Touring Punjab & Himachal Pradesh - II

Himachal Pradesh, the state that has several valleys akin to the Kashmir valley, known for its apples and perhaps the state that introduced apple juice to the rest of the country through its HPMC outlets. Having seen the Simla and Kulu/Manali valleys earlier, we chose to holiday in the other lesser known valleys of Himachal - the Kangra Valley. Dalhousie & Dharamshala perched high in the Dhauladhar range of the lower Himalayas provide the better known backdrops to this valley. Away from the maddening crowds of the other two famous valleys of Himachal, the holiday was much relaxed without having to wrestle with other tourists at various places.

Parwanoo
Gateway to the Simla hills and a quick getaway for the residents of Chandigarh, Panchkula and Mohali, Parwanoo with its Timber Trail Hotel, perched high in the hills and connected to the lower part of the hotel through a state of the art cable car, was a worthwhile introduction to the rest of Himachal that we were to see later. The hotel is well worth a night's stay with its great interiors, location & its facilities. The restaurant, well kept gardens and tennis courts was an added attraction. The (working) cable car, its location and architecture and its Swiss style chalets are hopefully a sign of things to come in India's hospitality infrastucture.

Dalhousie - The Viceroy's View

High up in the hills, steep road climbs and thick alpine forests characterize this lesser known hill station. Steep mountains, deep valleys & distant backdrop of snow-clad peaks, gives Dalhousie a "Viceroy's View" of its surroundings. Quaint British era cottages, boutique hotels, seen amongst tree clearings still keep this place in Lord Dalhousie's era. Literally winding our way through the campus of Dalhousie Public School, we got the impression that it would be a great place for academics and solitude!! No wonder, Rabindranath Tagore who spent a few months here, when he was 12 and the surroundings inspired him to be what he became later in life!
Khajjiar, a golf course of yesteryears, is a nice meadow setting with a central lake surrounded by high mountains and thick alpine forests. A few interesting "tourist attractions" have been created here, including large transparent rolling balls that are rolled along the floor of the meadow with tourists strapped (or trapped) inside. Roadside snow from half melted mini-glaciers were the added attraction on the way to Khajjiar. Chamba valley, along with its quaint town and nice backdrop of snowclad mountains gave us a chance to taste local Himachali food - rajma+chaval & berry chutneys.

Dharamshala
Better known for the Dalai Lama's government in exile, along with its cantonment areas of Mcleodganj & Forsythganj, Dharamshala is quite a busy place as compared to Dalhousie. Not as high or narrow as Dalhousie, the Tibetan presence here is the main difference from other places in Himachal. Some usual view points - lake, snow and valley view points alongwith some temples, monasteries, churches, and other structures of the 1800s in McLeodganj give Dharamshala a unique "rural cosmopolitan" feel. The main market is full of artefacts from Tibet (grossly overpriced, with rude Tibetan owners who dont care even if nothing ever got sold). The seat of the Dalai Lama, the monastery is tastefully built and has been the focus of much worldwide attention following the Chinese crackdown in Tibet. Gory 20' posters of photos of Chinese brutality in the premises of the monastery!! reminded us of all the means being adopted to get worldwide sympathy and support. There has been much debate about this and I leave readers with their own impressions on the Tibetan propaganda from the photos here.

Kangra - Valley of the Arts

The Kangra valley has been known for years for its kings, forts and paintings. Around 20 kms from the hills of Dharamshala, this place is a home of temples, rural architecture (characterized by houses with granite tiled sloping roofs), paintings and the toy train. Kangra Fort with an exquisite view of its surroundings and the imposing backdrop of the Dharamshala ranges, has been well restored and definetely worth a visit. The kids undertook an interesting toy train journey from Kangra to Jwalamukhi Road (a half an hour journey costing Rs. 3/- per adult, as compared to Rs. 11/- for the same journey by bus - interesting pointers to Warren Buffet's recent interest in investing in the US railroads!)

Kangra Paintings - the miniature school of art with Rajasthani origins, is known for its details produced in a space of @ 10" x 5". We spent some time with Mukesh Dhiman, one of the 50 surviving artists in Himachal engaged in this art. The range of rather bold and varied themes of these paintings - nudes, love scenes, hunting scenes, detailed sceneries, points to a high level of free expression in these "rural" areas. He showed us the mineral & vegetable extract based colours that they use for their paintings, quite interesting not just as a tradition, but because the paints preserve and travel better than the modern chemical based "Camlin" colours. Mukesh, tells us that Mumbai, with active support from Tina Ambani's foundation is helping preserve and promote Kangra paintings, with many of them adorning the walls of many classy hotels and museums. We did our bit by picking up a couple of paintings from Mukesh. For those interested in this form of art, I would recommend a visit to the Miniature Art section of the National Museum in New Delhi, where we saw a decent and detailed collection.

Palampur - Tea Gardens, Streams, Para Gliding and Art

Palampur was perhaps the surprise of the Himachal trip. Added into the itinerary solely because it had tea gardens, it turned out to be a the most picturesque places of our trip. Staying at a simple, informal boutique hotel situated at Neugal Khad in the Bundla chasm, run by an ex-airforce pilot, Suresh Bhasin, we could literally get a great view of the snow clad mountains from our beds. Right along the roads were several small canals (created by the local rajas) to channelize waters of the melting snow and which irrigate lands upto 100 kms away. The main attraction of Palampur is ofcourse its tea estates. Verdant green plantations of the same strains of tea as that in Darjeeling and its tea factory give visitors a peek into the business of growing, drying, roasting and blending of TEA, the roasted bacteria that gives about 50% of the world its morning cuppa. The other attractions of Palampur are Bir and Pilling, apparently one of the best para-gliding sites in the world and an interesting 8th century temple of Baijnath.

Andretta, a community that was created by British Author Norah Richards and made famous by the Sikh artist Shoba Singh (who first rendered the Sikh Gurus in painting form) was an interesting place to visit. Shoba Singh's house-museum and Gurcharan Singh's pottery studio have created a small and unique community quite similar to few other communities such as the Cholamandal Artists village near Chennai.

Himachal, a land of the pahadi people, high mountains and river valleys. Abundant water & hydel energy, a power surplus state, with 100% of its villages electrified & having running water supply (its amazing to see electric lines going up to remote houses perched high in the narrow valleys). Its roads and incentives for industry, good law and order, scenic beauty and good governance make Himachal an attractive destination for industry as well as tourists. Is Goa with similar characteristics (small lightly populated state) an overly hyped tourist destination as compared to Himachal ??

Travelling to Himachal in spring was especially beautiful, with the various types of pines, silver oaks, rhododendrons, small valley and apple flowers in full bloom. Plan your next trip to Himachal or any other part of the Himalayas in Spring!!