Before Chhitkul trip my wife made me to sign an agreement that we would be going to another trip, this time with family and I acknowledged it. So, I decided on one location which is not commercialized, peaceful and from where I can enjoy nature @ its fullest(because rains made mountains more green), I made a plan to visit Chakrata, which is in Uttarakhand and 2270mtrs above sea level. Departure date was decided as 30th July and time @ 5 am so that we are back on 1st August by 8 pm or so. As it was my baby's first trip so I had to be very cautious in choosing my destination/hotel/route etc, which you will come to know later in this travelogue how it helped.
After my wife discussed our trip in her office, her colleague also jumped in for a trip along with his wife(as he already was inspired from my last few destinations), and then we made a final plan of meeting point etc.
Members for the trip :-
Me, My Mother, My Sister, My Wife(Harsha) and our Daughter(Shona)(9 months Old)....80% were girls in this gang.
My Wife's Colleague and his Wife..,(Kaushik & Pradhi)
From Left > Kaushik, Pradhi, Harsha, Shonu, Kanika and my mom(ofcourse I clicked this pic).
Machines for the trip :--
My Swift Lxi
Kaushik's Toyota Corolla with Automatic Gears -- Super Luxury Vehicle.
Day 1
As per the plan we started our day @ 5am with our kiddo sleeping in my wife's lap and Kaushik's car following us.
Route for destination
Delhi - Baghpat - Shamli - Saharanpur - Herbertpur - Vikas Nagar - Chakrata -
Total Distance= 315 km.
Roads were in absolutely bad shape with big potholes and mad traffic of UP and no dhaba to take a break. We were just driving for 4 hours continuously when I got a chance to see big Sai Baba temple and small dhaba outside it where we had our breakfast(Paratha and Tea) and Shona used facility of Temple to make herself fresh for the rest of the journey.
After that we started our journey to Saharanpur, where I found this beautiful Saloon on the road side..
The road from Saharanpur to Chakrata was nice and I felt the driving pleasure only @ that stretch. Soon after we crossed Saharanpur, rain welcomed us and continued till our destination. It was a sudden change in weather with nice downpour and low traffic.
I almost took 9.5 hours to cover 315 kms which was worst for anyone but I was happy that my baby didnt bothered me much and was enjoying the bumpy ride.
At Chakrata, I already booked the resort Himalayan Paradise, family suite for Rs. 1200/day and Kaushik opted for Rs. 700/day room. Rooms were fine enough with nice view of valley from its lawn and nice people around(hotel staff). There was no tourist and we 6 were there in full resort, infact in full Chakrata, which made me more happy because we were getting nice treatment from the staff and were getting nice fresh things on our table to eat.
By 5pm we were ready and sitting in the lawn, it was raining outside and the view was just amazing from there.
By 6:30 pm or so we ordered Tea along with Onion and Potato pakodas as weather was just fine for all this and we really enjoyed it.
As we were tired because of our long bumpy ride so we decided to go to bed by 10 pm after eating dinner so that we get up early morning to enjoy the sunrise or valley view.
But it was raining full night(as I could hear the sound of water) and I slept in a hope that next day will bring some hope for us to visit some nearby spots. I got up at 6am(thanks to our baby),it was still raining outside and there were absolutely dark clouds with no scope of us to go and see some nearby places.
Day 2
We started our day with morning tea and full rain noise in the background with a hope that it will stop and we will go outside. By 9 am we ordered breakfast with no hope(as I could only see black clouds outside), but by 10 am or so, suddenly weather changed and rain stopped, and we jumped to the lobby outside to get some pictures clicked before we go for some nearby places to enjoy.
Before leaving for Chakrata, I knew that I had to visit Tiger falls(2nd highest fall of India), Devban(from where I will see Himalaya ranges), Kanasar Forest(where Devdar tree with 5 mtr in diameter exists) and Chilmiry neck(open 1km area on the top of a hill)
So soon after rain stopped we decided to go to Tiger fall which was 14km from our resort by road and also one trek goes from the hotel to tiger fall, which is 3.5km long but it was closed due to rains etc, so we took our car and started the journey for Tiger Falls. But after 2.5km or so the road was blocked and there was no sign of going forward(it happened due to continuous rain last night).
We decided to click few pics there and came back to our hotel with heavy hearts.
At that time I made a plan to go to Kanasar as we got to know that Devban road is also blocked due to heavy rains, but Kaushik & Pradhi decided to stay in resort to relax/enjoy the valley view from there itself.
I took my car out and was ready for 26km journey to Kanasar Forest, the roads were not too bad but it took me 1.5 hours to complete those 26 odd kms with nice view of mountains and landscapes.
There were apple orchids too with good fresh apples :
At Kanasar we really enjoyed with big Devdar trees with every tree marked with its diameter and there was lush green garden where we spent some time before heading back to our resort.
When we reached the resort we got to know that Kaushik & Pradhi came back from Chilmiry neck and they really admire the place for its beauty and peace.
As there was nothing much to do on that evening, me and Kaushik decided to do a bit of trekking to go to Owner's home which was just above the resort with bit of dirt track. We reached his home safely and saw cucumber tree, beans, corns, apple & Rajma. It was fun to see those fresh fruits/vegetables in that pleasant weather.
For dinner, we already ordered Chicken curry well in advance which chef made it nicely. Soon before retiring to bed we decided that before leaving for Delhi on Day 3 we will again try for Tiger fall(as we got to know that roads would be cleared by morning) and then will hit the highway to Delhi.
Day 3
I and Kaushik went for morning walk @ 6am towards Tiger falls to inquire weather the roads are clear for our cars or not, the shopkeeper informed us that crane was working till late night and it should be clear by now, we were happy with this news and came back and got ready by 8 am with 2nd attempt to reach Tiger falls.
After completing 12km by road, we found the major landslide and crane was working to clear that, we were definitely not happy to see that and came back 1km @ a shop to have some breakfast/Tea.
We finished the breakfast and again went ahead just to see the roads are clear or not, but it was not and it was not advisable to walk to Tiger fall with our baby in our lap, so we decided to come back and head to Delhi.
Route to Delhi:-
Herbertpur - Paonta Sahib - Yamuna nagar - Pipli - Karnal - Panipat - Delhi -
Total Distance = 350km
I decided to take this route because its good to explore different routes and I already knew that old route which I took while coming will make me and my car sick again. The journey till Paonta Sahib was very nice with beautiful weather outside and nice carpeted road.
But the road from Yamuna nagar to Karnal was bad(not as bad as Saharanpur one), we stopped @ Murthal for some snacks in evening and reached home safely by 9 pm with our Heart satisfied with Chakrata beauty but mind wanted to go back again to see Tiger fall and caves which we missed this time).
I always wanted to visit Chhitkul in my own car(Swift Lxi) but was afraid of road conditions etc as I heard a lot about landslides and bad roads on this route. But I finally made a plan with 2 of my old friends, Amit Bhati and Ashwani Kumar to explore Chhitkul, Last inhabited village @ India-Tibet border and they both agreed(as they always do). After their agreement on the route, I got involved in planning process and checking road conditions, weather conditions, making itenary for our 3 days trip etc etc. Everything was going as per plan and we decided to start on 3rd July 2010 @ 4 am, but Amit Bhati got something urgent at his personal end and decided to quit this trip. Ashwani and I were in confusion and in doubt whether we should go ahead with the plan or drop it for some other time. We even asked 2-3 friends to join us for this one(because they complained last time when we did Jalori-Narkanda route), but it goes fine here.., "when you ask people they reject it and when you dont ask them they complain about it", and no one was ready for this trip on one pretext or another.
On 1st July 2010, me and Ashwani finally decided to go ahead with the plan and execute it and we were sure that trip wont be bad even if 2 people cover it. We decided that I will pick Ashwani from his residence @ 3:30 am on July 3rd and will hit the GT Karnal and head towards Shimla.
Day 1 Our plan for the first day was to reach Sarahan which is approx 560 Km from Delhi.
As per the plan, I reached Ashwani's residence @ 3:40 am and we were on GT Karnal bypass @ 4:10 am and were waiting for 3 bike riders(Naveen Chhillar and his friends) who were going for Spiti valley on their machines as our destination for the day was common, i.e.,Sarahan. After waiting for 15-20 minutes(which is fine during these trips), bullets came and we started our much awaited journey. I and Aswhani were going fine in our Red Swift, Lxi @ good speed and hit Panchkula @ 9:15 am and got some snacks(mixture, fruits etc) and started for famous Gyani Dhaba, @ Dharampur for some food. We had good food @ Dhaba and also felt that weather is hot and sun is at peek. At this time, we got the news that one of the bike of Naveen's friend broke down and they would be taking time to get it repaired, and we decided to leave from there as we had only 3 days to cover Kalpa n Chhitkul(which was not easy though). We had long jams before Shimla and felt that to reach Sarahan would be tough. But after crossing Shimla, weather and road conditions changed suddenly, roads were empty, weather turned out to be pleasant and roads were nice, we were cruising @ 70km/hr on those.
We reached Rampur @ 5:30 pm or so and had tank full. By this time me and Ashwani decided not to take a night halt at Sarahan and hit Chhitkul directly which was approx 150 km from Rampur, but guy @ Petrol pump said that road conditions are not so good after crossing Tapri as work is going on river Satluj and we should not take a risk to go to Chhitkul directly. We then decided to continue our journey and thought that we will see what's there for us.
By 8 pm we were in the need of good food and we could not find any dhaba as roads were completely empty after crossing Rampur and there was no one to help us and I was just driving with my head lights ON and those were the only lights available for me. It was scary to drive at such time with no help visible to us. But @ 8:30 we found few people and they confirmed that if we continue our journey to Chhitkul now then we wont be able to reach it before 12 am as road conditions are in real bad shape ahead. They advised to take a halt at Tapri Rest house, managed by HPWD and then start the journey tomorrow. We decided to listen their advise and head towards the rest house, we managed to get the room @ Rs. 260(big room, with automatic geyser and real nice bed), we had our dinner at "Pappu da Dhaba" nearby as HPWD had no provision for dinner(or they already finished whatever they had) but we didnot complain about it and spent our night there.
Day 2
We started @ 5:30 am for our first destination Kalpa, which was 43 km from our rest house, when we started after Tapri, we soon realised the road conditons are in real bad shape and it was the good decision to take a halt @ previous nite. Roads were full of potholes and due to rain all the potholes were full of dirty water, my car was completely looking like a racing car, but I didnot complain, as I was going near to my destination.
We were in Kalpa and sun was shining, we got the glimpse of Kinnaur Kailash and then went to Suicide point(we had no intention of doing it though).
We then visited famous Kali temple @ Recong Peo before heading for our final destination, Chhitkul. On our way we found lots of Apple Orchids, and many other fruits and had real fun in plucking it directly from trees and eating it there.
The scenic beauty started immediatly after we hit Sanlga-Chhitkul road(35 km or so), we stopped many times to click pictures of unexplored destination and had nice waterfalls on our way.
We reached Chhitkul at 2:30 pm and took HPWD rest house for Rs. 300 per day and kept our bags there, by this time there was drizzling outside and we decided to cover Nagasthi Camp, ITBP camp @ Chhitkul, after this camp no one is allowed to go(except few locals, with permissions), we went till that camp which was 3km from our rest house and had fun walking in rain on those barren roads.
and we didnot cross this line.
We came back to only Dhaba available in Chhitkul and had Maggi there and enjoyed it fully as weather was real pleasant and it was raining outside. We then decided to take a walk in Chhitkul village and had nice time in clicking pictures there.
Here are da two wise men who did not cancel their trip because of last time glitches and continued their journey to paradise....
We came back in our room by 8 pm and had dinner and decided to sleep so that we leave by 7 am.
Day 3
We woke up @ 6 am and it was still raining outside, we freshen up ourselves and were in our car by 6:50 am for very extra ordinary journey, i.e, Chhitkul to Delhi(as all of my friends said that its really not possible to reach Delhi from Chhitkul directly and we need to take a halt somewhere for night), as we were just 2 and we determined ourselves to reach Delhi. We hit the road and started our journey, after crossing Sangla, heavy rain started and we took that as advantage because roads were empty and we didnot stop and continued our journey even in rain/bad road conditions.
Once we crossed Tapri, we had real fun in clicking pictures as rain stopped and valley looked much greener then before. We came across some nice tunnels/barren mountains on our way.
As it was Bharat-Bandh, so all markets and roads were empty(no public transport), which was an advantage for us, we had our and our car tank full @ Rampur again and decided that we will definately reach Delhi today. Rains started soon after crossing Rampur and was there till we reached Shimla.
We were in Kalka @ 6:45 pm and decided to have our meal @ Ambala, the famous Puran Singh dhaba and after driving for 17 hours, we managed to reach Delhi with our hearts and mind satisfied with the beauty what we saw in Chhitkul and what we explored during our last 3 days.
