khajjiar--Heaven of Nature-Lover

Khajjiar--heaven of Nature-Lover

The next day, on 14th April, we went to explore another hidden treasure. We were most excited and happy.

'It's a beautiful landscape, I heard, is it?' 

What madam? It's called Mini Switzerland, it is very pretty , my friend had told me -  Ganesh my bro said with excitement.

'Houda Ganesh' then we must see it, I am eager' Suma uttered

'I'm on my fore -toes Suma..'  Sheela squeezed

 her arm.

Hey! hoge Sheela what's this?-Suma pulled her arm back.

'It is a  popular place many film-shootings take place

 here especially Hindi movies, I read it many times' Shivanand added.

' even the new ones 

latest one of  Sharukhan I forgot the name..' MR Bhavayya also joined  our conversation 

Hk Bhavayya was silent  usually he won't show much interest in subject like movies.

'how far is Khajjiar from here?' I asked

;It's 25 km away from Dalhousie , awesome place, we can see Khajjiar Lake, Naga Temple and lot more things there' .. the driver said confidently for he is  basically  from HP.

We just went on talking how travelling around the world has made us realise how beautiful our own country is!

We were amazed when we reached the spot.

 Wah! what a lovely spot! It is a vast expanse of verdant meadows, dense deodar forest and the snow covered hills with some incredible tourist places in and around it.

We could enjoy its beauty in a number of interesting ways- the mountains, the flowers, the lakes, the temples and the greenery! Awesome!! There are cottages, shops everywhere.

 

We took a walk through the landscape and clicked many photos, videos by ourselves.

Photographers are there, and they take out photos in different sizes, in different location if we wish and keep ready our photos with in no time.  We have to pay for them it's not expensive

All  of us took photos and enjoyed a lot .Our joy knew no bounds





Shivanand wished to sit and view the beautiful scenery so we didn't disturb him.


We further went to see the other parts of the landscape.

It is real fun to see snow-clad mountain ranges in the surroundings. There is Naga temple, it's one of the holiest and ancient  Hindu temple in HP, built  by Pandavas during the time of Mahabharat 

     This temple is dedicated to snakes and decorated with ornate wood-carving.

    It is a temple of Lord Shiva, local people visit this temple before they start any good work... that's what we learnt from people over there.



                     Next we went to Chemera Lake one of the great scenic beauty. Two types of boat are there. One is the speed boat and it has limited seating. it's more expensive. Another is motorized boat, it has more seating arrangements.

        We took speed boat. When we wore life-jacket we were thrilled, sitting in the boat, it is real fun to see snow clad mountain ranges in the surroundings. This lake is tranquil picture of natural-beauty and we enjoyed it at the most.


        We are very much pleased visiting such attractions in Himachal Pradesh. Once again thanks to Rahul and Pooja for there great planning.

After delicious food, we had a good rest with a lots of happy memories of Dalhousie that soaked our soul in the midst of nature.


               Which  place did we visit on 15th and 16th? 


                          Read in my next post.

                                                     
                                                           Bye

                                                                      Indu Naik

                       
                          Contributor: Shivanand G Naik


                                    



  

              

Dalhousie--Treat for the eyes

Dalhousie- - Treat for the eyes and mind

It was April 13th. As per the tour program sent by Rahul, we set out to Dalhousie after visiting Jalianwala Bagh.
 Before that we had early lunch at Kesar da Dhaba, Amritsar as directed by Rahul. 

"Suma, you look so joyous What's the matter?"

" Arrey, not only Suma, all of us" Sheela added.

"Yeah, we all" Ganesh, MR Bhavayya and HK Bhavayya nodded with delight.

That's true, we were moving to the charming hill town of Dalhousie that's known for enchantic scenic beauty.



              ' The mountains are at the height of   nearly 2700 meters above sea level in this hill station' when the driver revealed it we were surprised.

It was a bit long road journey four and half hours and the distance 210kms.

Even then we were not tired, we didn't lose hope for the very thought of  visiting the calm and soothing place made us lively.

When our car drove inside the campus of  Grand View Hotel, all of us exclaimed 'Wow', looking at the sprawling hotel.


The hotel was on top and we had to climb the steps we didn't mind as the beautiful surroundings covered with trees, creepers lovely hanging flowers, cool breeze added more joy to us. We were fully relaxed when we went to our couch and woke up when the server came with the tray

contained welcome drink.

It was too cold we couldn't bear it so we first decided to go out and buy the winter wares like  shawl, sweaters, hand glove and caps.

Just we stepped out we saw a complete lane of small shops where we bought all these things.

My husband Shivanand was literally shivering and the lady shopkeeper rushed towards him with a shawl and covered him I liked her concern and thanked her and bought more things in her shop. Then after we could comfortably sit in the yard.











We spent three days in Dalhousie.  Even then we couldn't cover all the top attractions but only a few ones.

 The joy of experiencing the thrill of watching the breath-taking vistas-charming cottages, exquisite churches, snowy Himalayan peaks, water-falls lakes is unparalleled.

We had occasion to pay tribute to great freedom fighter of India Subhash Chandra Bose at the Subhash Baoli.

The environment of Grand View Hotel was very pleasant and peaceful. It has many facilities like indoor games. We could listen best songs sung by popular singers in Live Band while eating food.

 Food was good both veg and non-veg. Service was excellent.  surroundings and view was extremely good. All of us had comfortable feeling.

 





Second day on April 13th we were much eager to visit the other lovely spots in Himachala…. Until then wait for my next write-up.

Bye 

Indu Naik
Contributor..Shivanand G Naik

Memorial Park of Amritsar

 Memorial Park of Amritsar

                                  Next morning we left hotel Park Inn and proceeded towards  Jalianwala Bagh, another top most attraction of Amritsar. Weather was pleasant.

"Actually where does it come I mean  which part the city it lies?

"It's in the north part of Amritsar"

"It is just a stone's throw away from Golden Temple"

Likewise conversation went on  till we reached the spot.

 It is known to every school kid in India as the site of mass shooting of a crowd of Indians who had gathered on Baisakhi day by  General Dyer.

This tragic event generated mass support for freedom struggle. 

The place itself was a private land turned into a memorial park.

Even today it retains the emotional impact and horror of the massacre.

 We entered through the same narrow passage the British troops used on April 13, 1919,  and we

 saw a marker saying "People fired at from here". 

We were eagerly watching that particular spot when the guide was explaining us the historical event.

From that vantage point the entire area of the park is visible.

On one side we saw the Martyr's well- a large open well into which people threw themselves hoping to escape from firing. 

Further down are two walls which have retained the bullet marks from the day-- the bullets went deep enough to gouge out holes in the bricks.

I really shuddered  when I imagined the scene...the bullets flying and the desperation of the assembled

people.

Finally we saw the memorial monument 

It is a public garden with a memorial in the shape of eternal flame.

 It is a red sand stone ellipse, standing tall and visible all through out the park. Many photos we clicked there. 





As we walked out of the park, we saw a small

museum with pictures and more

context around the events of that day.

We noticed a statue  just outside the entrance structure.  We learnt it is the statue of Udham Singh, the man who eventually killed Dyer.

                                  I felt the town Amritsar retains its old-world charm and  it has a lot more to offer in terms of historical, cultural and culinary experiences that we looked around.

On this day we were very much pleased visiting these three top-most attractions of Amritsar  and continued our journey to further lovely spot.

Wait for that in my next post

Bye

      Indu Naik

Contributor   Shivanand G Naik