September 4, 2008

Reminiscing the Dharamshala trip

My internet connection has been acting quite funny all these days. Not that I had great thoughts to share, wanted to still update on my trip to Dharamshala. To be frank, personally it really does not matter much where I am going as long as I am with people I want to be with. Like the 2 friends (Lakshmi and Romesh) I went with. It was always supposed to be a great trip and it indeed was.

We started our trip by flying to Delhi. From there we were off to Agra by road to see the magnificent Taj Mahal. The monument, with all the hype and expectations that I had in my mind, still turned out to be simply brilliant. I cannot forget the first view of Taj for the rest of my life. I have not seen the other wonders of the world, but in absolute sense there is no list possible without the Taj being included in it.

Delhi to Taj and back was a good 8 hours by road. I love road travels. The fun quotient in a lot of my trips, including this one, has been augmented by the road travels. We had an evening train to catch for Pathankot in Punjab, the connecting place for Dharamshala. During the day we roamed around Delhi. Went to see Qutubminar, India Gate, Lotus Temple, etc. I have said this before in one my earlier posts. I am a huge fan of Delhi roads and infrastructure. Love the place...

Delhi to Pathankot is a 10-hours journey by train. We spent most of this time catching up on sleep. We reached Pathankot at about 7.30am. A 3-hours road journey took us to Dharamshala. Dharamshala is a small-time town near Kangra valley in Himachal Pradesh. We stayed at the Club Mahindra resort there. Romi is a member of their resorts. The only eligibility that he has for being my friend.. hehehehe (Romi, are you reading this?)

There is a lot to talk about the place and trip. A lot of ‘highlights’ is our intra-group happenings. But it is good if it remains within our group! I will list down a few things worth mentioning.

The good ones...

Dhabas: All through the trip, we relished authentic dhaba food. Amazing food at places that looks shabby. Amazing paranthas and tandoor chicken - yummmmyyy. Delicious, not very oily, reasonable and authentic food at most places we chose to have our food.

Lakes and water falls: One thing that characterizes Himachal is the clear water lakes and waterfalls all across. It is amazing. The look, feel and touch.

Greenery: For someone going from Mumbai, any place can boast of more greenery. Still, this place has to be one of the ‘greenest’ I have seen. One of the best phases of the trip was our trip from Dharamshala to Jyot, the highest reachable peak of the valley. The journey was amazing. Between clouds, lovely climate and lush green valleys... Jannat!

People: Good people at most places including babes!


The not so good ones…

Hotel: The location of the hotel, the views from there, the facilities and the staff – all were negatives. Food was ok. Loved the gajar halwa a lot. Yummy again...

As I said earlier, the trip was lovely for I was with great friends. For those who know about our group, me and Romi had huge arguments twice during the trip. As usual. Something that has been a feature of the way we are for the last 6 years.

Love you guys... Missed the other 3 musketeers of the group.

3 comments:

avani said...

hey...

welcome back!!
would you mind sharing something abt dharamsala?? the place..the ppl..nything special tht you found in tht town..

hariharan said...

U and romesh having a debate. Hope so not on the same topics.
Its always fun to be with CMM. All r such wonderful fun loving people

Unknown said...

"Like the 2 friends (Lakshmi and Romesh) I went with. It was always supposed to be a great trip and it indeed was."
Wondered if you ever gave a chance to say the same about you.

I think one thing that you missed out is the morning communication with the driver who had plans to drive us to Taj hotel in Delhi and not the "wonder" Taj to Agra.