The Dalhousie Trip
Just a minute before midnight of 10th June, we started on what would be one of the most fascinating journeys. A non-stop ride followed, as the bus drove us from IIT Mandi to Dalhousie. After 8 to 9 hours of driving, with a little bit of traffic encountered, we reached our camping site, Nomadic Dalhousie. True to its name, the place seemed enchantingly surreal as we were both in safety and in the wilderness. The camping site being around 3 Kms away from the hustle of this lovely hill-station, felt serene. Our first day of the trip was dedicated to exploring the experiences Dalhousie had in-store for us.
The day kicked off with adventure activities at a parkland, opened in reverence of patriot Ajit Singh, in Panchpula. Exhilarating experiences were up for sale as we walked on some ropes and did Zip Lining across the stream. As if that wasn’t a good enough bargain, we became one with nature as we stood in the waterfall and felt every drop falling. The Panchpula waterfall led us to the Ganji Pahadi, a tree-less top, that reminded us of, ”Less is more”. At 1 PM all of us gathered and took a local bus for Dalhousie.
We were welcomed by the clamor of the town, with Gandhiji at the centre of all of it. We visited the Mall road market as well as the Tibetan market and enjoyed some local delicacies like bhutta (Corncob), momos, etc. Nearby the chowk, St. John’s Church connected us to God. The Garam sadak took us from the Mall road market to St. Francis’ Church at Subhash Chowk. The church has a beautiful nursery that houses a variety of flowers. Alas! the town exploring ended with us taking the bus to reach our camping site. After a hearty meal, we gathered for bonfire (permission taken from the camp organizers). A game of Charades and abundance of laughter put us to a good night’s sleep! Everyone awaited the trek from Dainkund to Jot, the following day.
While we slept, weather had a completely different day planned for us! That night, hailstones poured heavily with the rains. As we packed our bags, in what seemed to be a clear morning, rain began no sooner than we had left the place. Trek was out of question but we didn’t lose hope and worked up a new plan to trek our way to Kalatop followed by a visit to Mini Switzerland of India, Khajjiar. Though a shorter trek, we enjoyed a lot. Everyone bonded with each other during this trek and that’s what made it more fun.
We then went to Khajjiar — a perfect picnic spot. Surrounded by lush green forests and a lake at the centre that captures all the attention, Khajjiar promises to cater to everyone’s needs. It doesn’t matter if you’re seeking inner peace, family-time, a little adventure or just some fun, Khajjiar has a way of giving it all to you! After visiting the Khajjiar Nag Temple and having lunch we boarded the bus with many memories..
Weather still had a lot more in mind. On our way back to college, large hailstones poured down the clouds giving everyone a hard time. Our journey back was delayed by this, as everyone preferred to avoid any chance to skid on the hails collected on the road. After a long tiring journey, we safely reached the college at about 3 AM in the morning.
The trip went somewhat off-track, but it taught us one of the most important lessons in life, ‘’Bring out the best in whatever situation you find yourself in!”.
This trek was organized by Hiking and Trekking Club IIT Mandi, an adventure sports club who organize treks and hikes for students of IIT Mandi, you can follow us on Facebook and Instagram.
Photo Courtesy: Rohit Bhamu, Sunil Dangi, Tushar Tyagi
Content Writer : Neha Aswal
Trails for the Kareri Lake Trek:Trail recorded while climbing up Trail recorded while climbing down
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