My First Snowy Experience

Its mid of January 2019 and its snowing in most of the hill stations in Himachal Pradesh like Shimla, Auli, Manali, Khajjiar etc. These places are filled with snow and quite a wonderful time to go and enjoy the snowfall. I missed my chance to go to the mountains this winter so here I'm reliving my first travelling experience to snowy hill station Dalhousie-Khajjiar. It was mid of December 2017 when it was snowing in Dalhousie. A sudden plan with office buddies (Saurabh, Ram, Ushank and Sandeep) was made to visit Dalhousie-Khajjiar on X-MAS weekend. We made the reservations at the earliest and boarded the bus to Dalhousie.

We checked in to the hotel at approximately 2:00 pm as our bus was delayed by 5-6 hours. After lunch we rested for some time and then explored the local mall road of Dalhousie. We witnessed the sunset there, bought some souvenirs for family and friends and went back to hotel. The temperature during the day was normal but at night it dropped to some extent. The weather forecast suggested no snowfall in the coming days to our disappointment but we were hopeful to see some snow from the previous one.

Khajjiar : Mini Switzerland of India 

We left the hotel around 10:00 am in the morning for Khajjiar. Our hotel manager booked us a taxi for the day which would take us to Khajjiar and Kalatop Wildlife Sanctuary. After 10 minutes of driving through the curvy hilly road we stopped by a hill spot to see the beauty of Himachal up close. Never ending mountain range, beautiful clouds scattered in the blue sky and the chilled air was enough to give us goosebumps.

Mountains and Clouds : On The Way To Khajjiar

We spent some time admiring the view and taking pictures in this amazing environment before heading again on our way to Khajjiar. The roads were covered with snow on either side all thanks to the snowfall a couple of days earlier. Our eyes were glued to the mesmerizing view that we were getting from the taxi window. We again stopped at a place which was already crowded with tourists because of snow. One side of the road was heavily filled with a pile of snow. There were two little houses and a mountain with forest in the background. We've not even reached our destination and the scenery had already made my day.

House By The Mountain

We played in the snow for some time. Our hands were freezing cold but that's why we'd gone there. To be honest I'd never seen that much snow in my entire life till then and I was filled with joy. We all played in that small area filled with snow like kids do. We photographed ourselves playing in the snow and then went on further towards our destination.

Credits to Saurabh for this gif

So after an hour of driving we finally were at Khajjiar. It has some guest houses and restaurants along with an artificial lake in the middle. The whole area was covered with pastures and surrounded by meadows and forest with mountain range in the backdrop. The lake was in bad condition. The area was crowded and the temperature was normal as the sun was high in the sky. Horse riding and other sports activities like Paragliding, Zorbing etc were also available for entertainment. We had some refreshments to start off before exploring the grassland further.

Guest House and Restaurants

The view there was just stunning. I was spellbound to see the beauty of it. You can see how huge the entire area is by looking at those tiny tourists. Those tall pine trees covering the entire ground, clear blue sky and birds flying above the clouds was worth watching.

Meadows and Forest View of Khajjiar

We went on further towards the lake. There were little shopping stalls providing memoirs of Khajjiar. We bought some for our family and friends. As I mentioned earlier the lake really was in bad condition. The weed covering the lake was nearly destroyed.

Kids Having Fun At Lake

We spent some more time by the lake before heading towards the meadows. Near the meadow and forest area there was a small house which was a delightful sight. The little old fashioned house paired well with the green forest and grassland. Couple of meters from their a big pine tree's trunk was lying on the ground which gave us a good spot to rest for  a while and take some candid (planned) pictures. We went into the woods to see how tall they actually were. It was around 12:00 pm but it was pretty dark among those thick layers of pine trees.

A Couple By The Cottage & Little Seller : Snapped By Ram

Time went quickly while we sat there enjoying every moment, watching people doing different activities and capturing those moments forever. It was around 2:00 pm when we had to leave from there for Kalatop wildlife sanctuary which was nearly half an hour drive from there.

The Curvy Road Covered in Snow

The Road Block :

It took us only 10 minutes after we left from there to realize that there is no way we could visit Kalatop today. The only road connecting Khajjiar with Dalhousie was blocked. The traffic came from either side in huge numbers resulting deadlock situation. We took this as an opportunity to explore the road covered with snow on foot. We grabbed our essentials and asked the driver to meet us on the way. There was cool breeze in the air. We walked between cars and among people who were trying to figure out ways to clear the mess.

We found a place which was covered with lots of snow and we started having fun there. Ram went creative by drawing a heart in the snow along with creating a snowman. Ushank wanted to take a huge pile of snow back to hotel as souvenir and Sandeep was juggling with the snow balls. While they were busy doing their stuff, me and Saurabh went ahead to find a point to watch the gorgeous mountains. We clicked some selfies there before rest of the group joined us.

Candid Moments Captured : Credits Ram

Play Time In Snow:

After walking for around 20 minutes we took a left turn and saw something very delightful. Many tourists were gathered on top of a huge pile of snow. We also climbed the snow somehow escaping the slippery path holding each other tightly and taking support of near by woods in the snow. Everyone was playing in the snow like a child. We also unleashed the child inside us and started throwing snow balls on each other. Though I had to take care of camera as well but that didn't stop me from having fun.

We slided from the top of the pile to the bottom which in turn made our clothes wet but we didn't realized till it started feeling cold. Snow went inside the shoes due to which our feet were freezing but joy of playing in snow overcame it somehow and we continued playing there.

Ushank, Saurabh and Sandeep went to the top of the pile to play in snow while Ram stayed with me at the lower area for some candid photography.

Some Joyful Moments

We moved from there and  reached a point where a couple of vendors where offering tea and Maggie. Some people were warming themselves near by the fire. We joined them and warmed ourselves little bit.  The price of Maggie was surging as the demand was increasing with increasing traffic. Everybody was willing to pay to get a tea and Maggie in that chilling environment. At one point the price of one Maggie went to Rs 100 and people were ready to pay for it. Anyways by the time we ordered the vendor already was out of stock and we had to settle with tea only. There were also some people who allow you to take photos with bunnies by paying 10 Rs. per person.

Dope Shot                                                                                            Maggie Man ( Credits : Ram)

After half an hour our taxi driver came by from the traffic somehow which marked the end of our play time. It was already 5:00 pm and we still were an hour drive from our hotel so we left from there with beautiful memories. We went to central market place of Dalhousie, had snacks there before heading back to the hotel.

Bonfire :

Back in the hotel we had dinner and were enjoying the warmth of cozy bed when the landline phone ranged. It was our hotel manager who informed us that a small bonfire was being organized as it was the X-MAS night. So we joined a small group of people who were already enjoying the warmth of fire. We sat there enjoying the music under the starry cold night talking with the other group about their trip to Kheerganga Trek. Everybody left after half an hour when the fire was about to go off while Ram and Saurabh joined me as we attempted capturing star trail for the next one hour. Well it wasn't successful but we learnt a couple of things from it. 

                                                              Credits : Saurabh

During our stay in Dalhousie we also explored some other near by places which included the local mall road famous for street shopping and sunset view, Bhalei Mata temple and Chamera Lake in Chamba district. We boarded a bus back to Kashmere Gate ISBT. I didn't get to experience the snowfall yet it was  a memorable journey and will always be remembered for all the fun I had with friends.

Disclaimer : No animals were harmed during this trip.

Happy Travelling.

Deepak.

| A Letter To Broken Heart |

Dear heart you were a fool

Thinking you could love again

Knowing that at the end

Only thing you will get is pain

Stupid brain persuaded you

That this time maybe you can

But deep down you too know 

The idea itself was insane

Dreamy eyes cried for you

Hiding tear amidst the rain

With no reason to smile at all

I'm finding ways to entertain

Old conversations to go through

Staring her pictures now and then

Hanging lonely on the wall

An empty frame is all thats remain

I'm sure everything will be fine

Just don't ask how and when

Dear heart just do me a favor

Don't think you could love again

The Last and The First Sunset

I am an avid lover of sunset. I love sunset more than sunrise (not waking up early is also a reason). Sunset colours are typically more brilliant than sunrise, because the evening air contains more particles than morning air. When the ray of white sunlight travels through the atmosphere to us, shorter wavelength components, such as blue and green, scatter more strongly resulting removal of these colours from the beam. At sunrise and sunset, when the path through the atmosphere is longer, the blue and green components are removed almost completely, leaving the longer wavelength orange and red hues we see at those times.

Those intense orange and red colours of the Sun and the surrounding sky is what I love about sunset. And what could be the best time than the New Year to witness another couple of great sunsets. Yes, my recent trip to Jaisalmer and Jodhpur gave me the opportunity to experience the last sunset of 2018 and the first one of 2019. While I saw the last one in Golden city, the Blue city offered me the first one.

This was a four day (29 Dec - 1 Jan) trip to Jodhpur and Jaisalmer giving each one a couple of days. And to ensure that the quality of this trip fulfills all travelling expectations, two amazing friends from work Ushank and Bharat agreed to accompany me on this trip. All our travel and hotel bookings were done beforehand and we boarded Delhi Jodhpur Superfast Express from Sarai Rohilla railway station at 11:30 pm to wake up to the beautiful city of Jodhpur.

29th December - Jodhpur :

We reached Jodhpur around 10:30 am in the morning and checked in to the hotel City View which was around one and half km from the junction. We had places in mind to cover the very first day and Mehrangarh Fort topped the list. But we wanted to view the scenic beauty of one of the largest fort in India during sunset, so we went to Umaid Bhawan and Jaswant Thada first.

Umaid Bhawan :

We hired an auto and reached Umaid Bhawan in about twenty minutes. It is one of the world's largest private residence. This palace has 347 rooms and is the principal residence of the Jodhpur royal family.

Umaid Bhawan Palace

Only a part of the palace which is a museum is open for public as the rest of the part is private residence. The museum focus on the history of the Jodhpur royal family. Here are some of the museum items I captured :

Museum Soveniors

The classic cars of the Maharajas are also on display in the garden of the museum.

Jaswant Thada :

We spent about an hour there before heading to Jaswant Thada. It is a cenotaph built by Maharaja Sardar Singh of Jodhpur State in memory of his father, Maharaja Jaswant Singh II and serves as the cremation ground for the royal family of Marwar. The mausoleum is built out of carved sheets of marble. These sheets are extremely thin and polished so that they emit a warm glow when illuminated by the sun.

Jaswant Thada 

There was a small lake called as Devkund where some migratory birds can be seen easily. By the entrance of Cenotaphs there was a folk music player playing traditional Padharo Mhare Desh tune.

A boy by the window

After spending about an hour capturing candid scenes we headed towards Mehrangarh Fort which was only about 500m from there.

Maharana Pratap Statue

We decided to cover it on foot and in just about 200m there was a statue of Maharana Pratap Singh and his horse Chetak. We stopped by for 10 minutes to capture the scene. 

Mehrangarh Fort :

Then we continued walking till we reached the main entrance of the fort. We bought the ticket and went inside. It was so huge that the entire fort could not be captured in a single frame once you are inside the fort compound. I took multiple vertical shots and then merged them into this panoramic view.

Believe me this shot is not possible in a single frame

We went ahead to explore the fort. It contains several museums inside which exhibits the heritage of the Rathores in arms, costumes, paintings and decorated period. The fort has musicians performing folk music at the entrance and houses museum, restaurants, exhibitions, and craft bazaars. From the top of the fort one can view the entire blue city. Here is a panoramic  view of it :

Blue City as seen from top of Fort

Folk Musician

As the sun was about to set in an hour or so and we were planning to do Fox Zip Lining as well so we head back to the counter where we can get the tickets for it.

Bharat and Ushank went to inquire about the timing and tickets of Zip lining while I sat there by the musician who was playing "Udd Ja Kaale Kaawa" song from the movie "Gadar - Ek Prem katha".


I just loved listening to his melodious tune and watching the sun setting down every passing moment and illuminating the entire city in its golden light.


We came out of the fort and witness this beautiful view of the fort and surreal sunset.

Sunset By The Fort

Fox Zip Lining was closed for the day as Bharat told me. We spent some more time there and went to Clock Tower for street hopping and shopping. This traditional turban called Safa was the best part of the shopping. We all loved it and wore it for almost the entire time we were on board.

Delhi Boys Wearing Safa (Bharat, Me and Ushank From Left to Right)

After having dinner at a nearby dhaba, we head back to our hotel and packed our things for the next day as we had to catch a bus early in the morning to Jaisalmer where the last sunset of the year was waiting for us.

30th December - Jaisalmer :

We reached Jaisalmer by 12:30 pm and checked in to Hotel Australian Blue. So for the next two days we were in the golden city. We listed out most famous places to visit which included Jaisalmer Fort, Patwon Ki Haveli, Bada Bagh, Gadsisar Lake and the must Sam Sand Dunes. As we wanted to spend the last evening of 2018 on sand dunes so covering others first was our next task. We picked Jaisalmer Fort first as it was closest to the hotel. 

Jaisalmer Fort :

It is believed to be perhaps the only "living forts" in the world, as nearly one fourth of the old city's population still resides within the fort. The fort's massive yellow sandstone walls are a lion colour during the day, fading to honey-gold as the sun sets, thereby camouflaging the fort in the yellow desert. For this reason it is also known as the Sonar Quila or Golden Fort. 

There were many shops inside the fort along with the museum and food stalls.It felt more of a residential area than a tourist place. The streets inside the forts were beautiful and quite in contrast to the main museum area which was heavily crowded. Here are some pictures I took inside the fort :

Forts Pillar | Ushank & Bharat By Fort Wall | Main Market Inside Fort | Beautiful Lanes Inside Fort

At the exit of the fort museum this old man was playing some melodious music which I think is the only way to earn his livelihood. It was amazing seeing their culture and way of living. 

Old Musician Playing Ravanhatha

Gadsisar Lake :

Around four in the evening we went to Gadsisar Lake which is about 2 km from the fort. The bank of the Gadsisar lake is surrounded by artistically carved Chattris (Cenotaphs), Temples, Shrines, and Ghats. Its charm lies in the fact that it was the only source of water for the Jaisalmer city in the old days. We booked a pedal boat and went on boating for the next one hour. After half an hour of pedaling in the water we stop by one of the Cenotaphs in the middle of the lake and clicked some pictures of it.

Cenotaph In The Lake

Then when the sun was about to go down we went to the Cenotaphs near the bank of the lake and enjoyed the view of beautiful sunset. Lots of people still boating in the water, the blue sky filled with golden light and the Cenotaphs in the middle of the water was one of the perfect sunset I have ever seen. This Cenotaphs was so crowded with tourists that I didn't managed to get a single shot without anyone in the frame.

Gadsisar Lake Sunset View

We all sat there by the bank for another hour before enjoying some street food. 

Best Rasmalai Tested So Far

Then the struggle to find a ride to Sam Sand Dunes started. As it was new years time so everything was a bit costly or was already booked. We had a pretty hard time finding something suitable for us. 

We discussed and bargained with many booking parties and went to dinner at hotel Monika with different options in hand. We had delicious dinner and the best dessert (Rasmalai) till date. 

Our hotel caretaker came to our rescue when he booked one ride for us to the Sand Dunes. 

 Last Day 2018 :

It was 9 in the morning when we got up after the cozy sleep all thanks to last days pedaling and walking. Our ride to dunes was scheduled around two in the noon so we had some hours before that to explore some more of Jaisalmer. We had Patwon Ki Haveli and Bada Bagh Cenotaphs in mind. After quickly going through morning routine we were on our way to Patwon Ki Haveli.

The Patwon ki Haveli is an interesting piece of Architecture and is the most important among the havelis in Jaisalmer because of two things, first that it was the first haveli erected in Jaisalmer and second, that it is not a single haveli but a cluster of five small havelis. 

Here are some pictures :

A Man Reading Jaisalmer Pokharan Patrika In Shade

Guys Posing Perfectly

Bada Bagh Cenotaphs : 

From Patwon Ki Haveli we went directly to Bada Bagh (Big Garden) which is around 7 km from the city. It is situated on a small hill. The first row has a few cenotaphs (Left side of the picture). There are many more cenotaphs, which are accessible by climbing the hills. The cenotaphs are of different sizes and carved of sandstone.

Bada Bagh Cenotaphs Silhoutte

There are cenotaphs for rulers, queens, princes and other royal family members. Each ruler’s cenotaphs has a marble slab, with inscriptions about the ruler and an image of the  ruler on a horse.

Also we saw a whole lot of wind turbines along the road covering the entire hill. 

The Image of Ruler on Slab                             Wind Turbines            

By 1 O'clock we were back at hotel. We had lunch there and charged ourselves up before our 40 km ride to Sam Sand Dunes. Our ride arrived at 2:30 p.m. and we left to experience something we had never done before. 

Sam Sand Dunes Safari : 

We were on our way to sand dunes and our driver was telling us about everything that we crossed down the road. Starting right from the things to watch before reaching to dunes like a Jain Temple, Chundi Ganesh Temple where big festival is organized every year and about the famous haunted Kuldhara Village. He told us different stories of why the people of Kuldhara abandoned the village. He also told us about the state tree Khejri which was all over the place.

After an hour of driving we finally reached to the Dunes. It was very crowded. We parked near by the tea and maggie stall and had some refreshment. Our driver had arranged a Jeep and Camel Safari for us beforehand. So we went on clicking pictures of Camels and ourselves in the near by area as our Jeep was yet to come. After 10 minutes our Jeep came and we went to the dunes.

It took hardly 5 minutes to reach the dunes. I had imagined it to be something we saw in movie but it was nowhere close to it. There were only 4-5 dunes in that area and those too were in bad shapes. It probably was because of the huge number of crowd visiting the dunes and after all those Jeep and Camel Safari the ridge line was completely destroyed. However it gave us thrill every time the jeep went down the dune. The driver circled around the area a couple of times seeing us enjoying the bumpy ride. There was no possibility of taking picture while going through this bumpy ride. Then the driver dropped us at the Camel Safari point.

Meet Kalu

We had to take two camels. Ushank and Bharat got on the first one named Bhola and I got Kalu. I had camera in one hand and with other I had to hold the camel's grip strongly in order not to fall down. The second was tied to the strings of first camel so they both got along nicely. I managed to take some shots without falling down. We rode for about 15 minutes before getting dropped on the highest sand dune. The plan was to enjoy there till sunset and then they will pick us after that.

We sat on the dunes watching people doing different stuff. Lots of people were present on the other dunes and the sun was getting down in the background giving a beautiful silhouette effect. Ushank went on exploring other dunes leaving me and Bharat at our pick up point. After 5 minutes we joined him when the sun was about to disappear in the horizon.

Silhouette at Sam Sand Dunes

We just sat there and watched the sun go down completely. It was beautiful. All the dust in the air, the orange and reddish glow in the sky, jeeps in distance and the setting sun was just beautiful to watch.  I felt like letting go all my worries with this last sunset and get ready to embrace what the new year has to offer me. I thanked god for this year's beautiful memory and smiled knowing that a new, promising and happy year is waiting for me tomorrow.

Last Sunset Of The Year 2018

We clicked some pictures while playing on the dunes and head back to the safari point when our ride arrived. We loved every moment of our time at dunes and it was memorable for all of us. We had refreshments before heading back to the city.

Here are some more pictures of the sand dunes :

Fun Time At Dunes (Pic Credit - Ushank)

Happy New Year 2019 :

Back in the hotel we watched television till 12 am and then wished each other Happy New Year. We all wished our family and friends the same for the next one hour. We had to catch train to Jodhpur early in the morning as our return was from Jodhpur so we crashed to bed immediately after that.

Thank You Jaisalmer

We bid adieu to the beautiful golden city for giving us the lifelong memory and boarded train to Jodhpur. We were back in the blue city by 1 pm. Our return train was at 7 pm in the evening which meant we had few hours to explore and yet to see first sunset of 2019. We hired an auto to cover Mandore Garden and Kaylana Lake within the time available to us.

Mandore Garden :

The Mandore garden have charming collection of temples and memorials. Its high rock terraces is another major attraction. The gardens house the Chhatris (cenotaphs) of many rulers of Jodhpur state. Prominent among them is the chhatri of Maharaja Ajit Singh. 

It is very big garden. We quickly covered the rock terrace and then came to the main garden area where the major Cenotaphs were standing tall. Here is a panoramic view of it : 

Panoramic View Of Mandore Garden Cenotaphs

Kaylana Lake :

We went to Kaylana Lake right after that as it was the perfect place to watch the sunset.  Kaylana Lake is an artificial lake situated between igneous rock land formations. 

It receives its water from Hati Nehar (Elephant Canal). The city of Jodhpur and all the surrounding towns and villages depend on Kaylana lake as a source of drinking water.

Some migratory bird were also present at the lake. We did boating after arriving there. Pedal boating was closed for some reason so we boarded the only working engine boat to admire the beauty of Kaylana Lake closely. 

After that we sat there till the complete sunset watching and capturing every moment in our memories forever. The place was crowded heavily by local people more that the tourists.  Here are some pictures : 

               Kid Enjoying Boating                                                                   Migratory Bird In Lake

It was already 6 pm when we left the lake and headed towards Masuriya Hill Park before going to railway station. We wanted to take a quick look at the city from the hill top and I must say it was worth it. One can see the entire city from the top. We clicked some pictures before heading back to the railway station.

Bharat Chilling With Kids At Hill Top

We boarded the train and arrived Delhi early in the next morning. 

This trip would be not be the same without these things :

• Mini Militia Game (Our time killer whenever we traveled)

• Mirch Ke Pakode (Be it breakfast or lunch it was a must)

• Rajasthani Safa (This made our pictures better to some extent) 

• Company of Ushank and Bharat (Hope to travel more with you guys) 

I hope you all had a beautiful New Year day as well. Thank you for giving your time.

Happy Travelling.

Deepak.