Roadtrip Day 34: Day spent sight-seeing & loitering around Dalhousie
My 2nd hike/trek day after Girnar climb + descent
I could remember that twice in the past, I had longing to visit Dalhousie but I had to pass. Once it was during the Leh Laddakh bike trip, when were going down from Manali & was crossing Mandi. I had told Lakshmi (my wife) who was my pillion, what if we take the right turn & go towards Dalhousie. The 2nd time was when we travelled to Dharamshala for some new year. I wanted to visit Dalhousie then too, but it did not happen.
I was up early but the cold weather just kept me lazy. Not even a week back, I was struggling in Gujarat/Rajasthan heat. The 40 degrees to less than 10 degree temperature was definitely one of the pleasant experience & I was loving it. I got up at 6 AM but then decided to sleep for some more time, finally getting up at 7:30 AM. I had pitched my tent on the terrace of the Bird’s Hostel / Nomadic Adventure. I also happen to see some interesting things. A unique long tailed bird that I had never seen before. A nice looking but different bee sitting in my tea cup. I decided to enjoy the nature around & not rush into starting the day.
I had tea & bread omlet at Bird’s hostel. Food was ok. The omlet was slightly burnt.
It was 10 AM & I still had not decided what to do in the day. One thought was to leave towards Khajiar, another was to roam around the city, another was to do the trek to Ganji Top, which is a hilltop in Panchpula & the trail to the top is also laid out clearly, as told to me by Arun, the manager at the place. Finally, I decided to do the Ganji Top trek. I decided to walk to Panjpula & then trek my way up.
It took me some time to figure out the starting point. The place has a waterfall & various restaurants. The way to the trek starts between 2 eateries. I was guided after I asked around. On the way up, I saw a zipline which looked defunct. But I was wrong as when I was coming down, there were folks who had just zipped on it.
Further up, I saw a house which was also serving tea/coffee, although I did not decide to have it. The terrace of the house was nice & was adjacent to the trail. I decided to hang on it for a bit looking at the view.
Further up showed some houses & I thought it was end of the hike. But I was wrong. The path continues through the conglomeration.
The path is marked by embedded stones. Earlier, I had talked to Arun about the trek & he had mentioned that if I intend to do the trek completely, I should hire a guide. That made me believe that the trail is either incomplete or had serious gaps/misses in it. But so far, it was looking all good.
I reached a place where I had to decide between the paths. I somehow got remembered of the words from the song Stairway to Heaven ‘If there are 2 paths, you can go by but in the long run, there is still time to change the road’ . I felt amused & decided to stick to the paved one.
I reached a place which looks like top & the paved path seem to have disappeared. So I assumed it was end of the trek, although I did happen to see a climb on one side. I took some pictures of surroundings. I also noticed some tents pitched at a level below & I was wondering, how come I dont know about this tenting place.
I decided to continue the climb & after some time, when I looked back, I saw the paved path leading to the place I was standing. Looks like the path continued but I failed to notice. I was also happy that the trail is not yet over.
I climbed to the top of the climb (at least I thought so) & then had a view of the hills around me. The view from the height did look different.
I sat down for a while absorbing the nice view. Not sure when I switched from absorbing the view to checking my phone & whatsapp. But I guess all this went on for good 30 min.
I was pretty much convinced that this is end of the trek as the trek name is ‘Ganji top’ which means bald top. This part of the hill was devoid of trees & looked ‘bald’. There were trees on one side of the hill though. I also noticed a trail going into the tree. I decided to pursue it. I realized I was getting deeper into the jungle. Also, the picking one trail out of bifurcation decision have also increased & with every decision, my uneasiness increased. What if I get lost in the jungle, was a prominent thought. But I realized that I would like to continue & I did.
Now there were trees around me, I was not getting view of the surroundings. But once in a while, I was able to see some & I did realize that I was gaining elevation as the same scenes I have seen from the point I thought was the end of the trek.
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I dont know why but for some reason, the pics that I took at this height, have some kind of haze in them. It might be the wind. Or maybe my camera got dirty. If someone knows the reason, let me know.
I soon reached a point where the paved path is now completely disappeared but replaced by trail that also seem disappearing or new trails appearing from nowhere. I was fairly uncomfortable now but was confident that I can track the trails back. At some point, I saw that the trail has disappeared but there is a climb to the top. The idea that I might lose the trail if I pursue the climb, crossed my mind, but I decided to do this one last silly thing. And I climbed. While climbing I looked back to ensure how the view looks so that when I will climb down, I can match the view to know if I am going the right way.
I reached a place which looked like top of the hill (again) but this time, there were two large boulders & I decided to climb one to see the view on the other side. As soon as I put my 2nd step & tried having the deeper view, I realized that there is sudden fall right after the boulder. The winds were strong & suddenly I realized that staying in standing position is not a good idea. I sat down as quickly but cautiously as I can. I clicked the pics but they did not come out that great I guess.
I decided, I had enough adventure & I was determined to go back. Suddenly I saw a trail going uphill which looked like adjacent mountain. But I restrained myself & started to go back. I saw another trail which was going downhill. I thought if I follow this trail, this is a good chance I would not be able to go back to the original trail that I took to climb up. But I dont know why, I decided to follow this new trail. It took me some time to realize that this is the same paved trail which I thought was over at the start of the tree popluation. Soon I got merged back to trail that looked familiar & I continued my descent. After reaching down, I saw a board that talked about various points during the trek. Looks like the trail goes all the way to a temple
I was hungry & headed over to Forever cafe. I was not too sure so I ordered Lassi & Break Pakoda. Both were actually good. I asked for half tea & they obliged. Overall I would recommend the place. I could not click a pic because I had handed over my phone to them for charging. This cafe is located in Panjpula.
In the morning, I had some conversation with Usha, who with her gang of girls from Bangalore had come for 10 day trip to Dharamshala - Dalhousie. She mentioned that they are going to Zostel as there is going to be different kind of view from there. I decided to head to Zostel as it was located on a different road. I get to cover other roads in Dalhousie that way too.
I took the wrong road but I got to see Dalhousie Public School, Beeji’s Park which is attached to the school & some nice views. I also saw a board which talked about Bears & aimed to educate people that they can expect to see Bears in the region.
I came back to the main market circle & then headed to the Zostel road. Here again I saw some nice views. Zostel is located around 3-4 kms away from the main market. The same is the case with Bird’s Hostel. These places can be inconvenient for folks who chose to come by bus & had no mode of conveyance from/to hostel. Apparently one way cab ride costs 300 is what Zostel folks told me.
Usha & her gang were not in hostel when I went there . I met a person who has driven his Mahindra Thar from Bangalore to Dalhousie (could not remember his name). He has a few friends from Rajasthan & one of them was Bhanu, who runs HOP (Horn Ok Please) hostel in Jaipur. I also met Prateek Aggarwal who is a Zostel customer engagement person. Prateek & I had a longish conversation & Prateek helped me get contacts of one Shiva Cafe in Khajiar where I was planning to go tomorrow. Apparently the cafe is closed for renovation. I also got information that Saach Pass is closed & hence the longish route to Manali might not be doable. I finally decided to head over to Dharamshala/Mandi tomorrow. I will skip Khajiar, Dainkund, Jot etc. While having conversation with Prateek, I realized that I will need 2 weeks for Spiti & if I need to get through Nepal, Sikkim & NE India - I would probably need to shorten my sight seeing trips.
I then headed back to market for dinner & finally mustered courage to enter Dalhousie Cafe. I ordered Chana Bhatura & it was ok. I realized food standards at Dalhousie are not that high & the cost of items seem to be on expensive side. But guess that is how it is.
The plan for tomorrow is to leave Dalhousie early & then head towards Dharamshala. I had been to Dharamshala before so if I am early, I would as well decide to ride till Mandi. I will then head towards Atal Tunnel & will do a two way ride (back & forth) to checkin at Manali the next day. I will inquire about Kunzum pass that day to see if Spiti ride can be done from Manali side. Else will head to Shimla.