beas.

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A visit to NARKANDA/HATU PEAK

A visit to NARKANDA/HATU PEAK: Narkanda is small hill town situated at an altitude of 2708 mts ,few kms ahead of Shimla in Himachal Pradesh -the hill of Queens. It is one of the  favorite tourism and travelling  spot in Himachal Pradesh for people who loves travelling and sightseeing in the mountains. People who visit Shimla must also give a try to this beautiful place. Below are some places to visit in Narkanda.

Hatu peak is situated at a height of 3352 meters. From Narkanda to Hatu is a very steep ride with scary turns .The smell of tall deodar trees could be felt easily on the way.  The steep valleys gaves you a, mesmerizing view and charms  you and at the same time.. Reaching on the top one can have the view of Shrikhand- Mahadev range of Himalayas. Luckily I had that view. Drive itself is worth remembering. If you like Adventure Trip, hike up the Hatu Peak. While heading towards Hatu-Peak do check the weather.

                          

Right on the peak, lies the Hatu Mata Mandir. The Mandir is built in with wood. Temple is very beautiful .Stories exist that this temple was built at a place where Draupadi  died when Pandavas were heading towards the heaven. Around the temple there exists carved wooden panels signifying  stories of epics Ramayana and Mahabharata .The panel  itself signifies a good work of art.

                               

While coming back from the Hatu-Peak  to Narkanda, we  turned our bikes towards a beautiful lake aka  “Tani Jhubbar Lake”. It is a small artificial lake  near Nag Devta Temple. Temple consists a simple idol in small room. Tani Jhubbar Lake has tall deodar trees all around it. It is a pleasure to sit or walk around the lake .The atmosphere is quite and shady, with chirping of birds. Tani Jhubbar is also a popular picnic spot for the local Himachalis.

One can also visit Kotgarh , Thanedaar .They are the  places  full of vegetation and fruits.Visit these places around months of June-July when the trees are full of Apples. Other Fruits include peaches, and berries. You will also find dry fruits like almonds, apricots.

Do try to spend some days in narkanda...:-)

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